Now, Serving!

Isaiah 40:31

But they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint.

Now, Serving

Do you feel that? That sense of anticipation? The worry? The anxiety? Every expectant parent has had it. Every child waiting for the end of school has had it. The wonderful and awful thing about planning something is the wait. The anticipation that builds up is both joyful and painful. It's really and interesting dichotomy. We both hate and love to wait.

Waiting is not natural. We're doers. Our bodies are designed to move. Our brains are solution focused. We thrive on getting to the 'end' whatever the end may be in a situation. Ever try to watch a movie without watching the end. It will haunt you. You'll have to go and see the end of it, even if you weren't too crazy about the whole movie. We don't wait well. And that's ok.

See, the 'waiting' Isaiah talked about was the kind of waiting that a server does. Not, sit over here and be quiet, but like a good restaurant waiter or waitress, stand by, ready to attend to the needs of the one being served.

Mothers and fathers 'wait' on their children especially when they're young. They are constantly around ready to attend to the child's needs instantly. Adult children often find themselves waiting on their parents. Carrying mom back and forth to medical appointments. Helping dad do chores he is no longer able to do. This kind of 'waiting', the kind that involves action is EXACTLY what we're designed to do.

And when we do it to the Lord, our strength is renewed. We become like eagles. We can run and not get tired. We can walk with strength.

We've seen this in action. Jesus waited on us. He served all humanity with His whole life. He held back nothing in His earthly ministry. He offered His own body, in service to us, in obedience to the Father because that's how much God loved us.

Wait on the Lord. Stand by, waiting to attend to His desire in your life. Your strength will become new. You'll be like the eagles who don't hide from the storm, but who take to the air when the storm comes and glide on the updrafts.

Wait on the Lord.

John 13:12-16
12 So after he had washed their feet, and had taken his garments, and was set down again, he said unto them, Know ye what I have done to you?


13 Ye call me Master and Lord: and ye say well; for so I am.


14 If I then, your Lord and Master, have washed your feet; ye also ought to wash one another's feet.

15 For I have given you an example, that ye should do as I have done to you.
16 Verily, verily, I say unto you, The servant is not greater than his lord; neither he that is sent greater than he that sent him.
Wait. That's where the peace is.
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 W 138, Ste C

Jonesboro, GA 30238

Alton Watkins, Pastor

How's Your Diet?

Isaiah 1:19

If ye be willing and obedient, ye shall eat the good of the land:


How's Your Diet?

It's coming close to the middle of the year. Do you believe that? We are almost halfway through 2011. It seems like we just finished Christmas and we're already well past Easter. Where is the time going?

By this time of the year, most of us have broken our New Year's Resolutions. We're not jogging anymore. We've given up giving up sweets. We've packed away those wishes to be fit and eat better until next New Year's Eve.

This is the time of year when most gyms are pretty empty. Only the dedicated are in there sweating it out in May and June. The 'newbies' of February are long gone. You can tell this because every Golds and Ballys is offering a deal right now for you to join. Because, you know....they're empty.

So, like the gym, I want to hit you with a marketing plan. How's your diet? I don't care so much about your carbs and cholesterol. I'm more concerned with your spiritual diet. How's that?

Dear ones, I encourage you to take a look at your prayer life, your study life, the parts of your life in Christ that bring very little recognition from men, but matter most to God. See, most folks only care about what you have for dinner when you go out. No one ever asks what you had for breakfast or lunch unless you're planning on sharing it with them. But, like all good parents, God cares.

He wants to make sure you go through your day with good food, not once, not twice, but all through your day. But, He can only provide the food. You have to take it in. You have to choose spiritual 'meat' over worldly 'junk'. He can't make you put down the remote. He can't turn off the game or shut the pages of the novel. You have to choose.

Not only do you have to choose to take in, you have to choose to be open. You have to choose to make yourself available to the inspiration and guidance of the Holy Spirit. It's just like that gym membership. You can't just show up and get fit. You have to choose to work out (regularly and hard) to see the positive results you want.

Don't settle for good things for your body only. Choose to give your spirit-self the same attention, good nutrition and work out you would for your body. You don't have to wait until New Year's Eve to do it. It's ok if you started and stopped. Start again. It's just as fantastic when you start May 9th as it would be if you start January 1. Besides, today is all you've got for certain. Redeem the time.

Isaiah 1:18-20
18 Come now, and let us reason together, saith the LORD: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool.

19 If ye be willing and obedient, ye shall eat the good of the land:

20 But if ye refuse and rebel, ye shall be devoured with the sword: for the mouth of the LORD hath spoken it.

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.

Here's to your best you. Eat right, exercise and rest. Do it for your physical body too.
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, Ste C

Jonesboro, GA 30238

Alton Watkins, Pastor

Ever Feel Overwhelmed

Daniel 3:21

Then these men were bound in their coats, their hosen, and their hats, and their other garments, and were cast into the midst of the burning fiery furnace.

Ever Feel Overwhelmed?

Ever feel like you're in over your head and there's no way to get back? Like you're at the bottom of a hole that just gets deeper?

I used to hate it when I would be going through something and someone would say 'well, look at so-and-so in the Bible...they made it through.' That would irritate me to no end. 'What does that have to do with me?' I would scream in my head while I nodded to the person, secretly wishing they would just go away.

Not very 'evangelistic' of me, is it? Well, hang with me for a minute.

Truth is, its sometimes hard to find comfort when you're in the midst of your furnace. The heat could be coming from any number of things...Maybe it's deadlines. Maybe it's all the responsibilities you bear for your family, your job, your school, your church, and whatever else is stacked on your plate. Maybe you're caring for an ailing parent. Or mourning the lost of something, or someone dear. Maybe it's all of these things. Maybe it's something else. But whatever the source, heat is heat. What's too hot for me may be a temperature you can handle. But where do you go when it's just too hot?

My friends, I can point you to any number of stories and recounts in the Word that tell us time and time again about how God loves us and how He has us through those situations in our life that, at the moment, seem unbearable at worst, and just too much in the least. You know them. You've heard them. But it isn't in the substance, the action of the accounts where you'll find the comfort. That's in the Teller.

The statement of faith that Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego made to Nebuchadnezzar was powerful. I believe they meant it. Had they died in that awful experience, their words would have still been a strong testimony to those who heard. But, I also believe that in the instant they realized that their trial HAD NOT consummed them...when they danced in the flames with 'a Man who looked like the Son of God'..that was when they realized God HAD them. That was the moment it clicked that no matter the circumstance, no matter the trial, regardless how hot the flame, they belonged to God and He would handle the outcome.

I wrote several months ago about our family victory cry, 'Can't Lose Shoes'. We say it to remind ourselves that if God is concerned with the small experiences of our lives, like a misplaced child's shoe, why should we even question His attention to the big things of our lives...our hurried pace...our health...our family...our children...our mourning...our sorrow...our pain?

You matter to God. You, all by yourself, were worth the very blood of His only begotten Son. If, at the end of time, you were the only one who believed on the name Jesus, He would count the work worthwhile.

Paul reminded us 'be not weary in well doing' (2 Thessalonians 3:13), but Jesus took it a step further and said 'Take my yoke upon you and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: And ye shall find rest unto your souls.' (Matthew 11:29). There is rest for your soul if you take it. There is peace if you choose it.

Remember, your trials are real. The heat is hot. But even in the midsts of the flames, you can find yourself dancing if you just believe that He loves you as much as He says He does.

Luke 12:27-32

27 Consider the lilies how they grow: they toil not, they spin not; and yet I say unto you, that Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these.

28 If then God so clothe the grass, which is to day in the field, and to morrow is cast into the oven; how much more will he clothe you, O ye of little faith?

29 And seek not ye what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink, neither be ye of doubtful mind.

30 For all these things do the nations of the world seek after: and your Father knoweth that ye have need of these things.

31 But rather seek ye the kingdom of God; and all these things shall be added unto you.

32 Fear not, little flock; for it is your Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom.

Feeling overwhelmed? There's a Savior for that. Peace and calmness.

My apologies to those who missed the message last week. I experienced technical difficulties that took a bit of time to resolve. All is well now. Thank you for your patience.

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, Ste C

Jonesboro, GA 30238

Alton Watkins, Pastor



Just Because You Don't See...

Acts 12:12 (King James Version)

And when he had considered the thing, he came to the house of Mary the mother of John, whose surname was Mark; where many were gathered together praying.


Just Because You Don't See It....

We had our Men's Conference at Fellowship this past weekend. From what I hear, the first two nights were wonderful. Men of God came to the full knowledge of the obligation of the title. They looked at themselves in the mirror and found men. Praise the Lord!

On Saturday, we women joined in the transformation and celebration. As the praise ensued, I was struck by a testimony that rang true with so many people there. One of the brothers got up and shared that 'he got it'. He was talking about a specific message and he said, 'although I'd heard it for years, I finally got it!'

I found that testimony so encouraging. It is easy to get concerned that the work we do, the prayers we pray, the testimonies we share can get old. Those of us who are chosing to be disciples can freely admit that 'we've heard it before' and to our own failings, deny ourselves the freshness of new revelation.

Saints, if you are called to a work, do that work. It doesn't matter if you actually get to see the progress or not. What matters is that the work is done and that we have faith that God's word 'will not return to him void' (Isaiah 55:11). Like those praying for Peter's release in the scripture above, the focus of the prayer can happen without you seeing it.

There was as song we learned at camp as kids that went:
The sun is always shining
Somewhere, somewhere
Just because you cannot see it
Doesn't mean it
Isn't there...

I challenge you to say SON instead of sun, and change it to HE/HIM. Remember that His work is being done through you. If you let Him shine, then He will handle the rest. In His own words, And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto me. (John 12:32)

You wouldn't have received Christ if someone didn't do their job. Who will receive Christ because you are doing yours? Therefore, be diligent in what you're called to do. It will accomplish what He wills it to. Be faithful.

If what you do didn't matter, then why would He call you to do it?

Galatians 6:2-10 (King James Version)
2 Bear ye one another's burdens, and so fulfil the law of Christ.
3 For if a man think himself to be something, when he is nothing, he deceiveth himself.
4 But let every man prove his own work, and then shall he have rejoicing in himself alone, and not in another.
5 For every man shall bear his own burden.
6 Let him that is taught in the word communicate unto him that teacheth in all good things.
7 Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap.
8 For he that soweth to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption; but he that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting.
9 And let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not.
10 As we have therefore opportunity, let us do good unto all men, especially unto them who are of the household of faith.

Don't be weary...

It is the time of year that we celebrate the resurrected Savior! Please know that you are welcomed and encouraged to share this special time with us. Celebrate Jesus with Fellowship. If you do not know Christ as Lord, I pray you will come this Sunday and meet Him for yourself. If you do not have a church home for this special day, I hope I see you there.

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, Ste C

Jonesboro, GA 30238

Alton Watkins, Pastor

What Will You Do?

Genesis 4:26

And to Seth, to him also there was born a son; and he called his name Enos: then began men to call upon the name of the Lord.

What Will You Do?

This verse closes the discussion of Adam and Eve. They had troubles among their sons, to say the least. One killed the other over jealousy. He did this in the very presence of God. Cain was jealous that God accepted Abel's offering and not his. He was jealous that his brother's worship was more pure, genuine than his so he made it Abel's problem.

Eve had a third son and called him Seth. His name literally means compensation. She felt he was compensation from God for the loss of Abel. He must have accepted the pressure of his name because Seth became the first in a long line of men who 'began to call upon the name of the Lord.'

So, events were set for a long line of men of God to worship Him, obey Him, ignore Him, dispute Him, praise Him, hate Him and do everything to Him that they do to the other people around them.

Some obeyed despite their nature. Some sang and became warriors. Some were blinded to see God. Some ruled. Some served. Some cried. Some danced right out of their clothes. Some paid for their disobedience with their lives. Some hid in rocks and caves. Some stood on mountain tops and in the streets proclaiming the Word of the Lord.

However, the question remains, what will you do?

Gentlemen, we are having a men's conference at Fellowship. There will be three services, this Thursday and Friday nights at 7 and Saturday at 1 PM. Women are welcome to join on Saturday, but on those nights, gents, what will you do? What will you do when the offer is made for you to come together with other men who 'call upon the name of the Lord' in order to find out what real manhood in Christ looks like; feels like; walks like; talks like? Will you accept the challenge to grow, or will you let this one get by?

I pray that you will join my brothers from Fellowship as well as men of God from other ministries all over Atlanta. The theme this year is 'Our Time, Our Season'.

Solomon couldn't do what David did. It wasn't his season. Paul couldn't do what Moses did. It wasn't his time. I can't do what YOU have been called to do. But, in Christ, your time and your season can come to fruition.

Its your time. Use it well.

Ecclesiastes 3:1-15


1 To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven:

2 A time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up that which is planted;

3 A time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to break down, and a time to build up;

4 A time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance;

5 A time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together; a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing;

6 A time to get, and a time to lose; a time to keep, and a time to cast away;

7 A time to rend, and a time to sew; a time to keep silence, and a time to speak;


8 A time to love, and a time to hate; a time of war, and a time of peace.
9 What profit hath he that worketh in that wherein he laboureth?


10 I have seen the travail, which God hath given to the sons of men to be exercised in it.


11 He hath made every thing beautiful in his time: also he hath set the world in their heart, so that no man can find out the work that God maketh from the beginning to the end.

12 I know that there is no good in them, but for a man to rejoice, and to do good in his life.

13 And also that every man should eat and drink, and enjoy the good of all his labour, it is the gift of God.
14 I know that, whatsoever God doeth, it shall be for ever: nothing can be put to it, nor any thing taken from it: and God doeth it, that men should fear before him.
15 That which hath been is now; and that which is to be hath already been; and God requireth that which is past.
What will you do?
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, Ste C

Jonesboro, GA 30238

Alton Watkins, Pastor

If the King Had Not Given...?

Revelation 19:16

 ¹⁶And he hath on his vesture and on his thigh a name written, KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS.

If the King Had Not Given...?

I don't like to borrow from Sunday sermons, but when my pastor said this yesterday, it rattled in my spirit.

If the King had not given, what would the people do?

He was talking about David and the preparations he oversaw for Soloman to have enough supplies to build the temple.  David couldn't build it because he was a man of war and had too much blood on his hands.  God told David not to build the temple; that was to be Soloman's job.  But David lead the charge to make sure Soloman had more than enough to build with.

David gave, so the people gave.

David was the first great king in the lineage of Christ.  He, like so many others in the Old Testament, were shadows, images in part of the Christ to come.  David, it is recorded, had a heart after God, like Jesus.  He was also a planner, like Jesus.  David planned for Soloman to build.  Jesus planned for you to be returned to Him.

So, Jesus, like David, gave.  He lead the charge of how to give.  Jesus gave all.  He gave all He had for you, for me.  He didn't keep anything for Himself.

What would we do if the King of Kings, Lord of Lords, hadn't given?

No, dear ones, He gave so we must give also.  And we must give all.

We must give our good days, our bad days, our will, our desires, our passions, we have to give as our King did.  We have to give all.

And, we have to do it willingly.

The Word testifies that God loves a cheerful giver.  We think about this with money often in church.  Saints, it also applies to our time, our talents, our thoughts, our goals.  He wants it all, and He wants us to be happy about doing it.

Jesus paid it all.  All to Him, I owe.  Sin had left a crimson stain.  He washed it white as snow.


All to Jesus, I surrender.  All to Him I freely give. I will ever love and trust Him.  In His presence daily live.  I surrender all.

Oh, the truth captured in these hymns.  Lets not get so caught up in singing about the victory we have that we forget the terrible price paid for it.  A price paid willingly.

He gave.  What will you do?

2 Corinthians 9:6-7 (King James Version)

 ⁶But this I say, He which soweth sparingly shall reap also sparingly; and he which soweth bountifully shall reap also bountifully.
 ⁷Every man according as he purposeth in his heart, so let him give; not grudgingly, or of necessity: for God loveth a cheerful giver.

Give. 

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, Ste C

Jonesboro, GA 30238

Alton Watkins, Pastor

Press!

Philippians 3:14

I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.

PRESS!

Being a disciple isn't easy. The word itself is related to the word discipline. Whether used as a term for correction or a term for devotion, the bottom line is being disciplined, or a disciple, requires work.

If you want to lose weight, you have to eat less than you're used to and exercise more than you're used to. Its work.

If you want to be good at an instrument, it requires not only that you practice, but that you practice with perfection in mind. Practice doesn't make perfect; perfect practice makes perfect. Its work.

Want to learn a new language? You have to speak it to learn it. Want to run faster? You have to start running and force yourself to go faster. Want to be a better dancer? speaker? husband? wife? They all take concentrated effort. They take discipline. You have to become a disciple of what you want to do.

Its work.

Your life in Christ is no different. When you are born again, you are literally new. Christ births in you a brand new spirit, a spirit like His. But that spirit has to be fed, nurished, exercised, allowed to prosper. And it has to work within a physical body that has carnal feelings and mindsets that have to be overcome by this new spirit of Christ.

In short, its work.

Dear friends, press. Press through to the perfect. Press through to the passion, the design God has placed in you. Press through to your calling. Grab hold of it. Setbacks may in fact happen, but they shouldn't stop your press. Paul reminded us to 'forget those things that are behind.' Forget the gains and the failures and focus on the press. The pressing is where your breakthrough starts. The pressing is what drives your growth.

And that press, like the women who pressed through crowds to get to the Savior, or the centurion and the eunech who pressed through tradition, or Christ Himself who pressed through His humanity to His divinity to create our way back to the Father; that press will only bring you closer to God.

Jesus said 'I am the way, the truth and the life; no man cometh unto the Father but by me.' (John 14:6). He is the way. The press is the how. At Fellowship, we are ready and willing to show you both The Way and give you the process to do the how. We will work with you while the Lord works on you.

Romans 8:18
For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us.

Press on!

Correction from last week: I referenced Psalm 131:14 and I should have written 139:14.

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, Ste C

Jonesboro, GA 30238

Alton Watkins, Pastor