Who Do You Worship?

The church in João Pessoa began a sermon series on the book of Romans. I began by teaching and preaching on the context of the book. It took a little bit longer than I expected but was well worth the time.

God's Word is awesome. Just to give you a little taste of what was taught. Romans is a book in which the apostle Paul expounds on the Gospel (Chapter 1:3-4). Jesus, born in the flesh, died and risen from the dead through the power of the Holy Spirit, proving that He is the Son of God. This gospel is God's power to save all those who believe (Chapter 1:16-17). Save us from what? Our sins, right! Yes, but it is not a salvation experienced only at the end of time, this salvation is present all around us. God's wrath is being poured out all around us, today!! (Chapter 1:18-25). We have traded our worship. Before being saved through the gospel, we worshiped the creation, in many ways, instead of the Creator (Chapter 1:25). The gospel saves us from this and its consequences by renewing the focus of our worship. The gospel turns us to worship God and this worship saves us from a way of life that we see all around us every day, destroying families and leaving every worshiper of creation, hopeless.

How marvelous and wonderful is the Gospel. We are saved. Live out your salvation with joy. You are experiencing things that others, who are not Christians, cannot fathom until they see you living in Christ, worshipping the God and creator of heaven and earth.

Please pray:

· That the church in João Pessoa may worship God and Him alone

Comments

"What About Baptism?"

Edda and I went to a nearby city to study the Bible with a family, Genilda (who is already a Christian), Ana, Mariana, Luiza, and Jefferson. While we were reading God's Word, Ana's husband, Silva, came in and sat down, and then blurted out: "What about baptism?" It took me by surprise because he has barely studied with us, but, most certainly, is already thinking about spiritual matters. Our Bible study then took a lot of detours, answering this question or that. Silva said he still has a lot of questions, and we pray that the Lord will use us to answer them, bringing him to understand the Good News!

One More Goodbye

This year has been rough for Borges's family. They lost a pillar in their family, his wife's mother in February. Now her brother has passed, buried today. He was diagnosed with prostrate cancer 18 months ago. A policeman, used to taking care of the family, he had to settle with being taken care of by the family as his body gradually shut down when the cancer metastasized to his bones. Borges and Geilza have spent every free moment taking care of Demilson's needs, and it has been torture watching him slowly wear away. His colleagues in the Military Police carried his casket, played taps on a trumpet, presented his family with a Paraiba flag, and thanked his family for supporting him in defending society for nearly thirty years. It was a nice gesture, but the event that gives us believers hope in the face of death is Jesus winning over the grave. He is our certainty that a grave is not the end.

Prayers and Fasting for our Families

One of the most devastating attacks of the enemy against God's people is when he invests in our families. We pray for protection for our loved ones, but we live in a world that never tires of trying to divide our families, constantly pulling and poking at our faith to find a vulnerable spot. The congregation in João Pessoa, in the face of one difficult situation after another, has taken a whole Sunday this month to stay together in prayer and fasting for our families. We are praying for couples in the church losing hope of solving their differences, Christian wives tearfully bearing the responsibility of maintaining the marriage with non-Christian husbands, mothers and daughters in unrelenting tugs of war, unemployment and financial strains, and the most shocking of all, one of our teenager, who is barely beyond childhood, confessed to the church that she is 8 months pregnant (her own mother only found out a week before). It g...

McKinney Report

Search This Blog