Lisa's Mission Trip to Russia

Here is a note from our friend Lisa...


Dear Friends,

I'm planning on going on a short-term ministry Team with SOTH to help teach English conversational skills to college students and young adults in Russia this summer at English Camp.

I'll be sending out a letter in the mail to describe the ministry and different ways that you can participate with us: going; praying; giving; etc... as God leads. If you would like to receive this letter, please respond to by sending me your contact information via email to: singinheart@sbcglobal.net. Put "Russia" on the subject line.

Thank you so much! :-)

Lisa Spencer

Memory Verses

Will you join me in memorizing these verses? The power of God's Word is awesome! You will be blessed! I know that God will give you opportunities to be a blessing to others with an encouraging word for them at the right time!

John 1:1-3 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made.

May you be greatly blessed in your study and memorization of God's powerful Word!

Memory Verses

Will you join me in memorizing these verses? The power of God's Word is awesome! You will be blessed! I know that God will give you opportunities to be a blessing to others with an encouraging word for them at the right time!

Proverbs 10:19 When words are many, sin is not absent, but he who holds his tongue is wise.

Romans 10:17 17 Consequently, faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word of Christ.

May you be greatly blessed in your study and memorization of God's powerful Word!

Memory Verses

Will you join me in memorizing these verses? The power of God's Word is awesome! You will be blessed! I know that God will give you opportunities to be a blessing to others with an encouraging word for them at the right time!

Hebrews 11:6 And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.

Psalm 46:10 "Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth."

May you be greatly blessed in your study and memorization of God's powerful Word!

Merry Christmas

Will you join me in memorizing these verses? The power of God's Word is awesome! You will be blessed! I know that God will give you opportunities to be a blessing to others with an encouraging word for them at the right time!

This weeks memory verses are:
Ephesians 2:8 - 9 For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith--and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God-- not by works, so that no one can boast.


May you be greatly blessed in your study and memorization of God's powerful Word!

Memory Verses

Will you join me in memorizing these verses? The power of God's Word is awesome! You will be blessed! I know that God will give you opportunities to be a blessing to others with an encouraging word for them at the right time!

This weeks memory verses are:

John 1:16-17 From the fullness of his grace we have all received one blessing after another. For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.

May you be greatly blessed in your study and memorization of God's powerful Word!

Goodbye Kisa

A dear friend and sister in Christ (Kisa Hughes) passed away this week. She was an extraordinarily kind and loving young lady. Her funeral will be this Thursday at Shepherd of the Hills at 11:00 AM if you would like to join us.

(If I could say one last thing to Kisa...it would be something like...)
Dear Kisa,
We know that you have gone on ahead of us and we miss you and look forward to the day when we will see you in heaven. Each of our lives are richer for knowing you. May God bless and comfort your family and friends in their time of sorrow.
Thanks for touching our lives.
David

OBITUARIES (LA Times)
Kisa Hughes, 33; was All-Pac-10 as UCLA basketball player
From Times Staff Reports
March 4, 2007

Kisa Hughes, a former All-Pacific 10 Conference basketball player at UCLA, died of colon cancer Thursday at her home in Riverside, her sister Kilee said Saturday. She was 33.A graduate of J.W. North High School in Riverside, where she played basketball and volleyball, Hughes attended Cal State Fullerton and was named Big West Conference freshman of the year in basketball. She transferred to UCLA and was among the Pac-10 leaders in rebounding and scoring all three seasons there. A graceful 6-foot-4 center, Hughes was named to the All-Pac-10 team in the 1994-95 season. After graduating with a bachelor's degree in history, Hughes played professional basketball for 2 1/2 years in China, Germany and Austria until injuries ended her playing career.She returned to California and worked with youths in urban communities, first with the Beyond Shelter housing group and then with the city of Los Angeles' Rewarding Youth Achievement Program. Hughes was born in Harbor City and grew up with basketball. Her father, Ronald, played basketball at Cal State Fullerton and is a professor of sociology there. Her mother, Barbara, was a schoolteacher in Riverside. Besides her parents and her sister, Hughes is survived by three brothers, Ronald Jr., Solomon and Gabriel.A memorial service will be held at 1 p.m. Wednesday at the Rock Church, 2345 S. Waterman Ave., San Bernardino. Funeral services will be held at 11 a.m. Thursday at Shepherd of the Hills Church, 19700 Rinaldi St., Porter Ranch.In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to the Los Angeles Conservation Corps, with checks payable to LACC in care of Yo Watts!, a youth development organization that provides education and employment services in Watts and surrounding areas.

SURVEY! Who would you like to meet?

Who would you most like to meet?

(in all of history)

NOTE: Other than Jesus...(too easy of an answer on a Christian web site)

List your top ten people?

~

I will think about this question myself and update my answers...but for now...I will start with:

1. Paul (anyone who can handle that many trials and be content? beyond my comprehension!)

2. Peter (sometimes speaks before he thinks! kind of like me!)

3. Hank Aaron (baseball player...had to handle severe racism...and played with class)

4. Gale Sayers (Hall of Fame football player - movie Brian's Song - played with class!)
5. Hosea (asked by God to marry an unfaithful prostitute? and her name was Gomer?) lol Maybe in that day...Gomer was a more acceptable name for a woman? Sometimes I think my calling from God is much easier than that!

6. Beth Moore (one of my favorite speakers/authors)

7. Tony Evans (one of my favorite preachers)

8. Catherine Marshall (one of my favorite authors)

9.

10.

Memory Verses

Welcome to this weeks memory verses! Each week, we look at two verses (or short passages). One will deal with the amazing encouragement and grace that God's Word brings to us and the other will deal with essentials of our faith and salvation!

Will you join me in memorizing these verses? The power of God's Word is awesome! You will be blessed! I know that God will give you opportunities to be a blessing to others with an encouraging word for them at the right time!

John 15:15 I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master's business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you.

Ephesians 2:8-9 For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith--and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God-- not by works, so that no one can boast.

FYI - The power of God's Word is espressed here:
Hebrews 4:12 For the word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.

May you be greatly blessed in your study and memorization of God's powerful Word!

Luke Everett

We have had the privilage of visiting Rancho Sordo Mudo several times in the last few years and it is always a blessing to see and hear our friend Luke Everett! Luke's parents founded Rancho Sordo Mudo 38 years ago to serve the needs of deaf children in Mexico and teach them about Jesus. I won't take the time to write out much of what he said...because you would be much better served to hear the story from Luke in person. For now, you can also log onto their web site and click on the audio/video link and download the message. (NOTE: Luke mentioned that they were renovating the entire web site...so it will likely be down for most of the next couple of weeks)

The one thing that I want to write about tonight is how touching it is to hear the story of Luke and his family and of Rancho Sordo Mudo. It is so amazing to hear him talking again and again about how God has a plan for our lives! In the midst of so much tragedy, he continues to see how God has blessed him and how God has used him to touch the lives of others. Most of us complain and whine about so many little things...and fail to praise God in all of our blessings. Yet Luke has kept his eyes on Jesus...just like to the bible tells us to do in Hebrews!

Every time I hear him, I am convicted to rethink my attitude! He has had far more tragic things happen in his life, yet he kept talking about God having a plan! He kept talking about how Jesus always provides! It sure makes me think about the silly little things that I have complained about or whined about. We are so blessed, yet we find it so easy to take God's blessings for granted and complain about one thing or another.

Facing the Giants

What an awesome night!

We had about 100 people join us this evening for Life Groups...and a movie and pizza night. The movie was "Facing the Giants". It is a story about a football coach who is having to face the giants in his life...giants such as fear and doubt. I think they can be the biggest giants that most of us will ever face and they can destroy us if we let them!
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By the way...what giants have you been facing lately?
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What areas of your life have you been saying to God..."that's impossible"?
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I would love to hear from you...especially those of you that saw the film...about what God is doing in your life.
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There were so many lessons to be learned from this film...My favorite message had to be - We will praise God in victory...and we will praise Him in defeat!

It is so easy to wallow in self pity when facing defeat...and to stop praising God. Yet He is worthy of our praise at all times!
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May we always remember that and continue praising God at all times!

By the way...you can order the dvd or read more about the story and the church that produced this remarkable film at:

http://www.facingthegiants.com/

Potty Training for a Struggling Christian

I gave my testimony on "Christian Singles Radio" at www.BigMediaUSA.com on January 27, 2006. Please feel free to listen to this message online right now and post your comments here!

My testimony (titled: Potty Training for a Struggling Christian") is wrapped up into a Bible study about what God has done in my darkest hours and my greatest blessings. He was merciful and gracious, yet He refused to allow me to wallow in pity or despair when things got tough! He used so many different people in my life to draw me to Him, grow me in His love and bring me to place where I could be used in ministry. It continues to amaze me to look back and see what He had arranged...even before I knew He existed! God is so good!

This message is especially dedicated to Marc Prado, Paul Kealy and Rich and Judy Childres! God used each of you in a very special way to change my life! May God always bless each of you and all that you do!

We would love to hear from you...especially about what God is doing in and through your life!

By the way - Who do you need to go back and thank for investing in your life!

Stillness

Psalm 46:10 "Be still and know that I am God"

More than Conquerors

This evenings message was about Elijah...
(Notes to be added later...)

More than Conquerors
by Pastor David Macer
January 19, 2007

1) Introduction

2) Elijah – Truly a Conqueror!

3) Elijah – A Struggling human being

4) Paul – Where I am weak, He is strong

2Co 12:10 “That is why, for Christ's sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.”

5) Romans 8: 37 No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us.

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
"Yes, if you want to say that I was a drum major. Say that I was a drum major for justice. Say that I was a drum major for peace. Say that I was a drum major for righteousness. And all of the other shallow things will not matter. I won't have any money to leave behind. I won't have the fine and luxurious things in life to leave behind. But I just want to leave a committed life behind. And that's all I want to say. If I can help somebody as I pass along, if I can cheer somebody with a word or song, if I can show somebody he is traveling wrong, then my living will not be in vain."

Excerpted from "The Drum Major Instinct", a sermon by Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr., 1968. Available on CD and print in A Knock At Midnight: Inspiration from the Great Sermons of Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr.

http://www.thekingcenter.org/

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Some additional information about a life well lived...indeed very well lived:

http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/peace/laureates/1964/king-bio.html

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Note: I feel there is little that I can say about Dr. King. His words and his life speak volumes of what God desires to do in the lives of those that follow Him!

Potty Training for a Struggling Christian

My Testimony
Notes and outline will likely be added later.
However, feel free to add comments if you attended last night!
Blessings,
David

New Years and New Beginnings 2007!

This evenings message was about listening to (and following) the awesome plan that God has for our lives! We talked about Moses and the excuses that he comes up with in the first few chapters of Exodus. It really seems quite humorous in a way. Yet quite honestly, I have had my share of excuses for God and I suspect that most of you have as well. I love the book of Exodus because of all of it's practical lessons!

I happen to believe that there is a great value for us, to "spend time in the dessert". (Although, I do not think that we need to spend 40 years in the dessert as the Israelites did). When we face our trials (and Jesus said that we "will have trials"), then it is of utmost importance that we learn the lessons that are to be learned and keep our attitudes (and our countenance) in line with the man or woman of faith that we are!

This evenings outline is below. Please feel free to post comments on the message...and on what God is speaking into your life now...

New Years - New Beginnings
January 6, 2007
Pastor David Macer
1) Introduction – Last week
2) Vision Where there is no vision, the people perish: but he that keepeth the law, happy is he. Proverbs 29:18
...a) protect yourself…and your witness…
...b) listen for what God is calling you to do
..........be in a Life group, lead a Life group, serve in this ministry, Encounter, Bible reading, ..........memorizing) for the things that God has called us to do!
3) Reasons that some do not have vision for the future
...a) Things from the __past__ are weighing us down (Encounter)
...b) We haven’t learned to ___hear__ the voice of God
John 8:47 He who belongs to God hears what God says. The reason you
do not hear is that you do not belong to God."
...c) We’re too busy with details of life (busyness – to ­­­­_kill_ the heart)
...d) Fear of failure
4) Some practical things to stay on-course
This is what the introspection of last week was for! (What are the things that YOU need to change your life?)
...a) Reading the Bible
...b) Memory Verses
...c) Prayer Partners
...d) Accountability Partners
...e) Whatever it takes for us individually…
5) My goals for 2007
I shared a number of my personal goals with the live audience…
6) The reason that I shared that with you?
...a) It can help me stay accountable to what God has called me to!
...b) I pray that it might help someone here?
7) Joshua! Jeremiah! Moses! Hosea!
........Joshua: Be strong and of good courage!
They all had their excuses. We can all make excuses. Yet, God tells us to rise above our excuses and follow Him, Obey Him. TRUST HIM! HE IS WORTHY OF EVERY OUNCE OF OUR TRUST!

Saying Goodbye to 2006

This evenings message was primarily based on Psalm 139, 1 John 1 and 2 Corinthians 13. We discussed how new years was a time of introspection, with roots that go back to Lev 23 and Yom Kippur and Rosh Hashana.

We talked about the Psalmist's strength in asking God to completely reveal what was inside his heart!
**Only an upright man/woman can pray this…
We talked about how Adam and Eve (in Genesis) were naked and ashamed, so they hid from God. Contrast the psalmists strength in seeking after God and asking Him to reveal or know (Know - the Greek word yaw-dah' meaning - to make known, even declare) what is inside his heart.

It takes strength for me to find out what is really inside of my own heart. I usually don't even want to face it myself, let alone have a heart to heart conversation with God about it. Yet, considering the fact that He already knows what is inside my heart, it is good for me (and healing for me) to be open about it. God expects us to be open about it.
James 5:16 Confess...to one another (healing)
1 John 1:9 (forgiveness)
2 Corinthians 13:1 - 14 (especially verse 5)
1 John 1:1-10 (especially verses 6 - 10)
Note: the reason this is written to us is so that our joy may be full!
1 John 1:4

I would also refer back to our previous message:
God's Holiness, Our Wholeness based on Isaiah 6


For those that were able to attend this weeks bible study, please feel free to post your comments and thoughts!

For those that were unable to attend, I hope to have the audio recording on line very soon.

Next weeks message is: New Years and New Beginnings
I pray that you can join us. God has been changing lives since the very beginning of time and He continues to do so! 2007 is going to be an awesome year!

Blessings,
Dave

Future Topics for Adult Singles Bible Study!

Welcome to Saturday Night Adult Singles Bible Study Blog!
This blog is intended to be a place for you to post your comments or questions about our Bible Study each week. For those that live too far away to attend each week, you will be able to listen to the messages on-line shortly at http://www.bigmediausa.com/ and then clicking on the radio show "Christian Singles Radio".

For this thread, I would like to invite your suggestions about future topics that we might cover. Potential topics include just about anything that might be appropriate for an adult singles bible study. I should note that not everything that we cover is necessarily a "singles" or "married" topic. But it is an "adult singles" bible study and it should be a topic that would apply to a wide variety of people.

You can post your suggested topics here or e-mail them to me at: dm@bigmediausa.com

Some of the topics that we have covered in the past are:
**Sexuality and the Christian Single
(an 8 week series that is coming out on CD in February 2007)
**Dating and the Christian Single (another series that we cover about every 18 months)
**Thankfulness
**The Amazing Birth of Jesus Christ
**God's Holiness - Our Wholeness
**Anger
**Forgiveness
**Love: The Antidote to Envy
**From 9/11 to Hurricane Katrina: A Biblical Perspective on Trials and Tragedies
**How Great is the Desire of Sin for You!
**When a leader falls (or what is Grace Really for?)

NOTE: Most of these messages are available on CD ($5.00 includes shipping) and will be available on the radio show for free very soon!

NOTE: The schedule of topics for the next few weeks is available on http://www.shepherdsingles.com/ under "events".

Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas to all! May we all remember the birth of Jesus Christ as the ultimate and greatest gift ever! Jesus came to earth for one reason - to go to the cross to pay the price for all of our sins!

I pray that we would take time out from the crazy busyness of this season and put things into the right perspective. While for some of us, this is a time of family and loved ones, for others, it is a time of loneliness and heartache. May we reach out to those that are around us in a loving and compassionate manner. May we escape the materialism of this "season" and rejoice in the Birth of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ!

In His Love,
David, Kari, Matthew and Christina Macer