A Message from the Pastor's Desk:

Seek God's Presence not his presents.

The Israelites wandered around and around the wilderness, going through the same struggle time and time again. God said He allowed this to teach them the truth of Deuteronomy 8:3 that man does not live by bread alone (worldly things) but by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God (His promises).

God met their basic necessities in the wilderness, but they were long from having their desires fulfilled. God wanted them to have abundant life, but first they needed to learn to obey Him at all times. Sooner or later God has to teach us that our true life is in Him, not in anything the world has to offer It would be great if He could simply tell us the truth and we could believe it, turn our backs on the world, and totally trust Him. It does not happen that way though, God deals with us and allow us to go through tests and trials, so we learn by experience and that doing things His way is the best way. God knows that if we would not serve and worship Him in the hard times of life (the valleys), we will not consistently serve and worship Him in the good times (the mountaintops). He wants to bless us with the desires of our hearts, but He demands first place in our lives at all times

There is a fine line between serving God because of what He can do for us and serving Him because of who He is We can easily be deceived into seeking His hand (His presents) and not seeking His face (His presence) in our lives. We need to seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness, and then all the other things will be added unto us ( Matthew 6:33).Are you in a valley?

Worship God! Are you on top of the mountain? Worship God! Are all your needs met? Worship God! Are you in want? Worship God!

This month, we at Mt. Zion IBMU Church would like to extend congratulations to our sister church, Little Bethlehem IBMU Church on the installation of Pastor Kester Simon

Hailing from Mt. Zion, he moved from being Brother Simon, to Junior Minister Simon and now he has taken up the mantle as Pastor. It was truly a wonderful experience to see our Pastor, First Lady and members who are both family and friends share in his accomplishments

We thank Pastor Kester Simon for the impact he has left at Mt Zion IBMU Church and as he moves forward we wish him and his congregation all God's choic

466-7349 - Secretary of Mt Zion I.B.M.U Church

Zionmount53@gmail.com

by: Rev Warren Simon

It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.

Love never fails "

Jesus about die, speaking with his disciple he said " I am the vine " (vs 5) in other words He was saying "I AM THE SOURCE" Although Jesus know that Judas was going to betray him, he never chased Judas away

God wants us to love one another to that level In the book of John 3:16 it reads " For God so love the world that He gave His only begotten Son that whosoever believes in Him shall no perish but have eternal life "

Could anyone reach to that level? Your only child, with whom you so love and it spend 9 months inside of you, can you give it to someone else? God love is a crazy love, He with hold nothing. Our kind of love is that " if you love me I will love you back," not so with God; He wants us to love beyond criticism and beyond hatred In 1 Corinthians 13:4-8 it says " Love is patient, love is kind It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not selfseeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs

Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth.

In the church there are 2 vines, there are those that will bear fruits and there are people in the church who will start with you however they will reach a certain level and go no further. There are some people that you will need to detach in order for you to grow; being detach from them doesn't mean that your angry with them, it's means for you to move forward and grow spiritually "You are the branches...." (vs 5) if you are connected to the vine you ought to be fruitful however if you are not bearing any fruits, you will be cut down In order for you to bear fruits you must remain connected to Jesus.

In Psalm 1: 2-3 it says "But his delight is in the law of the LORD, And in His law he meditates day and night He shall be like a tree Planted by the rivers of water, that brings forth its fruit in its season, whose leaf also shall not wither; And whatever he does shall prosper " The remedy for spiritual growth is spending time in your word and Praying and Fasting

There are people though they may be going to church every Sunday, how they have been 40 years ago nothing has seemed to change. They are not fruitful for they have been in the same spot for far too long.

Love is supposed to meet you at the point of your needs, the bible said in Matthew 25:31-40 "For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, “I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me " As Believers in Christ Jesus, we ought to reach to the point where we give to the needy and no one ought to know

Staying connected also means we ought to follow in the example of our Lord Jesus Christ. In John 6:1-14 when the 5 loaves and 2 fishes was given to Jesus, although he was hungry, he blessed the food and gave it to the people Some of us would of fail the test as we would of eaten first and then gave the leftovers to the person who may be as hungry as we are. Jesus remained without but he made sure

And Give First

Every time a season comes in the vine extends, where we were last year we ought not to be on that exact same level, we ought to be spending time in our word to grow spiritually The ought to love one another first, including the Judas that may be in our lives, once we can accomplish this then

We Can Love Anyone

As Christians we ought to know when to run and when to fight, in Genesis 39:12-18 Joseph did not fight he run, however in 1 Samuel 17:32-50 David did not run he fought, by staying connected to Jesus, we will know when to run and when to fight.

~ LIVING THE BLESSED LIFE AS KINGDOM CITIZENS

when we are blessed, we are in a position to claim territories as the word of God says in 1 John 4:4 "Ye are of God, little children, and have overcome them because greater is he that is in you, than he that is in the world."

The word of God says that "where two or three are gathered together in my name there I am in the midst (Matthew 18:20). "

When God has blessed, you He downloads success in you, the choice is ours whether it be to prosper or to accept failure In the book of Psalm in chapter 1, we read about 2 categories, the Godly and the ungodly. The blessed man associates himself with the Godly, an eagle will never associate itself with any other bird other than his own Now distancing yourself from ungodly doesn't mean to never speak to them, it means that you may be in the world, but you mustn't conform to the world, never drop your standards as a child of the Most High God In your workplace you must make the difference, it's like meat, it's only when you add the seasoning then it will be flavored.

In Deuteronomy 8:18-20, although God gives us wealth it is not for us to forget our Creator, because being disobedient to God can result in our destruction. In Deuteronomy 9:1-3,

As children of God we ought to start speaking blessing into our lives In Deuteronomy 28 God blessed the children of Israel with physical blessings but in the New Testament in the book of Galatians 3:14 the Church was blessed with both physical and Spiritual blessings.

Psalm chapter 1 has conditions, in verse 2 it reads that " but his delight is in the law of the Lord and in his law he meditates day and night " In Job 1:10, God has placed a wall of protection around us but some of us are not aware due to lack of spending time in the presence of God. Job was a man who walk with God, the devil said " thou has blessed the work of his hands and his substance is increased in the land (Job 1:10) Blessings doesn't just come easy, we ought to activate it, we ought to ask ourselves the question. Do we pay tithes? When we start to meditate on the word day and night it's only then will the blessings flow. When we are under attack it's because we are blessed, in Psalm 34:8 it reads, " O taste and see that the Lord is good

Meditating on the word of God doesn't allow the ungodly to dictate your life, we ought to trust in God

In Psalm 84:5 it says "Blessed is the man whose strength is in thee," the blessed man draws strength from God, my grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness. (2 Cor 12:9), For when I am weak, then I am strong (2 Corinthians 12:10).

In Psalm 89, when we learn to trust God we will then know how to worship, in Psalm 100:4 the word of God says to “enter His gates with thanksgiving and His courts with praise.”

In verse 3 of Psalm 1 ''And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, That bringeth forth his fruit in his season; His leaf also shall not wither; And whatsoever he doeth shall prosper Here the tree cultivates as it is placed near a stream, and it will grow from glory to glory and from grace to grace David spend 7 times in communication with God, we ought to ask ourselves how many times we spend in the presence of God?

The reward of the wicked is destruction but the reward of the righteous is guidance and protection from the Lord In 1 Samuel 17:8-45, all of the training that the Israelites received did not prepared them for a man like Goliath David although he didn't received training from the army he said in verse 45 of 1 Samuel 17 “You come against me with sword and spear and javelin, but I come against you in the name of the Lord Almighty, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied " We ought to walk in authority, it was only one-shot David made and the battle was over (vs 49-50).

As Believers of Christ let us walk in authority and victory as it says in Ephesians 3:20 "Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us "

Continuation

FOLLOW MY EXAMPLE, AS I FOLLOW THE EXAMPLE OF CHRIST. (1 COR. 11:1)

All Christians are called to share in the ministry of Jesus, through what Paul refers to here as “works of service.” Ordained ministers, including pastors, are called to serve by equipping and then leading God’s people in these works To be called by God to serve as a pastor is a privilege, blessing and responsibility

It’s a calling that comes to different people in different ways sometimes quietly, over a long period of time; at other times dramatically and suddenly like Paul on the road to Damascus (Acts 26:12-14). You will know “for sure” only in your spirit and through the confirmation of those you serve. We walk by faith, not by sight, and the opportunity to serve God is unlike any other life endeavor The center of that service involves feeding others through sharing with them the living and written Word of God This flows out of a desire that others come to know God through Jesus Christ and put their trust in him alone for life now and eternally. Signs that point to such a calling are love for studying and communicating the Word of God, desire to pray with and for people, desire to enable people to come to God in worship, and desire to help people become a fellowship of those gathered in the Holy Spirit around the Word of God both written and living.

Pastoral ministry, regardless of the specific area of service, is extremely challenging The stress level can be significant, rated by some to be second only to medical doctors To function properly as a pastor requires that you resist the pull of our fallen human nature and maintain humility before God

We are all called to be his servants, using the gifts he has given us to direct others to him

A good leader leads by example Be shepherds of God's flock that is under your care, serving as overseers -- not because you must, but because you are willing, as God wants you to be; not greedy for money, but eager to serve; not lording it over those entrusted to you, but being examples to the flock. (1 Pet. 5:2-3).

An Effective Leader:

An example who reflects Jesus

A guide who points people to the Lord as their source

A servant with a heart of humility

A shepherd who cares about people's welfare

Wednesday Night Highlights

The First Pre-Baptismal night started with the Pastoral Installation of Pastor Kester Simon at Little Bethlehem IBMU Church. This installation was also the first done by our Bishop, Reverend Leroy Brereton The Minister to deliver the days sermon was no other than our very own Pastor MU Church, Piparo, the word was taken from John 5:1-15 - "take up

Thursday Night Highlights

On THURSDAY NIGHT, the last Revival night, the word was ministered to the congregation by Junior Minister Donna Ragbir The word came from the book of 1 Corinthians 13:11 - "When I was a child, I spoke as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child: but when I became a man, I put away childish things "

Totally Committed To God

Isaiah 61:10 - I delight greatly in the LORD; my soul rejoices in my God For he has clothed me with garments of salvation and arrayed me in a robe of his righteousness This ceremony was established during the consecration of Aaron in the office of High Priest (Exo 29:5)

FIGURE: Bishop Leroy Brereton gave the congregation a look at the robe to be worn by Pastor Simon for his office as a representative of Christ.

Totally Committed To God

It is a mark of position the Minister achieves which shows that he totally belong to God (Exo 29:44), once blessed it is only, he can take it off if he is unworthy

With Regards to the Robing Ceremony, the First Button was joined by the President Reverend Leroy Brereton and Ministers were as follow:

2nd - Rev Troy Renn (First Vice President)

3rd- Reverend Warren Simon (Mt Zion)

4th - Reverend David Richardson (Lendor Memorial)

5th - Pastor Rigirl Sylvester (Little Bethlehem)

6th - Pastor Debbieann Brereton (St Ann#2/ La Lune "House of Bread")

7th- Pastor Rawle Hamilton - (St Matthews)

8th- Evangelist Annmarie Blades Bridgeman (Lendor Memorial)

9th- Head Mother Jennifer Mark - (St Paul#1)

10th- Mother J Francis (Widow of Rev E Francis, former Pastor of Little Bethlehem)

PICTURES OF THE FULLY ROBED PASTOR KESTER SIMON.

"HE HATH CLOTHED ME WITH THE ROBE OF RIGHTEOUSNESS." - ISAIAH 61:10

“Excellent ministers cannot be those who yearn for earthly applause. Neither can they be lovers of earthly comfort. The life of ministry is not a life of leisure. The notion that ministry can be both effective and painless is a lie.

― John MacArthur