Justyn Smith • A Heart For Revival

It’s always special when you get to serve the Lord with a college classmate. Pastor Dan Patrick, his family, and his church family are doing a wonderful job ministering around the Jersey Shore, Pennsylvania area. It was a blessing to come along side with them again this year! We had a great youth rally and fall revival with this sweet church family. We are excited to see them again in the future, Lord allowing! Here are some pics to recap the week: One of our hosts snapped some great pics outside their beautiful Pennsylvanian home! Photo Credit: Ulmer Photography My beautiful girls! Photo Credit: Ulmer Photography Enjoying a walk close to our hotel. What a blessing to travel together as a family a make wonderful memories! To God be all the glory. Family walk along a nice trail near our hotel. The teens listened so well during the youth rally the Saturday before the Revival meeting kicked off! A heart for revival! Dress up time! Great youth rally attendance! Continuing with a heart for ...

We had a wonderful week at Marquette Manor Baptist Church! They invited us to preach and sing during they are school connections week which prepares the students for the school year for a spiritual perspective. It was a blast getting to know the students and getting to spend some time with them outside of a chapel setting.  Here are a few pictures from the week to rejoice over: We always enjoy traveling as a family! Somehow at least one chair was involved in almost every chapel service. 😂 Praise the Lord for simple illustrations! We enjoyed many activities with the teens. This one is from their lake day trip. We had a blast! Preachers have fun too! 😉 Lake day pic with Bro Micah Potter!!! We meet so many wonderful people this week…thank you for the invite and for the opportunity to enjoy each day with you. And to those keeping up with our ministry travels, thank you for doing so. All our love!

We had a great week in with my former assistant pastor and his family. They are now pastoring a wonderful church body in Lodi, Wisconsin. I’m sure they would welcome any prayers you wish to lift on their behalf as they embark on this wonderful journey. Here are some pics from the week: Foam machine fun during VBS. Great golf outing with Bro. Moses and Pastor James! Beautiful job on the decor! Lake trip with the Schneider Family. The children listened so well! We got to witness Bella’s baptism! Pastor James doing a great job leading the children’s songs. Another Foam Machine pose during VBS. Zoo day! The children listened well during each service. Lydia and Bella enjoying a little decorating. Zoo day pic! Thank you for keeping up with our ministry travels. God bless you and thank you for the prayers!

TEENAGE SUMMER BAGGAGE #9: The Baggage Of Fear   In Genesis 15:1, God speaks to the fears of Abraham, "After these things the word of the LORD came unto Abram in a vision, saying, Fear not, Abram: I am thy shield, and thy exceeding great reward." The word magen refers to an object which provides covering and protection to the body during warfare.  It also refers to a prince, as protector of the realm. Psalm 89:18 For the Lord is our defense (shield); and the Holy One of Israel is our king .  Psalm 28:7 The Lord is my strength and my shield; My heart trusted in Him, and I am helped; Therefore my heart greatly rejoiceth, And with my song will I praise Hi m. I. Realize you have a shield and defender - Genesis 15:1 NOTE HOW GOD SPEAKS: I AM THY SHIELD... A. From your past choices “After these things” what things? Genesis 14 - war between kings 14:11-12 - Lot is stolen and Abraham gets involved 14:13-16 - A rescue and recovery mission be...

  TEENAGE SUMMER BAGGAGE #6: The Baggage Of An Identity Crisis In Psalm 139:14, David challenges us to respond to God's working in our lives with acceptance and awe, "I will praise thee; for I am fearfully and wonderfully made; marvellous are thy works; and that my soul knoweth right well."  God isn't confused about who He made us to be, and we shouldn't be confused about it either. May we find rest and victory in who God created us to be. Identity: the distinguishing character or personality of an individual. In today's message, we are dealing with a crisis...a situation that has reached a critical phase. We call it a crisis of identity or an identity crisis.  Many children and teens (and even some adults) have become very confused about who they are, where they are headed, and what they are created to do. The Bible has the answers for the questions of life. Let's go to God and ask HIM to help us today! I. Let's talk about Our Identity  Question:...

  Great Is Thy Faithfulness! Have you EVER MESSED UP? Maybe not you, but I know I have...and if you’re like me-it’s always much to my chagrin!  BUT... —> in God is faithfulness! —> in God is hope! —> in God is mercy! —> in God is compassion! —> in God is goodness! —> in God is salvation! Lamentations 3:20-26 [20] My soul hath them still in remembrance, and is humbled in me.  [21] This I recall to my mind, therefore have I hope.  [22] It is of the Lord's mercies that we are not consumed, because his compassions fail not.  [23] They are new every morning: great is thy faithfulness.  [24] The Lord is my portion, saith my soul; therefore will I hope in him.  [25] The Lord is good unto them that wait for him, to the soul that seeketh him.  [26] It is good that a man should both hope and quietly wait for the salvation of the Lord. We ALL mess up, and for all of our faults and failures - GOD is there!  Please take great joy and hop...

  Rejecting The King Rejecting The King We are in a brand new series at Crossroads entitled, "THE KING IS COMING." Yesterday, We revealed three different types of people who rejected King Jesus with the reasons listed underneath each type. Let me introduce them to you, and then provide the link to the sermon that was preached. I. The King was rejected by His  heritage . John 1:1  "He came unto his own, and his own received him not."  The Jews allowed  their own point of view  and  lack of knowledge  to bring them to rejecting King Jesus. II. The King was rejected by  Herod . You can read about this in Matthew 2. Herod allowed his  power ,  position  and  pride  to reject King Jesus. III. The King was rejected by one  hanging  with HIM. You can read about this in Luke 23:32-43. The one hanging with Jesus rejected King Jesus by being  so close yet so far away, by being persuaded by what's popular, and by ...

  The Spiritual Change We Need We are in desperate need of a spiritual change...thankfully we have a God with open arms and a plan to come to Him! Let me recap the messages we recently heard on this most powerful topic.  Each message began with a congregational reading from Psalm 23:1-6: "(A Psalm of David.) The LORD  is  my shepherd; I shall not want. He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters. He restoreth my soul: he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name's sake. Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou  art  with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me. Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies: thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over. Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the LORD for ever." First, we learned of Spiritual Conversion. You can listen to...

  The Voice of the Lord Psalm 29:1-11 KJV [1] Give unto the Lord , O ye mighty, give unto the Lord glory and strength. [2] Give unto the Lord the glory due unto his name; worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness. [3] The voice of the Lord is upon the waters: the God of glory thundereth: the Lord is upon many waters. [4] The voice of the Lord is powerful; the voice of the Lord is full of majesty. [5] The voice of the Lord breaketh the cedars; yea, the Lord breaketh the cedars of Lebanon. [6] He maketh them also to skip like a calf; Lebanon and Sirion like a young unicorn. [7] The voice of the Lord divideth the flames of fire. [8] The voice of the Lord shaketh the wilderness; the Lord shaketh the wilderness of Kadesh. [9] The voice of the Lord maketh the hinds to calve, and discovereth the forests: and in his temple doth every one speak of his glory. [10] The Lord sitteth upon the flood; yea, the Lord sitteth King for ever. [11] The Lord will give strength unto his people; the Lord...

  THE BEAUTY IN VIEW Our vacation has been wonderful! One of the highlights for me (among many) has been awaking before the break of day, heading a couple miles down the mountain from our condo, finding my seat at a table at the Inn at Silver Creek and then spending time in prayer, study and sermon prep (the work of a preacher is never through). ;-) While enjoying this “God and I time,” I have had the privilege of seeing many sunrises like the one pictured, but today’s (the one pictured) takes the cake.  Instantly, upon noticing the beauty of my morning view, I quickly made my way outside and snapped the picture… Amazing, isn’t it?! God quickly brought the following verse to mind, Malachi 4:2, “But unto you that fear my name shall the Sun of righteousness arise with healing in his wings…” Do you know the beauty that is in view for those that fear His name? O what power! O what glory! O what beauty! O what healing our Lord shall come with when He comes again! This truth of Chri...

  WELCOME TO A NEW DAY! WELCOME TO A NEW DAY! May your morning be good…so good because it begins with God waking you up to say, “…learn of me.” (Matthew 11:9) To learn more about God and His Word should be our greatest desire everyday. Oh, that we may sit at His feet and hear His Word! (Luke 10:39) Please pay attention to this wonderful verse from Isaiah 50 and verse 4, “The Lord God hath given me the tongue of the learned, that I should know how to speak a word in season to him that is weary: he wakeneth morning by morning, he wakeneth mine ear to hear as the learned.” Here’s a truth to take in…there are weary souls all around us-every day. Here’s another truth to take in and swallow hard…we have often missed grand opportunities to be used of God in another’s weariness because we have not been in His Word and the place of prayer-we’re not seasoned with salt!  We have too many distractions and too many things vying for our attention, that we miss the most valuable time of our ...