I will bless the Lord at all times; His praises shall continually be in my mouth. It is a great day to serve the Lord; actually every day is a great day to serve the Lord. Because of the great benefits he has toward us, and because of who he is.

It is my pleasure to bring to you the highlights from Sunday, May 2, 2010. Our Executive Pastor James Edwards brought forth a powerful word to us, regardless of the title we may hold. It ministers to each and every one of us. It gives us hope and strength to carry on. The message was entitled “ The Other Side of Ministry” scripture text is Mark 5:1-6, 19.

Here are your Sunday Highlights:

The Church is in a situation were we become accustomed to comfort, such as the padded pews, air conditions and fancy clothes, Some of us come to church just to see what’s going to happen, or what the choir is going to sing, or even what some one is going to wear this week. The church today has become complacent waiting on what’s going to happen next. We wait on having church, but what we fail to realize is that the church is waiting on us. We come into the building but we as people of God forget that we are the building. The church as gotten in the way and has waxed cold. I challenge you by asking…. Where is the fire?! The church folk have gone to sleep while the church outside is going to Hell. Matthew 28:19 says “Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost” We won’t even invite our kin folk to church. It’s time for the church to wake up… There is another side to ministry.

In Mark 4 the disciples were in the ship going through a storm. Have you ever been in the ship in the middle of a storm and it seems like Jesus does not care about your storm, it seems that Jesus was sleep? What happens when it seems as if God doesn’t care about your storm? Jesus was sleep as the boat filled with water. How could he sleep while your boat is filling with water? The book of Matthew tells us that we must have faith, Luke says “Oh ye of little faith” then when you read the book of Mark it says, “You have no faith”… The definition of faith is the substance of things hoped for and the evidence of things not seen. Do we really know what faith is in our own personal life? Let me give you an example of faith I have two stories to share with you concerning faith:

• My first Story is about A young man who was a tight rope walker…. The crowd “Oooohed!” and “Aaaaahed!” as the man carefully walked across one dangerous step after another — blindfolded and pushing a wheelbarrow full of 300 pounds of sand. Upon reaching the other side, the young man suddenly stopped and addressed his audience: “Do you believe I can carry a person across in this wheelbarrow?” The crowd enthusiastically shouted, “Yes, yes, yes. You are the greatest tightrope walker in the world. You can do anything!” “Okay,” said the young man, “Get in the wheelbarrow…..” If you want to know what faith is……Faith is getting in the wheelbarrow.

• My Second story is about a father and a son out in the field picking beans. They had been picking beans all day long. They began to smell something good coming from their house. It smelled like fat back and collard greens. Soon the smell was so overwhelming that they young man decided to run home to see for sure what was cooking and possibly get a taste of it. When he gets to the house he ran in and surely there it was cooking on the stove, but before he could get to the pot his mother stopped him and warned him that it was not ready. She smacked his hand with a firm loving gesture and told him to wait. As hungry as he was, he could hardly resist the aroma of the fat back coming from the pot on the stove, It over took him so much that he picked up a piece of white bread and took the top off the pot. Then he held the white bread over the steam until it saturated the bread. After that, he wrapped it tightly in aluminum foil, and ran out the door back to the field to take it to his father. When he made it back to the field where his father was still working, the aroma from the saturated bread got his father’s attention. “what have you got there boy, is that fat back and collards?” His father asked. I smell collard greens and fat back…The son replied, “no dad, it’s just the substance of things hoped for and the evidence of things not seen. God is cooking up something in our lives, and we are right on the brink of it. Can’t you smell it. Allow your faith to kick in and trust God.

In the book of Mark the disciples was following Jesus, they watched him cleanse a man with an unclean spirit. Then they followed him to Peter’s house where Peter’s mother in law was sick with a fever and Jesus healed her. Jesus was delivering, healing and building the prophetic in everyone. When the church gets to the place when we are more concerned about growing and the number of members we have, that’s the time we need to go to the other side of ministry.

What to expect on he other side of ministry:

1. It is not glamorous- The other side of ministry is very uncomfortable it does not smell good or look good. There are times when you may have to minister to someone who is torn up and who looks raggedy. On the other side of ministry there are no fine clothes or perfume.

2. It has a price- The other side of ministry is going to cost you something. It is a difficult place. When you are working on the other side of ministry it will take all your attention. It will change your way of thinking.

3. It will bring you out of your comfort zone- The other side of ministry will bring you out of your comfort zone and challenge you. If you are in a place of comfort and have gotten complacent, you have been there too long; it’s time to go over to the other side of ministry.

4. It will stop you from judging others- When you are working on the other side of ministry you will not be able to judge people by their outer appearance. We judge others by what they look like on the out side; by what they have on and by how they smell. If they don’t’ wear the right clothes we judge them. Man looks on the outer appearance but God looks on the heart.
Mark verse 5 speaks of the man who lived among the tombs day and night cutting him self. He would sit among dead things. How many of us are still dealing with issues and things in our lives that are dead? We continue to dead things that are wasting our time? We waste our time with dead stuff, stuff that no long have life. This man had Jesus come to him, and most of us have to come to Jesus, but Jesus went to him. There are people on the other side who are waiting for us to come to them. They are in need of someone to reach out and help them.

When I was a little boy I use to love the hero called Mighty Mouse. Mighty mouse knew who he was; his favorite saying was “Here I come to save the day!” If his sweetheart Polly would get into trouble he would say, “Hip, hip and away I go!” He was one of the first rappers of all time. Then there was the road runner, when the coyote would be closing in on the Rood Runner, the road runner would not give up he would say “Beep Beep” and take off as fast as he could. Super Man was faster than a speeding bullet and more powerful than a locomotive. Super man and Robin would fight against the bad guys. The reporter Lois Lane loved Superman but did not like the reporter Clark Kent, a note to men- Women don’t like men who are always gossiping and reporting other peoples business. Women like men of vision and men of strength. The man at the tomb could have been a super man on the inside regardless of what he looked like on the inside. He saw God far off. The man began to cut himself because of evil spirits. This reminds me of the story of the prophet Elijah in (I Kings 17) When his enemy could not do what they wanted, they began to cut themselves and copy each other. Beware of those who repeat other peoples business and do what other’s do. We need to go to the other sided of ministry and help those who do not look like us, who do not talk like we talk. The best preaching comes when your mouth is not even opened.

Conclusion:
The man in the tomb was miserable. He was looking for Jesus when he was in his mess. Is there any body here that is looking for Jesus? God saw through all of us when we were in the tomb, when we were in our dead situation or dead place and he came to get us, he came to deliver us. The difference between the Christians, the disciples and the Apostles is that God gave us power. We cannot judge others falsely or judge them by what they have on, what they smell like or their position in life. The man in the tomb was so insignificant that they did not even give him a name. But Jesus knew where he was and who he was and he has a set time and an order in which he will call us to witness. It is the power of God. When he calls us to go, we must go over to the other side of ministry and help someone else! Are you ready to let go of your dead situations? Are you ready to stop judging others? It’s time to trust in the one super hero who can get the job done. Let’s not continue in the place we are in let’s go over to THE OTHER SIDE OF MINISTRY!

© 2010, Elder Alvia Cabbler. All rights reserved. A part of Shekinah Glory Outreach Ministries International

With the winter season upon us, have you notice the leaves are falling from the trees, trees that were once in full bloom look dead and lifeless, some trees have no leaves they are bare, many leaves are just blowing down streets and around corners, some trees that should reproduce next spring season appear that they will not make it through the winter.

The trees we see resemble people we know, our family, friends, neighbors and people we bump shoulders with every day. Winter is here many of us are depressed an have no idea how we will make it another day, The joy they once had is gone. We never know when the storms of life will hit us, As Christian it is your job not to let brothers and sister die in the winter season.

Personal witnessing is a trigger that releases power in our lives. Doing your part releases faith. God does the rest.

PSMS 107:2 Let the redeemed of the Lord say so, whom he has redeemed from the hand of the adversary.

1 John 1: 5-10 (Contemporary English Version)

5. Jesus told us that God is light and doesn’t have any darkness in him, Now we are telling you.

6. If we say that we share life with God and keep on living in dark, we are lying and are not living by the truth.

7. But if we live in the light, as God does, we share in life with each other.  And the blood of his Son Jesus  washes all our sins away.

8. If we say that we have not sinned, we are fooling ourselves, and the truth isn’t in our hearts.

9. But if we confess our sins to God, he can always be trusted to forgive us and take our sins away.

10. If we say that we have not sinned, we make God a liar and his message isn’t in our hearts. Or because we have not accepted his message.

Let us love one another, give a hug ,smile , give a word of encouragement today.  Don’t let your love ones die in winter, be a witness to the glory of God someone needs to hear your testimony. Share your story God gets the glory.

Humbly Submitted,

If any man be in Christ he is a new creature old things are passed away , behold all things have become new. 2 Corinthians 5:17.

© 2009 – 2010, Elder Berlynda. All rights reserved. A part of Shekinah Glory Outreach Ministries International