Less Boring Sermons Guaranteed!

Have you ever wanted to hear from God? Recently Windy shared a blog with me by Steven Furtick (www.stevenfurtick.com). Here are parts of it...

There's a secret to listening to sermons that dramatically affects what you will get from them. I call it the perception principle.

The perception principle goes like this: I can only receive someone on the level that I perceive them.

This is true for God, and for every human relationship you have. The way you choose to see someone determines how you will treat them and how you will receive whatever they have to give you.

Negatively, this means that if you perceive your wife to be a nag, that's the way she's always going to sound to you. Even when she really isn't being one. If you perceive your husband to be a loser, that's how you're going to receive him. No matter what he does.

Positively, it means that if you perceive someone to be wise, what they say will sound wise. If you perceive someone to be 'cool,' everything they do will look cool.

Here's how this matters when you're listening to a sermon. How you perceive the person preaching will determine what you're able to receive from them. And ultimately from God.

If all you see is a guy with good ideas and not a guy with a message from God, that's all you'll ever get. If you go in skeptical of every word, you're probably going to find fault.

On the other hand, if you perceive your pastor to have a message for you from God, you're probably going to be a lot more attentive and engaged. If you go into a sermon expecting to hear a word from God, you're probably going to get one.

I don't care who your pastor is...the principle is the same. Perceive them to have a message from God for you, and that's what you'll get.

Show up ready to hear from God, and don't be surprised when you do.

Expecting to hear from God,

Jeff Powell

Better Than Chicken Nuggets...

Although I like chicken nuggets, there are other nuggets that I like even more. I love nuggets of truth that I can “chew” on throughout the day. This is one of the reasons why having a devotional time is so important. Recently we began providing you a devotional guide called “The Word For You Today.” Each one is short, simple, and will spiritually feed you. If you haven’t yet picked up your copy for the months of September, October, and November, please do so today!

Just a few weeks ago, we received a letter from a person that had just gotten out of jail. I think you will be blessed by reading it...

“While being incarcerated in jail there was a book that this girl had - the name is The Word For You Today daily devotional. I would like to have it again. Can you send the next edition for Sept, Oct, Nov? That book is read good. It helps me spiritually. I enjoy reading it. It helps me get through some hard times. It is refreshing to my day especially when I wake up in the morning. It helps me start the day off with God in my heart, mind, and soul. Thank you very much. Please send one.”


It was our joy to send a devotional book to this person!

Fellowship Church, don’t forget to get your daily devotional booklet....and more importantly, don’t forget to read it daily:)

NOW, please welcome with open hearts, Harrell and Lolita Hemingway on Sunday, September 25. They are missionaries in the Philippines that we support each month. You will be blessed by them today!

I am looking forward to being back with you Sunday, October 2. Please continue to pray for Tyler and me as we are in India.

See you next Sunday,

Jeff Powell

What would we do without our church family?

I do not know what a person would do without their church family. Here is a testimony of one of our members....

“I work for the Federal Government and returned last week from an eventful business trip to Washington, DC. I hate to fly and prefer to take Amtrak when I have to travel for work. My train trip up was uneventful and I had planned to return to Florida “right after my meeting” on Thursday taking the Thursday evening Amtrak back to Florida! I really did not want to be in Washington, DC on 9/11!

It rained the whole three days I was there, causing major flooding to occur. When I got to the Amtrak station on Thursday evening, Sept 8th after my all day meeting, we sat on the train for three and a half hours before they decided the train tracks were under water. They would have to put us up in a hotel till the next day, “maybe” getting out then (maybe not). Sept 11th was drawing nearer!! When we got to the train station the next day, Sept 9th the tracks were still under water. We “might” get out Friday or Saturday, Sept 10th!?!? Wow, Sept 11th was drawing nearer, and the thought of me sitting in Union Station on 9/11 really was causing me “major” stress! Add to that the news saying that there were credible terrorist threats now for NY AND Washington, DC.

I was emailing my friends (many of whom are part of my church family) and received the bible verse Proverbs 3:5-6! It made me feel better. Then I thought about Paul and how he … “Focused on Christ and NOT his circumstances”. I was “at peace” the rest of the trip, prayed a LOT and got the “LAST” seat on the train out late Friday evening. The tracks were still under water, so they had to bus us to Richmond, Virginia to catch it. I got home Saturday, September 10th!!!!! God is Great!!!!!”

Thank you Ruth Franklin for sharing this with your church family! And hey, if you don’t yet have a church family, Fellowship Church would love to be that family for you. We are place where REAL relationships begin!

Thankful for each of you,

Jeff Powell

Our Sad September Snow

Our Sad September Snow

Morning broke once more, with pure and simple trust
We believed the door was closed, and the lock free of rust
But sadly, we were wrong. We were out there in the gale
Our ship did toss in a sea of tears, with torn and tattered sail

The planes, they came in low, streaking fast across the sky
They whistled past the structures, caught in the public's eye
First one, and then the next, but a few minutes apart
and in those tragic moments, they broke our country's heart

The explosion seemed like fiction. The fire and the smoke
We all drew in the toxins, and gave a sickly choke
The buildings soon fell down. That scene we all remember
when ashes hit the air, and it snowed in our September

Steel dropped like meteors. Glass like hot rain
We heard our brother's screams, and felt our sister's pain
Dear God, why did it happen? Dear God, what made it so?
Dear God, what brought our September this cruel and vicious snow?

Lord help us in our task. Lord help us in our prayer
Lord guide us to our friends who need our gentle care
Lord take us by the hand, and tell us where to go
Lord lead us through the blizzard of our sad September snow

Our family members are gone. With grief we hang our head
We place our hand to our heart, and mourn our country's dead
But we owe them our pledge. They must see that we still thrive
We must show them and this world that justice is alive

This country is not lost. Our flag is still up high
Those things we love so dearly in truth can never die
Let wisdom be our compass, and someday we will know
how and why we suffered this gray and dismal snow

Time will not diminish it. The memory long will last
The image will still be there in years yet to be passed
And children in the future will read about this day
when it snowed in our September, and the world lost its way

9/11/01: We will never forget

Written 9/12/01, by Vincent Spada