Friday, August 5, 2022

A demonstration of the Spirit's power to preach Christ crucified!

 



Please click this link for the video version:   https://youtu.be/y385oUNUSMM 


Bible in one year by Nicky Gumbel:

Nicky Gumbel's Bible in one year today:


Silence

1.   Put on your “brakes” and stop for a moment of silence
2.   Wait for God. Breathe deep for God's peace and feel His presence. Exhale your worries.

Praise and Thanksgiving

1.   Think through your day, all the times that made you smile
2.   Thank God for all those moments, and for all those people
3.   Sing a song to praise God (you are welcome to use "Father, I adore you" which I have been singing every morning for the past 20 years or your own choice to praise God)

          Father, I adore You, lay my life before You, how I love You.
          Jesus, I adore You, lay my life before You, how I love You.
          Spirit, I adore You, lay my life before You, how I love You.
      

Confession and Repentance (Subjective Shifting Devotion Method https://bishopsilas.blogspot.com/2009/08/count-down-5-subject-shifting-devotion.html

1.  Pray for the Holy Spirit to shine on you that you are able to discover your sins and be willing to repent:


     “Dear Holy Spirit, shine your light into the places of darkness in my life. Show me my sins, everything that blocks me from encountering God and having Jesus as my Lord. In Jesus’ name I pray, Amen.”



2.  Through the Holy Spirit, examine yourself for a short silence and then pray:

     "Dear Lord Jesus, thank you for dying on the cross for our sins and being victorious over death and sin. I confess my sins to you(pause, to tell Jesus what the Holy Spirit has shown you). Forgive my sins by your blood and help me follow you. Holy Spirit, fill me that I may be able to receive your gifts to love God and His people. In Jesus Name I pray, Amen."

3.  John Stott's daily prayer of Christlikeness (Christopher J.H. Wright, Cultivating the fruit of the Spirit. Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2017, 13)

(Please click this link to see how God used John Stott to change my life:https://bishopsilas.blogspot.com/2009/07/

           "Heavenly Father, I pray that this day I may live in your presence and please you more and more.

             Lord Jesus, I pray that this day I may take up my cross and follow you.

             Holy Spirit, I pray that this day you will fill me with yourself and cause your fruit to ripen in my life: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control."


    
    The link to today's Time with Abba passages:   http://api.pastoralcareschool.org/twa/
    Time with Abba passages: (Psalm 83:9-18, Ezra 1:1-2:70; 1 Corinthians 1:18-2:5; Proverbs 20:22-23)

    Today's key passage: 

     22 Jews demand signs and Greeks look for wisdom, 23 but we preach Christ crucified: a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles, 24 but to those whom God has called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. 

      And so it was with me, brothers and sisters. When I came to you, I did not come with eloquence or human wisdom as I proclaimed to you the testimony about God.[c] For I resolved to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ and him crucified. I came to you in weakness with great fear and trembling. My message and my preaching were not with wise and persuasive words, but with a demonstration of the Spirit’s power, so that your faith might not rest on human wisdom, but on God’s power.
     
      1 Corinthians 1:22-24, 2:1-5


    Let's have a time to be still and give the Holy Spirit space to speak through the passage we have just read. Offer this time to Jesus as you listen to him.    

    My Listening
    The topic I received today isA demonstration of the Spirit's power to preach Christ crucified!

    We learn from Paul through yesterday's message of the cunning scheme of Satan to break that intimate relationship of God's people causing divisions and separations in churches. 

    In today's passage, Paul tells us why the Church has stepped into Satan's trap causing divisions and separations and losing the power of the Gospel. It's all because of these two reasons:
    1. Cannot demonstrate the power of the Holy Spirit
        When churches and Christians have lost the power to demonstrate the power of the Holy Spirit, lots of time many churches have become "clubs", and many Christians are only religious people without experiencing God's presence and nothing to witness!

    2. Have not preached Christ crucified
        When many churches ceased to preach Christ crucified, not teaching people to invite the Holy Spirit to reveal our sins so that we confess and repent, not leading people to experience transformation and to become more and more Christlike, churches would be only an organization, and Christians are only doing religious practices without experiencing God's presence and nothing to witness!

    Are you willing to demonstrate the power of the Holy Spirit and to preach Christ crucified?
     
     Dear Lord Jesus,  
     Lead us to be with you each day worshipping you as our Lord and King so that we can demonstrate the power of the Holy Spirit and to be able to preach Christ crucifiedIn Jesus Name we pray, Amen.
      

     Reflect on these questions:
     1. What inspiration have you received from today's catch?
      
      2.  What is your next step?

      Family Corner:
     Find an opportunity to share with your family the importance of today's message. 
     

     To know, learn and practice the method of Time with Abba, please click this link: https://www.pastoralcareschool.org

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