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Seize the Moment – Day 503
God’s Desire is to Dwell with His People!
Good morning! This is Pastor Jerry Ingalls from New Castle First Baptist Church and today is Monday, August 2.
Have you ever wandered what was God’s desire for your life?
In Exodus 29:43-46, God overtly stated His desire in establishing the tabernacle system, which included the priestly and sacrificial systems of the Old Covenant:
I will meet there with the sons of Israel, and it shall be consecrated by My glory. I will consecrate the tent of meeting and the altar; I will also consecrate Aaron and his sons to minister as priests to Me. I will dwell among the sons of Israel and will be their God. They shall know that I am the Lord their God who brought them out of the land of Egypt, that I might dwell among them; I am the Lord their God.
God’s desire is to dwell among His people. While this desire has not changed, the way we have access to His presence has been transformed by Jesus, once and for all!
Exodus 29 details the consecration and ordination of the priests who would mediate God’s presence through the tabernacle system. This system was the only authorized way to the Father, and it was an elaborate and exacting process!
Then God sent His one and only Son and established a new authorized way for the will of the Father to be fulfilled. Jesus declared in John 14:6, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me.”
Jesus’ death atoned for the sins of those God desires to dwell among and the infilling of the Holy Spirit causes His people to become His dwelling place. This is our salvation!
Seize the moment and thank Jesus for making a way for you to experience God’s desire for you and your life.
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Live Like a Champion – Week 31
The Promise of Peace!
John 16:33 (NAS95)
(This was presented at the FBC Picnic in the Memorial Park Shelter House.)
It is clear in God’s word that peace and joy are deeply intertwined! How can we experience the joy of the LORD if we don’t first have peace with God first?
Our memory verse can be applied to all three aspects of peace, but Jesus here is specifically talking about His saving work on the cross, which gives us peace with God! Jesus has defeated the power of death and the forces of evil to restore us back into right relationship with the Father; it is only “in Christ” that we can have “peace” or “access to” or relationship with God.
Listen to this peace that Jesus promises us:
- John 14:27 – “Peace I leave with you; My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Do not let your heart be troubled, nor let it be fearful.”
- Colossians 1:20a – “Through Him to reconcile all things to Himself, having made peace through the blood of His cross…”
- Romans 5:1-2 – “Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom also we have obtained our introduction by faith into this grace in which we stand; and we exult in hope of the glory of God.”
This requires God’s peace to come from above from God, into us, and then flow through us to others. We are conduits of God’s love because His peace is a cord of three strands: vertical, internal, and then external.
Paul practically teaches us about how to walk in this peace. Mental health comes from this internal peace of God, by which we learn to live in God’s grace, from upon high and inside!
Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. Finally, brethren, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is of good repute, if there is any excellence and if anything worthy of praise, dwell on these things. The things you have learned and received and heard and seen in me, practice these things, and the God of peace will be with you.
Learning how to walk in the promise of peace as daily mental health practices is a key spiritual discipline to our living out the Greatest Commandments. We represent Jesus best (external peace to others!) when we are both holy (vertical peace with God!) and whole (internal peace!).
We need to realize that the Bible teaches us good mental hygiene practices that are just as fundamental to our well-being as the many good dental hygiene habits that are ingrained in our daily lives. As this becomes more normalized and less stigmatized in the church, then mental health practices and check-ups will be as common as dental health practices and check-ups.
Peace with God that guards our hearts and minds in Christ Jesus means that the promise of peace is not just a vertical and internal reality, it is our greatest witness as it brings external peace between us and other people. Listen to Paul explain this in Ephesians 2:13-16:
This is the Church’s mission! Experiencing the peace of God in both our holiness and wholeness allows us to give God’s love and grace towards others because we have received and internalized it in our own lives. By the Spirit we are to build bridges with people to unite them in Christ alone—our peace!
You can listen to the message here:
You can watch the message by clicking HERE.
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Seize the Moment – Day 501
Today’s hymn focus will be “I’ll Fly Away”
2 Corinthians 5:8 (NLT)
“Yes, we are fully confident, and we would rather be away from these earthly bodies, for then we will be at home with the Lord.”
I’ll fly away, o glory, I’ll fly away. When I die, hallelujah, by and by, I’ll fly away
Wake up with this song in your heart and on your lips as you prepare for your day!
YOUTUBE:
I’ll Fly Away
I’ll fly away
To a home on God’s celestial shore
I’ll fly away
I’ll fly away
When I die, Hallelujah, by and by
I’ll fly away
I’ll fly away
To a land where joy shall never end
I’ll fly away
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Seize the Moment – Day 500
Holy to the Lord!
Good morning! This is Pastor Jerry Ingalls from New Castle First Baptist Church and today is Friday, July 30.
Believers in Jesus have been clothed in righteousness; we have taken off the soiled clothing of sin and put on the new garments of salvation. This kind of language is anchored in today’s chapter of Bible reading.
Exodus 28 is all about the ornate garments the priests of the old covenant were required to wear to be a minister of God! As verse 4 summarizes, “These are the garments which they shall make: a breastpiece and an ephod and a robe and a tunic of checkered work, a turban and a sash, and they shall make holy garments for Aaron your brother and his sons, that he may minister as priest to Me.”
The entire chapter is packed with intricate details that seem cumbersome, if not comical, by today’s informal and relaxed standards in nearly every area of culture, including church life. An important detail is captured in Exodus 28:36-38: “You shall also make a plate of pure gold and shall engrave on it, like the engravings of a seal, ‘Holy to the Lord.’ You shall fasten it on a blue cord, and it shall be on the turban; it shall be at the front of the turban. It shall be on Aaron’s forehead.”
Just as Aaron and his sons had to have “Holy to the Lord” visibly located on their foreheads to minister to the LORD, we, too, must have the presence of the Holy One visibly in us.
Only that which is holy from the inside-out will bear the fruit of the Spirit for the world to see! One day, all of God’s people “will see His face, and His name will be on their foreheads” (Revelation 22:4). Until that Day…
Seize the moment and live knowing that God will write His name on your forehead for all the world to see that you are “Holy to the Lord.”
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Seize the Moment – Day 499
Form Follows Function!
Good morning! This is Pastor Jerry Ingalls from New Castle First Baptist Church and today is Thursday, July 29.
Have you ever noticed when something is different than before, it jumps out at you?
In Exodus 27, we learn that there is more than one way to build an altar. Listen to verse 1: “And you shall make the altar of acacia wood, five cubits long and five cubits wide; the altar shall be square, and its height shall be three cubits.”
This is different than the last time God gave instructions on how to build an altar. Listen to God command Moses in Exodus 20:24-25, right after Moses had received the Ten Commandments:
You shall make an altar of earth for Me, and you shall sacrifice on it your burnt offerings and your peace offerings, your sheep and your oxen; in every place where I cause My name to be remembered, I will come to you and bless you. ‘If you make an altar of stone for Me, you shall not build it of cut stones, for if you wield your tool on it, you will profane it.
Do we make the altar out of acacia wood or out of uncut fieldstone?
Both! For the altar in today’s chapter, its functionality required it to be easily carried around as it was a portable altar. Its function determined its form!
The same is true in our lives! We are now the temple of the Holy Spirit and we, too, are to offer right sacrifices to God upon the altar of our lives. But each of us has been uniquely shaped for God’s glory based upon the function God had in mind for our lives. We are different by design—coming in unique shapes and sizes, all intended by God for good works that bring Him glory!
Seize the moment and discover how God designed you. Find true freedom, peace, and contentment by walking in the good works that God intended for you for His glory.
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Seize the Moment – Day 498
Designed by God for Good Works!
Good morning! This is Pastor Jerry Ingalls from New Castle First Baptist Church and today is Wednesday, July 28.
Did you know that you are uniquely designed by God for good works?
Exodus 26 is a very detailed chapter as it lays out the instructions for the building of the tabernacle, which was Israel’s approved house of worship until the temple was built by King Solomon much later in their history. The tabernacle was Israel’s portable sanctuary during their wanderings in the desert and throughout their conquest of the Promised Land.
This is important to know because the tabernacle had to be assembled and reassembled every time Israel would make or break camp, which turned out to be quite often. The tabernacle was an ornate sacred place, and it was a well-built sturdy place.
This required skilled workers—master craftsmen and craftswomen! Listen to an example of this from Exodus 26:1, “Moreover you shall make the tabernacle with ten curtains of fine twisted linen and blue and purple and scarlet material; you shall make them with cherubim, the work of a skillful workman.”
Again, we read from Exodus 35:25, “All the skilled women spun with their hands, and brought what they had spun, in blue and purple and scarlet material and in fine linen.”
Paul speaks this over every new covenant believer’s life in Ephesians 2:10: “For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them.”
When we use what we have for God’s glory, there is no insignificant work! Even the smallest job is for the glory of God and that makes it of great importance!
Seize the moment and use all that you have—your education and vocational training, your athletic abilities and hobbies, your good looks and charming personality for the glory of God! You have been designed by God for this very purpose!
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Seize the Moment – Day 497
Giving is an Affair of the Heart!
Good morning! This is Pastor Jerry Ingalls from New Castle First Baptist Church and today is Tuesday, July 27.
Giving has always been an affair of the heart! Whether it’s our time, talents, or tangible resources, our giving is a product of God’s work in our hearts.
In Exodus 25, the LORD started to show Moses the patterns of all that Moses was commanded to lead the Israelites to build: the tabernacle and all its furniture. Specifically described in this chapter are the ark of the covenant, the table of showbread, and the golden lampstand.
Just these three items alone would take extraordinary amounts of resources to construct. Just like with the bread and water to nourish the Israelites, would God cause the necessary resources to appear like dew on the desert floor or flow from the desert rocks?
No, this time God would work a miracle from His people! God’s instruction to Moses in Exodus 25:2 was to “Tell the sons of Israel to raise a contribution for Me; from every man whose heart moves him you shall raise My contribution.”
This time, God does not provide by causing the water to burst forth from a hard rock; rather, God provides by moving upon the hearts of His people!
Generous givers are people whose hearts have been moved upon by the LORD to provide for His work—to build on earth as it is in Heaven, according to the pattern of all that God has revealed to us!
How has God worked on your heart?
Paul commands in 2 Corinthians 9:7, “Each one must do just as he has purposed in his heart, not grudgingly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.”
Seize the moment and ask God to purpose your heart to be the way He provides for His will to be done on earth as it is in Heaven! Giving is an affair of the heart!
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Seize the Moment – Day 496
People of the Book!
Good morning! This is Pastor Jerry Ingalls from New Castle First Baptist Church and today is Monday, July 26.
A big thank you to Pastor Ken for doing an excellent job the last two weeks with these daily calls. My family had a restorative time on our trip to the New England states, specifically exploring three amazing destinations: Cape Cod, Acadia National Park, and Niagara Falls.
God’s people are people of the book!
This has been true ever since Moses recorded the Old Covenant. From Exodus 24:3-4 & 8, observe Moses and the people after receiving the covenant code from God:
Then Moses came and recounted to the people all the words of the Lord and all the ordinances; and all the people answered with one voice and said, “All the words which the Lord has spoken we will do!” Moses wrote down all the words of the Lord. Then he arose early in the morning, and built an altar at the foot of the mountain with twelve pillars for the twelve tribes of Israel. … [After sacrificing young bulls as peace offerings to the LORD] Moses took the blood and sprinkled it on the people, and said, “Behold the blood of the covenant, which the Lord has made with you in accordance with all these words.”
The people sealed their commitment to be a people of the book through the “blood of the covenant.” While in the Old Covenant, this was done through animal sacrifices, in the New Covenant our commitment is sealed through the blood of the perfect Passover Lamb, our High Priest and only Mediator with God, the Lord Jesus Christ.
Paul explains the importance of our commitment to the book in 2 Timothy 3:16-17, “All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness; so that the [person] of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work.”
Seize the moment by reading, reflecting upon, and responding to God’s Word today! We have an exciting journey ahead of us as we walk through the Bible one chapter at a time.
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Live Like a Champion – Week 30
“The Promise of a Teacher”
Memory Verse: Luke 12:12
“If you love me, obey my commandments. And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Advocate, who will never leave you.7 He is the Holy Spirit, who leads into all truth. The world cannot receive him, because it isn’t looking for him and doesn’t recognize him. But you know him, because he lives with you now and later will be in you… I am telling you these things now while I am still with you. But when the Father sends the Advocate as my representative—that is, the Holy Spirit—he will teach you everything and will remind you of everything I have told you..”
John 14:15-17, 25-26
Miriam/Webster defines the word ‘teach’ as
“to show or explain how to do something; give information about or instruction in a subject or skill; encourage some to accept as fact or principle.”
And then they were instructed to teach their children in Deuteronomy 11:19
“Teach them to your children. Talk about them when you are at home and when you are on the road, when you are going to bed and when you are getting up.”
I. God will provide an Advocate (Comforter, Encourager, Counselor)
He was telling them that, just like God, the Holy Spirit will never leave you. And while Jesus was going to physically leave this earth, He was assuring them that they would not be alone.
How do we find this truth? Jesus once again reminds them of what He told them earlier.
“So Jesus said to the Jews who had believed him, “If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” John 8:31-32
We are once again shown that the Holy Spirit will lead us and guide us and point us to Jesus the Son, and He, in everything He ever said or did, points us to God the Father. The Father speaks to us through the Holy Spirit, who leads us into all truth, which are the words and ways of Jesus, who brings glory to God…see the cycle?
“If you love me, obey my commandments.” John 14:15 (you will)
“Those who accept my commandments and obey them are the ones who love me….” John 14:21a
II. The Holy Spirit will be our Teacher
“But when the Father sends the Advocate as my representative—that is, the Holy Spirit—he will teach you everything and will remind you of everything I have told you.” John 14:26
“will be to “lead” them into the full comprehension of all he wants them to know. The Spirit will not present an independent message, differing from what they had already learned from him. Rather, they will be led further into the realization of his person and into the development of the principles he has already laid down. They will also be enlightened about coming events.”
John 16:13-14 states:
“When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all truth. He will not speak on his own but will tell you what he has heard. He will tell you about the future. He will bring me glory by telling you whatever he receives from me.”
Yes, we have pastors, elders, bible study leaders, discipleship group leaders, small group leaders and accountability partners, but they are all subject to the Holy Spirit teaching the wisdom of God.
Let’s read 1 Corinthians 2:10-12
“For it was to us that God revealed these things by his Spirit. For his Spirit searches out everything and shows us God’s deep secrets. No one can know a person’s thoughts except that person’s own spirit, and no one can know God’s thoughts except God’s own Spirit. And we have received God’s Spirit (not the world’s spirit), so we can know the wonderful things God has freely given us.”
The Spirit searches the depths of God and reveals God’s plans for us, showing us the joy of living a spirit filled life in contrast to the folly of the plans of this world.
- Points on a compass “Never East Sour Watermelon
- Names of notes on a staff: (spaces) FACE
- (Lines) Every Good Boy Does Fine
- Planets: My Very Educated Mother Just Served Is Noodles
The ESV version says “He will teach you all things and bring back to your remembrance…”
Solomon was a great wise king who’s wisdom was given to him by God. He wrote in Proverbs 3:5-6:
“Trust in the Lord with all your heart; do not depend on your own understanding. Seek his will in all you do, and he will show you which path to take.”
So we have to ask ourselves:
- Am I willing to be a student of the Holy Spirit?
- Am I willing to submit my own ideas to that which the Holy Spirit reveals?
- Am I willing to choose to live this life in the Light of eternity?
“ …for the Holy Spirit will teach you at that time what needs to be said.”
Luke 12:12
You can listen to Ken’s message here:
You can watch this message by clicking HERE.
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Seize the Moment – Day 494
Today’s hymn focus will be “The Heart of Worship”
John 4:24 (ESV)
“God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.”
This modern-day hymn was written by Matt Redman in 1999. While his worship band was impacting churches around the world, worship in his home church had a missing dynamic. His pastor asked the congregation what they were bringing to God in worship, or if they were just soaking in the music as consumers. He decided to strip away every diversion and distraction and stopped using the musicians and the sound & light systems.
At first it was awkward, but eventually they rediscovered their own voices being raised in worship, unaccompanied, offering up prayers from their hearts and experiencing God in a fresh way.
I’m coming back to the heart of worship, and it’s all about You,
it’s all about You, Jesus. I’m sorry, Lord, for the things I’ve made it,
when it’s all about You, it’s all about You, Jesus.
We need to wake up and ask ourselves “What are we bringing as our offering to God in our services at FBC?” …For true worship demands a response from the heart!
YOUTUBE:
The Heart of Worship
All is stripped away
And I simply come
Longing just to bring
Something that’s of worth
That will bless your heart
I’ll bring you more than a song
For a song in itself
Is not what you have required
You search much deeper within
Through the way things appear
You’re looking into my heart
And it’s all about you
It’s all about you, Jesus
I’m sorry, Lord, for the thing I’ve made it
When it’s all about you
It’s all about you, Jesus
No one could express
How much you deserve
Though I’m weak and poor
All I have is yours
Every single breath
I’ll bring you more than a song
For a song in itself
Is not what you have required
You search much deeper within
Through the way things appear
You’re looking into my heart
And it’s all about you
It’s all about you, Jesus
I’m sorry, Lord, for the thing I’ve made it
When it’s all about you
It’s all about you, Jesus
‘Cause it’s all about you
It’s all about you, Jesus
I’m sorry, Lord, for the thing I’ve made it
‘Cause it’s all about you
It’s all about You, Jesus
I’ll bring you more than a song
More than a song
I’ll bring you more than a song (than a song)
Looking into my heart
Into my heart
I’ll bring you more than a song
I’ll bring you more than a song
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