Pastor David & Shirley Krist here Sunday, Aug. 19th at 10a.m.

Don't miss this wonderful and historic day. Pastor Krist will be ministering in the 10a.m. service and then after the service we will all head outside for the dedication of our Holland First cornerstone at the center island. Pastor Krist and a team of men built the original Holland First church on Clover Street and he had the cornerstone erected there. Now it has been brought to our present facility and he will be dedicating it once again to the Lord at its new permanent place. Then come back at 6p.m. for our evening service for a time in the Word, followed by S.N.A.C. Night (Sunday Night After Church). This week it's a potluck fellowship. Simply bring a dish to pass and everything else is provided. See you Sunday! Pastor Mike Houser Senior Pastor www.hollandfirst.com "Loving God, Lovin

g People"

What's Your Jericho?

Come this Sunday, July 29th @ 10a.m. and receive your breakthrough. God has given me a powerful message that any Jericho in your life must fall! I hope to see you this Sunday @ Holland First. You'll be glad you came in Jesus name!!!!!

Holy Spirit Conference coming to Holland First

Tim and Rochelle Enloe August 10-11 @ 7p.m. August 12 @ 10a.m.

Blessed Nation by Wisdom Hunters Ministries

“Blessed is the nation whose God is the LORD, the people he chose for his inheritance.” Psalm 33:12 God blesses a nation because of its prayers, not its power. He blesses a nation because of its character, not its commerce. He blesses a nation because of its trust in Him, not its advanced technology. God blesses a nation because of its fear of the Lord, not its fear of man. God blesses a nation who loves God and expresses that love in caring for the impoverished and diseased. God blesses a nation because of His church, not the size of that nation’s economy. Prosperity may be the result of a God-fearing nation, but it is not the cause. People believe in God when they get enough of themselves and realize there has to be more to this life than simply meeting their every need. God blesses a nation when individuals gather corporately in vibrant Christian worship; the church is God’s means to awaken a nation. Nations who try to control the church lose God’s blessing. God’s blessing cannot be governed. Every time government intercedes to manage faith, the faithful become more marginalized. Countries that restrict church competition and rely on a state-church monopoly miss the mark. The church is meant to be released to restore the ravished character of culture. Christians are “salt and light” (Matthew 5:13-14) in the midst of decayed and darkened nations. When believers gather together in a bond of love they create a thirst for righteousness and shed light on the ways of the Lord. Wise nations encourage competition among churches. Freedom of religion feeds faithfulness in God. God expects His church to grow and engage with the culture. This is how He changes a nation. When countries have church choices, they can compare and choose what is best for their families. A church that drifts into irrelevance and isolation is of little concern to Satan. He wants religion to come across as ambiguous and antiquated. Churches that are alive and well serve a mighty and compassionate Christ. These types of trusting institutions make a difference in their communities. A church that is alive and growing becomes a catalyst for good things. Indeed, God blesses nations where the church is allowed to compete. Stewardship trumps entitlement. Sick churches are not kept alive by outside funding. They either change or close. God blesses nations when His bride’s worship is alive, engaging, and relevant. Therefore, avoid churches where membership is just a status symbol. Attend church where God is loved and feared, and worship where you see the Lord high and lifted up. Soak up the teachings of the Bible that transforms your life. Band together with a group of believers who are disciples and who disciple others in the faith. Choose a body of believers where the character lessons you teach your children at home converge with their small group lessons on Sunday. If church is not working for you, then pray to find one that works best in this season of life. God blesses nations who humbly seek Him. “…if my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land” (2 Chronicles 7:14).

Incredible devotional about Afflictions

David Wilkerson Today WEDNESDAY, JUNE 20, 2012 GOD IS MAKING AN INVESTMENT IN YOU! by David Wilkerson [May 19, 1931 - April 27, 2011] When a parent sends a child to college, it requires a great investment. Obviously that parent hopes his child will apply herself to the rigors of her training. Why? Does he hope she will graduate, come home, hang her diploma on the wall, then sit around the house watching television? No! That parent hopes his child will make his investment pay off by starting a good career. Likewise, when the U.S. military offers a free education to an enlisted soldier, those years of education are considered an investment. The soldier is told, "After you're educated, your nation and government want a certain amount of your time." That trained soldier is expected to serve in the armed forces for a number of years in order to justify the investment. So it is with the Lord and our afflictions. Everything you go through as a Christian is a training exercise behind which God has a divine purpose. He did not save you so that you could cruise into paradise on a luxury liner; He saved you to prepare you to be of use in His kingdom. The moment you were born again, He enrolled you in His school of suffering. And every affliction, every trial, is another lesson in the curriculum. Some Christians are in kindergarten. Their afflictions are not difficult to understand and their tests are much easier to endure. Others are in grade school, and they quickly learn that their tests have become a little tougher to face and harder to understand. Others are in college, and their afflictions are much more severe and more difficult to figure out. Still others are in postgraduate school, with years of hard afflictions behind them and many difficult tests looming before them. Their afflictions are the toughest of their lives, and they realize they need Holy Ghost strength to deal with them all. My point is, God wants veterans of spiritual warfare — people who have been through many afflictions — to prove His faithfulness to the next generation. And every affliction we endure is an investment He is making in us as His veterans. “Many are the afflictions of the righteous: but the Lord delivereth him out of them all” (Psalm 34:19).

Newcomer lunch, Sunday, June 3rd (Noon)

If you have been coming to Holland First for 6 months or less we want to invite you to a free lunch in your honor. It will take place this Sunday, June 3rd right after the morning service. The luncheon will be in the youth room upstairs. Come and meet our leadership team.

HARD PRESSED!!!!

Perhaps like Paul, you are being pressed beyond measure, tested beyond your endurance. Your strength is nearly gone, and you are on the brink of giving up. You want to run, but there is no place to go. Now you say with Paul, "This is above my strength!" So, what is the way to victory? All I can tell you is how God continues to bring me out. Here are two important truths He has given me: 1. Don't think you are experiencing some strange, unique battle. On the contrary, you are in good company. Recall Job, Jeremiah, Elijah, David, Paul — even me. What you are going through is common to believers throughout the centuries. "Beloved, think it not strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened unto you: But rejoice, inasmuch as ye are partakers of Christ's sufferings; that, when his glory shall be revealed, ye may be glad also with exceeding joy" (1 Peter 4:12-13). 2. When you think you can't go on another hour — when everything looks absolutely hopeless — cry out to God with all that is in you, "Lord, help!" Consider the counsel of the psalmist in the following verses: * "As for me, I will call upon God; and the Lord shall save me. Evening, and morning, and at noon, will I pray, and cry aloud: and he shall hear my voice. He hath delivered my soul in peace from the battle that was against me: for there were many with me" (Psalm 55:16-18). * "I will love thee, O Lord, my strength. The Lord is my rock, and my fortress, and my deliverer; my God, my strength, in whom I will trust; my buckler, and the horn of my salvation, and my high tower. . . . In my distress I called upon the Lord, and cried unto my God: he heard my voice out of his temple, and my cry came before him, even into his ears" (18:1-2, 6). * "O Lord my God, I cried unto thee, and thou hast healed me. O Lord, thou hast brought up my soul from the grave: thou hast kept me alive, that I should not go down to the pit" (30:2-3). Here is a key verse: "For he shall deliver the needy when he crieth; the poor also, and him that hath no helper" (72:12). Jesus has sent the Holy Spirit to be your helper and He will not turn a deaf ear to your cry for help!