Comments for woodburypres.com

Comment on Quiet Revival by Suellen

Suellen — Thu, 30 Dec 2010 22:32:58 +0000

I think that one of the most important things to happen at WPC in 2010 is the continued sense of connection and community that is developing amoung us. While I’ve felt this connection with some of the congregation and leadership in the past, it just seems like it’s exploded this year! There are so many people now that I feel strongly connected to and can talk to about the things that are important to me. What a blessing to have this strong Community of Faith.

Comment on Quiet Revival by Cheryl Catron

Cheryl Catron — Thu, 30 Dec 2010 15:42:54 +0000

Our goals in the Nursery and Sunday School ministries are the same as for the whole church — to love others, by living in God’s love. The only way to do that is to accept the Salvation of Jesus and live in the power of the Holy Spirit. What a glorious gift. I don’t deserve it. I can’t earn it. But I am made worthy to accept it!!

I tell the children I want to be in the front row, the seat closest to Jesus. Why be in the back for half an experience? (Talk about boring!) Personally, I want to keep teaching what I know not just what I’ve heard. I want to be used of God to bring others to Him.

This year at Woodbury I’ve spent more time praying; more time learning from God’s Word. It’s hard for me not to want to participate in every ministry. He’s taught me though that my role isn’t always on the front line….the home front has a role, too.

Every person, family and ministry of the church has blessed me this year. I look forward to 2011!!

Comment on Quiet Revival by Joyce Goodwin

Joyce Goodwin — Thu, 30 Dec 2010 00:50:51 +0000

This year’s VBS was amazing! The team of volunteers spent many hours prior to VBS praying and asking the Holy Spirit to cover our church grounds during this time. We launched our first VBS website which was a huge success in bringing families from our community to our church. As Pastor Rod mentioned it was also the first time we created our own curriculum including the music, bible time, crafts, food and games. It took many people to pull it all together and the people of Woodbury gathered together and made it all happen! That’s my church family! What a great experience! I am so happy to be in a church where we allow the Holy Spirit to work through us for God’s Glory! Oh, by the way, the Holy Spirit was indeed present throughout our VBS week! We had many compliments from the parents about what a great week it was for their children! Thank you Lord!

Comment on Quiet Revival by dean goodwin

dean goodwin — Wed, 29 Dec 2010 23:05:53 +0000

God does indeed work “under the radar screen.” I know in my heart that He led me and my family to Woodbury. He (and Pastor Rod) have been working on me ever since. Nudging me in the right direction, giving advice and encouragement when needed and opening my heart and my eyes to the power of His grace. I was finally ready to go on an Emmaus weekend last fall, thanks to the sponsorship of one of our Elders. And what a powerful, spirit-filled weekend it was! God was all over it! I have never felt so emotionally exhausted and spiritually uplifted as I did that weekend. Many of our long-term members have been on the weekend. My prayer is that more of our newer members will feel led to go on the retreat.

And Pastor Rod continues to mentor us. Under his guidance, the Elders and staff are currently reading the book “Preparing the Way for the Holy Spirit- Receiving the Power. ” We are learning the difference between the “Spirit upon” and the “Spirit within.” We are doing this in preparation for the Dunamis course which is starting in january.

It is exciting to see how God is working here at Woodbury.

Comment on Quiet Revival by Mo Haner

Mo Haner — Wed, 29 Dec 2010 21:19:32 +0000

Ministering through music continues to be my passion and appears to be my purpose in life. Becoming a true worshipper has never been a stronger desire. My study of worship has led me deeper into His presence and what I have found there is an amazing peace and joy. Sharing that with others through Spirit-led worship is not just a pipe dream but it is an on-going reality. We are starting to live in that reality. The Holy Spirit is very real and is teaching us to flow with intensity and sensitivity. I say this with quiet yet wild anticipation, “I cannot wait to see what the Holy Spirit is going to do at Woodbury this year!” Wouldn’t it be awesome if we could all worship in spirit and in truth?

Comment on Quiet Revival by Bob Buford

Bob Buford — Wed, 29 Dec 2010 19:33:04 +0000

The big wow for me personally was being literally saved by Jesus from a sneaky cancer attack, and seeing God turn what looked to be a bad situation around to even saving relationships that looked hopeless. And then to recover from that and be able to sing my heart out with my sisters and brothers in the Cantata was beyond cool.

For most of this year, the message to me seemed to be “Wait”, while continuing to work with what I had at hand, and learning from the Master. Kind of like apprenticeship – or for movie buffs, “Wax on, wax off.” (from Karate Kid). Meanwhile, seeing Jesus bring people into positions, as Pastor Rod has described, and equipping each of us for doing a lot more for his kingdom than we would have imagined.

One thing that impresses me about God is how he delights in working “under the radar screen”, doing his work quietly until he is ready with the finished product. We are his workmanship, his product, and his tools (Ephesians 2:10).

Comment on … Through the Power of the Holy Spirit by Rod Pinder

Rod Pinder — Sun, 12 Sep 2010 19:25:04 +0000

Thank you, Paul, for your word of encouragement. After reading the book (twice) and watching the videos of you teaching the Dunamis Course at Plymstock, I feel as if I know you. Perhaps someday we’ll meet.
You’ll be interested to know that this week 9 of the folks who serve in our twice-weekly food pantry started a small group to discuss two chapters of the book each week. God is doing something! (And we’re planning to do the first Dunamis Course in January.)
Oh, and something else we have in common: The book prompted a sermon, “Shall We Dance?” (You can hear it at http://www.WoodburyPres.com if you like), that led to someone giving my wife and I a gift of Ballroom Dancing lessons!

Comment on … Through the Power of the Holy Spirit by Paul Stokes

Paul Stokes — Fri, 03 Sep 2010 20:53:52 +0000

Folks (and especially Rod), let me simply say how much I appreciated reading your letter about the book. It was an interesting challenge for us to write collaboratively, and to get ‘coincidental’ feedback from folks who are reading and working through the book is fantastic. Your comments on this page are a genuine encouragement to me, and do pray the Lord’s ongoing blessing upon y’all as you continue to grow personally and lead the church into greater dependence on the Spirit’s presence, power and prompting.

Comment on Prayer – Jesus abiding with us by Gayle

Gayle — Mon, 19 Jul 2010 22:20:53 +0000

To me, prayer is at its most basic level, communication with God. If I want to have an intimate relationship with someone, communication is a key part. It would be impossible to have an earthly relationship without two-way communication on a regular basis. It is much the same with God. The more we communicate, the closer we become. I like that.

Comment on Prayer and Listening to God by Mo Haner

Mo Haner — Mon, 19 Jul 2010 20:37:14 +0000

I love the Sunday school time together! I never leave there without taking home some questions or comments to mull over for a few days. I did find in our Growing the Church book a comment that might be what Heather was referring to about that list of things one must do to get prayers answered. R.A. Torrey says you must follow these seven steps:
1. Accept Jesus as Savior. 2. Renounce all sin. 3. Be baptized int he name of Jesus Christ unto theremission of your sins. 4. Obedience and unconditional full surrender of the will to God. 5. Thirst. 6. Just ask Him. 7. Receive in faith. (Growing the Church in the Power of the Holy Spirit, page 73 – at the very bottom). I am not sure if this is what she was referring to but these are Torrey’s steps to getting your prayers answered. This makes sense to me – however it does not leave much wiggle room for human weaknesses or that little thing called “sin.” I would hate to think that we have to be almost perfect before God would even listen to our requests. That would tire me out! How about you???