Deliver Us From the Evil One

Last Sunday's message was a continuation of the sermon series Standing On The Promises of God. Jesus taught us to pray, "Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one." Josh McDowell, in his book “Understanding the Occult,” writes: According to the Bible there is a supernatural warfare going on. ‘For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of darkness…against the spiritual forces of wickedness… (Eph. 6:12) This ongoing battle is between the kingdom of God and the kingdom of Satan. The apostle John gives one of the reasons for Jesus coming to earth: “The son of God appeared to destroy the works of the devil” (I John 3:8).

According to the Barna Research Group, 60% of Americans do not believe Satan to be a living being…. The modern world view has made it socially dangerous to admit belief in demonic spiritual powers, but Jesus had no problem talking & confronting Satan’s activity in the world. Our culture resolutely refuses to believe in the real existence of evil while our newspapers are filled with a flood of immorality, violence, drug abuse, slavery, and behaviors that destroy human life.

The apostle John says that the world is a trap that is made up of three things.“Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him. (16) For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world.”1 John 2:15-16 (KJV)

The Progression Of Temptation

1. False impression given by Satan that whatever wrong we are contemplating really is not that serious.

2. The temptation presents a picture of some action that in some way appeals to our inner needs. Satan makes us see something, or someone, or some situation which he is sure will appeal to our lives.

3. A desire is actively aroused. “But each one is tempted when he is drawn away by his own desires and enticed.(15) Then, when desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, brings forth death.” James 1:13- 14 (NKJV)

4. We begin to toy with this idea. We play with it. We fantasize about it. It this point we have already begun to fall for Satan ruse.

5. We proceed to act on that what was presented to us. But the moment we give in we are dismayed and disgusted by our own defeat.

6. We try to hide our sin. We attempt to excuse or to conceal this matter from God and others. [principles drawn from W. Phillip Keller. A Layman Looks at the Lord’s Prayer. Chicago: Moody Press, 1976.) pp. 132-133.]

2 Peter Study Concluded

We concluded our study in the 1st & 2nd Epistles of Peter last evening. The Apostle's words were extremly uplifting. Join us next Wednesday at 6:30 p.m. for another great study in God's Word.

Just a reminder to encourage everyone to come out and sponsor the Fish Fry this coming Saturday at the Cottondale United Methodist Church. Proceeds will go to benefit the Cottondale Community Food Pantry! Tickets can be purchase at the door.

East is East and West is West

Rudyard Kipling once wrote,

Oh, East is East, and West is West, and never the twain shall meet,

Till Earth and Sky stand presently at God's great Judgment Seat;

But there is neither East nor West, Border, nor Breed, nor Birth,

When two strong men stand face to face, tho' they come from the ends

of the earth!

Its first line is often quoted, sometimes as an example of Kipling's attitudes to race and to the Empire; but those who quote it thus often completely miss the third and fourth lines. It is worth quoting the refrain which opens, and closes, the poem in full. This may be read as saying that 'it is indisputable that geographic points of the compass will never meet in this life, but that when two strong men [or equals] meet, the accidents of birth, whether of nationality, race, or family, do not matter at all - the Asian is equal to the European'.

Kipling's use of the two geographic points of the compass in his poem, also, reminds us of God's view of our transgressions in the light of His glory and grace. The Psalmist wrote, "As far as the east is from the west, so far hath he removed our transgressions from us" (Psalm 103: 12).

It is technologically possible to travel due west and never live in darkness. As long as you are facing westward and are continually moving toward the sun, you could conceivably never see another nightfall. Once you start westward, you can follow this path and never intersect with an eastward course.

The same can not be said for travelling "Due North." Once you reach the North Pole you will automatically begin to descend on a southernly path until you reach the bottom of the planet. North and South will meet, but East and West never interconnect.

What is the point? In the early days of our nation, travelling westward was a journey of adventure and excitement. Horace Greely's admonition to "Go West, young man!" was heeded by many explorers. To travel west meant that you were daring and willing to think outside of the box. Westward thinking was not for the faint of heart. It was filled with challenges and peril. There was unchartered territory that was so grand and spectacular that it was, and still is, breathtaking. If you were a complacent, lethargic and systematically driven person, then travelling west was not the place for you. Westward thinkers were willing to "Go, where no man has gone before!"

The same principle applies to our spiritual lives. If we are willing to continually look to the SON and follow His direction, we will never walk in darkness. If we continue on this path, westward, it will lead us into places where no one has gone before. Spiritually westward thinkers are not worried about receiving acknowledgement for their exploits. They look solely to Jesus, "the author and finisher of our faith" for their reward.

So how 'bout it? What path are you on? If you want to follow a path that leads to Christ's righteousness and glory, then focus your eyes on the SON and Go West, Young Man, Go West!!

New Playground

The ground will be breaking for a new Playground Project at Cottondale Community Church in the next few weeks. Special thanks to everyone who donated to make this project possible. We hope to have it completed for the Back To Church Day on September 13th. We will be having a special dedication of the playground during our morning worship.

Ron & Pam

Pastor Ron & Pam will be singing at Morning Pointe Nursing Home tommorrow at 11:00 a.m. If you would like to join them give them a call. These meetings are as much of a blessing to us as they are to those we are ministering to.

Forgive Us Our Debts!

Our sermon series entitled, Standing On The Promises Of God -The Lord's Prayer continued yesterday with the focus on FORGIVENESS.

Jesus prayed earnestly, purposefully, and with certainty. He knew that God answers prayer. "The Lord’s prayer" was given during Christ’s Sermon on the Mount to provide an example for how we should approach the throne of grace. Prayer is the prelude to peace, the prologue to power, the preface to purpose, and the pathway to perfection!

We all need forgiveness, but we also need to forgive others. Holding grudges saps us of creative energies to love, lift and serve. By asking God for forgiveness we are willing to admit our sins, weaknesses and areas where we have done less than our best. Refusing to forgive others hinders our relationship with God. Our debt to God is far greater than what we could repay. Our only hope is found in God’s forgiveness through Christ’s substitutionary death for the sins of world. Our prayer should be: "God help us to give what has been given to us.

We must forgive to be forgiven. Jesus says it in a number of places:

in Matthew 7:2 For in the same way as you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.

in Matthew 18:35 This is how my heavenly Father will treat each of you unless you forgive your brother from your heart.

Mark 11:25 And when you stand praying, if you hold anything against anyone, forgive him, so that your Father in heaven may forgive you your sins.

Paul says it in Colossians 3:13 Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another. Forgive as the Lord forgave you.

in James 2:13 because judgment without mercy will be shown to anyone who has not been merciful. Mercy triumphs over judgment!If we do not forgive those who harm us, God will not forgive us!

Standing On The Promises!

In Luke 11, Jesus’ disciples ask Him to teach them how to pray. They’re asking Him for a formula.They’re asking Him “How can we pray so that God will listen to us like He listens to You?” They know that prayer is supposed to do something.

It’s supposed to have power.

It’s actually accomplish something…

They’re just not so sure they know how to go about it.

How should I pray?

What’s the formula?

How can I be effective in my prayer life?

So they asked Jesus – “teach us to pray.”

And then Jesus teaches them what we call the “Lord’s Prayer” The Lord’s Prayer has been beloved by Christians for ages. We memorize it.

We sing songs about it.

We repeat it – reverently.

And well we should – these are the words of Jesus.

We acknowledge that God is the Provider of Life as we pray, "Give Us Our Daily Bread." Join us as we learn about Standing On The Promise of God from the The Lord's Prayer. Each word of this prayer is an affirmation of faith in God.

CCC to Celebrate Back To Church Sunday!

CCC will participate in the National Back To Church Sunday on September 13th. If you would like to be a part of this dynamic movement you can help by asking your friends, neighbors and family this simple question, "Would You Like To Go To Church With Me?" Join us as we reach out to our community and fill our sanctuary on September 13th.

CCC Announces New College Age Ministry.

Aaron Martin will serve as the new director for College Ministries at CCC. The first session will begin in September. We are excited to have Aaron on staff and look forward to this ministry growing throughout the next year. If you have college age students in the Tuscaloosa area please feel free to direct them to CCC. We will be happy to help care for their spiritual needs during their tenure in school.

What Type of Leader Are You - CEO or Servant?

What Type of Leader Are You - A CEO or A Servant? We have been studying the 1st & 2nd Epistles of Peter in our Wednesday night Bible Study. The apostle has much to say about developing a leadership mentality that is conducive to the style of leadership that Jesus designed for His disciples. 1 Peter 5: 1 -4 is a perfect example of the style of servant - leadership that Christ wants His disciples to follow. Peter wrote, "Shepherd the flock of God which is among you, serving as overseers, not by compulsion but willingly, not for dishonest gain but eagerly, nor as being lords over those entrusted to you, but being examples to the flock, and when the Chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the crown of glory that does not fade away (NKJV).

Some leaders foolishly attempt to apply carnal standards to spiritual matters. Those leaders view themselves as CEO's rather than servants. They use terms like submission, authority, rules, the system and compliance with unbridled arrogance, for they believe that their position makes them superior to others. Some will use phrases like, "You must be obedient to your superiors!" They will boastfully claim that they are submissive to their SUPERIORS as an effort to enforce compliance upon others. There is only one problem with this concept of SUPERIORITY. For a person to be a superior means that someone else must be considered INFERIOR. This type of carnal thinking smacks in the face of the Savior's love for all. Peter declared, "Of a truth I perceive that God is no respecter of persons: But in every nation he that feareth him, and worketh righteousness, is accepted with him" (Acts 10: 34 KJV).

Paul writes, "For you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus. For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus. And if you are Christ's, then you are Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise" (Galatians 3: 26 - 29).

Jesus set the standard for leadership in the church when His disciples were arguing over who would be SUPERIOR among them. He stated, "The kings of the Gentiles exercise lordship over them, and those who exercise authority over them are called benefactors. But not so among you; on the contrary, he who is greatest among you, let him be as the younger, and he who governs as he who serves. For who is greater, he who sits at the table, or he who serves? Is is not he who sits at the table? Yet, I am among you as the One who serves" (Luke 22: 24 - 27).

Jesus emphatically stated that it is the one who SERVES who is the greatest among you. The man who humbles himself and sees no SUPERIORS or INFERIORS, but views everyone human being as a wonderful creation of God, is the man who truly grasps the concepts of what it means to be a "Servant - Leader!"

Stacy Reinhart's book entitled, Upside Down Leadership, is a wonderful resource for applying the principles of servant-leadership into your ministry lifestyle. If you haven't read it, do so immediately and begin to follow it's instructions.

God hasn't called you to be a CEO in His Kingdom, He has called you to be His Servant!

Join us this Wednesday at 6:30 p.m. as we continue our study in the Epistles of Peter.

Seasonal Christianity

There was a time that the good guy always wore white and the bad guy always wore black.
There was a time when the good guy was good and the bad guy was bad. Now that’s changed. The cop is bad the thief is good
There was a time when the good guy won and the bad guy lost.

Things were simple.Now we don’t even know what marriage is. For thousands of years….literally thousands of years, marriage was man and women. I don’t think there was ever a civilization that believed and accepted same sex marriage.

But now…..Alarming to see how some people present the gospel -- How they explain the marvelous grace of God and what that will mean for your Christian life.

1) Easy Believism -- just say the magic words -- "I trust in Jesus" -- no commitment; no repentance; no change in who you recognize as the ultimate authority in your life; not much different than rubbing a rabbit’s tail; No genuine faith involved -- just mouthing some formula and hoping for the best

2) Legalist -- Like the Pharisees back in Christ’s day; or like some of the present day teachings of the Roman Catholic Church; God’s Grace is available; He wants to freely give it to you; but you need to do your part and earn it by cooperating with God. Say some more prayers; get some more grace. Partake in mass daily, get more grace; give money to the church, get more grace. Do, Do, Do in order to Get, Get, Get.

3) Health and Wealth Gospel -- God has all sorts of goodies in this life ready to hand out to you -- sort of like Halloween candy -- all you need to do is go spiritual trick or treating --

Name and Claim what you want; deliverance from any type of physical problems; financial prosperity; your favorite sports team will always win -- you name it =

A Perverted presentation of the Grace of God yes, God is a good God yes,

God delights to give good gifts to His children, yes, God is powerful enough to give you any of these things;

NO, this is not God’s design for how you will best grow spiritually or how He will receive glory from your life and testimony.

The term Christian is being applied to so many. Many adopt it. If you ask them what religion are you many, would say Christian. But what is a Christian in the biblical sense.

These were people who believed in a specific God:

Acts 3:13 (NIV) 13 The God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, the God of our fathers, has glorified his servant Jesus. You handed him over to be killed, and you disowned him before Pilate, though he had decided to let him go.

Food Pantry

The Care Package Food Pantry served close to 70 families this past Saturday. 18 of the families were new attendants, some having recently becoming unemployed. Join us as we pray for these families. We believe that God will sustain them through these very difficult times.

A special thanks to the children and their parents from Cottondale Christian Church. The children participated in a canned food drive that help stock the shelves of our food pantry. They also came out and helped us with Saturday's distribution.