June 2024
Restoration
Pastors,
Please feel free to submit a teacher from your local assembly receive the Fl District teacher of the month award. Submit photo and short bio to the CM Email: Fldistrictcm@gmail.com
Please submit any upcoming events you would like announced by emailing kherbst@firstpent.org
Section 1 News
Wednesday, July 10, 20247:30 PM
Friday, July 12, 202410:00 PM
FL District UPCI Campgrounds5011 Northwest Gainesville RoadOcala, FL,
Please be in prayer for our Children’s camps. Registration is FULL!
Youth Update
Camps are still available for FL Youth! Please submit registration to http://www.flupciyouth.com/
8/9 - District Back to School Rally - First Apostolic Church Milton - Pastor Webb - Speaker: DJ Hill, YM President
9/27 - First Pentecostal Church Pensacola - Pastor Kinsey - Speaker: Petru de LaGarza, FLYM District
11/2 - REC Event more into tba
Bible Quizzing Update- State Finals
June 7-8, 2024: JUNIOR District Finals ***LOCATION CHANGE****
Eastwind Pentecostal Church - Pastor David Myers
1021 Emerson Dr NE
Palm Bay, FL 32907
Beginners through Acts 8:39 (170 verses; all material)
Juniors through Acts 12:17 (265 verses; all material)
June 14-15, 2024: SENIOR District Finals
Florida District UPCI Campgrounds
5011 NW Gainesville Rd
Ocala, FL 34475
Intermediate through Acts 11:30 (414 verses; all material)
Experienced through Acts 14:28 (519 verses; all material)
Restoration
God has empowered the church with covenant promises; through prayer, we can establish perimeters of possibility. Even when faced with despair, we can discover new potential for restoration and growth. We can become the image of Christ on the earth through His transforming power and then take authority over the ruin and destruction of our lives and personalities to become His ambassadors on the planet.
After coming to God, He will direct us in transforming our lives, giving us power over our past, and now we can depend on God to rebuild our lives.
We must be willing to deal with our past destructive behaviors and allow God to. begin rebuilding what has been broken. Through the blood of Jesus, we can recover from our defeats and be remade into the image of Christ.
Vic Jolin, a church member, wrote this story to help you understand how God changes us into His image and the process of the Divine way, which sometimes requires heat to make that change happen.
“When I was a kid in Massachusetts, every March was maple syrup-making time. My uncle, who lived across the street in the original farm homestead, made maple syrup, and all of us kids (20+ cousins) would help. Our job was to take the buckets to the maple trees and collect what was tapped. When we poured the sap into the buckets, it was crystal clear. You could see right to the bottom. However, once we poured that sap into the boiling pan (my uncle made one, welded galvanized steel into a 4’x3’ 6” deep pan) and that heat from the fire started working on that sap, an unbelievable amount of black crud would foam up from the sap. My uncle would scoop it off with a homemade net he constructed from cheesecloth and a couple of iron coat hangers. While it was boiling, he occasionally looked deep into the sap, shook his head no, and put more wood on the fire. Curiosity got the better of me, and I finally knew what he was doing. He said, in a voice raspy from years of smoking unfiltered KOOL cigarettes, “When I can see a perfect reflection of myself in the syrup, then I know it’s done.” There is no transformation into the image of Christ without heat.”
Nehemiah discovered the ruins of Jerusalem and surveyed the devastation of 90 years of neglect by taking a mule ride around the wall under the cover of the darkness of night as of yet He had not revealed the purpose for His visit nor shared with anyone what God had put in His heart to do.
So I came to Jerusalem and was there for three days. And I arose in the night, I and some few men with me; neither told I any man what my God had put in my heart to do at Jerusalem: neither was there any beast with me, save the beast that I rode upon (Nehemiah 2:11-12).
This assessment does not come from wise counsel but from being alone with God.
Sin has done a great deal of damage to all of us. Even though the image of God is indelibly stamped upon each of us, there are still things about us that have been broken and remain so.
I want you to discover the possibilities God desires for your life.
Even though we are all unique, we can still have unity. I believe we all have a specific dimension of passion or heart, a specific dimension of hope, and a certain measure of faith. The body of Christ needs your measure. Every joint in the body supplies its portion of oil to the body.
From whom the whole body fitly joined together and compacted by that which every joint supplieth, according to the effectual working in the measure of every part, maketh increase of the body unto the edifying of itself in love (Ephesians 4:16).
Though disaster may burn our hope, tragedy may smash our faith, and injury may bruise the heart, God can and will resurrect our faith, and we cannot be kept down.
However, the level of your willingness and measure of faith will determine whether it will succeed.
The Comforter
You can honestly assess your brokenness, but you cannot fix it yourself. You need to enlist the aid of the Holy Ghost.
As John said in the New Testament, you need a paraclete, a comforter. The Holy Ghost is the only power that can rebuild and restore. Even though along the way to your destiny, you have been taunted, tainted, and tangled by tests, trauma, and tragedy, God had a blueprint in mind from the beginning.
My substance was not hidden from thee when I was made in secret and curiously wrought in the earth's lowest parts. Thine eyes did see my substance yet being unperfect; and in thy book, all my members were written, which in continuance were fashioned when there was none (Psalm 139: 15-16).
God is our helper, and He is ready to fulfill our highest destiny. The Lord Jesus Christ is the Lord of all history. Therefore, he can overcome your past and produce a different future.
Nehemiah
Let us see if we can find ourselves in the book of Nehemiah. This historical sketch reveals some surprising truths that can be applied to our lives today tohelp rebuild what is broken.
Step back with me to a century when the Spirit of God joined the activities of half a dozen kings, powerful prophets, and a captive nation to produce one of the greatest stories of restoration ever written.
The year of this book begins in 446 B.C. Ninety years have transpired since the Jewish release from Babylon captivity. During that time, Cyrus, King of the Persian empire made a decree and 50,000 Jews were released to return to Jerusalem to begin the restoration that was prophesied by Jeremiah. Our God controlled all the events, weaving them together to fulfill the most remarkable prophecies of Isaiah, Ezekiel, Zephaniah, and Haggai.
The Jews were released from their captivity in 536 B.C. Through the ministry of Ezra and the spiritual inspiration of Zechariah and Haggai, the temple was rebuilt and finished by 516 B.C.
It was not until 70 years after the temple's completionthat Nehemiah became concerned that the city had no walls.
What good is a spiritual relationship with God and a life with a temple when the walls of the city are broken down and the gates are burned with fire?
You can have a relationship with God, lead an everyday life, and still be a mass of broken pieces.
Nehemiah responded to this need through prayer, weeping, mourning, and fasting.
In Chapter 1, we find him interceding. In Chapter 2, we see him risking his life. In chapter 4, he secures their safety; in chapter 5, heunselfishly gives his resources; and in chapter 6, we find him committing to complete the task despite the obstacles.
Our Restoration
Today, the Holy Ghost acts as the Nehemiah of our restoration.
The name Nehemiah means the consoling breath of God. The ministry of the Holy Ghost restores and rebuilds our lives. He can rebuild our broken strengths and weaknesses and lead us past our ignorance into the victory his word declares we can have.
I believe in the need for rebirth, but we must come to grips with the fact that we also need rebuilding.
The Comforter (Nehemiah) is a concerned person who isready and willing to do whatever is necessary to put us back together again. Only through the power of the Holy Ghost can he return to us the ruler-ship and authority that Adam lost. It means recovery of self-control, personality, stabilized temperament, and character.
Nehemiah knew that those who had a true relationship with God were hurt by the devastation of slaver and bondage and needed the voice of the Holy Spirit to guide them to be restored. Satan always target the people who live in covenant with God, even they still experience unresolved brokenness Nehemiah assured them that they were going to be victorious.
First, he fulfilled his word and returned the Jews to their homeland;
second, he helped them rebuild the temple; finally, with his help, they could faithfully worship God at the temple site.
However, what good is a temple when all self-control and the center of government are in shambles?
Without a wall, the enemy could not be stopped but was able to gain access to the city at any time. If we have no self-control, we cannot fulfill the purpose God has created us for. We must submit to God and allow Him to walk us through rebuilding our lives from the rubble of our past sins and mistakes.
Some people wonder why they can come to church and get a God feeling but cannot shut out depressive thoughts or overcome fear; feelings of worthlessness seem to prevail, and they are constantly subdued by temptation. This state can only be overcome when the Holy Ghost reinstates the rule over you.
One thing needs to be remembered - this type of progress takes tremendous patience and time.
Our partner in the rebuilding process is the Holy Ghost (Nehemiah). Our recovery will not be instantly gained through being born againbut will be patiently produced through the power of the Holy Ghost.
So, allow God to take the time necessary to heal you and recover the blessing of joy and life you have lost.
It is God’s will to restore the Apostolic Church to her power and authority over every sickness, problem, and crisis so that all of us may live to the glory of the one who made it all possible: our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.
Yours for the Kingdom,
Pastor Brian Kinsey
