ELEVATION NORTH has NEWS for YOU!

WE’LL NEVER GET OUT OF SCHOOL, WILL WE?  It’s that time of year again – and off our little ones – and not-so-little ones go to school!  Pre-schoolers move on to Kindergarten.  And those kindergarteners in their little caps and gowns go on to 1^st grade.  Then we just move the numbers up one after another – all the way through 12^th grade when suddenly … we see our grown-up seniors don adult size caps and gowns as they receive their diplomas.  College students climb the ladder of degrees until there is no higher degree to achieve – but perhaps another degree in another specialized field.  You get the picture!  Some schools have started this week – while others will wait a few more weeks until after Labor Day.  Even in the church realm, we focus on plans for teaching and learning and classes and ministries – which is a great thing!  I LOVE LEARNING ~ even though sometimes the Master Teacher sits us down in a class that we really wouldn’t have chosen.  It’s not to our liking, but our Teacher knows what the end result will be – and He knows we’ll love that part, provided we put in the study time and whatever it takes to learn the lesson He wants to teach us!  You know how sometimes God gives extra understanding and knowledge – where before there was only a blank space or a brick wall?  Suddenly, we see it!  Suddenly, we get it!!  I “got” something this week through someone else’s teaching.  It was so very powerful; I believe it will enable me to understand others, especially believers, to a degree that I’ve never understood this before.  Now how do I explain this to you?  Well, let me run for my Bible, and I would invite you to run for yours.  First of all, though, we need to return to the day that we said “yes” to Christ – the day that we became a new creature in Christ.  God’s Word says that our names were written down in the Lamb’s Book of Life, and I believe each of us got a new name to match our new direction, our new purpose in life … our Kingdom purpose!  I have little space to share with you what I learned, so I need to condense and simplify.  So here goes!  Check out the second half of Genesis chapter 32.  Remember Jacob in the Old Testament?  He WAS named Jacob in his natural, human, sinful state.  But at a point in time after stealing the birthright blessing from his brother, Esau, and after growing wealthy through the cunning, deceitful ways he dealt with his father-in-law, Laban … now Jacob finally finds himself alone with a man he wrestles with all night and recognizes as God.  All his life he has struggled and strived to be blessed – now in the presence of Almighty God, Jacob finally realizes that his blessings must come from God and not man.  Once Jacob gets it right and recognizes God as his source of blessing, then God turns around and crowns Jacob with a new name.  That’s quite a reward in itself, I would say!  Listen in:  “Then the man said, ‘Your name will no longer be Jacob, but Israel, because you have struggled with God and with men and have overcome.’”  And then God blessed “Israel” right then and there.  It is interesting, though, that after that mind-boggling face-to-face experience, with his name changed and his life blessed, the next chapters again refer to him as “Jacob”.  Why?  Because “Israel” reverted to Jacob’s antics of fear, deceit, and lingering where he should not have been, and in those points in his life, he was again, “Jacob”.  Read chapters 33 and 35 and you will see God’s name present.  Read chapter 34 – and there is no mention of God’s name.  Why?  God chose to be absent from these awful events.  You see, when we act in our human name, we wrestle with men and often end up in sin.  Rather, we need to be living in our God-given name, wrestling with God and overcoming sin as we hang on for His blessing.  Suddenly, this journey that we are on as God’s people, makes so much more sense to me.  All along, we’ve heard others ask – and we’ve even asked these questions ourselves:  “How could so and so do this – or that?  I thought they were above that – or at least I thought they knew better than that!  I am so disillusioned by their actions!”  Well, do you get it now?  You can have the most powerful believers … even an Old Testament patriarch … live victoriously in their new name as an overcomer – and then turn around and blow it by spewing ungodly words or making horribly wrong, sinful choices – so bad, that God, in fact, just is no where to be seen.  And, then we, like Jacob, find ourselves alone again with God – wrestling all night long just to get things right with Him - again, to be in right relationship, so that we can finally live in His blessing once more, and then we hear those most sought after words, “Your name will no longer be Jacob, but Israel …”.  My heart and soul sees two life lessons here:  1)  While we are human and not perfect, and will sometimes fail – we should not be content bouncing back and forth from Jacob to Israel over and over and over.  God longs for us to live in the overcoming power He gives us as we wrestle with Him “until daybreak”.  He wants to call us “Israel”.  2)  This portion of scripture is proof that God does not give up on us as “Jacob” and He continues to shape us and use us, drawing us back to the “altar at Bethel”, where He instructs us to come and talk with Him and purge ourselves of everything foreign and distractive to godliness.  If God gives us a second chance, then should we not give others that same opportunity to be drawn close to God once again, rather than judging them harshly and writing them off? What an example our God is – we can learn so much from Him!  What name does God know YOU by?  YOUR name?  Or by the one HE has given you?  (Grateful thanks to T.D. Jakes for lighting my heart on fire with the thoughts for this message!)  



IN A NUTSHELL . . .

A SPECIAL WELCOME to Eva and her family who worshipped with us this past Sunday!  We were so blessed to have you join us again!


THIS SUNDAY, AUGUST 18:
10:00 A.M. - PRAISE & WORSHIP
10:30 A.M. - KIDZONE CHURCH
11:30 A.M. - CHRISTIAN ED MTG for all willing to help with KidZone
Plan to join Wayne & Verla and let them know of your interest and/or commitment level!

FRIDAY, AUGUST 23:
7:00 P.M. - LADIES NITE OUT at the church
Be sure to bring a baby photo of yourself for part of the evening's fun ...
and plan to bring a snack for munchies as we fellowship!

NEXT SUNDAY, AUGUST 25:
10:00 A.M. - PRAISE & WORSHIP
10:30 A.M. - KIDZONE CHURCH

ELEVATION NORTH SPOTLIGHT!

WOMEN OF FAITH … God is calling you out to be just that!  Often we feel as if we cannot go even one more step – or one more day!  Life can just about engulf us – but then someone reminds us that we need to “Believe God Can Do Anything!”  And that is the theme of this year’s conference in St. Paul on Friday night and all day Saturday, October 18^th & 19^th.  You will be inspired, encouraged, and blessed as you drink in all that God has for you through the speakers and the worship!  Plus, we have our motel rooms reserved already, so get ready for a truly great time of fellowship with your sisters in Christ!  See Debbie for the event tickets, and for more information & details!  Invite a friend today to go with you!  She will never be the same!  And if you cannot go, consider blessing someone else with the gift of a ticket so they can go!

REMEMBER . . .”No matter what our past may have held, and no matter how many future days we have, God stands beside us and loves us.”  Gary Smalley and John Trent  



Serving Christ Joyfully . . .  


Pastor Doug and Debbie