Eastwoodtulsa’s Weblog

We are going to talk about “temptation” this Sunday morning and Romans 7:14-25 this Sunday night. They will hit us all. Not like the lady who spoke to the pastor after one of his sermons saying, “Everything you said applied to people that I know.”

These messages are personal. It would be helpful for you to re-read  Romans 7 and Matthew 4:1-11 in preparation for Sunday. See you then!

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Romans 8:2

For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death. (NKJV)

Because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit of life set me free from the law of sin and death. (NIV)

For the law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death. (ESV)

For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and of death. (NASB)

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“If you want to develop a burden for the lost, go out and talk to the lost and find out how lost they really are. If you desire to have the crucial nature of evangelism branded on your heart, go out and do it, and you will become convinced of just how crucial it is. If you want to develop the conviction that Jesus does indeed change lives, take His life-changing message to others and see if this isn’t true.”        – Mark McCloskey (Tell It Often, Tell It Well)

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Eastwood’s student ministry started this year with a bang at Faith Week Unplugged. Starting Friday evening on January sixteenth, five student ministries from the surrounding area gathered in Eastwood’s sanctuary for worship and exhortation. Kyle Spencer and Eastwood’s worship team led students into a time of praise. Then speaker Brad Fogarty brought a message from John, and artist Megan Schmitt painted pictures that illustrated the Bible passage.

The theme for the weekend was “Fruit Happens,” and as Brad took the students through John fifteen, they learned that fully remaining in Christ was essential to becoming a healthy, fruit-bearing Christian. Friday evening ended with pizza and fellowship while a total of twenty three
students and youth leaders from as far away as Missouri stayed in the Family Life Center overnight to get ready for Saturday’s activities.

Faith Week Unplugged continued into Saturday with a “fishing trip” to Woodland Hills mall. At the mall, students put their faith into practice by handing out
tracts and witnessing. That evening there was another round of great worship and teaching from Kyle Spencer and Brad Fogarty. Then, students enjoyed a small worship concert from Phil Blount and his praise band, “The Class.” Students shouted and jumped as they worshiped the King.

Sunday morning was the final day of Faithweek Unplugged. Kyle Spencer led worship, Megan Schmitt painted, and Brad Fogarty brought the entire congregation a message from Isaiah chapter eleven. It was clear that God’s presence was in the room, as people made decisions ranging from first-time salvation, to recommitments, to church membership.

Eastwood’s student ministry is now looking straight ahead into this summer’s Faith Week camp. As the students return to school and finish out their academic year, pray that the Lord will keep them strong and firmly attached to Jesus.

Julia Small

This weekend Eastwood will be hosting the second annual Faith Week Unplugged.  We are very excited about having Brad Fogarty with us again this year speaking to our students and challenging them in their walk with God.  In addition this year we will have Megan Schmitt doing art for us during the services.  If you haven’t seen Megan work before, it is incredible!  You can check out some of her work at http://www.meganschmitt.com/Site/Home.html

Our students will be joined by the students from around Tulsa, OKC, and Missouri as we worship our King and look into His word together.  This promises to be an amazing weekend!

The cost for the weekend is $25 and includes pizza and a t-shirt (designed by Megan), and begins on Friday evening at 6pm.

J

p.s.  Brad will also be preaching this Sunday morning and Megan will be doing art during the service, join us for a great day in God’s house!

A famous quote from Shakespeare’s Macbeth on the brevity of life. Compare it with the theme of the Book of Ecclesiastes life is short, all is vanity:

“Out, out brief candle! Life’s but a walking shadow, a poor player that struts and frets his hour upon the stage and then is heard no more.”

Luke Small

We often hear and use the term “baggage”.  We mean that there are negative things that we carry with us because of our past–thoughts, actions, behavior patterns, memories etc. What “baggage” do you carry? Every time I take a mission trip I think about my luggage and how I’m going to pack the materials, tracts, coins, etc. that I need for the trip. With the weight limits I am careful to take only what I really need. Life is too short to carry around excess luggage.

Or we often say “That’s a lot of garbage!” Meaning we don’t agree with it or we don’t want to deal with it. We need to remember that our mind collects garbage very easily. Why is it easier to remember bad experiences and so hard to memorize Scripture which is a very good thing?

There is no sense in carrying a lot of garbage or baggage around. We need to replace all the negative thoughts with God’s WORD. We need to get rid of the baggage and take out the garbage.

By the way, we have to pay for garbage pick up. Scripture memory is free. It only costs  a little time. Think about all the time you spend watching TV, playing video games, or computer-time wasting- solitaire or other mindless games. They relax you? They take away stress? They help you disconnect? Oh, I see, What about God’s WORD??

Gordon

In order for old defeating thoughts to be invaded, conquered, and replaced by new, victorious ones, a process of reconstruction must transpire.

The best place I know to begin this process of mental cleansing is with the all-important discipline of memorizing Scripture. I realize it doesn’t sound very sophisticated or intellectual, but God’s Book is full of powerful ammunition! And dislodging negative and demoralizing thoughts requires aggressive action. I sometimes refer to it as a mental assault.

Charles Swindoll

All Christians are to be peacemakers!‎

Today’s world and its leaders clamor for world peace. But Jesus told us: “Do not think ‎that I came to bring peace on earth. I did not come to bring peace but a sword.” Matthew ‎‎10:34  The result of the gospel is conflict among people on the earth.‎

The ultimate peace is only found in the presence of God. Jesus said in John 16:33 “that in Me ‎you may have peace.”‎

To the Pharisees in that 1st Century external appearances were most important. Peace ‎with God had to be seen by one obeying strict laws. So too is the clamor for peace in ‎today’s world. Only an outward peace is sought that can be seen by man.‎

But to be peacemakers means much more than just making treaties with other nations, or ‎just settling an argument between two friends. True peace is found only when one’s spirit ‎is in harmony with the Holy Spirit of God. This is a peace that passes all human ‎understanding and that guards an individual’s heart and mind concerning the trials of this ‎life. (Phil. 4:6-7)‎

The peace of God is an inner peace in spite of external conflicts. Only one with such inner ‎peace can truly be a peacemaker. To be a peacemaker one must be sharing the gospel of ‎Jesus without fear.‎

What is God’s blessing to peacemakers? They shall be called sons of God.‎
Yes, we know that we are children of God, but are we being “called sons and daughters of ‎God”? Is there evidence to others that we are indeed the family of God? We give such ‎evidence when we are peacemakers and are sharing Jesus without fear!‎

Pat Hutchens