Spread It Before The Lord

Week of November 10, 2023

“And Hezekiah received the letter from the hand of the messengers, and read it; and Hezekiah went up to the house of the Lord.”  (Isaiah 37:14, NKJV)

Hezekiah, the King of Israel received a threatening letter from a powerful King, Sennacherib of Assyria.  The King of Assyria demanded unconditional surrender and his spokesman shouted to the Jews in the Hebrew language “Don’t think Hezekiah can save you!”  Hezekiah had received a letter from Sennacherib and he took it up to the temple and “spread it out before the Lord”. Then he prayed, “O Lord of hosts, God of Israel, the One who dwells between the cherubim, You are God, You alone, of all the kingdoms of the earth.  You have made heaven and earth.  Incline Your ear, O Lord and hear; open Your eyes, O Lord, and see; hear all the words of Sennacherib, which he has sent to reproach the living God.” (Isaiah 37:196-17, NKJV) Hezekiah was asking God to intervene. God did, He wiped out the entire Assyria camp, 185,000 soldiers. 

So let me ask you, do you have a piece of paper you need to spread out before the Lord?  Do you have a financial statement that’s overwhelming, a medical diagnosis, a child issue, a pink slip?  Any piece of paper that causes you stress can be an invitation to prayer, and an opportunity to spread it out before the Lord. If it is important to you, it is important to Him. Spread it out before God and ask for His intervention.  Put your trust in Him, and watch how He works things out for you.

God Bless, Pastor Rick

The Importance Of The Written Word

Week of November 3, 2023

“For whatever things were written before were written for our learning, that we through the patience and comfort of the Scriptures might have hope.” (Romans 15:4, NKJV)

The apostle Paul understood the importance of the written word. Even though Paul had a personal encounter with the Lord Jesus Christ on the road to Damascus and many other visions, he still depended on the written word for his daily guidance. By the 2nd century A.D. all 27 books of the New Testament had been canonized as Holy Scripture. Through the power of the Holy Spirit the early Christians understood how important scripture was for living the Christian faith. We today, should do the same.

Church history is full of important figures that stood up to extreme opposition for the sake of protecting the Bible and scripture. One such figure was William Tyndale. He was one of the first to translate the Bible into the English language during the 16th century. History records one occasion when he was told to stop preaching to the people. Tyndale responded with these famous words, "If God spare my life, before very long I shall cause a plough boy to know the scriptures better than you do!” He was speaking to the religious elites of that day. Tyndale would eventually be thrown into a dungeon for a year before being burned at the stake. He died for his belief that everyone should be afforded the opportunity to read the Bible.

On Monday, June 15th, Gateway will be kicking off our 120 day New Testament Bible reading challenge.  I encourage you to attend the service on June Sunday, 14th to hear more about this life changing challenge and pick up your reading guide. This is a great opportunity for us to be united in a life-changing goal. Have a blessed week in the Lord!

God Bless, Pastor Rick

Live By Faith

Week of October 27, 2023

“So Jesus said to them, “Because of your unbelief; for assuredly, I say to you, if you have faith as a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move; and nothing will be impossible for you.” (Matthew 17:20, NKJV)

Many people become slaves of everyone else’s opinion.  They agree with every viewpoint regardless of how ridiculous they may be.  They do not have an opinion about anything; all they want is to remain unnoticed. Life becomes complicated because they try to please everyone. They lose confidence in God and themselves.

As a follower of Jesus Christ, you have the power residing in you by the Holy Spirit that enables you to tackle life positively.  Our discipleship is based on faith, so, even though you may be experiencing a trial in your life, focus on the fact that God loves you.  He never leaves you.  Follow through with what God might be speaking to your heart, and do not base your life on feelings.

If your life is based on your faith in Christ, then your confidence will gradually increase and you will overcome those feelings of little or no confidence in yourself to hear God for yourself.  You will find that there is no situation that you will not be able to handle through God’s wisdom and His power.

God Bless, Pastor Rick