Sunrise Chapel – One Year

Lessons

We are so pleased, as well as excited, to have been here for one year already! We give thanks to all that have traveled this journey with us for, without you, none of this would be possible.

We also give special thanks to Alan Brownfeld for his generosity in providing this location to us every week, rain or shine, out of the goodness and Godliness of his heart.

Is This Our Church?

We faced many trials and tribulations this past year. We’ve had a Motorcycle Ministry criticize our methods, condemn us for the way we speak and others who, out jealousy or just plain dislike, disapproved of everything we did.

Matthew 18:20 – “For where two or three gather in my name, there am I with them.”

Yes, this IS our church… this IS YOUR church! None of what was said by others matters to us. All that is of any significance to us is are we delivering the messages from God that you, our flock, are wanting to hear? Are we, through Christ Jesus, bringing relief to your soul, love into your heart and drawing you closer to The Holy Spirit?

The Year in Review

I’d like to take some time this morning and visit the past year. Some of the things we talked about and the message we were trying to deliver from God.

Being respectful of your time, I won’t cover every single lesson but, instead, browse through just a few of the messages from our year together.

Feel free, at any time, to “shout-out” about remembering any of these and if they brought joy to your soul and, if you choose to elaborate, how did it glorify God in your heart.

While our journey actually began in January 2017, I did not start posting our lessons to our web site http://sunrisechapel.church until late February.

Our Lessons

  • Feb 26 – The Miracle of God – God is not a God of magic, but a God of miracles. Matthew 19:26: “Jesus looked at them and said, ‘With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.’”
  • Mar 5 – Forgetting Our Past – Forget the past, remember the lesson. Philippians 3:13-14: “One thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.”
  • Mar 12 – Self Doubt – What if my best isn’t good enough. Romans 12:2: “Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect.”
  • Mar 19 – God-Given Talent – Remembering our gifts from God. Romans 12:6-8: “In his grace, God has given us different gifts for doing certain things well. So, if God has given you the ability to prophesy, speak out with as much faith as God has given you. If your gift is serving others, serve them well. If you are a teacher, teach well. If your gift is to encourage others, be encouraging. If it is giving, give generously. If God has given you leadership ability, take the responsibility seriously. And if you have a gift for showing kindness to others, do it gladly.”
  • Mar 26 – Slow Down – Don’t worry about keeping up with the world. Ephesians 5:15-16 – “Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise but as wise, making the best use of the time, because the days are evil.”
  • Apr 2 – Displaying Kindness – Showing others mercy. Matthew 5:7: “Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy”
  • Apr 9 – Palm Sunday – Celebrating Jesus’ triumphal entry into Jerusalem and marks the start of Holy Week, the final days of His earthly ministry.
  • Apr 16 – The Napkin is Still Folded – As per a Jewish tradition, Jesus left a sign, in His tomb, that His work is not completed yet.
  • Apr 23 – The Weight of Doubt – Why do we doubt? So many words from Christ tells us we shouldn’t. The story of “Doubting Thomas” John 20:27: “Then he said to Thomas, ‘Put your finger here; see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it into my side. Stop doubting and believe.’”
  • Apr 30 – Difficult People – Responding with grace. Colossians 4:6: “Let your conversation be always full of grace, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how to answer everyone.”
  • May 7 – Friendships and Relationships – Just getting along. 1 John 1:7-8: “But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin. If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us.”
  • May 14 – Mother’s Day. Exodus 20:12: “Honor your Mother and Father, that your days may be prolonged in the land which the Lord your God gives you.”
  • May 28 – Giving Up on God – Don’t give up on God, He will give you the strength. Psalm 31:24: “Be of good courage and he shall strengthen your heart, all ye that hope in the Lord.”
  • Jun 4 – Private Time with God – Don’t be like the hypocrites. Matthew 6:6: “But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.”
  • Jun 11 – Who is Pastor Woody – I think this one’s all too clear to us all now. 😉
  • Jun 18 – Happy Father’s Day – Honoring our Fathers and how God as told our Fathers to raise us. Proverbs 22:6: “Train up a child in the way he should go, Even when he is old he will not depart from it.”
  • Jun 25 – Aging/Growing Older – Why should we be afraid of this? Proverbs 16:31: “Gray hair is a crown of splendor; it is attained in the way of righteousness.”
  • Jul 2 – Fourth of July – Celebrating our 241th Birthday. Galatians 5:1: “It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery.”
  • Jul 9 – God and Sorrow – Where God teaches us what to say in our sadness… Psalm 119:28: “My soul is weary with sorrow; strengthen me according to your word”
  • Jul 16 – Feeling Worthless – While this world may, God will never abandon us. Isaiah 49:15: “Can a mother forget the baby at her breast and have no compassion on the child she has borne? Though she may forget, I will not forget you!”
  • Jul 23 – Expecting More than God Promises – Don’t let the pressures of this world make you want more than God will give. 1 Corinthians 10:13: “No temptation has overtaken you except what is common to mankind. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can endure it.”
  • Jul 30 – Making Prayer a Habit – Don’t just pray when you want, pray always! James 5:16-18 – “Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective.”
  • Aug 6 – Let Your Light Shine – Don’t keep the Word inside of you. Matthew 5:16: “In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.”
  • Aug 13 – Stop Blaming God – It is probably our own doing. Proverbs 19:3: “A person’s own folly leads to their ruin, yet their heart rages against the Lord.”
  • Aug 20 – Taming the Tongue – Being careful with what you say. Proverbs 18:21: “The tongue has the power of life and death, and those who love it will eat its fruit.”
  • Aug 27 – The Good Physician – How so many were healed by our Lord and Savior. Matthew 8:3: “Jesus reached out his hand and touched the man. ‘I am willing,’ he said. ‘Be clean!’ Immediately he was cleansed of his leprosy.”
  • Sep 3 – The Working Christian – A Labor Day Message telling us we must work. Proverbs 10:4: “Lazy hands make for poverty, but diligent hands bring wealth.”
  • Sep 17 – Jewish Holidays Upon Us – For our Jewish Brothers and Sisters in God. We spoke of Rosh Hashanah (The New Year) and Yom Kippur (The Day of Atonement).
  • Sep 24 – Temptation and Faith in the Unseen – Taking up our shield of faith! Ephesians 6:16: “In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one.”
  • Oct 1 – The Bible and Marriage – Good from the very beginning of time. Genesis 2:18: “Then the Lord God said, “It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him a helper fit for him.”
  • Oct 8 – Biblical Signs of the End of Times – We are forewarned to watch the signs of the times. Mark 13: 32: “But about that day or hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father.”
  • Oct 15 – Stories to Learn From – Some everyday stories displaying God’s Love in other people.
  • Oct 22 – How Does God Speak to Us – God is listening. “Keep your prayers simple, not complicated where you yourself cannot even understand them. God will hear you even if you pray as simply as a child for their prayers, He Loves to hear.”
  • Oct 29 – Our Words, Our Actions, Our Value to God – We should watch what we say and do. 1 John 3:18: “Dear children, let us not love with words or speech but with actions and in truth.”
  • Nov 5 – Humility and Faith – God teaches us to be humble. Philippians 2:3-4: “Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others.”
  • Nov 12 – Does God abandon Us in Tragedy – Remembering Sutherland Springs, Texas.
  • Nov 19 – Live Without Regret Through Christ – Simply following the way of Christ. 1 Peter 3:9: “Do not repay evil with evil or insult with insult. On the contrary, repay evil with blessing, because to this you were called so that you may inherit a blessing.”
  • Nov 26 – Giving and Receiving Thanks – A Thanksgiving Day message. 1 Chronicles 16:34: “Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; his love endures forever.”
  • Dec 3 – Learning Forgiveness – Forgiving others as Christ forgave us. Luke 17:3-4: “Pay attention to yourselves! If your brother sins, rebuke him, and if he repents, forgive him, and if he sins against you seven times in the day, and turns to you seven times, saying, ‘I repent,’ you must forgive
    him.”
  • Dec 10 – Accepting God as a Child – Keeping our innocence. Matthew 18:3-5: “Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Therefore, whoever takes the lowly position of this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. And whoever welcomes one such child in my name welcomes me.”
  • Dec 17 – Believe! – When your heart is troubled. John 14:1-2: “’Do not let your hearts be troubled. You believe in God; believe also in me.  My Father’s house has many rooms; if that were not so, would I have told you that I am going there to prepare a place for you?’”
  • Dec 24 – Happy Birthday Jesus – A birthday celebration of our Lord and Savior. John 3:16: “God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son. Anyone who believes in him will not die but will have eternal life.”
  • Dec 31 – Bible Encouragement for the New Year – Celebrating a new year in Christ and a new beginning. 2 Corinthians 5:17: “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!”
  • Jan 7 – Signs You are Growing Closer to Christ – Being angry at sin but don’t sin. Ephesians 4:26-27: “’Be angry, and do not sin’: do not let the sun go down on your wrath, nor give place to the devil.”
  • Jan 14 – This is My God – There is a God and I’d like you to meet him. Psalm 14:1: “The fool says in his heart, ‘There is no God.’ They are corrupt, their deeds are vile; there is no one who does good.”
  • Jan 21 – Judging Others – Who are we to judge? Luke 6:37: “Judge not, and you will not be judged; condemn not, and you will not be condemned; forgive, and you will be forgiven.”
  • Jan 25 – Signs of a Wicked Heart – God does not approve of our wickedness. 2 Peter 2:21: “It would have been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than to have known it and then to turn their backs on the sacred command that was passed on to them.”

Conclusion

We hope we’ve been good to you as you have been to us. We promise to do our best, in this next year, to bring you all the messages from God that He needs you to hear. We pray also, that you open your hearts, open your minds and open your souls to Him that you might feel His glory and let it strengthen you to face the times ahead until God Himself, calls you home.

From all of us at Sunrise Chapel, we thank you… from the bottom of our hearts and deep within our souls, we thank you. It is for you we come. It is for you The Father, Son and Holy Spirit are with us each Sunday. May God bless us all and keep us safely within his Loving arms.

Let Us Give Thanks

Please bow your heads and “raise your hands” when the “time” comes and give thanks to the Lord:

Dear Heavenly Father, we thank you once again for another day. Another day in which to serve Your purpose, spread Your word and shine Your light for all to see.

We thank you for this year together and appreciate you taking the time to worship with us and mend our souls. Your lessons have touched us all and we eagerly await to hear the next.

Father, help us be strong. Help our weaknesses and strengthen our faithlessness. Draw us closer to you Lord… closer to The Son and Holy Spirit that we might live a Godly life as You would have us do and that our lives too, be blest.

Lord, we ask all this of you this morning in the name of Your Son, Jesus of Nazareth… our Lord and Savior for without His sacrifice we would surely perish and… as He taught us to say:

The Lord’s Prayer (Raised Hands)

Go with God; be good to one another; always stay humble; always be kind… God Bless!