Faith Family Church

My assignment from the Lord today is to show you from the word that God will give you a scripture or scriptures to stand on while you are believing Him for what you are believing Him for.  In other words God will often speak directly to you through a scripture.Hebrews 4:12 (NKJV) For the word of God [is] living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.

Last week we talked about The Key to Success.  Our success in life hinges on our ability to do what God tells us to do, to go where He sends us, to say what God tells us and to see what He shows us.  This revelation is absolutely demonstrated to us through the life and ministry of Jesus.  So I say to you with confidence that the key to your success is hearing, believing and obeying the voice of God.  We experience the fullness of the Blessing of God and His protection in our lives when we "HBO" His voice. So what does it sounds like when God speaks?  How can we distinguish the voice of God from all the other voices around us?

Our success in life hinges on our ability to do what God tells us to do, to go where He sends us, to say what God tells us and to see what He shows us.  This revelation is absolutely demonstrated to us through the life and ministry of Jesus.  So I say to you with confidence that the key to your success is hearing, believing and obeying the voice of God.We just finished a series where we were talking about Have Faith in God.  In order to have faith in God you must have a word from God, or God has to be the one persuading you.  This series is a continuation from where we left off.  My assignment from the Lord is to show you from the word of God what it sounds like when God speaks.

We've been in a series now for month based out of Mark 11. One of the most important messages we have ever received from Jesus. No matter what you are facing right now or going through. You don't have any problems, all you need is faith in God.So far we have looked at why faith is important? (4 reasons) And, we have looked at what faith is? (Vines definition). We are now looking at how to get faith, how faith comes.

We've been in a series now for month based out of Mark 11.  One of the most important messages we have ever received from Jesus.  No matter what you are facing right now or going through.  You don't have any problems, all you need is faith in God. So far we have looked at why faith is important? And, we have looked at what faith is?

We are now beginning the part of this series where we will talk about how to have faith in God.  So far we have covered why this message from Jesus is so important.  And we've also covered what it means to have faith in God.The question for today is are you fully persuaded?  Because if there is any part of this verse that would be difficult or the part that would mess us up it would be the "and does not doubt in his heart" part.

 My assignment in this series is to make clear this message that Jesus is sending to you which is the answer to anything that you are up against or that you are dealing with - Have Faith in God.  Why is this message so important?  It's because we are commanded to live by faith, without faith it's impossible to please God, God Himself operates by faith, and it's how we access grace.So what does He mean when He says, "Have faith in God."  Do this, this way.  The Bible does not redefine faith, it redirects it.  Faith is simply a firm persuasion.  A conviction based upon hearing.

The focus for today however is for us to learn to have faith in our Heavenly Father. We're not just talking about a salesperson persuading you... This is your Father! Not about having faith in a brand, etc.

 Two weeks ago we started a new series with this message from Jesus.  I may not know what mountains you are facing right now but I do know that you are at the foot of a mountain.  This message is what to do at the foot of a mountain.  Have faith in God.  And Jesus absolutely meant what He said when He was referring to a literal mountain.

My assignment is to show you from the word of God why this is message from Jesus is important.  We are also looking at what does it mean to Have Faith in God.  And we will also need to look at how to Have Faith in God.

My assignment this morning is to show you from the word of God that Jesus had to use His faith to be raised from the dead.  What we are to take away from our celebration today is that just like Jesus had to use His faith, we have to use our faith to see what feels dead in our lives resurrected.  If any part of you or your life feels dead, your faith and the power of the Holy Spirit can bring it back to life!

Title.  I feel led by the Holy Spirit to take some time over the next few weeks to give you some advice concerning marriage.  I've been counseling for over two decades and its something I do on a weekly basis.  There are five points of advice and I want you to help me unpack them for your benefit.Pre-Marital & Marriage Advice#1 - Get help#2 - Become a student#3 - Understand the assignment #4 - Be aware of Five Major Areas#5 - Get good at CommunicatingLast week we covered #1 - Get help...ILL:  Gym scene#2 - Become a studentYou should be 'enrolled' in continuing education classes. Who taught you how?#3 - Understand the Assignment

I feel led by the Holy Spirit to take some time over the next few weeks to give you some advice concerning marriage. I've been counseling for over two decades and its something I do on a weekly basis. There are five points of advice and I want you to help me unpack them for your benefit.

Pre-Marital & Marriage Advice

#1 - Get help

#2 - Become a student

#3 - Understand the assignment

#4 - Five Major Areas

#5 - Get good at communicating

This question came up in my heart as I was praying about today's service. Immediately I can imagine that there would be many that would say no and some who would say yes. But I am asking you this by the Holy Spirit, for you to consider this question this week concerning your finances.

We started two weeks ago on a mini-series called Financial Miracles.  Anybody believing to be a Financial Miracle?  Anybody believing to receive a Financial Miracle?  A miracle is a supernatural intervention into the ordinary course of things.  You should never get to the place in this life where you're not expecting the miracle working power of God.  So with that I have challenged you to believe to be and receive a Financial Miracle.

This passage in Deuteronomy actually teaches us Why We Need Financial Miracles.

The biggest lesson begins in verse two but is the essence of what we are to learn and that is this, Don't Forget God.

When it comes to money, don't forget God.  When you don't know where the money is going to come from, don't forget God.  When it seems your back is up against a wall, don't forget God.

Judgement Day is coming.  My job is to get you ready.  As they that give account. Your church, your pastor is one of the most important relationships in your life as it relates to you accomplishing the will of God in every area of your life.  It is one of five God joined relationships and its critical to you finishing.

Five God joined relationships

#1 - Be Faithful to God (call of God)

#2 - Be Faithful to Your Spouse (Your Future Spouse)

#3 - Be Faithful to Your Pastor (Your Church)

#4 - Be Faithful to Your Family (Your Faith Family)

#5 - Be Faithful to Your Job

My assignment today from the Lord is to show you from the Word that Your church is a big part of your life's purpose. Your church is the entity through which you are to fulfill your call and ministry. Your involvement with your church is how you demonstrate that you love God more than anything.

Last week we looked at six things that could cause you not to finish the race that God has set before you.  #1 - Loving something else more than you love God.  #2 - Weights - Burdens - Baggage;  #3 - Sinning; #4 - Losing Focus; #5 - Weariness; #6 - Discouragement. I thought I was finished but the Lord quickened unto me that there is another in this passage; and that is The Stumbling Block of Bitterness.

We are continuing today our series which is more than just another series. I believe this is a prophetic message from the Lord. God is saying to you, "Be faithful to finish." And even more specifically the word of the Lord has come unto me for this new season that we are embarking upon in 2023. He's saying, "Focus on Finishing." Finish what?

Finish the race - finish your race. Finish your purpose.

My assignment today is to challenge you to Run to Win! And to show you from the word of God three things that will cause you NOT to finish your race.

The words I had fainted are not in the original text.  The translators added them to hopefully bring clarity.  But it seems like David was saying I don't know what I would have done unless I had believed to see the goodness of the Lord in his lifetime.  Fainted in other places in the Bible means overwhelmed.  I heard Dr. Dollar define it as to cave in, to give up, to throw in the towel, or to quit.  So have you ever been to that place where you would have fainted?

Recently as of this past week, a young man in California committed suicide and it made national news.  It is a tragedy in and of itself but they also remarked about the timing of it.  If you have ever felt overwhelmed by something then I need you to hear me today.  There are some storms in life that can come against so severely that they can make you want to quit.

Today we are picking up right where we left off last week.  So if you missed it please go back and listen to part 2 of this series.

How many more days, weeks months or years do you and I have before we die?

Recently someone in our Faith Family departed and it was unexpected.  She was just 69 years old.  Our dad recently went home to be with the Lord and he was only 76 years old.  The CDC reports that the average lifespan in the United States is 76.1.  For men 73.2 and for women 79.1.  What's interesting is that Moses in this psalm pointed out that the children of Israel that were with him in the wilderness were dying between 70-80 years.  Yet Moses himself lived to be 120 years old.

How important is your purpose to you?   We are in a new series as we are finishing out this year and heading into the next.  This is a prophetic message from the Lord as He is giving us another opportunity to shift our focus on what matters most to Him and on us finishing our course.  We started a series two weeks ago by asking a few questions.

Do you know that your time is short?

How important is your purpose to you?   We are in a new series as we are finishing out this year and heading into the next.  This is a prophetic message from the Lord as He is giving us another opportunity to shift our focus on what matters most to Him and on us finishing our course.  We started a series two weeks ago by asking a few questions.

Do you know that your time is short?

The Goodness of Thanksgiving for the Giver

I believe that is message is prophetic.  That through it God is giving us directions concerning the future.  He is giving us the opportunity once again to focus our lives on what matters most, because He knows our time is short.

Do you know that your time is short?

We are concluding today something that we have been looking at for months.  This scripture has changed my life; how I approach God and the things of God.  It's so profound.  So we first took time to learn from the Bible How to Honor The Lord. Presence, Words/Worship, Service, & Substance. But then in this series we have taken time to learn what it looks like When God Honors You. It's in the same way...

We are concluding today what to me has been a really powerful series on the subject of worship.  We have learned in this series how to use our worship of God as a weapon against our enemy the devil.  Worship stills the enemy because it Manifests His Presence.  Imagine being in a fight and God shows up!  Then, we looked at an Old Testament example of A True Worshipper.

Faith over Culture #3 - Halloween & the Church

09.11.22

When you honor Him with your presence, He will honor you with His presence.

And when He honors you with His presence that means that the Lord is WITH you! The spirit of God has been saying that to us lately. God being with you is a big deal. The Lord was with Joseph and as a result he was a prosperous man. God was WITH Daniel in the lions den. The Lord was with Paul when he was in the midst of a storm. Even in the midnight hour...

The King and the outlaw series is probably one of the most important series to us as a church family. It puts into perspective for us the reality that we live in. Jesus is The King. The devil, demons and evil spirits are outlaws. And the Bible instructs us to fight the good fight of faith against these enemies. So Do you know how to fight?

In the new series called Worship, we are going to train you in the word of God by precept and example how to fight. The goal of the series is to teach you how to use the weapon of worship to fight your battles in the spirit.

We are concluding today this series called Serve The Lord. The Bible says that we are to Serve The Lord with gladness! Everybody in the family of God needs to be doing something in the house of God.

I am concluding today this teaching called The Great Misunderstanding.  One of the most misunderstood subjects in the Church today is the subject of Tithing.  I wonder if that is the reason why about 90+% of Christians don't tithe.

Christ over Culture

One of the most misunderstood subjects in Christianity is the subject of tithing.  Another is the baptism of the Holy Spirit and speaking in other tongues.  The Bible talks about both of them in the Old Testament and New Testament but very few Christians actually give God 10% of their income or speak with tongues.

Over the past couple of weeks I have endeavored by the Holy Ghost to shed some light on the subject of tithing.  My assignment today is to tell you not to throw the baby out with the bath water!  Although tithing is not directly commanded in the New Testament, it is something that still absolutely honors God and as a result comes with promises, rewards and benefits.

Prosper Always

Everyone of us should Serve The Lord.  The Bible instructs us to Serve Him.  I want to encourage you today to Serve Him.  The big question in this teaching is what do you do to Serve The Lord?  Attendance and worshipping and offerings are all a part of honoring the Lord, but they are not serving Him.

Having one of the best years of your life financially starts with tithing?! Why? I thought you said that we don't have to tithe. Yes. And you don't have to pray either, but you should. Why tithe? Because Tithing is about Honor.

I am being led of the Lord today to talk about Honor Rewards & Benefits.  Recently there has been a series of teaching on the subject of grace about tithing that has rocked the Body of Christ.  In thinking, praying and meditating along these lines I have come upon something that I want to present to you for your consideration.

I've been wanting to do a study with you on firstfruit offerings for years but couldn't seem to find the right time.  However, to help you understand tithing and its place in our New Testament Christianity better, it will actually help us to study firstfruit offerings.

In a recent series we learned How to Honor The Lord.  Three of the four are in this one verse.  It is in me to take some time to really challenge you from the Scriptures to Serve The Lord.  To actually get involved in the service of our God.  We asked the question, "How do you serve The Lord?"  What do you do for God?  Come to church, give in the offerings, pray, etc.  All of those are good things but they are not serving Him.

At the end of the message today I am going to ask everyone who considers FFC your Faith Family to serve on one of our nine essential teams.  Even if you are a regular visitor, I am asking everybody to be a part of one of these teams, and here is why.  It is NOT ok to NOT do anything for God.

One of our leaders in the Body of Christ recently has been preaching a series about tithing that has sent shockwaves throughout the church world.  About ten years ago this leader helped me see somethings in Scripture specifically concerning tithing that through continued study on the subject has led to what I believe is the key revelation on the subject for the entire Body of Christ.

However, how he is preaching the message series is a little bit different than I believe.  More significantly, it is a lot different than many of the other leading elders in the church world.  Even some of them have responded by doubling down on how they've been preaching it by addressing the issue this week in the churches they pastor.

But even prior to their response I had direction to go over with you once again what the Bible says about the subject, to give you the opportunity to understand tithing the right way.

Let me start by saying what I have been preaching for about the past ten years - There is NO direct commandment in the New Testament to a Christian to tithe.  We DON'T have to tithe, we get to tithe.

Now, in order to properly understand tithing we must first go back to where tithing began.

Those who honor God, God will honor.

Through this series we are learning how to honor God. There are four ways the Bible teaches us that we can honor The Lord.

Honor Him with your presence

Honor Him with your worship

Honor Him with your service

Honor Him with Your Substance

Who are the kings that Jesus is king of?  We’ve been talking about the king and the outlaw for 15 weeks now.  Jesus is the king and the devil and the fallen angels are outlaws in the earth. They are the reason bad things are still happening in the world around us.  Jesus did defeat them at the resurrection but He gave us the authority and the command to occupy till He comes.

So we are to be doing the works of Jesus. He came to undo what the devil did. So when we see the works of the devil… we should get involved.  Jesus cast out devils.  And you and I should be doing the same things.  But we’ve got to make sure that we know how to use the Name. You don’t want to run up against a devil and you don’t know how to answer the question “who are you?”

My assignment today is to show you the answer to the question.  Because you are the kings that He is king of. "I am a king that He is King of!"

Over the past several weeks for our prosperity message we've been talking about How to Honor the Lord.  I hope you know that we will not prosper financially if we are disrespectful to God.  First, we learned to honor Him with our presence.  It is disrespectful to God for you to not come to church every Sunday.

Secondly, we learned to honor Him with our worship.  What we say or sing about the Lord and with what we say or sing to the Lord.

But who are you?  Last week we learned how we are to take possession of what God has already given unto us.  You are to Use Your Key.  Jesus commanded us, "Occupy Til I Come."  We are to control and take possession by using the name of Jesus.  But who are you?

One thing we need to make sure of is that you know how to use your key the right way. This group tried it and it didn't work.

Jesus has already given you the keys you need to take possession of what already belongs to you.  It's not something that you need to get, but something you have already been given.  Say it out loud, "I have the keys of the Kingdom."

Tonight we begin the How-to part of this series.  The single most important relationship that a person will ever have in their life is their marriage relationship.  More important than their parents, children, pastor, friend, you name it.  As a result it is seriously important to know how to pray and to pray for your spouse.  We are about building strong marriages and this series is designed for that purpose.

In this series we want to teach you from the word of God how to build a strong marriage through prayer.  A prerequisite to this series is our series on How to Pray for a Loved One.  There are 7 Spirit Anointed Prayers that we taught and in praying for your spouse or future spouse you will want to pray for them.  In addition to these seven prayers there are some very specific things that you should pray.

Having done years of counseling there are systemically 5 areas in a marriage that a break down or failure in any one of these areas can ultimately lead to a divorce.  In marriage counseling we especially focus on four of the five, and in particular there is one area that is most important than the other four.

#1  Personal Relationship with God through Jesus

#2. Communication

#3. Money

#4. Sex

#5. Children

(Career, Extended Family, Friends, etc.)

Respectfully then, we are going to learn how to pray over each of these major components of marriage.

God says in 1 Samuel 2:30, "Those who honor Me, I will honor.  And those who despise Me shall be lightly esteemed."  So we started a new series a couple weeks ago to essentially learn how to honor The Lord the right way.  We preach prosperity but it is important for us to know that we are not going to prosper like God intends if we are in any way disrespectful to the Lord.

There are four ways to honor the Lord that the Bible teaches (presence, worship, service, substance).  #1 you honor Him with your presence.  I challenged you last week to make an adjustment in your heart and life overall, that come Sunday morning you will find yourself somewhere in a church.

The great supper in Luke 14:16 also refers to what The Lord prepares for us to eat spiritually each week at church.  He has invited you to attend every week and has sent me to extend the invitation to you.

I want to pick right up from where we left off last week. We were challenged in that message to Take Possession of what we don't have yet manifested. The problem with that is that the spiritual outlaws in this world are in possession of some of the money and things that God has given us.

Are you afraid of the giants that are in your land?

This whole series was and is designed to deemphasize and belittle the devil and the perception of his powers and abilities against you. So it is my assignment today to declare to you by God, Don't Be Afraid of the giants...

There is a calling on Faith Family Church to Build Strong Marriages.  We don't take that lightly.  This series is designed to do just that.

Last week we talked about the fact that Prayer Changes People... but not against their will.  People don't change people.  I've been involved in counseling for over 20 years and I see it all the time.  People try to change people, but it doesn't work.  Prayer Changes People...

In a previous series I covered seven different prayers you can pray for people you love.  The Holy Spirit unctioned me today that I missed one of the most important ways to pray for people and that it to pray in the Spirit.  So we have our next series after this one!

Prayer changes people... but not against their will

So we are starting a new series today called...

Why is it not good for a man or woman to be alone?

Remember the assignment in marriage

The assignment in marriage is to love your spouse the way God loves them and at the highest level humanly possible.

Not everyone is called or assigned to be married

I am going to do my best today to try to help you understand spiritually what happened on this past Tuesday and what needs to be happening now as a result.  So please listen very carefully.

The Apostle John is recording for us a vision revealed to Him by our Lord Jesus.  In this vision He sees things both from the far past and far future.  Even unto the times that we are living in right now.  In this moment in chapter 12, he is talking about what happened in what we could call the beginning.  We know that in the beginning God made the heavens and the earth.  The earth is 4.54 billions years old according to scientists.  In the beginning when God created the heavens we know that God created the angels, which we understand now are different than human beings.  They are spirit beings like us, but they don't have physical bodies nor do they have freedom of choice.  Lucifer who is called the devil and satan is a fallen angel.  He is no god of this world.  There is only one God, beside Him there is none other.  Jesus, talking about the devil, said that satan has been a murderer from the beginning.

Not only was the devil cast out of heaven to the earth, but also a third of the angels were cast out with him.  They are now in the earth and are what we refer to as demons or evil spirits.

So John is seeing the essence of this and in this vision he hears this cry from heaven...