Fishers Island Church on The Rock

04/29/2023

Does anyone know what this symbol stands for?

04/21/2023

01/06/2023

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12/31/2022

Word of the Month. 12/31/22
Giving
Good morning ladies & gentlemen, girls & boys, sisters & brothers.

Several years ago now, I believe I was inspired by God, just as when He breathed the breath of life into Adam’s nostrils, I believe He breathed the idea of Word of the Month into me. As I was reading the Bible, I couldn’t get past how much repetition is in the Bible. Then, as I was pondering the question of why, I started to wonder how many people would stick with a church where the pastor was as repetitious as Moses. It seems every time he spoke, he ran down the genealogy of the Hebrew people. How many of us would be secretly thinking, “alright already Moses, we’ve got it!”

I believe God inspired Moses to be repetitive, not only so that the Hebrews would “get it,” but also, so that those who would be reading these messages, thousands of years later, would “get it!” He wants us to “Get The Message!”

There are many messages that God wants to Communicate, but as we’ve recently witnessed, His primary message has been that He so Loves us that He Gave His one and only begotten Son, to pay the complete penalty for all sin. And whoever chooses to simply Believe that, and ceases their own efforts to earn their way to heaven, will be with God forever!

Without repetition, the average person doesn’t “get the message.” I believe God wants His messages to become a part of who we are, rather than just more information that we can regurgitate at bible study.

Do to the enormous overhead, (mortgages, salaries, utilities, etc…) of the typical church, the pastor is challenged with not only taking care of all the pastoral duties,
but they need to keep the congregation “entertained” enough to stay and keep Giving their tithe. Fear of people leaving can dissuade a pastor from being too repetitive. Because we humans are “path of least resistance creatures,” we typically don’t want to endure repetition. “We don’t want to hear about Faith again pastor; you spoke about that last week!”

Word of the Month is not a bible Study. It is simply meant to keep a single topic before us for a whole month in hopes that, as we meditate on it, The Holy Spirit will bring revelation, and it will become more a part of who we are. I’m hoping as we wind up 2022 that we all have taken steps toward becoming the people that God paid such a dear price for us to be, and that we can say that we Know Him better as a result of focusing on Him this past year.

May The Lord bless each of us as we step into a new year! Let’s make 2023 be the year that we “Be all that we can be!”

As in years past, Lisa and I will be taking a sabbatical from Word of the Month for the month of January to become refreshed and to prepare for the new year. I Pray you each continue to pursue your Relationship with God and that you choose a key ingredient to focus on in January on your own.

Should you find yourself in need of pastoral care please don’t hesitate to contact me.

Finally, I got a new phone with a new number and email address. I will reach out to each of you with my new number so you’ll know it’s me, and should you choose to subscribe to Word of the Month again next year, you’ll be ready to receive.

I Love each of you and continue to Pray for you.

Lord bless

12/30/2022

Word of the Month. 12/30/22
Giving
“A matter must be established by the testimony of two or three witnesses.”
Deuteronomy 19

Good morning,
Yesterday we were talking about developing an ability to feel secure that you are Communicating, or Giving, a message from God. God is so gracious to Give us “training” in order to Give accurate messages. Please, do not allow the value of the offices in The Church, (apostle, prophet, pastor, teacher, and evangelist,) to be diminished in your eyes. Without them, we may never develop into the fullness of what could be. I say that based on the scripture in Ephesians 4 where it says that they’ve been Given to train us.
Also, scripture combined with The Holy Spirit Giving us the plum line to measure against, will help guide us when we have a thought or idea.
Finally, it’s all about KNOWING God. The more you KNOW God and the more you KNOW His personality, the more you will KNOW it, when it is Him Giving you the thought or idea.

As we plug into all these things, the more confident we can be that we are hearing from God.

Selah

12/29/2022

Word Of The Month. 12-29-22
Giving
When we read the account yesterday about Ananias, how many felt that those kinds of things only happen to special people? I will admit that it is a special thing to get a revelation from God that you get to Give to another person, but I don’t believe it is only for a select few.

I neither believe that every idea we have comes from God, nor do I believe that we should go around saying, “God told me,” or “The Lord wants you to,” without being very certain that the message came from God.

How many are asking themselves, “how can we know that it’s God,” when we get an idea or thought?
I know we spent a great deal of time on that topic when we focused on Communication, but we will revisit a few of the fundamentals tomorrow.

May The Lord bless us as we continue to pursue Giving, in all its varieties.

12/28/2022

Word of the Month. 12-28-22
Giving
Good morning,
Let’s look at an example of a Word of Knowledge in the Bible. Here we see God Giving Ananias a Word of Knowledge concerning Paul becoming born again.

“10In Damascus there was a disciple named Ananias. The Lord spoke to him in a vision, ‘Ananias!’
‘Here I am, Lord,’ he answered.
11’Get up!’ the Lord told him. ‘Go to the house of Judas on Straight Street and ask for a man from Tarsus named Saul, for he is praying. 12In a vision he has seen a man named Ananias come and place his hands on him to restore his sight.’
13But Ananias answered, ‘Lord, many people have told me about this man and all the harm he has done to Your saints in Jerusalem. 14And now he is here with authority from the chief priests to arrest all who call on Your name.’
15’Go!’ said the Lord. ‘This man is My chosen instrument to carry My name before the Gentiles and their kings, and before the people of Israel. 16I will show him how much he must suffer for My name.’
17So Ananias went to the house, and when he arrived, he placed his hands on Saul. ‘Brother Saul,’ he said, ‘the Lord Jesus, who appeared to you on the road as you were coming here, has sent me so that you may see again and be filled with the Holy Spirit.’
18At that instant, something like scales fell from Saul’s eyes, and his sight was restored. He got up and was baptized, 19and after taking some food, he regained his strength. And he spent several days with the disciples in Damascus.”
Acts 9

Selah

12/28/2022

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12/27/2022

Word of the Month. 12/27/22
Giving
“7Now to each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good. 8To one there is given through the Spirit the message of wisdom, to another the message of knowledge by the same Spirit, 9to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by that one Spirit, 10to another the working of miracles, to another prophecy, to another distinguishing between spirits, to another speaking in various tongues, and to still another the interpretation of tongues.”
1 Corinthians 12

Good morning,
Today I’m looking at Giving through a spiritual, or supernatural lens. Many things that we’ve spoken about Giving, like a smile, kindness, patience, and joy, are things that although difficult at times, we can muster in the natural. In the list from Corinthians, there is no way that they can be conjured, apart from The Holy Spirit. Let’s look at “the message of knowledge,” for example. That is not sharing your intellect or what you consider to be a good idea. It is not Giving them advice that you’ve learned. It is Giving them information that has been telescoped into you by God, for the purpose of Giving to them. It is information that you could not have learned or otherwise known.

Heavenly Father, please help each of us to be willing and available for Giving in all realms, including the supernatural.

Selah

12/26/2022

Word of the Month. 12/26/22
Giving
Good morning,
The other day I was sitting in a little oyster house waiting for the ferry; I saw a guy who is a regular in there, and I felt compelled to ask the waitress if I could pay his tab. She asked if I wanted to tell the gentleman anything and I said no; it was just going to be anonymous.

Whether we are Giving anonymously or within a relationship, Love seems to be a key ingredient. Yesterday we saw that because God Loved, He Gave something extremely precious to Him.

Love can tip the scales toward our Giving or not. But when we allow it to, it can become a wonderful experience. The feelings that came over me when I walked away from Giving, even such a small thing, were overwhelming. This can be true of whatever we Give, whether it be money, a smile, our attention, or a kind word.

I Pray we all continue to seek God on how to become better Givers.

Selah

12/25/2022

Word of the Month. 12/25/22
Giving
“16For God so loved the world that He Gave His one and only begotten Son, that everyone who believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life. 17For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through Him.”
John 3:16, 17

“8But what does it say? ‘The word is near you; it is in your mouth and in your heart,’ that is, the word of Faith we are proclaiming: 9that if you confess with your mouth, ‘Jesus is Lord,’ and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. 10For with your heart you believe and are justified, and with your mouth you confess and are saved.”
Romans 10:9, 10

Good morning and
Merry Christmas!

12/24/2022

Word of the Month. 12/24/22
Giving
Many of us will be going to a Christmas Eve service tonight and we will hear of the wisemen who brought Gifts to the Christ Child. Whether you go or not, I strongly encourage you to think about what it is that you can Give to God. We have primarily focused on Giving to people, but today let’s think about what it is that we can Give to God.

Selah