Pastor Hengle's Short Messages
The Glory of God
The Promises of God
What is better than Sacrifice?
What do we see?
Who do we want to imitate
Living in the Presence of God
Remember how God has worked in your past
Why do the wicked seem to prosper?
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The Glory of God
I just got back from council today and am still trying to get my thoughts together. It was a wonderful time but also one that was very tiring. We heard about the Glory of God being the main thing in our denomination and in our own lives. Sometimes I wonder if we lose sight of just how glorious a God and Father we worship. When we stop to think how glorious He really is then words cannot express many times what is in our hearts. The word glory really means "What He essentially is and does, as exhibited in whatever way He reveals Himself in these respects, and particularly in the person of Jesus Christ, in whom essentially His glory has ever shone forth and ever Will...." When we read about Christ we are really seeing the Glory of God manifested in its truest sense. I trust all of us will allow our main desire to be to manifest the Glory of God in our lives and to continually ponder how great He really is. 1 Chronicles 16:34-36 should be our heart's cry each day. "Give thanks to the Lord for He is good, His love endures forever. Cry out Save us , O God, our Savior, gather and deliver us from the nations, that we may give thanks to your holy name, that we may glory in your praise. Praise be to the Lord God of Israel, from everlasting to everlasting. Then all the people said, Amen and Praise the Lord!". May this be on our lips continuously throughout each day. This will change our lives in a dramatic fashion. May the lord give you a great day.
The Promises of God
One of the greatest things in the world is when someone makes a promise to you then you knew with out a doubt that it will come to pass. In this world where many promises are made and not kept it is really refreshing to know that the Lord's promises are "yea and amen!" In the book of Hebrews we see the writer alluding to the promise that He gave Abraham. In Hebrews 6:13-15 we read: "When God made His promise to Abraham, for since there was no one greater for Him to swear by, He swore by Himself, saying 'I will surely bless you and give you many descendants'. And so after waiting patiently, Abraham received what was promised". Most of you know the story how he had to wait till he was up in years and Sarai was past childbearing; however, this is what God truly wanted to take place. He wanted Abraham to totally rely on Him and not anyone else. God has given to us many promises in His word and yet He will bring them to pass in the fullness of His time. We just have to be patent and trust Him enough even though at times we wonder if anything is happening. An author put it this way: "God makes a promise-faith believes it, hope anticipates it , patience quietly awaits it." I trust that as we go through this life that we will quietly wait on the Lord to answer all His promises that He has given to us never losing heart. He will answer in His time we can be absolutely sure on that. May this be a week when we trust Him more fully. Have a blessed and fruitful week.
What is better than Sacrifice?
Good Morning,
It is very apparent that we live in a society that places an awful lot of emphasis on doing things in order to get ahead. However, when we come to the Spiritual side of things we find an entirely different way that God wants us to act. Moody points out that everything God created obeyed Him. When you look at the account of the creation He says that the earth, stars, animals, trees, water and everything He created did exactly what He told it to do except one thing. He says: "Did you ever notice all but the heart of man obeys God." Proverbs 2l:3 says it this way: "To do what is right and just is more acceptable than sacrifice." Many times we feel that the more we do is very important to God. In some cases this is good if He has called you to those ministries. However, if we do these things out of guilt, pressure or because nobody else will do it oftentimes the ministry will still fail. God wants us to be obedient to all that He has not only called us to do, but even more than that to be obedient to His word. In the New Testament alone there are over 248 commandments that He has told us to do. Some of them are very difficult, but in the Gospel of John says: "If you want to be my friend do what I have commanded you." Lets begin to truly do what is right and just and Our Father will be very pleased with our lives. We must listen to Him and then we know we are in His will. May God give us the strength and grace to be obedient Christians. May you have a blessed day.
What do we see?
Good Morning,
I trust that this morning has been a good one. As we looked outside we saw a small thunderstorm and then the sun came out. As the morning progressed I am sure you saw family, friends, co-workers, your breakfast and we could go on and on. Our eyes are wonderful things that the Lord has given to us. We can see the beauty of His creation and all that He has given to us. But if that is all we see then we are missing so much in this world. In II Corinthians 4:16-18 we read:"Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly weare being renewed day by day. For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, For what is seen is temporal, but what is unseen is eternal." We sometimes can got our eyes fixed only on the present and lose sight of the fact that their is an eternity awaiting us that is more glorious than we can imagine. God has blessed us with so many things that we cannot see things such as grace, mercy, forgiveness, love, power and so much more. When we start to get down a little because of all we see with our fleshly eyes that is when we need to open our spiritual eyes and behold our glorious Savior. Today may we use both sets of eyes and see all that God has provided for us. Have a wonderful and blessed day in the Lord.
Who do we want to imitate?
Good Morning,
We live in a world it seems where the people that live lives that are totally in contrast to the life of Christ. These are the ones people want to imitate. We have people who want to act and sing like Michael Jackson, those who want to act and have all the fame that the Hollywood set has, we have kids who model themselves after sports figures who's morals are totally against God, but we have few who want to model their lives after Christ. There reason is that Jesus may have had fame for awhile, but eventually He gave His life in a very brutal way so that we could experience eternal life with Him. Ephesians 6: 1&2 states, "Be imitators of God, therefore, as dearly loved children and live a life of love just as Christ loved us and gave Himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God." In other words if there is one person we should try to live like it would be Jesus Christ. When we stop to think of all that this involves it can boggle our minds. He was totally committed to His father and only said and did what He wanted Him to do. This would have a profound impact on all of our lives. But if we are ever going to reach our world for the Lord Jesus Christ, then we are going to have to resemble Him more than the people of the world. Let's begin today to model our lives after Christ so that people will begin to see Him instead of us. Have a wonderful week.
Living in the presence of God?
Good Morning, One of the things that was very apparent when Christ walked the face of the earth was that He was always walking in the presence of His Father. We see that in so many scriptures: Jn. 5:19 "The Son can do nothing on His own, but only what He sees the Father doing: For whatsoever the Father does the son does; Jn. 5:30 "I do nothing on my own, As I hear I judge." Many times Jesus would feel the need even after a long day to spend the entire night or rise early in the morning to have communion with his Father. This shows us the necessity of living continually in the presence of our Father. Frank Laubach decided to make this his number one priority of living in the presence of God. He was going to make an attempt that throughout the day no matter what He was doing he would recognize that the presence of God surrounded him. He kept a diary of his efforts and here is one day's notes; "May 24,1930: This concentration on God is strenuous, but everything else has ceased to be so. I think more clearly. I forget less frequently. Things which I did with a strain before, now I do easily and with no effort whatever. I worry about nothing, and lose no sleep. I walk on air a good part of the time. Even the mirror reveals a new light in my face. I no longer feel in a hurry about anything. Everything goes right. Each minute I most calmly as if it were not important. Nothing can go wrong except one thing. That is that God may slip from my mind." Maybe what we need to do is be more aware of His presence and many of the things that cause us much pain will be alleviated. Lets all start living in the presence of God. Blessings on you, Pastor Hengle
Remember how God has worked in your past.
Good Morning,
It is good to be back from vacation refreshed and ready to minister to all of you in anyway I can. I trust the summer has been a good one for you and that these last few weeks will be very relaxing.
Many of us have seen tress when they fall down or got cut down and see the rings on the inside. When you begin to count the number of rings you soon realize how old the tree is; but the tree can't talk and tell you what it has been through. When we look at our lives we count how old we are by years, Yet, even then when we look at someone we really do not know all that they have experienced in life. Isn't it great to know that the Lord lets us know that He is in full control. Romans 8:28 says, "And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love Him, who have been called according to His purpose. When you remember your past and see how the Lord has brought you this far we can really have confidence that in the future "... He will never leave us or forsake us. I am sure that many of you have gone through some difficult times and thought that you would never be able to make it. But then God's grace became so abundant that you were able to trust Him and experience a peace that even you couldn't understand. That is why it is so important to know that the Lord is with us and uses every experience to mold us into the type of person he desires. Remembering God's faithfulness in the past allows us to also have confidence in Him in the future. May this become a reality in all our lives.
Have a great day.
Pastor Hengle
Why do the wicked seem to prosper?
Good Morning,
One of the questions that are always asked of us is why do the wicked seem to have so much and God's people often times find themselves struggling. We not only got asked this by others, but we even ask the Lord why this happens. We look around the world and see these people who have no regard for God's Word and yet have everything in the material world that they seem to want. Sometimes we even become jealous and this begins to eat away at our own trust in God. We are not the only ones who feel this way because we see Jeremiah saying in chapter 12 as he is crying out to God the same Question: verse 1&14-17-"You are always righteous , 0 Lord, when I bring a case before you. Yet I would speak with you about your justice: why do the way Wicked prosper?" Jeremiah saw his people being attacked and hurt and he could not understand why. Listen to God's response: "This is what the Lord says: 'as far as all my wicked neighbors who seize the inheritance I gave my people Israel, I will uproot them from their lands and I will uproot the house of Judah from among them. But after I uproot them I will have compassion and bring each one of them back to his own inheritance and his own land. And if they learn well the ways of my people, and swear by name saying, 'As surely as the Lord lives--even as thy once taught my people to swear by Baal-- then they will be established among my people. But if any nation does not listen, I will completely uproot and destroy it, declares the Lord." It is very apparent the Lord knows exactly what is going on in the world and it these material things mean that much to us then we may have the same attitude as those who are prospering, We need to know that He will supply all that we need as long as we seek Him first. Let's leave the fate of the wicked in the Lord's hands and be sure that we are seeking Him and His ways always in our lives. May the Lord bless us as we endeavor to do this. Blessings on you,'
Pastor Hengle