After Peter had been used to heal the lame man at the temple gate he saw an opportunity. What did he do with it? What do we do with an opportunity? Let's look at it.

Your life is like olives and olive oil. A special anointing oil was instituted by God through Moses. The base of this sacred anointing oil was olive oil. That oil represents your gifts and the effect your ministry has on others.

You are a live-giving source of nourishment and hope to the world. What you have inside must come out. The olive must be crushed and beaten to provide the life that is inside. Jesus was crushed and bruised to provide the world salvation. Unfortunately, that needs to happen to us to provide the world with the gifts and talents God has given us.

Christians are portrayed as Olives and Olive trees in the Bible. Most importantly, as gentile Christians, we are grafted into the Olive Tree called the body of Jesus Christ.

Jesus invited the people to come to him and rest. God encouraged Moses to enter into His rest. David, the man after God's own heart, understood that he could enter into the refuge of God almighty. The invitation is still open. Come unto me and I will give you rest.

There are several "I Am's" of Christ. Many we have memorized. Today let's look at a few of those that may not be as popular but are still very significant.

Isaiah 43 reveals some deep truths and reminds us of who we are. He is the Lord and we are His. The truth of our redemption, our forgiveness, and our protection are all revealed in the chapter as God shows us that "I am the Lord, and you are mine."

We know that God is the healer of our physical illnesses but we must remember he is the healer, the mender, and the restorer of our lives as well.

When God says "I am the Lord", what does that mean? It means He is an eternal God--a self existing one. He is the Lord that did, the Lord that will do and the Lord that is doing. Let's talk about it.

Scripture tells us that God is the God of Abraham, Issac and Jacob. Jesus tells us God is the God of the living not the God of the dead. The truth of the resurrection started being told in the very beginning of the Bible. Think about it: the Almighty God is the God of the living because Jesus died and rose again and so shall we!

It looked very bleak for Moses until the Great I Am appeared to him in the burning bush. He felt he was a loser; he had his chance and he blew it. Then the great I am spoke to him and made a promise: you take what you have in your hand and I will stretch forth my mighty hand and we will accomplish great things.

God spoke to Abraham at Bethel. He spoke a number of years later to his grandson at Bethel giving him basically the same promise. Bethel means "The House of God". In the Old Testament, Bethel was a sacred place but it is not even mentioned in the New Testament. Why? God was no longer in the house. God did not forsake Israel, Israel forsook God.

As we look at the I Am's of God, we are blessed to see His great promises. One of those promises is that we do not need to fear the unknown because He is with us wherever we go. We are promised His blessings. Let's cast our fear aside and walk by faith knowing He is there.

Many of us know the Statements of Jesus, where He states "I Am." God also has many "I Am's". Tonight let's look at the promise that He is our shield and our rewarder.

I saw a t-shirt that really ministered to me. It said, "Heaven is my home, I'm here on a Recruiting Trip." I had to ask myself the question, "How is my recruiting going along?" What am I doing? What are you doing? What are earth are you doing for heaven's sake?

Many amazing things happened at Pentecost, but one of the major changes was the attitudes of the disciples. Prior to Pentecost it was all about them. After Pentecost it was all about Him. They were saved, restored and were being made mature.

Psalms one describes two men: The Godly man and the Ungodly man. God's word tells us not to judge, but it also warns us to know those who impact our lives. Let's never allow charisma to override character.

The Bible is full of Jesus performing miracles. Sometimes we fail to notice that many of those were done when Jesus was in the middle of something else. Even when he was mourning the loss of a friend or when he was interrupted. Let's look at one of those times.