The Emmaus Walk: 16 Second Message Recap

Pastor Stephen shared a message about Christ's presence from Luke 24:13-35; "The Emmaus Walk".

The Big Thing: Even when you don't realize it, Jesus is walking with you.

We can lose hope when we don't recognize Christ's presence, but he never leaves us, nor forsakes us. If you follow Jesus Christ--he is with you! In fact, sometimes, those moments when we feel most alone happen when Christ is working most powerfully in our lives!

The most powerful way to draw close to Christ and hear God speak to us is through the Bible--God's Words to us. So often, we act as if God never speaks to us, and then we never open the book that contains his very words! ALL Scripture is God-breathed and is useful.

Finally, realize that when Christ makes his presence known to you, your first reaction should be to tell somebody!

Be sure to listen to the full message on iTunes or online.

Where Did All the Prophets Go? 16 Second Message Recap

Pastor Stephen delivered part 4 of his 6-part series on Ephesians 4. This week, he talked with us about the Prophetic ministry gift.

The Big Idea: Prophets call Christians back to godliness and inspire them to live in the Holy Spirit's power.

Prophets receive messages from God relating to the future, to words needed for the encouragement or strengthening of a congregation, or to shaking up a body of believers--calling them on their sin or their neglect of the less-fortunate.

Prophets can be used powerfully by God to effect change (see 1 Corinthians 14:24-25).

Prophets have a way of ripping open our hearts, shattering our illusions, and bringing us face to face with our Maker. -- J.R. Woodward

Prophets are also important, because our acceptance of them and their message tends to open us up to the works of the Holy Spirit.

Here are 3 things you can do to help the prophetic gift work effectively in our church:

1) Test the prophets' message--does it line up with the Bible? How does the prophet's life display the fruit of the Spirit (see Galatians 5:22-23)? If the message was about future events, did they come true?

2) Be open to the prophets and their message

3) Seek the baptism of the Holy Spirit and the gifts of the Spirit.

Here are 5 things that those with the prophetic gift should be doing:

1) Ensure your outward life and your spiritual life do not disqualify your message

2) Be bold in speaking what God has shown or told you--find the appropriate time to share, and then share it!

3) Stand up for the poor and the oppressed.

4) Test the words of other prophets

5) Encourage others to seek the gifts of the Holy Spirit!

Prophets call Christians back to godliness and inspire them to live in the Holy Spirit's power.

Be sure to listen to the full sermon online at abundantsprings.podbean.com or subscribe on iTunes.

Where Did All the Teachers Go? A 16-second Message Recap

This week Pastor Stephen delivered the 3rd message in our series "Where Did all the ______'s Go?". This week's message from Ephesians 4:10-16 was called "Where Did All the Teachers Go?".

The big thing: Teachers teach us to know and live God's Word.

Teachers are vital to the Church's health because they teach us to immerse ourselves in God's Word and to live what we have learned. This strengthen's the Church's faith, makes us less susceptible to believe strange teachings, and makes it more difficult to be deceived by things that are not of God. As well, it builds us up to do the best we can as we serve God.

How teachers can immerse themselves in God's Word:

Hear God's Word, Read God's Word, Study God's Word, Memorize God's Word, and Meditate on God's Word.

Then, teach others to do the same.

No teaching is complete if we don't offer those we teach a way to use their new knowledge for the benefit of the mission Jesus gave the Church.

A teacher must teach others how to live what they have learned.

Listen to the full message on our podcast here.

Where Did All the Pastors Go? 16 Second Message Recap

Pastor Stephen continued his series on the five-fold ministry gifts found in Ephesians 4:7-16 with this message about the pastoral gift. If you don't know your ministry gifts, head over to www.fivefoldministrytest.com!

The big idea: Pastors equip by caring!

To determine what pastors do in a church, Pastor Stephen related pastors to shepherds, as they are the same word in Greek.

Here's what pastors do:

• They guide their faith community closer to the spiritual life-giver: Jesus
• They guard the faith community from those that seek to destroy the congregation
• They seek to rescue the hurting however they can so that person can come to a place of wholeness
• They are aware of the needs of those in the church and bring words of counsel, comfort, encouragement and healing.
• They encourage people to make peace with each other and to gather regularly.

Here's how you can use this gift (even if it's not your main one):

• Look for hurting people...and don't walk away
• Challenge your Christian friends to build a closer relationship with Jesus--perhaps by joining a Life-Transformation Group.
• Stand against gossip, bitterness and dissension
• Encourage participation in Church life
• Encourage reconciliation
• Befriend those who are new

For those whose main gift is pastoring Pastor Stephen added:

• Instil a passion for pastoring in the congregation.

That's it in a nutshell! Be sure to listen to the full sermon online here.