Church Growth

CHURCH GROWTH

Dear Lord it’s time to open the doors

To those who will be led

By your spirit to come to our church.

They come hungry and need to be fed.

They’re searching for some answers

Not theatrics, glitz, and glam.

They need to know the answers

Of Your oh, so perfect plan.

For giving them foundation

On which they can firmly stand

And providing them with a Helper

Who’ll be there to hold their hand.

It’s clarity they’re seeking,

To what would be your will,

For their lives to give You glory

And in Your peace be still.

What they’re needing is a leader

Someone with a pastor’s heart.

Though they’re motives may be true

They simply don’t know how to start.

The process of renewing the flesh,

Setting their pride and ego aside,

The innocence of becoming humble,

And letting Your wisdom be their guide.

As a church we gladly welcome

Those that you will send,

And we will comfort and support them,

If they’re in need of a friend.

But it’s our pastor that they’re needing

To speak into their life,

To guide, correct, and encourage them

With their daily stress and strife.

And so we gladly share him

And pray for our sisters and brothers,

Knowing that next year,

It’ll be them encouraging others.

The Desires of my Heart

THE DESIRES OF MY HEART

I said to God, “Please show me the desires of my heart,”

He replied, “If you will look upward you’ll start

To envision the things outside of your mind…

The things in your dreams you’re hoping to find.”

I said, “I’d always thought I’d live on a beach!”

“My Child,” He said, “That’s never been out of My Reach…

But what I need is for you to be able to grasp

That there is nothing that you could ever ask

Of me that I wouldn’t gladly give

If you required it to live

A life that’s pure and full of hope

Now what can I do to help you cope?”

“Well, maybe a little more of that,

And maybe little less of fat ...and

A little more money can go pretty far,

And it’s almost time for a new car…

But Lord aren’t I sounding greedy,

And shouldn’t I be giving more to the needy?”

He said, “If that is what you feel that you need to do,

You see child, these desires are all up to you.

Whatever you can live without,

Then you will question and you will doubt

But whatever you seek with My Purpose in your eyes

You’ll find no need to rationalize.”

I said, “Okay Lord, so now I get

That all You need is for me to submit

To the desire that is already in my heart

Because that was my purpose from the start.”

Delight thyself also in the Lord, and He shall give thee the desires of thine heart. Psalm 36:4

Your desire shall be for your husband… Gen. 3:16

Perseverance

PERSEVERANCE

I asked God,

“What happened to that feeling of relief?

It seems that now I’m covered with a sense of dread and grief.”

He said, “If I’d told you that when we first met…

You’d have been much harder for Me to try to get,

But I knew that you could stand

Up to the devourer who walks about your land,

You just need a little pushing

To go ahead and get fully free

So if it’s pressure that you’re feeling

Well that is coming from Me.”

Witness the Blessings

WITNESS THE BLESSINGS

When you get to the point

Where you stop being greedy

Then you’ll reach the point

Where you stop being needy

It’s not mine

To begin with anyway

It’s all His

For me to manage day to day

So before you start talking

About how I give

You should take a good look

At how I live

And witness the blessings

That God has bestowed

On those who give willingly

And not as though they “owed.”

The Enemy

THE ENEMY

When my flesh is in a battle

And out of sync with my spirit

I search for your voice

But it’s so hard to hear it

One minute I’m sure

That I’m in Your Will

The next it’s my own

That I’m trying to fulfill.

TV preachers would say

I was “under attack”

To just send them money

And they’d have my back.

But each of us is tempted

When we are drawn away

By our own lust and desires

Isn’t that what You say?

So now that I know

Who the enemy will be

It will be much easier

Understanding that it’s me

The Work

THE WORK

You sent me here for a purpose

An assignment if You will

And I don’t plan on quitting

To let someone else fulfill

The calling that You gave

To me while I am able

For I want to be the one

Who’s seated at your table

And not left standing

On the outside looking in

My face all contorted

From a ‘teeth-clenched’ grin.

I know just because you’re chosen

That doesn’t mean you’ll last

The race that’s set before you

If you spiritually run out of gas

You have to continue to wash yourself

With the water of the Word

You’ve got to listen with your Spirit

To the messages you’ve heard

Your mind, everyday

You have to fight to renew

It takes a conscious effort

If you’re gonna see it through

See “once saved always saved”

The Bible can disprove.

So if that’s your theory

In this race

Then would you kindly

“MOVE!!!”

The Race

THE RACE

To drink of Your water

That I may replenish

My soul that grows weary

I find strength to finish

The race set before me

In spite of my past

Your grace is sufficient

For me to outlast

The trials and persecutions

I face on the road

I won’t grow tired

From too heavy a load

My eyes set on You,

I’ll finish my race

I dare not look left or right

Or I’ll lose my place!

Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witness, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us.

Hebrew 12:1 NKJV

Oh Lord, Humble Me

OH LORD, HUMBLE ME

Oh God, if I could just follow

The example that You set

Through Jesus on the Cross

And all my pride forget,

To be able to sit and listen

Not needing to be heard,

To take correction and suggestion

Without saying a word

To crucify my flesh

And walk within Your Spirit

To welcome Your reproofs

And be open enough to hear it

To let Your will not mine

Be governing in my life

To bury selfish ambitions

Which I know will create strife

God help me to accomplish

The task you sent me here to do

I take “myself” out of the picture

I hand the controls to You

Self Control

SELF-CONTROL

Lord, someone said something

That hurt my feelings today,

I got “bent out of shape”

And wanted to say

“well what about this

And what about that,

And while we’re on the subject

And as a matter of fact…”

But I closed my eyes

And I lowered my head,

And I silently prayed for

Your mercy instead,

To bridle my tongue

And comfort my heart

And give me your wisdom

Before we would part.

So instead of being guilty,

Of the sin of offense,

And instead of being bothered

And feeling nervous and tense,

I listened with my heart,

And found they were right,

I could see how I was wrong,

And I thank you for your light

That shows me how to

Become humble like You

And examine myself,

And my mind renew.

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By Diana Marsh