Sweet Surrender by Pastor Karena Lout

“Don’t worry about anything; instead pray about everything. Tell God what you need and thank Him for all He has done. Then you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus.” Philippians 4:6-7 (NLT)

Last Saturday night we had the honor of hearing from Jennifer Miskov and her team from Destiny House in Redding. Because Jennifer has such a high value for the presence of God more than anything else, we heard much more than a message. We were invited into an intimate encounter with God. I had a rough week so I came to church feeling a bit heavy hearted. Throughout the night, I felt the tender nudging of Holy Spirit to surrender my unanswered questions, my pain, and the places of my heart that were stuck, wading in murky waters.  When Jesus whispered the word “surrender” in my ear during worship, it sounded easy enough because my heart was beginning to soften. But surrendering is not for the faint of heart. Here’s the definition: to agree to stop fighting, hiding, resisting because you know that you will not win or succeed; to give the control to someone else. It takes a great amount of trust to surrender areas in our life and in our heart that still feel “in process.”   In order to trust and surrender all, it’s vital that we know the true nature and heart of God. If we don’t know His nature, we can’t be certain how He will use His power. In the earthly sense, we often associate power with control or even abuse. But Jesus uses His power to heal, to love and to make all things work together for our good. We may not fully understand His ways, but when we know His true nature, surrendering becomes much more inviting.   Unanswered questions can leave you feeling confused and sometimes tormented. When there’s a demand for answers, we often find ourselves trying to logically figure something out that will fit into our paradigm of limited understanding. But when we choose to surrender those questions, disappointment and hopelessness soon get swallowed up into a beautiful ocean of mystery, waiting to be explored.  I want to encourage you that even if you don’t fully understand yet why and how God is moving in your life, you can be certain of His goodness and love toward you. I pray that as your trust increases, you will experience the wonder of the mystery and holiness of God in a new way. I pray that God will turn the bitter into sweet as you surrender your heart and your life more fully to Him. He is so good and so faithful! Love, Karena

Change. Is It Good by Pastor Brent Lokker

There are some who thrive on change and new experiences.  That’s not the majority of us.  Most of us prefer to get into a routine that we know and can count on.  Somehow it makes us feel just a little bit more secure.   Blazing Fire is about to move into our 8th different location for our Saturday night worship service (two different times in one of those locations and this doesn’t include the park in downtown Pleasanton).  That’s change with a capital C! The fact that a large number of you have traveled with us to several locations—and some of you to all 8 of them—says a lot about who you are!   I could tell you that our choice to make God’s presence our most sought after prize or our core values of love, grace and seeing the treasures in one another are the reasons you are still with us.   But the reason you are still with us is because you’ve made that choice to belong with our family.  Suzanne and I are blessed beyond measure to have a family such as yourselves—ones who treasure God’s presence with us, who choose the high road of grace and forgiveness, and who are learning to love well!   So, we move one more time because we have to. That now sacred green tent we leave behind will no longer be there in a short time.  It may already be gone…   But as we move yet again, I want to remind you that change brings about curiosity, renewed hope and fresh expectations of all that God has promised to do for us as our very good and dear Father.  And in the midst of that change, the old things that became a place of security are replaced, in a glorious way, with a fresh new dependence upon our Father to meet every need that we have according the riches that are ours in Christ Jesus!   Just about every miracle that God performed on behalf of His dearly loved children transpired in the midst of change and trials.  Not comforting, but reassuring!   Elder Susan Fochler actually had a dream many years ago of us being in this very location.  In that dream, revival was breaking out and busloads of people were coming!  Now dreams are often symbolic, not always literal, but my heart is filled with a GREAT expectation of the times we will be having in the presence of the living God in these coming months in our new church home.   This Saturday, I want to encourage you to arrive on time for our 6 pm worship service because we are going to start with a time of intercession together—it’s going to be powerful!  Agreeing with heaven changes things.  Through our prayers we will be preparing the soil in this new temporary home of ours—soil that’s ready to invite heaven to invade our hearts, our communities and our world!   But I’m going to ask you for even more.  Would you please consider arriving at 5 pm for an hour of intercession even before our worship service begins?  It would mean so much to me if you would make an extra effort to be there this Saturday to add your voice and your agreement to this next chapter of our ongoing adventure with the Spirit of Yahweh!   During both the 5 pm pre-service intercession time, as well as at the beginning of our 6 pm worship service, I’ve asked a handful of people to bring their drums.  I invite you to do the same.  Bring drums, shofars, flags, banners, whatever you have to add to the mix.  It all counts!  It’s all a sweet-smelling incense to the Lord.   And if you haven’t been at Blazing Fire in a while—even if we’re not your “home” church—please honor me and Suzanne by joining with us this Saturday to saturate, bless and anoint our newest gathering place to meet with the Lord.  I know of several long-time BF friends who are planning to be back to join us and pray with us this Saturday.   Some extremely special moments are going to take place here in the coming months!   Change isn’t always fun, but with the Lord, it’s always good!   With Much Love, Brent & Suzanne Founding & Senior Pastors of Blazing Fire Church