Sunday, Dec. 18, 2005

Worship Service

Christ Church of the Internet

Invocation:

Almighty God, You have created and chosen us, called us, and chosen us to be Your people.We wait now to receive Your word of guidance and blessing. Grant unto us ears to hear, eyes to see, and faith to respond to Your love and leadership.In the precious name of Jesus Christ we pray.Amen.

~

Psalm for this week:

When the Lord turned again the captivity of Zion, we were like them that dream.

Then was our mouth filled with laughter, and our tongue with singing: then said they among the heathen:

The Lord has done great things in them.

The Lord hath done great things for us, whereof we are glad.

Turn again our captivity O Lord, as the streams in the south.

They that sow in tears, shall reap in joy.

He that goeth forth and weepeth, bearing precious seed, shall doubtless come again rejoicing, bringing his sheaves with him.

~

New Testament Scripture:

And I John saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.

I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, behold the tabernacle of God is with men, and He will dwell with them, and they shall be His people. And God Himself

shall be with them, and be their God.

And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, nor shall there be any more pain, for former things are passed away.

Revelations 21:2-4

Reading for Reflection:

We should try to be so closely united to our Lord, that we reproduce His life in our own, that our thoughts, and words, and actions shall proclaim His teaching, so that He reigns in us, lives in us. He so often enters within us in Holy Communion. May His Kingdom reign in us.

If He sends us happiness, let us accept it gratefully.

Like the Good Shepherd He sets us in a rich pasture to strengthen us to follow Him later into barren lands. If He sends us crosses, let us embrace them and say ‘Bona Cruz’ for this is the greatest grace of all. It means walking through life hand in hand with our Lord, helping Him to carry His Cross like Simon of Cyrene. It is our Beloved asking us to prove how much we love Him. Whether in mental suffering or bodily pain’ let us rejoice and tremble with joy.’Our Lord calls us and asks us to tell Him of our love and repeat it over and over again all through our sufferings.

Every cross, great or small, even small annoyances are the voice of the Beloved He is asking for a declaration of love from us to last whilst the suffering lasts.

Oh, when one thinks of this one would like the suffering to last forever. It will last as long as Our Lord

Wishes. However sweet the suffering may become to us we only desire it at such times as Our Lord sends it. Your will be done, my Brother Jesus and not mine. We long to forget ourselves, we ask nothing, only Your glory.

from Meditations of a Hermit by Charles D. Foucauld

Announcements:

1. I invite you to join me every morning at 0700 a.m. for rayer. On the ‘Contact Us’ page of our website you will find the message medium. It is a Correa Yahoo,(Yahoo Messenger). If you haven’t done so, pick a nick name for it and join us.
At present it is in writing, but we hope to add audio/video in the near future.

2.In the near future we will be announcing our trip to Branson, Mo. It will be a bus trip, and with hotel Accommodations. The price will be fair, and we will be offering the opportunity to pay in payments in advance of the date. Look for a blessed time and a fun time.

3. I have been asked if there is a possibility that we could arrange a trip to a mission field, where participants would be temporary missionaries. It is possible. There is possible a trip to Latin America or to the Philippines. It would not be until next fall. If any of you have interest in this Please e-mail us and let us know if you are interested and whether your interest is in the Philippines or in Latin America. We will also plan this far enough in advance that you will be able to pay for it in payments ahead of time.

Message for the week:

What Does it Mean to Have an

Intimate Relationship With the Lord?

By

George J. Conroy, Sr.

If you have been reading my sermons for a while or if you know me, then you know that I am constantly trying to help you to enter into an intimate relationship with Our Lord. You are probably thinking, “Well that sounds very nice, but how can I do that? I really don’t even know what such a relationship is or how is it different from being Saved by Jesus Christ?

My beloveds, it is a next step type of thing. First, upon hearing the Word, we are moved to seek eternal life through Jesus Christ. Then, as we continue on, we seek to have Him be our Lord as well as our Savior. This is like a hunger to have more of Him. Then some- one tells us about the Holy Spirit and how He resides in our bodies and is able to guide us. Then some of us learn to ‘speak in tongues.’Some get confused and say that ‘you must speak in tongues or you are not really a Christian.’That is not at all true. The people who say this to you are simply misguided and are trying to get you to have the same blessings they have as a result of this strange language. The “heavenly language” is used to bless the individual doing the speaking, giving him or her the opportunity to be guided by the Holy Spirit to Jesus Christ, who then intercedes to the Father. That is the “chain of command” in the Church at large.

So, when you have received the gift of a “holy language” you will have greater access to Jesus. I always praise and worship Him first. I might already sense His presence or I might have to use my heavenly language to bring me to the point of being in His presence. Once there, I just talk to Him about whatever is on my mind. I feel as though I actually am with Him.

There is nothing that I can’t ask about or talk about. I am in His presence. There is so much love and holiness there, that I can’t help but be changed.

There is a Bible verse that says, “Pray without ceasing.”(I Thessalonians 5:17)We all know that we are not expected to be walking around with our eyes closed, speaking in a special tone and manner that seems to be such a good show. That is foolishness. Praying without ceasing is keeping Him close.When I am driving, I often talk to Him. I wait for Him to talk to me. Personally, it becomes lonely when you are having a one way conversation. I would get tired of my own voice rapidly. The most wonderful part is allowing Him to talk to me. Sometimes, He might correct me on something I have thought or said. Other times He may just be guiding me into another area of thought or He may just offer His love. All of it is so very precious that I don’t want to leave His presence. He may speak to me in a quiet soothing voice that I more or less sense. In other words, He just allows me to see a Bible verse more clearly and see how it relates to me in some special manner. Sometimes, He may speak through someone else. I have been greatly blessed, on occasion when He spoke through someone else. It is not always a pastor or such. He has spoken to me through an act or action that I witness. My wife, my daughter and I spent a year driving around the country, preparing to go south of the border as a missionary team. During that year, we spoke to Him constantly. He seemed to be right there in the car with us. At times we actually heard His voice. When we all needed a slight change in attitude, we all felt Him with us, correcting us, showing our sins. These turned out to be some of the most rewarding times with Him. We might cry to know that we had erred, yet He corrected us, at times sternly, but always with a love that is so strong and powerful, it almost seems tangible…something you can reach out and touch.

If you were in an intimate relationship with a person of the opposite sex, you would seize every possible moment to speak with them and you wouldn’t want to do all the speaking. You would want to hear their thoughts. You would want to know her better. It is such a wonderful part of the romantic relationship, why would being intimate with the Lord be any different? Of course, carnality would not enter, but I can honestly tell you that this intimacy with the Lord has that beat by a million times. If you are not in an intimate relationship with the Lord, believe me, it is you that suffers the loss.

One of the rewards of constant intimacy with Him is that you find yourself doing things that He has always wanted you to do, but you were afraid to try. Things just have a way of happening. Have you ever walked through a park and noticed a man or a woman sitting alone on a park bench looking forlorn and sad? You would love to go over and share your Lord with them, but right away, your mind told you that you can’t do that because he or she will reject your offer of love. The enemy throws all kinds of thoughts your way to convince you to avoid what you know God wants of you.

When you are in this kind of relationship, almost anything can happen. I have walked up to a group of young men who were talking and laughing, asked one to the side and prophesied to him, telling him sins that he was committing, what God wanted of him. Then I took his hands in my own and prayed for him. On the occasions when this happened, I did not know the young fellow at all. In every single case, the young man knew right away that it was the Lord speaking through me and he made every effort to obey the Lord. Often this person has become one of my closer friends. Do you think I could walk up to a wild looking gang of guys on a street corner and take control of the conversation and lead them to the Lord? I would normally fear the results, and make all kinds of excuses, but  when you are in intimacy with Him, whatever He asks of you, you want to do. Nothing can stop you.You are excited and full of Him and full of His love. If Christ be in you, who can be against you?

Don’t get me wrong. I wish I could say that every moment of my life, I am walking and talking with Him, but that would be a lie. Living in our flesh in this world, our mind is often distracted by circumstances. The evil one can and often does offer distractions, trying to seduce you into his life.There are moments, that you miss the mark. He has thrown a wonderful opportunity your way, but you can’t see it because you are too busy thinking about yourself and things around you. You will not be perfect until He takes you home with Him permanently. You will fail. Do not be hard on yourself. J. Paul Getty, at the time the world’s richest man, told me, “Failure is the greatest stepping stone to Success.” When you fail the Lord, you become aware of your error, you confess it to Him, and you tell Him that you honestly want to repent. He will “bless your socks off” when this happens. I love that exclamation. I learned it from a dear friend and a person who is one of His special people that teach me and encourage me and let me know when I am off base.

I picked that phrase up from listening to Linda Markowitz, and I like it.

When you have an acquaintance who is a special person in the Lord, who just constantly is optimistic and able to see things through “rose colored glasses”, yet be down to earth; when that person is able to teach you a lot by their life example, you grab hold of their coat-tails and hang on for dear life. Don’t let them get away from you. His or her wisdom and optimistic example will be wonderful for you. You will find yourself thinking of Him and wanting to talk with Him constantly. We all get a little off base in our theology or doctrine at times. These wonderful people who are strong like Linda are there to get you straight. Linda just seems to make one’s walk with the Lord easier to attain. In her presence, no matter what the conversation may be, or where you are, you just know that He is close at hand. What a wonderful blessing!

I want to close this by reminding you first of a very old and beloved hymn…In the Garden. I come to the garden alone while the dew is still on the roses and a voice I hear when I tarry there…..and He walks with me and He talks with me. The writer is talking from his heart expressing the love he or she experiences walking in solitude with the Lord.

And there is another old hymn, not quite as well known. This is one of my very favorite songs:

Since I started for the kingdom

Since my life He controlled

Since I gave my heart to Jesus

The longer I serve Him

The longer I serve Him the sweeter He grows.

That is my comment about my own relationship with Him. Every moment of every day, something new is there for me to enjoy or to learn. Every minute seems so much sweeter than the one before. It really is true:

The more I love Him,

The more love He bestows.

Benediction:

Today, my beloveds, walk in the power, peace and grace of our Lord. Walk with the Lover of your soul.

Amen