š„Ā Contender: Fighting For Your Faith āĀ Contend For The Promise
š Celebrate Jehovah Jireh
Letās take a moment to celebrate Jehovah Jirehāthe God who sees and provides.
š„ Vision for 2025: Engage with God + Engage Your Faith
This year we are going after:
The Detached ā
The Drifted š
Those who Donāt Know š
We're called to be active participantsānot just spectatorsāin our faith journey!
š¢ Engage
This Contender series is about "Fighting for Your Faith."
God doesnāt just hand out callingsāyou contend for them.
He cannot just be a Sunday morning Jesus.
š Acts 1:4-8
4And being assembled together with them, He commanded them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the Promise of the Father, āwhich,ā He said, āyou have heard from Me; 5for John truly baptized with water, but you shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now.ā 6Therefore, when they had come together, they asked Him, saying, āLord, will You at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?ā 7And He said to them, āIt is not for you to know times or seasons which the Father has put in His own authority. 8But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.ā
You will have to wait on God without fully knowing.
š John 14:15-18
āIf you love Me, keep My commandments. And I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may abide with you foreverāthe Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him; but you know Him, for He dwells with you and will be in you. I will not leave you orphans; I will come to you."
- They had the promise
- The waited with expectation - they knew if He said it, it was coming
You will have to move from sealed to filled.
š John 20:22
And when He had said this, He breathed on them, and said to them, āReceive the Holy Spirit."
- When you are saved you are sealed, but when you are baptized you are filled
- Sometimes we run off before we get to see all that God has for us
You will have to remain in order to receive.
š Acts 1:14
14These all continued with one accord in prayer and supplication, with the women and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with His brothers.
- They prayed in the same place (Acts 1:14)
- They stayed in the same place
- They received in the same place
- They recognized that they didnāt have what it took and needed what God had
- No matter what comes, or how long we have to wait, donāt forsake the fellowship
š Acts 2:1-4
1When the Day of Pentecost had fully come, they were all with one accord in one place. 2And suddenly there came a sound from heaven, as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting. 3Then there appeared to them divided tongues, as of fire, and one sat upon each of them. 4And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.