Thursday, July 29, 2010
   
Text Size
image image image
Minister - Richard Rose

There is one body, and one Spirit, even as ye are called in one hope of your calling; One Lord, one faith, one baptism, One God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all.  But unto every one of us is given grace according to the measure of the gift of Christ.  Wherefore he saith, When he ascended up on high, he led captivity captive, and gave gifts unto men.  Now that he ascended, what is it but that he also descended first into the lower parts of the earth?  He that descended is the same also that ascended up far above all heavens, that he might fill all things.  And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers; For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ        Contact Richard Rose
Elder - Leon Berry This is a faithful saying: If a man desires the position of a bishop, he desires a good work.  A bishop then must be blameless, the husband of one wife, temperate, sober-minded, of good behavior, hospitable, able to teach;  not given to wine, not violent, not greedy for money, but gentle, not quarrelsome, not covetous;  one who rules his own house well, having his children in submission with all reverence  (for if a man does not know how to rule his own house, how will he take care of the church of God?);  not a novice, lest being puffed up with pride he fall into the same condemnation as the devil.  Moreover he must have a good testimony among those who are outside, lest he fall into reproach and the snare of the devil    Contact Leon Berry
Elder - Ronald Thigpen The elders who are among you I exhort, I who am a fellow elder and a witness of the sufferings of Christ, and also a partaker of the glory that will be revealed: Shepherd the flock of God which is among you, serving as overseers, not by compulsion but willingly, not for dishonest gain but eagerly; nor as being lords over those entrusted to you, but being examples to the flock;  and when the Chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the crown of glory that does not fade away.   Contact Ronald Thigpen

Lord Increase Our Faith

(Luke 17:1-5) 1 Then said he unto the disciples, It is impossible but that offences will come: but woe unto him, through whom they come! 2 It were better for him that a millstone were hanged about his neck, and he cast into the sea, than that he should offend one of these little ones. 3 Take heed to yourselves: If thy brother trespass against thee, rebuke him; and if he repent, forgive him. 4 And if he trespass against thee seven times in a day, and seven times in a day turn again to thee, saying, I repent; thou shalt forgive him. 5 And the apostles said unto
the Lord, Increase our faith.

Living in this world involves having some kind of relationship with other people. We are born into a circle of relationships with parents and our siblings. We then extend our circle when we go to school and church. As we grow and begin to get jobs, the circle grows even larger. With the wide circle of relationships, comes relationship problems. The kind of problems that we have will depend on the nature of the relationship. Husbands and wives have a different kind of problem than a parent has with a child. Bottom line is that we cannot sustain good relationships if we are not willing and ready to forgive.


The following is an applicable model.
CONFRONTATION - When someone has wronged you, there needs to be a confrontation. The word, confrontation, sounds like a fighting word but it is not. It simply indicates that the offending party needs to be made aware of the offense. He/she cannot set things right if they
are not aware of the offense. In the confrontation there is one main thing to keep in mind.  That the whole point of confrontation is reconciliation! We don’t confront people just to tell them off. Our aim must be to heal the hurt and renew the friendship.

CANCELLATION OF THE DEBT – Forgiveness is defined as the cancellation of a debt. Jesus says that we should be ready to forgive as many times as it is needed in one day.

THE WORK OF FAITH – The disciples asked for more faith because they realized that in order to overcome the hurt and disappointment felt when wronged, they needed divine assistance.  Their faith would allow them to lean more on the guidance of scripture and the example of Christ and not on their own emotions.

We also struggle with issues of forgiveness everyday. Some have just thrown up their hands and decided that they just cannot forgive certain things because it hurts too badly. Instead, follow the disciples’ example and ask God for more faith.