Maranatha Grace Church

Brothers and Sisters,

It can take a log time for the truth of the Gospel to be fully understood even by Christians. In the book of Philemon we see a complete dismantling of the rational for the evil of slavery, but it took close to two thousand years to get rid of slavery completely in the heart of humanity.

¹² I am sending him—who is my very heart—back to you. ¹³ I would have liked to keep him with me so that he could take your place in helping me while I am in chains for the gospel. ¹⁴ But I did not want to do anything without your consent, so that any favor you do would not seem forced but would be voluntary. ¹⁵ Perhaps the reason he was separated from you for a little while was that you might have him back forever— ¹⁶ no longer as a slave, but better than a slave, as a dear brother. He is very dear to me but even dearer to you, both as a fellow man and as a brother in the Lord. (Philemon)

Please read Titus 2 - Philemon .

May the Lord richly bless you!

Brothers and Sisters,

We are living in the last days. All the signs of the last days are being fulfilled. 

But mark this: There will be terrible times in the last days. ² People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, ³ without love, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not lovers of the good, ⁴ treacherous, rash, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God— ⁵ having a form of godliness but denying its power. Have nothing to do with such people. (2 Timothy 3).

Please read 2 Timothy 3 - Titus 1.

May the Lord richly bless you!

Brothers and Sisters,

Not  many Scriptures directly address the youths, but the few that do offer powerful instructions for successful living beyond the youthful age. Young people who want solid life directions should read the Bible with purpose. 

Flee the evil desires of youth and pursue righteousness, faith, love and peace, along with those who call on the Lord out of a pure heart. (2 Timothy 2)

Please read 1 Timothy 6 - 2 Timothy 2.

May the Lord richly bless you!

Brother and Sisters,

When I was growing up, every day this sentence could be heard, "Qui veut son respect se le procure." Young people complain often that they are not respected by the older folks. The Bible has a very important instruction for all young people who want to be taken seriously: set a good example for your parents, for your teachers, for your peers, and for everyone that is around you.  

 ¹² Don’t let anyone look down on you because you are young, but set an example for the believers in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith and in purity. (1 Timothy 4)

Please read 1 Timothy 3 - 5.

May the Lord richly bless you!

Brothers and Sisters,

How much do you pray? Do you make petitions for all people? What about your intercessory life, do you stand in the gap for those who cannot? Are you grateful for the people that God has placed in your life? We need to remind ourselves constantly that God wants all people to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth, so we have a great work set out for us. 

I urge, then, first of all, that petitions, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for all people— ² for kings and all those in authority, that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness. ³ This is good, and pleases God our Savior, ⁴ who wants all people to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth. ⁵ For there is one God and one mediator between God and mankind, the man Christ Jesus, ⁶ who gave himself as a ransom for all people. This has now been witnessed to at the proper time. ⁷ And for this purpose I was appointed a herald and an apostle—I am telling the truth, I am not lying—and a true and faithful teacher of the Gentiles. (1 Timothy 2)

Please read 2 Thessalonians 3 - 1 Timothy 2.

May the Lord richly bless you!

Brothers and Sisters,

I leave you with these two verses before you read the chapters. " ¹⁶ Rejoice always, ¹⁷ pray continually, ¹⁸ give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus." (1 Thessalonians 5)

Please read 1 Thessalonians 3 - 2 Thessalonians 2.

May the Lord richly bless you!

Brothers and Sisters,

⁶ Let your conversation be always full of grace, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how to answer everyone. (Colossians 4)

This is a great secret for success, success in your relation with your children, success with your spouse, with your co-workers, with your brothers and sisters in Christ. The key word is "always," we must be consistent. 

Please read Colossians 4 - 1 Thessalonians 2.

May the Lord richly bless you!

Brothers and Sisters,

If Apostle Paul was praying for you, he would praying for your spiritual development not for your material well-being. We, church leaders, need to take a hint from Paul how to pray for the people that we lead. 

⁹ For this reason, since the day we heard about you, we have not stopped praying for you. We continually ask God to fill you with the knowledge of his will through all the wisdom and understanding that the Spirit gives, ¹⁰ so that you may live a life worthy of the Lord and please him in every way: bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God, ¹¹ being strengthened with all power according to his glorious might so that you may have great endurance and patience, ¹² and giving joyful thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of his holy people in the kingdom of light. ¹³ For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves, ¹⁴ in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.

Please read Colossians 1 - 3.

May the Lord richly bless you!

Brothers and Sisters,

The Kingdom of God is an upside down kingdom  in opposition to the world's kingdoms. In this world we are told to look out for number one: me. But God is telling us to do something different, very radical:

"Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, ⁴ not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others." (Philippians 2)

How do we do something so against our natural tendencies? The answer is found in Christ.

 In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus:...:(Philippians 2:6-11)

Please read Philippians 2 - 4.

May the Lord richly bless you!

Brothers and Sisters,

Preaching is very important in the life of the body of Christ. However, I stay convinced unless the people of God spend time in the word of God no real spiritual growth is possible. People no longer are capable to listen to one to two hours sermons, they no longer take the time to soak in the word of God while in church. Therefore, we must read the word for ourselves. By example, the chance for you to hear someone preach about the following Bible scriptures is very slim, since most people don't want to hear it, and most preachers don't want to preach it. 

³ But among you there must not be even a hint of sexual immorality, or of any kind of impurity, or of greed, because these are improper for God’s holy people. ⁴ Nor should there be obscenity, foolish talk or coarse joking, which are out of place, but rather thanksgiving. ⁵ For of this you can be sure: No immoral, impure or greedy person—such a person is an idolater—has any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God. ⁶ Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of such things God’s wrath comes on those who are disobedient. ⁷ Therefore do not be partners with them. (Ephesians 5)

Please read Ephesians 5 - Philippians 1.

May the Lord richly bless you!

Brothers and Sisters,

⁸ For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— ⁹ not by works, so that no one can boast. ¹⁰ For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do. (Ephesians 2)

Please read Ephesians 2 - 4. 

May the Lord richly bless you!

Brothers and Sisters,

A few years ago I spent some time memorizing the prayer of Paul for the Ephesians found in Ephesians 1:15-23. It has been one of the best investments of my time. I have prayed this prayer for myself and for my church countless  times with great results. If you can, try to commit it to memory; it will help you set the right prayer priorities for yourself and for your loved ones.

¹⁵ For this reason, ever since I heard about your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for all God’s people, ¹⁶ I have not stopped giving thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers. ¹⁷ I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that you may know him better. ¹⁸ I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in his holy people, ¹⁹ and his incomparably great power for us who believe. That power is the same as the mighty strength ²⁰ he exerted when he raised Christ from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly realms, ²¹ far above all rule and authority, power and dominion, and every name that is invoked, not only in the present age but also in the one to come. ²² And God placed all things under his feet and appointed him to be head over everything for the church, ²³ which is his body, the fullness of him who fills everything in every way. (Ephesians 1)

Please read Galatians 5 - Ephesians 1.

May the Lord richly bless you!

Brothers and Sisters,

 May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all.(2 Corinthians 13:14)

This benediction is also a prayer. Is it reserved only for Pastors, Deacons, and male church leaders to say? Most of us will not have the opportunity to bless the congregation with this benediction, but nothing keeps us from  blessing and praying for our families, our children, and our friends that powerful benediction: "May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all [or an individual]."

Try it; it is really beautiful to intentionally bless someone.

Please read 2 Corinthians 13 - Galatians 4.

May the Lord richly bless you!

Brothers and Sisters,

Gratitude opens the door to more blessings in your life, if you stay grateful you will see great thing happening in your life.  Since Apostle Paul was able to stay grateful, so can we. He wrote in 2 Corinthians 11:

^"24 Five times I received from the Jews the forty lashes minus one. ²⁵ Three times I was beaten with rods, once I was pelted with stones, three times I was shipwrecked, I spent a night and a day in the open sea, ²⁶ I have been constantly on the move. I have been in danger from rivers, in danger from bandits, in danger from my fellow Jews, in danger from Gentiles; in danger in the city, in danger in the country, in danger at sea; and in danger from false believers. ²⁷ I have labored and toiled and have often gone without sleep; I have known hunger and thirst and have often gone without food; I have been cold and naked. ²⁸ Besides everything else, I face daily the pressure of my concern for all the churches. ²⁹ Who is weak, and I do not feel weak? Who is led into sin, and I do not inwardly burn?" (2 Corinthians 1)

This is the same man who wrote in Philippians 4:4, "Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice!"

Please read 2 Corinthians 10 - 12.

May the Lord richly bless you! 

Brothers and Sisters,

³ For though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does. ⁴ The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. ⁵ We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ. (2 Corinthians 10)

Ephesians 6:14-18 lists the full armor of God which allows the Christian to stand his ground against the devil's schemes. But fasting and prayer is the combination that destroys the adversary. Speaking of an evil spirit that kept on hurting a young boy, Jesus said to his disciples, "This kind can come out by nothing but prayer and fasting.” (Mark 9:29)

Every difficulty in life can be overcome by fasting and prayer. You don't have to wait until the difficulty comes to engage in fasting and prayer,  every difficulty in life can be prevented by fasting and prayer. 

Please read 2 Corinthians 7 - 9.

May the Lord richly bless you!