April 21th

Learning with Naaman´s story

II Kings 5:1-14

Pastor Silvana

Naaman

• Naaman was a great man, a hero, a valiant soldier, highly regarded, commander of the army;
• He had leprosy (the worst disease at that time);
• He was proud;
• He was used to be honored;
• He wanted to be healed; he believed in what the slave girl had said;
• He got angry because he expected to be treated with honor;
• He had to humble himself to be healed: he went to the enemy´s territory, asking to be healed by an Israelite prophet; he had to submit to the prophet and follow his weird instructions.

"God has His ways to bless us. It doesn´t matter our age, nationality, social, economic or political position... All we need to do is to humble ourselves before Him
and obey Him."

The Young Girl

• She played a vey important role in the story because everything starts with her and because of what she says;
• She was a servant, a slave, but even so she was not bitter, hurt or upset. Instead of becoming sad with her condition, she wanted her master´s  healing. She was more concerned about his master than about herself.
• She was a good girl, a real missionary; she was willing to share her faith even being so young;
• She was a believer and took the opportunity, took the initiative to share what she knew and what she believed.

"She is an example for us to follow.  We should be concerned about people around us and let God use us to bless them. We can´t miss any opportunity to let people know our God, so that they can be saved,

healed and set free."

Elisha, the Prophet

• He was a man of God, a prophet powerfully used by God;
• A mature man;
• He also took the opportunity, took the initiative (v.8);
• He did not keep silent. He didn´t omit or neglect his participation in the story;
• He was not "seduced" by the "VIP" visitor: he treated Naaman as a common man even knowing who Naaman was;
• He was not afraid to do what God has directed him to do.

"Again, we can´t miss the opportunity to be used by God. Before God we are all equal, sinners and dependent on Him; We shouldn´t treat people according to their finances, social position, appearance,etc; When God gives us a direction, we have to obey it fully even if it seems to be strange."

Naaman´s servants (attendants)

• They also played a very important role in the story; their attitude towards their master made all the difference;
• They were really concerned about their master;
• They calmed Naaman and persuaded him to dip himself in the Jordan river seven times as the prophet had told him;
• They acted with love, respect and as friends, although they were just servants.

"Would we act like them?"

April 14th

Who are you listening to?

By Arthur

  "And I saw an angel coming down out of heaven, having the key to the Abyss and holding in his hand a great chain. He seized the dragon, that ancient serpent, who is the devil, or Satan, and bound him for a thousand years. He threw him into the Abyss, and locked and sealed it over him, to keep him from deceiving the nations anymore until the thousand years were ended. After that, he must be set free for a short time."(Revelation 20:1-3)

A few questions to meditate:

• What do you think about the Devil?
• Where does he need to be?
• How can Satan affect you? 

 

Follow these Revelation´s verses below:

• 2:7: He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To him who overcomes, I will give the right to eat from the tree of life, which is in the paradise of God. 
• 2:11: He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. He who overcomes will not be hurt at all by the second death. 
• 2:17: He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To him who overcomes, I will give some of the hidden manna. I will also give him a white stone with a new name written on it, known only to him who receives it. 
• 2:29: He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. 
• 3:6: He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches
• 3:13: He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. 
• 3:22: He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.

 And now, answer these questions: 

• What is the voice which you have to hear?
• What are the lies which you are believing?

 

 Wise quotes:

• "The first thing you hear determines what you say right after." Mike Murdock
• "One of the ingredients of a perfect day includes listening to God´s voice every morning." Mike Murdock
• "God says directly to that people who are close of Him."Anonymous

 

How are your daily actions?

• The Holy Spirit lives inside you to help you making difference every day.
• The man´s heart says what has inside it.
• The one and only way that Devil has to affect you easily and fastly is through your mind.
• Your acts are goint to show to others who is controliing your life.
• If the world is making the life be harder to you and Satan is telling you some lie, you can not believe and not act by the world´s rules.

Stay alert!

Many times, something or somebody´s acts that look good are not good for real! Watch the videos and realize how mistaken our concepts can be. .

 

In the first video, we see a panda, considered a sweet animal, acting in an agressive way. In the second, an agressive animal, a lion acts like a pet.

The same surprises we have in our lifes, that´s why we need the Holy Spirit all the time helping us to discern good and bad!

So, let go speak to you!

Give Him the time to be heard by you!

You will see victoy, in your life, if you hear God´s voice!

  

Just to let you know that you´re in my thought!

When I say that I am a Christian, I am not shouting that I am clean living.

I´m whispering I was lost, but now I´m found and forgiven.

When I say I am a Christian, I don´t speak of this with pride. I´m confessing that I stumble and need Christ to be my guide.

When I say I am a Christian, I´m not trying to be strong.

 I´m professing that I´m weak and need His strength to carry on.

When I say I am a Christian, I´m not bragging of success. 

I´m admitting I have failed and need God to clean my mess. 

 When I say I am a Christian, I´m not claiming to be perfect.  

My flaws are far too visible, but God believes I am worth it.

When I say I am a Christian, I still feel the sting of pain.  

I have my share of heartaches, so I call upon His name.

When I say I am a Christian, I´m not holier that thou.  

I´m just a simple sinner who received God´s good grace, somehow!

 Be Blessed. Be a Blessing.

PRAY THAT YOU WILL HAVE A WONDERFUL, WONDERFUL DAY!

 Pastor Silvana

Links to interesting blogs - Suggestions

• Sunday Bible School´s Blog  http://www.ebgetbh.blogspot.com.br/ (Sent by Luciana do Carmo)
• Pr Eduardo´s Blog http://oxiuaiso.blogspot.com.br/ (Sent by Pr Eduardo)

About Passover (Text sent by Giovani Chaves)

Modern Passover symbols, egg and bunny, are accepted worldwide. The word Easter, by the passage of time, came to us, through the culture of Anglo-Saxon myth of spring, Eostre, derived from the Babylonian Ishtar. Others attribute its origin to Eostur parties, celebrating the return of spring, also an ancient Babylonian tradition.
Many centuries ago the Syrians, Trojans and Nordic gathered in the hills at dawn to celebrate the return of spring sunshine.
The egg, meaning first, the origin of everything, opened the way for other traditions. It is present in ancient mythology, in the religions of the East, the folk traditions and a large part of Christendom. According to some, the tradition of Easter eggs in the celebration came to the West from ancient Egypt, and according to others through the Germanic peoples of the Baltic region.
In the Middle Ages, Europeans adopted the Chinese custom of decorating eggs, which were boiled and colored, and giving to friends in celebration of spring as a reminder of continual renewal of life. Coloring eggs became fine art. They were cooked with vegetable dyes until set. The fruit of gorse provided the color yellow, and beet, the red color.
In the eighteenth century, the Roman Catholic Church officially adopted the egg as a symbol of the resurrection of Christ, sanctifying themselves in this way using an originally pagan, and stacks of colored eggs began to be blessed before distributed to the faithful.
The rabbit as a symbol of fertility, appeared around 1215 in France, deriving also from the Babylonian mysteries. A mixture of pagan mythology with Christian symbology organized.
From 1928, when the cocoa began to be industrialized on a large scale, decorated chicken eggs were replaced by chocolate, and so continues the ancient pagan custom of giving chicken eggs at Easter.
In 1951, Pope Pius XII introduced changes in the feast of Easter in an attempt to restore to him the religious splendor, transferring the service that was celebrated on Easter Saturday - when "Knit Judas" - to midnight, in the passage to called Holy Saturday. From the month of November, Romanism still imposes the faithful in preparation for the party, through penance, is considered of great value in preparing the people.
In the presence of the Law, the israelites should, by eating the paschal lamb, turn their thoughts to the facts that led to the release of their fathers from Egyptian slavery, renew the vows of fidelity to the Lord and also envision in the future sufferings and the glories the Messiah, of whom Moses wrote:

"The LORD your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among your own brothers. You must listen to him." Deuteronomy 18:15

In the Supper the contingencies are others. The believer brings to memory the Christ on the cross, the double condition of priest and victim, to shed innocent blood cleansing from all sin. And not only that, but looking back on the past, devotes again his life in the present and looks forward to the future, enjoying in advance the fulfillment of these words:

"I tell you, I will not drink of this fruit of the vine from now on until that day when I drink it anew with you in my Father's kingdom." Matthew 26:29 

Just for fun

Google Translator: You are using wrong!

In the restaurant 

 (Grilled Tenderloin)

 ("Farfalle ao sugo" is an Italian expression. "Farfalle" is a pasta shaped like a bow tie or butterfly.  And "Ao Sugo" is a sauce prepared with lots of tomatoes, onions and herbs that must be boiled for a long time until it gets really red and concentrated, but liquid enough to be sucked.)

 ("Hunter´s Chicken" is also a classic Italian dish. Maybe, abroad, it receives another name. History tells us that it was prepared by women while men went to hunt. So, the wives prepared it to wait for their hungry husbands. To prepare it, you take the chicken pieces, brown them in a skillet with a little oil, and after you take them to the pan. Doing this way, the chicken skin stands firm. Many people dislikes cooked chicken because of the flaccid appearance of its skin after cooking. A nice tip isn´t it?)

It´s always time to celebrate!!!

Congratulations for all who were born in March!!!

PASSOVER

• What  is “PASSOVER”?
• Passover is one of the most important Jewish religious holiday,  when  the escape of the Jews from Egypt is remembered.  (Hebrew: Pesach/Greek: Paskha) It marks the beginning of Israel’s history as a free nation; it celebrates the great deliverance from slavery, when God set His people free and took them out of Egypt.
• Exodus 12:3-14:
•  ³ Tell the whole community of Israel that on the tenth day of this month each man is to take a    lamb for his family, one for each household… 
• ⁵ The animals you choose must be year-old males without defect…. ⁶ Take care of them until the fourteenth day of the month, when all the members of the community of Israel must slaughter them at twilight.
• ⁷ Then they are to take some of the blood and put it on the sides and tops of the doorframes of the houses where they eat the lambs… it is the LORD’s Passover.
• ¹² “On that same night I will pass through Egypt and strike down every firstborn of both people and animals, and I will bring judgment on all the gods of Egypt. I am the LORD.
• ¹³ The blood will be a sign for you on the houses where you are, and when I see the blood, I will PASS OVER you. No destructive plague will touch you when I strike Egypt.
• ¹⁴ “This is a day you are to commemorate; for the generations to come you shall celebrate it as a festival to the LORD—a lasting ordinance.

• Exodus 12.3-14, 21-27



 

What is “EASTER”?

• Easter is a Christian holiday in March or April when Christians remember the death of Christ and His return to life (resurrection). Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English.
• “Easter” has a pagan origin. The English word “easter” comes from the Anglo-saxon “Eastre” or “Estera”, a Teutonic goddess (the goddess of fertility) to whom sacrifice was offered in April.  The true “Passover” has nothing to do with “easter”, rabbits, eggs, chocolate eggs...
• God wants us to celebrate the Passover, from generation to generation, always remembering the true meaning: we were slaves in “Egypt”, slaves of sin, but Jesus, the Lamb of God, was sacrificed for us. He paid the price. Now, we are free... Let’s celebrate!!!
• John 1.29 (The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him and said, “Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!”),  35-36 (The next day John was there again with two of his disciples. When he saw Jesus passing by, he said, “Look, the Lamb of God!”)
• I Peter 1.18-20 (For you know that it was not with perishable things such as silver or gold that you were redeemed from the empty way of life handed down to you from your ancestors, ¹⁹ but with the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or defect. ²⁰ He was chosen before the creation of the world, but was revealed in these last times for your sake. )

Pr. Silvana´s Preaching, on Saturday, 31st