1 Peter 1:1-2
Are you far from home? Living in a foreign land? Or maybe you just feel like an outsider. No matter where you are, Peter’s greeting and blessing to believers everywhere is simple: Grace and Peace be yours in abundance.
This Sunday, let’s unpack together this brief, uplifting passage to reveal an amazing functional description of the Trinity as well as the promise and responsibilities of abundance.
Last week we heard the plea to guard our hearts—to watch carefully what we allow in and where we let our hearts take us. This week we see the catastrophic results of failure to do this. Few sins, if any, are more deceptive and destructive than sexual immorality.
The same lesson is taught in different ways in Proverbs 5, 6, and 7; we will explore these together. This is admittedly a sensitive subject, but we’ll keep it PG-13..
This week we will explore Proverbs 4 together. Proverbs 4:23 tells us, “above all, guard your hearts.” We are driven by desire. Everything we do is driven by something we want (even if it’s something we wish we didn’t want). We need to guard what goes into our hearts by embracing proven wisdom; and we need to guard what comes out by letting wisdom shape our desires and guide our choices, words, and actions.
This Sunday Trevor Marshall will be teaching on things to be learned on the ‘Slow Train’ (yes, that is a Bob Dylan reference).
Proverbs 3:1-11 Last week we considered the peril of rejecting wisdom and the rewards of pursuing it. Proverbs 3 encourages the pursuit of wisdom by showing us its benefits and several ways it is reflected in our daily lives, choices, and character.
Proverbs 1:20-23, 2:1-6
We learned last week a bit about the Proverbs and the fear of the Lord. We also were reminded the Lord delights in giving us wisdom when we ask. That asking needs to come from a right heart attitude, which is not something we have naturally. Proverbs 1 & 2 encourages us to pursue a heart of wisdom by warning us against the perils of rejecting it and setting before us the blessings of receiving it.
Gaining a Heart of Wisdom Wisdom: First Things
Proverbs 1:1-7
Navigating life, work, and relationships well can be overwhelming. We face a multitude of decisions throughout a day, not to mention throughout life. Some may have far-reaching consequences for our lives and relationships. Sometimes the Bible is clear in its direction. But often we face decisions where Scripture doesn’t give us specific direction. We need wisdom. This age offers its wisdom, which looks attractive but is deceptive. This Sunday, Preston begins a series of messages from the book of Proverbs. We’ll consider together how to understand the Proverbs and how we can gain a heart of wisdom to navigate life and relationships wisely to the glory of God.
Lament—The Honest Cry of a Hurting Heart
Psalm 13
Pain and brokenness are part of our lives and part of our society, here and everywhere. We struggle with the pain and we struggle with God. Thankfully, that is not the whole story. In this week’s message from Psalm 13 we will consider together the hope offered to us in lament. That may be a new form of prayer for you, but it is not new—lament is found often in Scripture, especially in the Psalms. It is God’s gift to us to help us work honestly through pain and brokenness and move toward hope and trust for each day while we wait for what God has promised.
This Sunday we will be looking into Acts 4:23-31
In Acts 4, the church experienced its first taste of the opposition Jesus had promised. Following that, they gathered to pray. In their prayer we find help as we face our own challenges, whether it is opposition to the gospel, or another type of personal challenge in life, or the challenge we face together as a church in transition.
This Sunday, we reflect on the post-resurrection transition the disciples have to make as they may no longer have Jesus with them 24/7.
As we undergo a similar transition of our own, we hope to learn from their experience, and be reminded that an awareness of God’s abiding presence with us may help us to manage this transition. Job Yan, an ICP elder, will be sharing from John 21:1-22.
This Sunday I will be sharing some, "Things To Remember," in a Living Letter to a Church we love. This will be my final sermon as Pastor of ICP. We are so thankful to God and to each of you. Serving ICP has been an honour far beyond our dreams for Becky and I. We love you all so much!
This week we will conclude the message on being in step with the Holy Spirit and explore what true worship looks like.
The Holy Spirit is the most personal expression of God's love towards us. He makes our hearts His home. Every believer should desire to be filled and seek to live in way that makes the Holy Spirit at home in our lives.
Desire to be filled - We are invited to ask for the filling of the Holy Spirit. (Luke 11:13)
Denying Self as Jesus denied Himself for us.
Dependence fully on God
Daily refilling
Devotion (Love for God with all that we are)
Delight in what Delights God (Loving others)
Discernment - Be aware that the enemy is a prowling lion seeking to devour and deceive even followers of Jesus.
Join us this week as we explore Walking In Step with the Holy Spirit in our series, Pathways to Knowing God and making Him Known. We will explore how Jesus teaches us about the Holy Spirit.
The person and work of the Holy Spirit is often neglected in the life of a believer, but it is absolutely essential for every follower of Jesus to understand. You need to be filled with the Holy Spirit.
Why we need to be filled, and refilled again and again.
The Holy Spirit convicts and draws unbelievers to know Jesus
The Holy Spirit indwells and influences all believers
The Holy Spirit gives life to the believer
The Holy Spirit enables us to obey
The Holy Spirit unifies believers as One in Christ Jesus.
This week we will explore how to walk in step with the Holy Spirit. Walking in Step with the Holy Spirit involves…
Desire to be filled - We are invited to ask for the filling of the Holy Spirit. Luke 11:13
Denying Self as Jesus denied Himself for us.
Dependence fully on God
Daily refilling
Devotion (Love for God with all that we are)
Delight in what Delights God (Loving others)
Discernment - Be aware that the enemy is a prowling lion seeking to devour and deceive even followers of Jesus.
Join us this week as we explore Walking In Step with the Holy Spirit in our series, Pathways to Knowing God and making Him Known. We will explore how Jesus teaches us about the Holy Spirit.
We have a Resource Guide below to help you develop your time with the Lord and to equip you to seek Biblical revelation and guard against projecting our thoughts onto our understanding of Scripture. Click on the link in the section below to download the Pathways Scripture Exploration Guide.
Join us this week as as we continue on the Pathway to Knowing God and Making Him Known!
Too often there is a gap between what we say we believe and what we experience. The source of the gap begins with not understanding our union with Christ Jesus and the filling of the Holy Spirit. This week will explore how to Walk Like Jesus; in the Power of the Holy Spirit.
To walk like Jesus, start by focusing on Him and not you. Walking with Him requires us to focus on Him first and not ourselves.
To Walk like Jesus with must be continually filled with the Holy Spirit. Jesus walked and worked in the power of the Holy Spirit and so must we.
John 16:12 “I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. 13 When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth, for he will not speak on his own authority, but whatever he hears he will speak, and he will declare to you the things that are to come. 14 He will glorify me, for he will take what is mine and declare it to you. 15 All that the Father has is mine; therefore I said that he will take what is mine and declare it to you.
The Holy Spirit sometimes seems mysterious, but He is not confusing. The Holy Spirit seems a bit illusive because He always points us to Jesus. He speaks in ways the draw us into a closer relationship and likeness to Jesus. The Holy Spirit does not draw attention to Himself, and the gifts He gives are never intended to draw attention to us, but to focus the glory and honor on Jesus.
Join us this week as we explore Walking Like Jesus in our series, Pathways to Knowing god and making Him Known. We will explore how Jesus teaches us about the Holy Spirit.
We have a Resource Guide below to help you develop your time with the Lord and to equip you to seek Biblical revelation and guard against projecting our thoughts onto our understanding of Scripture. Click on the link in the section below to download the Pathways Scripture Exploration Guide.
Join us this week as as we continue on the Pathway to Knowing God and Making Him Known!
How can we recognize Jesus voice and know that what we are hearing is true?
In John chapter 10 Jesus gives us both a warning against false teaching and the comfort of knowing that we can accurately hear His voice. There is nothing more important for believers than to be able to discern truth and listen for what God has to say. This week we will explore this important passage along with its background from the Old Testament in "Discerning the Right Path; Hearing Jesus' Voice Correctly."
We have a Resource Guide below to help you develop your time with the Lord and to equip you to seek Biblical revelation and guard against projecting our thoughts onto our understanding of Scripture. Click on the link in the section below to download the Pathways Scripture Exploration Guide.
Jesus commanded us to do two very specific things: Baptize people in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit and to celebrate the Communion meal in remembrance of Him.
Baptism represents our Union with Christ Jesus' death burial and resurrection through faith in Him and what He has done.
Lord's Supper represents our Communion and ongoing fellowship with Jesus. It is a celebration of the life we have in Him and an anticipation of His return. These two celebrations are beautiful displays of what life in Christ truly is.
In addition to our celebration of baptism this week, we already have others who want to be baptized in the weeks to come. If you are interested please email Pastor Drew - drew@icprague.cz. And join us this Sunday for a very special celebration together.
We have a Resource Guide below to help you develop your time with the Lord and to equip you to seek Biblical revelation and guard against projecting our thoughts onto our understanding of Scripture. Click on the link in the section below to download the Pathways Scripture Exploration Guide.
Join us this week as as we walk the Pathway of Union and Communion, on the Pathway to Knowing God and Making Him Known!
Prayer is the life line that connects a believer to the presence, power and person of God, and yet it is often misunderstood, and neglected. Here are some good questions about prayer.
What is the purpose of prayer?
How are we to pray?
Why do some prayers seem to be unanswered?
How important is prayer?
How did Jesus pray?
This week on our Pathways series we will explore what Jesus has to teach us about the incredible privilege and power of Prayer. Please join us in person or online this week as we explore the Scriptures together and have a time praying together as well.
We have a Resource Guide below to help you develop your time with the Lord and to equip you to seek Biblical revelation and guard against projecting our thoughts onto our understanding of Scripture. Click on the link in the section below to download the Pathways Scripture Exploration Guide.
Join us this week as as we walk the Pathway of Prayer, on the Pathway to Knowing God and Making Him Known!
Knowledge and understanding are not necessarily the same thing. A person can have great knowledge even about God's Word and yet lack understanding. Jesus frequently commented on the religious leaders of his day concerning this very truth.
To move from knowledge to understanding we need to apply the Truth Test, to what we think and examine how it lines up with the fullness of God’s Word. This week on our Pathways to Knowing God and Making Him known, we will explore practical ways to ensure we have a correct understanding of God's Word. In this study we will learn the difference between Projection and Revelation.
Projection is the process of "eisegesis" (to write in) where we imprint our worldview, opinion or wants onto a passage of Scripture. Projection imports a persons subjective interpretations on the passage of Scripture, often disregarding the overall context and the balance that is found in other passages of Scripture.
Revelation is found through "exegesis" (to draw out). Which means to allow the text to speak in context and in harmony with other scriptures to reveal meaning, understanding and application.
We have a Resource Guide below to help you develop your time with the Lord and to equip you to seek Biblical revelation and guard against projecting our thoughts onto our understanding of Scripture. Click on the link in the section below to download the Pathways Scripture Exploration Guide.
Join us this week as as we walk the Pathway of Understanding, on the Pathway to Knowing God and Making Him Known!
Last week we discovered that Truth is a Person not just a set of ideas. Jesus is the way, the truth and the life.: John 14:6. Therefore truth will always conform to Jesus character, commands and example. He is how we measure between what is true and what is false.
This week we will explore the importance of our though patterns and how we are to take our thoughts captive and make them obedient to Jesus. Each one of us in engaged in a spiritual battle for our minds. And the front line of that battle is learned to discern truth from error. This study will give you some practical ways to measure whether or not a teaching or belief is true. This is so important for us to learn. We all need to measure what we believe, and what we practice by the Truth Test of how it compares to Jesus, character, commands and example.
We have a Resource Guide below to help you develop your time with the Lord. Click on the link in the section below to download the Pathways Scripture Exploration Guide.
Join us this week as as we wrestle with the Narrow Path of Truth, on the Pathway to Knowing God and Making Him Known!
This week's Pathways to Knowing God and Making Him Known, is The Path of Truth. Truth is a person. Jesus Christ is the way, the truth and the life, according to John 14:6. Truth is not an abstract principle. Rather truth flows from the very character and nature of its author. It is possible to know a great deal about the bible and never know its author. We are called to have an encounter with the person of truth, Jesus Christ and to then live out the truth He reveals in His strength.
This week is very practical and we have a tool below to help you develop a personal time with the Lord each day in the Scriptures. It is designed to help you encounter God Himself through His World.
We have a Resource Guide Below to help you develop your time with the Lord. Click on the link in the section below to download the Pathways Scripture Exploration Guide.
Join us this week as as we wrestle with Truth, on the Pathway to Knowing God and Making Him Known!