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Tag Archive - Bible Study

Kids Matter to God and to Us!

October 29, 2012 in Parenting, Tampa Church with Comments Off

Sunday, after church, I had a great conversation with a new Mom at Church at the Bay. She was giving me rave reviews of our kid’s ministry. If you have attended our Church- you know we put a lot of resources into our children’s ministry. I understand some folks reluctance to check their children in for the first time- so I thought I would share the email I received from this Mom I talked with…

“I wanted to show my appreciation to your church and the children ministry. We have been attending the church for about six months and when we first started going my daughter (age 7) never wanted to go to the children service by herself or without her friends, now she loves going to church. Last night she wasn’t feeling great and I told her she might not be able to go because of the low grade fever she had, this made her sad. So this morning when she woke up I checked her head to see if it was warm (it wasn’t), she then asked me if she was going to get to go to church and I said yes. She said YAY I love church! I am so thankful that she is so in to it. I feel great after every service and I’m so glad that I’ve been coming to your church.”

So if you serve in our children’s ministry- you are making an impact. Thank you Children’s Ministry Volunteers and leaders for providing incredible environments where Kids can experience the Love of God in terms they understand!!

A Must Read– And Experience!

October 16, 2012 in Bible Study, Tampa Church with Comments Off

I often talk about the vitality a Christ-Follower gains from a daily time in God’s Word. Many of you have found YouVersion.com to be a great place to experience God’s Word- because you can choose from so many different devotionals. So my post is directly from the YouVersion.com devotional called, “Teach Me to Pray”. This is a 14 day devotional that you can view from your smart phone, computer or pad. I will give you some links to follow after the devotional. The variety is amazing- there are plans that are 3 days long up to a year and everything in-between driven by topic or by book of the Bible.

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Characteristics of Powerful Prayer: For Others

We all have a selfish streak by nature. When we become aware that we are able to access God’s throne through prayer, our first instincts are to care only about ourselves. But just as spiritual growth helps us see the joy and fulfillment that come from serving other people, growth in prayer maturity leads us to think of other people’s needs before our own.

St. Paul invited his Asian brothers and sisters to pray for him while a prisoner in Rome, awaiting his trial in imperial court. “Pray also for me, that whenever I open my mouth, words may be given me so that I may fearlessly make known the mystery of the gospel, for which I am an ambassador in chains. Pray that I may declare it fearlessly, as I should” (Ephesians 6:19,20).

The formal word for this kind of praying is “intercession.” I personally have been sustained by the prayers of other wonderful people in stretches of my life when I have been too distracted or lazy to pray for myself. You will not know until you get to heaven how your life has been blessed by the faithful prayers of people who love you.

Could I dare to ask you to pray for me today so that I may proclaim the gospel fearlessly?

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2×4 Moment

June 5, 2012 in Bible Study, Tampa Church with 6 Comments

I am not sure how you do your daily devotions- but for the last year I have been using the daily bible readings from Youversion.com (it is a free resource that can be accessed by a smart phone, tablet or computer). One of the devotional plans I am reading right now is “Major Themes of the Bible”. I actually read them daily on my phone and then journal out my learning’s or as in today- my 2×4 Moment. Today’s passage was Romans 5 and these verses jumped out at me;

(2) Because of our faith, Christ has brought us into this place of undeserved privilege where we now stand, and we confidently and joyfully look forward to sharing God’s glory. (3) We can rejoice, too, when we run into problems and trials, for we know that they help us develop endurance.(4) And endurance develops strength of character, and character strengthens our confident hope of salvation.

In particular, verse 3 was my 2×4 Moment. My current habit is to rewrite the verse and personalize it- so my personalization of verse 3 looked like this;

I can (and should) rejoice when I run into problems and trials, because I know that they will help me develop endurance.

The last few days have proven to be full of problems and trials. And yet I let them take me down instead of rejoicing. The last few weeks I have been preaching about suffering and trials from Philippians- so I know better and told you so. It is interesting that when I preach on something- I often get to test it out in my own life. (So- off topic- I will be preaching about vacation and relaxing the rest of the summer ) Tthis morning, after the 2×4, I wrestled through and repented and then rejoiced that the Father was developing endurance in my life.

Something I have noticed is that when I refuse to rejoice with the understanding of what God is doing, I get focused on the problems of today and I don’t look forward and have a pity party (been there?) One of the most refreshing things about chasing a relationship with Jesus and not a rules based religion- is daily developing my relationship with Him. His Word is made alive to me by the Holy Spirit and can bring encouragement, instruction, correction and direction based on my heart condition at that moment. So I am grateful for God’s 2×4 Moments!

In conclusion- not only is Church at the Bay a great place for less than perfect people- they have a jacked up preacher who is less than perfect as well. Why not bring a friend this weekend and see what God does?

A Letter from Lockdown

May 15, 2012 in Tampa Church with Comments Off

We start a brand new series this weekend on the New Testament book of Philippians. Here is a little background: After his conversion to Christ, the Apostle Paul spent much of his time traveling the Mediterranean area starting churches. Whenever he started a church he would spend some time developing leaders and then he would hand off the church to the leaders, only to move on to start another church. We read in the book of Acts about the church Paul started in Philippi. The book (actually letter) of Philippians is written to the church that he started in Philippi. He writes this letter while he is in prison and encourages the church to pursue maturity in Christ and a life of joy. Can you imagine that? Paul is in an ancient prison and he is the encourager. The book of Philippians is only 4 chapters long and yet it is one of the most quoted books in the Bible. This study will encourage you to mature in Christ with an attitude of joy! Plan to attend every week and bring a friend.
By the way- would you like to see our Spoken Word segment from last Sunday- watch below