Spiritual Sunday: The Music That Moves Me

I'd like to share the concert I had with myself in the car the other day. As you know, my job is a hot mess! For some reason these songs just really spoke to me. Let go and let God. He is in control. Enjoy!









~Joan

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Spiritual Sunday: In Pursuit of Positivity

To say that I dislike my job is an understatement. I am working in one of the worst possible places for a pregnant woman to be working right now, but somehow I have to find a way to find peace in this painful place. Every morning I pray the whole way to work, asking God to help me have a positive attitude and not to go off on anyone. However, each day it seems like the devil over takes my state of mind and I end up angry and stressed out. I know this is so unhealthy for me right now which is why I'm really trying to change. I think a lot of my negativity stems from frustration with my current situation. I would love to have the luxury to just say, "I quit. I don't need this stress, so I'm not going to work." Unfortunately, I don't have that luxury right now. I know I am not alone out here. I know there are other people out there who absolutely loathe their jobs. My question is: How do you remain positive in a sea of negativity? Thanks to a great friend that got my lazy butt up out of bed this morning, I tried out a new church today, and the message really moved me. One scripture in particular really spoke to me.

Work hard and cheerfully at all you do, just as though you were working for the Lord...remembering that it is the Lord Christ who is going to pay you, giving you your full portion of all He owns. He is the one you are really working for. And if you don't do your best for Him, He will pay you in a way you won't like--for He has no special favorites who can get away with shirking. Colossians 3:23-25 (TLB)

AMEN! If I have to read this 100 times a day, I will make it a point to remember who I am really working for.

~Joan

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Spiritual Sunday on Monday: Heart Songs

I'm a little late, but I just had to share yesterday's worship experience with you. At Impact Church, our motto is "Doing Church Differently," and that's exactly what we did yesterday. Each pastor chose their favorite love song, and the praise and worship team sang all of the favorite songs. The pastors all explained why they chose the songs and how their love songs can be applied to their love for God. It was truly an awesome experience, and my video below does not give it justice. They sang everything from Stevie Wonder's "All I Do" to LL Cool J's "I Need Love." I apologize for the horrible quality of the video, but I took it from my phone. Hope you enjoy anyway!

~Joan

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Spiritual Sunday: This Too Shall Pass

If you don't do anything else, play the beautiful song below.

Today's Scripture Luke 7: 11-16
11Soon afterward, Jesus went to a town called Nain, and his disciples and a large crowd went along with him. 12As he approached the town gate, a dead person was being carried out—the only son of his mother, and she was a widow. And a large crowd from the town was with her. 13When the Lord saw her, his heart went out to her and he said, "Don't cry."
14Then he went up and touched the coffin, and those carrying it stood still. He said, "Young man, I say to you, get up!" 15The dead man sat up and began to talk, and Jesus gave him back to his mother.
16They were all filled with awe and praised God. "A great prophet has appeared among us," they said. "God has come to help his people."

Today's Sermon Title
After the Funeral

Today's Message (talking points from Impact Church's pastor Olu Brown are in bold)
Mourning the death of a loved one is one of the hardest things we go through in life. We often find ourselves asking God, "Why me?" In addition to death, there are other hopeless situations we might find ourselves in--a painful divorce, abuse, addiction, life threatening diseases, etc. We struggle through these painful times and eventually come to the end of a journey. We mourn the relationship we lost or the old life we left behind. The old self dies and a new self is reborn. In that rebirth, God always offers us a new opportunity. An opportunity to love again...an opportunity to come clean...an opportunity to heal...an opportunity to reconile...an opportunity to live again and a chance to believe again. No matter what struggles you face in your daily life, God always has a plan for you to live again. So when you are down and out and feeling all alone, remember "this too shall pass."

Even the day after tomorrow will one day be yesterday. ~India Arie


india arie - this too shall pass
by doo-


God Bless!

~Joan

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Spiritual Sunday: A Week of Obama

I am dedicating this week's posts to the 44th President of the United States of America, Mr. Barack Hussein Obama!

Last week Reverend Kimbrough honored Barack Obama in his sermon entitled Yes We Can, and this week Pastor Brown continued the message of hope and change.

Today's Scripture

12 When Esther's words were reported to Mordecai, 13 he sent back this answer: "Do not think that because you are in the king's house you alone of all the Jews will escape. 14 For if you remain silent at this time, relief and deliverance for the Jews will arise from another place, but you and your father's family will perish. And who knows but that you have come to royal position for such a time as this?"
15 Then Esther sent this reply to Mordecai: 16 "Go, gather together all the Jews who are in Susa, and fast for me. Do not eat or drink for three days, night or day. I and my maids will fast as you do. When this is done, I will go to the king, even though it is against the law. And if I perish, I perish."

Today's Sermon Title
Such A Time As This

Today's Message (talking points from Impact Church's pastor Olu Brown are in bold)

Like Esther, Barack Obama has been called to risk his life to lead his people--that's the dilemma. God calls us to lead, and we can choose fear or we can choose hope. We all know that our soon to be 44th President chose hope over fear. Thanks be to God that we have nothing to fear because He has already given us the solution and claimed the victory for us. All we need is for one person with a little bit of hope to decide to take a stand and the rest will follow. Think about how God wishes for us all to be like Esther. When God calls us, we must take action regardless of the risks involved. Esther proclaims, "if I perish, I perish." Today Olu said, "if we must die, let us die nobly... because what God is calling us to is greater than what we are leaving behind." As we enter into to this critical and joyous time of change in our country, let us not look back, but look forward and see who we can bless with the gifts and talents that God has given us. Amen!

God Bless,

~Joan

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Spiritual Sunday

Impact Church--Doing Church Differently

Today's Scripture
Numbers 13:25-30

25 At the end of forty days they returned from exploring the land. Report on the Exploration 26 They came back to Moses and Aaron and the whole Israelite community at Kadesh in the Desert of Paran. There they reported to them and to the whole assembly and showed them the fruit of the land. 27 They gave Moses this account: "We went into the land to which you sent us, and it does flow with milk and honey! Here is its fruit. 28 But the people who live there are powerful, and the cities are fortified and very large. We even saw descendants of Anak there. 29 The Amalekites live in the Negev; the Hittites, Jebusites and Amorites live in the hill country; and the Canaanites live near the sea and along the Jordan."
30 Then Caleb silenced the people before Moses and said, "We should go up and take possession of the land, for we can certainly do it."

Today's Sermon Title
Yes We Can!

Today's Message (talking points from Impact Church's guest speaker Rev. Walter Kimbrough are in bold)
Call to order--God calls us to serve.
Plan of Action--Make a commitment to move and persevere.
Declaration of Faith--We are able to overcome any and every obstacle because God has already claimed the victory for us! Yes We Can!

Life is full of unlikely situations and circumstances that we some how overcome without our full understanding. How unlikely is our new first family? Barack Obama was called by God for his position. He never wavered or questioned. He made a commitment to follow God's call. Obama did above and beyond his very best, and God did what? HE claimed the victory and took care of the rest! AMEN!

God Bless,

~Joan

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Spiritual Sunday: Impact Church

I would like to devote my Sunday posts to my interpretation of the sermons at Impact Church. Impact has really helped me grow closer to God, and what better way to honor the church publicly than by giving them a shout on my blog every Sunday.

Today's Scripture

Proverbs 4:20-27 My son, pay attention closely to what I say; listen closely to my words. Do not let them out of your sight, keep them within your heart; for they are life to those who find them and health to a man's whole body. Above all else, guard your heart, for it is the wellspring of life. Put away perversity from your mouth; keep corrupt talk from your lips. Let your eyes look straight ahead, fix your gaze directly before you. Make level paths for your feet and take only ways that are firm. Do not swerve to the right or the left; keep your foot from evil.

Today's Sermon Title

Focus

Today's Message (talking points from Impact Church's pastor Olu Brown are in bold)

We have many opportunities that present themselves to us in our everyday lives. Once we make the decision to take advantage of an opportunity, it is important that we stay focused on that particular opportunity. Sometimes when we are afforded an opportunity we have competing interests or distractions that get in the way of us achieving our goals. Those competing interests are the things that seem really attractive at the time, but really are only there to draw our attention away from our purpose. It is up to us to look at opportunity, make a choice, focus on that choice, and allow nothing to stand in the way of that choice. Our choice becomes our destiny. Remain focused. Do your best, and trust God to take care of the rest. Have a blessed week!

~Joan

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