Great Grace Church of God In Christ
411 Oswego Street. Syracuse, New York 13204
Great Grace Church of God In Christ
2G "Where Hope Is Communicated"
Posted on July 9, 2019 at 9:42 AM |
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All my adult life I’ve heard “Practice makes perfect”, but it wasn’t until
I started taking piano lessons that I found this saying was wrong. My piano teacher would tell me to slow down
and learn the song at a slower tempo, and gradually increase the tempo, so that
when I get to the tempo that the song was composed at, I will have practiced it
perfectly and therefore perfected the song.
He said that I could practice the song wrong, and eventually I would
perfectly master the song wrong. He
stated over and over to me, “Perfect practice makes perfect.” So this saying can be applied when it comes to hearing the voice of
God! Many have mastered hearing and
obeying the wrong voice, or partially hearing the voice of God, and therefore
missing out on His divine guidance. Vs
14 in Hebrews 5 state that the mature person is able to discern good and evil
because their senses are trained. Our
spiritual ears must be trained to hear the voice of God, through practice. God speaks through an audible voice; His Word; Intuition; a sense something
in our spirit. For a believer to train ones ear; it starts with us being aware that God is
always speaking, and then we must obey His voice. For the believer, when you sense that you
have heard God, You MUST obey! For it is by your obedience that you are
training your senses to Hear God! As you
continue to obey His voice, you will find that it takes faith and courage to
step out and do what He commands, but I guarantee, that if you obey whatever He
says, you will experience the abundant Life He has promises you! (Romans 8:14) Remember “Perfect practice, makes perfect”. Grace and Peace Apostle Montgomery Sr. |
Posted on February 14, 2019 at 2:20 PM |
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St. John chapter 13 shows
Jesus washing his disciples’ feet; identifying the one who would betray him; giving
his followers a new commandment and telling Peter that he will deny him three
times before the rooster crows. This chapter demonstrates the love that Jesus
has for everyone, no matter what they may do or say to him. In washing his disciples’
feet, Jesus demonstrates that a leader must be a servant, and be willing to
bend and minister, not considering their own comfort. In identifying his
betrayer, Jesus showed compassion on Judas by not turning the others against
him at that moment. He also demonstrated his love and trust for his Father, and
did not take matters into his own hands to stop the Will of his Father. Why a
new commandment? The first commandment was driven by obligation, but the new
commandment is to be driven by Love, because the ministry of Jesus was based on
Love. Finally, the prophetic words of Christ telling Peter that he would deny
him three times within hours, was to highlight love is action, not just talk. |
Posted on November 18, 2011 at 5:19 PM |
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There are several challenges that leaders in a Church face. I firmly believe that all challenges come to make us grow and conform us to the image of Christ; therefore challenges are to be appreciated. The first challenge that I will deal with is: (1) Inconsistency of those whom you are leading. We in the Church are in the people business and people are for the most part "Unpredictable." This unpredictability leads to inconsistency, which can lead to frustration on the leaders part. So how do you deal with the inconsistent follower and not become frustrated? We must look at Jesus and the people that followed Him in the Bible. When Jesus called his disciples to follow him, these men/women were not fully developed. Although most of them knew the law and was familiar with "Religion" they still were not where Jesus was trying to get them to be. In Matthew 5:48, Jesus sets the bench mark for all of His followers. He says "Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect." He knew that they were flawed, but still He gave them the correction along with the instruction to get them to the point of "Perfection." In order for leaders to not get frustrated with the inconsistent follower, you must know where they are spiritually, preach and teach the Word, set the benchmark of expectations, enforce the standard and then leave the rest up to the Spirit. The other challenge that leaders deal with is: (2)The rebellious follower. The one who says that I am going to do what I want to do, no matter what you say. We are not unique in what we deal with; even our Heavenly Father had these same kind of followers. In 1 Samuel 15:23, we read Samuel telling King Saul that "For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, and stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry. Because thou hast rejected the word of the LORD, he hath also rejected thee from being king." Saul took on the same attitude that many of our followers have, and with this attitude came rejection from the Lord. People who operate with this spirit do not need to be in leadership, and will ultimately miss out on the fullness of God. Our responsibility as a leaders is to deliver the Word and allow it to work like 2 Timothy 3:16 says. Again, in order for leaders to not get frustrated with the rebellious follower, we must know where they are spiritually, preach and teach the Word, set the benchmark of expectations, enforce the standard and then leave the rest up to the Spirit. |