Abundant Life Church Rayne

08/23/2026

08/11/2026

Tithe and Offerings...
If every there was a touchy subject in all the churches history, it is tithes and offerings. The word tithe means 10%. When God set up the church amongst the Jews, there was one tribe that didn’t inherit the land of promise. This was the tribe of Levi. Because of their faithfulness at Mount Sinai, God gave them duties and privileges of attending to the Temple. God had four divisions among the Levites, Aaron, Korath, Gershon, Merari. Aaron and his sons were the priesthood. The Korathites were assigned the Holy objects of the Temple, the ark of the covenant, the table of showbread and the lampstand. The Gershonites were to care for the fabrics and textiles of the Temple. The Merarites were to care for and tranport the heavy structure and framework of the Temple. God supported the Levites through the tithes and offerings.

“And, behold, I have given the children of Levi all the tenth in Israel for an inheritance, for their service which they serve, even the service of the tabernacle of the congregation.”
Numbers 18:21.

Even up to Jesus’ time, the tithe and offerings were in place for the people who cared for God’s house and studied the word of God and preached to the people. But God was always wanting people to be willing to give to Him.

“Take ye from among you an offering unto the Lord: whosoever is of a willing heart, let him bring it, an offering of the Lord; gold, and silver, and brass,” Exodus 35:5.

There are 7 reasons why we should tithe and give offerings.
The first reason is: Will a man rob God? Yet ye have robbed me. But ye say, Wherein have we robbed thee? In tithes and offerings. Malachi 3:8-10.

The second reason is: for God loveth a cheerful giver. 2 Corinthians 9:6-7.

The Third reason is: Jesus became poor that we could become rich in Jesus. Philippians 2:5-8.

The fourth reason is: Speak unto the children of Israel, that they bring me an offering: of every man that giveth it willingly with his heart. Exodus 25:2.

The fifth reason is: Giving makes us equal in the body of Christ. “But by an equality, that now at this time your abundance may be a supply for their want, that their abundance also may be a supply for your want: that there may be equality:” 2 Corinthians 8:14

The Sixth reason is: God supplies all our needs. “But my God shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus.” Philippians 4:19.

The Seventh reason is: So that God isn’t blasphemed. “Thou that makest thy boast of the law, through breaking the law dishonourest thou God? For the name of God is blasphemed among the Gentiles through you, as it is written.” Romans 2:23,24.

Now is time to decide for ourselves. I can’t make that decsion for you. It is a very important decsion to make. God will guide you. God bless and keep you.
Crain Blanchard.
[email protected]
Joseph1637.com

08/09/2026

We want to remind everyone, August food bank is scheduled for the 15 th at 8:00am. Please bring you license, monthly house hold income and dates of birth of people in your home. Also we need a bill with your current physical address. Thank you! Look forward to seeing you!

07/22/2026

Accountability...
Who hath believed our report? and to whom is the arm of the Lord revealed? Isaiah 53:1. Who is ultimately responsible for your life? It is me O, Lord standing in the need of prayer. God made it clear from the beginning that each person is responsible for their life. When Adam sinned, God didn’t go to Eve and start fussing at her. God went to Adam and ask him what he had done. When Cain killed Abel, God went to him to find out what he did. When David sinned with Bathsheba, God didn’t go to Bathsheba to ask what they did. God spoke to David through the Prophet Daniel. When the prodigal son came to himself, he said, I have sinned against my father and went to his father to ask forgiveness.

Luke 18:13 And the publican, standing afar off, would not lift up so much as his eyes unto heaven, but smote upon his breast, saying, God be merciful to me a sinner.

It is popular these days to say it was because of my father, mother, brother, sister, or any body else and blame them for our short comings. We have to carry the weight of our own sins before God. You can’t pawn them off to anyone else. If you did it, you are responsible.

James 3:2-3,5 My brethren, be not many masters, knowing that we shall receive the greater condemnation. For in many things we offend all. If any man offend not in word, the same is a perfect man, and able also to bridle the whole body…..Even so the tongue is a little member, and boasteth great things. Behold, how great a matter a little fire kindleth!

Responsibility is a theme recurring in the bible. In Jeremiah, God makes sin personally responsible, where no one else takes the blame for it. There is no other way than to face God with your sin, so that the weight of it is lifted and forgiven. Accountability is a growth cycle that we must continually endure to achieve forgiveness from God. There is no sloughing off your responsible. Doing so will create one effect in our lives, death.

Romans 6:23 23 For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Crain Blanchard.
[email protected]
Joseph1637.com

07/19/2026

Church Continuity...
In both the Old and New Testament, God took time to delineate how mankind is to act toward each other. When the Israelites came out of Egypt, God had to put a government in place to keep the peace. There were judges over thousands, hundreds and tens. This system of government was put in place because Moses was being overwhelmed by petty squabbles. When that wasn’t enough, Moses had to write out God’s law in 613 laws. These laws concerned everyday life and how people are to act one to another. The High Priest and priesthood were to study the word of God and teach it to the people. When that didn’t work, there were bible teachers, pharisees, stationed in every town to teach the people. Most people don’t know that Jesus was a pharisee. Not only was He a rabbi, Jesus attained the second level of rabbi, which is Raboni. The third level was Rav, Jewish religious leaders of countries. Nicodemus, who came to Jesus at night, was a Rav.

Then Jesus came and began teaching. He explained the word of God so that it was simple enough to understand. Jesus took His time to explain to gospel to the disciples and anyone that would listen. Jesus spent 3 years teaching, so that people would understand the word of God. The Bible contains 66 books, 39 books in Old Testament and 27 book in New Testament. That is over 33,000 verses. God is exact in His wording. He didn’t make a mistake explaining what He requires of us.

With all of that explaining over 6000 years, why is it that mankind doesn’t follow the word of God? It is very simple. Man wants what he wants and will do whatever to obtain it. A pharisee approached Jesus and asked Him what is the greatest scriptures in the bible. Jesus replied:

Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all they mind. (Deuteronomy 6:5, Matthew 22:37).

Jesus went on the say, the second is like the first:

Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. (Leviticus 19:18, Matthew 22:39).

Then Jesus said, On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets. Why do we need 33,000 scriptures, when two explain the gospel of Jesus Christ?

Crain Blanchard.

[email protected]

Joseph1637.com

07/17/2026

Dust to Dust, Ashes to Ashes...
I was at a friend’s house and their cat started rubbing on me. I looked down at the cat and said, what a worthless piece of fur. Immediately God spoke to me and said, My life is in that cat. I understood that the value of the cat was not only the life of God, but that God created the animal. We as mankind think of ourselves as the apex creation and are very important in our eyes. We are the apex of God’s creation and have a freewill.

Genesis 2:7 And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.

Unfortunately because of the freewill, we sometimes think of ourselves as gods. We are gods without any power what so ever. Left to our own devices, we will destroy the good God put in us. Adam and Eve decided to do their own thing and sinned against God. This is where freewill came in. Because they had to power to change anything, God had to act to save their lives. He pushed them out of Paradise into the real world. God set the conditions that they and their descendants would live by.

Genesis 3:19 In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground; for out of it wast thou taken: for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return.

Mankind trotted along and did his own thing. Some followed God and some didn’t. Those who didn’t follow God started wars that killed thousands of people. The destruction that follows mankind. Those who followed God build His kingdom on this earth. Many were persecuted and killed for their beliefs, because they didn’t follow mankind into destruction. Finally, God chose a people to represent Him on earth. God made a covenant with Abraham. Abraham understood who he was when he said…

Genesis 18:27 And Abraham answered and said, Behold now, I have taken upon me to speak unto the Lord, which am but dust and ashes:

One of Abraham’s descendants. King Solomon, the wisest man that ever lived, came to the understanding of who he was in relation to God. He said…

Ecclesiastes 3:20 All go unto one place; all are of the dust, and all turn to dust again.

Understanding who you are will put you in the right place to stand before God. It will give you the opportunity to chose God’s plan for you life. And this plan will lead you home. We were made from the dust of the earth and our bodies will return to the dust when we die. We have that choice to made in our life. Even if we don’t decide one way or the other, we still have made a choice. From dust we came and we will return to dust in the end.

Crain Blanchard.
[email protected]
Joseph1637.com

07/15/2026

The Word of God...
In the whole Bible there are 33,000 verses of scripture. There are 66 books of the Bible being considered the Canon of the Bible. They are what we consider the Old and New Testament. Yet the entire Bible was written by Jewish men of God. The word of God is to the Jew first and then to the Gentile. We are as Gentiles, non Jewish people, called Christians were grafted into the God’s family. I have heard many times that the Old Testament isn’t relative to the Christian life. And just the opposite, that the New Testament isn’t relative to Jewish life. It’s a lie from the pits of hell. The Bible is one book. It is the picture of Jesus Christ. When Jesus was asked what was the greatest commandment, He responded…
Then one of them, which was a lawyer, asked him a question, tempting him, and saying, Master, which is the great commandment in the law? Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets. Matthew 22:37-39.
The scripture, to love God with all your heart, is Deuteronomy 6:4-5. And the second scripture, to love your neighbour as yourself, is Leviticus 19:18. Jesus was teaching people as a whole what God requires from us. That means that the Old Testament is as important as the New Testament. When Paul was traveling preaching the gospel, what Bible was he using to teach from. He certainly didn’t have a pocket New Testament to preach from. Paul went into the local synagogue to use the Old Testament.
Jesus said in Matthew 5:17-19 Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil. For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled. Whosoever therefore shall break one of these least commandments, and shall teach men so, he shall be called the least in the kingdom of heaven: but whosoever shall do and teach them, the same shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven.
Jesus came not to teach something new. He came to fulfill what was already written. The new and living way that Jesus taught, was the fulfillment of the promise that God gave to Abraham. He is called the Father of many nations. The Bible is one book, spoken by one person, Jesus. All scripture is given by inspiration of the Holy Spirit. It is to teach us the way back home to God. Jesus kept saying the kingdom of God is at hand. And with His death and resurrection the kingdom of God has come. The Word of God is one book meant to show us one person, Jesus Christ.

Crain Blanchard.
[email protected]
Joseph1637.com