Matthew 5:16 says, “In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven.”

We all know the song “This little light of mine, I’m going to let it shine”, but how often do we live it out in our every day lives? No, I don’t think we’re going to let Satan blow it out. No, we’re not going to hide it under a bowl. My friends, what we need to be careful of is that our actions and attitudes do not dim the light. I’m far from perfect, but I do realize the importance of doing my best to keep the light burning strong.

Whenever we display a bad attitude, we dim our light. Whenever we act out in anger or frustration, we dim our light. Whenever we let our character drift into the gray areas we do risk dimming our light. Yes, I know no one is perfect. We’re all going to make mistakes. We’re all going to have bad days. Still, we need to be concerned with the fact that the world is watching us. People who know we are Christians watch us. The children and young people in our church, our children, our families, and our friends all watch us. Let’s be careful to keep our light shinning brightly, even in the face of adversity.

Around 2,000 years ago Jesus Christ rode in on a colt into the city with people waving palm branches shouting “Hosanna, Hosanna!”. Have you ever put much thought into the meaning of that word? The Israelites shouted it because they considered Jesus a king coming forth to take his rightful place. The Pharisees and Scribes cringed and told Jesus to shut them up, but if they did the rocks would cry out! Whenever they shouted “Hosanna” they were shouting “We’re saved!”. That is the meaning of the world. The people were being oppressed by Roman rule. They were spiritually shut down by overbearing Pharisees. They weren’t free physically or spiritually, but Jesus came to save them.

While we may enjoy measures of political freedom here in America, none of us were spiritually free until Jesus saved us. We were oppressed by sin and the temper. Shouting hosanna applies to us today as much as it did then. Jesus has the power to save and to sanctify. If you’ve experienced that power, rejoice and shout hosanna to the King of Kings. If you have not experienced it, you can.

Have you ever considered the idea that we need to view Christianity again like the disciples viewed Christianity for the first time? If you were to ever discover the rapid growth rates of Christianity in the Southern Hemisphere in places like Africa and Asia you would come to realize that here in America we are being left out. In the Southern Hemisphere Christianity is growing like wildfire, but in the United States it is stagnant.

Gregory Hills Church is in Revival this week with Chad Pollard, and personally? I want to see a revival take place. In Acts after Pentecost the church added 3,000 members in one day. Can you imagine what it would be like to see each church in America grow by 3,000 people? It would be incredible!

In order to see any growth we’re going to have to start out much like the Christians in Acts started out, in prayer. They prayed, and waited and waited and waited and waited on the Lord. If you want to see revival in your life this week, if we want to see revival in the church we’re going to need to wait on the Lord then do what He says.

One of my favorite older chorus’s is “His Name is Life”. It was written by William Gaither, and the words are as follows:

His name is Master,Savior, Lion of Judah
Blessed Prince of Peace
Shepherd ,Fortress ,Rock of Salvation
Lamb of God is He
Son of David,King of the Ages
Eternal Life
Holy Lord of Glory,His Name is Life

Personally, I’m pretty excited about having someone who is as fierce as a Lion, strong as a fortress, yet as innocent as a lamb for my God. I’m excited that I can be blessed with peace, that I can have a solid rock of Salvation to stand on. As a Christian, these names for Jesus Christ are incredibly important because in each of them is a promise for us. These promises provide hope, comfort, help, and peace.

What’s in His name? Incredible truth. Share it with someone this week!

If you look through examples in the Bible, particularly in the New Testament, you will see that the disciples and the young New Testament church had to deal with a lot of cultural diversity. In Biblical times the main diversity came between the Jews and Gentiles. However when you look at the epistles you’ll see that there was diversity between Christians and each of the cities represented. Paul wrote to the people in Corinth about differences in cultural practices. Paul wrote to the Romans about differences in cultural practices. Paul wrote to different individuals like Timothy and spoke to him about how to deal with these differences.

Why am I talking about this? Because represented across Raytown and KCMO There are different ethnicities, there are different theological persuasions, and different levels of conservative practice.

Paul, in all cases, treated each of these cultures with love and respect. He was never afraid to disagree, but his ultimate goal was to help them find Christ! His ultimate goal was to help them grow spiritually! My question for you this morning is how do you treat different cultures? How do you act around and treat someone who might be much more or much less conservative than you? How do you act around and treat someone who isn’t of the same ethnic background as you?

We need to be sure to love everyone as Christ loves them. Do you? Is it something you could work on? In God’s eyes we’re all equal. I know that this is sort of deep on a Monday morning, but it is important.

The Gregory Hills Church will be having the World’s Greatest Easter Egg    Hunt on Easter Sunday Morning after the morning service! We’re going to have over 700 eggs and are praying for 100 children to participate! Join us for worship, and then watch the children have a blast!

Good Monday Morning!

Isn’t it incredible how many miracles Jesus did here on earth? He brought sight to the blind, fed thousands of men and women, calmed the stormy seas, and brought men and women back from the dead. Do you want to know why Christ did these things? It was because He was on a mission and wanted to show people He loved them and wanted them as His own. He served them, and met their needs to see this happen.

If we want to be a missional church it means that we’re going to have to go out into the Metro and love people as Jesus loved them. We’re going to have to go out into the Metro and help people as Jesus helped. No, we’re not miracle workers, but we can meet the needs of people that make them feel safe. Do you know someone who needs their car worked on? Be Jesus, work on their car. Do you know someone who could learn how to cook for themselves? Be Jesus, feed them and teach them how to take care of themselves.

Being a missional church means getting out into the community and being a servant. Jesus massed many followers using this method, and the church in 2011 can do the same.

Prayer for the Week: God in heaven please make me a servant. Open my eyes to the needs around me and show me how to meet those needs and lead these people to Christ. Amen.

I want to encourage you to find things to rejoice in that God has given you. Often times we dwell so much on the negative circumstances in life that we forget to rejoice in the good gifts that God has given us. In your prayer times this week take a few extra moments to give God praise for something He has done for you recently. We should always be rejoicing, always be praising God for what He does for us. Make it a habit and never break it.

Prayer: Lord, thank You for all the good things that you do for me every day. Thank you for the big things and the little things. Help me to be more grateful and thankful for the things You do for me.

The Frampton Family from Stuart, Florida will be in concert at Gregory Hills Church on Sunday, March 13th, at 6:00 P.M. Come join us for some excellent music with some contemporary flair and southern gospel roots. Invite your friends and family to enjoy some great music. A free-will offering will be taken during the concert.

Psalm 18:2 says: “The LORD is my rock, and my fortress, and my deliverer; my God, my strength, in whom I will trust; my buckler, and the horn of my salvation, and my high tower.”

It is amazing that our relationship with God not only comes with assurance of Salvation, but it also comes with all of these other incredible benefits. When we are saved we have a solid place we can stand in the storm. When we are saved we have a God that will bring us out of the tough situations. When we are saved we have a true God to turn to. We don’t have to worry about Him not listening because he is just a stone or gold statue. He’s real. He’s alive. When we’re saved we have a strength that is supernatural. We have a strength that we can trust. It will never, ever fail us.

When we are saved we have a high priest that understands all of our problems.

I would encourage you to keep turning problems over to Him. Cast your cares to Him, because He cares for you.

Prayer for the Week: Lord, would you help me to rely more upon you in my day to day life? Thank you for not only wanting to be my savior, but also my friend. Thank you for continuing to show yourself real in my life.