Seeing Through His Eyes

John 4:9-10

9 Then saith the woman of Samaria unto him, How is it that thou, being a Jew, askest drink of me, which am a woman of Samaria? for the Jews have no dealings with the Samaritans.

10 Jesus answered and said unto her, If thou knewest the gift of God, and who it is that saith to thee, Give me to drink; thou wouldest have asked of him, and he would have given thee living water.

Seeing Through His Eyes

The Woman at the Well is a familiar account among most believers. Jesus meets this woman and she tells the whole city to come see Him.

There were so many reasons this encounter was odd. No one gathered water at noon. It's the Middle East...it's hot and lugging water is hard work even when its cool. Jews didn't talk to Samaritans. Men didn't talk to women who weren't related to them. Jewish men had no dealings with Samaritan women in public.

Yet, here they were.

It wasn't Jesus' teaching at the well that compelled her to evangelize the city, however. Jesus saw her in a way she'd never seen herself. He saw who she really was, not what she was. And He wanted to give her something precious...Himself.

This woman knew her situation. She wasn't a well respected woman. If she was, she would have gathered water in the cool of the day with the other women. She accomodated how others felt about here by staying out of their way. She didn't bother Jesus when he lounged at the well because He was Jewish and she wasn't. He wasn't a man of her klan so there was no need for interaction, from her perspective. She was prepared to be ignored. She expected it and was comfortable in it. She knew her facts.

He knew her truth.

Jesus isn't intimidated by our facts. He isn't concerned about our backgrounds, our family history, our situations. He knows things about us we haven't even thought about. And He sees us in that truth.

We all go through conditions, seasons, experiences that may temporarily alter who we think we are. Maybe a divorce brings a feeling of failure. Loss of a loved one ushers in dispair. Sickness walks hand in hand with depression. Perhaps lonliness drives us into an illicit relationship. These are real conditions. But they are not who we are.

Jesus sees us for WHO we are...not HOW we are.

Loved ones, receive the lesson still being taugh through this bold woman. Who we are isn't determined by how we are right now. Who we are is best seen through the eyes of our Lord. He sees past our condition. He sees past our dissapointments, our weaknesses, our troubles and wants us to see what He sees. He has enough grace to accomodate whatever we think we can't bring to Him. He's prepared to wash it away with His very blood.

Paul encouraged us in his letter to the Philipians, chapter 2, to 'let this mind be in you that is also in Christ Jesus'. We should strive to see others in the same love that Christ sees them. They way to do that is to start by seeing Him, and then seeing ourselves the way Christ sees us.

Seeing as He sees. Being one with Him. Loving as He loves. Being like Him...Christ like...Christian. This is our walk.

Won't you walk with us, at Fellowship?

John 17:20-26
20 Neither pray I for these alone, but for them also which shall believe on me through their word;
21 That they all may be one; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us: that the world may believe that thou hast sent me.
22 And the glory which thou gavest me I have given them; that they may be one, even as we are one:
23 I in them, and thou in me, that they may be made perfect in one; and that the world may know that thou hast sent me, and hast loved them, as thou hast loved me.
24 Father, I will that they also, whom thou hast given me, be with me where I am; that they may behold my glory, which thou hast given me: for thou lovedst me before the foundation of the world.
25 O righteous Father, the world hath not known thee: but I have known thee, and these have known that thou hast sent me.
26 And I have declared unto them thy name, and will declare it: that the love wherewith thou hast loved me may be in them, and I in them.

New eyesight, and peace.

Lifeline is the evangelistic ministry of Fellowship Church in Jonesboro, GA. Feel free to share this message. Previous Lifeline mailings can also be reached through the church website www.fcchosengeneration.com on the Lifeline link. For questions or to subscribe, send an email to fellowship_lifeline@yahoo.com. You can reach the church at chosen.gen@att.net.

Fellowship Church

Where Passions Become Reality

Because you are a CHOSEN GENERATION!

455 Hwy 138 W, Ste C

Jonesboro, GA 30238

Alton Watkins, Pastor

Look Beyond the Hills

Psalm 121
1 I will lift up mine eyes unto the hills, from whence cometh my help.
2 My help cometh from the Lord, which made heaven and earth.
3 He will not suffer thy foot to be moved: he that keepeth thee will not slumber.
4 Behold, he that keepeth Israel shall neither slumber nor sleep.
5 The Lord is thy keeper: the Lord is thy shade upon thy right hand.
6 The sun shall not smite thee by day, nor the moon by night. \
7 The Lord shall preserve thee from all evil: he shall preserve thy soul.
8 The Lord shall preserve thy going out and thy coming in from this time forth, and even for evermore.

Look Beyond the Hills

I lost an aunt a week ago Sunday. We gathered as a family and celebrated her life last Friday. This was one of the passages read at the service. One of her sons, my cousin Terry Stephens, expounded on this passage. He is an associate pastor in Minnesota. His is a very fortunate congregation.

There is nothing and no one on Earth who can do what God can do. We can, as the song says, search all over but we still couldn't find nobody (pardon the grammar) greater than the Lord. No matter how high the hill, how deep the sea, there is none greater than God.

And He is your Keeper, your Shepherd, your Preservation, and thanks to the sacrifice of His Son, your Savior.

My Aunt Betty made her choice years ago about whom she would serve. Nothing said Friday afternoon could either enhance or detract from her choice to serve Christ. The question is, when you look to the hills and see the storm gathering in the distance, will you be swayed by the coming storm or know that your help comes from the Lord Who will not suffer your foot to be moved? Will you rest knowing that He will preserve you from all evil, or cower in the face of your enemy?

It's a simple, yet profound choice with eternal consequences. But more importantly, it's your choice. You have to make if for yourself and no one else.

Look beyond the hills. Look beyond what you know to Whom you're known by.

Look to Christ.

Matthew 17:1-8
1 And after six days Jesus taketh Peter, James, and John his brother, and bringeth them up into an high mountain apart,
2 And was transfigured before them: and his face did shine as the sun, and his raiment was white as the light.
3 And, behold, there appeared unto them Moses and Elias talking with him.
4 Then answered Peter, and said unto Jesus, Lord, it is good for us to be here: if thou wilt, let us make here three tabernacles; one for thee, and one for Moses, and one for Elias.
5 While he yet spake, behold, a bright cloud overshadowed them: and behold a voice out of the cloud, which said, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased; hear ye him.
6 And when the disciples heard it, they fell on their face, and were sore afraid.
7 And Jesus came and touched them, and said, Arise, and be not afraid.
8 And when they had lifted up their eyes, they saw no man, save Jesus only.

Joshua 24:15
And if it seem evil unto you to serve the Lord, choose you this day whom ye will serve; whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the flood, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land ye dwell: but as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.

Peace and clarity.

Lifeline is the evangelistic ministry of Fellowship Church in Jonesboro, GA. Feel free to share this message. Previous Lifeline mailings can also be reached through the church website www.fcchosengeneration.com on the Lifeline link. For questions or to subscribe, send an email to fellowship_lifeline@yahoo.com. You can reach the church at chosen.gen@att.net.

Fellowship Church

Where Passions Become Reality

Because you are a CHOSEN GENERATION!

455 Hwy 138 W, Ste C

Jonesboro, GA 30238

Alton Watkins, Pastor

The Price of Peace

Isaiah 53:4-6

4 Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted.
5 But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed.
6 All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the LORD hath laid on him the iniquity of us all.

The Price of Peace

I am a warrior. Well, I was. I used to be in the Navy. Now, I never saw direct combat. I wasn't deployed to a ship. But we were all trained the same way, whether our job was to direct the fire, report the fire or to be in the line of fire. We all served. Where and how we served was left up to our commanders. I had no say in whether I was in Afghanistan or Augusta, GA. Regardless of assignment, I was to do my job along with the other soldiers, sailors, airmen and marines around me.

One of the many things my time in the military taught me very clearly is that peace is never free. Peace costs. Whether it's peace for a nation, or peace in the house, it costs something. The price can range from compromise to blood, but it has a price.

This passage from Isaiah is oft quoted, but I know I didn't fully understand it. The chastisement of our peace...the penalty of our peace...the price for us to have peace...was upon Him; the Precious One, Wonderful, Counselor, the Mighty God, the Everlasting Father, the Prince of the very peace He paid for with His own blood. He bore what is rightfully our punishment and left peace in the wake.

That's some price.

Dear ones, there is peace. Despite the storms, we have peace. It's been bought and paid for, right along with our salvation and our restoration to God. Peace is as available as healing, and all the other gifts of Christ.

And, like all those other things, we have to receive it. But, as Isaiah recorded, we like sheep have gone off in our own thing, ignoring, underappreciating or even refusing these gifts. And even the price of our straying was paid.

The price for your peace was high, but it's been bought and paid for. You have no debt with God thanks to Christ.

If I offered to pay for your dinner, wouldn't you go ahead and eat it?

If you got to the end of a vacation and someone paid your bill, would you accept it?

If you were found guilty of a crime, and someone else chose to fufill your sentence...?

Your bill has been paid. The table has been set. There is peace available because your sins have been forgiven. What will you give Him in return?

Romans 12:1
I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.


Revelation 22:17
And the Spirit and the bride say, Come. And let him that heareth say, Come. And let him that is athirst come. And whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely.

We have the inviation at Fellowship. We would be happy to have you join us at the Bride Supper of the Lamb. There's room for you in our carpool.

Peace...paid for, complete and total peace.

Lifeline is the evangelistic ministry of Fellowship Church in Jonesboro, GA. Feel free to share this message. Previous Lifeline mailings can also be reached through the church website www.fcchosengeneration.com on the Lifeline link. For questions or to subscribe, send an email to fellowship_lifeline@yahoo.com. You can reach the church at chosen.gen@att.net.

Fellowship Church

Where Passions Become Reality

Because you are a CHOSEN GENERATION!

455 Hwy 138 W, Ste C

Jonesboro, GA 30238

Alton Watkins, Pastor

The Lord Be With You....Be With The Lord

Exodus 33:12-18

 ¹² And Moses said unto the LORD, See, thou sayest unto me, Bring up this people: and thou hast not let me know whom thou wilt send with me. Yet thou hast said, I know thee by name, and thou hast also found grace in my sight.

 ¹³ Now therefore, I pray thee, if I have found grace in thy sight, shew me now thy way, that I may know thee, that I may find grace in thy sight: and consider that this nation is thy people.

 ¹⁴ And he said, My presence shall go with thee, and I will give thee rest.

 ¹⁵ And he said unto him, If thy presence go not with me, carry us not up hence.

 ¹⁶ For wherein shall it be known here that I and thy people have found grace in thy sight? is it not in that thou goest with us? so shall we be separated, I and thy people, from all the people that are upon the face of the earth.

 ¹⁷ And the LORD said unto Moses, I will do this thing also that thou hast spoken: for thou hast found grace in my sight, and I know thee by name.

 ¹⁸ And he said, I beseech thee, shew me thy glory.

The Lord be With You...Be With the Lord

Moses had a special way of dealing with God.  They talked.  Like, Abraham before him, Moses spoke with God the same way friends and relatives speak with each other now.  It was an actual, special relationship.  Moses understood that God was with him....and Moses, in turn, was with God.

Its interesting how we overlook the opportunity that we have in this 'special' relationship with God.  Unlike, Moses, we have the privilege of the indwelling of the Holy Spirit.  We actually come to God cleansed by the very blood of Jesus, and are presented to Him, a clean, righteous and holy son of God...not a servant, fully accepted.

Dear friends, God is with you.  He has arranged the path of salvation and redemption by paving it with the very blood of His only begotten son.  Like this passage, He has strongly demonstrated that He is with us.  He has shown his Glory.

We have a special relationship, but like all relationships, it takes some work.  It takes communication.  God is with us.  Now, we are challenged to be with Him.

Will you be with God?  Will you accept the gift of Jesus?  Will you open up to Him, His leadership, His grace, His peace, His will?

At Fellowship, we are all about building relationships.  We would love the opportunity to help and and encourage you in this very special relationship.

Matthew 28:18-20

 ¹⁸ And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth.

 ¹⁹ Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost:

 ²⁰ Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world. Amen.

Evg. Stephanie Robinson

 

Lifeline is the evangelistic ministry of Fellowship Church in Jonesboro, GA. Feel free to share this message.  Previous Lifeline mailings can also be reached through the church website www.fcchosengeneration.com on the Lifeline link.  For questions or to subscribe, send an email to fellowship_lifeline@yahoo.com.  You can reach the church at chosen.gen@att.net.

Fellowship Church

Where Passions Become Reality

Because you are a CHOSEN GENERATION!

455 Hwy 138 W, Ste C

Jonesboro, GA 30238

Alton Watkins, Pastor

Accept The Gift

John 3:16

For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.

Accept The Gift

Yesterday was not only Father's Day (Happy Belated, Dads), but it was also Juneteenth. Juneteenth, for those who may not know, celebrates the Emancipation Proclamation. President Lincoln signed it January 1, 1863, but without the benefit of email, telephones, TV or radio, or a collectively cooperative legislature in all states, most people being held as slaves didn't find out about it when it was signed. It didn't become a reality for them until June 19th, 1865, or 'Juneteenth'.

The proclamation made African Americans held in slavery legally free. There were ensuing legal battles, but in the purest interpretation of the law, they were no longer slaves. Funny thing was, not all of those who were now free, left their captivity. Many stayed right where they were, working just as they had before for many more years. They stayed slaves despite being free.

Its a wonderful illustration of our debt to sin. Before Christ's self sacrafice, mankind was a slave to sin. We were condemed to eternal separation from God. But Jesus literaly made Himself payment for every debt to sin for all eternity for all mankind, permanently reuniting us to God. But many simple choose to stay enslaved.

Beloved, accept the Gift. You can't earn this redemption. All that was needed to be paid was paid. There is nothing else for you to add to it. You can't earn Jesus' love. He already has extended it toward you. It cannot be increased or decreased. It can only be accepted. His love for you is as eternal as He is. You cannot create righteousness before God. All you can do is accept the Gift of Christ, His love and His righteousness. And in your acceptance is not only for eternal forgiveness, but for life itself.

The Emancipation Proclamation is barely 5 handwritten pages long. Just 699 words. It changed the course of an entire nation. The struggles that ensued are still being studied and followed today by people seeking justice and freedom throughout the world.

The scripture reference above, John 3:16, is only 25 words long, but it changed the course of human history, throughout all time.

Will you let Him change your life? Will you accept the Gift and all the life that comes with Him? We will happily help you receive, grow in and use the Gift at Fellowship.

John 3:17
For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved.

Freedom and life.

Evg. Stephanie Robinson


Lifeline is the evangelistic ministry of Fellowship Church in Jonesboro, GA.  Feel free to share this message.
Previous Lifeline mailings can also be reached through the church website www.fcchosengeneration.com on the Lifeline link. For questions or to subscribe, send an email to fellowship_lifeline@yahoo.com. You can reach the church at chosen.gen@att.net.

Fellowship Church

Where Passions Become Reality

Because you are a CHOSEN GENERATION!

455 Hwy 138 W, Ste C

Jonesboro, GA 30238

Alton Watkins, Pastor

What Is Man?

Psalm 8


1 O LORD, our Lord, how excellent is thy name in all the earth! who hast set thy glory above the heavens.
2 Out of the mouth of babes and sucklings hast thou ordained strength because of thine enemies, that thou mightest still the enemy and the avenger.
3 When I consider thy heavens, the work of thy fingers, the moon and the stars, which thou hast ordained;
4 What is man, that thou art mindful of him? and the son of man, that thou visitest him?
5 For thou hast made him a little lower than the angels, and hast crowned him with glory and honour.
6 Thou madest him to have dominion over the works of thy hands; thou hast put all things under his feet:
7 All sheep and oxen, yea, and the beasts of the field;
8 The fowl of the air, and the fish of the sea, and whatsoever passeth through the paths of the seas.
9 O LORD our Lord, how excellent is thy name in all the earth!


What Is Man?

I have the great priviledge coming this weekend of sharing God's Word during our Father's Day observance at Fellowship. If you do not have plans to be at church, I hope, as I do every week, that you will plan to join us.

Any time my Pastor invites me to share, I am humbled, excited and a little anxious. I'm not worthy, in my mind, of the priviledge. At least, I used to think this way.

Worthiness is never something that is defined up. It, like favor, promotion, has to be defined down. Someone can put worthy on you, but you can never earn your worthiness. It's something that has to be given, never gained.

Who am I to share God's word? I'm the one He picked. You truly have to talk with Him about the appropriatness of it. I, on the other hand, have the responsibility to be obedient when He calls on me to serve or share. I didn't choose my calling. I accepted it. It wasn't the one I would have picked, believe me.

Why am I saying all this? As an encouragement. Your enemy is subtle and will even try to use your own sense of humility against you. Remember, Satan is not interested in you serving him. He's only interested in keeping you from serving, following after or believing God.

That calling, that press that's been on your life since you could remember. That dream that won't leave you alone. That still small voice that urges you to move on in your destiny is the God-planted calling trying to take root in your life.

A humble man or woman would rightly want to say 'but God, who am I to do this work?' But remember, who you are is the one He called. God will not set you on a journey that He is not fully committed to and prepared to see you through. His plans for you were laid before you were born and have eternal consequences. What is set for you is yours.

Beloved, press through the noise. Press through the humility into obedience. Press beyond the doubt into faith. Press beyond the objection to subjection. In your press, you'll find peace, purpose and a deeper relationship in Christ.

What is man? The one God chose to have dominion over the earth, to be made in His image and worthy of the blood of His only Son.

Who are you? The one Christ died for to restore to the Father.

Why you in this? Because you're the one God chose.

Romans 12:1-2 (again because some truth just has to be repeated, repeatedly)
1 I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.
2 And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.

Peace.

Evg. Stephanie Robinson
Lifeline is the evangelistic ministry of Fellowship Church in Jonesboro, GA. Feel free to share this message.
Previous Lifeline mailings can also be reached through the church website www.fcchosengeneration.com on the Lifeline link. For questions or to subscribe, send an email to fellowship_lifeline@yahoo.com. You can reach the church at chosen.gen@att.net.

Fellowship Church

Where Passions Become Reality

Because you are a CHOSEN GENERATION!

455 Hwy 138 W, Ste C

Jonesboro, GA 30238

Alton Watkins, Pastor

Falling In Love

Song of Solomon 2:10-16

10 My beloved spake, and said unto me, Rise up, my love, my fair one, and come away.
11 For, lo, the winter is past, the rain is over and gone;
12 The flowers appear on the earth; the time of the singing of birds is come, and the voice of the turtle is heard in our land;
13 The fig tree putteth forth her green figs, and the vines with the tender grape give a good smell. Arise, my love, my fair one, and come away.
14 O my dove, that art in the clefts of the rock, in the secret places of the stairs, let me see thy countenance, let me hear thy voice; for sweet is thy voice, and thy countenance is comely.
15 Take us the foxes, the little foxes, that spoil the vines: for our vines have tender grapes.
16 My beloved is mine, and I am his: he feedeth among the lilies.

Falling in Love with Jesus

There is a song that's popular in churches...it's called 'Falling in Love with Jesus'. Many of you probably know it better than I. That's the song that comes to mind whenever the Holy Spirit takes me to The Song of Soloman. It's the soundtrack that plays in the background as I read those words.

Make no mistake, Jesus is in love with you. It takes total devotion to lay down your life for someone, particularly someone who may not be in love with you.

We see this all the time. That mother who's so devoted to that 'no good son.' That husband who dotes on a wife who brings him nothing but grief. The doctor who still makes housecalls to an elderly patient who cannot get to the office. The volunteer who gently nuzzles and comforts a crying baby born HIV positive. Missionaries who leave a life of comfort to go to a life of lack, just for the privilege of sharing the Gospel. All people who love beyond themselves, laying their life down as an offering toward that love.

Yes, believe it. Jesus loves you. That's not a cliche. That's a statement of truth. His love for you, for me, is so full, and so complete that it saturates every physical and spiritual sense. You can smell it in the air. You can feel His touch. You can taste His sweetness and see how He moves for and toward you. And just like being in the arms of a loved one, when you pull away, you can still smell His scent on you. You can see the imprint where He touched you.

Beloved, get close enough that His very fingerprints are left on you. His banner over you is love. Open your heart and you'll find that you were made to love Him back. And in loving Him, you will know a completeness as you've never known before.

Jesus loves me, this I know,
For the Bible tells me so.
Little ones to Him belong.
They are weak, but He is strong.
Yes, Jesus loves me.
The Bible tells me so.

Fall in love with Jesus. It will be the best thing you've ever done. I promise. And we'd be happy to play matchmaker for you at Fellowship.

1 John 4:7-11
7 Beloved, let us love one another: for love is of God; and every one that loveth is born of God, and knoweth God.
8 He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love.
9 In this was manifested the love of God toward us, because that God sent his only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through him.
10 Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins.
11 Beloved, if God so loved us, we ought also to love one another.

Romans 12:1-2
1 I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.
2 And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.

Peace and greater love.

Evg. Stephanie Robinson

Lifeline is the evangelistic ministry of Fellowship Church in Jonesboro, GA. Feel free to share this message.
Previous Lifeline mailings can also be reached through the church website www.fcchosengeneration.com on the Lifeline link. For questions or to subscribe, send an email to fellowship_lifeline@yahoo.com. You can reach the church at chosen.gen@att.net.

Fellowship Church

Where Passions Become Reality

Because you are a CHOSEN GENERATION!

455 Hwy 138 W, Ste C

Jonesboro, GA 30238

Alton Watkins, Pastor