This Weekend at Reach Out Church – 01/26/14

Here is the latest news of what’s happening at Reach Out Church this upcoming weekend! Have a blessed weekend and we’ll see you Sunday!

General Announcements

Search for Truth Bible Study Temporarily Suspended

Our Wednesday morning “Search for Truth” Bible study is on an indefinite hiatus until further notice.

No Girl’s Club in January

There will be no Girl’s Club for the month of January due to the harsh weather. It will be announced when the club starts up again in February.

This Sunday

Benevolence offering this Sunday

Each quarter we set aside a Sunday to receive a special benevolence offering that goes to help those in need. We will receive this with our regular offering; if you would like to give towards our benevolence fund, please mark your offering envelope “benevolence”.

New & Upcoming Events

Summer Mission Trip to the Dominican Republic

We will be sending a mission team to the Dominican Republic this summer. If you are interested in being a part of this team, sign up in the foyer and attend the informational meeting after this Sunday’s 10am service.

NYSUM Mission Trip

We are planning a mission trip to NYC on February 21st-23rd. During this trip we will be working with New York’s School of Urban Ministry (NYSUM). On Sunday, February 2nd, we will be having an informational meeting after the 10am service. If you are interested in participating, please sign up in the foyer and attend the meeting. A $50 deposit is due on the day of the meeting to hold your bed at NYSUM.

Girl Time With God

This is a fun filled event for the girls of Reach Out Church involving devotional time, prayer, snacks, games, and crafts! This will be taking place at the Bovee residence on Saturday, February 1st from 1pm-4pm. For more information and directions, please contact Rachel Bovee at 845-485-1647

New Home Group Bible Study

Starting on Tuesday, February 4th at 7pm, Brian Bovee will be leading an in-depth study at the book of Ephesians. This study will be an 8 week series and all are welcome to attend this home group! For more information, directions, or to RSVP, please contact the Bovee’s at 845-485-1647

Welcome to the new website!

Welcome to Reach Out Church’s new website! We would like to provide a more dynamic and easy to navigate resource on the latest news, happenings, and events that occur at our church. Also, we want this site to be the best resource for information regarding Reach Out Church’s ministries and outreaches.

The site is still undergoing regular maintenance and we have a vision to best utilize this website to include more media related content. We will also be getting more up to date pictures for the ministry pages. If you have any suggestions for improvement, please feel free to send me an email at t_smajda@yahoo.com

We are excited about this page and we’re expecting it to be a blessing to our church.

God bless,

Timothy Smajda
Reach Out Church Website Maintenance

Beauty For Ashes…

beautyforashes

Pastor Vic had recently shared a message entitled “Slaying Your Giant”. At the end of the message, the entire congregation was invited to anonymously write down the giants they face in their lives and put what they wrote into a basket. These hardships and struggles were then prayed over by our church leadership and prayer team. Brenda Golden, a member of our prayer team, was inspired by the Holy Spirit to illustrate what God does with these kinds of burdens. This illustration was shared this past Sunday morning, and Brenda also shared a testimony of how God had given her victory over the giants that needed to be confronted in her life throughout the years.

“The Spirit of the Lord God is upon Me,
Because the Lord has anointed Me
To preach good tidings to the poor;
He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted,
To proclaim liberty to the captives,
And the opening of the prison to those who are bound;
To proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord,
And the day of vengeance of our God;
To comfort all who mourn,
To console those who mourn in Zion,
To give them beauty for ashes,
The oil of joy for mourning,
The garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness;
That they may be called trees of righteousness,
The planting of the Lord, that He may be glorified.”

Isaiah 61:1-3

Our Foundations in Jesus – The Doctrine of Laying on of Hands

foundationsTo summarize the events of Genesis 48:8-20… Jacob said: “Joesph, bring your sons to me.” And Jacob placed his hands on the boys’ heads and prayed: “May God bless these boys, and multiply their descendants greatly throughout the Earth.” 

Jesus says in Mark 16:18, “They will place their hands on sick people and they will get well.”

And 21st-century science tells us what mothers have known since Eve: touching babies relaxes them, makes them calm, and helps them to grow into confident adults.

The laying on of hands makes a difference

People lay hands on other people just about everywhere in the Bible, and it always leads to some benefit. But we can’t do that today, right? Like Pastor Vic says, “Some say that the blessings petered out when Peter petered out.” (Sorry, couldn’t resist!) Pastor Vic also adds: “Oh no they didn’t! Hands and blessings are as powerful for us as believers today! It says so right in the Bible.

We will investigate the Biblical basis of laying on of hands for:

  1. Blessings
  2. Healing
  3. Baptism in the Holy Ghost
  4. Spiritual Gifts
  5. Commissioning ministers

1. Blessings

First, look up and read Genesis 48:8-20, which was summarized at the top of this article. This is only one Scriptural example of blessings by laying on of hands

By calling blessings from God and laying on hands (touching the recipient with the whole palm and fingers — not just tips), one multiplies power and faith. This often transfers the benefits of one’s powerful faith to another person.

For Jacob and his grandchildren, it bore great fruit in the later generations as they multiplied to become a great nation.

2. Healing

Healing refers to body, spirit, and soul. The Bible has many passages wherein people are healed of physical afflictions after prayer with the laying on of hands. Read in full the passage Mark 16:15-18, excerpted above. There’s more, but first this:

Healing happens to those who believer. Belief is the only qualification for the one doing the praying. It is not the physical act of laying on of hands that does the healing. Hands are the outward sign of one’s belief that the sick person will get well.

In Luke 4:38-40, Jesus lays hands on Peter’s mother-in-law and heals her of a fever. Because of this demonstration, lots of people came forward and were healed.

Later, in Luke 13:10-16, Jesus heals a woman with a twisted back. Verse 16 tells us that the woman is freed from an evil spirit. This often happens. The illness is demonic, and laying on of hands in faith casts out the demon. But, oops, you have to fill the space or the demon can move back. Quickly fill yourself with the Spirit of God for permanent results.

For more examples, see Matthew 8:1-4, Mark 6:1-6, and Acts 28:7-10

3. Baptism of the Holy Spirit

When you ask Jesus into your heart, the Holy Spirit immediately moves in. But there’s more. With an extra measure of faith, you can receive the Baptism of the Holy Spirit. While some gain that all by themselves, more usually comes with the laying on of hands to add the faith of others to yours.

There are early examples in Acts 8:14-21, where we see that the Baptism is a gift from God and cannot be bought with money. And in Acts 19:1-6, there were believers who had been baptized by John but had never heard of the Baptism of the Holy Spirit. Then they gladly received it.

4. Spiritual Gifts

All Spiritual Gifts come from the Holy Spirit, but that doesn’t mean we all get every gift. God knows what He is doing, and He gives to each the one or two best suited to that person’s nature. One thing that is sure — God will give us exactly what He knows we need to serve Him best. Then we must step out and put faith into action without faltering.

  • Stephen, in Acts 6:1-8, received gifts, stepped out in faith, performed marvelous works and wonders, and then got clobbered by skeptics. The Devil was at work, trying to keep people from receiving God’s best and from spreading the Good Word.
  • Timothy got the gifts and Paul admonished him to never forget it. Timothy used his gifts in the face of opposition, and came out ahead.

We too have a choice to use the gifts or not, and in secular society there is pressure to just not do it.

5. Laying on of hands to commission ministers

Being a minister is not just a job. You don’t choose it from a list at the guidance counselor’s office. Ministry is a calling; it summons you, not the other way around. Therefore, when those who commission new ministers by laying their hands on them, they are not doing it of their own. It is in agreement with the Holy Spirit.

See 1 Timothy 5:22. “Do not be hasty in the laying on of hands, and do not share in the sins of others. Keep yourself pure.”

This admonishes church leaders to be careful about laying on hands to ordain new ministers. If Timothy commissioned someone who did not follow sound doctrine, then Timothy would be responsible and share in the sin.

Today, we might call that aiding and abetting, or being an accomplice after the fact.

Exercise faith today

So — the laying on of hands has many purposes in the body of Christ. Just remember it is the Holy Spirit working through us and nothing of our own power.

Try it out. You are not testing God, just merely convincing yourself. Lay hands on people and expect them to be healed in the name of Jesus. Bless your spouse and children that you will grow in faith toward God as the Holy Spirit works through you.

Remember what Jesus said in Luke 16:10 about being faithful in little things and later receiving greater blessings. Start small. Grow. You’ll get there.

Click here to return to the index of Foundations teachings.

Our Foundations in Jesus – Baptisms

foundations Dunk, drizzle, splash, sprinkle… It seems every church has its own way of baptizing and its own philosophy of when and why it should happen.

  • Does it wash away some vaguely-defined “original sin”?
  • Does it make you a Christian?
  • Is it essential for salvation?
  • Does it save you all by itself?
  • Is it more proper to pour a small amount of water over a baby’s forehead, or should we dunk adults in over their heads?

All that folderol is religion. Religion is a man-made philosophy of pleasing God. In an earlier article we spoke of pleasing God as “dead works.” What does the Bible say about baptism? There are four types of baptism in the Bible.

  1. The Baptism of John the Baptist/Repentance
  2. Christian Baptism
  3. The Baptism of the Holy Spirit
  4. Baptism of Suffering

Baptism of John the Baptist/Repentance

John started before Jesus began and was done during Jesus’ time. John preached repentance from sin and that after him would come One more powerful than he. John emphasized that he baptized with water and that the One to come would baptize with the Holy Spirit.  (Read Mark 1:4-8) John was what we might today call a front-man. His job was to get the hearts of the people ready to hear Jesus’ message. When people came to John for baptism, they confessed their sins and committed to change, opening fertile ground in their hearts to receive Jesus’ message of salvation. (Matthew 3:1-3, 7-11)

Christian Baptism

Christians are to be baptized after we have received Jesus. Baptism is an act of outward obedience following the example that Jesus established by Himself being baptized. (See Matthew 3:13-17 & 1 Peter 2:21-22) Christian Baptism identifies us with three events in Jesus’ lift

  • His death (Romans 6:3)
  • His burial (Colossians 2:12)
  • His resurrection (ibid)

Christian Baptism is a public confession that you are committing your life to Jesus. It shows the world that you are a new creature with a new nature (2 Corinthians 5:17), and a changed heart  (Romans 2: 28-29). In Exodus we see a grand example of water cleansing. The Israelites passed through the Red Sea unharmed, but their enemy was destroyed in the water. Examples of believers being baptized are found in Acts 2:38, 8:16, 10:48, and 19:5. Read! The catch? OK, no catch… but there are two conditions for Christian Baptism to be effective:

  1. Baptism is not your ticket to God. Repentance is, and baptism is the outward declaration. (Acts 2:37-38)
  2. Believe. Salvation is based upon belief and faith, not proof. God asks only that we accept Him wholeheartedly and He will reward us with eternal paradise. (See Mark 16:15-16 & Acts 16:25-34)

Holy Spirit Baptism

“… you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you” Acts 1:8a

The Baptism of the Holy Spirit is a supernatural empowering, released by faith that we may be confident to accomplish all that God calls us to do.

To receive the Baptism of the Holy Spirit, you must:

  1. Be born again (John 7:37-38)
  2. Have a repentant heart (Acts 2:38)
  3. Hunger after God (Matthew 5:6)
  4. Have faith to receive (Galatians 3:13-14)

Here is a famous (or infamous) before-and-after example of a believer receiving the Holy Spirit. Before: Peter denied Jesus three times, even after declaring that he would lay down his life for Him. (John 18:15-18 & 25-27) After: Peter unashamedly preached in public, saving 3000 people (Acts 2:14-41). He spoke boldly to religious leaders, the same ones he fled from earlier (Acts 4:1-21).

Baptism of Suffering

Hookay… this one takes a greater understanding and faith. While everything will be peaches and cream in Heaven, life on this planet is not so rosy. Christians will be (not might be, will be) persecuted for their faith. Non-believers will do all sorts of nasty things to drag us down and keep us in the slime of sin with them. But with God in our corner, we can persevere. And not merely survive, but emerge victorious. What will we suffer for Jesus?

  • We’re going to face bad treatment (slang: getting “dissed”) for well-doing (1 Peter 2:20 & 3:17)
  • We’ll be persecuted just for believing in Jesus (just read the secular news these days, and compare with 2 Timothy & 2 Corinthians 12:10)
  • We’ll always be tempted; that doesn’t stop (1 Corinthians 10:13, 1 Peter 4:1, James 1:12)

What will we NOT suffer for Jesus?

  • Suffer for eternity. Jesus took our place for punishments for sins, so we don’t have to. (Luke 22:44, Isaiah 53, & Matthew 27:27-50)
  • Sickness (1 Peter 2:24 [You’re looking these verses up and reading them, right?])
  • Poverty (2 Corinthians 8:9)
  • Suffer as a murderer, thief, evildoer, meddler (1 Peter 4:12-16)

Remember, Jesus took all these sufferings upon Himself to spare us the same.

Joy in suffering

What’s so… ggggrrrrrrrr… joyous about suffering??? For one thing, we are told in 1 Peter 4:13 that we are to rejoice that we suffer for the name of Jesus. As we suffer for Him, the love of God continues to grow inside us so we can shine even brighter for Jesus, being examples to the people around us. (Romans 5:3-6) Just as a broken bone becomes stronger in the healed place, you can be stronger for having suffered for Jesus. So the story has a happy ending after all.

Click here to return to the index of Foundations teachings.