God invites us into worship

God always rewards the genuine pursuit of His Presence by passionately pouring out His heart on us in increasing measure and with growing intimacy.  This is what Sunday morning is meant for. The People of God gather on Sunday, at churches all over the world, expecting that God will meet us there and He never lets us down. Not that we don’t expect to meet Him apart from church as well, at any time during our week and in any circumstance that may be going on in our lives. He is always available to His people.  But there is something special about that Sunday meeting and the experience of encountering His Presence in unity.

Somehow it seems important to remember as we pursue Him in that weekly meeting, that He has arrived first, like in all His dealings with humankind.  God first extends His hand in love, we respond.  Jesus first shows us love on the cross, and our hearts respond by becoming open to give love back to Him in worship. The Eternal gesture of love and pursuit always comes first. It is God who invites us to join Him in that profound Sunday encounter of worship every week.  He longs to meet us there.  After experiencing His faithfulness in that beautiful moment week after week as we gather at church, the heart begins to long for Sunday in the sweetest way.  To long for that sure and powerful meeting with the Lover of our souls who beckons us to draw near to Him, as He draws near to us.

If you are longing for a place to respond to God’s pursuit of you in worship and don’t currently have a church, please join us at the Interlake Full Gospel Church.  You will be sure to be part of a genuine encounter with the Divine heart in a safe and non-judging community of believers.

We look forward to seeing you there!

Faith vs Fear

Pastor Danny has been taking us through a series of messages titled “Fear Not.”  A very timely word for both our own little congregation of faith warriors and the world-wide Church as a whole as we wade through a world that is simply saturated with messages of fear.  Every day we are bombarded with news of storms of deadly and overwhelming proportions raging in our world, from killer viruses, to terrorism, to an ocean being slowly poisoned by radiation from the Fukushima nuclear plant.  And those are just the global threats that have risen against us, we also have to make our way through a mountain of personal dangers that range anywhere from threat of home invasion to the hazards of icy and snow-covered roadways that have real potential to end lives. Yet the dangers already mentioned are simply external threats, and don’t even begin to touch on the deeper fears of the heart...fear of failure, fear of abandonment, fear of rejection, and the like.

So much to be afraid of, yet over and over in the Word of God, we are told to “fear not”:  Joshua 1:9, Deuteronomy 31:6, Isaiah 41:10, Jeremiah 46:27, Joel 2:21, Luke 12:32, John 12:15. (These are just a small sampling of the scriptures that tell us not to fear, there are literally hundreds of Bible verses encouraging us not to be afraid!) Does God seriously expect us to be able to live out that command in today’s world and put away our fear altogether? I think He does. And I think it’s entirely possible.  A number of years ago, I would not have come to that conclusion, but something has happened in my own heart that proves the point—faith.  When we set ourselves squarely in the hands of God and genuinely allow Him to begin to reshape our hearts, something marvellous begins to happen.  Faith grows.  And as faith grows, fear begins to shrink.  

You see faith and fear cannot coexist, they are opposing forces.  And when faith rises up, fear is pushed out like darkness being overcome by the light.  Fear, in fact, is nothing but the enemy’s strategy to counteract the force of faith—because he knows how powerful faith will be once it takes over, and he knows that nothing can stand against it. Fear says, “God is weak, God can’t help you”—simple lies and nothing more. Faith expresses the truth of a powerful God who has already overcome even our greatest danger—death itself. Faith says, “nothing is impossible with God, the Lord is my shield and strength, God is faithful and trustworthy, nothing can pull me away from His love.”  Fear causes us to take our eyes off of Christ and see only the storm; like Peter walking on the water, focusing on the waves will cause us to sink.  Fear causes us to lose.  But faith, oh the power of faith!  When our eyes are fixed firmly on Jesus, believing fully in His power and victory, nothing can shake us. And faith will move the hand of God like nothing else.  I want to encourage you today to choose faith.  It’s as simple as that. Choose faith and watch the enemy flee as God rises up and scatters every opposition in your life.

Join us Sunday mornings at 11 am as Pastor Danny continues to stir up our faith and encourage us to step out in the confidence of the Lord.

Merry Christmas from IFGA!

Galatians 4:4-6

When the right time arrived, God sent His Son into this world (born of a woman, subject to the law) to free those who, just like Him, were subject to the law. Ultimately, He wanted us all to be adopted as sons and daughters. Because you are now part of God’s family, He sent the Spirit of His Son into our hearts; and the Spirit calls out, “Abba, Father.” You no longer have to live as a slave because you are a child of God. And since you are His child, God guarantees an inheritance is waiting for you.

When the time was exactly right, God began His work of revival on the earth.  He sent His Son, Jesus into the world to set us free from the oppression of sin and brokenness. This is what Christmas is about. Jesus, Emmanuel, God with us; arriving at the perfect moment in time to open the way for us to come into the Kingdom of God. Arriving at just the right moment to fling open the door wide so that we can enter into the house of our Father, God. No longer do we have to stand outside in the cold looking in. We can come in, as a fully adopted children of the King, and warm ourselves by the fire of His heart; saying confidently, “Abba, Daddy, Here we are, we’ve come home.”  Christmas is a celebration of that divine moment in time when that tiny babe, fully God and fully human, arrived to open the door of revival on earth, inviting us to enter into the family through Him.

As we go into another year, let us never cease to extend that invitation to all who have not yet received it.  The door stands open. The time is exactly right for revival.

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!
from Pastor Danny & Gayle Shmelinski
and all of us at the Interlake Full Gospel Church

Welcome to the Family!

This afternoon we had the privilege of witnessing four members of the Interlake Full Gospel Church experience the prophetic act of Baptism!  The air, while cold even for November, was filled with warmth radiating from hearts overflowing with joy and celebration!

Prior to the baptism, Pastor Danny talked to us about the symbolic picture the act of baptism presents as we go under the water identifying ourselves with Christ’s death and declaring our old nature gone; and then rise up out of the water to express the spiritual reality of renewal through Jesus’ resurrection power at work in our lives.  He taught us that baptism wasn’t necessary for salvation--salvation comes through faith in Christ--rather it was a powerful symbol to the world that we have entered into the Kingdom through belief in Jesus, His death and resurrection.

Every time I watch someone express their connection to the Lord through this beautiful prophetic picture I am deeply moved.  But today, I was struck with another dimension of the symbolism presented through baptism.  The family.  In baptism, we not only identify ourselves as a person in covenant with Christ, but we identify ourselves as members of the family of God--brothers and sisters of all those that have gone before us, entering into the family through Christ, and expressing their own entrance into the family through the same beautiful symbol of adoption.

And so, as we watched our Kingdom brothers and sisters symbolically declare that we are part of the same family, intimately connected through our Lord and Savior, it is no wonder our hearts experienced so much warmth and joy. What a gift!

Toban, Nicole, Helen, Raymond:  As you have symbolically expressed your covenant and entrance into our family on this awesome day, we just want to say WELCOME!  We are so glad to have had the opportunity to celebrate your baptisms with you!

What is Jesus really calling us to?

Then Jesus said . . . "whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will find it. What good will it be for you to gain the whole world, yet forfeit your soul? What can anyone give in exchange for their soul?" (Matthew 16:25-26)

I often think we do people a great injustice by sugar-coating the path of Christianity. We call people into a faith in Jesus Christ as if it were a haven of comfort, safety and happiness where all their problems will suddenly be dissolved in a wonderland of goodness. They have no real idea of what they are getting into, or what they have really signed up for. Don’t get me wrong, there will be wonder and goodness beyond our wildest dreams as we keep our eyes fixed on Jesus and see Him for who He is. And there will be indescribable joy as we come into the Kingdom of Light and walk so closely and intimately with the Creator of the universe that we lose sight of where He begins and where we end, becoming like Him in heart and character more and more every day. But comfort and safety?

I have told you these things, so that in Me you may have [perfect] peace and confidence. In the world you will have tribulation and trials and distress and frustration; but be of good cheer! For I have overcome the world. (John 16:33, AMP)

Jesus isn't calling us to a safe, comfortable life. He never promised that. He is calling us to risk everything to follow Him through a dark world that will mistreat and abuse us for our faith in Him. This is not a call to join a pleasant and upstanding social club, it's a call to rise up and shine a light into the darkness with no regard for our own safety. A call to stand firm through danger and difficulty, trusting only in the victory of His blood shed for us. It is a call to take our eyes completely off of ourselves, our plans, our dreams and put them squarely on Him and everything that He wants to accomplish in the world. It is a call to throw away our rights, abandon our reputations, to lay down our lives and allow ourselves to become carefully placed stepping stones on the path that will allow others to respond to the call.

I think it’s time we begin to present the facts openly and honestly as we witness to our communities and open the door of faith for others. Just maybe we underestimate them. Just maybe the reason we aren’t seeing more young people coming into the church isn’t because we haven’t offered them more exciting music or wowed them with our comfortable buildings. Maybe it’s because we haven’t given them a cause worth dying for. Maybe it’s because we haven’t told them that Jesus is worthy of laying down their lives for.

(These are the thoughts of Lorena Ferguson, founder of RESPOND Worship Ministry and grateful part of the Interlake Full Gospel Church where she finds strength and inspiration continually.)

His Presence on the journey.

Lately, God has been teaching me a very valuable lesson about this journey on earth that we are on, and about the purpose of the space in between where we were and where He is taking us. That space in between our starting place and our destination has great purpose. The blessing is not just found at the end of the road, we will find it waiting for us along every mile of the road, if we are willing to look for it.

It is true that in many ways there is great value in keeping our eyes on the destination, staying focussed on the finish line and the prize, so to speak.  However, at the same time, we simply can’t let the journey pass us by without looking for the blessing along the way.  If we do we will miss it, we will miss the prize altogether.

And what is that prize?  The Presence of God.  We were meant to dwell with Him.  Mankind started out in His Presence in the garden. It was where God intended us to live for eternity.  In His Presence.  But we lost that in the fall.  And ever since, the Eternal God has been moving heaven and earth to bring us back to where we belong.  In His Presence.  And all along the journey from the garden to the finish line at the end of time where we will once again dwell with Him, He has been breaking in, continually manifesting His Presence all along the way.  Blessing us with His appearing in ways that are far too precious to miss--not the least of which was the appearing of His Son to bring us redemption and make it possible to dwell once again with our God.  

The beautiful truth of the matter is that on every step of journey we can find the blessing, we can touch the finish line, because we have access to His Presence. We see this truth playing out in the lives of the children of Israel as they journey from their starting place, at their captivity in Egypt, to their finish line when they reach the promised land.  All along the way the Presence of God breaks into their reality to bless them. The cloud by day, the fire by night, manna from heaven, the ark of the covenant, the shining face of Moses, God appears. He guides them with His Presence. He journeys with them.  Marching along in their midst through every mile.  It’s what He has created us for.  To walk with Him in the cool of the day, just like in the garden at the beginning.

God hasn’t changed. His desire to bless us with His Presence will never fade.  Whether we are at the beginning, the end, or somewhere along the way on the journey, our Father wants to show us His Glory.  He wants to break into our world and leave us in awe at the wake of His love left behind in the passing of His Presence.  All we need to do is to look for Him. To look for His appearing on the journey.  To stay focussed on the finish line of His Presence, which is always with us, dwelling by our side.

“ . . . for the Lord your God goes with you; He will never leave you nor forsake you.” (Deuteronomy 31:6)

Laying it all out before the Lord

Pastor Danny gave us his second message in a new series he is giving on prayer this Sunday.  What an encouragement it was for our hearts, weary from the trials and burdens of life, to hear his spirit-reviving words of expectation in the Lord as he reminded us:

not to worry (Matthew 6:25-26);

instead to give thanks "in" everything that happens (1 Thessalonians 5:16-18);

to simply lay out our burdens and troubles before the Lord (2 Kings 19:14);

expecting Him to hear and to answer (Psalm 34:17);

and simply to sit back, trusting in the strength of God, as He reminds us, "Don't worry about it, I've got this."

Such a beautiful reminder of the faithfulness of the God who eternally sits by waiting to hear from and respond to His people.  May we never neglect to turn to Him through the joys and trials of our lives. God is good.