"We Are the Temple of the Holy Ghost"

By Bob Heirtzler

October 20th, 2013

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            What a powerful, powerful, move of God.  Four baptisms in Jesus’ name.  That is totally awesome.  God is moving.

            Well, you know that we’ve been going over the Book of Galatians.  Brother Tom Hanson, Chris Ulrich, and Brother Parrish Lee have gone over the Book of Galatians, and today is chapter 6.  Today, we’re revisiting the messages from the past fifty days.  I’m using the Scripture in Galatians chapter 6 verse 11, and Paul wrote,

Galatians 6:11            “Ye see how large a letter I have written unto you with mine own hand.”

            This was a letter to the church.  How many of you believe, by showing your hands, that this letter is still alive and kicking today in our lives?  Amen.  So, what’s written in the Word is for the rest of us, also, correct?  Amen.  So, I was trying, Parrish, to narrow it down to just one blessing per chapter, and I was just having a hard way to go; a hard, hard way to go.  Did you ever go to a family reunion, or a Thanksgiving meal, or a Christmas meal, or some special meal, and that one special person makes that one special dish for that special meal?  Like, mm-mm-mm type of meals?  You know?  Or, you might go to someone else’s house, and you know that they’re going to make that.  Or if they’re all gathered together in one spot, then you’re really in trouble, you’ve got to bring those plastic containers—that’s why I like going to Sonia’s house—so that you can bring leftovers home.  I pray, today, that we can keep going over Galatians and get a different meal out of it that meets what we need from the Book of Galatians.  I have gone over the Book of Galatians for over thirty-four years and I’ve gotten something different out of it every time I read it.  Parrish, you said something which I’ll share a little later in chapter three that really hit home, but I’m going to start off with chapter 1.  Here we go.  Chapter 1, which Brother Tom Hanson did, the only points that I ‘m going to bring out are:

Galatians 1:18            Then after three years I went up to Jerusalem to see Peter, and abode with him fifteen days.

            The brother shared how that he had to get involved in studies, and prayer, and fellowship for three years.  What does that tell us here today?  We have to do the same exact thing.  We need to study, and to pray, and to fellowship, and to talk to each other also.  When I first got baptized in Jesus’ name, I still had the old ways in me, processing in my mind.  I had to start over again.  The Galatians, they still had their old ways, which they had to get rid of, because there was a new way coming through.  Correct?  If it happened to them, it happens to us.  So you understand how, that—I knew not to go to the bar anymore, that was a given, but, some of the rituals that I was taught; I was taught that you had to climb to the highest mountain to reach God.  That was what the church taught me.  I did not know that I could pray to God any time, anywhere.  I learned that.  If I was going by my old ways, then I would just be praying on Sundays, and raising Hell all week long, basically but I realized that I can’t do that—I have to live right every day.  Make sense?  The points that I put down here:

-           We need fellowship, prayer, bible studies, services, spend time in the Word of God.  We need to learn God’s way before we can share God’s Way!!  We have to know what we’re sharing before we can share with others.  Paul is instructing the church, this is the new way.  Those ways are passed away, we’ve got to do things the new way.  He had to go back around and reassure them that this is the way.  It’s easy to fall into those traps; to fall back into what we used to be. 

-           Our Testimony of God will stand strong, only we put time and effort into it.  If you just come on Sundays, and that’s all you do, that’s all you’re going to have.  You’ve got to live very day for God.  Every day, every moment, every battle that comes our way,, you’ve got to put God first. 

-           How can we share anything about God if we don’t follow God?  Make sense?  That’s a given, right?

Galatians 2:

The point I pulled out here was that in verse 5:

Galatians 2:5  To whom we gave place by subjection, no, not for an hour; that the truth of the gospel might continue with you.

            Things that come our way, we can’t even let them dwell in us that long.  Brother Parrish was sharing when he revisited the blessing, we can’t allow anything into our house.  This house (motioning to the building) or this house (motioning to himself).  We have security systems on our houses.  We have alarm systems on our cars.  We also have temples.  We have badges to get into where we have to go to protect our goods.  Correct?  How do we protect this (again motioning towards himself)?  We’ve got to put on the armor of God.  There’s things that we need to do in our lives and get fellowship one with another to be strong.  If I need to learn something from somebody that I don’t know, then I’m going to find that person and learn from them.  If I want to be a plumber, then I’m going to find Jimmie and say, “How do I do this?”  If I want to be a mechanic, “Parrish, how do I do this?”  If I want to be an automotive mechanic, “Vince, how do I do this?”  If I want to make chicken soup, “Sonia, how do I do this?”  If I want to administer first aid to somebody and do it right, ask Donna; “Donna, how do I do this?”  We’ve got to learn from each other.  Make sense?  So Paul had people in place to teach them the right way.  There was always somebody coming in, trying to change things.  We’ve all put a name on those kinds of people in the past; we’ve been there.  We’ve got to keep this fellowship strong.  What would Paul write to this ministry, today?  I know he’d be glad about the four baptisms in Jesus’ name, but what else would he be looking for that we’re doing?  The point I want to make here is:

-           When God cleans us out through baptism in Jesus name, there will be a natural desire or temptation to go back and do the same-old-same-old.  We’ve got to get past that.  The same old thing doesn’t bring the results that God desires us to have.  We have to let it go.  Let God take over.

-           Don’t take us for granted for what we preach or teach; read it for yourselves.  Don’t believe what I’m saying up here; go read it for yourself.  That’s what we teach here, and we’ve been teaching it ever since I’ve been here:  Read it for yourself.  If you have questions, ask.  If you have questions about what Brother Parrish or Brother Andy are teaching, ask them; don’t ask somebody else.  Ask them!  You know what I mean?  There’s just too much gossip and aggravation, and it ain’t helping us!  We’ve got to work as a body of believers.  Don’t let anybody come in and take that away; we have to protect our ministry!  Amen?  I’m just getting started. 

-           We are the temple of the Holy Ghost-don’t allow anything in to your temple that God will not be pleased with,  …seek what God has for us!!  Like I said, the church was new.  As Parrish put it, they were the first generation of believers.  They were taught the old ways, all their lives, and, all of the sudden, something is different.  How many of you have been in a church like this one before you came to this church?  I haven’t.  We weren’t allowed to sneeze; we weren’t allowed to burp; we had to be quiet.  We didn’t have any instruments there; it was against the religion, there; No guitars, no drums, no banjos, no horns, no nothing.  Just an organ, but the organ had to be a wind organ, it couldn’t be just any old organ.  There was no clapping.

            The references that I have for the Temple of the Holy Ghost:

1 Corinthians 3:16-17            Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you?  If any man defile the temple of God, him shall God destroy; for the temple of God is holy, which temple ye are.

1 Corinthians 6:19     What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own?

            God dwells in us.  Not in  building any more; He dwells in us.  We are the  building.

            Chapter three:  This is a nugget of gold that I received when Parrish shared.  It just really, really helped me. 

Galatians 3:13            “Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us: for it is written, Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree:” 

            When he said that, and he went into the explanation that God paid for everything!  Yeah, you’ve been cursed!  Every sin, everything!  Remember when he was listing things off?  I paid for that.  Bring it to me, I’ll pay for that!  You got this kind of life?  I’ll pay for that!  If I was, I’d go to Jesus, and you know what He says?  He says, “I’ll pay that!”  The biggest thing I got out of that was the biggest hug he ever gave the world when He stretched out His arms on the cross.  He did something for you; why are you still doing the same-old-same-old when God has something for you?  You don’t have to sacrifice any more.  You don’t have to bring down the best lamb—that’s been done away with.  God took it to the cross.  He shed His blood for us.  We have  new life through baptism in Jesus’ name.  It stretches down through the years.  It stretched back through time, it stretched forward through time; people not even born yet don’t realize that they’ve already been hugged.  They’re already loved.  The price has already been paid. That’s our Savior; what kind of God is that?

-           Bring everything to me.

-           I paid for it all.

-           That’s the biggest hug this world has ever seen.  It stretches down through the years.  It stretched back through time, it stretched forward through time; people not even born yet don’t realize that they’ve already been hugged.  They’re already loved.  The price has already been paid on the cross. That’s our Savior; what kind of God is that?  When He set baptism in Jesus’ name, that goes on to generations and generations and generations after this.  It didn’t stop on the Day of Pentecost, where three-thousand people got saved and that was it.  People went forth when Galatians first started up.  Paul was working with them, working with the elders there.  Correct?  We can learn something from them.  I’m not even to chapter six, what I’m supposed to do, yet. 

Galatians 4:

            This is the first generation Christians in Galatia; this is something all new to them. 

-           Satan tempts us saying “The old way was better.”  That’s why this is called a faith walk in God.  We’re comfortable where we’re at.  After they crossed the Red Sea and they had to deal with things, what was their response?  “We want to go back to Egypt!  Let us go back to Egypt!”  They wanted to go back to Egypt and eat onions or something weird.  Why would you want the old way when God has a better way for us, church?  Why?  He’s working with the Galatians saying,, “Hey!  This is a better way!”

-           We are not like any other church.  I don’t want to be like any other church, I want what to be what God wants us to be!  There was a competition in my home town:  If this church got an organ, then they got a better organ.  If this church’s pastor got a new car, then they got a better car.  If this church had a choir, then they got a better choir.  There was so much competition.  We’re not in competition with anybody, here, church.  God will send people along our way for us to share the Gospel.  Anybody.  It doesn’t matter.  Look at the crowd here, there are many different nationalities here represented.  That’s the church that God wants.  Amen?

-           We really need to protect what God has given to us…  That’s what I got out of chapter four.

Galatians 5:

Galatians 5:1  Stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free, and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage.

            Do you guys know what a yoke is?  A yoke is what, Brent?  It’s something that you can fit over the necks of oxen.  For what?  For pulling, and you can control the direction.  God doesn’t want that yoke of sin on us to control us.  He wants that yoke gone.  “Stand fast in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free…”  Free from what?  Free from sin.  He died on the cross.  Paul is working with the church at Galatia saying, “We need to revisit this again.”  Which is fine.  Why? because we’re human beings.  Have you seen that insurance commercial where the guy is cutting down a tree, and it lands on top of the car?  What does it say?  “Humans.”  We’re humans.  If everyone were perfect, there would be no insurance policies.  Right?  We’d all go to work; there would be no tickets, no insurance policies, nothing.  Right?  What I got out of this point was:

-           We don’t get want we want at time, but God always gives us what we need!!  I did not like peas when I was a kid.  My mom gave them to me all the time, saying, “You need them.”  I hid them in the mashed potatoes; I hid them in the gravy…  I knew they were there.  I needed the vegetables in my body to grow.  Sometimes you don’t get what you want, but you get what you need.  God might not want you to have what you want; He might have something else that will cause you to humble down and to pray and to seek Him.  Make sense?

-           If any old way will do, then no way at all will do-I told somebody at work, “The life that you may be living may be a good life to live by, but is it a good life to die by?”  It might seem good; it may seem like you’ve got it all put together, but is it good to die by?

-           God’s Word is a standard to live by, tells us exactly how to get to shun Hell and gain Heaven.  Amen?

Now we go into the closing of the letter……..

Galatians 6:1  Brethren, if a man be overtaken in a fault, ye which are spiritual, restore such an one in the spirit of meekness; considering thyself, lest thou also be tempted.

-           Need to be spiritual, having the spirit of meekness to be able to go talk to somebody. 

-           Considering thyself….. how would I like to be treated when I am over taken in a fault?  Would you want it broadcast everywhere?  I mean,, really?  You know, you’ve got the, “So-and-so did this, and so-and-so did this…”  It says confess your faults, not your sins (James 5:16).  Church, we have to protect each other.  You know, we had all those burdens and prayers before this—all those different things—we’ve got to pray for those people, because we’re probably going to be putting our names on those little slips of paper someday, too.  Parrish, I’m thinking that the 60 days is just the beginning—November 1st is just the beginning.  Amen?  I asked God today, “I want to be different when I leave as opposed to how I was when I got there.”  It’s already happened. 

-           Reminds me of the story of the woman that was taken in adultery….  They brought her to Him.  If you want to think bout how you want to be treated, how would you like to be stoned?  Jesus said, “He that is without sin, cast the first stone.” (John 8:7)  How many people were standing there afterwards? none.  We all sin and come short of the glory of God (Romans 3:23).  We all do.  We have to ask God daily to forgive us.  Paul is teaching us it’s okay to correct, but, you have to be spiritual, and you have to have the spirit of meekness, and you have to consider yourself, lest thou be tempted.  We all have common battles, and we all have different battles.  That’s the truth.  We have to think about how we’re going to go through this; how we work with other people.  He’s working with the church of Galatia.  If you want that reference, it’s:

John 8:1-11    Jesus went unto the mount of Olives.  And early in the morning he came again into the temple, and all the people came unto him; and he sat down, and taught them.  And the scribes and Pharisees brought unto him a woman taken in adultery; and when they had set her in the midst,  They say unto him, Master, this woman was taken in adultery, in the very act.  Now Moses in the law commanded us, that such should be stoned: but what sayest thou?  This they said, tempting him, that they might have to accuse him. But Jesus stooped down, and with his finger wrote on the ground, as though he heard them not.  So when they continued asking him, he lifted up himself, and said unto them, He that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone at her.  And again he stooped down, and wrote on the ground.  And they which heard it, being convicted by their own conscience, went out one by one, beginning at the eldest, even unto the last: and Jesus was left alone, and the woman standing in the midst.  When Jesus had lifted up himself, and saw none but the woman, he said unto her, Woman, where are those thine accusers? hath no man condemned thee?  She said, No man, Lord. And Jesus said unto her, Neither do I condemn thee: go, and sin no more.

Galatians 6:2-6           Bear ye one another’s burdens, and so fulfil the law of Christ.  For if a man think himself to be something, when he is nothing, he deceiveth himself.  But let every man prove his own work, and then shall he have rejoicing in himself alone, and not in another.  For every man shall bear his own burden.  Let him that is taught in the word communicate unto him that teacheth in all good things.

            We had Brother Greg reading all the prayer requests today. 

-           Bear ye one another’s burdens—pray for each other!!  We have to rejoice with those the rejoice, and weep with those that weep (Romans 12:15).  We had some passing’s—my parents are very thankful for the church praying for the passing of my aunt.  We have new grandparents in the room, now:  Bill and Becky Adams.  There’s a lot of blessings—that’s a new thing for them—There are other people that are already grandparents that can work with the new grandparents.  You see what I’m saying?  Spend time in fellowship and then follow up on each other.  If somebody’s going through a struggle—and I know that we do this—if somebody’s going through a struggle, follow up with that conversation a day or two later; see how they’re doing.  If they’re having a hard way to go, or they’re facing hard decisions because of seomething that happened, follow up with them, send a card, send a text, send something  I prefer telephone calls.  I do like texts, but I like to hear a voice, sometimes. 

-           Prove our own works!!  Someone else’s works won’t make us go to Heaven!!  You all know I like fishing.  I remember that when I got saved, I gave up fishing, because fishing was my god.  I had to give it up.  I gave all my gear away.  For twenty years, I didn’t touch a pole, I didn’t go fishing  One day, a message was preached about having a ministry within your ministry.  I said, “Well, I know how to fish; I guess I could teach young guys how to fish.”  So I did that. Pastor Paine said, “If you want to go fishing, Bob, just go fishing.”  I said, “No, no, no, I want to teach young people how to fish, like my dad taught me.  I want to use it as a ministering tool.  That’s what I know how to do.”  God’s opened so many doors because of that.  We’ve even had Bible studies on the river banks.  People have even gotten baptized because of our fishing trips.  I share that to share with you, we all need to do something that we’re good at.  Bowling, crocheting, something that we can use to reach out to others, to use as your ministry within this minsitry.  Maybe there’s something that you desire to do, then you need to talk to these two leaders here.  That’s not hard to do; everybody knows Andy and Parrish right?  Parrish is the quiet one, and Andy’s the loud one.  You know what I’m saying?  We all know that, right?  We have a ministry within our ministry.  We can minister to other people, and then we can bear one another’s burdens.  Francis, I’m going to talk about you, okay? Thank you.  Is she here?  We had a Bible study up at It’s All Good coffee shop, on James chapter 1.  I asked, “Are there any questions or concerns?”  She said, “I want to get baptized.”  I said, “When?”  She said, “Now.”  I said, “Andy, she wants to get baptized now.”  We got on the phone, got things going, got the water heated up, got there, and she got baptized in Jesus’ name that night.  Amen.  That’s how we roll.  We don’t wait until the third Sunday to do things; if you want to get baptized, it’s now.  What’s funny is, the owner of the coffee shop says to us, “Where re you going?”  we said, “This young lady wants to get baptized in Jesus’ name right now, so we’re going to go do it.”  It stopped him in his tracks.  “Right now?”  The young lady behind the counter—I don’t remember her name—she was just praising God for it.  If you want to get saved, today is the day of salvation (2 Corinthians 6:2).  It’s all about proving your own works.

-           Communicate!!!  With God’s Leadership,--let us know if you are dealing with something that needs God’s Attention.  If you’re going through some battle or something, tell somebody.  At least say this, “Could you please pray for me?”  That’s all we need to know; God knows exactly what it is.  You don’t have to tell what it is, just say, “I need prayer.”  When my aunt passed, they were passing texts to everybody to please pray for my family.  You know?  My parents just love that.  My parents are just, “Wow.”  You know what Parrish?  My dad asked how you were doing yesterday; he said, “How’s Parrish doing?”  He was a little upset with your team beating our team, but, anyway Boston is going to the World Series (thought I’d get that in there).  Red told me to try to sneak that in there, so I did.  Thanks, Red.  Red’s on his way to the Massachusetts area for business, so… 

Galatians 6:7-9           Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap.  For he that soweth to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption; but he that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting.  And let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not.

            If you plant apple seeds, you’re going to grow apples.  If you plant peach seeds, you’re going to grow peaches.  If you plant anger, you’re going to grow anger.  If you plant love, you’re going to grow love.  The point I’m making here is, “…he that soweth to the to the flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption.  If you go and visit Galatians 5:

Galatians 5:19-21       Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these; Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, Idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies, Envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings, and such like: of the which I tell you before, as I have also told you in time past, that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God.

            He’s telling the church in Galatia, you can’t be doing these things and still make it to Heaven.  That applies to us, today, too.  You can’t be doing that and still make it to Heaven.  Make sense?  Amen. 

            Now, in the second half of Galatians 6:8, he says, “…he that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting.” 

Galatians 5:22-23       But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law.

            We have to have those fruits in our lives.  If we’re walking around with all this fruit hanging off of our lives, can somebody walk up and get joy out of your life?  Or love?  Or peace?  Or longsuffering?  Or are they going to pick the other fruits, like hatred, or the other ways?

            So, I’ve got a story to read (Somebody might be familiar with it already, but I’ve got a story to read):  An old Cherokee told his grandson, “My son, there is a battle between two wolves inside all of us.  One is evil.  It is anger, envy, jealousy, greed, resentment, lies, and ego.  The other is good.  It is joy, peace, love, hope, humility, and truth.  The boy thought about it, and asked, “Grandfather, which wolf wins?”  The Grandfather answered, “The one you feed.” 

            Make sense?  So what we feed in ourselves is what we become.  Paul is trying to point out to the Galatians that you can’t live a double standard, you’ve got to let this go.  Think about Paul; he’s the one who was bumping off Christians for a living.  Now he’s sharing the Gospel.  He had to go through a process of teaching and training for three years to build, like the brother shared, to build his testimony.  When we get baptized in Jesus’ name, there is totally a difference right away.  They know that there’s something different about you. Right away.  “You know what? you always smile on Mondays.  Why are you smiling?”  You ever go to work on Monday, and everybody had a rough week-end?  It’s six o’clock in the morning, and I’m awake, I’m sitting down, I’ve already started work for the day.  I’m just happy to be alive; I’m happy to be saved; I’m happy that God loves me; I’m happy that He’s got some things for me to do in my life.  So, think about that old Cherokee telling his grandson, which one wins? The one you feed.

Galatians 6:10            As we have therefore opportunity, let us do good unto all men, especially unto them who are of the household of faith.

-           What does ‘all’ mean?  All means everyone!! Especially the household of faith!!  So, what do we have to do with the household of faith? do good unto them, especially unto them.  Someone needs prayer, say a prayer for them.  Don’t just say, “I’ll get to it later.”  If you’re like me, I’ll forget, so go ahead and do it right away.  I know I’ll get a text, and it’s on my text, and then I totally forget about it.  I’m getting better at doing it right away; I’ll just call out that person’s name, right away.  If I need encouragement, I know who to call.  If I need comfort, I know who to call.  If I need homemade chicken soup, I know who to call.  If I need some Puerto Rican rice, I know who to call.  I know the blessings that we have, you know?  We have a lot of blessings in this room.  Ever person in this room is different; there’s no twins here.  Even if you are twins, you’re still not twins; you’re individuals. 

Galatians 6:12-15       As many as desire to make a fair show in the flesh, they constrain you to be circumcised; only lest they should suffer persecution for the cross of Christ.  For neither they themselves who are circumcised keep the law; but desire to have you circumcised, that they may glory in your flesh.  But God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world is crucified unto me, and I unto the world.  For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision availeth any thing, nor uncircumcision, but a new creature.

            When you come out of that tank, you’re a new creature.  You go down in the faith of Jesus’ name, you’re baptized, totally overwhelmed—that’s how we do it here; that’s what the scripture shared—you come up in Jesus’ name, you’re a brand new person. 

            There’s people out there preaching things that they don’t even live by.  They just look good; they make a good show.  They just pretend.  I’ve heard some powerful Gospel singing, then I hear about them getting drunk later on that night.  I think, “How can you take that away what you just did for God, and go out and do that?  I won’t buy your stuff no more, based on your testimony.”  Many people don’t practice what they preach, or sing about, or share about.  They just make a show of it.      They make it harder to be a part of the fellowship, than it is to be part of the Kingdom of God.  You have to wear certain things, smile a certain way—no.  God accepts us the way that we are.  If you only have blue jeans and a T-shirt, then you’re welcome here.  If you have a suit and tie—like these power suits Parrish wears sometimes—you’re welcome here.  God blesses all of us.  He’s got something for all of us to do.

-           Jesus concern is us being a new creature, old ways are passed away; all things become new.  God has something for us, church.  It’s really up to us what we do with it.  Amen?  God has a lot for us.  This congregation is growing and growing and growing.  It’s so easy to forget the little ones.  It’s so easy to forget somebody that’s not here.  We have faithful warriors that look over the crowd all the time and I know first hand that they send out little cards and little notes that say, “I missed you in church. How’ve you been doing?  I’m just asking because I’m praying for you.  I’m not asking who, what, when, or why, I just want you to know that I’m praying for you.”

            So, in the closing part of this chapter here:

Galatians 6:16-18       And as many as walk according to this rule, peace be on them, and mercy, and upon the Israel of God.  From henceforth let no man trouble me: for I bear in my body the marks of the Lord Jesus.  Brethren, the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit. Amen.

            If you walk according to this rule, you shall have peace with God.  This is a recap; he’s saying forget the past.  God’s got something today.  Sharing today that God already forgave your past when you got baptized.  You start fresh today, when you come out of that tank.  Are we going to make mistakes? yep.  Are we human? Yep.  We might cut down a tree on our neighbor’s car, because we’re humans.  At least we’ve got someone to go to, to make it right.  At least we can share with somebody here like a family…  This is the best family I’ve ever been in.  I’m telling you, I go visit my family, when I go to family reunions, within thirty minutes, I want to get out of there.  About the twenty-ninth minute, Scotch is coming out, and brandy, and beer…  I don’t want to be around that; I just don’t.  People are honest when they’re a little high, but, sometimes they’re a little to honest—I don’t want to know.  You know?  TMI. 

            In closing, I just want to share, have a ministry within your ministry.  We need places to meet on Wednesday nights besides It’s All Good and Kirk Orelup’s house.  If God lays it on your heart, talk to the leadership here.  We’re coming to winter, so a lot of the outdoor activities are coming to an end for now.  When the warm weather goes, some people go ice-fishing like Brent does.  It’s All Good is going really good.  I hear that the Bible studies at Kirk’s home are going good.  You know what my biggest prayer is?  I’ve shared this with Parrish—I want to see a Bible study every day going on somewhere.  Every night.  So, if I’m having a bad day on Tuesday, I know I can go to this place, at this address, and be filled.  The Galatians went on from there.  They got into the Bible to help us today to live, to stand, with a right mind.  When I got baptized in Jesus’ name, I remember I got out of the tank, and I think that it was a blessing that I remembered what I did the day before.  I used to drink a lot, and there were many days when I couldn’t tell you what I did the day before.  I was so glad that God sobered me up.  So, I take this letter personally, and, the closing thought is, revisit this.  Please.  You’ll get a bigger blessing out of it every time you go back to it.

            Thank you very much.  God bless you.

                           Sermon notes by Pete Shepherd

Christian Fellowship Great Lakes


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