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  • Home
  • About
    • Denison Iowa
    • Brief History
    • What we Believe
    • Mission
    • Vision
    • Love - Grow - Serve
    • Staff
  • I'm New
    • What to Expect
    • Get Connected
    • A242
    • Making Disciples
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Believing God for the Impossible

12/10/2017

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Luke 1:31 You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you will name him Jesus. 32 He will be very great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his ancestor David. 33 And he will reign over Israel forever; his Kingdom will never end!”

Mary was just an ordinary young woman, about 15 years of age. She did not feel she was any better or more Godly then her friends and neighbors.  She just lived her life to honor God.  One day, an Angel of God shows up and shares with her that God has sent Him to communicate with her the mission God has for her.  Not understanding why God’s Holy Angel would show up caused her a bit of concern.  But she was their to listen to what this messenger of God had to say.  The 1st part of this mission is that she is to have a baby boy.  Yes she is a virgin, she and Joseph have not had sexual relations so the question is how can this happen.  Even though this is perplexing to her and she does not understand, Mary does not interrupt the messenger, instead she listens quietly and intently to all the messenger has to say.  The 2nd part of this mission is that when this Child is born, she is name him Jesus. God knows the child she will give birth to will be a boy and God has so ordain this boy be named Jesus.  Then the messenger explains the 3rd part of this mission, that when the child is born, He will be great, he will be known and called the Son of God.  But that is not all.  God the Father will give to him the throne of David and he, Jesus will reign as King of this Kingdom for ever and ever, i.e. his Kingdom will never come to an end. For ever and ever means, this new Kingdom is eternal, a heavenly Kingdom.  Something totally new, never seen before.  
Mary’s response to all that she heard that day was:

“I am the Lord’s servant". Luke 1:38

So are ready to believe God for the impossible? 
I do believe God is seeking to do something new, something that is impossible for you and I believe you will be given a choice to make. 

​My hope is that you will respond like Mary, “I am the Lord’s servant” 


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Taking Responsibility

11/26/2017

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Gen. 2:15-17 The Lord God placed the man in the Garden of Eden … But the Lord God warned him, “You may freely eat the fruit of every tree in the garden— except the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. If you eat its fruit, you are sure to die.
”Gen. 3:8-13 When the cool evening breezes were blowing, the man and his wife heard the Lord God walking about in the garden. So they hid from the Lord God among the trees. Then the Lord God called to the man, “Where are you?” He replied, “I heard you walking in the garden, so I hid. I was afraid because I was naked.” “Who told you that you were naked?” the Lord God asked. “Have you eaten from the tree whose fruit I commanded you not to eat?” The man replied, “It was the woman you gave me who gave me the fruit, and I ate it.” Then the Lord God asked the woman, “What have you done?”  “The serpent deceived me,” she replied. “That’s why I ate it.”

It is so easy to blame others for what you do or do not do.  Here we see that Adam and Eve did everything they could to avoid taking responsibility for their own sin. Adam blamed blamed God then he blamed his wife, “it was you who gave me this woman and she gave me the fruit”  Eve did not accept responsibility but turned and blamed the serpent: “The serpent deceived me”.  God ignores our excuses for our sins and we live with the consequences of our sins.  

Too often in life we blame others for our choices. Too often I hear people blaming their Parents, their friends, their culture, their personality, their spouse, their work, their manager.  I hear people blaming God because they did not having sufficient time to do all they want to do.  It is common in our society for people to be blaming the Church or the Pastor as being at fault because the church does not have the things they want like a different worship time, a children’s program, a worship service in their language.  People blame the Pastor or the church for not being a bigger church, a church with more activities, being a church more like the church they have gone to in the past.  

The quickness of blaming others is an indication that we have not fully and genuinely repented of our sin, our lack of being obedient to God and what God is asking us to do.  Yes our excuses are plentiful and our quickness to complain is deafening, making it impossible to be free of our own sins.  Yet despite all this God still makes restoration available.  It is free.  The only thing it cost is our pride. Our willingness to surrender our will to God.  Restoration and forgiveness can not happen until we accept full responsibility for our actions, our sins our own actions.  

John writes how we can have this freedom and live a life that is free from guilt and shame, free to live without this sin issue always pulling us down.

1 John 1:9 “But if we confess our sins to him, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all wickedness".
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Your 1st step acknowledge and take responsibility for your own sins, your own actions. Your 2nd step is ask God and then ask others for forgiveness.  Only when you you do both steps, then you will you be free to receive God’s forgiveness and you will on the path to spiritual maturity.

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Making wise choices.

11/18/2017

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Dear Brothers and Sister in Christ. 
Take time to pray.  In fact do not go a day without praying.  Why?  You need to keep Christ 1st in your life. You need to rely upon Christ for the challenges you face.  Don’t try to figure things out on your own without Christ.  Life has many pitfalls and Satan will do everything in his power to keep you from living a life that honors God, so keep God 1st.  He needs to be your highest priority.  

You have some choices to make and you need to make the right choices for those in your community are watching you.  They are watching to see who this God is whom you worship.  They are watching to see if you are all the rest of the religious people, all show in public as if they are God’s favorite child.  But when they think no one is looking, they are just like everyone else, they lie, cheat and steal.  
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Yes you need to make good choices so that those watching you, see Christ in you.  God wants people to see you living a life that honors him.  This means not just in what you do but in what you talk about.  They need to hear the good news from you. They need to hear how Christ has changed your life and how you rely upon Him for everything.  So can you do this?  Can you live this like this?  I hope so.  (A rewrite of Col. 4)  

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Your New YOU

11/11/2017

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Since you have been raised to new life with Christ, set your sights on the realities of heaven, where Christ sits in the place of honor at God’s right hand. Think about the things of heaven, not the things of earth. For you died to this life, and your real life is hidden with Christ in God. And when Christ, who is your life, is revealed to the whole world, you will share in all his glory. So put to death the sinful, earthly things lurking within you. Have nothing to do with sexual immorality, impurity, lust, and evil desires. Don’t be greedy, for a greedy person is an idolater, worshiping the things of this world. Because of these sins, the anger of God is coming. You used to do these things when your life was still part of this world. But now is the time to get rid of anger, rage, malicious behavior, slander, and dirty language. Don’t lie to each other, for you have stripped off your old sinful nature and all its wicked deeds. Put on your new nature, and be renewed as you learn to know your Creator and become like him. In this new life, it doesn’t matter (it does not matter where you come from). Christ is all that matters, and he lives in all of us. Since God chose you to be the holy people he loves, you must clothe yourselves with tenderhearted mercy, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience. Make allowance for each other’s faults, and forgive anyone who offends you. Remember, the Lord forgave you, so you must forgive others. Above all, clothe yourselves with love, which binds us all together in perfect harmony. And let the peace that comes from Christ rule in your hearts. For as members of one body you are called to live in peace. And always be thankful. Let the message about Christ, in all its richness, fill your lives. Teach and counsel each other with all the wisdom he gives. Sing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs to God with thankful hearts. And whatever you do or say, do it as a representative of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks through him to God the Father. (Col. 3:1-16 NLT)
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October 29th, 2017

10/29/2017

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Rom. 5:10 For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his life.

Too often we place the emphasis on the effect of our salvation and not on the cause of our salvation.  It is not my obedience, consecration, and dedication that make me right with God.  I am made right with God because, because of the work of Christ, Christ death on the cross. I am saved when I come to recognize this work and accept this work Christ has done on my behalf.  As a result, I am given God’s Holy Spirit to help revel the deep things of God, help me understand the great things of God, all that He has done and said.  God does not justify me because of I am sorry for me sin.  God justifies me because I have come to Him confessing my sin and repenting, expressing my sincere regret or remorse about the wrong I have done. 

God has shown us that yes we can be born again, made a new because of the work of Christ, the death of Christ on the cross.  This has nothing to do with me.  It is all about Christ.  

Now because of what Christ has done, because I have come to God, confessing my sin, repentant of the wrong I have done, Christ gives me new life.  Therefore as I have received Christ, I am to live life with Christ as Lord of my life.  I am rooted (established) in Christ but it is my duty to grow in my knowledge and understanding of God and His words written to me.  The fundamentals of the faith are to be my cornerstone upon which my life is to be built. I am to give thanks in all situations for my life is rooted in Christ.  

​ Col. 2:6 Therefore, as you received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in him, 7 rooted and built up in him and established in the faith, just as you were taught, abounding in thanksgiving.

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A personal note from Pastor Marcadapted from Colossians 1:24-2:5

10/22/2017

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Brothers and Sisters, I want you know how much I have struggled both physically and spiritually for you.  For me I have done so knowing that what I do is for God’s glory, fulling what He has charged me to do, make the word of God fully known, the mystery that has been hidden but has now come into the light for all generations to see.  God in His design has made me His ambassador to proclaim this mystery and called me to help you take hold fully the grace of God that has been offered to you. You see it is God’s design that I and you who are the riches of the glory of this mystery share with everyone, warning everyone, teaching everyone so that we may present everyone mature in Christ.  So do not be silent.  Go and be His witness to everyone.

Yes I have struggled for you and for all who do not know me personally in Denison.  I have struggled that your hearts may be encouraged, that you might be knit together as one body in Christ, knit tougher as one body in Love.  I have struggled to help you know the full assurance of knowing God so that you might reach the full understanding the knowing the mystery of God which is Christ.  Yes it is in only in Christ that we able to see the the hidden treasures of wisdom and knowledge of God.  Only though His word are we able to grow in our knowledge and understand of God and what God has done.  Brothers and Sister, there is no other.  There is no other way.  I do not want you to be fooled by those which crafty tongues, people who are trying to convince you to believe something else. There is no other way.  There is only one Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. 
​

Yes in October 2019 we will be retiring. As we prepare for this new stage in our lives, it is my hope you will be preparing for the next stage God has prepared for you and for Journey Church.  We have all come to know the 80/20 rule.  80% of the people in a Church are observers.  It is my hope we see this flipped upside down in Journey Church and we see 80% of the people are “Participants and Leaders” and only 20% or less are new people coming to observe.  So will you stand-up? 
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The Journey toward living life worthyof (honoring) the Lord

10/1/2017

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Col. 1:1 This letter is from Paul, chosen by the will of God to be an apostle of Christ Jesus, and from our brother Timothy.
Col. 1:2 We are writing to God’s holy people in the city of Colosse, who are faithful brothers and sisters in Christ. 

The Apostle Paul is writing to God’s holy people.  This is you and I.  We as God’s holy people are to “walk in a manner worthy of honoring the Lord.  That is our life is to be lived out honoring the Lord 

Col 1:10 so as to walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to him, bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God; 11 being strengthened with all power, according to his glorious might, for all endurance and patience with joy; 
Col 1:10 Then the way you live will always honor and please the Lord, and your lives will produce every kind of good fruit. All the while, you will grow as you learn to know God better and better


What enables us to walk in a manor worthy of the Lord is complete knowledge of God’s will in or with spiritual wisdom and understanding.    This is why Paul prays for them so that they will.
 
Col. 1:9 So we have not stopped praying for you since we first heard about you. We ask God to give you complete knowledge of his will and to give you spiritual wisdom and understanding.

For the Next 8 weeks we will be addressing issues that will help us walk, Journey toward living life worthy of (honoring) the Lord.  
If you feel you do not have a good grasp in knowing God’s will, if you feel you do not have good grasp in possessing spiritual wisdom and understanding, then I encourage you to make it a priority to come each week so that you may know God’s will for you.  So that you may know how to grow in spiritual wisdom and understanding.
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One Another

8/27/2017

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John 15:12 This is my commandment: Love each other in the same way I have loved you. 
13 There is no greater love than to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. 
14 You are my friends if you do what I command. 
15 I no longer call you slaves, because a master doesn’t confide in his slaves. Now you are my friends, since I have told you everything the Father told me. 
16 You didn’t choose me. I chose you. I appointed you to go and produce lasting fruit, so that the Father will give you whatever you ask for, using my name. 
17 This is my command: Love each other.)

We are to Love one another.  This is not a request.  This is a command.  We are to “Agape” love others.  “When everyone is sitting in rows…you can’t do any one anothers". (Andy Stanley.) 

Our challenge is to recapture the essence of “Ekklesia” i.e. “The local Church (Ekklesia) is a gathering of those who believe in Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord, who are committed to meet regularly for worship, teaching fellowship, prayer and who help make disciples of all peoples.”  (By Steven Cole).  

Jesus’s promise to us who believe, we will bear much fruit and the fruit we produce will last.  The fruit will have eternal significance.  
But wait.  This is more then just a promise. Jesus tells us this is why He chose us. 
    
Wow. 
​  

We are chosen to bear fruit, i.e. to live a life so that our life reflects Jesus Christ.  Our life being lived as a witness to our Lord and Savior.  Our fruit, those who come to know God because of our life, because our life is a reflection of Christ, because of our verbal testimony, our verbal witness of our Lord and Savior.  This is how we are to “Love one another”.  As Jesus said “ This is my commandment”.  

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The Assembly of People

8/5/2017

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For far too long the term “Church” has veered far the meaning of the greek word we have translated as “Church”.  The greek word, “Ekklesia” is poorly translated as “Church”.  The meaning of “Ekkleisa” is referring to an assembly of people who have given their lives to the Lord Jesus Christ. But today many people identity “Church" as one of the local buildings where people go on Sunday to attend a “Church Service”.  This concept was far from the thinking of Christ who using word play told Peter the meaning of his name “little rock” but where as referring to Himself as the side of a Rock mountain.    

Matt. 16:18 Now I say to you that you are Peter (which means ‘rock’), and upon this rock I will build my church, and all the powers of hell will not conquer it.

In continue with this metaphor, Peter then uses in his letter describing the Church, the people of God as living stones that is being built into a spiritual temple.  

1Pet. 2:5,9  And you are living stones that God is building into his spiritual temple. What’s more, you are his holy priests. Through the mediation of Jesus Christ, you offer spiritual sacrifices that please God… for you are a chosen people. You are royal priests, a holy nation, God’s very own possession. As a result, you can show others the goodness of God, for he called you out of the darkness into his wonderful light.

The spiritual house is “Ekklesia” the assembly of People.  It is this assembly that is God’s holy priest offering spiritual sacrifices for the pleasure of God.  The “Ekklesia” owner is God himself.  It is He who called the Church into being and to be used as God’s light shining out into the darkness.  
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So if we are not operating as an assembly of people, what do we need to begin doing to become an assembly of people bring glory and honor to God? 
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Ekklesia - The Church

7/30/2017

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“The local Church (Ekklesia) is a gathering of those who believe in Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord, who are committed to meet regularly for worship, teaching fellowship and prayer and who help make disciples of all peoples.”  By Steven Cole. 

God’s plan is Ekklesia - the Church 
Matt. 16:18 Now I say to you that you are Peter (which means ‘rock’), and upon this rock I will build my church,

God Instructions for fulling His pan and building the Ekklesia - the Church
Matt. 28:18-20  Jesus came and told his disciples, “I have been given all authority in heaven and on earth.Therefore, go and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Teach these new disciples to obey all the commands I have given you. And be sure of this: I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”

The foundation of Ekklesia, - the assembly of Believers.  
Acts 2:42  All the believers devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching, and to fellowship, and to sharing in meals (including the Lord’s Supper), and to prayer.
Acts 2:43-47  A deep sense of awe came over them all, and the apostles performed many miraculous signs and wonders. And all the believers met together in one place and shared everything they had. They sold their property and possessions and shared the money with those in need.  They worshiped together at the Temple each day, met in homes for the Lord’s Supper, and shared their meals with great joy and generosity all the while praising God and enjoying the goodwill of all the people. And each day the Lord added to their fellowship those who were being saved.
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