Learnings

Hey hey. 
I write to you sitting outdoors in my jeans, sweater, scarf and boots. This the first cold day we've had for..ever. This remains as the only downside I have encountered living in Florida; I miss my favorite season - fall. I was way too excited about putting on my warm things this morning like you don't even know. 
Anyway, I just thought I'd share with you some nuggets from last week's teaching. We watched Dean Sherman's video series on Ministry. It really wrecked me. There were so many revelations that came from his teaching and as I look over my notes I'm just wrecked all over again. 

He defined ministry as what God does through you by his Spirit. He said if you aren't serving, by definition you aren't ministering.

Isaiah 42:1 Here is my servant, whom I uphold, my chosen one in whom I delight; I will put my Spirit on him and he will bring justice to the nations

Isaiah 61:1 The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is on me, because the Lord has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners...

He talked about the culture in the church today that sometimes says "Holy Spirit fall in this room" and asks for the presence of the Holy Spirit just for us to feel it and see that as enough.

 Jesus was filled with the spirit to preach good news to the poor, to heal the sick, to free the captives. The Holy Spirit is not a  presence we should merely sit in and enjoy for ourselves, but use to enable the work of God to happen through us. 

He went on to talk about gifts and said "gifts are for serving. A gift isn’t a gift unless you’ve given it away. If you haven’t given it away, it’s a possession. May you never know what gifts you have and what you are unless you intend to utilize it." He talked about gifts and each gift as a part of the body of Christ. 

That week was such a great challenge to me and I'm still processing and taking in everything that was said. Ugh. So good. 

Sorry for the rambly feel of this post. I hope it can encourage you in some way or at least make a little sense. 

I hope you, reading this, are doing well. If you would like to contact me, you can do so via facebook or email at larakaystricks@gmail.com. I'd love to connect with you and feel free to let me know if there is anything you would like prayer for, I would love to pray for you! 

Much love.