Gathered Around the Fire

Download QuickTime Player Beholding the Lord...(Download mp3 Audio) Experiencing The Depths of Jesus Christ by Madame Jeanne Guyon I would like to address you as though you were a beginner in Christ, one seeking to know Him. In so doing, let me suggest two ways for you to come to the Lord. I will call the first way “Praying the Scripture” the second way I will call “Beholding the Lord” or “Waiting in His presence.” … Let us move on to the second kind of prayer, which I mentioned earlier… The second kind of prayer, which I described as “beholding the Lord” or “waiting on the Lord” also makes use of scripture but it is not actually a time of reading. Remember, ia m addressing you as if you were a new convert. Here is your second way to encounter Christ. And this second way to Christ, although you will be using the scripture, has a purpose altogether different from “praying the Scripture.” For that reason you should set aside a separate time when you can come and just wait upon Him. In “...

Download QuickTime Player Praying the Bible Out Loud...(Download mp3 Audio) Praying The Bible by Wesley & Stacey Campbell I don’t know if this ever happens to you, but sometimes in the middle of our plans, you know God says in the Bible “man makes his plans and God directs his steps.” Sometimes you come to that place where there is a fork in the road. And you have to decide, Am I going to take this fork? or that fork? So I am going to ask your permission this morning to not take the fork I would have taken this morning; we can come back there next week. But you know sometimes we tend to rush ahead, the scheduled topic this week and the notes I printed out last week are all about quietly coming before the LORD, Beholding Him, in the presence of the LORD. But if we did that now, I think we might just gloss over “Praying the Scripture” And just move on to the next point, move on to the next point, move on to the next point, ever learning but never coming to a knowledge of the truth. ...

Download QuickTime Player Praying the Scripture...(Download mp3 Audio) Experiencing the Depths of Jesus Christ by Madame Jeanne Guyon I would like to address you as though you were a beginner in Christ, one seeking to know Him. In so doing, let me suggest two ways for you to come to the Lord. I will call the first way “Praying the Scripture” the second way I will call “Beholding the Lord” or “Waiting in His presence.” “Praying the Scripture” is a unique way of dealing with the scripture it involves both reading and prayer. Here is how you should begin. Turn to the scripture; choose some passage that is simple and fairly practical. Next, come to the Lord. Come quietly and humbly. There before Him, read a small portion of the passage of Scripture you have opened to. Be careful as you read. Take in fully, gently and carefully what you are reading. Taste it and digest it as you read. In the past it may have been your habit, while reading, to move very quickly from one verse of Scripture ...

Download QuickTime Player From the Shallows to the Depths...(Download mp3 Audio) Experiencing the Depths of Jesus Christ by Madame Jeanne Guyon As you pick up this book, you may feel that you simply are not one of those people capable of a deep experience with Jesus Christ. Most Christians do not feel that they have been called to a deep inward relationship to their Lord. But we have all been called to the depths of Christ as surely as we have been called to salvation. When I speak of this “deep inward relationship to Jesus Christ,” what do I mean? Actually it is very simple. It is only the turning and yielding of your heart to the Lord. It is the expression of love within your heart for Him. You will recall that Paul encourages us to “pray without ceasing.” (1 Thessalonians 5:17) The Lord also invites us to “watch and pray” (Mark13:33,37) It is apparent from these two verses, as well as many more, that we all live by this kind of experience, this prayer, just as we live by love. Once ...

My purpose this morning is this…We come and we are basically religious people.  We just are, let’s admit it. We like the same old, same old patterns, and if somebody upsets the pattern, we know it. There is an area of your brain called broca. Its function is pattern recognition. If I was to quote a poem to you, “Roses are red ,   Violets are green …" ” Immediately your broca just turned on, in high alert. Your brain has already determined and said,  “that’s not right!  It is supposed to be; "Roses are red ,   Violets are blue .”  But by awaking broca, I ensure that you are not going to go to sleep on me. If broca determines what I am saying has a predictable pattern to it, you will turn me off… You will say, “been there, done that, got the t-shirt.” Now I am not going into heresy, but I do want to upset broca this morning. We are going to contrast two things. I Corinthians 2:14 But the pragmatic man does not receive the things...