First Baptist Church of Ferndale WA - online media

We all need to be trying to win souls for Christ, but we need to make sure we are right, we are working in God's might and we have sight for the lost.

The goal of serving as a Christian should be "not to be noticed." But the challenge is that when we become effective in our service to the Body of Christ, we can forget how we got there.

As we start a new series with Pastor Kiyle Decker, we look at four aspects of the Gospel: It is God's, it Seperates us, it is a Completed Promise, and it is Jesus.

Christ says that the oportunity to do His work in the world is an open door which no one can shut. We see from Matthew 28 what we need to do to walk through that door and join in the ministry.

As we look at the end of Joseph's story, we see that he did not see it as the end, but as just a chapter in the story of God's grace and redemption.

Joseph shows in Genesis 50 that he knows that God's place is in control of our lives. And to take revenge is to try to take that control away from God.

The basis for every true blessing is the character of God Himself. Jacob connects the dots between who God is, his personal experience with God, adn what he wants God to do for his grandsons in a rich blessing found in Genesis 48:15-16

Satisfaction is what you feel when your dreams come true. But true satisfaction is when you wait for it to happen in God's timing.

We need to remember who we are, and Whose we are, as Christians. And one of the main things Satan tries to do is make us forget that.

From the second chapter of Luke, we look at the idea of what we should do to make room for Jesus.

Joseph was confident that God had a plan for him, and that God's plan was good. Jospeph also was certain of God's love for him and that enabled him to love and forgive his brothers.

We may think we know what is going to happen, or what we want to happen, but God is the only one that truly knows the end from the beginning. And knows what is truly best for us.

Guilt can do bad things to a person. But being willing to forgive can do great things for you. And the most important message for us all to remember is that God is always willing to forgive those who come to Him in true repentance.

Being thankful is not dependent on where you are. You can be thankful anywhere, as we see from the eample of Joseph while he was still in Egypt.

Joseph, by the time he stood before Pharoah, had been away from his family 18 years. But he still trusted in God. And God still honored him for it.

Mary Magdalene gives us a good example in John 12 of how we should live a life dedicated to Jesus Christ.

We remember the didcated life of a good friend and sister-in-Christ.

Believing the facts about God is foundational. But believing facts alone does not constitute a complete faith. Faith, in the Biblical sense, is not limited to believing about God, but believing God.

Knowing what God wants to do is very different from understanding how God wants to do it - and it often looks impossible.

The story of how God was able to use Joseph has a very unlikely and unpromising begining, But it shows how God can use any of us, no matter what we think may be our limitations.

In Acts 2, we see a good example of what we should do as Christians to change the world for Christ.

Some churches, in an effort to draw more people in, are turning away from the clear teachings of God's Word. We need to be sure we know what it says to safeguard ourselves.

Even followers of Christ can end up in the wrong place, if they aren't staying close to HIm, reading the Bible and praying.

In 1 Kings 18, we read the story of Elijah and the evil king Ahab. Elijah had previously told Ahab there would be no rain for 3 1/2 years. At the end of today's text, Elijah prays for rain, but God makes him wait. So we look at how we should pray and wait on God's timing.

Jesus wants to help us minister to others, but He wants us to see that it is out of His abundant resources that we are able to do it.