Here’s the video of our singing of the popular Christmas carol O Holy Night in the Romanian language during the worship service at our church in Cluj this morning.
Category: Ministry Updates
Why Christmas?
About 2010 years ago our Creator made Himself one of us. Do you know what that means for you?
Matthew 1 quoted the prophecy of Christmas: “Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a Son, and they shall call Him Immanuel, which means God with us.” The baby Jesus was born of a virgin, with no human father, because He was God with us. The same Bible chapter says “She will bear a son, and you shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins.” The name Immanuel tells us Jesus is God. The name Jesus, which means “God saves,” tells us why He came.
He came to save us from our sins, so that He would not have to eternally punish us for them. God is holy, and He must punish every wrong word you’ve ever spoken and every wrong act you’ve ever done. But God loves you, so Jesus came to save you by being punished in your place. Jesus was born and lived a perfect life without sin. Then He was sacrificed on the cross to save you from your sins. He took all of the punishment you deserve, and died in your place. Three days later, He was raised to life again. He still lives today, and saves everyone who believes and calls upon Him for salvation.
You can receive the Christmas gift of God’s forgiveness and eternal life today. Just speak to Jesus from your heart, believing He died for you and rose again. Confess your sinfulness to Him, admitting that you deserve punishment. Tell Him you believe He died in your place to give you eternal life in heaven. And ask Him to save you and cleanse you from all unrighteousness, just as He promised. If you believe these things and trust Christ to save you, He will. That’s why God came to us. And that’s why Christmas is something for you to celebrate.
The above article is the text of a new Christmas gospel tract I wrote for our church to distribute (in Romanian) this year. Please pray for the Lord to use it and bring the message of the gospel to prepared hearts.
Pictures from Michael W. Smith Concert in Romania
We were blessed with front row seats at a worship concert in Brasov, Romania, with Michael W. Smith Friday evening. Here are a few snapshots of the view we had from my facebook page. Highlights of the concert for me were Above All, Agnus Dei, Mighty to Save, Awesome God, Here I am to worship, and Save me from myself.
God will be good to you
God is good. A good God will be good to you. You can afford to surrender into His hands your life, your dreams, your hopes, your plans, and your future. You can do it without worry that His plan won’t work out for your good, for your peace, and for your joy. Because it will. That’s the theme of tomorrow night’s study–6:30 pm at our place–How would it change your life if you REALLY believed the truth, that God is good?
The next part in our series of God’s attributes, based on the Chip Ingram book God As He Longs For You To See Him.
Worship video from church in Cluj, Romania – 11 July 2010
Here are two videos from the worship service at the church in Cluj from last Sunday, when we introduced several songs that are new to our church for corporate worship. The videos include some praise songs popularized by the Fratii de la Toflea (Brothers from Toflea).
Part 1 — Songs “Vreau sa Iti Cant,” “Cine se increde in Domnul” and “Glorie Tie Doamne”
Part 2 — A medley including “Esti Pregatit sa Pleci,” “Mare Dumnezeu Avem,” “Suntem o familia,” and others.
You’ll enjoy the videos all the more if you play them full screen by clicking the arrows in the bottom right corner of the player screen and in HD by clicking on the HD icon. Blessings to you.
Today’s Outlook: Rainy with a chance of eternal life
Yes, it has rained all day today in Cluj, but we still did our park outreach, and God was still in it. As we sang songs of praise to Christ and handed out tracts, several people stayed to hear us play and sing in the rain, and five people made professions of faith in Christ. Praise the Lord!
Outreaches this weekend
Lord-willing, this weekend, we have our first two big evangelistic outreaches of the summer. Saturday, the worship team and others will go to the city’s central park to do music, pass out tracts, and seek Divine appointments to share the gospel. Then Sunday, our church is joining with other ministries to do an outdoor public service to reach the gypsy population in the neighborhood where our church meets. Please pray for God to move mightily in these events, for the reaching of the lost and for the spiritual growth of young disciples who are new to public ministry. Please also pray for weather favorable to fruitful ministry, and for the weekly basketball outreach that is continuing on Fridays.
On another note, our friend Randy from Texas will be joining us in ministry this week. He flew out of Dallas this afternoon, and if all goes well, will arrive in Romania tomorrow afternoon.
Home fellowship update
Thursday we’ll finish the Philippians study before going on a hiatus to focus on summer outreaches. Afterward, Lord-willing, the next study will be on “God as He Longs for You to See Him” from the Chip Ingram book. I’ve never taught a study based on someone else’s writing, but that book’s teaching is so important I’m compelled to share it with the young disciples here in Cluj.
Thursday’s upcoming home fellowship
Looking ahead to Thursday home fellowship: Lord’s supper, worship, prayer and study of Philippians 2:1-11. There’s no Bible passage more important for followers of Christ to meditate on and make the drumbeat of our lives. Pray that I’ll be given power to teach it to young disciples in a way that opens their hearts to let this passage be a basis for continuing spiritual growth for the rest of their lives, as they continue to study it.
“So if there is any encouragement in Christ, any comfort from love, any participation in the Spirit, any affection and sympathy, complete my joy by being of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind. Do nothing from rivalry or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others. Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.”
A Burning Bush Behind Bars
This is a very special report that will bless you to read, from my co-pastor Liviu, who leads a weekly prison ministry, about what marvelous things God did last week.
The 3rd chapter of the book of Exodus tells us about the unforgettable encounter of Moses with God. God called Moses from a burning bush, which wasn’t consumed. After this meeting, Moses’ life was going to be changed forever, as a servant of the living God.
On Thursday, 22nd of April 2010, God used another Burning Bush to change the lives of about 60 people, inmates in the Aiud Penitentiary. Burning Bush Church is a Gypsy Church in the South East of Romania.
The story of this Church is amazing. After the 1989 Romanian Revolution, a Gypsy from this village, Toflea, left Romania for Germany. There, he heard the Gospel and became a born again Christian. With a new heart, he came back to Romania and started to share the gospel with his family and friends. His life was a living testimony to the grace of God. In a few years in Toflea, God brought an amazing revival. Today the Burning Bush Church has about 3,500 members and 2,500 children. The revival is authentic and you could see this looking at their lives. They study the Bible; love the Lord; pray, worship with passion; and travel all over the country to share the Gospel of grace, especially in gypsy communities. Last year, I invited them to join us in an outreach in a Gypsy Village close to Cluj. The Lord used them amazingly, as part of the message and some songs were in the Gypsy language. At that meeting the Lord put the desire in my heart to invite them to the prison where I serve weekly and organize a meeting for Gypsy inmates.
By the grace of God, last week the meeting took place. The pastor of the Burning Bush Church, Dumitru Ion (Onita), together with 22 singers from Toflea, joined our Rescue team in the fight to win souls for the Kingdom of God. The Holy Spirit used their famous songs to prepare the field for sowing the word of God, which was preached with power and passion by pastor Onita.
Looking at chapter 5 of Mark, he talked to the inmates about the healing, but above that, about the salvation of the man from Gadarenes, a man with an evil spirit. The man changed after his personal encounter with Jesus Christ.
Convinced that only the Lord Jesus can save them, forgive their sins and offer them a new chance and direction in life, all the participants knelt down, and they were prayed for, for the salvation of their souls. There were many tears of repentance and sincere prayers were lifted, asking for the mercy and grace of Jesus. Towards the end of the message, the participants were encouraged to follow the example of the man from Gadarenes and when they go back to their cells, to tell the others what the Lord has done for them and about His grace and mercy. (Mark 5:19).
We had a time of personal prayer with each one and again a time of worship. Every inmate that didn’t already have a Bible received one.
The meeting was video-recorded by an officer, and he said that will put it on their internal television to be watched in every cell. The officer was so touched by the meeting than he said that was the best day of his entire service in prison. We need to pray for this man because I am sure that God spoke to him.
The Christian Television recorded the meeting from the back and did some interviews at the end. The inmates didn’t mind his recording, praise the Lord.
I asked the brothers from Toflea to go again to the gypsy village, and they said that we must soon plan another outreach there. I hope that I will build a relationship with them and have more activities together.
I have great time every Thursday at prison sharing and studying the Gospel, but so far this Thursday was special. Praise the Lord for everything.
Ministry update – salvation at the church today
A 16-year-old girl who has been coming to our church services and outreaches for about 8 months now responded to an invitation at the close of the service today wanting to be saved. Lili and I explained to her how she could be saved and she prayed with us, making a profession of faith that seemed to be quite authentic.
It was after a message I preached from Luke 19, which I had preached in America at the beginning of March on the parable of the minas. If you’d like to hear it, you can scroll back to the first Sunday in March and listen to the recording. The message was recorded today in Cluj, too, but most of the readers of this blog are English-speaking, so this time I am only posting today’s recording on my Romanian ministry site. If you would like to hear it and need the link, let me know and I’ll supply it.
A lesson of not just wee little importance
This Sunday at the church in Cluj, Lord-willing, I’ll be teaching on Luke 19:1-9, and the story of Zacchaeus in his very personal encounter with Christ. It’s a story you heard in Sunday School as a kid if you went, but my hope is that you’ve also studied it as an adult, because there is much to learn from it for your walk with Christ. Look for a recording of the study to appear on this site perhaps as soon as Sunday afternoon.
Walk of Faith - Dave Bunnell 