The Twin Pillars of Grace and Mercy

Today's services at ILC were incredible!!!!! This morning we were blessed to have Bro. Carl Brown teach the Adult Sunday School class. He PREACHED!!! Man, did he preach!!! He talked about worship and how we need to move beyond the HIGHS of our physical worship into the POWER of being a servant in our worship of God. Bro. Brown talked about being sure to find time to humbly approach our God and to worship at His feet. That is where we find the strength to stay on course in this race towards Heaven. The high we feel when we dance and shout for God is really about us PRAISING Him, not us getting a deep anointing and making a strong commitment to make it through our trials. By the time Bro. Brown was finished and we started into song service, many were ready to spend time at Jesus' feet. Several people who haven't really touched God in a looooooonnnnngggg while were weeping and praising God. We also had several receive renewals of the Holy Ghost. One couple was back for the first time in months after thinking that they might find a better "fit" in another church. The gentleman told me Saturday that they had found that there was something missing at all those other churches and were ready to come home!!!!
Tonight, great worship service and then some of the best preaching around. I know that I probably shouldn't admit this, but our church is blessed with some of THE best preachers in Pentecost!!! Of course I feel that Rev. Larry Booker, my pastor, is THE CREAM OF THE CROP!!!!! However, we have a tremendous pastoral staff and lay minister's who ably fill the pulpit when Bro. Booker has to be gone. Tonight, even though I shouldn't admit it, we had our second (tied with one other minister) best preacher deliver God's Word to us. Rev. Adam Pierce (or as Natalya Booker says Amad Pierce) PREACHED a MESSAGE straight from the throne of God!!!! He spoke about Samson and his vow as a Nazarite and how he slowly toyed with the "world" and broke his vows. How that even as Samson "flirted" with things he shouldn't, he still felt God's anointing. How that Samson believed because he still felt the anointing he was doing okay in God's site. How that we can't play with the world, run to the altar for safety but go right back into sin, over and over again. How that as we do that, we run the risk of hardening our hearts to God's leading and His will. But that just like Samson, after he finally gave in to Delilah and broke the final vow, had his hair cut, couldn't feel God's anointing, and was made a slave of the Philistine's, he still found grace and mercy. Bro. Adam said that just like Samson's hair started to grow back, God's mercy and grace are growing in our lives even after we have sinned. We just have to be like Samson, humble ourselves, be led to the altar or in Samson's case, the twin pillars of Grace and Truth. Samson found that when he put his hands to the pillars of Grace and Truth and humbled himself, God was still with him and anointed him again. Several young people heard what Bro. Adam said and realized that even though they had sinned, God still had grace and mercy waiting for them if they just would humble themselves and pray. One young man broke for the first time in probably close to a year! I was sooooo excited to see him weeping and praying for God's mercy and grace!!! The altars were FULL of people who, new or old, wanted to avail themselves of the twin pillars of Grace and Mercy!!!

I am sure many of you have heard the song "I Need Your Mercy" by Clint Brown but it was perfect for the altar call tonight. I wanted to leave you with the words of that song and hope that you too avail yourself of the twin pillars of Mercy and Grace!!

"I need Your mercy. I need Your grace. I need Your hand leading the way. Can't make it without You, not for one day. I need Your mercy. I need Your grace."