Acknowledging His Place

WORSHIP MATTERS

Acknowledging His Place

Pastor Mark Johnson

April 13, 2008

 

Psalm 18:2-3

 

• The Bible proclaims that God is worthy of praise.
• God is worthy of worship because of His awesome power.
• God is worthy of worship because of His awesome love.

Psalm 19:1-3

The creation of God speaks His praise.

Exodus 20:1-3

 

• The compartmentalized life:
• WORK (or career)
• OTHERS – this represents family and friends
• PLEASURE
• SEX
• $$ MONEY $$
• GOD

 

Here is the call from God – for worship to be real, in life and expression of heart. God must occupy His rightful place in our lives.

Why is first place the rightful place?

1. He is the awesome Creator of our lives.
2. He is the awesome Lover of our souls.

 

 

• When I put Him in the right place, He impacts all the other places. Just being in first place is not enough. I can still keep Him out of areas of my life.
• For God to have His rightful place, I must love Him. Love for Him invites Him into every area of my life and His mark impacts my entirety.
• He does not just want to be on the top shelf. He wants to be all in all.
• He desires a people who look at His powerful creation and see His awesome love on the Cross and who respond in worship by wisely bowing our
• will and character to His.

 

Jesus spoke to this issue in Matthew 22:36-38. This statement of Jesus is directly out of Deuteronomy 6:5.

 

• The word for love in Hebrew is “love that recognizes and chooses to follow that which is righteous, noble, and true, regardless of what one’s feelings in the matter might be.”
• True worship is a decisive love that puts God in control of my life by giving Him my whole heart, soul and mind.
• How do I know if I am a true Christian?

John 14:23-24

Listen to the Psalmist. Psalm 63:1-8

 

District Prayer Needs Update 4.4.08

Georgia Corlew, mother of Ray Corlew (senior adults pastor at Rockford First AG), passed away Wednesday in Morris, IL.

Rob Mitchell, pastor at New Life Fellowship Ministries in Tinley Park, requests prayer for his daughter, Sara, and her son Adam Daniel, who was born on Monday. At the time of her C-section, she had a viral infection that may have been passed on to her son. Also, Adam was born with a small hole in his left lung. During the birth, he apparently swallowed some fluid, which created an air pocket which caused pulmonary stress (high blood pressure of the heart). He has been transferred to Rush University Medical Center in Chicago, where he on a ventilator, sedated to keep him still and receiving medication to keep the blood pressure low. It is a complicated situation which could be fatal. Please keep Sara and Adam in your prayers.

Gene Cowsert, retired minister from West Frankfort, was discharged from the hospital this morning after doctors successfully shocked his heart yesterday. His heart is back in a healthy rhythm. Please pray that it will remain in this state.

Cleared For Takeoff!!!  

Hello Everyone,

It is with much excitement we announce we’ve received clearance for departure!  Woo hoo!

 

While there remains a small amount of additional work funds to raise, we have met our minimum budget and are now busy packing for a January 11^th departure!  We had decided to leave later in January to give us enough time to get things done, but due to when our visas were approved, we need to leave earlier than expected.  So, we’ve got a lot to do in the next week and a half!

 

We want to say THANK YOU to all who prayed, gave and showed other forms of support during our itineration.  There were some dramatic moments and some frustrating moments as we watched the legendary pie chart eaten away rather slowly at times and gobbled up at other times!  In the end, it did indeed come together just in time!  Our monthly financial support base is made up of 78 churches (70% of commitments) and 43 families & individuals (30% of commitments). We logged 53,848 miles by car for 215 services and 83 separate personal appointments.  We’re humbled, grateful and excited as we look to the future together with you trusting God to move!

 

Stay tuned to our WEBSITE for more details, pictures and videos as we make the transition!

 

Please pray for:

·         The sea container that will carry our belongings and many other things for the school in Khartoum.  Pray that God will cause it to come together quickly, as arranging this container has been quite a headache.  All arrangements had to be scrapped last minute due to a change on the field. I start over Jan. 2^nd.

·         Energy for both of us as we pack and do other final tasks that were going to be done over a month, now in less than two weeks.

·         Peaceful hearts for the kids and a sense of God’s call on them as they embark on some big changes!

·         A strong start to life on the ground.

·         Grace for us and those we leave behind as we say Good bye.

 

If you live near us and would like to lend a hand with all there is to do, please call us at (608)449-0888.  We could use some help with moving boxes, remodeling work in our basement, and other odds & ends.

 

In Christ,

 

Steve & Natalie Overturf

Serving Sudan

Welcome to the new CTCC blog!

As we were tossing around ideas about our next series, we thought it would be neat if we could get everyone involved a little more. Not just for the series itself, but it would be cool if we could allow you to communicate with your church family about everything from series to cool articles you might find on the internet and have us post. We look forward to seeing the family and community surrounding Calvary Temple communicate with one-another as we all grow together.

We also thought it would be neat if we could all talk about past and future events involving Calvary Temple. We think this blog can be a great opportunity for you to invite friends and show them what others thought about events we’ve done in the past. We’ll provide these opportunities as we have events coming up, and we’ll also start some conversations about past events so you can share your thoughts on those as well.

We’ll keep you posted as we add resources and message series-related information. View the about page for more details on the CTCC Blog.