Harvestchurch Blog

Worship Should Come Naturally

admin — Mon, 05 Jul 2010 16:27:57 +0000

When they saw the star, they rejoiced exceedingly with great joy. 11 After coming into the house they saw the Child with Mary His mother; and they fell to the ground and worshiped Him. Then, opening their treasures, they presented to Him gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh. (Matt. 2:10-11)

As I sit here this morning and ponder these verses what I see is a reaction to the Child that seems natural. These Magi understood who this Babe was. They knew from divine OT prophetic revelation that this was the Messiah. They knew whose presence they were in even if it be just a babe. This was The King, The Deliverer, The One who has come to set people free! And their reaction to Him was one of falling to the ground and worshipping, and then giving gifts.

I want to encourage all of us to get a fresh understanding of who Jesus Christ is in our lives. We need to always understand that He is the One who came to seek and save the lost (Luke 19:10) of whom I was one and you were as well. But we must determine in our hearts to react to that understanding properly. With this kind of understanding–the truth of knowing that Jesus Christ has brought salvation to our lives–worship should come naturally! It came naturally to the Magi and Jesus had yet to die on the cross and rise again. But they knew even with only pieces of the prophetic picture. For us, we know all of it. We have the truth of the New Testament painting the full picture for us of His birth, death, burial, and resurrection.

But with this knowledge are we worshipping Him the way we should? Has this all become just a bit “common” to us now that we have been in the relationship for a few years now? God forbid it should ever get that way within our hearts. We should always, all year long, have within our hearts, the attitude of all-out worship for our Savior, God and King! When was the last time we fell on the ground and worshipped Him? It’s going to happen when you see Him in glory, so why should we wait until then. We have Him with us right now. We have Him blessing us with provision, peace, hope, joy, and strength right now, every day, and even today! Hey, maybe it’s a bit intimidating for you to do it in church with all those people there, but what about in your room at home? What about when we get by ourselves sometime this week? What if we just took a moment to ponder the awesomeness of our Jesus and dropped down to our knees and worshipped Him with an all–out grateful heart that releases all the love and praise that He deserves. How about it? After all, if He is to us who we say He is, then it should come naturally!

And about the gifts they gave Him–let’s give Him the gift of our total obedience. Let’s give Him the gift of living our lives passionately for Him. Let’s give Him the gift of all of us, not just 90% but all 100% of us! I really believe that if we do what should come naturally to us starting this week, not only we will we have an incredible day and week, but our entire 2010 and will be more amazing than we could ever imagine.

God Meets Our Spiritual Needs

admin — Thu, 10 Jun 2010 16:31:05 +0000

Psalm 23:1-3a… The LORD is my shepherd, I shall not want. ²He makes me lie down in green pastures; He leads me beside quiet waters. ³ He restores my soul;

David wants you to know in Psalm 23 that God has more than enough! David says I want you to understand something about God… He’s our Shepherd.

Let me tell you why sheep need shepherds:

Sheep need shepherds because they are not the brightest of all animals. They don’t even know how to walk in the right direction many times. David understood this because he was a shepherd, but when it came to his own life he was a sheep. He understood his total dependency on God and he understood it for a lot of different reasons. And as God being our Shepherd, He can meet all of our needs. The first need that God will meet as your Shepherd is your Spiritual Need.

Read VV. 2-3a…² He makes me lie down in green pastures; He leads me beside quiet waters. ³ He restores my soul;

There are those people reading this today who need their soul restored…the issues of life have drained you. Whatever it is you’re drained, maybe even too drained to pray. You’re dealing with a soul that needs restoring. You’ve grown spiritually weary and no matter how hard you look you can’t seem to find God. When dryness of soul has set in…David said when that happens look for God to make you lie down. After you’ve done everything to fix the problem of your dryness and nothing works…He makes you lie down.

He creates a situation to make you lie down in green pastures, and then He’ll take you for a walk by still water. God will allow you to get to a place where your self-sufficiency isn’t working in order to make you rest on His sufficiency. He wants you to get to that place where you know deeply in your heart that His sufficiency never has insufficient funds. He wants us to KNOW His Sufficiency! He wants to make us LIE DOWN in Him because He’s the green pastures and the still water…He’s the place of spiritual renewal.

What’s the result of lying down on green grass, and walking beside quiet, refreshing waters? Total dependency on Him and no dependency on myself because all my efforts have fallen short.

He concludes with the summary of his point with the first line in V.3… He restores my soul. To restore means “to repair, renovate, or return to a former condition.” He does it in my soul…that’s where I live…my soul is the real me. So, instead of living under discouragement He restores me to a place of living under encouragement. Instead of living under defeat He restores me to a place of living under victory. Instead of living under loss He restores me to a place of living under gain.Notice it’s not some general or some physical restoration that is being talked about. He restores MY SOUL!

It’s when you are in His rest that you’re being renewed, not when you’re panicking, not when you’re trying to feverishly work it out, not when you’re stressing about it. That’s what God wants to do with all of us… spiritual rejuvenation.

Today you might be weary in your faith. You might be worn out and you’re discouraged. Maybe you’re feeling a spiritual dryness. You need to succumb to God’s making you lie down…to His leading you beside STILL waters of refreshment…. resting in Him…letting Him restore back to you your spiritual vitality. He’s your Shepherd and He will meet your spiritual needs!

God bless you all! Have a soul restored week.

Freedom From Fear

admin — Fri, 21 May 2010 14:13:35 +0000

There is a lot we could be afraid of, but God doesn’t want us to owned by fear. The Bible talks alot about fear and one of my favorite times is found in an account that we can read about in Matthew 25:22-33. It’s the account of the disciples being sent out in the boat by Jesus right after they had witnessed Him feeding the 5,000. He then tells them to “Immediately” get in the boat and travel to the other side of the lake. But a storm rises up and seems to put them in harm’s way and it’s a big enough storm to bring these seasoned fishermen much fear.

In this story we see some important principles about dealing with fear in your storm:

Principle #1: V.22…“Jesus has put me here.” It was while they were doing what Jesus told them to do that they ran into a fearful situation that they desired freedom from. They were in the perfect will of God and also in a perfect storm. In other words, obeying God can sometimes lead to tough sailing.

Principle #2: “Jesus is praying for you.” V.23 tells us He went up the mountain to pray and He was there alone. This is called Intercession. Jesus’ full-time job right now sitting at the right hand of the Father is to intercede for me and you. Why does Jesus need to intercede for you and me? Jesus is fully God and He is fully Man. He knows what God is talking about and what Man is going through.

Principle #3: “Jesus will come to you.” V.25… “And in the fourth watch of the night He came to them, walking on the sea.” He’s praying for them, now He’s coming to them walking on the water. Wasn’t the water the big problem here? Jesus came to them “walking ON their problem!” Jesus came to them on top of the very thing that was causing them fear.

You’re in a tough situation…hang in there because He knows you’re there, and that the waves and wind are beating up your boat. Hang in there because He’s praying for you and your situation right now that you won’t lose your faith. Hang in there because He’s coming to you in a way you may have never seen Him before, and He’s walking on top of your problem!

Ultimately, Jesus wants you to discover that He is the Son of God and bigger than you ever thought…bigger than any storm you may be in, even when you’re in a situation that is bringing you fear. He wants to bring you Freedom From Fear!

Truly Seeking

admin — Tue, 05 Jan 2010 15:21:20 +0000

“But seek first His Kingdom, and His righteousness; and all these things shall be added to you.” (Matthew 6:33)

Most people, or should I say alot of people seem to measure earthly success in terms of wealth, recognition, power, status, and achievement. There is nothing wrong with acquiring any of these things if they are the outcome of honoring God in all we do. But the trouble with using these as success indicators is that when they become our priority they can become an expression of our own ego. What this ends up doing is it keeps us from truly connecting with what is most important in God’s eyes. And I would like to think that every true believer that is reading this has as their main desire that of doing what is most important in God’s eyes, at least we should be thinking this way.

This bring us to our verse. I remember being in Hawaii many years ago doing ministry and I had my daughter with me on this particular trip. I had gone into a store to try on some clothes and she had managed to slip away out of my sight, and it was just a moment that I wasn’t looking and she was gone. I will never forget the intense panic I felt through my whole being. It is a feeling that words cannot describe. There was only thing on my mind and that was seeking after her. When you learn what the word “seeking” really means you will see that it is much more than just “looking around” for someone, in this case my child. It carries in its meaning the intensity of looking for a lost child; the all-consuming intensity of looking for that child with every ounce of energy in your body; consumed with looking; spending every moment searching until that child is found, which by the grace of God I did.

Here in our verse the word means, “to deliberately strive and desire something as an act of the will.” It is the Greek word zeteo. Inits context it implies putting your whole life at the disposal of God’s rule and will so that nothing takes greater priority. It carries the idea that that seeking God is an activity of the whole being, not simply an intellectual or religious pursuit. It is nothing less than a 100 percent effort. It means, “Give it all you got!”

So our verse it telling us that whenever we consciously commit ourselves in utter abandonment to God’s will, He faithfully cares for our every need. Jesus is telling us that God knows exactly what we need and we can have every confidence that He will provide for us when we totally surrender to Him. This my friends is the essence of a life in Christ. We are asked to seek one thing–God’s reign. Our needs are not first on the list. The real goal is God’s kingdom. When we make God’s reign the single focus of life, an amazing thing happens. God takes care of the rest.

2010 has just started. Why not make this the year when you truly start seeking after God! Take the word as truth. Seek Him this year with intensity and watch what He can do for you.

God Bless you all as you begin today to seek first His kingdom with every bit of your being.

Doing Things For Others

admin — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 23:03:04 +0000

Really, I mean really, what is more enjoyable than giving to others whether it be food, clothes, something to drink, or the message of God’s redemptive love. Giving the gift of the message of God’s redemptive love, i.e. the Gospel message, is so awesome! I have never stopped doing it from the first day I became a believer in Christ, and will never stop. But as much as I enjoy that aspect of helping others, I really love the action part of it too…the giving of the food, the giving of the clothes, and so on. It is so wonderful to follow Christ’s Words in Matt. 25 re: when you do it to the least of these we are doing it to Him. And not to do it to be seen by men, or applauded by men, but to do it because it’s in your heart as a believer. I so want this attitude to pervade the great church I pastor… for it to fill the hearts of all those who call THCI their home. To do it because it is in our hearts to do it. To do it because our love for people and for those that are “the least of these” is so full and so desirous to be a blessing to others. So this is what we are doing this season, and will continue to do throughout the year, believing that we will make a mighty impact on the lives of others beyond what we could imagine in 2010! Hey, I just don’t want to meet on Sunday for a service I want to penetrate society! It’s not all about us… it’s all about helping others.

It’s Monday

admin — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 13:11:35 +0000

I’m up, and in my office looking out the window at the rain falling. It’s still not light yet, the days are longer, it’s wet outside, and so on. So, what do I do regarding all this type of stuff that seems to affect people’s lives so much. Do I walk around all day without joy because it’s Monday? Do I live my life today without enthusiasm because it’s raining again? “No” to both of those questions.

Come on, I’m a believer in Christ and because of that I don’t live my life and allow my life and my attitude to be affected by these kinds of circumstances. I allow my life and my attitude to be affected today by the power of God’s Word, and the Word of God tells me to “Rejoice” in every circumstance. It tells me that the joy of the Lord is my strength. It tells me that I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength. It lets me know that the precious Holy Spirit lives in me to give me the ability and strength to overcome a bad attitude. It tells me that I can make the decision, no matter what today looks like through my earthly eyes, to live out today with hope, joy, peace, purpose, and a greatly encouraged attitude. It’s up to you today as a true believer in Christ to choose how you will face this day, and with the power of the Holy Spirit available to you, you CAN make this a great day in the Lord! So start right now.

Going to Church!

admin — Sun, 25 Oct 2009 12:03:11 +0000

I’m up, I’ve prayed, I’ve gone over my message again, and I’m going to go get ready to go to church! I can’t wait until the service starts. I can’t wait to see everybody, and I especially can’t wait to worship the Lord in ths corporate setting with all the other saints of God! I get to give financially back to God my top ten percent with a cheerful heart. I get to preach a sermon that I believe will encourage and challenge the members at THCI to do what they can for God with what they have. I get to fellowship with like-minded people who love Jesus with all their hearts and serve Him with passion.

I can’t imagine staying in bed and missing that. I can’t imagine not going to church this morning and missing the Holy Spirit speaking to me. I can’t imagine being indifferent this morning about going to church as if it was just some other thing to do. I can’t imagine staying home for no reason or going somewhere else rather than going to church where the presence of the Lord is.

What about you? How do you feel about it this morning? Are you excited to go to the house of the Lord and give Him glory? I hope so because that is what we are supposed to do and what our heart as a believer should desire to do! I better get going, I need to eat breakfast and load the truck. God Bless and have a great day worshipping your Creator on this day…the Lord’s Day!

The Power of Emotions

admin — Tue, 15 Sep 2009 15:43:27 +0000

Genesis 43: 15-34

These verses describe a scene that is filled with emotions. Emotions are something we deal with every day of our lives. They are powerful and can control our lives if we allow them to. We must always remember that our emotions arise from our minds, or our souls. Since we are fallen creatures, our emotions have been affected too. We must learn to check our emotions against the Word of God to ensure that we are not led astray by our feelings.

Young girls will give up their purity because they are lost in a sea of emotions. Men abandon their families because they get caught up in emotions. Families and churches are ripped apart because people allow emotions like anger, bitterness, jealousy, and resentment to control them.Of course, God works in our emotions too. He uses the natural responses we have to the events of life to teach us about Him, His will, and what He is doing in our lives.

In this reunion scene between these brothers, we see 12 men who are displaying The Power of Emotions. I want to point out the emotions that are portrayed here and the lessons they have to teach us.

I. VV. 18-24 When these men are brought into Joseph’s house, they become “afraid.” This word means “to be filled with dread.” So, with their hearts still pounding in fear, they prepare themselves for the arrival of Joseph for the noon meal.

Fear is a terrible emotion! It is paralyzing in the effect it has on our lives. Fear renders us incapable of trusting the Lord and looking to Him for the help we need in life.Here are eleven men who have been brought up to know Jehovah, the only true and living God, yet, they are so overcome by the emotion of fear that they are unable to see His hand at work in their lives. They have to be reminded of God’s grace, His sovereignty, and His purposes by an Egyptian pagan.

Haven’t we all been there at times?
· Life comes at us with all its problems and it tragedies.
· When it does, we become filled with fear and dread.
· Instead of faith in God, we are gripped by worry and dread.

You can’t allow fear to dominate your life. Learn to “Trust in the LORD with all your heart And do not lean on your own understanding. 6 In all your ways acknowledge Him, And He will make your paths straight.” Pro. 3:5-6. If you can learn to trust the Lord in all of life, you will never have anything to fear.

II. VV. 25-30 Now, Joseph enters this scene. He pronounces a blessing on his brother, v. 29, and is immediately overcome with emotion. He makes a retreat to his private chamber where he gives way to all the emotions that are raging within his heart and he breaks down and he weeps.

There are times when a person becomes overwhelmed by the events of life. Has that ever happened to you? I praise the Lord that He understands our times of weeping and brokenness. Let me just remind you today, God cares about the things you and I face in this life. 1 Peter 5:7: “Cast all your anxiety on Him because he cares for you.” Psalm 34:1: “The eyes of the LORD are toward the righteous And His ears are open to their cry.” Sometimes life hurts, and when it does, we have a God who understands and One who cares about His children!

III. VV. 31-34 When Joseph comes back he has gotten his emotions under control again. So, this chapter ends with all the brothers eating a meal together and being “merry.” They are all experiencing the emotion of joy. I suppose that joy is the favorite emotion we humans share.In fact, God teaches us that joy is actually a very healthy emotion. Pro. 17:22… “A joyful heart is good medicine, But a broken spirit dries up the bones.” Pro. 15:13, “A joyful heart makes a cheerful face…” Pro. 15:15, “All the days of the afflicted are bad, But a cheerful heart has a continual feast.”

If you aren’t happy and enjoying the joy of the Lord as you walk through this life, you ought to get before the Lord and ask Him to help you have His joy.

So get your fear under control and trust in the Lord. If you’re in the midst of one of those overwhelming situations that is tearing your heart apart it’s okay to weep, and just know that He understands. And lastly, choose today to walk in the joy of the Lord. It is available to you, but it is up to us to make up our mind to walk in it. And when you do you will be stronger than you have ever been because it’s within His joy that we find our true strength!

God Bless and have a great week.

Pastor Brad Tuttle

Seeing Reason in the Cave

admin — Thu, 03 Sep 2009 02:57:45 +0000

1 Samuel 22:1-4

Do you ever feel overwhelmed by life? We all do from time to time!

Our text in 1 Samuel finds David in one of those times. He’s in a dark, damp, dreary, depressing cave. He’s experienced the loss of everything and everyone he leaned on in his life. David is in one of the cave experiences of life. What David did not see at the time, but soon came to understand, was the fact that God was going to use his time in the cave to help David grow stronger in the Lord.

V.1…

So David departed from there and escaped to the cave of Adullam; and when his brothers and all his father’s household heard of it, they went down there to him.

David has been brought to the absolute bottom of life! He is hurting, he is broken and he is defeated. The Crown Prince of Israel is living in a cave! We should not expect to get through this life untouched and unaffected by hardship, sorrow, or trial, especially as a true Believer.

God allowed David to come to this cave so that David might learn not to lean on the props of family, friends, finances, fame, the flesh or the future. David was taught, through his sufferings, to wholly lean upon the Lord. God was attempting to develop David into the man of God the Lord wanted him to become. When the Lord has brought you to a place where you have no one and nothing but Him, He has done you a tremendous favor.

VV. 1b-4… and when his brothers and all his father’s household heard of it, they went down there to him. 2 Everyone who was in distress, and everyone who was in debt, and everyone who was discontented gathered to him; and he became captain over them. Now there were about four hundred men with him. 3 And David went from there to Mizpah of Moab; and he said to the king of Moab, “Please let my father and my mother come and stay with you until I know what God will do for me.” 4 Then he left them with the king of Moab; and they stayed with him all the time that David was in the stronghold.

After a while, people began to show up at David’s cave. David’s family came out of fear of Saul; the rest came because they believed David was God’s man for the future. God used this motley group of people to show David that He still had a plan for David’s life.

David rose to the challenge and the truth of his character was revealed in what he did during those times. Suffering through troubled times will expose your heart like few other things can! Nothing demonstrates our level of commitment to God more than our continued obedience and faithful service, even when we are in one of the caves of life!

V.2… “Everyone who was in distress, and everyone who was in debt, and everyone who was discontented gathered to him; and he became captain over them. Now there were about four hundred men with him.”

David’s family comes to him in that cave. Here are people who used to doubt David. His own father ignored him, 1 Sam. 16:11. His oldest brother Eliab publicly rebuked David and criticized him, 1 Sam. 17:28. Now, they see in the man before them God’s man and God’s choice for king.

The distressed came to David. This word means “to be under stress and under pressure.” We are also told that those who were in debt came. This speaks of those who “could not pay their bills.” The discontented also came. This word refers to those who are “bitter and who have been mistreated.” I am sure that David couldn’t see in his life what they saw. While David could only see the cave; those who came to him could see the Crown! They gathered themselves around him and believed in him, even when he was down!

Going through the pain of seeing all his props taken away was a painful experience for David. It was a humble beginning, but David was focused and soon he would walk out of that cave and accept the crown. If there is any one benefit of the cave that stands out is that it will tighten your focus onto that which is most important: finding and doing the will of the Lord.

The cave refined David’s life and helped to prepare him as a vessel to be used by the Master.

What about you? Are your cave experiences blessings to your life, or are they burdens that seem too heavy to carry?  You must learn to “See Reason IN YOUR Cave”

So David departed from there and escaped to the cave of Adullam; and when his brothers and all his father’s household heard of it, they went down there to him.

God bless you and have a great week!

Pastor Brad Tuttle

Not Just Another Event

admin — Mon, 17 Aug 2009 16:17:56 +0000

This was a sports weekend of monumental outcomes. Tiger Woods loses a 54-hole lead in a Major golf tournament (The PGA Championship), which he has never done before. He gets beat by a guy that was ranked #110 in the world. It’s not the greatest golf upset in golfing history, but it is a big one. It is big enough to send shock waves throughout the golfing, and sports world.

Then, Usain Bolt set a new 100m World record of 9.58 on the second evening of the 12th IAAF World Championships in Athletics at the Olympic Stadium in Berlin. No one in the history of track and field has ever run faster than 9.6, ever! So profound was Bolt’s achievement that defending champion Tyson Gay clocked a sensational 9.71 in second, a national record that was just 0.02 shy of the previous World mark. It is a big enough event to send shock waves throughout the entire sports world and beyond.

Then, this weekend at The Harvest Church International located in North Dallas, a young man who owns a tattoo parlor, and a young lady who has gone through tremendously difficult life circumstances, openly confessed and placed their faith in Jesus Christ as their Savior. These two people were lost spiritually and now they are found spiritually. They were spiritually blind and now they spiritually see! They walked in the church having been invited by a friend, and probably wondering what might go on in this church service. But they left from that service yesterday, forgiven, redeemed, justified and in right standing before their heavenly Father, by placing their faith in Christ as their Savior. It might not be a big enough event to the secular community to send shock waves throughout the sports world or the known world in general. But in reality it is such a huge event that it causes all of heaven to rejoice (Lk.15:10)! It is such a monumental event because this is why Jesus came to earth, to seek and save the lost (Lk.19:10). It is so deeply profound because it is the greatest of all miracles. It is the greatest of all events.

Untold millions around the world were shocked by the Tiger Woods loss, and all of South Korea was cheering for Y.E. Yang, the new PGA Champion. Untold millions around were amazed by and cheered for Usain Bolt and his amazing sporting feat. But in the natural world, there were only those in attendance in the church service at THCI yesterday that cheered for Kenny and Krista, not millions or thousands. But, what we couldn’t see was the reaction, the rejoicing that was going on in the presence of the angels of God over these two sinners who repented. They weren’t amazed by the result of the PGA Championship, or for the new 100m World Record that was set. They were too busy rejoicing over two lost souls being converted to a new relationship with Jesus Christ.

What about us? Let’s begin to put it all into perspective, the heavenly, eternal perspective, and let’s begin as true believers to get thrilled, and excited about the things that really matter in eternity. I was excited about watching Usain Bolt break the record, and I even yelled out and clapped. But, I am still smiling, and am still profoundly thrilled about the amazing miracle of those two lives that have been forever changed in eternity. How about you?

God bless you and have a tremendously rewarding week,

Pastor Brad Tuttle