Once again we welcome you to another worship experience here at FEA. May God’s name be magnified in us today.
A Christian pastor in Sudan says the government has “declared war against Christians” because it is fearful Muslims will be led to Jesus Christ. This is why pastors are being imprisoned and churches are being demolished in the Islamic nation. In recent months, several pastors have been arrested in Sudan often on false national security charges. Groups like the American Center for Law and Justice have started global petitions calling for the pastors’ freedom. One example is the ongoing campaign for the Rev. Hassan Abduraheem, who has been sentenced to 12 years in prison for his faith.
Just last week, four other Christians were arrested on the charges of destroying a sign indicating Muslim ownership of a school called the Evangelical School of Sudan. While the Christians were released on bail, they are facing difficult challenges in reclaiming their school, with the Sudan Presbyterian Evangelical Church battling government takeover attempts. The Khartoum government has also been ordering the demolition of dozens of churches, harassing church members and threatening foreign Christians with expulsion, with state officials ordering the destruction of at least 25 church buildings earlier in February.
According to one pastor, “The government of Sudan is using the court to intimidate Christians and international bodies that are trying to preach the Gospel either through churches and one on one witnessing or aiding of Christians who are suffering.” He revealed that the closure of several churches in Khartoum and West Sudan has left pastors “in a panic mode because any time they can be arrested and put in jail.
Michael and Reith were imprisoned for over six month in Sudan and faced the death penalty for espionage and other conspiracy charges, and the majority of that time they were barred from communicating with their families or attorney. The Rev. William Devlin, an American pastor who was in Khartoum when the pastors were released, told Christian Post at the time that Christians “prayed and fasted” for their freedom.
Let us pray for our pastors, brothers and sisters in Sudan in their hour of severe persecution. This is one of the signs that we are living in the last days.
SCHEDULE FOR THE WEEK
KINGDOM MEN’S MINISTRY MEETING
Today, 6:00pm
LUNCH HOUR HOTLINE/BIBLICAL DYNAMICS
Wednesday, 12:00 noon- Lunch Hour Hotline
5:30pm- Biblical Dynamics
PRAISE & ADORATION PRACTICE
Friday, 6:30 p.m.
HOUR-OF-POWER PRAYER SESSION
Saturday, 7:00 a.m. – 8:00 a.m.
NEXT SUNDAY
Worship & Ministry Service, 9:00 a.m.
Board Meeting, 6:00 p.m.
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St. Thomas/St. John Fellowship of Ministries & Caribbean Covenant Ministries
Will be having the Visionfest St. Thomas USVI Conference “Empowering The Saints to Lead in the 21st Century”. From Wednesday, March 8- Friday, March 10 at 7:30pm Nightly and Sunday Evening March 12, 2017 at 7:00p.m. For more information (340) 774-5400 or (340) 774-4770.
***The movie Preach-Preacher-Preach will be on Saturday, March 11 at 7:00p.m ***
Mark- Part 2
Why is Mark so important?
Mark’s gospel portrays Jesus as constantly on the move. The forward motion in Mark’s writing keeps the knowledgeable reader’s mind continually looking ahead to the cross and the resurrection. Thirty-nine times Mark used the word immediately, giving a sense that Jesus’s time on earth was short and that there was much to accomplish in His few years of ministry.
What’s the big idea?
While Matthew’s gospel portrays Jesus as the King, Mark reveals Him as God’s Servant. Jesus’s work was always for a larger purpose, a point clearly summarized in Mark 10:45, “For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many.” Mark filled his gospel with the miracles of Jesus, illustrating again and again both the power and the compassion of the Son of God. In these passages, Mark revealed more than Jesus as the good teacher who offered people spiritual renewal; the book also portrays Jesus as the true God and the true man, reaching into the lives of people and effecting physical and circumstantial change. But Jesus’s life as the agent of change wasn’t without an ultimate purpose. Amid His hands-on ministry, Jesus constantly pointed to the definitive way in which He would serve humanity: His death on the cross and His resurrection from the dead. It is only through faith in these works of Jesus Christ that human beings find eternal redemption for their whole selves. Moreover, Jesus becomes our model for how to live our lives—serving others as He did.
How do I apply this?
Three times in three consecutive chapters—8, 9, and 10—Mark pictured Jesus informing His disciples of His great sacrifice and ultimate victory. His disciples either rejected the teaching altogether (Mark 8:31–32) or they showed themselves concerned with other matters (9:31–34; 10:32–37). As Jesus prepared to perform the greatest service in the history of the human race, His disciples could only think about themselves—their position or safety. Do you find it a struggle to get yourself oriented toward sacrificial service, as Jesus’s disciples did? The temptations we all wrestle with when faced with an opportunity to serve another person are to pull back within ourselves, to seek our comfort, or to protect our own interests. The challenge that Jesus presents to us in the book of Mark involves breaking out of those patterns of self-absorption and giving ourselves in service and love to others.
From: https://www.insight.org/resources/bible/the-gospels/mark
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MEDIA MINISTRY
World Overcomers: WSTA 1340 AM station: Sundays at 12:30 p.m. & Tuesdays at 6:00 a.m.
•Website: http://www.wom.vi & Email: info@fea.vi
•On our Website you will find: Live Streaming, free copies of our audio message & radio broadcast.
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OVERCOMER: Living a Life of Victory!