Church in Fla
vs.
the Oscars in Southern Cal
Greetings!

CHURCH in FLORIDA

Last Sunday Tudi and I went to church with our dear friends Irwin and Shirl
who were hosting us in Florida for 4 days..

The 120 person choir sang
HOW GREAT THOU ART

The message of the sermon was
George Washington's favorite verse
...plus a wonderful insight into
Revelation 7:9-17

...Tudi and I were very blessed by the morning worship service
(please listen to the attachment below)
ACADEMY AWARDS (AA)

The OSCARS in Southern California on Sunday night was a totally different experience 

Let me be very honest...I really like good movies... THE DARKEST HOUR was my favorite movie of the year and the acting job by
Gary Oldman was outstanding. I was of the opinion that he was a slam dunk to get the best actor award

I also liked  DUNKIRK and the GETTY movies...however the other movies up for awards we had not seen- as I watched the clips at the ceremony I know why we didn't see them

What does a GODLESS SOCIETY look like...?
THE ACADEMY AWARDS fit the bill

It says in the Bible, "Everyone did what was right in their own eyes"Judges 17:6 ...that to me was the message LOUD and CLEAR of the ACADEMY AWARDS 

- God was not mentioned
-Of course Jesus Christ was left out too
- Self was on display to the extreme in words and appearance 
-Some of the movements supported had validity ... 
-Others were disgusting 
-Respect for authority was greatly lacking
-The overall moral compass appeared to be total Godlessness
LET'S PRAY

Let's pray some of their leaders in the movie industry come to CHRIST- then they can witness openly of God's love, forgiveness and abundant life ...and hopefully many in the movie industry will openly REPENT of their sins and claim Jesus as Savior and Lord


CAN IT HAPPEN to the people of the movie industry?

Yes it can.... Yes it can!!
How do you know?

This is a personal answer...

As my very good high school friend Brian Wilson (founder of the Beach Boys) a number of years ago when he called, while on tour and asked for me...then found out from our babysitter that I was at a Bible Study...he said...

"HE IS THE LAST GUY I THOUGHT WOULD
EVER BE AT A BIBLE STUDY!"

As a former staunch atheist...the circumstances of life painted me into a corner. As a result I read the Bible with an open mind and heart...then I with only a seed of honest faith, claimed Jesus Christ as my Savior...and my life was positively changed forever

I KNOW IT CAN HAPPEN to members of the MOVIE INDUSTRY TOO
man/bible
Remember- the WORD never returns void...Isaiah 55:11
The verses that Pastor Grant covered during his wonderful message last Sunday...
they should be read and meditated on by all...



A GREAT MULTITUDE FROM EVERY NATION

"After this I looked, and behold, a great multitude that no one could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, with palm branches in their hands, and crying out with a loud voice, "Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!" And all the angels were standing around the throne and around the elders and the four living creatures, and they fell on their faces before the throne and worshiped God, saying, "Amen! Blessing and glory and wisdom and thanksgiving and honor and power and might be to our God forever and ever! Amen." Then one of the elders addressed me, saying, "Who are these, clothed in white robes, and from where have they come?" I said to him, "Sir, you know." And he said to me, "These are the ones coming out of the great tribulation. They have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb . "Therefore they are before the throne of God, and serve him day and night in his temple; and he who sits on the throne will shelter them with his presence. They shall hunger no more, neither thirst anymore ; the sun shall not strike them, nor any scorching heat . For the Lamb in the midst of the throne will be their shepherd, and he will guide them to springs of living water, and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes. "
Revelation 7:9‭-‬17



WHAT CAN WE DO ABOUT OUR DIVIDED COUNTRY
AS EXEMPLIFIED BY THE MESSAGE
at the CHURCH in Florida VS the ACADEMY AWARDS
In HOLLYWOOD???



OUR PRIORITY
Believers must look to their daily lives and their own communities as their priority to spread the GOOD NEWS of JESUS CHRIST...
but also not dismiss their witness to the poor and needy throughout the world

There are many wonderful ministries as exemplified
by our recent missions conference at our church and other
missions efforts throughout the world

However sadly most churches have a blind spot and do not have an witnessing emphasis where the church members live, work, go to school, shop, recreate or anywhere they encounter people


ONE SPECIFIC ACTION TO TAKE:

HERE'S WHAT WE ARE DOING AT OUR CHURCH THAT GIVES
ME GREAT ENCOURAGEMENT-

We are in our 6th week of WITNESS BREAKTHROUGH TRAINING that is unique and different because THE BODY of CHRIST is also DOING SOME OF THE TRAINING

This is shown through OUR WB TRAINING AGENDA this week:

A Prayer committee ....Tudi, Sue, Randy, Wyatt, Fred, Win and Jan + others precedes the WB session start... by 30 minutes of prayer that includes prayer for each session attendee

Witness Breakthrough Training AGENDA...3/7/18

  • Use of geographic MAPS...Fred
  • 2+minute testimonies...Gwen, Nancy and Fred
  • IF WE ARE THE LIGHT, WHY IS AMERICA SO DARK? 3 CHAPTER OVERVIEWS...Ted
  • 5 table discussions re assigned chapters...25 minutes
  • 5 table moderators each give 5 minute chapter recap to all assembled
  • Wrap up and a challenge to give your testimony and a verse to others...Ted


As you can see...Weekly we have at least 9 people fulfilling leadership roles and dozens of people dialoguing ....without question I will insist fufure WB Sessions be a BODY OF CHRIST led witness training experience versus an only one person lecture series


I MARVEL at the healthy BODY of CHRIST... breathing IN and OUT...IT IS by far THE BEST TEACHER and effective WITNESS...plus the fruit of the Holy Spirit abounds

Quite a contrast last Sunday... Church and the Academy Awards

Ted Sprague
Acts 17:28


For additional insights into WB training please visit and scroll through the ministry website
www.witnessbreakthrough.org