First Assembly of God - Harrisonburg, Virginia: First Assembly of God Newsletter

1310 Garber's Church Rd. | Harrisonburg, VA 22801 | 540.433.8687

First Assembly of God Newsletter September 2009

Most of you know that I have challenged you as a church to strive to achieve three
goals before the year's end: 1) to read through the Bible at least once, 2) to pray at least 7 minutes a day, and 3) to become involved in a ministry here at First Assembly.

I would like to focus on the importance of readingyour Bible, and perhaps point out a valuable truth tobe learned if you will discipline yourself to practice it. This week, as I was reading through the book of Psalms there was a word that kept appearing. It was "selah", and it appears 77 times in Scripture. It appears 74 times in Psalms and 3 times in Habakkuk.

"Selah" represents a rest, like in music, a change, even in the sense of direction. Simply stated it means to "pause and think." I believe the "pause and think" meaning is saying we must learn to be quiet before the Lord and hear what God is saying through His written word. In music, a pause or rest emphasizes the composer's heart for the music. It offers variation and intensity or mood of music established by its rhythm, dynamic level or harmonic structure. This marking is vital to every score of music, and is just as important as the notes and chords.

So with believers "selah" is used to illustrate the time when Christians take time to pause and think. The holy writer said, "Be still, and know that I am God" (Psalm 46:10). When God chooses to use a word 77 times, it ought to attract our attention. If it is true that every jot and tittle is inspired and has a purpose, then certainly every word is likewise God-breathed.

The psalmist asked the question: "What is man that thou art mindful of him?" It is the greatest wonder of the universe to know that God is mindful of us. "Selah" is any activity where we pause and become mindful of God and think about God and reflect on
life. So, may I remind you that as you do your daily Bible reading, "selah". Take time to pause and think about what you just read. Don't just read for the sake of reading your assigned chapters for the day, but allow the Holy Spirit to speak into your life. As it becomes a part of your life, I assure you there will be a major revision in your priorities and the results will be awesome. By the way, if you haven't started reading through the Bible yet, there is no better time to start then now.

— Pastor Jeff

BUSINESS
ADMINISTRATOR
NOTES

photo of business administrator Steve Parsons

Are you rich when it comes to personal finances and possessions? Most of us would probably quickly say, no way. Consider these statistics: If you make $15,000 per year, you are richer than 88% of the worlds 6+ billion people. Making $40,000 per year puts you in the top 3% of the world’s population and $80,000 would put you in the top 1%. So most of us are much richer than we think we are on a global scale.

The bigger question is how much trust we put in our riches. Some one once said “The poorest man in the world is the man who has nothing but money.” The Bible clearly tells us not to trust in riches, but to trust in God. Following are some scriptures to support that command.

Proverbs 11:28 – He who trusts in his riches will fall, but the righteous will flourish like foliage.
Mark 8:36 – What good is it for a man to gain the whole world, yet forfeit his soul.
Ecclesiastes 5:10 – Whoever loves money, never has money enough; whoever loves wealth is never satisfied with his income.
Philippians 4:11 – I have learned in whatsoever state I am in to be content.
1 Timothy 6:6 – Godliness with contentment is great gain.
John 14:1 – Do not let your heart be troubled. Trust in God.

The Bible contains dozens of verses on the subject of money. Probably for good reason. God knows that if we are not vigilant, we can get our focus off of Him and onto money. We are only truly rich when we put our complete trust and dependence in Him.

I leave you with these last two thoughts: “You are only poor when you want more than you have.” And “The trouble with most people is their earning capacity does not match their yearning capacity.”

— Steve Parsons

Hello First Assembly Family!

It is hard to believe, but it is that time of year again. Autumn is right around the corner and classes at JMU start next Monday. This week we are working on helping freshmen move into their dorms and training for Chi Alpha’s leadership team.

In the next few weeks we are expecting to see students who are searching for a church to call their own walk through our very doors at First Assembly. We are asking you as members of the congregation to consider participating in a program we call “Adopt-A-Student”. As we have gone through the co-hort leadership training as a church leadership team, the Lord has continued to emphasize to me the importance of building relationships with people. Students today are looking for people who truly care about them. Many students have broken homes and your family could make a valuable and eternal investment in the student’s lives by simply getting to know them and showing concern for their life. Adopting a student would mean having them over for dinner once a month or taking them out for coffee occasionally. It would mean making it an intentional priority to make a connection with your adopted student once a month. It is my heart to see every student who walks through our church doors make a significant connection with someone or a family before they leave. Please be prayerfully asking the Lord about how you can be used in this area.

I also wanted to briefly share something God has been showing me. Pastor Jeff recently preached about loving others and our life being a pleasing fragrance to the Lord, like Jesus’ life was when He gave it on Calvary. It is easy to look at someone’s life, particularly those who have a lot of trouble in theirs and think they did something to deserve it. “Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful.” Luke 6:36. I have been asking that God will give me His heart for people and His eyes to see people. We don’t always know someone’s situation or why they have made the decisions they have. It is easy to draw conclusions about someone without knowing their history or what is inside their heart. As we strive to become the people that God has called us to be let’s remember to see people through the eyes of mercy, the way God sees you and me.

— Pastor Stephanie Grant