The following sermons were given at WellSpring
Fellowship by Pastor Penn Clark. The link for each study will lead you to the
sermon outline and Mp3 audio files for the study you wish to explore.
(Sorry, the study links and content are not installed
yet.)
First John
We are currently in this study, which was started mid- March 2010
If you have ever seen how maple syrup is made, or anything that has been
distilled down to where all the excess has been boiled off, so that all that
remains is the essential element, then you will understand John’s
First Epistle. It is all that is essential to know, condensed in five short
chapters, about what we need to do in order to walk in eternal life now and
experience full fellowship with the Father and Jesus His Son.
From Fear to Faith
This was a study we did over a four week period that started in early February
2010.
We all
have ideas playing in our heads, like self-generated movies. They play
all the time. Some are positive, some are negative. These movies are images
about ourselves or others, about the future or about the past. Both fear and
faith come out of this "movie-making" capacity within us. In fact, those who have
the most fears have the capacity for the most faith. Both come out of the
same ability to see with the eyes of our hearts. What we allow our hearts to
watch either helps us or hinders us. God wants to get us to move from fear to
faith so we can accomplish much for Him. This study explores this in more detail.
Learning to Abide
This was a study we explored this winter.
God is calling us to abide more closely with Him in these
days. I wish I had a sense of His closeness all the time, where I feel His
presence and hear His voice easily. I have had periods of this, but then it
seems to lift. My goal is to experience more of this for longer periods of
time. I want to experience it more consistently. To do this, I have to learn to
abide.
Meditation
This is a subject we explored last fall.
Have you ever wondered
how God could know and see everything about us, but only dwell on the positive
things? It is also possible for us see the faults in others, but keep only
their positive qualities in mind. He tells us to “think on these things…” and
does the same Himself. In fact, the word for `think' is an accounting word that has to do with
`accounting, enumerating, or keeping
score’ which forms the basis of the discipline of meditation. He does not
meditate on, or roll our faults over and over in His mind, but chooses instead to meditate
on the positive things about us.
Discipleship
We spent a couple months on this important subject.
To be a disciple also means to be disciplined. Obviously,
this is where the word comes from. To be disciplined means to be restricted, or
have your life narrowed. There is a narrowness that leads to life-- the deeper
spiritual life. An undisciplined life is a wasted life. Someone once
wrote... “Nothing left loose ever does anything creative. No horse has gotten
anywhere unharnessed. No steam or gas has ever driven anything until it has been
confined. Niagara Falls never turned on a single light bulb until it was
funneled. Likewise, no life ever grows until it is focused, dedicated, or
disciplined."
Endurance
Notes or article author name can be added in this area.
When we look
back at Christians of the past, we can hardly relate to their zeal. You read
about them riding on horseback for days, through all kinds of weather, to bring
the gospel to others; or kneeling on plank floors in prayer all night; or
fasting at great length. I have found this kind of endurance in other countries
around the world, but it is not found here much anymore. Let’s learn how to
enlarge our capacity to endure.
