AHEARTTOWITNESS.COM - What's Happening at TIFF

What's Happening At TIFF
11-05-2006

by Julie & Bryce Tomlinson

Lost in the House

Hello again, and welcome to our second installment of "What's Happening At TIFF". Here Julie and I are going to let you know what we experienced during Sunday church service at The International Fellowship Family. Hopefully, you'll enjoy what you read here, and then come join us at our East Campus for church! We'd love to see you there!
Today, we had a wonderful experience at the TIFF House. We started by ushering in the Holy Spirit with praise & worship songs. James, our bass player, was away, so Daniel played 5-string bass instead of electric guitar. We found out that Daniel is a very skilled bass player, and it was great to hear him. We started with an old standard with our own flavor to it, How Great Thou Art. We followed it up with I've Been Redeemed, Thank You Jesus / I'm So Glad. Then, we wrapped up with Friend of God. We welcomed our guests, and tithes & offerings came next. The choir then sang a powerful & intense song called Total Praise.
Pastor Steven Holt then started on the message of the day, he titled it Lost in the House, with scripture references from Luke 15, Genesis 3 and Revelation 2. He spoke of lost things with an emphasis on value of the things that are lost. For example, if you value something that is lost, wouldn't you do whatever it takes to find it? Therefore, the item is not truly lost, it's just not where you remember it being, it has changed position.
This leads us into being Lost in the House. You can remain in the house, but be out of touch. Being lost = loss of affection, connection and direction.

Luke 15:8-10
8 "Or what woman, having ten silver coins, if she loses one coin, does not light a lamp, sweep the house, and search carefully until she finds it?
9 And when she has found it, she calls her friends and neighbors together, saying, "Rejoice with me, for I have found the piece which I lost!'
10 Likewise, I say to you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents."
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Here, Jesus uses the example of a woman looking for a coin to illustrate how important it is for sinners (or the lost) to be lead back to their proper place. If we were to lose a valuable coin, we'd sweep over the entire house and look in every nook and cranny trying to find it, right? God does the same thing with sinners! That's how much he wants us back!

Genesis 3:1-10
1 Now the serpent was more subtil than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made. And he said unto the woman, Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden?

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2 And the woman said unto the serpent, We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden:

3 But of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God hath said, Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die.
4 And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die:

5 For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil.

6 And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat.

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7 And the eyes of them both were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together, and made themselves aprons.

8 And they heard the voice of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the day: and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God amongst the trees of the garden.

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9 And the LORD God called unto Adam, and said unto him, Where art thou?

10 And he said, I heard thy voice in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked; and I hid myself.
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God calls out to Adam, “Where are you..?”, He's not asking it as a question of location, but rather position. Adam is still in the garden, but he is disconnected from God. This is the first time that God has had to look outside of himself to find Adam. Isn't it peculiar that when we are in a mess we seem to run and hide in that mess instead of running to the One that can help us out of, or through our mess?

Revelation 2:1-7
1 Unto the angel of the church of Ephesus write; These things saith he that holdeth the seven stars in his right hand, who walketh in the midst of the seven golden candlesticks;

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2 I know thy works, and thy labour, and thy patience, and how thou canst not bear them which are evil: and thou hast tried them which say they are apostles, and are not, and hast found them liars:

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3 And hast borne, and hast patience, and for my name's sake hast laboured, and hast not fainted.

4 Nevertheless I have somewhat against thee, because thou hast left thy first love.

5 Remember therefore from whence thou art fallen, and repent, and do the first works; or else I will come unto thee quickly, and will remove thy candlestick out of his place, except thou repent.

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6 But this thou hast, that thou hatest the deeds of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate.

7 He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches; To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the tree of life, which is in the midst of the paradise of God.
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To preface this, it should be stated that when Jesus refers here to "the angel of the church at..." in verse 1 (and continuing on through chapters 2 and 3 of Revelation), he is not talking about some unearthly being necessarily. He's speaking of the assigned Messenger, or Pastor. This passage refers to the message to the church of Ephesus, the prophetic writings of what is coming, forecome and forthcome (spoken presently in the moment). The church of Ephesus was a good church, but they had left their first love. Therefore, the angel (messenger) was sent to tell them to repent & overcome. When they would do this God would give them fruit from the Tree of Life.

Revelation 2:8-11
8 And unto the angel of the church in Smyrna write; These things saith the first and the last, which was dead, and is alive;

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9 I know thy works, and tribulation, and poverty, (but thou art rich) and I know the blasphemy of them which say they are Jews, and are not, but are the synagogue of Satan.

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10 Fear none of those things which thou shalt suffer: behold, the devil shall cast some of you into prison, that ye may be tried; and ye shall have tribulation ten days: be thou faithful unto death, and I will give thee a crown of life.

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11 He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches; He that overcometh shall not be hurt of the second death.
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This passage is the message to the church of Smyrna. They were a good and faithful church. God saw & carried them through their suffering. Their promise was that, if they kept suffering through, stayed faithful and endured, they would receive the Crown of Life. Note that throughout these passages, there are several references to rewards in heaven! This is what we should be building up for by our actions that result from faith!

Revelation 2:12-17
12 And to the angel of the church in Pergamos write; These things saith he which hath the sharp sword with two edges;

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13 I know thy works, and where thou dwellest, even where Satan's seat is: and thou holdest fast my name, and hast not denied my faith, even in those days wherein Antipas was my faithful martyr, who was slain among you, where Satan dwelleth.

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14 But I have a few things against thee, because thou hast there them that hold the doctrine of Balaam, who taught Balac to cast a stumbling block before the children of Israel, to eat things sacrificed unto idols, and to commit fornication.

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15 So hast thou also them that hold the doctrine of the Nicolaitans, which thing I hate.

16 Repent; or else I will come unto thee quickly, and will fight against them with the sword of my mouth.

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17 He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches; To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the hidden manna, and will give him a white stone, and in the stone a new name written, which no man knoweth saving he that receiveth it.
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Now the church of Pergamos was also a good church, but in a tough place. Jesus dictates to the prophet that he knows how hard they are trying. But he has "a few things" against them. The message is to repent or face the Word. Those that obey will see their reward.

Revelation 2:18-29
18 And unto the angel of the church in Thyatira write; These things saith the Son of God, who hath his eyes like unto a flame of fire, and his feet are like fine brass;

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19 I know thy works, and charity, and service, and faith, and thy patience, and thy works; and the last to be more than the first.

20 Notwithstanding I have a few things against thee, because thou sufferest that woman Jezebel, which calleth herself a prophetess, to teach and to seduce my servants to commit fornication, and to eat things sacrificed unto idols.

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21 And I gave her space to repent of her fornication; and she repented not.

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22 Behold, I will cast her into a bed, and them that commit adultery with her into great tribulation, except they repent of their deeds.

23 And I will kill her children with death; and all the churches shall know that I am he which searcheth the reins and hearts: and I will give unto every one of you according to your works.

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24 But unto you I say, and unto the rest in Thyatira, as many as have not this doctrine, and which have not known the depths of Satan, as they speak; I will put upon you none other burden.

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25 But that which ye have already hold fast till I come.

26 And he that overcometh, and keepeth my works unto the end, to him will I give power over the nations:

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27 And he shall rule them with a rod of iron; as the vessels of a potter shall they be broken to shivers: even as I received of my Father.

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28 And I will give him the morning star.

29 He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches.

Last of these is the message to the church of Thyatira. God sees their good works. What He has against them is that they allow themselves to be seduced into sexual immorality and eat things sacrificed to idols by the Prophetess Jezebel (Spirit of Deception, Manipulation & Seduction). They are to repent or they will be cast into a sickbed of great tribulation. To sum it all up, we have 4 churches, 1 good report, 3 are lost!!
Pastor mentioned that he's heard, in several arenas, said about him, "Pastor Steve doesn't preach about this," or, "Pastor Steve don't preach about that." As we had talked about when prefacing Revelation chapters 2 and 3, the Pastor is the assigned Messenger of the church, be it Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamos, Thyatira, or even TIFF. God gives the message to the messenger, and his job is to tell it to the people. It is not the job of the Pastor to tell people every little thing that they are doing wrong, unless that's what God has given to the messenger to say. So in answer to those murmerers, Pastor Steve says that when we know that it is wrong to do a certain thing, STOP IT!
If you are not actively keeping your relationship with Jesus, through prayer, fasting, meditation, studying and repentance, then you are lost in the House. You can be convinced & convicted, and still not be changed. You're in the right location (hey, you're at church, right?), and still be out of position with God.

The Point :

You can be Lost in the House

What is Lost? misplaced, mislaid, missing, nowhere to be found, gone astray.

How to know if you are Lost:

You haven't recently felt the Touch of God

You haven't recently experienced the Hand of God

You haven't recently heard the Voice of God

Repent

Return to the Highest Place! A relationship with God

Where's your first love?

This was an emotional time for us. Pastor gave an altar call, asking all to repent. He first called forth his pastoral staff, then deacons, elders, ministry leaders, ministry workers, and then anyone else who might feel convicted to repent. Most of the sanctuary seats emptied out in a hurry. We all need to be cleansed with the blood of Jesus. He is the key. In order to stay in touch with him, we need to continually repent of our sins.

Matthew 7:21-23 tells us:
21 Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven.

22 Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works?
23 And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity. ,

So, by this we know that our works, or church activity, isn't what automatically gets us there. God sees the heart. Where is yours?

"What's Happening At TIFF" is a new column, with the intention of outreach -- letting you know what God does at our church, so that you might come to see for yourself and be a witness to God's miracles! Praise Jesus! Please do not reprint this article or any portion of it without express permission from the authors.

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