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Priorities Matter Ministies (PMM) is a ministry the Lord laid on my heart to begin in 2009.  Our purpose is to first and foremost assist the local church in fulfilling their God-given mission.  We have a tremendous desire to come along side the local church, pastors, and fellow Christ followers to encourage, train, and equip them so they can "walk in God's favor!"  

In 2 Samuel 7:29, King David went in and sat in the presence of the Lord.  He then asked, "Now, please bless your servant's house so that it will continue before You forever."  In short, David was asking for God's favor!

Throughout God's Word, the Bible, there are examples of individuals upon whom God's favor would rest.  It's the purpose of PMM to assist, equip, and train in the areas which will allow the blessing (favor) of God to flow in your life, family, secular career and/or ministry.

In order to "walk in God's" favor PMM focuses on four (4) areas of your life which we call priorities (click on each of the priorities in order to see how PMM is able to assist you):

Priority #1: Your relationship with Christ

Priority #2: Your relationship with your spouse

Priority #3: Your relationship with your children

Priority #4: Your career and/or ministry

Beginning in 2010, I am available to assist you in all four (4) of these priorities.  To schedule a service, or to gather more information, please send an email to [email protected] or call 618.581.1391 and we will be more than glad to share with you how PMM can assist you and your ministry.

Feel free to visit our PMM website for more information.  God bless!

SUNDAY'S D6 MESSAGE ON SERVANTHOOD IS NOW ON THE PODCAST

I realize many of our Victory Church family were traveling last Sunday, therefore, you can still hear the D6 message on "servanthood" on the podcast (the podcast player is to the right of this post).  Below are the D6 family take home sermon notes:

D6 Family Theme for Week 12/27

SERVANTHOOD

D6 Weekly Goal: To inspire Christians to love others practically by serving like Jesus.

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Fusion Facts

1. Service opportunities sometimes happen when we least expect them.  (John 2:1-11)
2. Jesus is able to take our limited resources and do the impossible. (John 6:1-13)
3. A praying heart opens the door to opportunities of service (Philippians 1:1-8)
4. When seeds of compassion are sown, service is grown           (John 9:1-11)
5. When we serve others we are serving Jesus (Ephesians 6:5-8)

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Servant Leadership (Mark 10:35-45)

Thought 1: Being a SERVANT is NECESSARY for the believer and Christian leadership.  (Mark 10:35-45)

Jesus taught them this lesson, “If they wanted to be leaders in His Kingdom, they had to be SERVANTS.”

Thought 2: The wrong attitude for servanthood is to serve out of the HOPE of REWARD! (Mark 10:35-45)

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Point #1: The world’s view of servant leadership IS NOT Jesus’s definition. (Mark 10:42-43)

Point #2: SERVICE is the measure of Christian  leadership. (Mark 10:43-44)

Point #3: Servant leadership is modeled after JESUS' behavior. (Mark 10:45; John 13:1-15)

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Six main points of servant leadership:

1. “Servants lead out of RELATIONSHIPS, not by coercion.”
2. “Servants lead by SUPPORT, not by control.”
3. “Servants lead by DEVELOPING OTHERS, not by doing all the ministry themselves.”
4. “Servants GUIDE people, not drive them.”
5. “Servants LEAD FROM LOVE, not domination."
6. “Servants seek GROWTH, not position.”

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Take Home Family Study: Read Mark 9:33-35; Luke 9:11; John13:1-15

Three questions for the believer:

1. What is your motivation in serving?
2. As you look around, what is the need in front of you now?
3. What do you have to give? (Acts 3:6)

Going deeper: Take time to ask yourself and those in your family these questions while pondering the idea of servanthood.

1. Who in your life best reflects Jesus’ servant heart?
2. What Christ-like qualities does he/she exhibit while serving?
3. How has God uniquely gifted you to serve?

This week be sensitive to the leadership of the Holy Spirit as He leads you to opportunities of “humble service.”

SACRIFICE 2 VENTI LATTE'S AT STARBUCKS - Give $10 for Go10 Walk for the World

Join me in giving up two "Venti Peppermint Mocha Latte's" (or whatever you favorite coffee may be) in order to give $10.00 to help spread the Gospel to the unreached people groups around the world!

Go10 Walk for the World is an invitation to young people to experience a life-changing commitment to missions through a 2,500-mile walk for the world.  Each walker is raising $500.00 for the purpose of spreading the Gospel. An anonymous donor has pledged to match all monies raised through this walk—up to $500,000. Therefore, this walk provides an opportunity to raise over $1,000,000... that’s one million dollars!... to share the Gospel with those who have never heard it.

I am going to walk in this event and I would love for you to sponsor me!  Just click here and it will take you to my Go10 Walk website and you can give online.

Thanks for assisting me in spreading the Gospel!  Click here to learn more about Go10 Walk for the World.

Go10 Walk for the World

Go10 Walk for the World is a challenge to young people to consider their role in reaching the nations with the gospel in their generation.

The year 2010 is the commemoration of the 75th anniversary of FWBIM’s modern missions program. Laura Belle Barnard was sent out as our first missionary to India in 1935.

To commemorate this event, we are challenging Free Will Baptist young people to a life-changing commitment. They commit to walk a 10-mile segment of a 2,500-mile course. Teens will also commit to a 40-day prayer and devotional journey in preparation for the walk.

Would you like to participate in this walk?  If so, click here.

Maybe you cannot walk, so why not prayerfully consider sponsoring me in the walk to reach the world - click here to make a donation.

Thanks for all you do to assist us in this endeavor.  Please keep Go10 Walk as a top priority on your prayer list!

RESPONSE LETTER FROM SOMEONE VICTORY SERVED LAST WEEKEND WRAPPING GIFTS AT THE MALL

Just this week I received a letter from someone Victory Church served last weekend at the mall.  Victory's Christmas outreach project is "Free Gift Wrapping" every weekend and Christmas Eve at the St. Clair Square Mall in Fairview Heights, IL.

This was a very rewarding and refreshing letter!  Enjoy!

Dear Jon,
 
On Saturday my son and I finally got time to get some Christmas shopping done. We live in Litchfield and had decided to go to Fairview Heights to the mall. The traffic was horrible, the crowd was larger than I had thought it would be and to top it all off, my wife had a house full of women baking Christmas cookies and candy and now I had to figure out how to get her gifts inside and wrapped before she began snooping.
 
Then one of your church members approached me and offered to wrap my gifts. What a Blessing! All of my gifts were wrapped and ready to go under our tree when I arrived home, and all of the gifts looked great. All of the people there were so friendly and joyful that having my gifts wrapped was the highlight of my trip. You have a wonderful church family. I am always so amazed how God can know my need and provide for it, before I even know I have the need.
 
I just wanted to drop you a note and tell you what a wonderful idea I thought the gift wrapping was and how much I appreciated it. All of the wrappers were wonderful and through them, I could truly feel God’s love. By the time I left the wrapping station, I felt as if you had done all of that just for me. Please tell everyone Job well done!
 
Lee Jarman

Thanks Lee for the encouraging note and Merry Christmas!

HOW TO RESOLVE CONFLICT

I don't know about you, but I love baseball.  More specifically, I love the St. Louis Cardinals (I live just 25 miles from the stadium). I love the strategy, how the game changes as it goes deeper into innings, and I must say, I enjoy watching Tony LaRussa (or any manger) charge out of the dugout to the umpire to dispute a call.

However, we must remember, this is just a game.  According to the Word of God, this is not how we are to handle disputes in the church.

Matthew 18:15-20 (HCSB)
¹⁵ “If your brother sins against you, go and rebuke him in private. If he listens to you, you have won your brother.
¹⁶ But if he won’t listen, take one or two more with you, so that by the testimony of two or three witnesses every fact may be established.
¹⁷ If he pays no attention to them, tell the church. But if he doesn’t pay attention even to the church, let him be like an unbeliever and a tax collector to you.
¹⁸ I assure you: Whatever you bind on earth is already bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth is already loosed in heaven.
¹⁹ Again, I assure you: If two of you on earth agree about any matter that you pray for, it will be done for you by My Father in heaven.
²⁰ For where two or three are gathered together in My name, I am there among them.” 

Sinning against a brother is a matter of great concern to God. It is so serious that if the offending brother refuses to rectify the matter, he is to be severely disciplined (Matthew 18:17). However, when dealing with discipline, two critical points are to be noted.

1. The sinning brother is a brother, a genuine believer. He sins against another brother. The breach is between two genuine believers who are in the church.
2. The trespass is a personal offense; that is, the wrong and harm are done against another person. A fellow Christian believer is injured, hurt, and damaged in some way.

God has one great concern: He wants peace restored. He wants peace between the brothers, and He wants peace within the church. The disturbance caused by two offending brothers is so damaging that God lays down very specific steps as to how the matter is to be handled; and if the sinning brother refuses to be reconciled and to rectify the wrong, God says the disturbance is not to be tolerated any longer.

Christ knew we would have disputes from time-to-time, therefore, He gave us a few guidelines in how to handle ourselves when we are offended:

1. Go to the brother alone and tell him his fault. (vs. 15)
2. Go to the brother with witnesses. (vs. 16)
3. Go before the church. (vs. 17)

I will expound on these in the days to come, so be sure to check back soon!

OFTEN GOD CHOOSES TO USE SMALL THINGS

"For who scorns the day of small things?" Zechariah 4:10a

The world loves the spectacular. God has proven that He is certainly capable of the extraordinary, but He often chooses to work through the ordinary and seemingly insignificant. In this way He demonstrates His love and His power.

Throughout history, God's answer to a critical time was to send a baby. Isaac, Moses, Samuel, John the Baptist, and Jesus were all born as answers to a time of need.

When God delivered the Israelites from the Midianites' oppression, He intentionally used an army of merely three hundred men to defeat a vastly larger army. He had more soldiers available, but He preferred to demonstrate His power in the way He accomplished His purposes.

When Jesus selected His first disciples He could have enlisted a multitude to follow Him, but He chose twelve. It was not the number of disciples but the quality of their walk with Him that would determine how they affected their world.

When Jesus fed a multitude, five loaves of bread and two fish from a boy's lunch were sufficient in the hands of the Lord.

Jesus compared the kingdom of God to a mustard seed (Matthew 13:21-32). The mustard seed was the smallest seed known to the Jews, yet it grew into an enormous tree. He also likened God's kingdom to leaven that is hardly noticeable but raises the entire batch of dough (Matthew 13:33). When children came to Jesus, His disciples assumed they were an annoyance and chased them away (Matthew 19:13-15). But Jesus said that in order to enter His kingdom, people must approach God as a child.

Christians often accept the adage “the bigger the better.” We measure success by the number of people involved in our ministry. We seek spectacular displays of God's power. We must learn to view success as God does. God is interested in the heart; He is pleased with obedience.

Victory Church Gift Wrapping

Here are some of our guys wrapping Christmas gifts at the St Clair Mall.

KRISTEN CANNON SELECTED TO SERVE ON 2010 E-TEAM Ribeirão Preto, Brazil

My daughter, Kristen Cannon has recently been selected to serve on the Free Will Baptist E-Team to Brazil in June 2010!  She is very excited and grateful for this opportunity to serve on the mission field.

Free Will Baptist have had a ministry presence in Brazil since the mid 1950's when pioneer missionary Thomas Willey visited Brazil. His findings prompted the FWB Board of Foreign Missions to send missionaries to share the good news with Brazilians.

Kristen will be traveling with seven other high school students to Brazil.  They will begin with a week of training at the Free Will Baptist Bible College in Nashville, Tennessee, then travel to Ribeirão Preto, Brazil for two weeks of ministry.

Kristen needs to raise $2,990.00 to go on this trip.  We are working now to get her scheduled in as many churches as possible to share about her opportunity and ask for a prayerful and financial partnership. 

If you would like to make a tax-deductible contribution to her account, please contact the Victory Church office 618.622.9360.  Please keep Kristen in your prayers.  Thanks and God bless! 

Click here to read the history of FWB in Brazil.

A GREAT LITTLE DEVOTIONAL FOR SOLVING PROBLEMS

Steve Arterburn shares a great little devotion on "solving problems."  I trust you will find this insightful and beneficial.

People who do what is right may have many problems, but the Lord will solve them all. Psalm 34:19 NCV

Life is an exercise in problem-solving. The question is not whether we will encounter problems; the real question is how we will choose to address them. When it comes to solving the problems of everyday living, we often know precisely what needs to be done, but we may be slow in doing it—especially if what needs to be done is difficult or uncomfortable for us. So we put off till tomorrow what should be done today.

The words of Psalm 34 remind us that the Lord solves problems for "people who do what is right." And usually, doing "what is right" means doing the uncomfortable work of confronting our problems sooner rather than later. So with no further ado, let the problem-solving begin . . . now.

"We are all faced with a series of great opportunities, brilliantly disguised as unsolvable problems. Unsolvable without God's wisdom, that is."  -- Charles Swindoll 

"You've got problems; I've got problems; all God's children have got problems. The question is how are you going to deal with them?"  -- John Maxwell

"I choose joy. I will refuse the temptation to be cynical; cynicism is the tool of a lazyb thinker. I will refuse to see people as anything less than human beings, created by God. I will refuse to see any problem as anything less than an opportunity to see God." -- Max Lucado

"Problems are not stop signs, they are guidelines." -- Robert Schuller

Today's Prayer

Lord, sometimes my problems are simply too big for me, but they are never too big for You. Let me turn my troubles over to You, Lord, and let me trust in You
today and for all eternity. Amen

Christmas Concert @ MoBap

Enjoyed a Christmas celebration at Missouri Baptist University. These young adults really have a heart for the Lord. Great job guys, keep up the good work!

VICTORY CHURCH OFFERS FREE GIFT WRAPPING THIS CHRISTMAS AT ST. CLAIR SQUARE MALL!

Tonight marks the beginning of our Christmas servant evangelism project here at Victory Church.  We are offering "Free Gift Wrapping" at the St. Clair Square Shopping Mall in Fairview Heights, IL.

The hours we are serving are as follows: Friday (tonight) 5:00 PM -9:00 PM, Saturday 12:00 PM - 6:00 PM, and Sunday 3:00 PM - 7:00 PM. We will offer "free gift wrapping" every weekend in December and will also be serving Christmas Eve from 12:00 PM - 6:00 PM.

This is a great way to "show God's love in a practical way" this Christmas season.  Please pray for us as we serve and look for opportunities to share the real reason for the season - Jesus!

ALL SCRIPTURE IS PROFITABLE!

2 Timothy 3:16-17 (HCSB) "All Scripture is inspired by God and is profitable for teaching, for rebuking, for correcting, for training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work."

All Scripture is profitable! Knowing this, we cheat ourselves when we do not access every book, every truth, every verse, and every page of our Bibles for the promises and commands God has for us.

Because every verse of Scripture is inspired by God and gainful to us, we should not pick and choose which verses we will read and study. We should not claim verses we like and ignore those that convict us! If we are to become mature disciples of Jesus, we must allow every Scripture to speak to us and teach us what God desires us to learn. Scripture enables us to evaluate the soundness of doctrines that are being taught. Scripture ought to be the basis for any reproof or correction we bring to another.

If you are not firmly grounded in God's Word, you will be bombarded with an assortment of doctrines, lifestyles, and behaviors, and you will have no means to evaluate whether or not they are of God.

You cannot develop a righteous life apart from God's Word. Righteousness must be cultivated. As you fill your mind with the words of God, and as you obey His instructions, He will guide you in the ways of righteousness. Scripture will equip you for any good work God calls you to do. If you feel inadequate for a task God has given you, search the Scriptures, for within them you will find the wisdom you need to carry out His assignment. Allow the Word of God to permeate, guide, and enrich your life.