Faith

June 16, 2022·Rapha Abreu

[Series: Miracles of Jesus] Restoring the walk

Today I brought you a thought about the miracle of healing the paralytic for our series of miracles of Jesus. We can often see this story focusing on one person and how Jesus restored his ability to walk, but I want to encourage you to look beyond that. The story The Word says in the book of John, chapter 5, that there was a tank in Jerusalem. In a few moments an angel came down, stirred the waters and the first one who entered the tank was healed. One man in the crowd was paralytic. When Jesus saw him, He asked if he would like to be healed, but because of his difficulty in moving, he never arrived in time to be the first to enter the tank when the water moved, so he thought he would not be able to receive the cure. Christ then said in verse 8, “Get up! Pick up your mat and walk“. And in that moment the man was healed. The Generosity of Christ What draws attention in the text above is that even though in some parts of the Bible we read that to be healed we need to have faith in God. […]

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May 11, 2022·Rapha Abreu

The Christian as the Cedar of Lebanon

The Cedar of Lebanon is a common tree in mountainous regions and Mediterranean climate. This tree grows slowly, but reaches a great height, being considered one of the largest trees, reaching 40 meters. A curiosity about this tree is that, in the first 3 years of life, its root reaches almost 2 meters deep, even though its height is about 5 cm at that time. Only when its root is well-grounded and secure does the tree begin to grow in height. And that’s the point I want to bring up today. Don’t worry about the external This tree doesn’t need to show everyone at first how big it will be. This period is dedicated to her firmament, so that she stays strong at the base. The well-founded root is what prevents it from growing fragile, only then will it reach its final height with safety and strength. In Psalm 92:12 we find the following passage: “The righteous will flourish like a palm tree, they will grow like a cedar of Lebanon” Christ wants us to grow like her, grounding us in His Word, focusing on the inside and strengthening our hearts so that, from there, our growth becomes visible without it melting […]

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May 05, 2022·Rapha Abreu

The gift of motherhood

It’s Mother’s Week and I couldn’t come here with a different subject. I want to honor them and remember the value of their role. Remember that when a child is born, with it is born a mother and her strength. A Strong mother Today I want to talk about Jochebed. At that time the King of Egypt, with the desire to prevent the growth of Israel, ordered that all boys born from the Hebrews should be killed or thrown to the crocodiles in the Nile River. Jochebed gave birth to Moses, who, by the law of the government, was to be given into the hands of soldiers to be sacrificed. But she was a woman of faith and made a basket, put Moses in it, and left him by the river, hoping the Lord would guide him to safety. This mother’s attitude could lead to her death, for disobedience to Pharaoh’s orders. But Jochebed trusted, surrendered everything to God and the heavens heard! The rest of the story you should already know, right? Across the river the basket reached the palace. The king’s daughter found the baby and felt sorry for him. Then Moses’ sister asked if the princess would […]

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April 21, 2022·Rapha Abreu

The power of God’s touch

I was studying the book of Daniel these days and I found a passage that caught my attention. The main image of this message was the intensity of God’s light touch. That sounds a bit contradictory, right? But I will explain. The incessant search In Daniel 10:10 the prophet says: “A hand touched me and set me trembling on my hands and knees“ This verse refers to the touch that Daniel received from the messenger who was sent by God. The phrase “a hand touched me” makes us think of something serene. But the meaning is much greater! God’s touch on him, through the messenger, was so intense, so powerful, that it made Daniel, trembling, kneel down and lean on his hands. The extraordinary vision that Daniel had received before that touch had already made the other men hide, while he remained without strength, almost fainting, with his face on the ground (verse 8 and 9). Do not misunderstand me. God is a sweet and loving Father, but His touch is powerful. As smooth as it sounds, it’s brash and leaves nothing standing. Daniel says in verse 8 that there was no strength left in him. But will I fill that […]

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March 07, 2022·Ana Júlia Luiz

A Prayer for Hard Days

The last few times have been very difficult, but the Lord has taught us in His Word not to be afraid: “So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.” Isaiah 41:10 Today let’s pray asking that God be with us, strengthening us in difficult days. Remembering that you don’t have to repeat the prayer exactly as I’m going to leave it here, because each of us has a specific way of communicating with the Lord. But if you want to accompany me, it will be a pleasure. Feel free to speak your own way. Prayer “Lord my God and Father, we thank you for another day of life, for another opportunity to live in your presence, despite the difficulties and bad days. Holy Spirit, we invite You to be with us, calming our hearts, taking care of our lives and helping us to make it through another day. Lord we believe in Your faithful right hand, which sustains us, strengthens us and helps us, in the moments we need it most. We know that […]

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February 14, 2022·Ana Júlia Luiz

What are you afraid of?

Being afraid is a feeling that is part of our daily life, starting from our childhood. When we are children we are afraid of things like the dark, clowns and heights. Sometimes fears persist, but they can also disappear, giving way to others. Fear of the future Have you ever felt afraid of what was to come? Did you have that butterflies in your stomach thinking about what to expect for the next day? Often the future is the most frightening thing we face because we don’t know what it will bring us, whether it will be good or bad things. Fear of the future is simply fear that things will get out of our control. It is being afraid of seeing everything we’ve built collapse or even a responsibility we don’t know we’ll be able to handle. Matthew 6:34 says: “Then have no care for tomorrow: tomorrow will take care of itself. Take the trouble of the day as it comes.” Can you understand that? Jesus does not want us to be restless about tomorrow. After all, today itself already has its challenges and difficulties. Fear of changes I confess that this is a fear that plagues me. When […]

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January 21, 2022·Ana Júlia Luiz

The good day and the bad day

The truth is, if you think about it, lately we’ve had more bad days than good days. There are so many bad things happening in the world, in our lives, that we often wonder, “Why is God allowing this to happen?” Have you ever thought that we don’t thank for the bad days? God has been working this in my heart, even ’cause my thoughts were always: “Why I have to be grateful for the bad days, who make me so sad?” I believe that’s a question that passes in your head. What do you think we discuss a little about? The House Now imagine Jesus saying this to you: “In the world you have trouble: but take heart! I have overcome the world” John 16:33b (BEB) In our lives, we went through bad days. After all, life isn’t perfect. But we have a lot of good days that give us strength to carry on. One time, I saw a reflection that said: Imagine that you are in a house and every day the only thing you have to eat is something you don’t like, but then, on the last day, you know that there is delicious chocolate waiting for you. […]

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January 20, 2022·Gabriela Angerami

The price of consistency

A successful marriage, a ministry that fulfills its purpose, a professional achievement. All of this takes a lot of work and dedication. Many times we want to live and enjoy good and intense results, but without paying the price of consistency and perseverance. I don’t know if you’ve ever lit a fire. Starting a fire is not the hardest, but keeping the flame lit requires fuel, work, attention and persistence. Sometimes I watch those survival shows and keeping the flame lit so that they can enjoy it to boil water, keep the body warm and cook food is one of the biggest challenges. Constancy to be relevant In the Bible, people who made a difference were people able to persevere, to keep the flame burning. Daniel in Babylon was called by King Darius to be one of the 3 administrators who would oversee the provinces of the kingdom, something great and probably desired by many. At that time Daniel was between 80 and 85 years old and had led an exemplary life in Babylon. The Bible describes him as “trustworthy, and no negligence or corruption was found in him” (Dan. 6:4). Building a reputation like this takes work, perseverance, and […]

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November 26, 2021·Nicole Leão

Beware of outsourcing the faith!

“21 but test them all; hold on to what is good, 22 reject every kind of evil. 23 May God himself, the God of peace, sanctify you through and through. May your whole spirit, soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ“. – 1 Thessalonians 5:21-23 Living in fellowship is of such importance, but outsourcing faith is problematic. What do I mean by this? There are those who only read the Bible in church, who only seek to learn from God’s word on Sunday in the service, and here we come to an important question: how autonomous is this person in the faith? None, this is the same person who also outsources prayer. Of course I am not saying that you should not ask for prayer, advice or direction from someone with greater maturity in the faith, it is very important to have people to instruct us in the right way, to counsel and to pray for us. However, that doesn’t mean that this person’s prayer has greater power than yours, you have access to the same God as your brother, the God who created the world and knows you like the back of […]

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October 04, 2021·Nicole Leão

Going through trials with faith

In this world you will have tribulations… Jesus said it in John 16:33, but in the same verse He says: “But be of good cheer, I have overcome the world. Everyone who is alive has faced difficulty, because we live in a world fallen by sin, all humanity suffers, trials and difficulties arise in our lives, we do everything in our power to literally get rid of these bad ones, including asking God to deliver us from this adversity faced. 3 Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; 4 perseverance, character; and character, hope. 5 And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us. Romans 5:3-5 This is totally understandable, we don’t want to suffer, we all seek a full life, free from instabilities. However, there are so many things that God wants to do in us and through us through the trials we face. Of course, far be it from me to romanticize trials, and I say this with the short but intense experience on this earth of someone who […]

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April 14, 2021·Nicole Leão

The power of intercession

As you help us by your prayers. Then many will give thanks on our behalf for the gracious favor granted us in answer to the prayers of many. 2 Corinthians 1:1-11 We are living a moment in which intercession is so necessary, with a health crisis that directly affects the economy, causing besides deaths, unemployment, and so many evils to society. It is at this moment that we think there is nothing more to be done, we see no way out, and the only desire we have is to disappear until everything is over. However, we have what to do, we are children of God, called to freedom and to be light in a world of darkness. Now you may be asking yourself: “but what is within my power?”, and I answer you that you have a powerful weapon against all that is attacking the world, prayer, and more than that, prayer with the intentionality to intercede. So often our prayers can be shallow and selfish, focused only on ourselves, sometimes not even seeking what God wants for us, but almost begging for our own will to be done instead of the will of the Most High. But it is […]

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February 03, 2021·Nicole Leão

The belief comes before the fulfillment

These days I was reading the passage of Luke 1, and I had my attention fixed on verse 45, where it is written: “Blessed is she who has believed that the Lord would fulfill his promises to her!”. These words, inspired by God, were spoken by Elizabeth, Zechariah’s wife, to Mary, Jesus’ mother. In this chapter the story is told of when Elizabeth, a barren woman of advanced age, becomes pregnant and soon after Mary who is her cousin and virgin also becomes pregnant by the power of the Holy Spirit. But returning to the fact mentioned in the verse that caught my attention, the faith of Jesus’ mother came before the promise was fulfilled. Reading this passage it is also possible to identify that because of her faith she received the grace to give light to the Son of God. The answer of the Lord’s servant to the angel who announced to her what was to come, was filled with faith, she answered: “Behold the handmaid of the Lord; let it be fulfilled in me according to your word”. After reading this, I kept thinking about how many times we don’t want something to be fulfilled, but we don’t […]

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December 11, 2020·Nicole Leão

Hope, the art of waiting with faith!

Yet this I call to mind and therefore I have hope: Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. I say to myself, “The Lord is my portion; therefore I will wait for him.” Lamentations 3:21-24 It’s almost mid-December, near the end of the year, and usually this is a time when we get more reflective, thinking about what happened and what is to come. I don’t know about you, but I usually get even more excited, thinking about what I’m going to do, what’s to come, and this always brings me hope, a subject I want to talk to you about today. Hope in a different year The year 2020, for sure, was very different from what we could imagine there in January. The virus that the whole world has been living with had just been discovered, it was still not possible to imagine everything that would come. But soon after the world scenario changed and we saw despair, fear and insecurity probing the lives of many. The rate of death by covid increased, that of unemployment skyrocketed. We began to experience a […]

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November 27, 2020·Paulo Oliveira

What is the real victory?

Have you ever heard of the expression “Pyrrhic Victory”? Pyrrhus was a Greek general who was born at the time of Alexander the Great and died (318 B.C.). He fought for the restoration of his power in Greece and southern Italy. He faced the Romans and defeated them a few times, but at such a cost in lives, that the campaign could not be considered really victorious… When they congratulated him on his victory against the Romans at the Battle of Asculus, he would have responded: “One more victory like this, and I am lost! Since then, the term “Pyrrhic Victory” has been used to express something like “won, but did not take”. What have you been fighting for? Have you experienced victories like this in your life? Fight hard for something, pay a high price and then find out it wasn’t worth it? Actually, our lives are full of Pyrrhus’ victories…men and women who pay high prices for a professional victory, to later discover that they lost their marriage or their children; people who prioritize above all the money, to end their life without friends; people so determined to reach their destiny, that they can’t even enjoy the way […]

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November 19, 2020·Nicole Leão

Rahab: a lesson of faith

Rahab is a curious character in the Bible. She was the one who hid the spies sent by Joshua in his house and protected them when the king of Jericho found out about their presence. After hiding them, Rahab asked them to remember her and her family. And to spare them when Jericho was conquered by the people of Israel. Her declaration of faith in God She was a prostitute and was mentioned 8 times in the Bible, 5 of them as “the prostitute Rahab. She acame from a culture of worship of other gods. Even so, when she made the agreement with the spies to spare her family, she makes a statement of faith in which she recognizes the supreme sovereignty of God: And said to them, “I know that the Lord has given you this land and that a great fear of you has fallen on us, so that all who live in this country are melting in fear because of you. We have heard how the Lord dried up the water of the Red Sea for you when you came out of Egypt, and what you did to Sihon and Og, the two kings of the Amorites […]

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October 30, 2020·Nicole Leão

Learning about the fruit of the Holy Spirit: Faith

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. Galatians 5:22 (NIV) We are in the seventh text of the series “Learning about the Fruit of the Spirit”, in which we will delve into what is written in the Bible about the fruit of the Holy Spirit of God, mentioned in the book of Galatians. Today we are going to learn more about faith. I would like to start by leaving the passage of Ephesians 6:16 here: “In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one“, then, remember that faith is the shield against flamed darts of the enemy. Faith For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith – and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God. Ephesians 2: 8,9 (NIV) I want to start this text by reminding you that faith is a quality that gives us strength to overcome evil and adversity. It is good to remember that faith is not just believing in God, because as it is written in […]

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August 06, 2020·Gabriela Angerami

Be faithful when no one sees

Only you and God know your secret. Choosing to do the right thing, regardless of who is around or if no one is around, is about our integrity. Have we been whole and faithful to the principles of the Kingdom of God in all circumstances? That is what I would like to talk about in this text. And for that, I separated my favorite examples on this subject. Joseph was a faithful servant and after a while his master’s wife took notice of Joseph and said, “Come to bed with me!”, But he refused. “With me in charge,” he told her, “my master does not concern himself with anything in the house; everything he owns he has entrusted to my care. No one is greater in this house than I am. My master has withheld nothing from me except you, because you are his wife. How then could I do such a wicked thing and sin against God?” And though she spoke to Joseph day after day, he refused to go to bed with her or even be with her. Genesis 39: 7-10 In this passage, Joseph was a servant in the home of Potiphar, an Egyptian officer. Everything Joseph […]

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July 19, 2020·Léo

I can’t hear God’s voice

Have you also been troubled by not being able to hear the Lord’s voice? Have you ever wondered why you didn’t hear God speak? Are you going through this today? Today I would like to talk about one of the phrases that I spoke most in my life and that I hear many times! If you’ve ever felt that way, I imagine it’s an important text for you! Shall we talk about it? The noise is too loud! “But Jesus often withdrew to lonely places and prayed.” Luke 5:16 The Bible shows us that, on several occasions, Jesus withdrew from the presence of others, went to a quiet place and prayed to His Father. But for what reason did He do this? In my view, Jesus withdrew for two reasons: to avoid noise and to be alone with the Lord. I would like to speak specifically about the noise. Noise that deafens us and disturbs us. What noise would that be? The vast majority of us have a busy schedule and a very busy life. We got involved in a lot of activities and ended up with a very full mind too. It is important to say that there is […]

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June 25, 2020·Léo

There is no problem on having fear!

Many times we go through difficulties, moments of tribulation and we are afraid! And fear is a natural human feeling. The big problem is from there: in what we do in the face of fear. Have you been afraid? Have you let fear paralyze you, or have you taken advantage of that fear to grow? I would like to talk to you today about how to use fear to learn, grow, depend more on God and glorify Him more! Come on? Be afraid! “When I am afraid, I put my trust in you.” Psalms 56: 3 It is extremely common to be afraid and, unfortunately, it is also common to think that it is wrong to be afraid! Fear is a simple reaction of our mind and thoughts. It is normal to be afraid of something. However, we need to use this fear to glorify God! But how? Use that fear to depend even more on the Lord. The moment we are afraid is the perfect time to look at ourselves and realize how small we are. That way, when we notice that we are fragile and flawed, we realize that we need to run to the Lord and put all […]

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June 23, 2020·Léo

Help me to seek You!

I would like to say a brief prayer with you, to ask for the Lord’s help! We often lose the incentive and the will to seek the Word of the Lord and His presence! You do not need to repeat this prayer exactly as I am going to leave it here, not least because each of us has a specific way of communicating with the Lord! So if you want to accompany me, it will be a pleasure, but feel free to speak your way! “Lord, I came here again today to open my heart and ask you for help! I have been having difficulties to seek You. I confess that I no longer have the same desire to talk to you, read Your Word and spend time in worship, as it was before This has been bothering me! I want to seek you with all my heart and worry about what really matters, which is pleasing You! So I ask you for mercy. Give me strength, give me hunger, give me thirst. of the Lord and without You, I cannot survive, without His Word, I have no strength to continue this journey! I ask you Lord to guide my […]

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June 19, 2020·Léo

A sincere heart!

I would like to bring a brief and simple message, to analyze our hearts! Have we done things from the heart for the Lord? Did we fall into the routine and end up praying or reading the Bible out of obligation? Do we worship the Lord in spirit and in truth? Shall we talk about? Routine compliance It is true that we all have a routine and that, regardless of how busy the routine is, we need to have time for our spiritual life. Time for prayer, reading the Word and worship is sorely needed. However, we often fall into the routine and start doing things out of a simple obligation and do not think about the real reason we are doing that. Unfortunately, this often happens in our spiritual lives. We started to pray simply to pray, to fulfill the table. Read the Bible to fulfill the table. Is this right? With absolute certainty, it is not right at all! The Lord wants us to be whole, wants us to do things with our understanding. What does the Lord seek? “let us draw near to God with a sincere heart and with the full assurance that faith brings, having our hearts […]

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June 12, 2020·Léo

Rooted worship!

Is the custom of worship present in our lives? Do we understand the true importance of worshiping the Lord? Or do we leave it to praise ministers only? In these times of social isolation, I have realized how great the impact of worship on our lives. Worship must always be present in our lives! I would like to talk a little about it today! Come on? Worship is individual I always had the habit of not worrying about my secret worship, after all, the fact of praising in the church is enough, right? Quite the opposite. It is very common to think that we go to cults, conferences and events to fill up, but this is completely wrong. The moments of worship must be of surrender to the Lord. We go to church to serve, to empty ourselves and to worship the Lord. Spiritual food, receiving, being filled and filled is in everyday life, in the secret, in the place where we are not seen, where only the Lord sees our surrender. Do you think that early church leaders sought the Lord only on Sundays in their services? “Look to the Lord and his strength; seek his face always.” Psalms 105: 4 Since the […]

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June 11, 2020·Léo

The importance of discipleship!

Your difficulties, your failures, your sins … with whom have you shared? Who has helped you on your spiritual journey? I have realized the importance of having people to accompany us in our life with Christ. We cannot walk alone, because together we can grow and learn more about our Father and his principles revealed in the Word. I would like to talk to you a little about this! Come on? Have someone accompany you “And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds, not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching.” Hebrews 10: 24-25 The Bible makes it very clear to us the importance of having fellowship with our brothers and encouraging one another. We all know that a spiritual journey is far from easy. Every day we have struggles, problems, difficulties and sadness that we carry. We are human beings with our limitations; unable to account for all of our problems. We are often ashamed to confess our sins, to open up any difficulties. We are afraid or even think we don’t need to. However, […]

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June 09, 2020·Maria Clara Arruda Marques

Living a constant Christian life

“May the Lord direct your hearts into God’s love and Christ’s perseverance.” 2 Thessalonians 3: 5 Being constant in an increasingly hectic world is really challenging. Living college, work, appointments, running and daily chores, we often end up giving more priority to the material world than to our relationship with God. Prioritize what really matters The daily rush ends up becoming one of the biggest excuses for not focusing on Jesus, we end up being carried away by the rush of the day and day and we often let ourselves be carried away by it. We leave for later what should be a priority. Jesus is the greatest example of constancy. He faced trials and suffering without deviating from his purpose. We must follow in Christ’s footsteps, even when we face temptations and difficulties. We have to learn more every day that being constant is a decision. Resignation, sacrifice and mainly priorities. To be steadfast, we need to step out of our comfort zone and act with determination in service and intimacy with God and not do this only occasionally or only when we feel excited. We need to be constant on good and bad days. And above all, we need […]

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