The Gathering Christian Fellowship

Psalm 100:4-5 4-Enter into His gates with thanksgiving, and into His courts with praise: be thankful unto Him, and bless His Name. 5-For the LORD is good; His mercy is everlasting; and His truth endureth to all generations. Come, let us worship and bow down... And kneel before the LORD, our Maker Come, let us worship and bow down And kneel before the LORD, our Maker He is our GOD, He is our GOD We are the people of His pasture He is our GOD, He is our GOD We are the sheep of His hand Come, let us worship and bow down And kneel before the LORD, our Maker Come, let us worship and bow down And kneel before the LORD, our Maker Worship the LORD in holiness Let the whole world stand in awe He will come to judge the world In righteousness and truth Let us greet our ABBA FATHER early today as He blesses us with another wonderful day. This day can be a glorious day when we worship and adore GOD and the Lord JESUS CHRIST. It’s a new day. You and I are alive. We’re blessed. GOD IS GOOD! Living For Him, Pastor Wally & Sister Mattie

SON Day Manna... OBEDIENCE MATTERS Hebrews 5:8 NLT)... Even though JESUS was GOD’s Son, He learned obedience from the things He suffered." Even JESUS, the Son of GOD had to learn obedience. Should we expect less? Obedience makes us more like CHRIST, deepens our relationship with GOD, and helps us to better understand GOD’s priorities and ways. TAKING LITTLE STEPS OF OBEDIENCE TRAINS US TO HABITUALLY OBEY. Then, when big decisions confront us, we will be accustomed to obeying our LORD. Now that we’re saved, we have the benefit of the indwelling presence of the Holy SPIRIT to help us obey. 1 Corinthians 4:2 reminds us, It is required that those who have been given a trust must prove faithful. When obedience becomes the pattern of our lives, GOD can trust us to act promptly and decisively when He asks us to do something. If we study the lives of the people of GOD in the Bible, we learn that it was their humble obedience to GOD that made them great. Obedience brings many blessings into our lives and also blesses the lives of others. Hebrews 10:35-36 encourages us, Do not throw away your confidence; it will be richly rewarded. You need to persevere so that when you have done the will of GOD, you will receive what he has promised. OBEDIENCE PROVES OUR FAITH AND OUR LOVE FOR GOD OUR SAVIOR AND LORD! Joyfully Yours In CHRIST, Pastor Wally & Sister Mattie

SPIRIT OF GOD 1 Corinthians 2:12 (NKJV) Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the SPIRIT who is from GOD, that we might know the things that have been freely given to us by GOD.... There are two kinds of spirit: the spirit of the world and the SPIRIT of GOD. The very moment Adam and Eve sinned against GOD, they were reduced to the spirit of the world. The spirit of the world in them made them behave the way they did as each of them blamed someone else for the sin they had committed (Genesis 3:1213). The spirit of the world loves the things of the world and doesn’t want anything to do with GOD, because it is under the control of the devil who is the god of this age. However, the very moment you hear the gospel and receive JESUS into your life, the SPIRIT of GOD comes to live in you and recreates your human spirit. Thus you become a child of GOD, and your spirit becomes open and receptive to the things of GOD. You now thirst after righteousness and want to know GOD more and more each day. The more you know GOD each day through His Word, the more He opens your eyes to see the things that He has freely given to you. He has freely given you divine health, peace, joy, prosperity, access to His power, His presence, even the mind of CHRIST. May you receive grace to continue to discover the things that GOD has freely given to you in JESUS’ holy name. Be filled with the Holy SPIRIT! Joyfully Yours, Pastor Wally & Sister Mattie

SON Day Manna FREEDOM IN CHRIST Galatians 5:1 (NIV)... 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. Our Scripture text for today is a reminder of the FREEDOM we’ve been given the moment we recognize our sinfulness, and the need to repent and accept GOD’s gift of salvation in JESUS CHRIST. Then we are called upon to STAND FIRM not letting ourselves get burdened again by a yoke of slavery. But, we have a common enemy which is the old fallen nature that’s constantly trying to keep us from enjoying the FREEDOM we’ve received from GOD. What’s keeping some Christians in bondage? Could it be selfishness, bitterness, the pain of rejection, legalism, lust, Insecurity, or an unforgiving spirit? It is time to BREAK AWAY from all these bondages by WALKING in the freedom CHRIST gave us, by denying self, and standing firm in the TRUTH of GOD’s great and precious promises in the Bible. Let’s decide and declare I AM NOT GOING BACK TO THE BONDAGE OF THE OLD NATURE. I AM FREE AND I WILL STAND ON THIS FREEDOM THAT GOD GAVE ME IN CHRIST JESUS! Amen. Forever Grateful To Him, Pastor Wally & Sister Mattie

SON Day Manna.... 2 Thessalonians 3:3 But the LORD is faithful. He will strengthen (establish) you and protect (guard) you against the evil one.... Psalm 46:1 ...GOD is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. The Bible repeatedly reminds us that we are in a spiritual war with forces that are strong, malicious, and evil (Ephesians 6:10-12). We should steer clear of every appearance of evil. We shouldn't involve ourselves in anything related to Satan and his work. But we also need to remember that our GOD is greater than Satan and all of his wicked partners. The LORD is faithful. He will not abandon us to our enemy. He will strengthen us and protect us from every attack of the enemy if we will let Him! Pray with me... Almighty FATHER , thank you for giving me victory over Satan through the blood sacrifice of your Son, JESUS CHRIST, His death, His resurrection from the dead, and His promised return to take me home to heaven. Please strengthen and empower me and my family to overcome temptation and resist the deceptive enticements of the Evil One. O LORD, it is only You that we want to worship, serve, and obey. To you belongs all glory forever, and ever, in the Mighty Name of JESUS. Amen. By His SPIRIT, Pastor Wally & Sister Mattie

BLESSED PALM SUNDAY HOUSE OF PRAYER Matthew 21:13 (NKJV)... "And He (JESUS) said to them, 'It is written, ‘My house shall be called a house of prayer,’ but you have made it a ‘den of thieves.’ "A den of thieves." Because of widespread wickedness, Noah and his family became the first family to be quarantined in the ark while GOD judged the wicked with a great flood. --Then another quarantine took place in the days of Moses when GOD instructed His servant to order the children of Israel to "shelter in place" as the LORD sent the angel of death all over Egypt which killed every first-born member of every household. And the only protection from the deadly plague was to have 'the blood' of an innocent lamb applied on the door post of every home that housed the families of GOD's chosen people. They were to remain quarantined till the death plague was over. With today's global pandemic, GOD must be up to something out of the ordinary, to recover the attention and the heart of the human race. Have we become a 'den of thieves' robbing GOD of His rightful place in our life? Perhaps it's time to check and see where we stand in our relationship with the LORD, and let GOD back into our hearts and our homes. As we observe JESUS' triumphal entry into Jerusalem, let us open our hearts to our Savior and invite Him to take His proper place in our lives as LORD over us. May we His children offer our bodies, our time, and our family to be His 'House of Prayer' for such a time as this till He comes again. From Our Home To Yours, Pastor Wally & Sister Mattie

SON Day Manna... 1 Peter 5:7 Cast all your anxiety on Him because He cares for you.... Peter writes that we should take all our anxieties, our burdens, and cast themthrow them onto our Father GOD. He is telling us to take ALL of our anxieties, everything that worries us, and to give them to the GOD who cares so deeply for us. This is not a promise that GOD will fix everything which worries us. The LORD is not obligated to follow whatever script we write for Him. It's a promise that the mighty GOD will receive our worries, and care about them. He will carry them for us. He is trustworthy to handle them in the way that is best. Peter's words are a command. It is not GOD’s will for His children to continue to live under those burdens. Believing that GOD is mighty and cares for us should result in our regularly handing over our worries to Him. Philippians 4:6-7 Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to GOD. TODAY WE GET TO WORSHIP HIM. Despite restrictions set in place due to the present virus epidemic, we will serve and worship our GOD and Savior JESUS CHRIST, using the internet. TOGETHER WE WILL PRAISE HIM, WE WILL THANK HIM AND WE WILL WORSHIP HIM! With Grateful Hearts, Pastor Wally & Sister Mattie

SON Day Manna... CLEAN BEFORE GOD 1 John 3:18 (NIV)... Dear children, let us not love with words or speech but with actions and in truth. A godly character that reflects the likeness of CHRIST is one that loves others as JESUS CHRIST loved us. The love about which the Bible speaks is different from every other type of human love, and is uniquely imparted to the child of GOD, from the indwelling power and presence of the SPIRIT of truth and love. The Lord JESUS laid down His life for His friends.. and for His enemies. He sacrificed His life for us and we are instructed to do the same for others. It is reasonably simple to say I love you to other people, but the test of genuine love is expressed in action and in truth. Love is not simply expressing affection through what we say, but through the giving up of ourselves for the service of others, no matter what the cost, in time, money, reputation and even life itself. It is a ‘dying to self’ and a ‘living for CHRIST’ exercise which is manifest in works of righteousness for the benefit of others and for the greater glory of GOD. It is letting the beauty and love of the Lord JESUS to be seen in us so that it flows out to others, through our actions and attitude. To love in word is contrasted with loving in deed. It is translating one’s affectionate words into meaningful, practical acts through the sufficiency of the grace of GOD. The former is to talk about caring, while the latter is to express unconditional love, in action. To love in tongue is contrasted with loving in spirit and in truth. The former is an insincere and artificial affection, while the latter is a genuine godly ‘agape’ love, that is manifest in a life that cares for the concerns of others before one’s own needs or wishes, on the basis of truth and/or abiding in the truth. Make no mistake to love in deed and in truth is not something that we can do for ourselves, however hard we try! We cannot love in deed and in truth through a training programme, mental exertion or fleshly effort. To love in deed and in truth is a supernatural love, that comes directly from GOD Himself, and can only be manifested in the life of a born-again believer who is walking in spirit and in truth. It is truthful living evidenced in the life of one who has died to the self-life, abides in CHRIST and is able to say with the apostle Paul it is no longer I that lives, but CHRIST lives in me. The life I live in this body I now live by faith in the Son of GOD who loved me and gave Himself for me. With this in mind, can we honestly say, I am clean before GOD. How do you measure up? Upholding You In Our Prayers, Pastor Wally & Sister Mattie

SON Day Manna... SIN IS ROOTED IN PRIDE Mark 14:27-42 (NIV)... 27 You will all fall away, JESUS told them, for it is written: ‘I will strike the shepherd, and the sheep will be scattered.’ 28 But after I have risen, I will go ahead of you into Galilee. 29 Peter declared, Even if all fall away, I will not. 30 Truly I tell you, JESUS answered, todayyes, tonightbefore the rooster crows twice you yourself will disown me three times. 31 But Peter insisted emphatically, Even if I have to die with you, I will never disown you. And all the others said the same. JESUS knew that He will face rejection and the horrors of the Cross alone. He has no illusions about what will happen. Scripture has foretold His suffering. His heart knows it. He was on the verge of experiencing it when He warned of falling away. In reality, JESUS could have called ten thousand angels To destroy His enemies and set Himself free. He could have, but instead, He humbly accepted death alone, for sinners like you and me. JESUS knew His death was coming. He knew He will be betrayed, abandoned, and denied. He goes through it anyway to fulfill GOD’s will for them, for us, that no one should remain in sin and perish in hell. JESUS CHRIST demonstrated a humble, pure, and selfless love on the cross to rescue and save sinful humanity. Peter was the opposite; he was arrogant, proud, and self-confident. Fear of man and his lack of faith in CHRIST caused him to deny his LORD and Savior. JESUS said, YOU WILL ALL FALL AWAY. That includes us. We are ALL guilty of falling away. Pride makes us betray, abandon, and deny CHRIST. Does that describe your faith-walk in 2019? The new year is only less than two weeks. Let us make it our goal not to be found betraying, abandoning, and denying JESUS CHRIST. Just trust and obey GOD and His Word. Prayer... Loving FATHER and Almighty GOD, I am humbled and appreciative of the incredible and sacrificial love your Son, JESUS, demonstrated for me. Please forgive me of my pride, and accept my life as my thank you offering for such incredible grace. I ask this in JESUS' glorious and holy name. Amen. Humbly In CHRIST, Pastor Wally & Sister Mattie

SON Day Manna... GOAL FOR THIS NEW YEAR 2 Peter 3:17-18 (NIV)... Therefore, dear friends, since you have been forewarned, be on your guard so that you may not be carried away by the error of the lawless and fall from your secure position. 18 But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior JESUS CHRIST. To Him be glory both now and forever! Amen. These two Bible verses are the conclusion of Peter's letter and should be taken together. They summarize Peter's letter, and include both a warning against being misled by the false teachers and an encouragement to keep growing in CHRIST. Specifically, Peter urges his readers to grow in two areas: The grace of JESUS, and their knowledge of Him as Lord & Savior. To grow in grace does not necessarily mean to get more and more of GOD‘s grace, but to grow into it. Grace, by definition, is unearned, unworked for. By His grace, GOD has forgiven our sins and given us full rights as His children in CHRIST. We can't get more of that. But living under the grace of CHRIST provides us a huge opportunity to grow spiritually stronger and deeper. Peter wrote in chapter 1 that we are not missing anything we need to lead the life GOD calls us to. Now it's time to do it. One way we grow under the grace of GOD is to grow in our knowledge of CHRIST JESUS. This implies two ideas. One of these is knowing more and more about CHRIST in our minds: information. The other is getting to know JESUS better and better in our relationship with Him. Both contribute to making us more productive servants. Peter describes JESUS CHRIST as both our Lord and Savior. To really know Him, we must continue to grow in our understanding of what it means to live in relationship to CHRIST as Lord and as Savior. And we, like Peter, will reach a single conclusion: JESUS is the one who is due glory both in this moment, now, and forever. Let’s make this our daily goal in this new year, as we eagerly await His soon return to rapture His bride. Making Him Known, Pastor Wally & Sister Mattie

SON Day Manna... BEHOLD THE LAMB JOHN 1:29... Behold, the Lamb of GOD, who takes away the sin of the world! LAMB of GOD seems an unlikely title for JESUS. What does it mean? John the Baptist identified Jesus to his followers by announcing, Look, the Lamb of GOD, who takes away the sin of the world! (vv. 2931). This alluded specifically to the Passover story found in Exodus 12; 1 Corinthians 5:7). Prior to the tenth plague on Egypt, the Israelites were instructed to put the blood of a lamb on their doorposts so the angel of death would pass over them and spare their firstborn sons. The principle at work was that without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness or life (Hebrews 9:22). JESUS is the Lamb of GOD because He shed His own blood for our forgiveness and salvation. A well-known Messianic prophecy said He would be led like a lamb to the slaughter (Isaiah 53:7), that is, JESUS sacrificed Himself willingly. The apostle Peter understood the sacrificial lamb image as well, writing that we have been redeemed with the precious blood of CHRIST JESUS, a lamb without blemish or defect (1 Peter 1:19). What about you? Have your sins been forgiven? Have you asked GOD to forgive you of your sins? Look up to JESUS...He is the One who came whose blood was shed on the cross so that you can be forgiven and receive eternal life through faith in JESUS CHRIST. BEHOLD THE LAMB! Pointing Sinners To CHRIST, Pastor Wally & Sister Mattie

SON Day Manna... Today is IDOP Sunday... (International Day of Prayer for the Persecuted Church) Hebrews 13:3 (NIV)... Continue to remember those in prison as if you were together with them in prison, and those who are mistreated as if you yourselves were suffering. When was the last time you prayed for our Christian brothers and sisters who suffer persecution because of their faith in JESUS CHRIST? Did you know that more than 200 million Christians are persecuted in today’s world? There’s been more Christians killed for their faith in the last century than all the past centuries combined. A great number of those affected by persecution are women and children. Christian persecution never makes the headline news, and very seldom mentioned from the pulpits of the western church. But that doesn’t excuse us from praying and speaking out on their behalf.... Proverbs 31:8-9 (NIV) says, 8-Speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves, for the rights of all who are destitute. 9-Speak up and judge fairly; defend the rights of the poor and needy. Christians In Crisis International Ministry was established and founded to be a ‘face’ and a ‘voice’ for those who suffer and cannot speak for their rights as Christians. We are looking for more believers to join us today in observance of IDOP, and partner with us in our prayer and advocacy efforts on their behalf. If you’re inspired and interested to partner with us, please feel free to visit our website: Christiansincrisis.net and sign up online at CIC-Hope (Houses of Prayer Everywhere) Join our growing number of global prayer partners. Our suffering family in CHRIST needs us, and the least and the most that we can do for them is to daily remember them in our prayers. Pray with us today and be a great blessing to those who share our faith in CHRIST. In JESUS’ Mighty Name, Pastor Wally & Sister Mattie

SON Day Manna... WAKE UP! Revelation 3:2 (NIV)... Wake up! Strengthen what remains and is about to die, for I have found your deeds unfinished in the sight of my GOD. The SPIRIT of JESUS CHRIST commands the church at Sardis to wake up. They had fallen into a slumber in which they supposedly thought that everything was fine. They had taken for granted that their slumber could be dangerous and can go on indefinitely. This is true of many believers in today’s churches. At Sardis, there were those that had built a reputation of some sort, and assumed they could live on their reputation. But JESUS rebuked those in Sardis because they thought they were alive, but it was a false assumption. Complacency was the church's subtle enemy, so it’s important for the church to be vigilant and awake strengthen what remains and is about to die. JESUS described the church's works as incomplete in His sight. There were still work to be done. They may be alive on the outside, but are dead on the inside. It’s what’s on the inside of man that matters most to GOD. Don’t be lulled to believe you’re okay when there’s still so much of self within you. Ask the LORD’s SPIRIT to do a thorough checkup of your heart. Don’t be caught up with outward activities when there’s much work needed on the inside. Our behavior must be a reflection of our belief, and our conduct must be a reflection of JESUS’ character. We need to heed JESUS' command to WAKE UP and strengthen what remains. It’s not too late, there’s still time to awaken from our slumber and do what’s right in the sight of GOD. So, I say, WAKE UP!!!! Romans 13:11 (NIV) And do this, understanding the present time: The hour has already come for you to WAKE UP from your slumber, because our salvation is nearer now than when we first believed. CHRIST Is waiting & watching. HE IS COMING SOON! Sounding The Alarm, Pastor Wally and Sister Mattie