Be Fruitful and Multiply

In 2012, I started an online church called Christian House International (CHI). In all that time, two people visited my church. I don’t have a pushy personality and I figured I would leave it up to God as to who would attend my church and who wouldn’t. Like a good little Christian, I didn’t fret. Years went by and those same two people were as loyal as could be. They read and liked every sermon I posted. I was happy with that. I patted myself on the back and felt accomplished. You see, my goal in life was to save one soul, and so I felt like I was accomplishing something wonderful by saving two souls. Then I read the verse about being fruitful and multiplying.

There is something about Genesis 1:28

Genesis 1:28

God blessed them and said to them, “Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky and over every living creature that moves on the ground.”

Be Fruitful and Multiply

I asked myself, “Is saving one soul considered multiplying? Two?” The answer is, Hardly!

I was drawn to pause and take note of myself and consider whether or not I was truly serving God as a good little Christ follower is expected to do. I worked diligently on the website, writing sermons and posting them to various social media sites, hoping to encourage more readers. Still, with all that effort over a period of four years, only two people showed up. I was happy to receive them. After all, I was delivering God’s words and they were reading God’s words.

I am growing an apple tree. It is a young tree and this year it produced four apples. With all those branches on the tree, only one branch produced four apples. That’s hardly what I would call a fruitful tree. Genesis 1:28 makes me realize that although I was doing good work, I was not doing enough to be considered fruitful.

Feeling unworthy, I proceeded to delete the CHI website. I deleted the CHI Facebook page. Afterwards, I sat in a quiet place. I prayed. And then I sat some more and prayed some more. Then in the way our Heavenly Father works, I was hit over the head with a ton of bricks.

Revamp! Refine! Redo!

The message came through loud and clear… Don’t try to be all things to all people. Be you! Share you! Share YOUR experiences. Speak from YOUR heart. God speaks to my heart and what He wants me to do is speak from MY heart, because that is where the message lies. He gives me the message that He wants me to deliver to others.

Wow! I get it now. Instead of curating content from other Christ-centered people, God wants me to share the message that He delivers directly to me. He wants me to share His message to you… the message He gives to me… He wants me to give to you.

The New and Improved Christian House International

My church, Christian House International, was established on April 8, 2012. From then until 2016 the church stayed in existence to serve two people. On October 17, 2016 it is now more than just a church. It is a place where people can come to know the word of God through scriptures. I hope to be a vessel that saves more souls. I plan to write more and to be more involved with sharing the message of our Heavenly Father.

This is a new venture for me. I ask that you would join me in spreading the word of God. If you read the future messages delivered and if they move you, I hope you voice your opinion in the comments section. I hope you “Like,” “Follow,” and/or “Share” Christian House International. The more we share, the more lives we save.

May God bless you. In Jesus’ name.

Rev. M. C. Bertrand

Photo Attribute: By Kurt Stüber , CC-BY-SA-3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Photo URL: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/fb/Malus_florentina0.jpg

 

The Lord is Our Savior

I am the mother of two lovely daughters and the step-mother of a handsome son and his beautiful sister. These are my children and the love that I have for my children is immeasurable. The thought of giving them up for anything is unimaginable. Now consider that the Almighty God loves his son to an infinitely greater degree than any of us can comprehend. We are all God’s children and God loves all of his children dearly.

The Ultimate Sacrifice
Jesus gave us a lot to be grateful for. He is  a Savior who lovingly sacrificed his life for us.

John 3:16 New International Version (NIV)
For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.

Thousands of years ago, when our sins became so many and needed to be reconciled, a sacrifice ultimately had to be given in order to remove our sins and cleanse our souls. Jesus, God’s one and only son, stood in as the human sacrifice for our sins. Jesus bore the pain for us so that we would not have to. Jesus gave up his life for us.

When I put it in a human perspective, I can’t imagine how grand of a sacrifice this is for God to give up his sinless son as a token for the sins of others. I look into the faces of my children and ask myself, “Could I do that?” And then I am overwhelmed when I realize that this is exactly what our Heavenly Father did for us. He sacrificed His Son for our past, present, and future sins. It is in this realization that I know the magnitude of God’s love for me.

Forever in the Kingdom of God
God loves us in a way that is undeniable, indeed. The only sacrifice that could have paid for our sins is a person who was pure in body and spirit. That person was Jesus Christ, God’s one and only son. To pay for the sins of the world, God gave his son as a sacrifice so that our sins could be forgiven and so that we could have a way to develop and maintain a loving relationship with the Almighty God.

Brothers and sisters, we receive the blessing of forgiveness because of the Lord’s sacrifice. All Our Father asks in return is that we believe in the Lord, Jesus Christ. For that, we are rewarded a life forever in the Kingdom of God.