2024 - YEAR OF THE HEART CRY

Last Saturday, we were greatly encouraged by Joel Pollard, Tiffany James, and Bill Hernandez as they shared what they were sensing from God’s heart. It was a night of encouragement and instruction for the heart. You can check it out on our Youtube Channel or Facebook page. One major theme, Saturday, was that 2024 is the year of the heart cry. Tiffany was getting this from Holy Spirit for us all.  This cry of the heart is an important one for us.  When we position ourselves before a loving God, fully trusting Him with our vulnerability, we get His heart.  It's like when our own kids cry for us. We know that voice very well and will drop everything else to answer.  God loves us like that and He wants us to come without masks, without us trying to show that we have it all together, without holding back.  In our weakness He is strong. He's not looking for us to be perfected in our own strength.  And God is fully aware that this life we are living on Earth is hard at times. Our cry to Him invites Him to display His love for us through the rough stuff.  In Matthew 5 we read the Beatitueds, which sound like a heart cry: 3 “God blesses those who are poor and realize their need for him,     for the Kingdom of Heaven is theirs. 4 God blesses those who mourn,     for they will be comforted. 5 God blesses those who are humble,     for they will inherit the whole earth. 6 God blesses those who hunger and thirst for justice,     for they will be satisfied. 7 God blesses those who are merciful,     for they will be shown mercy. 8 God blesses those whose hearts are pure,     for they will see God. 9 God blesses those who work for peace,     for they will be called the children of God. 10 God blesses those who are persecuted for doing right,     for the Kingdom of Heaven is theirs. The HEART is the core of us....our entire self. This year let's bring it all before Him who is love. Let the heart cry be lifted before the King of our Hearts!   By the way, even our tears are precious to God. Psalms 56:8 says: "You keep track of all my sorrows. You have collected all my tears in your bottle. You have recorded each one in your book."

CELEBRATING INCARNATION

I wanted to share with you a slice of the fascinating history of why we celebrate Christmas the way we have as followers of Christ. It’s written by Richard Rohr, a Franciscan theologian.     Merry Christmas with Love!   Pastor Brent

In the first 1200 years of Christianity, the central feast or celebration was Easter, with the high holy days of Holy Week leading up to the celebration of the resurrection of Christ. But in the thirteenth century, Francis of Assisi entered the scene. He intuited that we didn’t need to wait for God to love us through the cross and resurrection. Francis believed the whole thing started with incarnate love. He popularized what we now take for granted as Christmas, which for many became the major Christian feast. Christmas is the Feast of the Incarnation when we celebrate God taking human form in the birth of Jesus. Francis realized that since God had become flesh—taken on materiality, physicality, humanity—then we didn’t have to wait for Good Friday and Easter to “solve the problem” of human sin: the problem was solved from the beginning. It makes sense that Christmas became the great celebratory feast of Christians because it basically says that it’s good to be human, it’s good to be on this Earth, it’s good to have a body, it’s good to have emotions. We don’t need to be ashamed of any of it! God loves matter and physicality. With that insight, it’s no wonder Francis went wild over Christmas. (I do too—my little house is filled with candles at Christmastime.) Francis believed that trees should be decorated with lights to show their true status as God’s creations, and that’s exactly what we still do eight hundred years later. And there’s more: when we speak of Advent or preparing for Christmas, we’re not just talking about waiting for the little baby Jesus to be born. That already happened two thousand years ago. In fact, we’re welcoming the Christ that is forever being born (incarnating) in the human soul and into history. The gifts of incarnation just keep coming! Perhaps this is enlightenment.  “The one who is the true light, who gives light to everyone, was coming into the world.” John 1:9 (NLT)

FAITH WITHOUT HOPE IS WEIRD - by Steve Buckland

I remember hearing Wendy speak these words while we were preaching together years ago. It captures an important truth for those who want to have a healthy faith.  Hope is an overall optimistic attitude about the future based on the goodness and promises of God. I am not a proponent of simple positive thinking, but I do ascribe to biblical optimism. “Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful” (Hebrews 10:23).  Faith is very specific while hope is more general.  Faith says, “God is going to do this!” Hope says, “I don’t know what God is going to do but good things are coming.”  We are all waiting on something. Whether it’s a promise from God, restoration for our family, breakthrough in our finances, or physical healing, things are not where we’d like them to be. Although faith keeps us focused on the breakthrough that is coming for us, hope helps us thrive in the season we’re in right now.  Without hope, it is impossible to thrive until things are perfect. Hope says the future will be better than the present and I have the power to help make it so. You don’t have to wait a single day to have radical hope. It might not be a convenient time to stir up radical hope, but you can thrive right now, even in the season of waiting for what’s to come.  Let’s explore more about the difference between faith and hope:   Faith-people without hope tend to believe they cannot really live until certain things happen. Faith-people with hope are living while they are waiting.    Faith-people without hope have difficulty overcoming disappointment because they believe their fulfillment and purpose depend on specific things happening. Faith-people with hope are adaptable and believe they can thrive in whatever situation they face.    Faith-people without hope tend to have a spirit of heaviness while they are waiting for something to happen. Faith-people with hope are delighters in the Lord while they are waiting for their desires to be fulfilled. “Delight yourself in the Lord and He will give you the desires of your heart” (Psalm 37:4). Delighting, a main aspect of hope, is key to seeing what we are believing for in faith to manifest.  When we add hope to our faith, we become adaptable and live with many options. For more on hope, check out my online devotional, "40 Days of Hope" Click to check out Steve's book, "Igniting Hope in 40 Days"

OUR SOURCE OF HOPE - by Karena Lout

Thank you so much for all your help and donations that made the Christmas Outreach so special for the community! City Serve shared that 111 households were served which includes 500 family members and 278 children. It was so beautiful to look around the room and see kids choosing toys, doing crafts, getting their face painted, parents receiving prayer and encouragement, receiving needed items, enjoying apple cider. I met a young couple who have four children. They shared how difficult life has been and that the day brought a smile to their childrens' faces and brought them hope. Jesus, our source of hope, never disappoints.   "May God, the fountain of hope, fill you to overflowing with uncontainable joy and perfect peace as you trust in him. And may the power of the Holy Spirit continually surround your life with his super-abundance until you radiate with hope!" Romans 15:13 (TPT) As we celebrate Jesus, I pray you too are filled with abundant joy and hope! So thankful for you, Karena

FEASTING ON THE TRUTH - by Brent Lokker

After yesterday’s Thanksgiving festivities, feasting is not just an arbitrary concept but it’s still locked and loaded in our short term memory!   What if we just couldn’t help ourselves and had to fill our plates and stuff ourselves with the truth of how God sees us? And what if that gave us new eyes to see each person as equally valuable? What a world we would live in if everyone believed the truth that genuinely sets us free—free to be our authentic selves, filled with light and love and the wonder of a wide-eyed child!   The Apostle Paul dares us to “feast on all the treasures of the heavenly realm and fill your thoughts with heavenly realities, and not with the distractions of the natural realm.” And in the previous verse, he gave us the key to how this happens: “Christ’s resurrection is your resurrection too. This is why we are to yearn for all that is above, for that’s where Christ sits enthroned at the place of all power, honor and authority!” (Colossians 2:1-2, TPT)   Where are you at this very moment?  You are in seamless union with Jesus who included you eternally with himself and gave you access to everything that is his, especially his intimate relationship with the Father and the Holy Spirit! Now that is truth that sets us free!   I invite you to feast on the following heavenly realities like a wide-eyed, filled-with-wonder, lavishly-loved child, which is exactly who you are!   For maximum impact, read these out loud and take your time, soaking them in.   I am seen, known, and loved by God (Rom 8:38-39) I am in union with Jesus who is my life (John 15) I am hidden in Christ but seen and celebrated by all of heaven! (Col 3:3; Heb 12:1-2) I am important, significant, and shining brightly in this generation! (Eph 1; Is 60) I am anointed to pave new paths and create new things that have never existed before! (Joshua 3) No weapon turned against me will succeed (Is 54:17) God turns all things around for my good (Rom 8:28) I am a super-conqueror through Christ who loves me (Rom 8:37) I carry the hope and abundant life of Jesus! (John 10:10; Rom 5) Out of my belly flows rivers of the Holy Spirit’s living waters (John 7:37-39) I am a burning one who runs with Jesus, sharing his heart and his passion (Heb 12:1-2)   If this hasn’t brought a warmth to your soul, by all means read them again and ask Holy Spirit to give you eyes to see yourself in the same way God does. Happy feasting!

THE OIL - by Jennifer Miskov

Without oil in your car, you can go for sometime on gas alone but a day will come where the lack of oil will cause your car to shut down and no longer be able to get you to where you need to go.  In our walk with Jesus, we must stay full of the oil of the Holy Spirit and of intimacy. We must be like the five wise virgins in Matthew 25 who paid a price to protect and steward their oil so that when their time came to step into their moment of destiny, they were ready.  Oil comes at a price. There is a shaking that must first happen to get the olives off of the tree, then there is a crushing with a huge mill stone. Then the crushed olive paste is placed on flat circular plates on top of each other before they are then pressed down for the oil to be extracted. After that it goes through a filtering process to purify it.  Don’t be surprised if golden oil is released from your life on the other side of extreme hardships, shaking, and pressing. God is forming something beneath the surface. Don’t give up. Hold on to hope. He will take your pain and turn it into golden oil in due time.  The oil poured out upon the feet of Jesus in John 12 came at a cost. Some scholars think that particular oil was so expensive that it would have taken a year’s salary to buy it. And it was all “wasted” at the feet of Jesus. But, when that one act of lavish love was poured out, the fragrant aroma of that oil filled the room and permeated the atmosphere with heaven’s scent. It is likely that Jesus had residue of this fragrant aroma on him at the crucifixion.  There is only one way to become a person full of the oil. There are no shortcuts. No Impartations strong enough to fill your oil. The price of getting the oil is TIME. Spending my time with Jesus in the Secret Place, not just checking off a list of prayer requests or daily devotions, but time set apart simply to commune with Jesus, be vulnerable to share your heart, yield fully and receive His love, listen to His heart. That is the key to the anointing. There’s no other way. He’s longing for us to be oily ones that carry and release the perfume of heaven wherever we go.  Will you set apart time this week simply to worship and adore Jesus, bringing an offering of love and devotion, come to Him with no other agenda than to pour out your heart of love before Him? He’s drawing you near. When you respond to come close, then you will see an outpouring of oil springing from the depths of your being and overflowing with God’s love, presence, and power to all you come in contact with.

REMAIN CONNECTED IN MYSTERY AND DOUBT - by Karena Lout

Recently I found myself questioning why there are so many tragic things happening in the world. I felt so burdened that I was having difficulty sleeping or functioning during the day. When there’s a demand for answers, there can be a tendency to slip into religious reasoning or definitive boxes why. We can even use scripture to justify why there’s suffering in the world. The psalms are all about David’s wrestle with God. But he continually invited him into that place with him.   The father of the young boy who was being tormented by the enemy says in Mark 9:24, “I do believe but help me overcome my unbelief.” Often times both coexist in our hearts. A part of him believed Jesus could heal his son but his pain and disappointment was clouding that.   I have many people in my life who are struggling with their faith and questioning God. Their process of “deconstruction” may seem scary to many believers but if we take time to lean in and listen, I believe God is moving in ways we might not understand yet. I’ve found a few helpful things to remember as we walk with people through this:   *Listen to understand what’s really going on without judgement or an agenda to try to change their mind. Only Jesus can do that, not our good theology or answers. *Empathize and validate pain. Sometimes we dismiss people’s experience because it’s not our own or it makes us uncomfortable. *Don’t retreat. When we stay connected, we’re communicating that our relationship isn’t based on beliefs but our love for them.   Mystery and unanswered questions are just as important as revelation. Because mystery is often where faith finds a foundation in our hearts. Jesus isn’t put off by our lack of faith, our questions, even our doubt. He is present with us in our mountaintop experiences and equally present in our valley of doubt and pain. I invite you to receive this prayer over your heart today:   “I am contending for you that your hearts will be wrapped up in the comfort of heaven and woven together into love’s fabric. This will give you access to all the riches of God as you experience the revelation of God’s great mystery- Christ! For our spiritual wealth is in him, like hidden treasure waiting to be discovered- heaven’s wisdom and endless riches of revelation knowledge.” Colossians 2:2-3 (TPT)    Love, Karena