COA Church

Character Traits God Planted in the Lives of Biblical Personalities

pastordanielalbarian — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 05:25:23 +0000

It is not very common to think of God as a farmer planting seeds in the lives of people. But that is exactly what He does. He has a plan, salvation plan, and in order for him to fulfill his plan he plants seeds of patience, love, obedience, faith and many others into the lives of believers.

In the next few weeks we will make it our aim to look at how God through His planting skills builds character in the lives of His chosen ones. We will begin with Adam and Eve and proceed to cover most of the Biblical Characters such as, Abraham and Sarah, Isaac and Rebbecca, Jacob and his wives (Rachel and Leah), Sons of Jacob with the exception of Judah and Joseph, which we will take them separately, Moses, Joshua, Gideon, Samson, Ruth, David, Solomon, Daniel, Simon, Saul, James, John the Baptist, Joseph and Mary.

The purpose of these studies will be to realize the general and specific workings of God to accomplish His plan of Salvation. He is the Greatest Sower that ever live and continues to live and we need to learn from Him and welcome his seeds in our lives as they nurture us and build us up in our inner man.

Planting and Harvesting!

pastordanielalbarian — Sat, 05 Sep 2009 21:21:03 +0000

What a great life we have been granted by God! Job replied to God, “I was talking about things I knew nothing about, things too wonderful for me!” Job 42:3 (b) And in verse 5, he said, “I had only heard about you before, but now I have seen you with my own eyes…”

Apostle Paul said to the church in Corinth, “I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the growth. So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God who gives the growth.” I Corinthians 3:6-7

These verses challenged me this week. In fact, this morning another verse that further encouraged me and prepared me for this year’s theme was from Ecclesiastes 11:6 “Plant your seed in the morning and keep busy all afternoon, for you don’t know if profit will come from one activity or another- or may be both.”

We have already seen God perform wonderful things in our midst. I believe more exciting things are waiting for us still. We expect to plant seeds of hope, comfort, salvation, joy, peace, faith, truth, reconciliation, forgiveness, restoration, cooperation, recovery, transformation. We believe each one of these seeds will germinate to take life in those individuals who allow God to work in their lives and produce harvest for Him.

I hope you will come to church on Sunday and experience a portion of what God is doing in our midst. There is a surprise waiting for you this Sunday. Please do not miss it. See you there!

Pastor Daniel

Upcoming Events

COA Church — Fri, 31 Jul 2009 00:13:03 +0000

Be Undivided and Become Fruitful

pastordanielalbarian — Thu, 30 Jul 2009 16:36:57 +0000

This last week, since last Sunday, I have been bombarded with this message that, unless I am focused and not distracted I can not complete a task in a given specific time! How often we try to do too many things at the same time. It is utterly impossible to do some tasks while doing others. For instance, you can not drive a car and walk or jog at the same time. You can not love the Lord and love the world at the same time. It is impossible to do certain tasks which require complete attention from us and do other tasks which require similar attention as well. We need to learn to distinguish between these tasks and remain faithful to the one which has the higher priority.

This Sunday we will address this subject. God is looking for people who have undivided hearts toward accomplishing His purpose here on earth. He is looking for people who are determined to serve Him and only Him. God is ready to reward those individuals with huge blessings. As I have been reading I and II Chronicles, I have been overwhelmed with kings who have had undivided hearts in their focus to serving God and His people and I have been disappointed at other kings who have been nonchalant (careless) about accomplishing God’s will.

How God wants to bless those who have undivided hearts toward Him! May God instill in us the ability and the determination to FOCUS upon Him and seek to honor Him and receive ample blessings from his hands. If you are interested in finding out what FOCUS stands for, I invite you to come this Sunday and hear it first hand before anyone else hears it on the internet.

God bless you as you seek to become single mindedly undivided in serving and worshiping God in your life.

My Part In God’s plan

pastordanielalbarian — Thu, 23 Jul 2009 16:50:30 +0000

We began this year with the theme of “Chosen to Produce Fruits”. The year is almost coming to a close and we are making a return to our primary text for the year which was found in John 15:1-8.

It is clear that it is God who initiates His work in our lives and He is the one that completes it as well. But we also know that there is a part which we play in His plan. What is my part and what is His part in producing fruits for the Kingdom? Those are the questions we will discuss this week in Church on Sunday.

Three major areas that will be elaborated:

1. Being Founded upon the vine

2. Being nurtured by the vine

3. Being Discipled by the “Vine”, Jesus himself.

These are the three areas that emphasize my part in God’s plan. If you have some thoughts I would love to hear from you prior to Sunday. Please feel free to share your insights through this blog! Otherwise see you in Church on Sunday @ 1:00 pm.

Understanding God’s Work and Role in us!

pastordanielalbarian — Fri, 17 Jul 2009 05:46:00 +0000

David enjoyed the riches of God’s blessings in his life… So he wanted to return the favor to God by intending to build a house for Him! God’s response was interesting… Thank you… but no thanks!

In I chronicles 17, when God replies to David, he tells him, you are not the one to build me a house… I have not lived in a house since I brought the Israelites out of Egypt, and I have not complained… So, don’t do me that favor, but instead, listen to me!

I took you from pasturing your sheep and anointed you king.
I have been with you every where you have gone.
I have destroyed your enemies and made your name famous on earth.
Furthermore, I will provide a homeland for my people and I will plant them in a secure place.
I will defeat all their enemies and no one will be able to oppress them.

Even more than that

I will build a house for you – a dynasty of kings!
I will raise up one of your descendants, one of your sons, and
I will make HIS kingdom strong and everlasting.
I will be his father and he will be my son. “I WILL CONFIRM HIM AS KING OVER MY HOUSE AND MY KINGDOM FOR ALL TIME, AND HIS THRONE WILL BE SECURE FOREVER.”

While David was thinking of building a house for God in Appreciation of the graces that he had enjoyed, God was promising him a much greater Grace… a kingdom lasting forever. Of course the promise was Jesus being the descendant of David and His Kingdom and His throne which will last forever.

David in his initial intent saw himself owing to God and wanting to build him a house. But God opens his eyes to make him see that it was not he who was fulfilling God’s will in his life, but it was God who was making all His purposes come together through him. Until we see our lives from the same perspective which is ‘God who is making His purposes come together through us’, we too can not be pleasing to God. David saw it exactly this way and said, “And now, it has pleased you to bless the house of your servant, so that it will continue forever before you. For when you grant a blessing, O LORD, it is an eternal blessing!” v. 27

There is no true repentance without serious fear of God!

pastordanielalbarian — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 13:22:18 +0000

Many people repent from their willful evil acts, however their repentance does not last very long. They testify that they have decided to change and that whatever bad things they used to do, they will not do anymore. They are loyal to their decision for sometime, but soon they go back to their old self and forget their decision.

What makes a person decide to change permanently? What role does God play in a permanent change one experiences? Is it the person’s decision alone or is it God who brings change in them? We will look at these questions and answer them as best as we can.

The study this Sunday will center on the true fear of God that produces real repentance. We will endeavor to explain Corinthian church’s repentance which Paul commended and felt encouraged about. II Corinthians 7:11, Paul writes how their sorrow lead them to true repentance which produced positive fruits in their lives. What was their sorrow? You must come to church to find out the answer to that question.

I believe God is using many methods today to get us, believers, to become serious about our faith. He is calling us to realize that the salvation we have cost God’s Son, Jesus, to die on the cross. Rejecting him or taking our salvation lightly, has dire consequences. Knowing those consequences and realizing their eternal effect on us must cause terror in us to respond in fear and genuine repentance.

I pray that you understand God’s love for you and to the extent that he went to pay for your sins so that you can have forgiveness and eternal salvation. And realizing that you may seriously fear Him so much so that you too will believe in Him and repent genuinely and permanently.

The Story of What happened spread quickly! ACTS 19:11-20

pastordanielalbarian — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 08:34:31 +0000

There are many unusual stories popping up nowadays on websites, on radio waves,or on TV screens everywhere. The news media is quick to report these events and either pay attention to them and analyze them or dismiss them by claiming their impossibility. Generally speaking, people follow unusual stories with insatiable desire to quench their curiosity. The story which is found in Acts 19 is an extremely unusual story. A man possessed by an evil spirit jumps on certain ‘wanna-be’ miracle workers and overpowers them with so much violence that they run for their lives naked and battered (v.16). The town hears about the incident and a solumn fear envelopes them and they begin to honor the name of the Lord Jesus. But what seems to be most interesting in the story is what they did, they became believers and: “Many who became believers confessed their sinful practices. Those who practiced sorcery brought their books of incantation and burned them at a public bonfire.”

WOW! What a profession of faith! A true declaration of faith and completely burning of bridges. No more of going back to sorcery or incantation! No more of the old habits! This is a true confession of faith!

Faith without works is dead and works without faith is empty.

This Sunday we will explore this and many other stories that are worth spreading quickly!

Let me know also if you have a story that should be spreading quickly as well!

Pastor Daniel

Loving to Win Souls for Eternity

pastordanielalbarian — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 23:42:45 +0000

Last Sunday the message centered around brotherly kindness and love. The purpose of a believer to love his or her brother or sister is to show to the world that Christ has changed our hearts. We can forgive those who have hurt us. We can serve each other in the name of the Lord. We can help each other sacrificially because Jesus served us by giving up Himself. We can suffer losses for the sake of our brothers and sisters in Christ. All of these we do so that the world would know that we are the disciples of Jesus Christ. John 13:34-35 “A new commandment I give unto you, That you love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love one another. By this shall all [men] know that you are my disciples, if you have love one to another.”

This Sunday we will talk about loving those who are around us in the same way that Jesus has loved us… This way we can share Christ with them and invite them to experience the Love that God has for them through us.

Will you join me here in this blog to share how God has used you to win your friends and your family to the Lord? May be I can put your story in the sermon so that others can be blessed by you!

Looking forward to hearing from you!