Love is Giving

Good Afternoon to our wonderful Online Community!

Hopefully, you all received your emails this week about our fast and our Prayer Invaders Gathering!  If you didn’t, make sure you get on our email list so that you don’t miss important events and announcements!  I’ll post a link at the bottom of this post that will allow you to join our list.

Here are your Three Things to Remember for today:

1. You may not have much, but use what you have.  God isn’t interested in using what you don’t have.  God is interested in what you DO have.  The Bible puts it like this: “Now you should finish what you started. Let the eagerness you showed in the beginning be matched now by your giving. Give in proportion to what you have.  Whatever you give is acceptable if you give it eagerly. And give according to what you have, not what you don’t have.” – II Corinthians 8:11-12 (NLT)  Don’t get caught up in what someone else has and your perception that what they have is greater than what we have.  All gifts matter!
2. As good as you are, if we were all the same the world would be a BORING PLACE!  Think about it.  What if everyone in the world had the exact same gifts and talents?  What if everyone in the world was a computer genius?  We would have no art, music, picnics, etc. because everyone would be in front of their computers all day.  What if everyone was  a teacher?  Who would they teach?  The reason we have been gifted in diverse ways is so that we can all benefit from each other and be a benefit TO each other – all for the glory of God and the upbuilding of His Kingdom.
3. What are you going to do with what God has given you?  How have you used your gifts and talents this week?  How have you used your time?  How have you used your treasure?  Would God be pleased with what you’ve done, or would He view you the way the master viewed the man who had one talent and hid it (Matthew 25:14-30)?

Let’s remember that we are supposed to use whatever we have (no matter how big or small it may seem in the eyes of man) for the glory of God.  Every single day.  As you get ready for this weekend, and as you enjoy this beautiful weather, ask God to show you how to use your gifts not just in the church, but everywhere you go!  Have an amazing weekend, and I look forward to seeing you on Sunday at one of all of our events!

– Pastor Audrey

Happy Tuesday to our amazing Online Community!  Prayerfully your week has gotten off to an awesome start!  Thanks to everyone who joined us on the prayer line this morning!  Remember that we have prayer every Tuesday morning at 6:00 Eastern, and you are always more than welcome to join us!

On Sunday, I continued the “Love is Giving” series, and God spoke to us about how important it is to make ourselves available to Him.  Here are your three things to remember:

• What God has given to you is significant. You may not be gifted in the way that someone else is, but God still has need of your gift.  There are people who need what you have to offer.  As the hands and feet of Jesus, we have a responsibility to show the world who He is by using every gift that has given to us!
• Jesus had to leave the earth, but He entrusted His gifts and talents to us. The only way that the message of Jesus can continue to spread is through His disciples.  As modern-day disciples, Jesus entrusted us with time, talent and treasure so that we could further the ministry He began when He walked the earth.  This is a great blessing and a great responsibility!
• Whatever you have, you are supposed to use it for the glory of God. God didn’t gift us so that we could sit on those gifts all of our lives.  Everything we have been given was given for the sole purpose of glorifying God.  God doesn’t get any glory out of us being dormant and not pouring out what He has put in us to give.

As you continue walking with Jesus this week, do a self-assessment of your gifts and talents.  Assess the time you’re spending with God.  Assess your treasure – see where it is.  Is it in heavenly things or temporary earthly things?  Remember that the bible says, “For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.” (Matthew 6:21)

Have a great rest of the week!  I would LOVE to see you at Bible Study tomorrow!  It’s going to be an awesome hour of power!  I’ll be back on Friday with three more things to remember.  Until then, be blessed and remember that Love is Giving!

– Pastor Audrey

Happy Friday to our awesome Online Community!  I hope you guys have had a great week, and I pray that you are looking forward to a great weekend!

Here are your three things to remember:

1. Jesus isn’t going to come down from Heaven to do what we should be doing.  The finished work of Jesus does not exempt us from our required service.  We are required to show love, to give of ourselves, and to model what it is to be a disciple of Jesus Christ – EVERY DAY!
2. We must be willing AND obedient!  Isaiah 1:19 says, “If you are willing and obedient, you will eat the good things of the land.”  We can not expect to partake of God’s rich rewards without first being willing and obedient.
   
3.  When we give, we open up the door to receive what God has for us!  “Give, and it will be given to you.  A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.” – Luke 6:38
   

This weekend, let’s be intentional about giving our time, talent and treasure to God and to others.  Love is giving!  I look forward to seeing you all in worship this Sunday, and if you can’t make it, remember that we will be streaming live from our Facebook page.  Have an amazing weekend!  – Pastor Audrey

Happy Valentine’s Day to our Online Community!  I am so excited to be bringing you guys this message today!  God is so good, and He is doing so many wonderful things!  Don’t you just LOVE Him?  Even if you don’t have a valentine, you have the love of Jesus, which is the BEST love there is!  Don’t ever forget that!

Here are your three things to remember from Sunday’s continuation of “Love is Giving”:

1. Jesus needs your time, talent and treasure.  The Kingdom of God needs YOU!  You are not insignificant.  You matter.  You are needed!  If you do not believe you have anything to offer, ask God to show you what you bring to the table and watch Him blow your mind by revealing all that He has put within you to be used for the upbuilding of His Kingdom!
2. Even if you think what you have to give is small, it is great in the sight of God when given with the right spirit.  Let’s think about the widow and her mites.  Everyone else was giving out of their riches, but she gave the little bit that she had: two mites.  This was one of the smallest denominations of money at that time.  Here’s what Jesus said: “Truly I tell you,” he said, “this poor widow has put in more than all the others.  All these people gave their gifts out of their wealth; but she out of her poverty put in all she had to live on.” – Luke 21:3-4 (NIV)
3. Everything we have belongs to God.  Therefore, it should be that much easier to give.  Let’s think of the words of King David: “Now, our God, we give you thanks, and praise your glorious name.  But who am I, and who are my people, that we should be able to give as generously as this? Everything comes from you, and we have given you only what comes from your hand.” – I Chronicles 29:13-14 (NIV)

Don’t forget to stop by our Daily Inspiration page  on Friday for three more things to remember!  Continue to enjoy your Valentine’s Day, and don’t forget that we will be meeting for Bible Study on Wednesday at 7pm, and our Prayer Invaders Gathering will take place on Thursday at 6pm!  I would LOVE to see you at Greater!  Take care!  – Pastor Audrey

Good Evening, and Happy Friday to our awesome Online Community!

I hope you all are having an amazing day and getting ready for an even more amazing weekend!  At Greater, we are getting ready for some AWESOME events, and I will post them at the bottom of this blog post.  As you know, last Sunday, I started a new series entitled “Love is Giving”!

Here are your three things to remember:

1. Love is the foundation.  At the root of everything we do must be love.  As Paul put it in I Corinthians 13, we can speak with the tongues of men of angels and give everything we have to those who are less fortunate, but if we do not have love, we do not have anything.
   
2. We all have an opportunity to impact our communities just as the civil rights leaders did.  As we look back on all of the people who have made an impact within our lifetimes, we see that they were able to do so because they were willing to GIVE what they had (time, talent and treasure).  We have been given an opportunity to change the lives of the people around us – all we have to do is make a decision to give.
3. John 3:16.  I cannot say this enough!  “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.”  Because God loved us so much, He GAVE.  We should do the same!

Love is Giving continues on Sunday, and I look forward to seeing you!  If you are unable to attend our power-packed service in person, live streaming will be available via our Facebook page.  As a reminder, remember to go back and reread the three things we shared on Tuesday, and apply those to your life as we prepare for Sunday.  Have an amazing night!  – Pastor Audrey

Happy Tuesday to our blessed Online Community!

I hope your week is off to a great start!  We had such an anointed and powerful time on Sunday and you know I had to take a moment to share it with you guys!

On Sunday, I began a series entitled “Love is Giving”.  Here are your three things to remember:

1. Love is not just about words, it’s also about action.  The Bible says in I John 3:18, “Dear children, let us not love with words or speech but with actions and in truth.”  As we continue our journey with Jesus, it is important for us to remember to not only say that we love others, but to SHOW that love.
   
2. Giving isn’t just about money.  When we hear that love is giving, our minds may immediately go to financial contributions.  However, it is important to remember that we can also give of our time and our talents.  Sometimes, those with the least amount of money are the biggest givers – because they give from the abundance of their hearts with great joy.  Although giving money is definitely an element, we can give in other ways as well.
3. God is the GREATEST lover and giver.  John 3:16 says, “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.”  Did you see that?  God’s love was IMMEDIATELY followed by giving.  We should be the same way.  Just as we should always be willing to love, we should always be willing to give.

To make it live, I spoke about Black History Month and the great people who contributed our advancement.  How did they contribute?  They gave.  They gave their time, their talent, AND their treasure.  I spoke about Former President Barack Obama, Rosa Parks, Martin Luther King, Jr. and my awesome dad, Bishop R.T. McCarter.  Think about these leaders and how much they sacrificed.  Are you willing to sacrifice for what you say you love?

As I close, let us remember the greatest sacrifice of all: the life of Jesus Christ.  He willingly gave His life to redeem us from the power of sin.  That is amazing love and amazing giving.  As you go about your daily life this week, remember the importance of love, and remember that giving is a corresponding action to the love you profess to have.

Thank you so much for hanging out with me for a few minutes this morning!  Have an amazing day!  I’ll be back on Thursday, but you know I would LOVE to see you at Bible Study tomorrow evening!  We are going to be continuing our discussion about the fruit of the Spirit found in Galatians 5:22-23.  You’re always invited to come and share in one hour of power!  See you soon!

– Pastor Audrey