WEST CENTRAL INTEGRATED TREATMENT FACILITY - 12/20/14
Wayne, Julia and Elizabeth went to WCITF to worship with 25 amazing ladies. After one of the ladies opened in prayer, we sang some Christmas songs. I then turned the service over to Wayne who preached from Matthew 2 on "Getting Real with God." Matthew tells us three different times in the 2nd chapter where prophecy was fulfilled and these are three reasons we should celebrate Christ's birth.
Wayne, Julia and Elizabeth went to WCITF to worship with 25 amazing ladies. After one of the ladies opened in prayer, we sang some Christmas songs. I then turned the service over to Wayne who preached from Matthew 2 on "Getting Real with God." Matthew tells us three different times in the 2nd chapter where prophecy was fulfilled and these are three reasons we should celebrate Christ's birth.
Matthew 2:15 (Hosea 11:1) - deliverance from Egypt. Christ is our Deliverer. When Jesus and his parents came out of Egypt, He was inaugurating a new exodus.
Matthew 2:17-18 (Jeremiah 31:15) - He is our Hope. He brings people back together and reconciliation with God the Father ending a mournful exile.
Matthew 2:23 - Jesus is called the Nazarene. People from Nazareth were looked down on and despised. Isaiah 53 - He was despised by men; by the very people He came t save. The King of the universe comes to save sinners and was despised and rejected.
Wayne then mentioned bad people in the Bible and had the ladies mention the opposite (i.e. Goliath, Delilah, Cain, Pharaoh). We like to identify with the good people, but if we are honest, we probably identify best with Herod .... afraid of a King who will invade our "kingdom," our plans, our dreams and desires.
Sometimes we really don't feel saved. Things haven't changed; thought patterns, issues we've never dealt with. We play a religious game and never deal with the issues. He talked about David's prayer in Psm 51. David acknowledges sin, asks for forgiveness, and walks away rejoicing. Seems so easy, but it's not because we're not honest with God or ourselves. We may fool others, but we can't fool God.
He asked them: "what are you lying about that only you and God knows about?" He told them to take a moment to think about it. There is nothing we can hide from God. "He Wants it All" softly played in the background. Then Wayne told them that he doesn't do the sinner's prayer where you repeat some words after a preacher. That is found no where in the Bible. He told the ladies for each of them to pray to God. The Spirit draws and the words will come. All over the room women were weeping and praying to God as "I Surrender All" was playing softly in the background. After the prayer, he told them that the Word says we are to confess one to another so we may be healed. Women started coming up front asking for prayer for issues/bondages they have that they want to be free of. We closed the service by singing "My Chains are Gone." It was an amazing service!
Matthew 2:15 (Hosea 11:1) - deliverance from Egypt. Christ is our Deliverer. When Jesus and his parents came out of Egypt, He was inaugurating a new exodus.
Matthew 2:17-18 (Jeremiah 31:15) - He is our Hope. He brings people back together and reconciliation with God the Father ending a mournful exile.
Matthew 2:23 - Jesus is called the Nazarene. People from Nazareth were looked down on and despised. Isaiah 53 - He was despised by men; by the very people He came t save. The King of the universe comes to save sinners and was despised and rejected.
Wayne then mentioned bad people in the Bible and had the ladies mention the opposite (i.e. Goliath, Delilah, Cain, Pharaoh). We like to identify with the good people, but if we are honest, we probably identify best with Herod .... afraid of a King who will invade our "kingdom," our plans, our dreams and desires.
Sometimes we really don't feel saved. Things haven't changed; thought patterns, issues we've never dealt with. We play a religious game and never deal with the issues. He talked about David's prayer in Psm 51. David acknowledges sin, asks for forgiveness, and walks away rejoicing. Seems so easy, but it's not because we're not honest with God or ourselves. We may fool others, but we can't fool God.
He asked them: "what are you lying about that only you and God knows about?" He told them to take a moment to think about it. There is nothing we can hide from God. "He Wants it All" softly played in the background. Then Wayne told them that he doesn't do the sinner's prayer where you repeat some words after a preacher. That is found no where in the Bible. He told the ladies for each of them to pray to God. The Spirit draws and the words will come. All over the room women were weeping and praying to God as "I Surrender All" was playing softly in the background. After the prayer, he told them that the Word says we are to confess one to another so we may be healed. Women started coming up front asking for prayer for issues/bondages they have that they want to be free of. We closed the service by singing "My Chains are Gone." It was an amazing service!