Preparing for worship at NRN on Sunday January 11 2015

BURRR!  The coldest weather of the Winter has settled in North Carolina. One of the warmest places in the area will be Sunday Morning at 10:45am at North Raleigh Church of the Nazarene!  I am really excited about what God has spoken into my spirit to preach tomorrow at NRN! I am praying for an excellent day in the Presence of the Lord! 

Here is the planned order of worship. We make our plans p but God has the final word!  Come prepared for worship as you entering into God's House this Sunday.





We begin with a warm welcome and call to worship - then stand to sing to the Lord:




It is good to greet one another and welcome all those gathered around us! 




We pause for the announcements.  In today's culture many churches do not make announcements as part of their worship - however our announcements are always focus on a purpose - to provide opportunities to grow in your spiritual life - serve in helping others - and fellowship as the church meets to laugh!  As we bring our offerings to the Lord in gratitude we honor the Lord who provides all things to us!  

We pray together....

Things Are Not Always The Way They Seem

Be not forgetful to entertain strangers: for thereby some have entertained angels unawares.  Hebrews 13:2 KJV

Two traveling angels stopped to spend the night in the home of a wealthy family. The family was rude and refused to let the angels stay in the mansion’s guest room.  Instead the angels were given a space in the cold basement.

As they made their bed on the hard floor, the older angel saw a hole in the wall and repaired it. When the younger angel asked why, the older angel replied, “Things aren't always what they seem.”

The next night the pair came to rest as the home of a very poor, but very hospitable farmer and his wife. After sharing what little food they had, the couple let the angels sleep in their bed where they could have a good night’s rest. When the sun came up the next morning the angels found the farmer and his wife in tears. Their only cow, whose milk had been their sole income, lay dead in the field.

The younger angel was infuriated and asked the older angel, “How could you have let this happen!? The first man had everything, yet you helped him,” the angel accused. “The second family had little but was willing to share everything, and you let their cow die.”

“Things aren't always what they seem,” the older angel replied. “When we stayed in the basement of the mansion, I noticed there were gold bars stored in that hole in the wall. Since the owner was so obsessed with greed and unwilling to share in his good fortune, I sealed the wall so he wouldn't find it. Then, last night as we slept in the farmer’s bed, the angel of death came for his wife. I told the death angel to take the cow instead.   Things aren't always that they seem.”

Some times this is exactly what happens when things don’t turn out the way we think they should. If you have faith in God, just trust that every outcome is always to your advantage. You might not realize it until much later.

DCPI Coming to North Raleigh Church of the Nazarene

The last week of this month we are hosting a significant event at North Raleigh Church of the Nazarene.  Recently the Church of the  Nazarene and the Wesleyan Church entered into a partnership with DCPI - Dynamic Church Planting International. 

The training material provided by DCPI will assist churches to plant churches across North America. In North Carolina  - our goal is to see a Church of the Nazarene in every one of the 100 counties in our state by 2025. 

This 10 year goal is possible if every pastor and ever church consider their role in church planting.   

DCPI has perfected a method based upon Biblical Principals that has resulted in the planting of over 2 million churches around the world! It is an honor to join in partnership with them in bringing this training and movement of God to North America. 

 For specific information about DCPI – check out their web site HERE  

The DCPI training consists of three segments:

 CPE – Church Planting Essentials is a 21 hour training to assist potential church planters and pastors wanting to assist in church planting to understand the Biblical outline for planting a church.  The training deals with developing a launch team, building a process of discipleship and developing a time line for the steps in planting a church.

CPC – Churches Planting Churches  is a 21 hour training to assist every pastor in understanding the Biblical principles of church planting; helping your church develop a vision for church planting and the steps to lead your church into planting churches.

CT – Certified Training is designed to equip you in teaching the materials of the segments listed above.  You will learn the DCPI reporting process and steps that need to be taken for you to be certified as an teacher and the steps to become a Master Teacher to certify others who what to help perpetuate the training process throughout our district! 

Already several pastors from North Carolina have registered for this event. 

We also have trainers and other pastors registered from other states including, Alabama, Georgia, Mississippi, Missouri, South Carolina, Virginia and Washington. 

If you desire more information how you can assist in making this event a reality - if you wish to register - if you can help as a volunteer - please leave a comment with an email address or phone number and I will respond to you asap! 

Prayer Encounter this evening at NRN

This evening the cold air invades North Carolina and as we gather for our first corporate prayer encounter of 2015 the cold air will be evident – and I pray that as we gather, God will invade our presence as we pray. Here is a short primer  for our time together this evening!  Written by Oswald Chambers: 

May your whole spirit, soul, and body be preserved blameless…

                                                                        —1 Thessalonians 5:23

“Your whole spirit….” The great, mysterious work of the Holy Spirit is in the deep recesses of our being which we cannot reach. Read Psalm 139. 

The psalmist implies— “O Lord, You are the God of the early mornings, the God of the late nights, the God of the mountain peaks, and the God of the sea. But, my God, my soul has horizons further away than those of early mornings, deeper darkness than the nights of earth, higher peaks than any mountain peaks, greater depths than any sea in nature.  You who are the God of all these, be my God. I cannot reach to the heights or to the depths; there are motives I cannot discover, dreams I cannot realize. My God, search me.”

Do we believe that God can fortify and protect our thought processes far beyond where we can go? “…the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin” (1 John 1:7). 

If this verse means cleansing only on our conscious level, may God have mercy on us. The man who has been dulled by sin will say that he is not even conscious of it. But the cleansing from sin we experience will reach to the heights and depths of our spirit if we will “walk in the light as He is in the light”. 

The same Spirit that fed the life of Jesus Christ will feed the life of our spirit. It is only when we are protected by God with the miraculous sacredness of the Holy Spirit that our spirit, soul, and body can be preserved in pure uprightness until the coming of Jesus-no longer condemned in God’s sight.

We should more frequently allow our minds to meditate on these great, massive truths of God.

Join us this evening at 6:30 meeting in the Fireside Room! 

Come, Follow me....

"Jesus Calls the Disciples" by Duccio.  

Come follow me.  

Three simple words drenched with implications.  Before those words could be uttered Jesus had to determine that he was going to open his life to those he extended the invitation to.  He had to be willing to be fully seen and fully known.  

Seen and known as he speaks  to thousands AND seen and known as he wrestles privately with the weight of who he was created to be.  The implications are no different for those he invited.  Responding meant they also would be fully seen and fully known.  Seen and known as companions of this radical AND seen and known in the everydayness of their lives by the Son of God.

The journey of discipleship starts here really.  It starts with us asking ourselves, "Are we willing to be seen and known?"  It's then we can drop our nets and follow Jesus.

What margin are we creating in our lives to invite others to join us on our journey?  Today, who's invitation to "Come follow me as I follow Christ" do we need to respond to? 

 To whom do we need to say "Come follow me as I follow Christ?"  

Bible Reading Plans for 2015

A friend, explaining her recent burst of spiritual growth said, "Bible study.  I've read casually it all along -- but this year, I started studying it, and that's when I began to grow." 

 What is your plan to read and study the Bible in 2015?  If you fail to plan, you plan to fail.







Nathan W. Bingham has posted several excellent Bible Reading plans at the Ligonier website.  Anyone interested in digging into Scripture will find something good here: Bible Reading Plans for 2015.

Bible Gateway also offers several outstanding plans that can be sent directly to your smartphone or computer:  Bible Gateway Reading Plans.

Other Bible study tools can be found at Bible Hub.

A Bible that is falling apart is usually owned by somebody who isn't!

My message from today at NRN - Instructions for life Pt 1 - KNOW GOD

Pt. 1   KNOW GOD

Intro: What does it mean to know God? More to the point, does it really mean what we think it means? 



While trying to avoid confusion, these are critical questions for each of us to ask. The phrase “know God” is a fairly familiar one in the Church and other Christian circles. It is even familiar enough that it has moved from being a phrase that communicates the real condition of a person’s soul to a phrase that we use like some sort of insider jargon. It’s one of those things that we say as Christians that, without meaning to, we strip of depth of meaning. It sounds like the right thing to say. We believe we should know God.

In the Old Testament we read a fascinating account as King David is coming the last days of his life and is considering his legacy.  God has revealed to him that he would not build the temple to God because he was  a man of war.  One of David’s sons would be selected to build the Temple. David gives his sons these final words to remember:  

“And you, Solomon my son, know the God of your father and serve him with a whole heart and with a willing mind, for the Lord searches all hearts and understands every plan and thought. If you seek him, he will be found by you, but if you forsake him, he will cast you off forever. Be careful now, for the Lord has chosen you to build a house for the sanctuary; be strong and do it.”                                                                      1 Chronicles 28:9-10

What does it mean to know God?

1. _FACTS

The Lord our God keeps certain things hidden. But he makes other things known to us and to our children forever. He does it so we can obey all the words of this law.                           Deuteronomy 29:29

JESUS: He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation.  For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him. And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together.                                                                                              Colossians 1:15-17 ESV

2. FAITH

Lord, those who know you will trust in you.

You have never deserted who look to you.  Psalm 9:10

Trust in the Lord with all your heart.
    Do not depend on your own understanding.
 In all your ways obey him.
    Then he will make your paths smooth and straight.  Proverbs 3:5-6

“My Father has given all things to me. The Father is the only one who knows the Son. And the only ones who know the Father are the Son and those to whom the Son chooses to make him known.                                                                                  Matthew 11:27

For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you profess your faith and are saved.                                                                                   Romans 10:10 ESV

The scripture says, “Whoever believes in him will not be disappointed.”                                         Romans 10:11 GNT

3. FOLLOW

They profess to know God, but they deny him by their works. They are detestable, disobedient, unfit for any good work.                  Titus 1:16

The Word was in the world. And the world was made through him. But the world did not recognize him.                                                       John 1:10

We know that we have come to know God if we obey his commands. Suppose someone says, “I know him.” But suppose this person does not do what God commands. Then this person is a liar and is not telling the truth. But if anyone obeys God’s word, then that person truly loves God. Here is how we know we belong to him. Those who claim to belong to him must live just as Jesus did.                                                                                                         1 John 2:3-4 NIRV

Closing: To truly follow Christ means He has become everything to us. Everyone follows something: friends, popular culture, family, selfish desires, or God. We can only follow one thing at a time. God states we are to have no other gods before Him. To truly follow Christ means we do not follow anything else.

Jesus said, "Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me." There is no such thing as a "halfway disciple." As the disciples demonstrated, no one can follow Christ by the strength of his own willpower. The Pharisees were good examples of those who were trying to obey God in their own strength. Their self-effort led only to arrogance and distortion of the whole purpose of God's Law.