About My Father’s Business Outreach Ministries (a Grace Brethren Church)

We pray for a special anointing on our Pastor while he is in California attending a conference for the Grace Brethren network.  He was appointed as a board member and we praise God for it.  He left on Wednesday and will return very late Monday night.  We pray for travelling mercies for him while he is away and as he returns home.  

Guess what today is?  It’s the 4th Saturday!  We’re so thankful to God for being able to usher the spirit of God into the Women’s Shelter this evening.  As usual we had praise and worship, prayer, fellowship, and yummy food.  We also had a special guest named Shea perform a liturgical dance as blessed uplifting for all in attendance.

Due to Pastor Joyce’s absence, we took a break from the Gospel Transformation series in our Wednesday night Bible Study, but Deacon Jay Thomas filled the gap excellently, teaching from a lesson called Getting Help When Following God.  “For if you carefully observe every one of these commands I am giving you to follow-to love the Lord your God, walk in all His ways, and to hold fast to Him-then the Lord will…(Deut.11:22, 23a)”  We must learn to follow directions.  Why is it that some of us “freelance” when it comes to following directions?  Why do we choose our own route rather than adhere to the directions that come with the product, package, or procedure?  Well, the same questions apply for our relationship with and faith in God.  We must follow him at all costs.  We must stop doing it our way…stop choosing our own route. 

Some other Bible passages that were touched on during the course of this study were Mark 3:35; John 14:23; Luke 11:27-28; II John 6-9; Romans 8:35-37.  God loves us and gives us directions that help us respond in a practical way to that love.  He tells us what He wants from us for our best possible outcome.  In our difficulty of believing that His requests are in our best interest, we build up skepticism and sometimes, bitterness.  We feel we could do a better job writing up commandments, laws, and directions.  As a result, we have no faith in God’s laws or of those who represent Him.  Ask yourself, “Have I accepted the Lord’s right to make ALL final decisions in my life?”  Hopefully, you will answer yes to the question.  If you answered no, it is time to make a change and get right with God the Father…it’s not too late.  

Thanks Deacon Thomas for your diligence in teaching.  We appreciate you.

Tuesday and Thursday choir rehearsals went well.  Behind The Cross Choir continues to strive for excellence in ministry.  Below is a sample clip from Thursday’s practice.  They continue to work out the ‘kinks’ of this song and they plan to sing it Sunday February 4th.  We look forward to God using them tomorrow in a special and annointed way.  Thank you Jesus!

We pray for Minister Eric Jones as he brings forth the word tomorrow.  Lord, give him a clean heart, mind, and spirit to receive what you’d have him to and the preparedness, clarity, and wisdom to deliver your message to all who hear it.

About My Father’s Business Outreach Ministries // 411 New York Avenue, N.E. // Washington, D.C. 20002 // (202)548-7555 // amfbgrace@yahoo.com

     

Today’s blessed sermon was titled, The Need For Revival.  It was preached by-way of referencing 2 Timothy 3:1-5 & 4:3, Jeremiah 5:31, and 2 Chronicles 7:14.  The In the last days, people will depart from truth in order to placate their own fleshly desires.  Debating the truth, relativism, and ’situational ethics’ will become commonplace.  Many want to hear messages that conform to the times…to the world’s standard.  They feel that they will be proverbially exonerated because “everybody else is doing it and God forgives.”  Unfortunately, many of the people with these thoughts (and actions) are church folk.  We praise God that He is raising up another flock of Christians who are tired of the church foolishness in all forms.  God’s truth is convicting the hearts of more people everyday.  We rejoice at About My Father’s Business because we are one of the churches that aim to proclaim the truth of Jesus Christ and through the leadership of our Pastor Stephen Joyce, one of our main missions is to bring the lost to an understanding of Him, so that they may be saved.  Many church leaders are so busy telling Christians what they want to hear instead of telling them God’s truth, for fear of losing members, financial backing, etc., that many people are not truly accepting Jesus as their personal Lord and saviour and ultimately aren’t getting saved.  We praise God that we are not encompassed in that description!  The church needs to stop trying to duplicate the world.  God has already set a standard, all we have to do is follow it.   

If God said it…that settles it!!

We thank God for all of the events of the past week, including our choir’s rehearsals (they truly blessed us in song this morning) and Bible Study (Gospel transformation series, Wednesday evening at 7:30).  We also praise Him for the upcoming week and ask that His will be done.  We praise God for the work He is doing at AMFB by supplying new visions, members, and vigor for the Kingdom.

** Check out photo albums for updates.   

Today is the annual day that has been set aside for us to celebrate the life of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.  As an African-American church, we are thankful for Dr. King’s civil rights contributions.  If it were not for his valiant efforts to fight for the equal rights of all Blacks, we may not have the freedom to openly worship within our own churches.  We exhalt the name of Jesus for appointing Dr. King to spearhead change when he did.  Thank you Dr. King; a poignant speaker, a compassionate man with a giving heart, and most importantly…a Christian.  Your memory will be alive within us forever.

 

Sunday’s service was another soul-toucher.  The sermon was titled, “How To Tame Temptation”.  1 Corinthians 10:12-13, Romans 12:1-2, 1 John 2:15, and Galations 3:17, were the focuses of the sermon.  Pastor Joyce preached about being careful not to fall into temptation; identifying the 3 F’s method assists us to fight it: 1) Flight  2)Faith  3) Fight.   These three steps are self explanatory.  Upon encountering temptation, do all of the above.  Temptation can not be avoided!  When we think that we’re above falling (pride/boast), we give the devil the power to overtake us.  We must not let the world set the standard for us, we must be set apart.  If you are a recovering alcoholic, don’t agree to do a business deal at the bar.  Don’t make excuses for why you need to be there, i.e. “that’s where my boss wants to do it”, etc.  Fellow Christians, we have to stop lying to ourselves just to keep those things that don’t glorify God close by and convenient to slip back into.  Most people deal with temptation one of three ways: a) Give in to it  b) Struggle with it daily by fighting it in one’s own strength  c) Overcome it through the power of Christ.  Being tempted is not a sin, but surrendering to temptation is.  We are all going through…we’re all tempted, but we must submit to Christ and pray through it for the victory.  The devil has convinced too many of us that we are pretty good Christians, but remember church, we are still unworthy of God’s grace.  Let’s make 2007 the year of victory within our lives!

We praise God for His continued blessings upon our church.  Again this Sunday, God blessed us to receive a new member.  As our congregation continues to grow in number, we pray that it also grows member commitment to the many works that God would have us to do within the church.  We pray that God will convict hearts and souls to be obedient to His will.  Let’s make it our business to tithe appropriately, get involved in the activities within the church, and be a part of the comminuty outreach programs that AMFB are a part of.  Not only will you be doing as God wants, but you will feel a personal sense of fulfillment by being a blessing to someone else.

The Men’s Fellowship on Friday was a truly awesome time.  Look out for the event photos coming soon to the Activities & Ministries album (We apologize for the delay.  We have been experiencing some digital image based issues with the photographs).  We look forward to God building up this ministry more and more.  Reaching the men is crucial in an inner city based church such as ours.  So often, many Black men within the inner city are caught in a serious cycle…absentee fathers (and husbands), who had absentee fathers.  They are also often a statistic of the criminal justice system, the drug epidemic, etc.  Allowing Christ to be the center focus has to become the paramount piece to solving the puzzle of the disconnect between them and the church.  The Men’s Fellowships offer the camraderie of other men who are believers (including our Pastor), along with food, fun, and the Word of God.  Let the healing begin. 

Praise God!       

God wants to take you off of the “slightly soiled…reduced in price” rack.  Church, we need to constantly be aware of sin in order to do what’s right when they come your our way.  Many of us are spiritually sick and struggling with that sin virus…another form of A.I.D.S. (if you will), Aquired Immune Deficient Spirituality.  This virus attaches itself to a host and that host is us, in and through our lifestyle choices.  The good news is, with this form of A.I.D.S., you can acheive a healing cure, you just have to be willing to make sacrifices and take the biblically directed prescriptions.  a) By having a healthy diet, you have to not only back away from the high fat and salt foods, but from things that don’t feed your spirit.  b) Not only exercise in the gym to get your body in shape, but exercise your commitment to God by making an effort to support various church ministries.  c) Develop a prayer life because it filters the air you breathe.  Pray anytime, anywhere.  d) Practice affirmative living; in other words, say YES more often.  Remember, you’re not just saying yes to someone whose asking you to do something for and/or in the church, you’re saying yes to God as well.  Stop making other things more important than building up your church home and Christ.   

In 2007, we must make it our business to have a stronger connection with God.  We must learn to stop getting caught up in the blessings that come our way and get caught up in the blesser!

Wow!  What a great sermon Pastor Joyce!  Thank you for continually allowing God to use you to bless us.  We are also thankful for the people that God is continuing to bring to the church.  We had quite a few people join on Sunday, including the Wright family.  Praise God!

Last night’s Bible Study was another wonderful teaching from the Gospel Transformation series.  Please…I can’t urge you enough to come out and be a part of these blessed lessons.  You don’t have to be a member of AMFB to come.  God has things he wants you to know and blessings he wants you to receive.  Be in the right place at the right time to get what you need…Wednesday’s at 7:30pm.

The Men’s Fellowship is coming up, tomorrow evening at 7:30pm.  Men, tell a friend!  There will be a special viewing of The Passion of the Christ, along with pizza, brotherhood, prayer, praise, and more.  Please don’t miss out!

 

Have you any right to be angry (Jonah 4:4)? 

Wednesday evening Bible Study delved into the answer to this question, as well as showing us how to recognize the pervasiveness of anger while connecting it with idolatry.  Anger is a characteristic of the flesh.  In a biblical sense, flesh can be defined as one’s natural being and inclination.  As human beings we are naturally inclined to sin, but we must make a daily decision of whom we will serve. 

Anger, like self-justification, is something that is common to everyone.  We may not struggle with drugs or stealing, but we all share a common thread of struggling with our anger. There are many verses in the Bible that address the impact of anger in it’s sinful form…understand that there are times when a correct response is anger, however, we must not allow that to send us into a tailspin of sinful thoughts, words, and deeds.  A few Bible verses are as follows:  Proverbs 14:17 A quick-tempered man does foolish things / Proverbs 15:18 A hot-tempered man stirs up dissention / Proverbs 22:24,25 Do not make friends with a hot-tempered man, do not associate with one easily angered, or you may learn his ways and get yourself ensnared / Ecclesiastes 7:9 Do not be quickly provoked in your spirit, for anger resides in the lap of fools / Romans 12:19 Do not take revenge, my friends, but leave room for God’s wrath, for it is written:  “It is mine to avenge; I will repay,” says the Lord / Ephesians 4:26 “In your anger do not sin”:  Do not let the sun go down while you are still angry, and do not give the devil a foothold / Ephesians 6:4 Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger / 1Timothy 2:8 I want men everywhere to lift up holy hands in prayer, without anger or disputing.

Many times, we simply don’t recognize how often we allow our anger to run the show.  In addition, we often don’t claim our anger, calling it something else such as, “I’m concerned.  I’m frustrated.  I’m annoyed.”  Unrighteous anger is a response to failed idolatry.  When our idols fail, we get angry, which is indicative of our self-centeredness:  a. Reputation Idols–Situations that destroy my carefully constructed reputation or status.  b. Control Idols–Situations and people that disrupt my plans and organization make me mad.  c. Lordship Idols–I deserve it and if I don’t get it, I’m mad!  d. Money Idols–This feeds other idols…i.e. My car breaks down, so now I have to spend our vacation money to fix it.  This creates anger.  e. Sex Idols–A spouse addicted to sexual lust (romance novels, porn, etc) lashes out because spouse can not compete with those ideals.  f. Health Idols–Being mad because of failing health or death.  g. Victim Idols–I cling to problems, sickness, difficulties because then I am never responsible and people can focus on me.  When people do not empathize or make a big deal over me, I become angry.  h. Pleasure Idols–The kids get sick, just when we were going to have a nice night out.  Etc.  i. Fear Idols–I fear what others think of me.  j. Gift Idols–What happens when I fail in the things I’m good at?  Anger may even appear as depression, anxiety, irritability, or gossip.

Do you fall into a sin pattern?  Are you angry most of the time?  Do you find that you’re a pessimist instead of an optimist?  In other words, for every possible situation, you end up mad somehow…for example:  When you were single, you were angry that you didn’t have a husband?  But, when you were married, you were angry that your spouse failed to meet your expectations.  Then, you got divorced and were mad because your marriage didn’t work and now you have to deal with all of the tedious legalities.  Now, you’re gossipping about others’ marriages and relationships and you’re angry with yourself for ever being angry that you were single in the first place.  Whew!  If this is you, you’re in a pattern of anger which is a sin and it’s time to get it right with God.  In order to further deal with our sinful anger, we need to recognize our false justifications for our anger.  When we are angry with someone, the first question we should ask ourselves is, “How am I like this person?”  In cases of vengeance, we need to wait upon the Lord.  The worst we could do to anyone is utterly insignificant compare to what God is going to bring upon the wicked; why not leave it in His hands?

Church, we have to be real with ourselves about the anger we possess in our hearts in order to grab it by the horns and throw it away.  What a blessed Bible Study!  Anger of the Flesh…another lesson from the Gospel Transformation Bible Study series.  These teachings are an unbelievable gift to those willing to press their way out on Wednesday nights at 7:30, right here at About My Father’s Business Outreach Ministries.

God bless you all.  Tomorrow is the first Sunday of 2007.  We ask that your prayers be with our Sunday School teachers and our Pastor tomorrow as they bring forth God’s teachings and that the lost will be saved as a result.

Praise Him!!      

Bringing in the New year together at church was extraordinary!  We had such a wonderful time together as a family…great food, fellowship, testimonies, and music played by our very own Deacon Thomas who also showed off his DJ skills!  Most importantly, we were all praying as 2006 changed into 2007.  After prayer, the party continued…more food, fellowship, music, dancing, and fun!  What a blessed event!!  We pray that if it is in God’s will, we will be able to enjoy another one this coming New Year’s Eve.

** Want to feel like you were there?  Click on the New Year’s 2007 album (top right) for your viewing pleasure!

God Bless you all.

The countdown is on!  Just a few more hours until we enter into 2007.  We are so unworthy of your grace Lord, but we rejoice in humility for bringing us this far.  If it is in God’s will to return before the clock strikes midnight, then His will be done.  If He so chooses to give us more time to get it together before He comes back, then fellow Christians, our priority should be making sure that our New Year’s resolutions are in line with the will of God and passing the tests He has for us.  Let’s all strive to become better people in every sense of the word, but more importantly, let’s aim to become better Christians.  Beginning at 9pm tonight, we plan to bring in the New Year as a church family…as God’s family, together at AMFB.  The doors of the church are open to all who want to have a positive, uplifting time celebrating this wonderful occasion, while keeping Christ as the focus.  We’d love to see you all there!

Today’s teachings were a blessing from the beginning of Sunday School to the end of Sunday service.  Praise God for that.  Again, we had several visitors worship with us this morning; among them were a family (Amber, Eric, and Noel)that travelled all the way from Grace Brethren NorthWest Chapel in Dublin, Ohio to worship with us.  They heard about the many wonderful things God has been doing within our ministry and they wanted to come be one with us for the day.  Those of you who aren’t familiar with NorthWest Chapel need to check out our blog archive from August.  We are as much an extention of their church family as they are ours.  We hope to see you all again soon!

      

The sermon today was titled “Spiritual Warfare”.  Pastor Joyce preached about the importance of prayer in our daily lives and how it keeps us focused and strong.  The bulk of the sermon was preached referencing Ephesians 6:10-20, but he also touched on 1 Thessalonians 5:17 and 1 Samuel 12:23. 

We must continue to wage war against evil.  We take the battle W-A-Y too lightly!  Just because we live in the world doesn’t mean that we fight our battles as the world does.  We keep trying to do it on our own and due to that, we continue to fail.  In Pastor’s exact words, “We have a direct connect to the most high; keep the ’satanic static’ off the line.”  Sin is the devil’s conection to us, but guess what?  Sin is a choice.  We can choose to get out of our own way and do it God’s way!  We must continue to p.u.s.h. (pray until something happens), even when we may not feel like it.  Maybe you battle with a little insomnia from time to time.  Well, maybe God is keeping you awake to be a proactive believer.  Instead of turning on the television, get on your knees, surrender, and pray.  Many Christians have gained the victory on their knees because they chose to submit before temptations began to come their way.  Don’t wait until you’ve reached rock bottom to pray.  Submit yourself and pray to God so that you may not have to encounter rock bottom.  The Devil isn’t threatened by you, but he is threatened by God working through you.  We must allow God to shine through us.  A lot of people know a lot about God, BUT they still aren’t connected.  Fellow Christians…true believers, WE MUST PRAY ABOUT EVERYTHING, EVERYDAY WITHOUT FAIL.  

Thank you Pastor for a riveting, honest sermon.  Thank you Lord for allowing the annointing to fall upon our Pastor to allow such a blessed message.

Our Bible Study class on Wednesday evening at 7:30 continues to awaken and convict hearts and spirits.  Please come out and join us this week for more of The Gospel Transformation series.  The transformations are taking place.  Begin the process of changing your life for the better in Jesus name.  Don’t miss out on your chance to be taught the truth in such an up close and personal way.