BVOV Magazine 2013 - present

Make Yourself at Home! by Pastor George Pearsons Have you been sitting in church lately feeling like something’s missing? The worship is great and the preaching is better than ever. You’re so full of The WORD, you’re about to pop. But in the midst of the feast, you notice there’s still a hunger. Then you look next to you and see a total stranger. For three rows up, the faces look vaguely familiar but you can’t quite recall the names. You don’t know who these people are or what’s on their hearts. That’s the problem. You don’t feel connected to those around you. There’s no sense of belonging. Church just doesn’t feel like home. Many Christians today have come to accept that sense of isolation as normal. But it’s not! According to Ephesians 3, the Church is God’s family and the members should be knit together in love (Colossians 2:2). In a family, people know you. You’re missed when you’re away and there’s rejoicing at your return. People laugh when you’re happy and encourage you if you’re sad. They serve cake at your children’s weddings. They comfort you when it’s time to say goodbye to relatives who’ve gone on to be with The LORD. Spiritually, you need those kinds of relationships—not just with relatives, but with our brothers and sisters in The LORD. So, don’t treat church like an impersonal training center where strangers come together to worship and hear the latest teaching. Instead, follow the instructions of the Apostle Paul: “Welcome and receive [to your hearts] one another...” and “Be mindful to be a blessing, especially to those...who belong to God’s family” (Romans 15:7; Galatians 6:10, "Amplified Bible, Classic Edition"). Get to know the people around you. Find out who they are, where they work and what’s on their hearts. Invite them over for dinner. See if there’s a way you can minister to them. Just as you would at home, look around the church and see what needs to be done. Find a place to plug in and labor with other members. Learn what it’s like to rub shoulders with them while you’re doing dishes after a church supper, changing a diaper in the nursery or praying for someone at the hospital. Yes, it’s important to have good teaching and wonderful worship. But when you walk through those doors and see the faces, God wants you to know you’re home. V George Pearsons is CEO of Kenneth Copeland Ministries and senior pastor of Eagle Mountain International Church, located on the grounds of KCM. For more information or ministry materials go to emic.org. ********** ADVERTISEMENT ********** March 9-10 / Sacramento Spirit-Led Prayer Conference Pastor Terri Copeland Pearsons register now kcm.org/prayerconf Family Community Church 6331 Watt Ave. North Highlands, CA 95660 ********************************************** * * * * article from p. 29 continues * * * * She seemed happy to hear what the Bible had to say, but even so, she kept going back to talking about how sick she was. It was extremely frustrating. As I listened to her, I imagined even God Himself must have wanted to interrupt her. I imagined He wanted to say, “Quit talking that infirmity and weakness! Start speaking My Word over your body. If you will have faith, you can say, and it will obey!” That’s something we all need to be told from time to time. All of us, as believers, need to be reminded by God’s Word that “death and life are in the power of the tongue” (Proverbs 18:21), and that “with the heart man believeth unto righteousness” (and all the BLESSINGS that go along with it) “and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation” (Romans 10:10). That’s spiritual law, and it’s not going to change. We will have what we say. If we get God’s Word in our heart and say it with our mouth, we can live in days of heaven on the earth (Deuteronomy 11:21). Jesus has already done His part to make that heavenly life available. Through His death and resurrection, He got back for us everything Adam lost in the Fall. He bore our sickness and carried our diseases (Isaiah 53:4). He became poor so that we can be rich (2 Corinthians 8:9). He paid the price so that, by faith, we can live our lives in victory (1 John 5:4). If we’re not walking in that victory in some area of life, it’s because of unbelief. It’s because we haven’t consistently spoken words of faith about that area. The speaking part is our responsibility. It’s how we take to ourselves everything that belongs to us in Christ. So, go ahead and keep doing your part! Even if it appears that nothing is happening. Keep speaking words of faith until they create on the inside of you an image that comes from heaven. Then, keep right on speaking those words until that image on the inside changes things on the outside. Stick with the process! And soon, the fig tree that’s been giving you problems will wither. The mountain of sickness and lack will move. The things you’ve believed you receive will manifest, and your faith result will become seen. V 30 : BVOV

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