Author: admin

You are with Me

The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters. He restoreth my soul: he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name’s sake. Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me. Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies: thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over. Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever. -Psalm 23

 

I just want to start off this entry, by focusing on the first verse that says, “The Lord is my shepherd.”

A shepherd didn’t have two, or three, or four jobs. He only had one, and that was to look out on behalf of the sheep. So whatever was going on in the life of the sheep, the shepherd knew about it. Where it slept…where it ate…where it drank water. More than that, it was the protection of the flock. You know there were wolves out there who made it their mission to mess up the life of those sheep.

Ever hear someone say, “there’s a wolf coming in sheep’s clothing?” The wolves were very strategic and even disguised themselves, but the shepherds could sniff them out. They’d get their nose in the air and know, something wasn’t quite right with one of their sheep. Why’s that? Because it was a wolf trying to act like a sheep. In that scripture, it says because the Lord is my shepherd, “I shall not want.” My body, my soul, my spirit, my material needs, my soulical needs, my mental needs, my emotional needs, my spiritual needs. Every single thing I have need of, God has already provided. Sometimes you don’t know He’s there until He hits you with that shepherds staff.

If you’re going in the right direction, He has no need to poke and prod you. You only get poked and prodded when you’re going in the wrong direction. I bet some of you are thinking, “Why is the Lord being so mean to me? Why is He directing me? Why is He hitting me? Why this chastisement from the shepherd?” Well, it’s pretty simple. You might be going in the wrong direction. You get back on que, in the direction of the Lord, then all of the sudden you’re in the perfect will, the perfect place that He wants you to be.

I know that we have our own flesh and our own desires. The little sheep go this way and that way. But the Bible says, that He leaves the 99, to go find that 1. That’s how much the Lord loves every single one of us. Thank God that He leads me beside still waters, He restores my soul, He leads me in a path of righteousness for His name’s sake.

Even though I walk through, I don’t have to, but sometimes you do, walk through the valley of the shadow of death, YOU are with me. Let me just reiterate that; the Bible says, “you are with me.”  When the sun is out, He’s with me. When it’s dark as midnight, He’s still with me. He hasn’t departed, He isn’t abandoning you. He is there. He is there, all the time.

I pray that you will sense that presence of the Almighty God right now, and receive the provision of the Lord today.

-Pastor Steve

He Is Risen!

We had a wonderful Easter service yesterday at Christ Chapel! I hope you had a wonderful Easter celebrating Christ’s resurrection  as well.

Because HE lives, we live! The same power that brought Christ forth from the grave lives in you and me! Because He conquered death, we can live in victory! I want to encourage you to walk in that victory today. Christ has risen and he is coming again, you can have victory in your life!

Be Blessed!

Pastor Steve

 

Don’t let fear stop you.

Many resolutions are made at the start of a new year, but according to research, most people abandon their resolutions after only 45 days.

All the things we said we were going to do: loose weight, eat healthy, spend more time with family, be a better husband or wife, love and teach our children better, these are all good intentions but we often find ourselves falling short of the goal, and we soon quit trying.

Winston Churchill once famously said, “Never, never, never give up.”  My father, Dr. Sumrall once said, “I did not quit. I had many opportunities, but I passed them all up.”

When we are discouraged and it seems like the goal line is out of reach, we need to pass up the opportunity to quit! Never give up!

Hebrews 10:36 says, “Patient endurance is what you need now, so that you will continue to do God’s will. Then you will receive all he has promised.”
“Don’t become weary in well doing for in due season you will reap a reward.”
(Gal 6:9).

People often give up on resolutions because of the fear of failure. It is easier to give up. Stay away from fear; it is a dream killer. Remember the words of I Timothy 1:7 and recite it to yourself over and over again, “For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power, love and a sound mind.”

“I press on to reach the end of the race and receive the heavenly prize for which God, through Christ Jesus, is calling me.” (Phil 3:14).

Press on, pass up those opportunities to quit, and never give up.

New Beginnings

New Beginnings

It’s a new year, a time for a fresh start and new beginnings.

Isaiah 43:19

New International Version (NIV)

“See, I am doing a new thing!
Now it springs up; do you not perceive it?
I am making a way in the wilderness
and streams in the wasteland.”

The Lord wants to do new things in us and through us, but we must be able to perceive it.  We can become perceptive to the movement of the Lord through prayer and the reading of His word. He will show us the plans he has for our lives.  Perhaps you feel like you are in a wilderness season in your life, be encouraged! God is making a way through your wilderness! Cling to Him, to His promises, don’t let go! He will prove Himself to you and bring you into a new season, a season of life in Him.

Jeremiah 29:11

Jeremiah 29:11 NIV

“For I know the plans I have for you, declares the LORD, plans to prosper you
and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.”

We know that the Word says, “I will hasten (run to) my Word to perform it.”
(Jeremiah 1:12 KJV) Does this mean that God knows what I’m going thought
with the hurts, pains, sorrow, maybe abandonment that has happened in my life,
family and friends?

If God knows, why isn’t He doing something about it?

THE GOOD NEWS…

He has and He will! From heaven to earth all the way from adolescence to
Gethsemane including the horrible death and sacrifice on Calvary, and all the
way to the empty tomb; God has done plenty about the issues of the day.

Yes, the enemy is loose and he is causing havoc in many areas of our world,
but we can overcome because He has overcome. As believers we can stand in the
victory that we have in the name of our Conqueror, and Savior, Jesus Christ.

Yes, God has plans for you; big plans, not little, to push and propel you in a
Godly direction to fulfill Like 4:18, “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because He
hath anointed me to preach the Gospel to the poor; He hath sent me to heal the
brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captive, and recovering sight to the
blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised.”

Be encouraged today! We can do all things through Christ (the anointed One and
His anointing) who strengthens us.

Roots

Autumn is here and we’ve had a busy few months at Christ Chapel. Time seems to speed up between the months of September – December.

We’ve started a new series on Sunday mornings called ROOTS: discovering our spiritual heritage. It has been wonderful learning together about our nation’s spiritual history and committing to 40 days of prayer for our nation.

Feeding The Nations is off to a fantastic fall season as well. One of our projects for the month of October is the nation of Israel. We are partnering with a group in Israel to bring food assistance to Holocaust survivors and their families. For more information on how you can help, please visit www.feedingthenations.org.

Faith Factor 2012 #02

Steve Sumrall speaks about sending 1,000,000 meals to Rwanda by the end of the year! This is just one of the many places Feeding The Nations is helping around the world.

Word of Life’s Europe Conference

This week I head to Sweden to be part of Word of Life’s Europe Conference I have been blessed to be asked to speak for last 16 years. The conference is always very inspiring, it is great to hear what the Lord is doing around the world! It is always wonderful to see our Swedish friends, Pastor Ulf Ekman and Carl Severin and their families again. The conference is always available to watch live, via Word of Life’s website, I strongly encourage you to watch, you will be greatly encouraged.  

https://www.livetsord.se/default.aspx?idStructure=12524

God Bless,

Pastor Steve