From Sunday evening.  (Thanks, Jean)

Sunday Night Service Notes

Dr. Barclay- Theme: Seek God’s wisdom and trust his Word.

James 3:13

¹³ Who is wise and understanding among you? Let him show by good conduct that his works are done in the meekness of wisdom.

1 Kings 3:9

 Therefore give to Your servant an understanding heart to judge Your people, that I may discern between good and evil. For who is able to judge this great people of Yours?”

King Solomon was considered the wisest among men because his wisdom came from God. True wisdom always comes from God and not man.

Genesis 3:2-7

And the woman said to the serpent, “We may eat the fruit of the trees of the garden; ³ but of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God has said, ‘You shall not eat it, nor shall you touch it, lest you die.’”

⁴ Then the serpent said to the woman, “You will not surely die. ⁵ For God knows that in the day you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”

⁶ So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree desirable to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate. She also gave to her husband with her, and he ate. ⁷ Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves coverings.

Here we see how the devil was very cunning, he made sin seem so beneficial and necessary, if they only ate the fruit of the garden they would be all knowledgeable , their eyes would be open and they would know good and evil. What could be wrong with knowing everything? The devil planted seeds of doubt in Eve and Adam. In the world we live in today, people think they can eat from everything in the garden. Very few people want to say no to anything or use any discernment. The Bible makes it very clear when Christ is truly living in us our lives our daily behaviour and the decisions we make will reflect Godly wisdom.

Dr. Barclay talked of people who had near death experiences and have been affected by what they have seen and heard. Their testimonies only reinforce that Heaven and Hell are as real as the Bible says they are. With the testimony of others and the teaching from the Bible, we should have no doubt God means what he says.

Peter Mac Laren Theme: Rivers of living water- there is Joy in serving Christ.

John 7:38

He that believeth on me, as the scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water.

When rivers of salvation flow, the sin and debris of our life are washed away; and thus a great weight is lifted off of us.

Isaiah 55:11

So shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth: it shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it.

God will never fail us, it is us who often fail God. We never want to hinder the Holy Spirit, we do not want to become bogged down with worldly problems. We cannot solve our problems on our own, whether money, family or job problems etc. We need the flow of the Holy Spirit in our lives to bring real divine results and changes. We should desire more of the Holy Spirit and the river of God flowing in our lives everyday; and for this to happen we need to spend more time in prayer and in God’s word.

Galatians 6:7-9

7 Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap.

8 For he that soweth to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption; but he that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting.

9 And let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not.

This passage strongly advises us not to give up in doing good. Though we may not see the immediate rewards of our actions here on earth; we need to keep working for Christ’s kingdom. With the Holy Spirit flowing through our lives we will find it a joy to serve others. We can never remain stagnant with our walk with the Lord, Christ compels us to take on new challenges for him everyday.