Events
Hello New Season!
Our last picture at the location that housed our church for over two years. It is bittersweet to say goodbye to it. It found us when our church didn’t have a public meeting space. It got us through so many ups and downs. It has been a blessing. But I look forward to the new season God is lighting up our path to journey on.
Give Back Initiative
Tonight, all donations received will be gifted to Mary and Mike Dent towards a wheelchair ramp. You can read about their story below.
Sermon
“For everything there is a season and a time for every matter under heaven: a time to be born and a time to die; a time to plant and a time to pluck up what is planted; a time to kill and a time to heal; a time to break down and a time to build up; a time to weep and a time to laugh; a time to mourn and a time to dance; a time to throw away stones and a time to gather stones together; a time to embrace and a time to refrain from embracing; a time to seek and a time to lose; a time to keep and a time to throw away; a time to tear and a time to sew; a time to keep silent and a time to speak; a time to love and a time to hate; a time for war and a time for peace.” -Ecclesiastes 3:1-8
Lately we have experienced a lot of change. Change in leadership. Location change. A change in season. Just as the Scripture says, “For everything there is a season and a time for every matter under heaven…” We have seen many seasons at Christ’s Redemption Church. This time, this place is no different. Seasons don’t last forever, neither the good nor the bad. But this season feels so different.
During my prayers, Bible studies, and general prep for tonight, three topics kept coming up:
- Signs
- Consecration
- Peace
The signs are something I’ve spoken of as recently as last service. God has a way of showing up and delivering a situation to confirm my prayers, my concerns, and much more. Lately Yahweh has been showing me refracted rainbows in places that don’t make sense. On a fence outside in the dead of night. On my kitchen counter when we don’t have sun coming through. The rainbow is a symbol of Yahweh’s covenant. For me, it means God is here with me, and I am headed in the right direction.
The second topic that comes up is consecration, and the third is peace. They are interconnected, intertwined with each other and us. But first, let me ask you all: what is consecration?
‘Then you shall take the anointing oil and anoint the tabernacle and all that is in it and consecrate it and all its furniture, so that it shall become holy. You shall also anoint the altar of burnt offering and all its utensils and consecrate the altar, so that the altar shall be most holy. You shall also anoint the basin with its stand and consecrate it. Then you shall bring Aaron and his sons to the entrance of the tent of meeting and wash them with water ‘ -Exodus 40:9-12
The term “consecrate” in Hebrew is “qadash,” which means “to cut”, “to separate”, or “to set apart.” It i s the taking of something “ordinary” and making it divinely sacred. The domain of the divine. It is the drawing of a hard line between what belongs to regular human life and what belongs to the Lord our God.
Well, what does “peace” have to do with the act of consecrating something? The Lord has had the words such as “peaceable”, “peacekeepers”, and “peace seekers” popping up all week. This is important to us because this is the season we are heading towards, a time of peace.
“Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God.” –Matthew 5:9
What is a peacemaker? What does that look like in action?
‘ Who is wise and knowledgeable among you? Show by your good life that your works are done with gentleness born of wisdom. But if you have bitter envy and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not be arrogant and lie about the truth. This is not wisdom that comes down from above but is earthly, unspiritual, devilish. For where there is envy and selfish ambition, there will also be disorder and wickedness of every kind. But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, willing to yield, full of mercy and good fruits, without a trace of partiality or hypocrisy. And the fruit of righteousness is sown in peace by those who make peace.’ -James 3:13-18
The Bible tells us what peacemakers are and what they are NOT. They are revealed by:
- Good works
- Gentleness
- Wisdom
- Willingness to yield
- Merciful
- Not Hypocritical
What peacemakers are not:
- Envious
- Selfish
- Arrogant
- Liars
- Chaos
- Wicked
Peace is a fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22). It is not born of chaos. It is born through wisdom. Through pruning. Through maturing in the season the Lord has molded you from.
Tonight, we will be taking all three themes and putting them into ACTION. We will use the anointing oil and water that most of you have been praying over during these last few weeks. These will be the signs and symbols. We will use them to consecrate our new building. To set it apart as Holy ground. Not only that, but we will make a new covenant with Yahweh through our Messiah, Yeshua Hamashiach, and aided by the Ruach Hakodesh to be peacekeepers. We will be His guardians of peace within these walls, within our community. We reject chaos. We reject following after the lusts of our own hearts and our own eyes (Numbers 15:39).
Tonight, while we go into our final time of worship, I ask those with willing hearts to take the oil and water. Use them by dipping your fingers into either, then touch the walls or doors. Any surface. Pray over it. Pray for protection. Pray for Holy ground. Pray for sanctuary. Pray as peace guardians.
At the end, we will pour some outside in front of the building. We will mark it as set apart for the Lord our God and His people.
Amen.
Music Used During Services
Scripture Reading Plan
