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god Tag

May 21, 2024

in Church, Discipleship, DTOTD, HCC, Jesus

by Brendon

0 Comments

Dwelling.

Posted on May 21, 2024 by Brendon

“ I will make my dwelling among you, and my soul shall not abhor you. And I will walk among you and will be your God, and you shall be my people. I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of Egypt….” – Leviticus 26:11-13a

In today’s world, the thought of who you are with is becoming more and more apparent and judged.

Oh you hang out with that crowd….

Oh, I didn’t expect you to be hanging out with that kind of person…

Oh you believe the same thing as them??

It’s almost like the people we hang out with or dwell with will determine what everyone will think of us.

It’s like the question, what high school did you go to? The answer will determine everything someone needs to think and know

about you.

However, what if we start to think about the people we dwell with. The people that we do life with. The people that influence us the most. The people that can determine what your outcome in life could be like.

God makes this statement over all of the Bible.

In Genesis we see Adam and Eve had a very personal relationship with God. In Gen. 3 we see it noted that in the cool of the evening, God came to walk with Adam and Eve in the garden. But we see that because Adam and Eve ate the fruit of the tree they were not supposed to, they hid from God. ( Gen. 3:8-9 ).

In Leviticus, we see that already, God is wanting to dwell again with his people. God leads them out of Egypt and along the way they fall away from God over and over and will continue to do so. ( Lev. 26:11-12 )

In the prophet Ezekiel’s book, we see that after God brings a valley of dry bones back to life, God make mention to covenant of peace and that God’s dwelling will be with his creation. ( Eze. 37:27 )

In Paul’s second letter to the church in Corinth, Paul makes this claim again that God desires to dwell among his people and they will know Him and know that he is their God. ( 2 Corin. 16c)

Then again in Revelation, the apostle John writes in Revelation 21, that behold, the dwelling place of God is with his his creation. That He will dwell with them and they will be his people. ( Rev. 21:3 )

We can see that God from the beginning of life, to the end of life, has one goal….to dwell or be with close contact with his people.

And in seasons of life it is incredibly hard to understand and really embrace this truth. The truth that God really does love you and desires a relationship with you.

In seasons of winning: when you have great health in your family or when you get the promotion you worked so hard for or when you move to a new location that brings new life to our heart or when you have a healthy baby come into the world or when you win the lottery!

In seasons of losing: when health is an issue, when you lose your job, when you don’t get that promotion, when you look at your bank account and it is not where you thought it would be, or when you look at your house and see all of the repairs that you are not able to make, or when you look at your relationship with your spouse and it is on the rocks or when you lose a loved one.

God still, desires to be with you.

Life is hard. Jesus tells us that in John 16:33.

Even when we fall away from God.

Even when we forget about the things he calls us too.

Even when we stop thinking about him.

Even when we don’t feel his presence because of what is going on in our life.

Even when……..

God desires to dwell with you.

Whatever season you might find yourself in today, rest in this peace, that God desires you.

With all of your shortcomings. With all of our mistakes. With all of our doubts and fears. With all of our thoughts that lead us away from Him.

God still and wants desires a relationship with you.

March 21, 2024

in Church, Discipleship, DTOTD

by Brendon

0 Comments

The Lord with _

” The Lord was with Joseph, and he became a successful man, and he was in the house of his Egyptian master.” – Gen. 39:2

Recently, life has been busy. It has been filled with meetings, appointments, sick kids, deadlines, new things, old things, sports, school stuff, homework, cleaning, laundry and so much more. Sound familiar? We all have seasons of life when it just seems out of control. What do I do next? What can I check off my to-do list? Where do I have to get the kids to? Which practice is tonight? And my favorite, how the heck am I supposed to get all of this together when there is so much to do?

As a life group, we have been working through a study of the book of Genesis. If you have not read Genesis in a while or maybe at all, you should! The stories that we are reading and the way that life began, is fascinating. However, there are some stories that stick out more than some. Some of the stories that we read in Genesis are:

Creation

Adam and Eve

The Fall

Noah

The Tower of Babel

Abram / Abraham and Sarai / Sarah

Isaac and Rebekah

Jacob and Esau

Jacob’s 12 sons

The one that is sticking out the most, is the story of Joseph. Did you know that Joseph’s story is one of the longest recorded story in the Bible? There is almost 15 chapters dedicated to Joseph’s story. It is not one that is easy to read. It is filled with ups and downs and twists and turns and dreams and prophecy and scandal and betrayal and death and famine and grace.

Joseph was the second youngest son of Jacob, also known as Israel. He was the son born from Rachel which was Jacob’s favorite. So automatically there was a jealousy and anger towards Joseph from his brothers. But Joseph doesn’t help himself. When Joseph was 16, he tells his brothers about a dream that he has about how when in a field, Joseph and his brothers had sheaves of wheat in the fields and his sheaf stood up and the brothers gathered around his and bowed down to his sheaf. The brothers didn’t like that too much…But then Joseph tells his brothers and his father another dream….the second dream was that the sun and moon and 11 stars were bowing down to him. Again, brothers didn’t like it at all, but Joseph’s father was also a little perplexed by it.

We see Joseph’s brothers get even angrier when Joseph receives a coat of many colors from their Father. Joseph’s brothers have enough. They go out to take the flocks out and have them graze. Joseph is sent by Israel to find his brothers and deliver a report back. The brothers have a different plan. They plan to kill Joseph. So not only does Joseph not have his brothers affection, they want to get him out the picture entirely. Unbeknownst to Joseph, when he finally catches up with his brothers, they have a plan to throw him in a cistern and leave him for dead. However, there was grace shown to him and instead of leaving him for dead, the brothers decide to sell Joseph to some traders and he made his way to Egypt where Joseph would eventually be sold to Potiphar. The brothers went back after killing a sheep and covering the coat of many colors in the blood of the sheep.

The we read in Genesis 39, an interesting statement:

” The Lord was with Joseph…..”

Kind of hard to beleive that statement after everything that Joseph has already gone through in his life. Even after this statement is made, we see that Joseph is put in charge of his masters home, but because he is described as handsome in appearance, his masters wife try to force herself on him. It didn’t work. But because she claimed and blamed Joseph for coming after her, his master threw Joseph into prison. In prison, Joseph is seen as responsible and respectable, to the point where he was put in charge of all of the inmates.

Still, Joseph ends up showing that he can perceive and interpret dreams. He does so for one that serve Pharaoh at the time. Joseph ends up being put as second in command in all of Egypt. So the Lord was with Joseph and it showed in how Joseph was seen and loved and trusted.

The crazy part of Joseph’s story is at the end when there is a famine in the land and his brothers come to Egypt to buy food that Joseph was able to save for during the 7 year famine that was interpreted from Pharaoh’s dream. Not only do we see Joseph’s brothers fall before him just like in his dreams when he was 16, we see that Joseph shows grace and love and care for his brothers by sending word to their Father that he is alive and he wants the entire clan to come and live in Egypt.

So what is so important about Joseph’s story?

In the midst of Joseph’s life, the Lord was WITH Joseph.

It is super hard to truly understand and really grasp, but in the midst of our up’s and downs and moutains and valleys and successes and failures…….the Lord IS with YOU.

Whether we know it or not. Whether we can feel it or not. Whether we can see it or not. Whether we believe it or not.

The Lord DESIRES to be WITH YOU.

He is not distant. He is not absent. He is not waiting for the right time. He is not waiting for you to clean yourself up. He is not waiting for you to figure it out.

You do not make God hesitate.

You do not cause God to doubt.

You do not cause God to not save you.

God shows from the very beginning of time, that HE WANTS TO BE WITH YOU.

WE see it as truth when we read in the Revelation of John:

” Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth for the first heaven and first earth had passed away……And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying ” Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell WITH them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be WITH THEM as their God.” – Rev. 21: 1,3

When you face seasons of busyness, know this: The Lord IS WITH YOU.

Keep putting one foot in front of the other and walk with confidence knowing that God desires to be with and IS with you.

It is up to us to live in God’s presence however that may look for you.

March 7, 2024

in Discipleship, DTOTD, HCC

by Brendon

0 Comments

Baptism

” Now when they heard this they were cut to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the Apostles, ” Brothers, what shall we do?” And Peter said to them, “repent and be baptized every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. For the promise is for you and for your children who are far off, everyone whom the Lord our God calls to himself.” – Acts 2: 37-39

There are lots of thoughts about Baptism out there. Some good, some bad and some are just confusing.

Here at Harvester Christian Church, we think a lot about Baptism. The act of baptism, the heart behind baptism, the symbolic nature of baptism, and most importantly, the relationship you are growing as you are baptized by immersion in the baptistry. Here are Harvester Christian Church we believe that God created all. He is the good and beautiful creator who created human beings. But we as humans fell into sin when Adam and Eve ate the Tree of Knowledge of good and evil in the Garden of Eden. When that happened, we as humans created a chasm between us and God. Forever severing the once perfect and close-knit relationship that God intended to have with his creation. We see in Genesis that God desires to walk with his creation as he did in the cool of the day in the Garden. Because of our decision to eat of the apple and the tempter being successful at pulling us away, we enter in to a life that is inherently sinful and yet inherently good all at the same time. The reason it is inherently good, is because along the way of His creation, God decided to send a rescuer, a healer, a mighty one, a redeemer, a sanctifier, a savior. Yes, life is good because God sent his one and only son Jesus, to the earth, coming in the form of a baby and living a perfect life for all to see and emulate.

You see, Jesus came in a time of conquest, confusion, losing, hardship and maybe most of all, Jesus came in a time where Hope and Love were needed. Jesus came in the time of an empire that was striving to be the biggest and best in the world. Jesus came in a time when people were falling left and right into temptation and slavery and financial hardship. But Jesus came and brought hope, he brought a light in what seemed like a very dark world for those that heard the message that Jesus was preaching.

Baptism is a way that we get to show others where we are on our journey with Jesus. When the disciples in Acts 2 preached at Pentecost, baptism what the immediate next step for anyone who believed the message of Jesus. It still reigns true today! Baptism is our outward expression and acceptance of Jesus as our Lord and Savior as we repent for our sins, confess Jesus as Lord and then we are immersed in the water and come out of the water a new creation in Jesus. The act of baptism is symbolic of Jesus dying on the cross, being buried in the tomb and then rising again. With Baptism, we are dying to our old self, being cleansed by the water or buried in the water and coming out of the water a new creation just as Jesus came out of the tomb as a new creation!

The Apostle Paul writes it this way:

” Do you no know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were burried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life.” – Romans 6:3 & 4

” I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me……..For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ.” Galatians 2:20 & Galatians 3:27

if you would like to look more at Harvester Christian Church’s stance on baptism, click this link – Discover Harvester –

Another great resource for you might be this video, that Pastor Doyle Roth filmed on HCC’s stance of Baptism:

If you are ready to get baptized, let us know! We as a church would love to come alongside you and celebrate this decision! You can let us know by filling this form out:

– Baptism Form –

If you have other questions or would simply like to talk to someone more about Baptism and what it might mean for you, feel free to reach out to us anytime! You can fill out a questionare over at harvester.cc or you could email our Next Steps Director here – bfoulke@harvester.cc –

Some might be wondering, ‘ well I was baptized as an infant or my parents had me sprinkled as a child ‘ All of those are amazing things! The fact that your parents were wanting you to be baptized and known by Jesus is something we will celebrate all day long! At Harvester, we believe that baptism is a choice that you as an individual would make for your relationship with Jesus. It doesn’t mean that what your parents did for you were wrong or bad, but the decision to be baptized may not have been yours. To continue growing in your relationship with Jesus, we would encourage you to read scripture, think and pray about it and ask as many questions as you would like! The journey with Jesus is not one that is simple or easy. It is a lifelong process of allowing God, Jesus and the Holy Spirit form you in a way that is not culturally normal. Baptism is one of the major steps in that journey of following Jesus that can represent the start of walking with Jesus for the rest of your days.

We hope that this post and the video are helpful to you on your journey learning what Jesus is calling you towards and how Jesus wants to free you not just from your sin and shame, but free you into a new life and a new creation that bring glory to God the Father through what He will do in your life and through your life.

Praying for you.

god Tag

Dwelling.

The Lord ______ with _______

Baptism

From the HCC Outreach Team:

The Lord with _