By Philip Diehm on
2/19/2012 6:22 PM
When people follow the leading of the Holy Spirit and use their gifts…church growth results. This was the “Growth Principle” used in the early church and it still works very well today.
|
By Philip Diehm on
1/29/2012 5:58 PM
When the Holy Spirit speaks, there will be a response
|
By Philip Diehm on
1/28/2012 5:48 PM
Acts, Chapter 2 tells the story of how Jesus established His church and then left with the promise that there would be an outpouring of the Holy Spirit. The early disciples were confused and alone. I suspect that they did not feel up to the task of continuing the work that Jesus had started. Many times I feel the same way. When the Holy Spirit came upon them, they were changed; and the same thing will happen to us when the Holy Spirit comes. Pastor Kene gave four necessary steps for the outpouring of the Holy Spirit.
|
By Philip Diehm on
1/28/2012 5:47 PM
Last Sunday was a special time as we came together as a church family and commissioned Pastor Kene Panas to the work of ministry at Coastal Community Fellowship. It was a special moment as we laid hands on Kene and Machele to bless them and to commit them to God for this work. Pastor Kene’s teaching out of the book of Acts was very appropriate. It was the beginning of the church and Jesus commanded them to wait for the gift the Father had promised…the Holy Spirit. We are to be witnesses for God, but not in our own power. Acts 1:8 says, “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses…” The call is crystal clear for us to be witnesses for God, and He will provide the power of the Holy Spirit if we wait on Him.
|
By Philip Diehm on
1/4/2012 6:27 PM
Fear has the ability to “suck-out” all of our faith. We believe God in some areas of our life…but not in all areas of our life.
|
By Philip Diehm on
11/22/2011 9:36 PM
In order to grow, we must take God as He is…not as we want Him to be.
|
By Philip Diehm on
11/16/2011 7:27 PM
On Sunday, Shelly Cunningham drew a very practical application from the story of Jesus feeding over 5,000 people with five loaves of bread and 2 small fish. We often think that what we have is not very much, and couldn’t possibly make a difference. The boy only had a sack lunch for himself…but when he offered what he had to Jesus; it was enough to feed a whole lot of people. In the Kingdom of God, whatever you have is enough if you let it go. When you think about it, what we have is exactly what God intended you to have at this time. Oftentimes, three little phrases hold us back from offering what we have. We say (or think), “If Only”, or “What If”, or my personal favorite, “Yes, But…”.
God made us for a purpose and gave us everything we need to fulfill that purpose. Accept it, and bring what you have as an offering to Him.
|
By Philip Diehm on
11/2/2011 5:06 PM
Do you have room in your life for someone else?
|
By Philip Diehm on
10/26/2011 7:23 PM
God calls us to pray on behalf of the people around us. When we pray for each other, and with each other, we are no longer isolated. There is a battle going on and we need to take it seriously. Will you pray?
|
By Philip Diehm on
10/19/2011 8:56 PM
The children of Israel went from praising God to grumbling in a very short period of time, and things haven’t changed much in the past thirty-five hundred years.
|