Hello Everyone!!
Here is the mid-week review that you receive periodically when I get sidetracked from getting it out first of the week. So can you remember what Mark's sermon was about three days later? It was good stuff so, if you can't, why not start bringing a pen and a little pad for note taking? Or just a pen and scribble on the bulletin? I did this last week and, with my memory, it has really helped me to remember his sermon. Give it a try - it may just bless you!
Now on to the mid-week review. What a pleasure it is to worship with you all. I look forward to Sundays the whole week. This week was no exception. We had a lot of people out with sickness, but it did not stop everyone else from singing their hearts out! We sang "Hosanna", "Amazing Grace (My Chains Are Gone)" and "One Pure and Holy Passion". Our prayer time was special as usual. There were also some important announcements:
- First GCC Men's Outing - Saturday, May 1st
- Golf @ Deerbrook 12:30-6:00 pm
- Crowders Mt Hike 4:00-6:00 pm
- Dinner for all men 6:30-8:30 pm
- Save the Date: Saturday, June 19 for VBS: "Kid's Walk in the Park".
- 3:00-7:00 pm at Martha Rivers, Shelter #1
- This is for GCC children with adult or teenage leaders. It will also be an outreach.
Then Mark continued his sermon series "Living Life Together in View of Eternity Part 4". He used several scriptures including 1 Corinthians 2:1-16, Isaiah 55:6-9, 2 Corinthians 10 and Isaiah 26:3.
His first points had to do with Paul speaking by the power of the Holy Spirit. He did not want to persuade people with fancy words, worldly wisdom and manipulation. Rather he wanted them to see the power of God in his words and actions and trust in the Living God as a result. Rather than seeking to impress, he used the Word of God (which is the Sword of the Spirit) to do spiritual surgery and implant truth.
God's Word is what will transform our thinking. And as we think, we are. It reminds us of who we are in Christ. It shapes us and molds us to think according to God's point of view and not the world's point of view. At times it will make us squirm in our seats as we wrestle with our thinking and behavior that does not conform to what it says.
But if we will let God's Spirit have His way and change our thinking, afterwards it produces "fruits of righteousness" as Hebrews 12 says. When our thought life is transformed, we will be able to fight in the battlefield of our mind and honor God. Satan hates God's truth because it exposes him. Therefore, he attacks it as he did in the garden in Genesis 3. Remember that when you catch yourself thinking, "Did God really say that in His Word? Did He really mean that?" That's when it's time to fight!
Don't be ashamed of God's Word and submitting to its authority in your life. Many people have proven His Word true and been abundantly blessed. But many people have ruined their lives by disbelieving it and doing "what was right in their own eyes". Mark talked of being in our right minds and asked us if we were in our right minds. He said you are if:
- you are believing His Word
- you are applying His Word AND
- you are being transformed by His Word
The result of what can happen in believers is staggering. It says in Acts that the Christians "were turning the world upside down". Or were they turning it right side up? Isaiah 55:8 says "for My thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways My ways, says the Lord". Let us focus on God and His Word until He brings our thinking into line with His thinking.
Mark said if we do that, God makes a wonderful promise to us spoken through Isaiah (26:3), "You will keep in perfect peace him whose mind is stayed on You, because he trusts in You." Think about Jesus and His Word consistently and you will never think about the world in the same way.
Your brother in Christ,
Deric Smyre
Easter Services:
THURSDAY, APRIL 1
7:00pm (Communion Service) at Gaston Day School
SUNDAY, APRIL 4
6:45am (Easter Sunrise Service at Gaston Memorial Park Cemetery)
9:45am (Worship Service at Gaston Day School)
Our Community Easter Sunrise Service, sponsored by Gaston Community Church will be held at 6:45 AM on April 4, 2010 at Gaston Memorial Park, 1200 S. New Hope Rd., Gastonia, NC 28054. In the event of rain, the service will be held in the chapel of Gaston Memorial Park. A special Easter worship service will follow at 9:45 at the church, which is currently meeting on the campus of Gaston Day School, 2001 Gaston Day School Rd., Gastonia, NC 28056. For more information visit the church website at www.gastoncommunitychurch.com or call 704-860-7776 
