Wednesday, December 22, 2021

Merry Christmas


YouTube video: Joy to the World Instrumental 
and Brief Message




But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. For behold, I bring you good news of great joy, which will be for all people: Today in the town of David, a Savior was born for you. He is Christ the Lord.” Luke 2:10-11 

One of the things you notice in the Christmas narrative is that every time an angel appears the first message is: “Do not be afraid.” 

We often do have many things in life that can make us afraid; however, Jesus said He has a type of peace for us “that passes all understanding.” Having that peace permeate into our inner being often comes with an understanding of the rest of the angelic message. 

The coming of Christ is Good News: For the Savior, Jesus Christ the Messiah, sent from Heaven, will take on and pay for our sin. Thus, those who receive and believe upon Him, no longer need to carry the weight of guilt and shame from our fallen condition. Christ came to ransom us from sin, once for all. 
 
Human beings are constantly searching for some way to have peace, looking in so many empty places. Christ, however, says that He will give us this peace, peace that passes all understanding. The apostle Paul in the Book of Romans Chapter 5 says that we now have peace with God, having been justified by His grace through faith. 
 
Having believed and received eternal life, the Lord seeks to continue working into our innermost being “a peace that passes all understanding.” Paul goes on to say this happens as we let the Holy Spirit fill us even to overflowing (Romans 15:13). 

The Holy Spirit is the true Spirit of Christmas as we see in the Christmas narrative. By letting the Holy Spirit fill us to overflowing, remembering that peace is a fruit of the Holy Spirit, we can have that peace “that passes all understanding” even in the midst of this crazy fallen world and all its problems. 

Praise God, the Lord gives us Good News of great joy and an everlasting peace! 

Merry Christmas and may God’s richest blessings be with you in the New Year! 
Bryan, Mercedes and Patrick Marleaux www.graceworldmission.org

Friday, December 3, 2021

Ministry Update: Fall/Winter 2021

Praise God! Jesus said: “I have come that they may have life and that more abundantly.” John 10:10. We are thankful for the life eternal and abundant Christ has given us and that He gives us opportunity to share it with others.

 

We have been ministering down in the Southern border region recently, where we preached at a meeting at Iglesia Antioquia which is a church where we have old friends and one that we have been connected to for many years. In fact, in the past we spent 7 years there teaching and preaching and helping out on a monthly basis. We preached on how Christ has paid the full price for our sins on the cross, as well as the righteousness that He credits to us by faith along with the grace we are given in Christ. As we prayed over the congregation the power of the Holy Spirit filled and renewed those we prayed for, giving a deeper revelation and understanding of Christ’s sacrifice for us. It is amazing how the Holy Spirit brings a deepening of the revelation of the cross, and it is always refreshing when His presence moves among us.

 

We got to share some Holy Ghost Stories as well as some Revival History and perform some Worship and Revival Songs together on The Art of Worship podcast with Cheryl Deborah Thomas on the Holy Spirit Broadcasting Network in OC, which appears on numerous platforms, channels, and formats. It was a blessed time of sharing together on a couple of different programs with Mercedes, Cheryl, and myself, as we spoke and sang. 

 

As we approached the 504th anniversary of the Reformation at the end of October, we also shared on a Zoom prayer meeting, telling about Martin Luther and how the grace of Christ touched his life in such a deep way that it eventually reverberated out through Europe and then to other nations. This year is also the 410th anniversary of the publication of the King James Bible. We share about the connection between the Reformation and the King James publication in our latest video and blog which you can check out here: https://youtu.be/SVny9ov569E

 

We have also shared at Calvary Chapel in San Clemente a couple of times recently on the work and power of the Holy Spirit, in and for evangelism, and the need for the Holy Spirit to empower us to reach people with the Gospel, something the Jesus People Revival was all about. We prayed for the group of people there at the end of one of the meetings. The Lord gave me a word as we were praying for people and the Holy Spirit then fell in power as I shared it! A young woman got touched powerfully and began crying as I shared the word and the Spirit filled her and then others started getting touched and filled with the Holy Spirit, in the end everyone there got touched and ministered to, hallelujah!!

 

Outreaches 

 

We also joined up with that particular young lady who got touched at CCSC and we prayed for, going out on the weekend to do an outreach at the beach in South OC. We shared the Gospel and planted seeds with many others, as well as prayed for different people on the beach. This included a Hispanic woman who we had a divine appointment with who was deeply touched when we prayed for her right there on the beach and who then wrote us a very nice note afterwards sharing how deeply ministered to she was! We also ministered to a young Marine. I was able to share with him and also counsel and pray for him to help him move forward in his walk with God.

 

In fact, we have been participating in some other outreaches along the Coast in different areas recently as well. 

 

One of the other outreaches was down in San Diego, where we had a divine appointment with a woman we met and prayed for who got ministered to powerfully, as well as running into an old friend. We joined together and prayed for these guys and ministered to them, which included our son Patrick who was at the outreach too with a friend. The Holy Spirit swept in and fell in power, knocking a number of those we were praying with to the ground, and deeply and powerfully impacted them with Christ’s love, power, and glory, hallelujah!

 

We shared about Lonnie Frisbee and the Jesus People Revival at an outreach at Pirate’s Cove in Corona Del Mar, telling about the large baptisms that used to take place there. Lonnie was used to lead others not only water baptism, but also the baptism of the Holy Spirit. We also shared and prayed for numerous people there who we met and who were impacted by the Holy Spirit when we ministered to them!

 

More Divine Appointments…

 

We also had a divine appointment with a Hispanic lady at a coffee shop. The Lord gave me a word for her about her needing prayer when I talked with her. 

 

She asked us to wait a few minutes until she was done working to pray for her. In the meantime, a lot of spiritual warfare started happening when the manager, out of the blue, started acting rude and hostile to us. We knew it was spiritual warfare and just ignored it. We waited until she was finished, and then and then began to pray for her with some friends, who we have been ministering together with at their house church,and the Lord touched her very, very powerfully. She was a believer going through many trials and the Lord ministered to her deeply, with many tears coming down as the Holy Spirit filled her up! Glory Hallelujah!!

The Lord has been leading us into many other divine appointments as well. 

 

We went up the Northern Coast of the Pacific for a family wedding where Mercedes’ nephew was getting married. On the way up, we stopped to camp along the coast, where we encountered some hippie guys who lived there at the camp, and we ended up spending some time sharing the Gospel with them and planting the seeds of the Kingdom of God in their hearts. 

 

It is important to note that a significant part of the evangelistic process is planting seeds. A person who we led to the Lord recently had someone else sowing the seeds of the Kingdom in their life, which we got to harvest in leading them to Christ. As Jesus said‘One sows the seed, and another reaps the harvest…’ John 4:37.

 

We also had some divine appointments at the wedding. I met a well-known Christian author who I connected with and prayed for, and he began sharing some of his own private Holy Spirit encounter stories with me when he found out I was Spirt-filled, which led him to open up to me (he is not publicly known as Charismatic but has been having some Charismatic experiences). We also prayed for one of the cooks there at the wedding as well as witnessing to some other people we met while having a few adventures along the way!

 

We also had a Holy Ghost rendezvous on the way home with our old friend Dave from up north. We met together up north while we were traveling and experienced some refreshing waves of living water as we shared and prayed together. 

We have also been ministering in some small group settings where we have experienced the Lord ministering powerfully in healing and mercy by the power of the Holy Spirit. 

 

We thank you so much for your prayers and support which helps keep us out there ministering the Kingdom of God and the love of Christ to others. 



Blessings to you!

Bryan and Mercedes Marleaux