1 Corinthians 13:11Notes From the Pastor's Desk #notesfromthepastorsdesk 📖1 Corinthians 13:11 (ESV) When I was a child, I spoke like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I gave up childish ways. 📘Pastor's Note: When I think back to a time when I was young, I can’t help but remember how naive, how dumb many of my thoughts and actions were. Nothing about my life honored the Lord. I was lost. But when I came to hear the Gospel and surrender my life to Jesus, He forever changed the trajectory of my life. My desires, my affections, were forever changed. As I grew in my faith, as I started taking seriously the word of God, I started thinking differently. Childish thinking and actions were replaced with the mirror of His divine standard. He started teaching me to put away those childish ways and to think as He thinks. As I look back, I’m grateful that I am no longer where I used to be but even more grateful that God’s not done with me yet. He’s still working on me, transforming me day by day to think and act more like Christ. 🙏I'm praying for you always. ❤️ Pastor Jamie Read the Chapter: https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=1%20Corinthians%2013&version=ESV Learn more about us: www.mygpchurch.com/whoweare  Ephesians 2:1-5Notes From the Pastor's Desk #notesfromthepastorsdesk 📖Ephesians 2:1-5 (ESV) 2 And you were dead in the trespasses and sins 2 in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience— 3 among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind.4 But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, 5 even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved-- 📘Pastor's Note: Maybe these are the most beautiful and encouraging words ever to be inspired by the Holy Spirit through the Apostle Paul. He begins chapter 2 of his epistle by telling us of the dire condition of man. A condition that all of us “once walked in.” Each of us, before the Lord invaded our hearts, followed the sinful ways of the world. We were children of “the prince of the power of the air.” We were spawns of Satan. We were “sons of disobedience.” We were those that lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and mind. We were by nature “children of wrath!” Then comes maybe my most favorite words within God’s holy scripture…”BUT GOD.” In His rich mercy because of His great love for us, raised us to new life. We were dead in our trespasses, yet He made us alive in Christ!!! Oh, the glorious reality of our God! Oh, the glorious reality of His grace!! He could have left us right where we were…DEAD! But He chose not to. He breathed new life into our spiritually dead corpse. If you think of nothing else today, think of this. Think of the glorious salvation that comes in and through Jesus Christ our Lord, who, while we were still sinners, died for us! Now, go and live like it! Proclaim from the mountain tops of this greatest of all news!Praying for you always. The world is in a mess. The world is in chaos. Satan is rubbing his hands together as if he is thwarting the plans of God. Yet he and the world are deceived. They are blind to the fact that our God is in complete and utter control. They are unaware of the coming Day of the Lord. And sadly, if they die in that condition, they will spend eternity separated from Him while experiencing His holy and just wrath. Be on guard. Be vigilant. Be faithful. Be bold! 🙏I'm praying for you always. ❤️ Pastor Jamie Read the Chapter: https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Ephesians%202&version=ESV Learn more about us: www.mygpchurch.com/whoweare  Titus 3:10-11Notes From the Pastor's Desk #notesfromthepastorsdesk 📖Titus 3:10-11 (ESV) 10 As for a person who stirs up division, after warning him once and then twice, have nothing more to do with him, 11 knowing that such a person is warped and sinful; he is self-condemned. 📘Pastor's Note: Division and dissension can rip a flock apart. It can devastate the church. No wonder why one of the most important directives to Pastors in God’s word is for them to watch and warn the flock. Protect the flock! I’ve heard it said before that unity in the church is hard to achieve and even harder to keep. What makes it so hard? Let me give you three things that make it difficult.
Reading through the pastoral epistles this morning, this stood out to me. It’s a good reminder for us all how important it is to stay focused, to stay alert, to keep our hearts and minds bathed in the word of God. When we do that constantly, purposefully, prayerfully, we can all be of the same mindset. Pray for me as I pray for you. 🙏I'm praying for you always. ❤️ Pastor Jamie 📖Read the Chapter: https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Titus%203&version=ESV Click here to learn more about The Grace Place Church  John 5:2-6Notes From the Pastor's Desk #notesfromthepastorsdesk 📖John 5:2-6 (ESV) 2 Now there is in Jerusalem by the Sheep Gate a pool, in Aramaic called Bethesda, which has five roofed colonnades. 3 In these lay a multitude of invalids—blind, lame, and paralyzed. 5 One man was there who had been an invalid for thirty-eight years. 6 When Jesus saw him lying there and knew that he had already been there a long time, he said to him, “Do you want to be healed?” 📘Pastor's Note: Here in John 5, Jesus is in Jerusalem, and He goes to a pool called Bethesda, a pool of water where people with disabilities/infirmities would go and await for the waters to stir so they can get in in the hope of being healed. Jesus comes across this one man in particular who had been an invalid for 38 years. The man was too slow to get to the waters and had been there a long time. Jesus sees him and knows this. He approaches the man and asks him a simple question: “Do you want to be healed?” Here, you have God in the flesh personally engaging a man who obviously is in a dire condition. He can’t heal himself. He has no hope of reaching the stirred water. Yet Jesus comes to him and offers him a question filled with hope! What a beautiful picture of the Gospel. In our sin, we are without hope of being healed. We need divine intervention. We are incapable of healing ourselves. We have no hope of reaching the pool of salvation. But praise God! He sees us, He engages us, and He asks us, “Do you want to be healed?” A very important question. That’s the question of the Gospel. We are desperately sick and diseased with sin. But there is healing available. God offers that healing through His One and Only Son! The question is, “Do we WANT to be healed?” That’s a question for every single person. Do they recognize that they are lame and that Jesus can heal them? Oh, the glory of God in His Gospel! He engages man and freely offers healing from our desperate condition with sin. Pray for me as I pray for you. 🙏I'm praying for you always. ❤️ Pastor Jamie 📖Read the Chapter: https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=John%205&version=ESV Click here to learn more about The Grace Place Church  |
AuthorPastor Jamie Payton 
Archives
November 2024
Categories |
