Have You Been Blessed? Then, Be a Blessing

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Do you think like I do? Sometimes I wonder, why has God blessed me so much? Over and over again, I have seen him come through in my life and ministry. I am blessed to be alive. I am blessed to be preaching. I am blessed to be born in a free country. I am blessed to be able to walk and talk. I am blessed with a wonderful, loving wife. I am blessed to have an incredible family that loves and serves God. I am blessed to have God's word so I can hear from Him and know His mind. I am blessed to have a good education. I am blessed to have godly parents. I am blessed to have a wonderful, supportive, praying, serving, giving church.

Why would God do this for me? I believe He blessed my because He loves me. I also believe He blessed me to be a blessing. Too often, I believe that we simply want to bask in His blessing. But, it is His desire to spread it around. Is there anyway I can? I truly want as many as is humanly possible to have the kind of life that I have. But, there is one thing they cannot have unless someone tells them. As you know, this life might not be as comfortable as you and I have. But, there is one thing we can assure others of, that eternity can be theirs. That is the blessing we can give to many. It is something that will last for all eternity. That kind of blessing will never change nor disappear. See what I'm talking about by listening to the following video testimony of Jeremy Smith who gave his life to Christ at our last festival.

This is what you can do to be a part of changing lives, like Jeremy's...right now...beginning today. How?

1. Pray for God to touch the lives of those who don't have a relationship with Him.

2. Tell the people around you what God has done for you and what He can do for them.

3. Invite people to church so they can hear (if you don't go to a church that introduces them to Christ, you need to start going to one that does)

4. Give sacrificially so that God's work can touch lives.

Jesus said it this way, "It is more blessed to give that to receive." (Acts 20:35)

We are blessed to be a blessing! It is not about consumption, nor getting ahead, nor surviving, nor even saving for a rainy day. It is about being a blessing to others...for all of eternity, and hat happens when you get involved.

As most of you know, Oceanside Church is working and planning diligently to bless our community in ways like we have never seen before through the Kinetic Festival. We want to begin it all by meeting in the gorgeous fall weather under a cabana starting the first week in October. Then, we want to bring the Strength Team and Johnathan Elrod for the weekend of October 19-21. We will then move to our annual Trunk or Treat and ScareMare weekend. Finally, we want to close with a huge final celebration on November 4th on Sunday morning for everyone we've been inviting and reaching with the Good News of Christ.

Is that something you'd like to be a part of? Then...

• Pray - God has a strong affinity to doing what His people ask Him for. So ask.
  
• Get involved - We need lots of help. From work teams to counseling teams to hospitality teams, plus lots more. Ask how you can help.
  

• Give now - Because there are many decisions that need to be made that have to do with finances, we are at the point where God's people are going to have to commit by giving financially. This can happen as we are willing to support with our giving. We need to have $2000 given in the next week. Will you pray about being a part of our giving team?
  

Therefore, we will be allowing time this Sunday morning to do these three things because we believe God is leading us to make a difference to people around that are hurting, struggling, and spiritually needy. It is that important.

So, we are asking you to give by this Sunday, September 9 if possible and the latest by next Wednesday, September 12 at close of business. Your gift matters!

Commit and Give now to www.KineticFestival.com

If you are willing to give, please email, text or call me to let me know so we can all get excited and see the energy God is providing through His people for the Kinetic Festival. Then, everyone join us for this incredible opportunity to reach many for Jesus. You can make a difference for all of eternity.

Text or call me 843-345-7418

E-mail me contact@myoceansidechurch.com

Pastor Trey Rhodes

www.MyOceansideChurch.com for our webite

MyOceansideChurch.podbean.com for most audio messages

 

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Building a Family

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To win the battle for your family, it will take some boot camp training. It doesn't just happen. So let's get some basic training.

1. Attend church together. This seems like a given, but many have chosen to make church an option. It is something that we do when there's nothing else going on or when no one has come in for the weekend. It is true that church attendance doesn't make you a Christian, nor cause you to lose you your reservation if you don't attend faithfully, but, how can you expect to grow when you don't deal with this most basic of requirements of the faith. Don't be like the heathen who want to avoid church, come together often to encourage one another.

2. God Talk. When you're at home, make the Lord the center of all you say. Bring Him up in everyday conversation. Fill your home with godly music. Make the conversation about Jesus. Even discuss how He worked on your behalf that day. He always does. Whatever you say or do, do it for the glory of God.

3. Everyone needs a Bible. A well used Bible makes for a good family. Make sure that everyone in your household has an easily understood one. I recommend the HCSB or Holman Christian Standard Bible. Don't wait until they're in third grade or get a little older, now is the time. The Bible gives us the heart of God, so if we are to know his will for us as a family, we must all have Bibles and have access to being able to read them.

4. Memorize important verses together. Reading the Bible is a great place to start, but we can go deeper through memorization. As a family, we should take the word of God and engraft it into our hearts. We call that memorization. There's nothing better that you can do for your family than have them all memorize Scripture together. For you, I put together 26 verses that are important and easy to remember for all your family. You can do it in a week or two. These verses can make a huge difference in the God talk in your family whether you're around the table, in the living room. or any time you're with one another. So, make a commitment this week to memorize scripture together. My next blog will have the 26 verses that go with the ABCs to help you memorize easily some important verses that will impact you for the rest of your life.

5. Pray before every meal, everywhere. I don't think we realize the impact we can make when we are around our table or out in public and pray with our family. They realize the importance our God is to us when we pray around the table.

6. Say, "God willing." No matter what we do or what we say we're going to do, we need to end our words with God willing. Too often we make promises that we're not able to keep. When we say God willing, it means that if God wants us to do it, we will do it. The book of James even talks about the importance of saying we're going to take a trip if God is willing. Make sure that you end your statements with what you're planning to do in the will of God. It could stop a lot of heartache.

7. Have family devotions. Nothing too complicated or complex. Just make sure that you read a scripture and did you talk about it briefly. Make sure especially if it's a young child or young children that you have a Scripture that they can understand easily. Use the Beatitudes or read some Proverbs. Maybe use the Proverb that corresponds with day of the month. It'll give you practical information and they should be able to use in their everyday life.

8. Pray. You need to pray when you go to bed. You need to pray when you're in your car on the road. You can even use what we call prayer "hooks." When you see something, that would remind you to pray for something or someone, use it as an opportunity to pray for them.

Take the step across the line and build your family. Let's make a difference beginning today!

Still working on building my family,
Pastor Trey Rhodes