firstIMPRESSIONS
from Senior Pastor Timothy Satryan

Is there a problem that is just ahead of you, and you don’t know what you are going to do? Then, let’s just take a moment, and think about Moses and the Israelites as they fled Egypt, and all that they faced!

Moses and the people were in the desert, but what was he going to do with them? They had to be fed, and feeding 2 or 3 million people requires a lot of food.

According to the Quartermaster General in the Army, it is reported that Moses would have to have had 1500 tons of food each day. Do you know that to bring that much food each day, two freight trains, each a mile long, would be required!

Besides you must remember, they were out in the desert, so they would have to have firewood to use in cooking the food. This would take 4000 tons of wood and a few more freight trains, each a mile long, just for one day. And just think, they were forty years in transit.

And oh yes! They would have to have water. If they only had enough to drink and wash a few dishes, it would take 11,000,000 gallons each day, and a freight train with tank cars, 1800 miles long, just to bring water!

And then another thing! They had to get across the Red Sea in one night. Now, if they went on a narrow path, double file, the line would be 800 miles long and would require 35 days and nights to get through. So, there had to be a space in the Red Sea, 3 miles wide so that they could walk 5000 abreast to get over in one night.

But then, there is another problem. Each time they camped at the end of the day, a campground two-thirds the size of the state of Rhode Island was required, or a total of 750 square miles long... think of it! This space just for nightly camping.

Do you think Moses figured all this out before he left Egypt?

I think not!

You see, Moses believed in God. God took care of these things for him.

Now do you think God has any problem taking care of all your needs?

Here is your copy of firstIMPRESSIONS, Volume 4.35. Live for God, on purpose, trusting Him to supply all your need according to His riches in glory!

One of the cardinal doctrines of our church is our belief God still heals today. In the Assemblies of God’s “Statement of Fundamental Truths,” it says that “Divine healing is an integral part of the gospel. Deliverance from sickness is provided for in the atonement, and is the privilege of all believers.”

Why do we believe this? Because the Bible tells us so! Prophecy recorded in Isaiah 53:4-5 speaks of the wounds that Jesus bore on His back as a result of the whipping He endured before His crucifixion, and tells us that “by His wounds we are healed.” Matthew 8:16-17 directly and specifically confirms this prophecy, telling us that Jesus healed the sick “to fulfill what was spoken through the prophet Isaiah: ‘He took up our infirmities and carried our diseases.’”

James 5:14-16 says “Is any one of you sick? He should call the elders of the church to pray over him and anoint him with oil in the name of the Lord. And the prayer offered in faith will make the sick person well; the Lord will raise him up. Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective.”

So, I pose this question to every person reading this, and to everyone who will be at WILMINGTON first assembly of God this Sunday morning – “Is any one of you sick?” This Sunday morning, I will be sharing from Acts chapter 3, and the account of the crippled beggar who is healed, in a message that I have pointedly titled “Receiving Your Healing.”

Come with faith, believing that the Lord is going to do a miracle in your life! We will be concluding the service with a time of prayer and anointing with oil, as well as an opportunity to give testimony of what the Lord has done! This promises to be a dynamic time together in the Lord! Don’t miss it!

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In John 4:23-24 Jesus tells us “Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks. God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in spirit and in truth.”

This Sunday night, we plan to do just that – worship Him in Spirit and in Truth! This Sunday a fifth Sunday, and that means its time for another of our Hallelujah Nights! We will dedicate our entire evening service to a great time of praise!

There are four of these “fifth Sunday nights” each year, and each Hallelujah Night is always a great time in the Lord. Make your plans to be here and give Him praise!

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The story is told a Christian man in the 1930’s who worked as a carpenter. On this particular day, he was building some crates for the clothes his church was sending to orphanages in China. On his way home, he reached into his shirt pocket to find his glasses, but they were gone. When he mentally replayed his earlier actions, he realized what had happened; the glasses had slipped out of his pocket unnoticed and fallen in one of the crates, which he had nailed shut.

His brand new glasses were heading for China! The Great Depression was at it’s height and Grandpa had six children. He had spent $20 for those glasses that very morning. He was upset by the thought of having to buy another pair. “It’s not fair,” he told God as he drove home in frustration. “I’ve been very faithful in giving of my time and money to your work, and now this.”

Months later, the director of the orphanage was on furlough in the United States. He wanted to visit all the churches that supported him in China, so he came to speak one Sunday at my grandfather’s small church in Chicago. The missionary began by thanking the people for their faithfulness in supporting the orphanage. “But most of all,” he said, “I must thank you for the glasses you sent last year. You see, the Communists had just swept through the orphanage, destroying everything, including my glasses. I was desperate. Even if I had the money, there was simply no way of replacing those glasses. Along with not being able to see well, I experienced headaches every day, so my co-workers and I were much in prayer about this. Then your crates arrived. When my staff removed the covers, they found a pair of glasses lying on top.”

The missionary paused long enough to let his words sink in. Then, still gripped with the wonder of it all, he continued, “Folks, when I tried on the glasses, it was as though they had been custom made just for me! I want to thank you for being a part of that.” The people listened, happy for the miraculous glasses. But the missionary surely must have confused their church with another, they thought. There were no glasses on their list of items to be sent overseas. But sitting quietly in the back, with tears streaming down his face, an ordinary carpenter realized the Master Carpenter had used him in an extraordinary way.

There are times we want to blame God instead of thanking Him! Perhaps it is something we ought to try more often, “Thank you God for not allowing my car to start this morning.” He may have been saving your life from a car accident. May God bless your weekend. Look for the perfect mistakes.

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On May 2, 1962, a dramatic advertisement appeared in the San Francisco Examiner: “I don’t want my husband to die in the gas chamber for a crime he did not commit. I will therefore offer my services for 10 years as a cook, maid, or housekeeper to any leading attorney who will defend him and bring about his vindication.” One of San Francisco’s greatest attorneys heard about the ad and contacted the woman who had placed it. Her husband was about to be tried for the slaying of an elderly antique dealer. The jury, after eleven hours, found Kidd to be not guilty. Attorney Hallinan refused Gladys Kidd’s offer of ten years’ servitude.

Our assignment as God’s children is to demonstrate His compassion to others. God has given you gifts not only for your benefit, but to benefit others. If you’re not already, get involved in your community. Offer your knowledge, money, or just a helping hand in order to make a difference for eternity.

as seen in Turning Point Daily Devotional on August 13, 2004

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A Rabbi wrote about his experience in a Nazi concentration camp. One evening in the winter of 1944, his father, who was also a prisoner there, took him and some of their friends to a corner of the barracks. He told them it was Hanukkah, and began to light a wick placed in his melted margarine ration.

The son protested this waste of precious food. His father said, “We have seen that it is possible to live up to three weeks without food. We lived almost three days without water once. But you cannot live properly for three moments without hope!”

If one’s hope is based on circumstances, one must always live in fear. Circumstances change as quickly as the weather. But if one’s hope is based on an ever-faithful God, one can smile in the face of the foulest circumstances. God is bigger than any problem one can ever face.

as seen in Bill Bouknight’s “Just a Thought”

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A man fell into a pit and couldn’t get himself out...

• A subjective person came along and said, “I feel for you down there.”

• An objective person walked by and said, “It’s logical that someone would fall down there.”

• A Pharisee said, “Only bad people fall into pits.”

• A mathematician calculated how deep the pit was.

• A news reporter wanted the exclusive story on the pit.

• An IRS agent asked if he was paying taxes on the pit.

• A self-pitying person said, “You haven’t seen anything until you’ve seen my pit.”

• A fire-and-brimstone preacher said, “You deserve your pit.”

• A Christian Scientist observed, “The pit is just in your mind.”

• A psychologist noted, “Your mother and father are to blame for your being in that pit.”

• A self-esteem therapist said, “Believe in yourself and you can get out of that pit.”

• An optimist said, “Things could be worse.”

• A pessimist claimed, “Things will get worse.”

Jesus, seeing the man, took him by the hand and lifted him out of the pit.

as seen at SermonFodder.com

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“Relativism has taken hold of our culture, but our response must never be to abandon truth. Rather, it should be to educate people as to why absolute truth is important. The very claim that there is no such thing as absolute truth is irrational. No one can live that way.” – Lee Strobel

“Follow the trail of your time, your affection, your energy, your money and your allegiance. At the end of that trail, you’ll find a throne; and whatever, or whomever, is on that throne is what’s of highest value to you. On that throne is what you worship.” – Louie Giglio, in “The Air I Breathe”

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You may not be reading your Bible enough if...

10. You open up your Bible in church and a huge dust cloud rises.

9. You think Abraham, Isaac and Jacob may have had a few hit songs during the 60’s.

8. You open to the Gospel of Luke and a WWII Savings Bond falls out.

7. Your favorite Old Testament Patriarch is Hercules.

6. A small family of woodchucks has taken up residence in the Psalms of your Bible.

5. You become frustrated because Charlton Heston isn’t listed in either the Concordance or the Table of Contents.

4. Catching the kids reading the Song of Solomon, you demand: “Who gave you this stuff?”

3. You think the Minor Prophets worked in the quarries.

2. You keep falling for it every time when Pastor tells you to turn to Second Opinions.

1. The kids keep asking too many questions about your usual bedtime story: “Jonah the Shepherd Boy and His Ark of Many Colors.”

as seen in Mikey’s Funnies

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A Christian farmer spent the day in the city. In a restaurant for his meal, he sat near a group of young men. After he bowed his head to give thanks for his food, one of the young men thought he would embarrass the old gentleman.

“Hey, farmer, does everyone do that out where you live?”

The old man calmly replied, “No, son. The pigs don’t.”

The Bible says that the rocks will cry out if we don’t praise Him. This Sunday, I’m not looking from rocks to speak, or for pigs to pray! But, I am expecting a great move of the Lord, and for His people to praise Him in a mighty way! Looking forward to worshipping with you this Lord’s day! See you then!

Yours for HIM,
Timothy Satryan,
Senior Pastor
WILMINGTON first assembly of God