The Events Following Advent

 The Events following Advent 

What happens now? Christmas came with all its excitement as we were once again filled with wonder and awe that God would come to earth in the form of His Son as a tiny babe born to live and die for the sins of the world so we could one day live with Him in heaven! 

 Now the year is coming to an end and we are commissioned to go out and lay hold of a new season, a new calendar year, reminded of what our purpose really is. 

 Last week we discussed the Announcement, the Birth and the Witness. This week we reflect on what Jesus called us to do after He completed His purpose here on earth just before ascending to heaven. Let’s look at each account of this at the end of each gospel account. 

 In Matthew 28, Jesus said to His disciples to go… ”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, 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.“ ‭‭Matthew‬ ‭28‬:‭19‬-‭20‬ ‭NKJV‬‬ 

 In Mark… ”And He said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature.“ ‭‭Mark‬ ‭16‬:‭15‬ ‭NKJV‬‬ 

In Luke…

 ”Then He said to them, “Thus it is written, and thus it was necessary for the Christ to suffer and to rise from the dead the third day, and that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in His name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem. And you are witnesses of these things.“ ‭‭Luke‬ ‭24‬:‭46‬-‭48‬ ‭NKJV‬‬ 

 And John… 

 ”So when they had eaten breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter, “Simon, son of Jonah, do you love Me more than these?” He said to Him, “Yes, Lord; You know that I love You.” He said to him, “Feed My lambs.” He said to him again a second time, “Simon, son of Jonah, do you love Me?” He said to Him, “Yes, Lord; You know that I love You.” He said to him, “Tend My sheep.” He said to him the third time, “Simon, son of Jonah, do you love Me?” Peter was grieved because He said to him the third time, “Do you love Me?” And he said to Him, “Lord, You know all things; You know that I love You.” Jesus said to him, “Feed My sheep.“ ‭‭John‬ ‭21‬:‭15‬-‭17‬ ‭NKJV‬‬ 

 After each declaration of love in response to Jesus’ questions, the Lord was giving Peter an assignment - to feed His sheep. In every gospel account, these faithful witnesses heard Jesus give a command to go out and preach the Gospel to the world. And go they did! 

 Today, you and I are born again witnesses of what Jesus did in our lives. We are called to do exactly what was written in His Word and go and tell others! 

 Just yesterday morning, I went to the lad to have some blood drawn. It was quiet and I was the only one there. The young lady who helped me was so nice. When we got all done, I asked her if she would like a sticker. I told her she could even pick the one she wanted. She got excited and the door was open to talk about Jesus! 

 It was another amazing experience of explaining the gospel. She was all ears and as she mentioned things she was concerned about, I was able to ask questions to keep the conversation going. She knows of God and prays but had never asked Him to be her Lord and Savior. 

Step by step, I explained what the Bible says about each of her concerns, and about the specific things she needed to know. Holy Spirit had led me to be a witness to her yesterday and I was so blessed to be used to lead a lost soul to Jesus! 

 I want to encourage you as our Lord did long ago to go and be a witness! Use whatever it takes to turn the conversation from the natural to the spiritual. For me it was Christian stickers I picked up from the Christian bookstore. You can use all kinds of things as I have over the years. Just get something that works for you or helps you to tell your story. People are dying to hear it. 

 Thank you for listening! Now go in Jesus Name! You’ll be blessed if you do! Denny and I are praying for you every day. 🙏🏻 Much love and blessings be unto you in your coming and going in Jesus Name for the New Year! Much more in 24! 

 Feel free to share this message with anyone. You may give them my number so they can receive these messages too. It is sent out individually, so you can respond if you like. 

 Denny and Hanny Stearns Fish N Loaves Ministries, Inc. EST. 2016 “Multiplying God’s Word around the world. 🌍

The Announcement The Birth The Witness

 Christmas Eve Message 

The Announcement, The Birth, The Witness

The announcement…

”“And you, child, will be called the prophet of the Highest; For you will go before the face of the Lord to prepare His ways, To give knowledge of salvation to His people By the remission of their sins, Through the tender mercy of our God, With which the Dayspring from on high has visited us; To give light to those who sit in darkness and the shadow of death, To guide our feet into the way of peace.”“

‭‭Luke‬ ‭1‬:‭76‬-‭79‬ ‭NKJV‬‬

John the Baptist was the chosen man of God to appear just before Jesus our Savior would arrive on the world scene. God our Father had a wonderful plan of redemption that had been prophesied for hundreds of years. 

While God’s people were crying out for their Deliverer, the Lord was setting in motion His grand plan of redemption. He chose Elizabeth to bring forth the one who would announce the arrival of our long awaited Savior. 

Then the arrival of Jesus…..

"Then the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid, for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy which will be to all people. For there is born to you this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. And this will be the sign to you: You will find a Babe wrapped in swaddling cloths, lying in a manger.” And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying: “Glory to God in the highest, And on earth peace, goodwill toward men!”“

‭‭Luke‬ ‭2‬:‭10‬-‭14‬ ‭NKJV‬‬

Jesus came at the appointed time to save all mankind from their sins! Hallelujah! Born of a virgin and He came as the Son of God to become like us so we could grow to be like Him. 

The witness……

”And behold, there was a man in Jerusalem whose name was Simeon, and this man was just and devout, waiting for the Consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit was upon him. And it had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not see death before he had seen the Lord’s Christ. So he came by the Spirit into the temple. And when the parents brought in the Child Jesus, to do for Him according to the custom of the law, he took Him up in his arms and blessed God and said: “Lord, now You are letting Your servant depart in peace, According to Your word; Which You have prepared before the face of all peoples, A light to bring revelation to the Gentiles, And the glory of Your people Israel.”“

‭‭Luke‬ ‭2‬:‭25‬-‭29‬, ‭31‬-‭32‬ ‭NKJV‬‬

Jesus’ coming was told to us long before He was ever born, and then He appeared to the world in a stable where sheep are born because He would be the Lamb Who would be slain for the sins of the world. 

Then God confirmed His Word to all mankind, allowing the devout man of God, Simeon, to not only see and hold Jesus, but to confirm what His purpose would be. 

God always confirms His Word! How wonderful it is each year and in fact, each day to celebrate the coming of Jesus the first time, and to anticipate and prepare for His promised second coming. 

Church get ready! Go and tell it in all your world that Jesus Christ has come and is coming back! 

You are now the witness! Tell people how God saved you out of a life of sin and darkness and how He came to set them free! Be bold! Be gentle, just be faithful to tell the people who God sends into your life! 

A lot of people have gotten mad at me in my family and some friends for telling them about Jesus, but I don’t let that stop me! Go out there and tell them! This world needs their Savior! 

Merry Christmas to you and may your families be blessed this Christmas with restoration and health and joy in Jesus Name! Amen 🙏🏻 

Please share this blog with anyone and give them my number so they can be added to our ever growing list. It’s private so you can respond to us if you like. 

Love and many blessings ✝️🎄

Denny and Hanny Stearns

Fish N Loaves Ministries, Inc. 

Multiplying God’s Word around the globe 🌍 

Come Celebrate Jesus

 Sunday Mesage Dec 17

Come Celebrate Jesus with Us! 

 ”For there is born to you this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. And this will be the sign to you: You will find a Babe wrapped in swaddling cloths, lying in a manger.” And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying: “Glory to God in the highest, And on earth peace, goodwill toward men!”“ ‭‭Luke‬ ‭2‬:‭11‬-‭14‬ ‭NKJV‬‬ 

Read all of Luke 2 for the whole story! 

 And celebrate we did! Wow! If ever we have had a party during our marriage, this one was the absolute over the top best of the best! The weather forecast didn’t look good, so we prayed and took authority over the rain. It was an all day open house Christmas party to celebrate the goodness of God!  

Slowly at first, then the momentum picked up and people came and stayed and went and more kept coming. Some stayed awhile while others stayed the whole day! It was awesome as we talked about the Lord and the great things He has done in our lives! 

Like our pastor said today, we need to have crazy faith because with God all things are possible! We don’t care if they call us nuts because the glory and blessings of God will be seen in our lives and then others will want some too! As the day progressed, I was so blessed to look around our home and see all of our dear friends and brothers and sisters in Christ having such a great time.

 The weather looked like an old fashioned winter day - which we appreciated after a long hot summer, with a pretty steady drizzle. It only rained a little harder when we were all snuggly tucked inside! It pays to know our authority over things as followers of Jesus! 

 There was plenty of food and it seemed we had ordered just the right amount of stuff. There was joy and Holy Spirit laughter that had one gal on the floor of our tiny kitchen just overwhelmed by God’s goodness. We closed the day with praying for each other and then turned up the music as we listened to Brandon Lake sing, “Tear off the Roof.” 

 God had set the whole thing up in a way no human could have. We were so touched by His Spirit we felt like our legs would come out from under us. It seemed to start at our service on Friday night, and it flowed through the day yesterday throughout the entire gathering, and continued into today! 

 So what do we do when we have times like this? We cherish the One True God Who came to earth to die for our sins and give us a new life, a life free from bondage so we can tell others about His goodness as we daily rejoice in his presence! I was going to fast today, but didn’t quite hit the mark with the party leftovers, but, everyday is a fast of one sort or another as we follow Jesus and lead others there too! 

 This Christmas season, if you are invited somewhere to attend a party, just bring His presence into the room and watch expecantly to see what the King of kings will do! It’s all about Him, for Him and by Him!  

Make it a time to celebrate the people in your life, both the ones who know Jesus and the ones you are praying will get there! Praise Him for loving us that much that He sent us Himself in the form of a humble baby! And praise Him for helping others see Who He really is while they are on their journey! 

 Let’s celebrate Jesus together, shall we! 

 Song 🎶 “Praise” by Chris Brown and Chandler Moore 

 Much love and Christmas blessings to you all in Jesus beautiful Name! 

 Denny and Hanny Stearns Fish N Loaves Ministries, Inc. Multiplying God’s Word around the world 🌎

Family, Forgiveness & Freedom

 Family, Forgiveness & Freedom 

 ”And be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God in Christ forgave you.“ ‭‭Ephesians‬ ‭4‬:‭32‬ ‭NKJV 

 It’s Christmas time once again, and most of us have family that we may need to spend time with throughout the season. For some, it’s a joyous time and we have strong family relationships that we cherish and delight to spend time with them. 

If that’s you, thank God for that blessing! There’s many others who have family relationships that are strained at best. We didn’t get to pick our family - that was God’s job. 

However, we can choose how we treat them. That’s always our job. So many people have been hurt, and have hurt themselves or others. The results can bring estrangement and a lot of pain. One thing I have learned in my life’s experiences is that as a daughter, wife and mother, I never wanted to be hurt, nor did I ever want to hurt anyone. 

 As we experience traumatic things that have hurt us in our families, we must first stop and realize that each one has their own hurts and ideas of how to handle them. I hear so many people say they dread getting together with their own family because of past hurts. 

How sad that truly is! God’s plan for family is to love each other unconditionally like He loves us. When there has been hurtful things happen, as Christians, we must be willing to forgive and leave it in the past where it belongs. 

Then we must patiently work together to rebuild the “ancient ruins”. Many may choose to hold grudges for years, refusing to let go of the bitterness and pain. But in so doing, we are choosing to take a daily dose of poison and hope the other person is doing all the suffering. 

 It’s sad that we choose to punish people for their mistakes and hold a grudge, especially when we celebrate the true reason for Christmas which is Jesus, the greatest forgiver of all times! This Christmas, if you have a family member that you need to forgive, you can choose to make an effort to emulate Jesus, to forgive and forget and learn to love again! ❤️‍🩹 

 Love always wins over bitterness and anger! It always triumphs and soothes a hurting heart. As a born again Christian, I pray that this Christmas we will boldly stand for Jesus, and yet humbly follow His pattern of love and forgive those whom we need to forgive. His love never fails and we want to live out that agape kind of love that doesn’t put conditions on our love. 

We love because He loves us! This Christmas, instead of choosing the bondage that bitterness and unforgiveness brings, I pray that we will all choose the freedom that true, godly forgiveness brings. I pray we can act like the One Who designed the family, and reflect His image to a hurting world. 

Only the Lord knows what a difference it can make in how we feel this Christmas. Today the Lord helped me see that I can not only walk in love and forgiveness toward any family members who have hurt me, but I can be free to be the me He created me to be as I stand with Him through it all! 

 May you and your family be so blessed with these loving attributes of God this Christmas - the gifts that keep right on giving all year long! 

 Feel free to share this message with anyone you like. It is a private blog and any replies will not be shared with others. Let us know how we can pray for you! Love and Christmas blessings! 

 Denny and Hanny Stearns Fish n Loaves Ministries, Inc.

Jesus is Calling

 Sunday Message Dec 3 

 “Jesus Calling” 

 “And He said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature.” ‭‭Mark‬ ‭16‬:‭15‬ ‭NKJV‬‬ 

 It’s the time of year when people are out shopping and preparing for parties and the coming celebration on Christmas day. As a Christian, we are to be ever sensitive to the command Jesus gave us in Mark 16 telling us to go into all the world to preach the gospel.  

What does that mean if we don’t believe we are called to travel the world? Well, let me tell you about an experience I had with a young man who served lunch to my husband and I earlier this week. 

 We had just come from an appointment where we enrolled a lovely lady in a Medicare plan for next year. She had expressed a need for prayer over some things that had been troubling her. We were thrilled that Holy Spirit would use us to pray with and for her. We had a lovely time with her. We left feeling so blessed to be used to help her. 

 We decided to go to lunch and ended up at an unplanned restaurant. A very nice young man came to serve us. He was probably early twenties at best and was very personable and friendly. I looked at him and said, “You’re so nice you must know Jesus!” He replied, “I know about Him.” 

Then I asked him if he wanted to know more. He smiled and told me that a lot of people have been talking to him about Jesus lately. I asked him, “Do you know why that’s happening?” He said, “no, why?” 

Then I explained that the Lord is drawing him. I told him about many others who I have spoken to where that was happening. After talking a few more moments, we placed our order and had our meal. 

 When we were leaving, I gave the waiter our ministry business card. The next thing I knew, Holy Spirit was all over me as I began to explain the times we are living in and how important it is for a revival in the church and for people to hear the gospel. 

 I told him that God wanted to use him to go preach the gospel in all the world and how right there where he is at is his world. It’s where he would be used. I explained about heaven and hell and how Jesus told us about the days we are living in. 

The young man was captivated and said he would check it out! He seemed very excited and interested. I got in the car and we drove to yet another wonderful appointment while we marveled at what God had just done! It was another “Annabel” moment. I wrote about her in an earlier blog. 

 How about you? Are you looking for those opportunities to preach the gospel to a revival ready world? Please remember that there will be some who won’t want to hear it, but for those who are out there with their spiritual hearts ready to receive, we must be there ready to open our hearts and mouths to be used! 

 I was so excited to share this experience with you all today! There are now about 100 people getting this blog, not including the one’s on our official blog site who are reading it around the world! My friends, God is on the move in a big way calling many into His kingdom! 

Will you be a vessel He can use? If so, get busy because Jesus is calling and He’s coming back soon! Church get ready!

 I pray the Lord will lead you and make your tongue the pen of a ready writer now and in the days to come. 

 Please feel free to share my number with others. This is a private text so you may reply if you like and no one else will see it. Love in Christ! Denny and Hanny Stearns