The Tree Church

Pastor Matthew Johnson

I am thankful for a Catholic upbringing that always taught on the Triune God. In confirmation, at about age 13, we invite Him into our life to reside in us and to guide us. Without Him in my life I would have remained lost.

Come Lord Jesus come. Your love won’t be undone! Your grace is enough.

Remember the parable of the prodigal son and then realize how much God loves you!

The posture of the Father is love and grace. He paid the price so that you could be with Him eternally.

Death came to life in Jesus when the stone was rolled away from that grave. 

Our God came down from heaven to prove He was real. He added flesh and blood so that we could relate to Him and in His righteousness call on His name. We can come to Him broken knowing that He cares for us. 

Our God is One in three. God the Father. God the Son God. God the Holy Spirit.

With God’s presence in our life Holy Spirit wants to empower us. Every one of us has a calling and He enables us to carry it out. Whether it is a wife, a mother or a caretaker for aging parents He will walk beside us.

Matthew  28:18-20

18 And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. 19 Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” Amen.

God calls us to spread the Good News of the Gospel. 

Acts 1:4-8

4 And being assembled together with them, He commanded them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the Promise of the Father, “which,” He said, “you have heard from Me; 5 for John truly baptized with water, but you shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now.” 6 Therefore, when they had come together, they asked Him, saying, “Lord, will You at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?” 7 And He said to them, “It is not for you to know times or seasons which the Father has put in His own authority. 8 But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”

We have to have the power of Holy Spirit to accomplish what we cannot on our own. When the spiritual and the physical meet,  the power of God is released in our life. We don’t deserve any of the gifts and we do not have to be at a certain level to receive them. It is all about GRACE.

1 Corinthians 12:1-11

12 Now concerning spiritual gifts, brethren, I do not want you to be ignorant: 2 You know that you were Gentiles, carried away to these dumb idols, however you were led. 3 Therefore I make known to you that no one speaking by the Spirit of God calls Jesus accursed, and no one can say that Jesus is Lord except by the Holy Spirit. 4 There are diversities of gifts, but the same Spirit. 5 There are differences of ministries, but the same Lord. 6 And there are diversities of activities, but it is the same God who works all in all. 7 But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to each one for the profit of all: 8 for to one is given the word of wisdom through the Spirit, to another the word of knowledge through the same Spirit, 9 to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healings by the same Spirit, 10 to another the working of miracles, to another prophecy, to another discerning of spirits, to another different kinds of tongues, to another the interpretation of tongues. 11 But one and the same Spirit works all these things, distributing to each one individually as He wills.

Concerning the gifts from the Holy Spirit if you are open to receiving them He will come.

Demonic spirits will attack you. Satan hates Jesus and all those who worship Him in spirit and in truth. It is the grace of God that protects you from the wiles of the devil.

Romans 12:4-6

4 For as we have many members in one body, but all the members do not have the same function, 5 so we, being many, are one body in Christ, and individually members of one another. 6 Having then gifts differing according to the grace that is given to us, let us use them: if prophecy, let us prophesy in proportion to our faith; 7 or ministry, let us use it in our ministering; he who teaches, in teaching; 8 he who exhorts, in exhortation; he who gives, with liberality; he who leads, with diligence; he who shows mercy, with cheerfulness.

We need to maximize the gifts we are given. All of us are important to the Body of Christ. God has designed each of us individually to share those gifts with others. 

Galatians 5

16 I say then: Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh. 17 For the flesh lusts against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; and these are contrary to one another, so that you do not do the things that you wish. 18 But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law. 19 Now the works of the flesh are evident, which are: adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lewdness, 20 idolatry, sorcery, hatred, contentions, jealousies, outbursts of wrath, selfish ambitions, dissensions, heresies, 21 envy, murders, drunkenness, revelries, and the like; of which I tell you beforehand, just as I also told you in time past, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. 

22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law. 24 And those who are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. 25 If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit. 26 Let us not become conceited, provoking one another, envying one another.