Family Reunion

This weekend at Porter Church was special in many ways. Our church feels more and more like a family each and every time we come together. The fellowship was so good yesterday before service that I didn't want to stop it. Even after service many lingered to talk and encourage one another. As we continue to grow together in the grace of God He continues to bless and favor us in new ways. The worship was excellent, great job praise team and the service went well with many ministering to one another. The most special part of our day was being a part of a long over due reunion of siblings. Bill and Susan, brother and sister, had been a part from one another for 40 years when Bill tracked Susan down. The first meeting didn't take place at our church but it was carried over to church. How awesome to see siblings reunited and worshiping together. I couldn't help but think of how many heavenly reunions we will someday have. While each week is special with our church family there was something amazing about how God was bringing this family back together after so many years of separation. I am glad I was able to be a part of this great moment. God is so good, I am thankful for the unity and outpouring of favor we are experiencing at the Porter Church.

blessings,

Pastor Larry

Beware of Burnout!

As usual this past weekend I busied myself with "very important tasks." As I was laying in the church bathroom floor at 6 PM Saturday evening I was pressing myself to finish so I would have time to pray, finish the sermon, setup the sound equipment in the new sound booth, and print the bulletin for the next morning. It was at that time that I began to wonder if God ever laughed at me. There I was trying to install a hot water tank that was too large for the space it had to go in, wiring electric without turning it off, all while laying in a pool of water. How crazy is that! I am no carpenter, no sound man, and no plumber but there I was doing "kingdom work"? It was at that moment that I realized how humorous and pathetic I sometimes must appear to God. He must get some pretty good laughs out of my sacrificial works. I am not saying that the things that I was doing were not important or that they didn't need to be done, what I am saying is that I had forgotten to lean on the Lord and I was running out in front again trying to make things work. You see we needed all those things done and I wasn't about to wait to find qualified people to do them, it was up to me! After installing the hot water tank and wiring it with hot wires (not smart) I finished the sound booth and went to the bulletin and prayer. I was playing the role of Martha. I had to have the church perfect and ready for Him and the other guests the next morning. My 9-noon Saturday workday had turned into a 9 AM - 12 AM all day event and I hadn't even seen my kids. I'm not complaining, no one forced me to busy myself. But at that moment while I was so busy I felt significant. It wasn't until I reflected that I realized I was neglecting the best things. My family time, study time, and prayer time was being divided amongst things that are not eternal. No wonder so many church workers burn out. We convince ourselves "I must do it because no one else will" and there we go playing Martha, jealous of those who sit at the feet of Jesus like free loaders. Obviously, I need a little more time at his feet. How about you? Are you always running around busying yourself?

This story ends with the biggest laugh of all. Sunday morning I had to get up very early after just a few hours of sleep because the church was dirty and needed a good cleaning. It was then that I discovered that the new hot water tank wasn't even functioning. Why? I hadn't been leaning on Him! At that moment all I could do was join God and laugh at myself. Yesterday, Monday, through a members help a plumber went to the church and simply connected the wire I had not and hooked up the hot water tank correctly. What took me hours he, with his expertise did in minutes and didn't charge us a penny. Alright Lord I get it, lean not on my own understanding. If I had simply purchased the hot water tank and left it alone it would have been installed by a professional and wouldn't have caused me any stress whatsoever. Thank you Lord for being a great teacher and next time I'll try to be quiet and listen before busying myself with the lesser things. As one of our men, Paul, often says Lord I am just a "C" student.

Blessings,

Pastor Larry

Childrens Ministry Schedule

I have posted a link below to a calendar of the children's ministry work schedule. If you are interested in working in children's ministries either on Sunday morning or Wednesday evening please let us know.

Blessings,

Pastor Larry

Great Weekend

Another great weekend at Porter church! God is up to something!

Past Week:

We had 3 first time visitors this weekend and 1 other that had not attended in at least 2 years. One of the new couples expressed just how at home they felt and their desire to continue attending our church. I am a very proud pastor when I hear someone express just how loving our congregation is. What a family we are. Our diversity is great in areas of theology, past, denominational affiliations, etc.... but we have one primary thing in common, the love of God and a passion for Jesus Christ.

I continually proclaim "God is up to something to Porter church" but I often omit one very important factor He is doing something through you the body! I am very proud as always to say I am your Pastor.

For the final note about last weekend. I had one person report seeing a rack of wine behind the pulpit. There were some older bottles of wine but he also reported seeing racks with new wine. I believe we drank from some of those new bottles Sunday morning, praise God! Let me encourage you as you read this to get in tune with what the Spirit of God is doing and saying we are on the brink of a major spiritual breakthrough. It is time to pull together and unite in prayer for a move of God.

Sunday night Work Night:

Several met again on Sunday evening to continue working on the remodel. We are making tremendous progress and before you know it the sanctuary will be completed. Our next project will be building a sound booth. We discuss it Sunday and determined what materials will be necessary to make it happen. Thank you to everyone for all the work you have put into this remodel project.

Coming Week:

Come expecting God to do something very special on Wednesday evening. The church is a mess since we did work last night so please plan to come early and help clean up. We will have food and drinks for the kids and workers alike. I will be speaking to the youth this week and Gena will be in children's ministries. We need 2 volunteers to help with the kids each and every week. So far Rusty has been very kind and helped out each week. Last week I had the opportunity to stay in the back and speak to our children we had a great time together.

We will have our first men's breakfast on Saturday morning at 8:30 at Duffy's in Coweta. Paul Cox is in charge and I want to encourage every male to come and enjoy this time of fun and fellowship.

Sunday isn't far away and I am already anticipating what the Lord is going to do this weekend.

Blessings,

Pastor Larry

I Am Second

Found this video today on FaceBook. What a powerful thing a testimony is but especially when it comes from two individuals, stars who obviously have a relationship with Jesus Christ. These are the role models that our kids need to be pointed toward. Not athletes and artists that abuse their fame and take for granted their God given talents and abilities. Thank God for 2 young men who aren't ashamed of the Gospel or of their Savior Jesus Christ.



I pray that an entire generation will see videos like this and be led to search for their Savior.

Blessings,

Pastor Larry

Baptizing them in the name of...

Matthew 28:19 Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,

Let me start with a thank you to Pastor Larry Duncan and the people of the Coweta Church for allowing us to use the baptismal.

On Sunday evening October 11th I was privileged to baptize 8. What a thrill to see 8 individuals following in the footsteps of Christ and being baptized in water. It was of course a special privilege to have the opportunity to baptize 3 of my own children. Each one of these converts have their own unique story of conversion and last night they made a public profession of their faith by following the Lord in obedience to His word.

God is moving in mighty and mysterious ways among us and it is always exciting to see what He is going to do next. God is up to something at Porter Church.

Pastor Larry

Gods Promise from September 26th 2009

Church,

I have had a few ask that I share what God spoke to us Sunday. Below you will see the entire prophecy plus the scriptures that relate to it.

"On Saturday night September 26, 2009 there was a deep, deep crying in my spirit. The Lord spoke to me in His still small voice and this is what He said.

Someone, no everyone needs to hear and fully obey the word of God!!!

My spirit is bearing witness that we must walk deeper in the things of God.

God wants to open the heavens (Deuteronomy 28)and pour out His Glory but He awaits us to position ourselves for this great outpouring.
This new thing (Isaiah 43) God wants to do will come quickly once we have humbled ourselves and fully rested on Him.

The time is short and the time is now. We are going to be challenged to submit everything we are and everything we have to the will of the Father. Once we are fully submitted He is going to do a mighty work from the depths.

A work like we do not know a work that no one will be able to explain away with excuses or explain with carnal reasoning.

God has positioned us in a very special and fruitful place and those who completely listen to what He is saying will walk in the divine going forth and declaring His name with might and power.

Those who refuse to listen and obey will continue living in mediocrity until they are prepared to fully submit to the will of the Father.

He wants to open up the heavens (Deuteronomy 28) above us. No doubt, some here today feel as though the heavens over you are like brass (Deuteronomy 28) and your prayers are not being heard but the Lord declares today is the day of victory, the year of jubilee is before our eyes. This is a time of great gain, the time of taking spiritual territory for the name of the Lord.

Close of the prophecy: As I went to prayer about what He was saying He began to speak even further and to build my faith with the scripture passages I have shared with you below. The close of the prophecy is this!!!

• Those who will submit will need to step out in faith and declare (confess)the promise given here this morning in this Word.

• Many will see these promises accomplished by travailing before the Lord in prayer and fasting!!!

• These promises will be birthed from the Spirit of God and through the process of our travail they will be implanted into our Spirits (we will be impregnated) so that we come to believe they are, though there is no physical evidence of them. "

Scripture References:

Isaiah 61:1-3 a reminder of the power God is enabled us with
Isaiah 60:1-5 promises to Israel and for the church today
Deuteronomy 28: open heavens rather than brass
Isaiah 43:15-21 (we must forget the past good and bad and expect and accept the new thing God is about to do among us)

I am sure we haven't seen or heard the last of what God is doing and saying to us. Don't consider this thread closed because God is still speaking to me even now.

Blessings,

Pastor Larry

Imagine That!

Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us
NIV

Imagination is a powerful thing. God has given us all the ability to imagine. The scripture above states that God will do more than we can imagine. This principle is just like sowing seed. When we sow seed we get more in return than we have planted. If you sow seed for corn the corn stalks produce more than one new ear of corn, this is a spiritual principle as well. While preparing for this week's sermon I was inspired with 3 thoughts that I thought powerful enough to share.

Before I share these principles let me explain my thought process. Jesus continually reached out to the poor, humble, and underprivileged because they were the crowd hungry enough to listen to His message. He took the same message to the religious leaders from the right blood lines but they were so comfortable that they didn't need Him or His new ways. The poor however were desperate, hungry, and willing to change in order to experience God. In 1 Corinthians 1:18-31 we find what it is God is looking for. The scripture states that He uses the weak, humble, broken, and even under educated to confound the strong, rich, and proud. This is not a complete separation between the haves and have nots it's the attitude of heart that He is concerned with. Jesus chose His disciples carefully. He wasn't looking for blood lines or talent He was looking for the hungry and obedient. It was in these individuals that He knew the Father would be glorified. They needed Him and his righteousness, strength, wisdom, and redemption.

Things have not changed. Jesus is our strength, in Him we are equipped and inspired. In Him we are empowered. In fact, the Word tells us that we can be endued with power from on high (Luke 24:49). Power, not weakness but power from on high. We often see ourselves as weak and unworthy but Jesus said we would be powerful, righteous, and equipped. So if He provides the power and the grace what is our job? Simple, our job is to trust in Him and dream a bigger dream. I ask you now to imagine God filling your greatest need. Don't just think about it but picture it, envision it. Now imagine what life would be like without that need in your life. Abraham just wanted a son. He probably could envision himself and his son. I'm sure he had big plans for this son. A son to give his love to, to carry on his name, and to inherit everything he had amassed in life. God spoke to Abraham and Abraham began to dream with his mind of a son. While Abraham imagined a son an heir God was inspiring a far greater dream. God had in mind sons and daughters as many as the stars in the sky or sand on the sea shore. While this plan was bigger than Abraham's imagination God (exceedingly abundantly above) was there to inspire him to a bigger dream. Before long Abraham was dreaming a God sized dream. Jesus went to the cross so that we all (Romans 4:16-21) could be heirs of this promise. Aren't you glad that Abraham dreamed a bigger dream.

Now, why don't you dream a bigger dream. I asked you just a few moments ago to imagine God meeting your biggest need, now take that same thought and God size it. If you were believing for relief of pain why not believe for a complete and total healing. If you were believing for a financial issue why not believe God to prosper you in every area of your life. Take the dream from your head and get it down in your heart. Take the promises you have from the Word of God and begin to rehearse them until they are a part of you. The Bible tells us that faith comes by hearing the Word of God. Is His Word in you? Abraham moved from a head knowledge to a heart knowledge. The dream got down in his spirit. God communicates with us directly from Spirit to Spirit. God has supplied the dream and Abraham supplied the faith that would make it possible.

I pray that you are dreaming a bigger dream than when you began reading this post. I pray that the Word of God has begun to permeate your spirit and inspire you to believe God. Now use the power God has given you and trust in Him. Before I conclude allow me to share my thoughts on what it takes to truly broaden our imaginations and God size our dreams.

1. You’ll never exceed what your mind can imagine without an inspiration from God

2. You can never surpass what you can trust God for

3. The depth and breadth of your vision is God’s only limitation

To hear this message in audio form go to http://sermon.net/porterchurch and click on the title Imagine That!

Blessings,
Pastor Larry