“But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”
Acts 1:8
When the Holy Spirit of God comes then we receive our power. Thus after we receive our power then we can become witnesses. So often many attempt to witness but have no power. That is like trying to turn a lamp on, without it being pluggin into the socket. As a Christian, you should always be pluggin into the “socket” which is Jesus Christ and from Him we receive the power that comes from the Holy Spirit. Today, do not walk around trying to turn your proverbial lamp on which has not been plugged into Jesus, your eternal power source. For in John 15:5, He says, “I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.”
Let us pray, Lord we thank you for this day, one we have never seen before and one we shall never see again. We beg you to forgive us for all of our sins. God we pray that we stay plugged in to you today. We pray that we receive the power which comes from your Holy Spirit today so that we can be your witnesses forevermore. Help us to be able to do as your Word says in Mathew 5:16 “Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.” In Jesus name we pray. Amen
Have a blessed day!
Rev. Robert R.A. Turner, M.Div.
pastor, St. Paul AME Church
I have immense respect for President Obama. But according to the Bible he is wrong on the issue of gay marriage. Gay marriage biblically is simply an oxymoron. Spiritually, it simply can not exist as a real marriage based on biblical principles and no earthly law can ever change that. Frankly, marriage is a religious institution and the government should not be in the marriage business anyway, and instead should only give civil union certificates. I know this may not be politically correct but somebody has to speak up on this matter and call LGBT activity what it is, SIN.
1 Samuel 1:27
I prayed for this child, and the Lord has granted me what I asked of him. 28 So now I give him to the Lord. For his whole life he will be given over to the Lord. And he worshipped the Lord there.
One of the most spiritually paralyzing acts for a Christian to do is to give what God has them. Naturally, we know how to ask for good gifts we can fast and pray for great gifts for ourselves. But very rarely do we give of those gifts which God has given us to someone else. For this when we hear the immutable voice of God telling us to bless someone with what we have received we become shocked and our indecision causes us to be at an emotional and spiritual stand still becoming handicapped by the very blessing God has given us to free you from the need of that blessing, we seemingly get paralyzed when it comes time for us to bless someone else. Repeat.
This type of spiritual behavior causes the believer to confuse the voice of God with the voice of the devil or your flesh. For we readily admit when we know God wants us to have a blessing….. but how often do we hear people saying, “ I think God is telling me to give something away. It takes a very mature Christian to realize when it is time give a blessing back. Our sermon text is about such a one.
Hannah could not have any children, she became depressed over her barrenness. Consequently, she prayed to God for a son, and vowed that when God gives her that she would give it back to God.
Hannah therefore did three things which we should emulate as we are inspired to do the same thing
1. She prayed to God. Hannah knew who her blessings come from this is why she prayed to God for a son, because she knew He was the only one who could give her one.
2. She pledged her blessing. Hannah told God that if she would bless her, she would in turn give her blessing back. It is vitally important to not make vows if you know that you cannot pay them. Ecclesiastes 5:4-6 says 4When you make a vow to God, do not delay in fulfilling it. He has no pleasure in fools; fulfill your vow. 5It is better not to vow than to make a vow and not fulfill it. 6Do no t let your mouth lead you into sin. And do not protest to the temple messenger, “My vow was a mistake.” Why should God be angry at what you say and destroy the work of your hands?
3. She provided the blessing: After having been blessed by God, Hannah remembered her vow, and gave her blessing back to God. When we provide a blessing it is like what Ecclesiastes 11:1 says you are casting “your bread upon the waters, for after many days you find it again.” The astonishing part of all this is we always ask God for a blessing, but we very seldom seek to be a blessing. How often do we say as in the words of David
Bless the Lord, O my soul,
and all that is within me,
bless his holy name!
2 Bless the Lord, O my soul,
and forget not all his benefits,
3 who forgives all your iniquity,
who heals all your diseases,
4 who redeems your life from the pit,
who crowns you with steadfast love and mercy,
5 who satisfies you with good
so that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s.
6 The Lord works righteousness
and justice for all who are oppressed.
7 He made known his ways to Moses,
his acts to the people of Israel.
8 The Lord is merciful and gracious,
slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love.
9 He will not always chide,
nor will he keep his anger forever.
10 He does not deal with us according to our sins,
nor repay us according to our iniquities.
11 For as high as the heavens are above the earth,
so great is his steadfast love toward those who fear him;
12 as far as the east is from the west,
so far does he remove our transgressions from us.
13 As a father shows compassion to his children,
so the Lord shows compassion to those who fear him.
14 For he knows our frame;[a]
he remembers that we are dust.
15 As for man, his days are like grass;
he flourishes like a flower of the field;
16 for the wind passes over it, and it is gone,
and its place knows it no more.
17 But the steadfast love of the Lord is from everlasting to everlasting on those who fear him,
and his righteousness to children’s children,
18 to those who keep his covenant
and remember to do his commandments.
19 The Lord has established his throne in the heavens,
and his kingdom rules over all.
20 Bless the Lord, O you his angels,
you mighty ones who do his word,
obeying the voice of his word!
21 Bless the Lord, all his hosts,
his ministers, who do his will!
22 Bless the Lord, all his works,
in all places of his dominion.
Bless the Lord, O my soul!
The only way you can give a blessing is by knowing the Blessor, The one who died so that we can be considered a child of God. Jesus Christ, God the Son is the Father’s gift to the world. Will you accept God’s ultimate blessing of salvation? When you accept this blessing you can truly be able to be a blessing someone else.
Let us pray: God I thank you for the blessings that you have given us all through Jesus Christ. I pray that everyone reading this has accepted this most precious gift. But if they have not God I pray that you touch them by your Holy Spirit and that they confess their sins and accept Jesus Christ as their personal Lord and Savior in Jesus Name. Amen
If I can pray you for in any way please do not hesitate to let me know in the request box.
I was blessed by giving the inspirational word today from the topic of “Riding with Jesus” on the radio station. Also, thanks to Interdenominational Ministerial Alliance for the opportunity.
Posted on 24 April '12 by robertturner, under Uncategorized. No Comments.
I thank God for the opportunity to preach at the historic Mt. Olive A.M.E. Church 89th Anniversary on this past Sunday April 22, 2012.
The Title was “Things happen when believers stay together”
I preached from John 20: 19-31:On the evening of that first day of the week, when the disciples were together, with the doors locked for fear of the Jewish leaders, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you!” 20 After he said this, he showed them his hands and side. The disciples were overjoyed when they saw the Lord.
21 Again Jesus said, “Peace be with you! As the Father has sent me, I am sending you.” 22 And with that he breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit. 23 If you forgive anyone’s sins, their sins are forgiven; if you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven.”
Jesus Appears to Thomas
24 Now Thomas (also known as Didymus[a]), one of the Twelve, was not with the disciples when Jesus came. 25 So the other disciples told him, “We have seen the Lord!”
But he said to them, “Unless I see the nail marks in his hands and put my finger where the nails were, and put my hand into his side, I will not believe.”
26 A week later his disciples were in the house again, and Thomas was with them. Though the doors were locked, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you!” 27 Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here; see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it into my side. Stop doubting and believe.”
28 Thomas said to him, “My Lord and my God!”
29 Then Jesus told him, “Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.”
From this text you can see that four things happen when believers get together
1. The Savior Comes: When the disciples of Jesus Christ got together. He showed up. The thing about when God’s people get together you cannot lock Him out. If we get together Jesus comes. For Mathew 18:20 says, “For where two or three are gathered together in my name there I am in the midst of them.”
2. Serenity is present: Once the Savior comes after the believers get together. Jesus brings to His followers peace. For He says in this text “Peace be with you.” When the believers get together God will grant us peace. Part of the reason why there is derision in many of our congregations today is because the believers have not gotten together. Some have there own agenda and no body seems to want to unite, but for a church to have stayed together 89 years obviously somebody got together and stayed together and for that peace or serenity which is given by Jesus is here with you today.
3. Suspicion by those absent: When believers get together there is often times people who are always suspicious about what happened. These people were not there when it happened and like Thomas will not believe it happened until they can see it for themselves
4. Salvation is given: When believers get together salvation comes. Even Thomas who doubted received salvation from our gracious Lord and Savior.Thomas was present with other believers and he got saved. Societally, if we as a people could learn how to come together we may find that God will use us to bring restoration to our surrounding, family, school system, governing bodies, etc. As the quote says “united we stand divided we fall” We need to learn how come together. It was while the disciples were together that Jesus came to visit them. It was while Daniel and his friends were together that they were able to survive while not eating the kings food. It was while Shadrack, Meshach and Abenego remained together that they were saved in the fiery furnace. Ecclesiastes 4:12 says, “Though one may be overpowered, two can defend themselves. A cord of three strands is not quickly broken”
It is possible and most often done my experience has shown that one receives salvation by themselves. However, God never intends for His salvific work to stop at just us. God wishes that no one should perish (2 Peter 3:9) Therefore we should get together with as many as possible and spread God’s word. Also, those who believe in Christ, we should not forsake the assembling of believers together (Hebrew 10:25) for when we get together we can used by the Holy Spirit to assist each other in areas of spiritual weakness.
I pray that this recap has blessed you stay tuned to more updates and if God leads you, please leave a donation, which will help further the ministry. A token of appreciation will be sent to you. thanks again for visiting and I pray God’s blessing all over you.
Posted on 24 April '12 by robertturner, under Uncategorized. No Comments.
Rev. Dees from Emmanuel A.M.E. Church will be preaching at 3:00pm. Join us in praying that God restores our family and bless us with true friends
Posted on 14 April '12 by robertturner, under Uncategorized. No Comments.
Today I have a men’s ministry meeting at the church. God is truly blessing the men at St. Paul to do some magnificent work.
Posted on 14 April '12 by robertturner, under Uncategorized. No Comments.
As always I enjoyed being on the radio. I pray that somebody was inspired to give their life to Jesus Christ and if they have already I hope they were encouraged to do better in life.
Posted on 14 April '12 by robertturner, under Uncategorized. No Comments.
Alabama residents please call your state legislator on today and ask them to repeal HB56, which is the most severe anti-immigrant bill in the country. As a pastor this law would criminalize my effort to fulfill the instruction given to me by my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ who in Mathew 25:35 says “For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in”
Therefore please join me today in letting our voices be heard on this issue.
Posted on 11 April '12 by robertturner, under Uncategorized. No Comments.
