Some observations from the last few Sundays
New sermons from the last two weeks.
31 October, 2 Thessalonians 1:1-7 - Life in Grace produces thankfullness
24 October, Luke 10:25ff - The good Samaritan was no hero (retreat)
I haven't posted sermons from the last few weeks, so here are two. The sermon from Luke was what I preached Sunday morning in Pranburi at the church retreat. It was a fun start to a Scripture and spiritual growth filled two days with Ash Barker and friends.
The sermon on 2 Thessalonians is the first in a short series we are starting called "Life in Grace".
Some really amazing things have been happening at ICB in the last few weeks. Here are some highlights.
Weekend of the 24th
*We had a wonderful church retreat with over 60 people participating the weekend of the 24th. Ash Barker led us in thinking about why it's important that we as Christians be involved with those who are poor and vulnerable in our communities.
*Friendships were formed that just wouldn't happen anywhere else in any other context. Love the way Christ pulls us together when we might otherwise have nothing in common.
*Really blessed by Sam and Charis' music leadership over the weekend and by Mae and Malinee's work with food and hotel arrangements.
Weekend of the 17th
*I'm not posting the sermon, but it was the "Sermon on the Amount". Annual Stewardship Sermon. When you add up all the tithes and taxes that God expected of His people in OT times, it comes to over 25% of gross income. The average church goer gives around 2% of their income to charity (not just church). That's crazy, isn't it?
*I am sure that Intl Church is more generous than average, but for the sake of simple math. Currently our annual income is about 6 million baht. 5 million is spent on basic functions of church. 1 million we give away for mission around the country. What if we increased from 2% to 20%? Our income would go from 6 million to 60 million and our basic expenses would stay about the same. What would happen if we were giving 55 million baht yearly to ministries around Thailand instead of 1 million? The impact would be amazing. It would get people talking. It would create an incredible reputation for the church. It would transform 1000s of more lives. What if this happened on a world scale among all Christians? We'd wipe out world poverty within a year. And I bet millions more people would flock to Christ because they'd see a selflessness and generosity in us they don't see anywhere else and the only explanation would be God!
*The cool thing is that offering both in the morning and evening that week was exactly 10 times what it had been the week before!
Weekend of the 31st
*It was an enjoyable day filled with the love of God and a strong sense of the Holy Spirit.
*Really blown away by folks in the evening bringing friends to worship with them. One gal met a guy on the train, they grabbed dinner and then she brought him to church. Awesome!
*Love, love, love hearing how God is working in the lives of those in the church. Heard two GREAT testimonies yesterday. One in the morning, one in the evening from people who would have NEVER been in a church worshiping God one year ago.
That's all for now.
31 October, 2 Thessalonians 1:1-7 - Life in Grace produces thankfullness
24 October, Luke 10:25ff - The good Samaritan was no hero (retreat)
I haven't posted sermons from the last few weeks, so here are two. The sermon from Luke was what I preached Sunday morning in Pranburi at the church retreat. It was a fun start to a Scripture and spiritual growth filled two days with Ash Barker and friends.
The sermon on 2 Thessalonians is the first in a short series we are starting called "Life in Grace".
Some really amazing things have been happening at ICB in the last few weeks. Here are some highlights.
Weekend of the 24th
*We had a wonderful church retreat with over 60 people participating the weekend of the 24th. Ash Barker led us in thinking about why it's important that we as Christians be involved with those who are poor and vulnerable in our communities.
*Friendships were formed that just wouldn't happen anywhere else in any other context. Love the way Christ pulls us together when we might otherwise have nothing in common.
*Really blessed by Sam and Charis' music leadership over the weekend and by Mae and Malinee's work with food and hotel arrangements.
Weekend of the 17th
*I'm not posting the sermon, but it was the "Sermon on the Amount". Annual Stewardship Sermon. When you add up all the tithes and taxes that God expected of His people in OT times, it comes to over 25% of gross income. The average church goer gives around 2% of their income to charity (not just church). That's crazy, isn't it?
*I am sure that Intl Church is more generous than average, but for the sake of simple math. Currently our annual income is about 6 million baht. 5 million is spent on basic functions of church. 1 million we give away for mission around the country. What if we increased from 2% to 20%? Our income would go from 6 million to 60 million and our basic expenses would stay about the same. What would happen if we were giving 55 million baht yearly to ministries around Thailand instead of 1 million? The impact would be amazing. It would get people talking. It would create an incredible reputation for the church. It would transform 1000s of more lives. What if this happened on a world scale among all Christians? We'd wipe out world poverty within a year. And I bet millions more people would flock to Christ because they'd see a selflessness and generosity in us they don't see anywhere else and the only explanation would be God!
*The cool thing is that offering both in the morning and evening that week was exactly 10 times what it had been the week before!
Weekend of the 31st
*It was an enjoyable day filled with the love of God and a strong sense of the Holy Spirit.
*Really blown away by folks in the evening bringing friends to worship with them. One gal met a guy on the train, they grabbed dinner and then she brought him to church. Awesome!
*Love, love, love hearing how God is working in the lives of those in the church. Heard two GREAT testimonies yesterday. One in the morning, one in the evening from people who would have NEVER been in a church worshiping God one year ago.
That's all for now.
