New Berean Baptist Church

Paul’s Prayer for the Ephesians – One of the more blessed things the Saints can do each other is to encourage through prayer. A lot of times we will not be able to be geographically close to someone who needs our touch of love but God has permitted to pray for one another..

In today’s Pulpit Points message, Leroy E. Ricks, Sr, shares how and why Paul prayed for the congregation at Ephesus. Why, because he had heard of the their testimony of fellowship and growth. It was encouraging to him to hear of how the Lord was using them to be a blessing.

• Paul’s Preparation for Prayer (v 15)
• Paul’s Purpose for Prayer (v 16-18)
• Paul’s Expectation of Prayer (v 20-23)

The Master Teaches How to Pray, Matthew 6:9-15

This week’s Sunday Devotional has us in a class session on prayer, taught by the Master. In our every day lives we are in constant need of communicate with our heavenly Father for direction, grace understanding and forgiveness. We are to constantly and consistently consult Him to ensure we are living the life he both desires and demands. The Lord tells us through the writer of I Thessalonians (I Thess. 5:16-18) that we are to always pray. And again, we are reminded of the spiritual warfare we are engaged in and of the weapons we should equip ourselves with – prayer (Eph. 6:10-18).

The Lord was always teaching to his disciples and those who would listen. He took the time to train them in the fundamentals of the faith, the thing his Father had assigned him to included praying (Luke 11:1-3). God wants us to communicate with him but wants us to understand there is a format and a level of respect that comes along with approaching his holy throne. At the request of one of those followers, Jesus sat his disciples down and instructed them on the process of prayer.

Join us this week for our Sunday Devotional.

Our Victory Assured

Our everyday walk in the Lord is going to be met with all kinds of challenges. Some will be easy to work through and some will be not. But in his word, the Lord our has given us the assurance of victory.

In today’s Pulpit Points message, DeWayne Cason, Associate and Youth Pastor shared with the attending congregation of the great news that God has in his word.

This week’s lesson is the last installment of our lesson with King Solomon and the finished work of the Ark of God (I Kings 8:44-61)

Blessing is the act of praising or lifting up. The Ark of the Covenant being returned to it’s rightful place was not small thing. It was a means of showing the Lord, their God how important worship is to them. God’s glory is to be appreciated for the God he and the things he is able to do. King Solomon recognized the need to properly worship and praise him.

By setting up the place of worship, all Israel was ready to give God his glory through his appointed leader. Let us follow the account as the Ark is blessed.

David’s Ups and Downs – Through our life as Believers, we will experience times of ups and downs. We will have moments of triumphs and times of defeat. We will have times of failure and seasons of success. In today’s Pulpit Points message, Pastor Ricks shared some of the ups and downs of David as chronicled in Psalms 51. Some of the things David experienced:

• A Need for Forgiveness, vs 1-2
• A Need to Confess Sin in His Life, vs 3-6
• A Need to be Cleansed, vs 7-12
• A Promise of Renewed Service, vs 13-17
• A Petition for National Restoration, vs 18-19

Let us be encouraged from the word of God, through David’s Ups and Downs, we too can receive God’s anointing. David was used by the Lord because he was chosen and appointed. We too have been chosen to bear the name of the Lord even though we will experience our own ups and downs.

This weeks Sunday Devotional focuses on the dedication of the Ark of the Lord back to the Lord and Solomon’s prayer. 1 Kings 8:22–30, 52, 53 . This was a grand moment and the King wanted all the people to know and appreciate all that had been done in the name of the Lord.

Worship is valuable both to the one receiving the attention and the one worshiping the Lord. For the worshiper, it is obedience at it’s highest level. God is to be glorified and has given us instructions on how we are to conduct ourselves (John 4:24 states, God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.”). When we faithfully follow the Lord’s instructions He is blessed).

Let us follow King Solomon as he lead Israel in prayer and dedication of God’s house.

How do you need gas in your car? Check you display panel. How you know what your blood pressure or glucose level? You would check it. If we want to know where we are in the Lord, we are encouraged by the word of Lord to Check ourselves. In 2 Corinthians 13:5, Paul tells the saints to “examine themselves”. This type of examination is a comparison of our life to the faith we proclaim to identify the gaps of short-comings we all have. It is not a means or opportunity to judge or condemn someone else (Matthew 7:1) but for us to look at ourselves.

In today’s Pulpit Points message, Dr. Lamont, used the account of Cain and Abel (Genesis 4:1-15), to remind us how critical it is for us periodically and frequently “Check Ourselves Before You Wreck Ourselves“.