Dear Church Family,

What a beautiful to sight to look out at the landscape transformed by the white snow. As I look out the window preparing for tomorrow I can’t stop thinking about the sacrifice that Jesus made for me to make my sin as white as snow. I pray that you will begin thinking these thoughts today and prepare your heart for tomorrow’s service. We have a very special service planned tomorrow. Our singing will be focused on the sacrifice that Christ made for us on the cross. Maria Barta, one of our newest members, will be singing one of my favorite songs tomorrow, The Look (the lyrics for this song can be found at the bottom of this post). We will conclude the service with our Sacrifice Sunday Offering. In this offering you will be asked to place your financial, as well as time, sacrifice to Christ. It will be a wonderful time of focus on the work of our precious Savior.

I understand that the snow has made it difficult for many to get out; however, I believe that tomorrow’s service is extremely important for our church. We have a quick fellowship after the service tomorrow followed by a presentation of the plans for our new auditorium. If our church is going to move forward on this building project I believe it is vital for us all to be on the same page. We are planing the future of our church tomorrow. We spent the entire month of January building up to this service. I believe this is a critical time for our church body. We have the opportunity to gather together and focus on the sacrifice that Christ made for us on the cross. I pray that you will be here tomorrow to worship together with the body of Christ.

In Christ,

Pastor Josh

The Look

I saw one hanging on a tree in agony and blood

Who fixed His loving eyes on me as near His cross I stood

And never till my dying breath will I forget that look

It seemed to charge me with His death though not a word He spoke

My conscience felt and owned the guilt and plunged me in despair

I saw my sins His blood had spilt and helped to nail Him there

But with a second look He said “I freely all forgive

this blood is for your ransom paid; I died that you might live”

Thus while His death my sin displays for all the world to view

Such is the mystery of grace; it seals my pardon too

With pleasing grief and mournful joy my spirit now is filled

That I should such a life destroy yet live by Him I killed

CHORUS

Forever etched upon my mind is the look of Him who died

The Lamb I crucified and now my life will sing the praise

Of pure atoning grace that looked on me and gladly

took my place

Original lyrics by John Newton. New and Alternate lyrics by Bob Kauflin. © 2001 PDI Praise (BMI). Sovereign Grace Music, a division of Sovereign Grace Ministries.

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Fall Evangelistic Meetings

Aaron and Stephanie Coffey travel around the country serving churches through gospel preaching and music. Aaron’s desire is that churches would grow in the knowledge and grace of God and actively pursuing relationships around them to share the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

Schedule

Sunday

9:30 a.m. – Bible Study

10:45 a.m. – Sunday Morning Worship

6:00 p.m. – Sunday Evening Worship

Monday-Thursday

7:00 p.m. – Evening Evangelistic meeting

Friday

7:00 p.m. – Irish Concert

Information

“In the late 1800’s there was a great evangelist named Gipsy Smith. He had traveled the world twice, preaching in every Continent, in many countries. Wherever he preached, revival broke out. One day a delegation of people from a certain community came to Gipsy and said, “We so desperately want to see revival in our area. It’s so dry and dead. What can we do to see revival?” Gipsy said, “I’ll tell you exactly how it will come about. You go home. Lock yourself in your bedroom. Take a piece of chalk. Put a circle on the floor of your bedroom. Kneel in that circle and pray fervently and brokenly that God will start revival in that circle.”

That’s where it starts. Not so much praying for others; it is getting on your face and praying, “Let it start with me!” How quick we are to say, “If he would just change, or if she would just change.” Draw a circle and pray – “Lord, change me!”

Our evangelistic meetings begin in just over a week. On Sunday we will be on our normal service schedule outlined above. Throughout the week the meetings start every evening at 7:00. I am looking forward to seeing each of you here for the meetings. I know God has great things He wants to do in your life through His Word that will be clearly proclaimed this next week. I encourage each of you to bring visitors to the meetings this next week. I am expecting God to do some great things in your life.

I’m praying for each of you.

In Christ,

Pastor Josh

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Tomorrow we will be continuing our series, “The Cost of Discipleship.” Tomorrow mornings message title is, “Radical Amputation.” We will be looking at Matthew 18:5-13 as well as touching on the parallell passages, Mark 9:42-50; Luke 14:34-35, and Luke 17:1-2.

I just wanted you all to know what I am preaching about tomorrow morning. I know it’s a bit late for this but the Lord has pressed upon my heart the need to allow you to study the passage that we will be looking at on Sunday. I truly believe that you will get more out of the message if you take the opportunity to study the passage ahead of time.

Tomorrow in the evening service we will be doing another Pastor Q&A service. I hope that you will come prepared with some questions to ask. We had a great time last Sunday night doing this.

I hope to see you all tomorrow morning.

Pastor Josh

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Dear Harvest Family,

I know it’s been a while since I sent out a message to you all. I waited so long that I was hoping to send you something spectacular. Well, I finally had to give up on the spectacular and just give you an update on how the church is doing.

Our church is growing slowly but surely. We are having consistent visitors and people are joining the church monthly. The youth group is growing in numbers as will. Praise the Lord for the work Pastor Joel and Hope are doing with our young people. It is great to see them growing spiritually.

I am working with a couple of men on the building and we are trying hard to get the total price for all renovations under $400,000. Pray that we will be able to get the price down. If our church is going to continue growing we will need a new auditorium soon.

Pray that God will give our little church souls for Christ. We need to be seeing the souls of Castle Rock saved and brought into our church. As you go about remember inviting people to do a Bible study with you. With the exchange Bible study you could have the privilege of winning your loved ones, neighbors, or even people you work with to Christ.

Sunday morning we will continue our series, “The Cost of Discipleship.” We will be looking at Luke 14:25-35. I haven’t decided on a specific title yet, but we will be looking at the conditions of discipleship. It would be good for you to take a chance to study this passage ahead. I ask you to prayerfully consider your discipleship relationship with Jesus as you read and study this passage.

Sunday night I am going to try something that makes be a bit nervous but I think it would be good for us. In the Sunday morning service we will hand out some 3×5 cards and give you the opportunity to ask me questions about biblical issues. This could range from a scripture passage that you are struggling with to what the bible says about media and entertainment. The questions will be dealt with anonymously so you don’t have to be embarrassed to ask.

Here are the 3 reasons I am nervous to do this. The first is that you won’t ask me questions and I won’t have anything to do Sunday night. The second is more practical in that you could ask me some real humdinger and I might not be able to give you a good answer. The third is that you won’t come back Sunday night to participate with us. My Pastor in Greenville used to do this and it was very helpful to his church body. I hope you will come and participate in this.

I want each of you to know that I am praying for you individually and am expecting God to work in your lives.

In Christ,

Pastor Josh

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On Sunday I preached a message about the rich young ruler. Something the Lord has been burdening me about for quite some time. Sunday night I received an email from a woman. She said that she had come across my Church’s website and decided to ask me a question. She started by saying, “I have thought about “following Jesus.”" After which she described the rather simple inexpensive life that she lives and compared it to the luxurious opulent life of many Preachers. At the end of that She asked me this question.

“So tell me why I should follow jesus… like the rich, prideful, self indulgent, money loving, entertainment addicted christians I know???

Is that the REAL Jesus? I thought He was poor, humble, and self sacrificing?”

Here is my slightly abridged, “Giving the Exchange” message I shared with her.

I can honestly say that If Christ asked me to give up all that I own, I would do it in a heart beat. I have not always been in this place in my life. Recently the God has been working in my life and I have been asking myself this question, “What possessions do I own, and what possessions own me?” By asking myself this question I can go through my belongings and see what gets in the way of following Christ. If a possession owns me then it controls the way I live instead of Christ. The Apostle Paul (a man who gave away a life of fame and riches to follow Christ) said he would not allow himself to come under the power of anything that would distract himself from following Christ.

With all that said I do not believe that it is wrong to own nice things, go to nice places, or to own a nice car as long as you are not living for those things alone. I would agree with you that Christianity today is consumed with materialism. People think about their own possessions and welfare before following after Christ. This was something that Christ directly condemned. Luke 9:57-62 – 3 men come to Jesus offering to follow him and Jesus refuses each of them. The first man offers to follow Jesus and Jesus tells him, “Foxes have holes, birds have nests, but I have no place to even lay down my head.” Jesus was asking him to be willing to give up his right to a home (which even the animals have) to follow him.

The next man asks Jesus if he could go and burry his father before he followed Jesus. Jesus responded by saying, “Let the dead burry the dead.” Seems rather harsh doesn’t it? When the man asked if he could go and bury his father he was really asking, “Let me go and earn my inheritance then when I am financially secure I will follow you.” Jesus was telling him, “If you follow me your finances will take care of themselves.”

The last man said, “Let me go and say goodbye to my family first and then I will follow you.” This at most was a 2 week commitment. But Jesus told him, “No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God.” Jesus is telling this man, “If you want to follow me follow me regardless of your family. Following Jesus is to be more important to us than our homes, our finances, and even our relationships.

A rich young man came to Jesus and asked him, “What good thing must I do to inherit eternal life.” Jesus responded to this man with a question, “Why do you ask me about what is good? You know that there is only one that is good and that is God.” Jesus asks this to see if the man knew who he was. Jesus is in fact God and He is good, but this man was coming to him asking for some good thing to do to impress God and get into heaven. And yet the way into that eternal life stood before him at that moment and he missed it. Jesus told him, “If you want eternal life then you must obey all of the commandments.” The man looked at Jesus and responded, “I have obeyed those laws since my Youth what am I missing.” Jesus told him, “You are missing one thing, sell all that you have and give it to the poor, come, take up your cross and follow me.” Before I tell you what Jesus was teaching let me tell you what he was not saying. He was not saying to you and me. Sell everything that you have and give it away then go carry around an electric chair. Jesus was simply illustrating this man’s sinfulness to him. The man had said, I have kept all the commandments. In his eyes he was innocent. Jesus was confronting him with the fact that he was a sinner. If he truly loved his neighbor as himself (a summary of the last 6 commandments) then he would have been willing to give all he had to the poor since they are just as important as he is, yet he wasn’t willing. The Bible says that that man dropped his head and walked way sorrowful because he had many possessions.

Jesus’ point in doing this was not to embarrass the man and send him away. His point was not even to condemn him for his riches. Jesus’ point was to condemn the man for his sin so that he could have what he desired, eternal life. Yet the man rejected Jesus’ offer and chose to go away in his own sinfulness rather than to recognize his sin and accept Jesus’ payment for his sin.

These two passages among with others on this topic used to confuse me. I know that Jesus wants people to follow him yet why did he reject these would be followers. You asked me, Why should I follow Jesus? Here is my answer.

You should follow Jesus because He is holy and you are a sinner. Romans 3:23 For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God; Everyone has sinned, and because of that sin we fall short of God’s perfection.

You should follow Jesus because because He is just and you are condemned. Romans 6:23 For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. You in your sin have earned death. The Bible describes this death as hell a real place (That Jesus talked about more in His teaching that He did about heaven). Hell is a place of eternal punishment for sin. The Bible describes it as an eternal fire, a place of weeping, gnashing of teeth, eternal darkness and eternal separation from God. You see my sin, the rich young ruler’s sin, and even your sin damns us to an eternity in Hell.

You may say wow that’s pretty bad news, Why should I follow anyone who tells me I am a sinner and that I deserve hell? The reason is that same Person loves you more than anyone else in the entire world.

You should follow Jesus because He is loving and He took your place. You see God loved you so much that He sent Jesus (his Son) to die on the cross for you. To take your place. Because of your sin Jesus died. He took the punishment that you deserve. 1 Peter 3:18 For Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God He became your substitute. You owed a debt that you could never pay and deserved a punishment that you could never get away from. Jesus in His death shouldered your debt and absorbed your punishment. He paid for all of your sins. In fact, His last words on the cross were, “It is finished.” What was finished? The payment for your sins was complete. All because He loves you. However it didn’t end there for Jesus. 3 days after Jesus was crucified on a Roman Cross He rose from the dead. He conquered sin, death, and hell for you.

You should follow Jesus because He is gracious and offers you eternal life as a gift. You see the rich young ruler’s problem was he thought he could do some good thing to get into heaven. However, he was a sinner and couldn’t overcome his sinfulness no matter how good a person he was. Ephesians 2:89 For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: 9 Not of works, lest any man should boast. Eternal life is not earned on good behavior (not of yourselves, not of works). It is a gift given to someone who has faith in Jesus Christ alone. This faith means to understand that you are a sinner condemned to hell and that Jesus in His love for you took your place. Faith is more than just understanding it is also agreeing that this is true. It is more than that as well. It is choosing to depend on Christ alone for your eternal life. This is what the rich young ruler and the 3 men that volunteered to follow Jesus in Luke 9 were not willing to do. They were not willing to give up their security in their home, their finances, or their relationships to follow Jesus. They were trying to gain salvation through following a good teacher and not trusting Him as their Savior. They wanted to change their lives conveniently and not follow Jesus as the Lord and Ruler of their life. They did not understand that eternal life was a gift- they were trying to work for it. You today can follow Jesus by simply believing in Him to pay for your sin and take the punishment that you deserve. Acts 16:31 And they said, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved,”

You asked, “Why should I follow Jesus, like the rich, prideful, self indulgent, money loving, entertainment addicted Christians I know???” My answer to you is, you shouldn’t follow Jesus like them. You should follow Jesus with child like faith. Matthew 19:14 But Jesus said, Suffer little children, and forbid them not, to come unto me: for of such is the kingdom of heaven. I encourage you to follow Jesus as a child. You should follow Jesus not because He was poor, humble, and self sacrificing (though He was). You should follow Him because He gave everything for you. He died in your place. He paid for your sin. He offers eternal life to you if you will simply follow Him through believing in Him.

What was incredible to me is that out of all the websites and all of the preachers God chose to have her email me. The one who has been studying and evaluating this very question in his mind for weeks now. God plans that.

Pray that the Lord works in this woman’s heart and that she chooses to follow Jesus.

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The last couple of Sunday nights I have preached on marriage. I think many of us take our marriages for granted. We pour time and money into our children, activities, work, and many other things. But what do we pour into our marriage? Many times we know something is wrong, or the relationship just doesn’t seem right, but we fail to work on it because other parts of our life get in the way. What a shame that we let the most important human relationship in our lives fall by the wayside.

This is why my wife and I make it a point to attend couples retreat yearly. I have heard people say, “My wife and I already have a good marriage. Do I really need to spend the money to reiterate what I already know?” Why not strive to make a good marriage better. I have heard others say, “I would go but my husband / wife doesn’t want to go.” If your the one holding out give up. Wives, the Bible tells you to follow your husband’s leadership. Husbands the Bible tells you to care for your wife as you care for your own body and to love her as Christ loves the church. I have even heard people say, “My wife and I have a better marriage than most couples so these couples retreats never speak to us where we are. They seem to always be for people with bad marriages.” This same excuse could also be made for attending church. I will personally guarantee that if you and your wife attend couples retreat this fall with an open heart that your marriage will get better. That could be the difference of bad to good or good to best. Either way you should be desirous of the best marriage that you can have.

The speaker this year is Dr. Bud Steadman He was the speaker for our missions conference last December. He is the is the executive director of Baptist World Missions and is an excellent speaker. The retreat is hosted by Grand View Camp and will be held at the beautiful Glen Eyrie Camp and Conference Center in Colorado Springs. You won’t want to miss this great opportunity to pour into the most important human relationship in your life. If you are in need of child care please let me know and I will help you. Please make your plans to be their. See the attached flyer for for pricing and dates.

The Memorial Service for Grandma Wall is tomorrow, June 3rd at 11:30am. I hope to see you there to encourage the Heads and celebrate the life of Viola Wall.

I am praying for you,
Pastor Josh

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