January 27, 2008 by PastorMark.

#300, Victory in the Valley, 01-27-2008, Pastor Mark Boucher

Text: 2 Chronicles 20

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January 27, 2008 by PastorMark.

“Jacob was left alone, and a man wrestled with him till daybreak” (Genesis 32:24). The man who wrestled with Jacob was the Lord himself. Jacob was on his way back home and had to face his lying, deceitful behavior toward his brother Esau. In order to know future blessing, Jacob had to experience brokenness. The good news is that Jacob pressed on with God and allowed God to break his heart through repentance and renewal. In this life, sometimes our greatest struggles are not with the enemy but with the Lord. He presses us in order to break us of our pride and self-seeking ways. As we allow ourselves to be “conquered by God,” we come to know His awesome peace and presence. We conquer where we yield.

Pastor Mark Boucher

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January 20, 2008 by PastorMark.

#299,  Followship, Sunday 01-20-2008, Pastor Mark Boucher

Text: Matthew 9:9-13
Theme: What does Jesus call us into when He says “follow me”?

INTRODUCTION:

1. Go to Barnes and Noble and look up books on “leadership”, then “following”. Then look up “leadership” on Google, then “following”. – We crave to lead more than to follow.
2. Jesus had a plan for the world. His plan would be preceded by prophesies to give hope to the early generations.
   1. He came to die and rise again
   2. He came to invest His life in people who wanted to be transformed, who would be instruments of transformation. He didn’t come just so save people to get them into heaven.
3. One day, while walking He came upon Matthew.
   1. Matthew was a young Jewish man who broke the mold.
   2. He was a “collaboration compromiser” with the Romans.
   3. He was known as a “publican”. He sold out on he Jewish family, nation, conscience.
4. His life was about to change forever.
   1. Jesus said two words, “follow me”.
   2. “Matthew got up and followed him.” (v 9) There was something about Jesus greater than money, things and outward success.

Text: Matthew 9:9-13
What would you have done?
Most of us probably would have been paralyzed by a flood of questions.

• Just who are you again?
• Where are we going?
• What about my stuff, my booth?
• What do I have to do?
• What will I learn and become?
• Do I have to change? How?

What does Jesus call us into when He says “follow me”?

1. Jesus calls us into a relationship with Himself. (“follow me” – not a religion)
   1. He calls us to “be with Him.”
   2. “He appointed twelve – designating them apostles – that they might be with Him and that He might send them out to preach and to have authority to drive out demons.”
   3. He calls us to be like Him.
   4. “Take my yoke upon you and learn from me …”
2. He calls us into relationships with one another.
   1. Matthew became a part of a team.
   2. It wasn’t just “me and Jesus”. It was me, Jesus and His people.
   3. Love is His command.
   4. “My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you.” John 15:12
   5. Our love for one another brings credibility to the message.
3. He calls us to a life of service.
   1. Jesus described his mission by saying, “The Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve …” Matthew 20:28
   2. How do we serve?
   3. Jesus said, “I do what I see the Father doing.”
   4. Do what Jesus would do.

INTENTIONAL DISCIPLESHIP:

Three prong focus of LAOG. (Intentional Discipleship for you)

1. A life of intimacy with God.
   1. Worship and the Word.
2. A life of loving relationships.
   1. Where we learn to live the Word.
3. A life of service.
   1. Christ in us and through us.

Will you follow Jesus?

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January 20, 2008 by PastorMark.

As the elder, Abram had every right to first choice. Abram and his nephew Lot had to decide where to live. Their separate groups of people and possessions had grown too large to stay together. To resolve the problem, they proceeded to scout out the land from the top of a mountain. Abram spoke first, “Is not the whole land before you? If you go to the left, I’ll go to the right; if you go to the right, I’ll go to the left” (Genesis 13:9). Lot chose first and based his choice on sight and self (Sodom looked good). Abram, by deferring to his nephew, made the best choice. God blessed Abram and promised that the whole land would one day belong to him. By letting go, Abram received the promises and blessing of God instead of the disappointments of Sodom. What is it that God is telling you to release? Let it go, and watch God bless!

Pastor Mark Boucher

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January 13, 2008 by PastorMark.

#298, God’s Masterpiece, Sunday, 01-13-2008, Pastor Mark Boucher

Text: Ephesians 2:1-10
Theme: God wants to create a masterpiece out of your life.

INTRODUCTION:

1. Change is the “buzzword” in politics right now.
   1. “I believe I can provide the economic leadership we need to make the change so desperately required.”
   2. “Inviting Americans to work together to bring about changes.”
   3. “Change we can believe in.”
2. My faith is not in a person or party.
3. God specializes in change, transformation.
   1. “God loves us just the way we are, but He loves us too much to allow us to stay the way we are.”
4. We have a love/hate relationship with change.
   1. Change requires “work.”
   2. The good news is God provides all we need; we just need to cooperate with Him.
   3. Why does God want us to change?

Theme: God wants to create a masterpiece out of your life.
How does God create this masterpiece? How does He change us?

Text: Ephesians 2:1-10
Let’s consider the dynamic of how God changes us.

1. God works on you. (vv 1-3)
   1. We don’t naturally trust God.
   2. We are dependent as babies, but grow with a “self-willed” nature.
   3. We want to “hold the brush” of our own life.
   4. The one great problem: we’re dead (in our sins (v 1)) and we don’t know it.
   5. Dead people can’t communicate with the living.
2. “Dead in sin” hearts can’t communicate with God.
   1. “I was dead once. I didn’t like it.” – bumper sticker
   2. God works on you (to bring you to life) through life’s experiences (as a pre-Christian)
   3. God works on us through conviction – the drawing power of the Holy Spirit.
   4. We have a great need: we naturally follow the world
   5. The Holy Spirit does battle with the spirit of will,
3. God works in you (vv 4-9).
   1. God works in you to you alive in Christ (v 4).
   2. When you say yes and let go of the brush …
   3. The resurrection of our spirit is a miracle like the resurrection of Jesus from the dead.
4. He raised us up in Christ; we are seated with Him (v 6); we have hope and a future (v 7).
   1. We can claim no merit to this miracle.
   2. All we did was humble ourselves and receive.
   3. Salvation is by grace through faith, not by works so no one can boast.
   4. God works in you to make you like Christ.
   5. “Just barely alive” isn’t good enough for God.
   6. He makes you alive to give you a new life.
   7. Lazarus was not raised to be a “dead man walking.”
5. Jesus said, “Take off the grave clothes and let him go.”
   1. “When you have your new suit on, remember who paid for it!”
   2. There are 3 types of paint God uses most to change us.
   3. The Word.
   4. Prayer.
   5. Trials.
6. God works through you (v 10)
   1. We are God’s workmanship.
   2. We are His prized possession (the first things He points to in His house).
   3. We are the craftsmanship created in Christ.
   4. God wants to reveal His Son to the world.
   5. What is the main lens through which people see Christ through us? Good works, which God already prepared for us to do.
   6. We are to live a life of mission.
7. God is not just interested in our character development, but also our outward actions.
   1. “Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven.” Matthew 5:16

CONCLUSION:

1. Some of you say, “God can’t use me. I’ve held the brush all my life.”
   1. He can still paint a masterpiece with a dark backdrop.
2. Some of you say, “I’ve been away from God too long.”
   1. Sometimes you just need to let God find you, wash you off and put you in circulation.
3. God wants to change you and bless the lives of others!
   1. “Let go of the brush.”

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January 13, 2008 by PastorMark.

This week we are delighted to welcome two special guests, Eddy Hall and Greg Peterson. As representatives of Living Stone Associates, they have come to help us discover and implement constructive change for the future of Leominster Assembly of God. Already, God has used them to encourage and enlighten our hearts with new and exciting possibilities. The Book of Proverbs teaches us to be humble and willing to accept correction and advice. May Proverbs 19:20-21 be true of us as we pray and step out in God’s will: “Listen to advice and accept instruction, and in the end you will be wise. Many are the plans in a man’s heart, but it is the Lord’s purpose that prevails.” May His will prevail in His church.

Pastor Mark Boucher

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January 9, 2008 by admin.

L. A. B. I. - Leominster Assembly Bible Institute

Wednesdays 6:30 PM Beginning January 9:

New Beginnings in Healthy Relationships

Using the Book of Genesis, we will focus on the different kinds of relationships that we are all challenged with and learn how to have success in them. Pastors Mark and Dave will tackle such topics as:

• Where all the problems started from
• What to do when authorities mess up
• Pride—the enemy of healthy relationships
• Handling anger
• Holding a grudge
• Playing favorites
• True reconciliation

Join us on Wednesday evenings for this life-changing study!

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January 6, 2008 by PastorMark.

#298. Getting to the Source, Sunday 01-06-2008, Pastor Mark Boucher

Text: Jeremiah 2:13-19
Theme: God wants you to experience Him as the source of your life.

INTRODUCTION:

1. Story of the building in Stockholm.
2. Jeremiah was called by God as a young man (20)
   1. He ministered over 40 years to Judah.
   2. The nation was growing dim.
3. At the beginning of Jeremiah’s ministry, God gave him a special message.
   1. God summarized the problem visually by pointing out two problems.
   2. Text: Jeremiah 2:13-19
   3. The spring had been forsaken.
   4. Their cisterns replaced the spring.
   5. They sinned by what they did and did not so. As a result of these sins they experienced a back-slidden life.
   6. Theme: God wants you to experience Him as the source of your life.
4. Don’t give in to the temptation to replace God.
   1. Replacing God doesn’t look like total rejection.
   2. Israel still had the temple, law, meetings, ceremonies.
   3. In America we are trying to “marginalize” God.
   4. We want to move God from headline to a footnote.
   5. God has His place … just not in our government, schools, politics or personal lives and choices (We try to keep Him in the box)
   6. I’ve thought a lot about my own heart’s temptation to replace God as the source of life … and asked questions.
5. How do we replace God?
   1. Go to the beginning … (Genesis)
   2. God made Adam and Eve.
   3. God made them to depend on Him for all their needs.
   4. There came a time when they stopped trusting.
   5. They were tempted to doubt His word.
   6. “Did God really say, “you must not eat from any tree in the garden?” (Genesis 3:1)
   7. They were tempted to doubt his love.
   8. “God wants to keep you in the dark”
   9. “For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened and you will be like God, “knowing good and evil.” (Genesis 3:5)
   10. “He doesn’t love you enough to let you have the best.”
   11. Does life become better or worse when we try to replace God?
   12. Did Adam and Eve fall up or down? They welcomed a sinful nature which brought guilt, shame, alienation, fear.
   13. “I’ve never seen a person turn away from Jesus and be happy. I’ve never seen a person turn to Jesus and regret it.” ~ Billy Graham
6. What happens to us when we try to replace God?
   1. We become slaves. (v 14)
   2. “for a man is a slave to whatever has mastered him.” (2 Peter 2:19)
   3. “wickedness will not release those who practice it.” (Ecclesiastes 8:8)
   4. We experience defeat after defeat.
   5. Towns are burned and deserted. (v 15)
   6. The men of Memphis have shaved the crown. (v 16)
   7. The foul water makes us sick.
   8. We say, “that’s just the way life is.”
   9. We’re empty, irritable and we complain to God. Our backsliding rebukes us. (v 19a)
7. What can we do?
   1. Take spiritual inventory. (v 19)
   2. “ ‘Consider then and realize how evil and bitter it is for you when you forsake the Lord your God and have no awe of me,’ declares the Lord Almighty.” (v 19)
   3. Go back to the spring. (repent)
   4. We convince ourselves that we can’t go back to God.
8. The prodigal was still loved by the Father when he left and while he was in the pig pen.
   1. The spring hasn’t moved.
   2. Make God your source of life.
   3. Seek Him and drink in His Word.
9. You have to want Him – He won’t feed you intravenously.
   1. Don’t just drink at church.
   2. “If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me and drink …” (John 4:13)
   3. Become a “self-feeder.”
   4. The living water is the presence of Christ within.
   5. “Whoever drinks the water I give him will never thirst. Indeed the water I give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.” (John 4:13)

CONCLUSION:

Don’t stay in the cistern. The people of Jeremiah’s day didn’t listen. Enjoy the source of life.

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January 6, 2008 by PastorMark.

All across America this week (and month) Christians are praying and many are fasting. God’s Word challenges us: “The hour has come for you to wake up from your slumber” (Romans 13:11). Urgent, fervent prayer must grip our hearts and focus our vision. In America, we have allowed our religious freedom to produce spiritual apathy. Christians in other nations, such as China, pray for the church in America, the “sleeping giant,” to awake and rise up as in the Great Awakening. A prayerless, powerless church eventually becomes irrelevant. Will you be among those whose lives burn with Christ’s presence? Praying, Spirit-filled Christians determine the future of our America.

Pastor Mark Boucher

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January 1, 2008 by PastorMark.

I Resolve, By Pastor Mark Boucher, January/February 2008 *

Change is coming. Time doesn’t hibernate for the winter. As individuals, we are changing for better or for worse. In this world, change for the worse occurs quite easily because bad habits grow almost effortlessly. Change for the good, however, is another story!

The greatest change in my life happened September 16, 1973. Jesus answered the cry of my heart, forgave me, and came to dwell within me. What a wonderful change took place! I was so different that I didn’t think I could change any more for the better. Little did I know…! Jesus “recreates” our heart so that our lives will be Christlike—a reflection of Him. This life requires continual change into the image of Christ through the transformation of our mind, will and emotions.

During this time of year many people seriously reflect on change and “resolutions.” I read the other day that 40 percent of us make some kind of New Year’s resolution to change something about ourselves. Most of these “self promises” concern weight loss, exercise, or an undesirable habit (to quit smoking, for example). While the desired change may be noble, the vast majority of these resolutions fall away after just a short time. Why do resolutions seem to fail so quickly and easily? Is there a way to really change or are we just “stuck” for the rest of our lives?

When I read the Bible, I discover “good change” requires so much more than mere human willpower. The Apostle Paul spoke of how God had changed him from an angry persecutor to a faithful apostle. He wrote, “By the grace of God I am what I am, and His grace to me was not without effect. No, I worked harder than all of them—yet not I, but the grace of God that was with me” (1 Corinthians 15:10). In his life of change and growth, Paul understood the preeminence of the grace of God. He leaned on God’s grace, not only for salvation but also for the hard work of everyday living.

True, lasting, godly change begins as we embrace the dynamic relationship between the grace of God and our daily choices. Grace enables me to see myself as belonging to God. I live as an oxymoron if I believe in “God’s way” yet choose “my way.” Good change happens as I rejoice in God’s ownership and sovereignty and yield myself to my Heavenly Father. He knows I can’t become more like Jesus in my own strength and will. My first resolve, therefore, must be “to belong to God alone.”

From this dependency on God’s grace, we find daily power to choose right over wrong, good over evil. Is it always easy? Absolutely not! However, the same Jesus who saved us is the same One who promised to empower us. And because Jesus is not just in us but also in His Body (other believers), we find great benefit in friendships and fellowship with others. The company of “overcomers” spurs us on to perseverance in holy living. The stories and testimonies of others encourage us. We are reminded that we are not alone in the battle. Victory and change are not only possible but attainable through the grace and power of God.

Why should we even desire to change for the good? If our reason is to glorify God, that would be right. But, there’s more. Changing for better makes the window more clear for others to see the light of the gospel of Christ. Godly change is not to increase our pride or feelings of self-righteousness; it for the message of Christ to reach others. If we carry good food in a filthy container, chances are that people will reject it. Good food on a clean plate is most desirable.

Whether or not you make a New Year’s resolution is immaterial. The goal is to experience a life that changes to be like Christ. Good changes, both small and great, are the evidence of a true disciple who walks with Jesus. “By their fruits you shall know them” (Matthew 7:16). Don’t be afraid to change.

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