Believing the Promises of God - in His Word

Against all hope, Abraham in hope believed… Without weakening in his faith… Yet he did not waver through unbelief regarding the promise of God, but was strengthened in his faith and gave glory to God, being fully persuaded that God had power to do what He had promised. ~ Romans 4 [selected 18-21]



Tuesday, April 19, 2011

HERE & NOW = THERE & THEN

Revelation 21: 18-21

18The wall was built of jasper, while the city [itself was of] pure gold, clear and transparent like glass. 19The foundation [stones] of the wall of the city were ornamented with all of the precious stones. The first foundation [stone] was jasper, the second sapphire, the third chalcedony (or white agate), the fourth emerald, 20The fifth onyx, the sixth sardius, the seventh chrysolite, the eighth beryl, the ninth topaz, the tenth chrysoprase, the eleventh jacinth, the twelfth amethyst. 21And the twelve gates were twelve pearls, each separate gate being built of one solid pearl. And the main street (the broadway) of the city was of gold as pure and translucent as glass.

My class gave me a special hand-made bracelet portraying the Scripture above. It is a New Jerusalem bracelet complete with streets of Gold and translucent glass. It also has 12 pearls in between each color of precious stone signifying the 12 gates! I will treasure this forever! We enjoyed studying Revelation together - almost half of the ladies for the first time. Two of us have studied it in depth for the 7th time! God met us here each week with His Presence! There were 22 of us in this study but only 18 made it to the final dinner celebration. We miss you Mary, Donna A., Marion and Jane!! Our theme verse was:

Revelation 17:14 "They will make war against the Lamb, but the Lamb will overcome them because he is Lord of lords and King of kings—and with him will be his called, chosen and faithful followers.” Tiara and her Mom. Tiara celebrated her 28th birthday with us last night too! We had candles and cake to make it special!

God is now the CENTER of each of these ladies' lives! We learned sooo much together and God truly did bless us each and everyone one of us! We praise God for the Revelation of Jesus Christ in our lives!

Choosing JOY in this season,

Stephanie

Sunday, April 17, 2011

Another Conference in PA

Christ Community Church - 2011
I had the JOY of serving with the ladies of

Christ Community Church from Newfield, NJ,

at Black Rock Retreat Center in Quarryville, PA., last weekend!

The theme for this year was:

BODY - SOUL - SPIRIT

Theme verse:

1 Thessalonians 5:23

May God himself, the God of peace,

sanctify you through and through.

May your whole spirit, soul and body

be kept blameless

at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.

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Worshiping Jesus was first and foremost!

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Above photo: My dear sister Kim! We met in 2008 the first year

that I spoke at their first retreat here at Black Rock.

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Above: Jane, the assistant pastor's wife -
and also my very dear friend and room-mate for this retreat!
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Above Photo:
The main speaker was Rosa Maria Faulkner from Wilmington, DE.

[left in pink - along with the retreat committee]

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Pastor Tony's wife, Lynn and me.

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Choosing JOY in this season,

Stephanie

Saturday, April 2, 2011

Revive - Refresh - Renew RETREAT in PA


I had the great privilege of teaching at a retreat last weekend with Hope Community Church from Gilbertsville, PA. We stayed at the INN of Leola Village in Leola, PA, a beautiful facility hidden in the heart of the Amish Country.


My dinner table group on Friday night before the sessions began!



I wrote a skit about the Presence of God - and Natalie [left] played the little girl, and Carly [right] played the mother. Their added humor made it come alive for all those who enjoyed it! Great job ladies!! You're going on the road with me from now on!!



Worship was a focus of each session. The team from HCC is Carly, Danielle, and Marcie


Teaching for Saturday's morning sessions.



Gretchen was one of the ladies who came to the Bible study session on my favorite chapter of the Old Testament = Exodus 33!

This was our prayer upon beginning the retreat: As a Get-Away Weekend with the KING of kings – THE LIVING GOD.


We asked God to...


REVIVE us with YOUR LOVE …. that we may see clearly exactly WHO YOU ARE! Revive us with YOUR PRESENCE in a way we’ve never known. REFRESH us with YOUR SPIRIT, LORD, let the wind blows across our face. Refresh us with YOUR WORD so that we are able to live fruitfully and abundantly in these last days. RENEW a RIGHT SPIRIT within us, LORD Bring us to OWN RENEWED COMMITMENT - to follow hard after You!


It was my JOY and pleasure to serve you all!

Choosing JOY in this season,

Stephanie