Standalone Messages 2017
Called By God
December 31, 2017 • Dirk Duhlstine
Our doing should come from our http://being...being healthy, whole, and holy sons and daughters of a God who loves us just because we are His children. Do you recall a time when you heard God call you? Speak to you? Encourage you? Correct you? Move you in a certain direction? Save you from harm? Let's set our hearts on listening to what God is saying to us, for He loves to speak with His children!
Holy Spirit Stories & Surprises
July 30, 2017 • Dr. Kim Engel-Pearson & Mike Bradley
As we embrace a renewed emphasis on Holy Spirit, both his person and work, we hear stories from Kim and Mike concerning how the Spirit has surprised and delighted them with his leading. These stories increase our faith and encourage us to be alert for God — his speaking, moving, inviting — in a time of accelerated activity and increased sensitivity and awareness to God movements around us.
Responding to God's Voice
July 23, 2017 • Graeme Sellers
We have a built-in capacity for the voice of God; we are created to hear His voice because we are sons and daughters. We possess the ability to hear the voice of God without ever reading the Bible, without ever attending a church service, without ever uttering a prayer. This is not an aspect that some have and some do not—it is imprinted within you by your creator as a baseline measure of being human. God speaks. So, when He does, what to do next? Move. Act. Immediately. Typically, when God speaks is His timing. It’s never, “Get around to this sometime, would you? You know, when it’s convenient for you.” Understand: the voice of God is not neutral—the voice of God makes a claim on us. Joshua 24:24 “We will serve the Eternal One, our God, and we will obey His voice.” (The Voice Translation)
Journey Reflections
July 9, 2017 • Lee Meyer
God-sightings and reports from Pastor Lee's first-ever sabbatical. While on this wonderful journey, Lee sensed God inviting him to reflect Jesus' light in three ways: 1. Learn to go deep in prayer 2. Study and follow in the way of Jesus 3. Risk loving others
Christian Community
July 2, 2017 • Dirk Duhlstine
Community isn’t about where we live, but about our connection to one another, about the canvas of our common (shared) life and what we choose to paint on it. This is important because at Wonderful Mercy we believe not in religion but in relationship: a true and meaningful relationship with Father, through Jesus Christ and sealed by Holy Spirit.
Spinning Plates
June 11, 2017 • David Hammerslag
Our lives can become a frantic rushing from spinning plate to spinning plate. We give each enough attention to prevent a disastrous crash, then we rush off to the next plate that is in danger of falling. We make our lives more and more frantic, hoping that with this one last plate spinning in its place, we’ll be happy and satisfied. Do you ever feel like a plate spinner? We think if we can just manage to keep all the plates spinning -- make sure none of them come crashing down -- then we will be happy and contented. Yet, even when we do manage it, usually for only a very short while, we end up feeling exhausted and unfulfilled. Soon some of the plates will start to slow down and wobble, demanding our attention again. The plates become our masters. We become imprisoned by the need to keep the plates spinning. They command our attention. There's a better way. And Jesus shows it to us.
The Drought Is Coming to An End, Pt. 2
April 23, 2017 • Graeme Sellers
Today we return to an encouraging word that the Lord gave us in early February: "The drought is coming to an end." To say “The drought is coming to an end” is not the same thing as saying there are no more rivers to cross, mountains to climb, valleys to traverse, hardship to endure. It is to say that a long season of loss, lack, and less is coming to an end. Why would God bring it to our attention again? Well, assuming that He is directing this conversation, clearly it’s a matter of some importance to him. And if it’s important to Him it is important for us. At a minimum, he’s telling us to pay attention. It’s easy to lose sight of something once it’s no longer immediately in front of us. Our tendency, once we’ve heard something, is to move on to the next thing. It’s rare that we would take time to consider and then reconsider what we’ve heard, and that's what we're doing today.
We've Never Prayed This. But We're Going to Now.
April 9, 2017 • Graeme Sellers
For all the ways in which we have made prayer the foundation for what we do and who we, there’s something we’ve never prayed for as a church in a focused, purposeful manner. Not only have we never prayed it but we have chosen, deliberately, not to pray it. Listen as we explore the barriers to praying for it and hear the Father's invitation to begin to do so now.
Why Does My New Life Look So Much Like My Old Life?
March 26, 2017 • David Hammerslag
J. Philippe, author of Interior Freedom, tells us, "What often blocks the action of God’s grace in our lives is less our sins or failings, than it is our failure to accept our own weakness—all those rejections, conscious or not, of what we really are or of our real situation. To 'set grace free' in our lives, and paving the way for deep and spectacular changes, it sometimes would be enough to say simply 'yes'—a 'yes' inspired by trust in God to aspects of our lives we’ve been rejecting." "We refuse to admit that we have this defect, that weak point, were marked by this event, fell into that sin. And so we block the Holy Spirit’s action, since he can only affect our reality to the extent we accept it ourselves. The Holy Spirit never acts unless we freely cooperate. We must accept ourselves just as we are, if the Holy Spirit is to change us for the better."
The 10:10 Proposal
February 19, 2017 • Graeme Sellers
Ecclesiastes 10:10 “If the axe is dull and he does not sharpen its edge, then he must exert more strength. Wisdom has the advantage of giving success.” Is it possible we’ve been working with a dull axe? For all our individual praying (and it is considerable, and considerably important), we’ve lost track of the power of corporate prayer. Thus, the 10:10 proposal: calling our faith family to prayer at 10:10 a.m. and/or p.m. for 10 seconds of prayer for Wonderful Mercy Church. Imagine it: what if you knew that almost everyone you know was praying for the same thing at the same time, with the same purpose? What might God do with this prayer of agreement?