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Welcome HomeThine is the Kingdom, and the Power, and the Glory Forever - 7 May 2023Part 9 of the Lord's Prayer Series
We acknowledge God’s kingdom. Jesus is bringing God’s kingdom here on earth. To that kingdom, we give our pledge and allegiance. We pray, “May your rule and reign come in my life, in the lives of your people.” Thine is the kingdom.
We acknowledge God’s power. God is the power by which all things exist. God spoke, and things came into being. Jesus also promised that the Holy Spirit would give us power. He said that if we believe, we will be able to do the same works that Je...2023-05-0823 minWelcome HomeDeliver Us from Evil - 30 April 2023
Part 8 in The Lord's Prayer Series
What is evil? Is it violence? Is it hate? When you hear the word “evil” what comes to your mind? As you pray this prayer every week, what are you asking God to deliver you from? Are you asking God to keep you safe? Are you asking not to be controlled by evil? Are you asking not to be tempted by it? What
does it mean to be asking God to deliver you from evil?
2023-05-0121 minWelcome HomeLead Us Not into Temptation - 23 April 2023Part 7 in the Lord's Prayer Series
First, when you face temptation that is anything other than God, recall your values and do your best to stick to them. Second, note that the focus of this petition in the Lord’s prayer is to ask God to lead us as opposed to leading ourselves.
Finally, recognize that we will never escape the existence of temptation on this earth. No matter how faithful you are, you will always be tempted. Some may say that you are tempted more when you become more faithful because the Devil knows you a...2023-04-2328 minWelcome HomeForgive Us Our Debts as We Forgive Our Debtors - 16 April 2023
Part 6 of The Lord's Prayer Series
First, notice how Jesus comes to us even when we lock our doors. There is no door that can keep Jesus from
reaching us. We may give up on God or on ourselves at times, but Jesus will never give up on us. He just invites us into a deeper relationship. Second, Jesus wants us to believe in a brighter future, for God’s kingdom, for the church, for ourselves, and for others. We need to believe in that future in order to be a part of making that fu...2023-04-1627 minWelcome HomeGive Us This Day our Daily Bread - 9 April 2023Part 5 in The Lord's Prayer Series2023-04-0920 minWelcome HomeThy Will Be Done - 2 April 2023Part 4 of The Lord's Prayer Series
If everything happened by the will of God, there would be no need for Jesus to come as a Savoir from our sin! The fact that not everything that happens is the will of God should be fairly easy to accept. Do you think that everything you do is what God wants you to do? Even Paul said to his readers, “I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do, I do not do, but what I hate, I do” (Romans 7:15). We also do not do wh...2023-04-0225 minWelcome HomeThy Kingdom Come - 26 March 2023Part 3 of The Lord's Prayer Series
What are you asking for when you are asking for God’s kingdom to come? “Our prayer is not simply for the end of history as we know it, but that we might experience a taste of these things here and now. And not only that we will experience a foretaste of the final kingdom, but that we might be a part of bringing that kingdom near” (Hamilton, 37). Whether you are a wolf or a lamb, what can you do to lie down with your neighbor? What can you do to promote a peaceful w...2023-03-2624 minWelcome HomeHallowed Be Thy Name - 19 March 2023Part 2 of the Lord's Prayer Series
How do we protect God’s name? What does God expect us to do? First, we control our
actions. We are obedient to God when we listen, and we act according to the way Jesus taught: “We hallow God’s name by living in a way that reflects God’s goodness, majesty, beauty, and love” (Hamilton, 18). When we praise God, we hallow God’s name. All of creation is meant to praise God, and therefore hallow God’s name. How well are humans doing in their part?
And the second way...2023-03-1929 minWelcome HomeOur Father Who Art in Heaven - 12 March 2023Part 1 in The Lord's Prayer Series
Remember that no one of us ever becomes so faithful, so bold in our discipleship, that we become experts in being Christian. We need to humble ourselves and come to the one who can help us. Even if you have been Christian for fifty, sixty, seventy years, you still have your faith challenged. Even after following Jesus, Thomas still had to put his hands in the holes in Jesus’ side before he would believe in the Resurrection. It is difficult for those of us who have not seen, and ye...2023-03-1216 minWelcome HomeEncounters - 19 February 2023
We read plenty of encounters with God in the Bible. Sometimes we may ask ourselves why we do not
have encounters like those in the Bible did. However, just as each encounter with God in the Bible is a bit
different, so should our encounters be. Hear this from Exodus: “The Lord said to Moses, ‘Come up to me on the
mountain, and wait there, and I will give you the tablets of stone…’ Then Moses went up on the mountain, and the cloud covered the mountain. The glory of the Lord settled on Mount Sinai, and the clou...2023-02-1923 minWelcome HomeKeep Your Eye on the Ball - 12 February 2023Reaffirmation of Baptism - Part 4 of Sermon Series
I read these six baseball lessons this week, which Pastor Craig Groeschel learned from his father. I want to share them with you.
1. Keep your eye on the ball.
2. You can’t win with a bad attitude.
3. You never score runs staying on first base.
4. Always run through the bag.
5. Don’t ever go down taking strike three.
6. You win by moving one runner at a time.2023-02-1218 minWelcome HomeWhy Are You Here? - 5 February 2023Reaffirmation of Baptism - Part 3 of Sermon Series
I have three challenges for you to take from today: First, recommit your presence. When you were baptized, you promised that you would offer your time to grow in your faith and to be a faithful member of the church. Recommit to those goals; I hope that no one just comes to church and goes home unchanged. We are meant to be changed. We are meant to grow. Second, think about what is rich in your church experience. Take a moment to write it down in the space in...2023-02-0524 minWelcome HomeMy Breath Prayer - 29 January 2023Reaffirmation of Baptism - Part 2 of Sermon Series
In your bulletin you will find a space for a breath prayer. Please take a few moments. What sentence will remind you to refocus on God? What sentence will remind you to refocus on God as a commitment to your baptismal vow to serve God and continue to get to know God better? Remember that in this season of Epiphany, we are in a four part series to remind ourselves to reaffirm our baptisms. We reaffirm our baptism and our commitment to God through prayer, through presence, and through servi...2023-01-2925 minWelcome HomeA Public God? - 22 January 2023Reaffirmation of Baptism - Part 1 of Sermon Series
Does public prayer need to be a more common practice in society?
How can we promote the public presence of God in our community?
Is trusting God hard when we cannot see as far as He can?2023-01-2223 minWelcome HomeA Year of Trust - 1 January 2023At the start of this year, I challenge you to these tasks: First, spread love. The world needs love. In order to trust in a God that is good and promises good things, the world needs to be able to believe that love still exists. When we spread love to our neighbor, we help promote the goodness of God. And in turn, we will help others trust in the goodness of God a bit more. This leads us into our second task: Trust God. As Christians, we need to trust God. Trusting God is how we find hope in...2023-01-0122 minWelcome HomeEmmanuel - 18 December 2022In the gospel today, we read about the angel appearing to Joseph, telling him that he should go forward with Mary and trust God. The angel confirms everything that Mary had said. The child is to be named Jesus because he saves. They shall call him Emmanuel because God is with us. He is the Messiah, the chosen one. This is more than love shared from person to person. This is love from God. God loves the people so much that He wants to be with them. He does not want them to succumb to their sins. He wants...2022-12-1820 minWelcome HomeA Visit from God - 11 December 2022Part 3 of The Visitor Series
Life is not measured by time. Life is measured by moments. We can experience joy in the desert because God is sending a message to us. God tells us that this is not the only way, and this is not the final end. The angel told Mary that nothing will be impossible with God.2022-12-1122 minWelcome HomeHe is Coming Like it Or Not - 4 December 2022Part 2 of The Visitor Series
When John the Baptist challenged the people with the coming of the Messiah, he called them to repent. That is, he called them to turn away from their comfortable life. He called them to make a change. This may mean that you have to do something outside your comfort zone. If you have to repent from a wrongdoing – if that has been holding you back from God – do so; if you have to take a bold step that you may have been afraid to take, try that. For some, it may be gett...2022-12-0421 minWelcome HomeThe Unexpected Visit - 27 November 2022Part 1 of The Visitor Series
When we begin to see other people in our lives as opportunities to minister, and not distractions to our schedules, we are beginning to love more like God. Does God set times with us, or make us make an appointment? Did Jesus refuse to tend to those who tugged on his robes, when he was on the way to see someone else? We are often God’s unexpected visitor, and God loves it. God loves it when we make time for God, and God loves it even more so when we make ti...2022-11-2721 minWelcome HomeHold Together - 20 November 2022Part 4 of our Be the Church series
As we celebrate Thanksgiving this week, we can also be unified in what we are thankful for. Many families having different political views will be brought together around one table, not separated by their differences but united by their similarities. We are each unique and we are each meant to be unique. We are going to have different opinions than other people. We are even going to interpret the same words differently than another person. We could separate on behalf of those differences if we are looking for a reason...2022-11-2022 minWelcome HomeMore than Loving Jesus - 13 November 2022Part 3 of our Be the Church series
When you love something, you stick with it. You do not abandon it. Whether it be food or whether it be hope through Christ, as Christians, we are called to hold on. We try to trust and believe in the new Creation that God has promised us. God has given us plenty of reasons to hope, and plenty of ways to hope. But we cannot grow in our hope and faith effectively if we keep to ourselves. We do not learn the same way and we do not learn as...2022-11-1321 minWelcome HomeIt Takes All of Us - 6 November 2022Part 2 of our Be the Church series
Did you know that Jesus often prayed for his disciples? In John 17:21, Jesus prayed, “I pray that they will be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. I pray that they also will be in us, so that the world will believe that you sent me.” Jesus prays for all of us to be one. What does it mean for all of us to be one? Are we one body? We are one body in Christ. Are we one people? We are one people beca...2022-11-0618 minWelcome HomeBe the Church: Sinners - 30 October 2022Part 1 in our Be the Church series
Seek the Lord, as Zacchaeus sought the Lord. He could not see the Lord because of the crowds, so he ran ahead and climbed a tree so that he might be able to view him. Luke 19:4 tells us, “So he ran ahead and climbed a sycamore tree to see him, because he was going to pass that way.” Jesus probably saw him because of the earnest way that he was seeking. He probably saw the joy on his face when he was able to catch a glimpse of Jesus. Maybe this...2022-10-3126 minWelcome HomePersistent Prayer - 23 October 2022Part 5 in our Deeper Toward God Series
Lord, I prayed for many to be healed, and they did not. Lord, I prayed for you to fix this situation, and it did not happen. For what reason should I go on praying? If nothing else, he says, it gives us a means to be with God. It gives us an opportunity to share our grievances face to face, if that is what we want. And secondly, it gives us an opportunity to love someone else through our prayer and be more deeply connected to them. Prayer is an...2022-10-2422 minWelcome HomeSeek the Welfare - 9 October 2022Part 4 in our "Deeper Toward God" Series
This is the question that we must ask ourselves: How can we faithfully live in our current circumstance? We can find faith in any circumstance. We can lead by hope whatever we may face. We may do God’s work in whatever circumstance we find ourselves in.
When we convince ourselves that God is right beside us all the time, we convince ourselves that we have consistent and easy access to God. Many of us Christians put God in a box far way and believe that we need pr...2022-10-1026 minWelcome HomeIs That You? - 2 October 2022Part 3 in our "Deeper Toward God" Series
Who here has ever wondered if you are hearing God? [raise hands?] We might liken the idea to hearing someone walk in the door at home, when we ask, “Is that you?” to confirm that it is really who we think it is and not someone else we might not be expecting. If you have ever asked that question, “Is that you?” when you are talking to a person, have you ever thought about using it with God? When have you stopped what you are doing and said, “God, is that your...2022-10-0328 minWelcome HomeAgents of Love - 25 September 2022Part 2 in our "Deeper Toward God" Series
We are called to lessen the chasm between the known rich and the known poor. We may not think of ourselves as rich, but we are significantly richer than much of the world. And Jesus does not paint the picture of the rich man being rude or evil. Jesus paints the picture, in Luke 16:19-31, of a rich man who simply does not see the poor person at his gate.
First, do not be content to live merely in your own secluded and privileged world; get out there...2022-10-0317 minWelcome HomeMore Joy in Heaven - 11 September 2022Part 1 in our "Deeper Toward God" Series
Queen Elizabeth II: "When life seems hard, the courageous do not lie down and accept defeat; instead, they are all the more determined to struggle for a better future."
Remember that the Lord is looking for people who make an effort to seek God! BE one of those people.
Heaven is rejoicing when you seek God.
Psalm 14:2 The LORD looks down from heaven on humankind to see if there are any who are wise, who seek after God.2022-09-1121 minWelcome HomeThe Five Types of Prayer - Lament - 4 September 2022Part 5 in our The Five Types of Prayer Series
First, know that God can use the scraps and repurpose anything for God’s purposes. God promises to make all things new. And second, you need to show God trust for God to work out those new things in you. If we cannot trust God, what we should be lamenting is not the wasted scraps and the mess-ups, but the fact that we have a broken relationship with God.
Remember that God can repurpose anything to make something new. That includes your prayer life and your re...2022-09-0419 minWelcome HomeThe Five Types of Prayer - Supplication - 28 August 2022Part 4 in our The Five Types of Prayer Series
Our requests should not be for we ourselves to store up excess so that we may feel secure. Our security should not be in excess, but instead in the provisions of God. If we know that our God is with us, how can we be afraid?
A lack of joy and hope, and a presence of discouragement, plagues many of us today. It is a plague because it keeps us from God. The encouragement we find in turning to one of the main purposes of the...2022-08-2920 minWelcome HomeThe Five Types of Prayer - Thanksgiving - 21 August 2022Part 3 in our The Five Types of Prayer Series
We should be giving thanksgiving to God at all times, but four specific times that we should particularly pay attention to it is when something big happens, when you are in the face of the unknown, when you are lamenting, or complaining, and when you do not feel like praying.
This week, your challenge is to pray a prayer of thanksgiving. Even if you do not feel like it, try it. Attempt to do it anyway. Thank God for waking you up this morning. Thank God...2022-08-2322 minWelcome HomeThe Five Types of Prayer - Confession - 14 August 2022Part 2 in our The Five Types of Prayer Series
When we persevere through every trial and every struggle that we face, we are pressing on through whatever lies before us toward a greater kingdom of God. First, confess in a private space. Second, be humble. Third, ask for forgiveness. Fourth, ask what should be done next. Fifth, do not make the same mistake twice. Sixth, explain to God if you need to. And seventh, accept the consequences. But we know that when we do follow these steps and approach God with all of these things in mind...2022-08-1419 minWelcome HomeThe Five Types of Prayer - Adoration - 7 August 2022Part 1 in our The Five Types of Prayer Series
As I write, I love to play praise music in the background. I also love to play it as I drive. Every moment of our lives is another moment that we can spend loving and praising the Lord. Adoration is the most important form of prayer. If you have remembered that your most important conversation is prayer, remember that the most important type of prayer is adoration. Adoration gives us the confidence in a good God that we need to faithfully ask for our supplications. It helps us...2022-08-0720 minWelcome HomeRevive us Again! - 24 July 2022Part 8 in our Introduction to Prayer Series
When Christ was born in Bethlehem, the fortunes of Judah were restored. Christ was the Savior and Messiah, and many trusted in Him. Today, we are also called to trust in Him. But where we cannot access Jesus physically, we have other means. We have scripture. And we also have prayer. If you have been struggling with your connection with God, whether it is hearing God, listening to God, experiencing God, talking to God, or all of the above, it all begins with prayer. We recognize why we pray, we...2022-07-2436 minWelcome HomeGrant us Listening Ears - 17 July 2022Part 7 in our Introduction to Prayer Series
In the movie, Do You Believe?, a man stops a car with a gun and asks the driver if he is ready to die. He was taken aback when the driver answered, “Yes,” and proceeded to explain that he was deeply connected to God, that he trusted God in all things, and felt he was ready because he lived each day for God. We should be prepared to meet our God every day. Our response to Amos’ plea, “Prepare to meet thy God!” can be, “I am already prepared! But I will pray...2022-07-1718 minWelcome HomeGrant us Wisdom, Grant us Courage - 10 July 2022Part 6 in our Introduction to Prayer Series
If we want to pray in the right mindset, and truly feel rewarded in prayer, we need to pray with confidence. And we pray in confidence by asking for God’s help in deepening that confidence. It will not come just by going to church and asking others what God said. It comes in seeking God yourself. It comes in talking with God yourself. It comes with knowing God and building a relationship with God. As we do so, we praise God and give God all the glory, with every bi...2022-07-1024 min
Welcome HomeAm I Doing This Right? - 3 July 2022Part 5 in our Introduction to Prayer Series
The three keys to prayer that she mentions in her second chapter are humility, confession, and faith.
Humility means that we should make more room for God and less room for ourselves. I still remember the prayer that one of my seminary professors would pray before every class: “Lord, help me to diminish so that you may increase.”
I like to think of the following question when wondering if I need to confess something as a sin: Is this thing interfering with my relationship with God? We ne...2022-07-0425 minWelcome HomeNavigating the Plow - 26 June 2022Part 4 in our Introduction to Prayer Series
This is our first challenge for ourselves for today. How can we stop thinking about how unlucky or how undeserving we are, and start thinking about how to equip ourselves for work in God’s kingdom? Yes, you are worthy. You are worthy to know God. You are worthy to work for God, no matter what you might say to yourself. What steps can you take to give yourself the tools that you need to do ministry? Do you need an understanding mind? (1 Kings 3) Ask it. Do you need a do...2022-06-2625 minWelcome HomeSheer Silence - 19 June 2022Part 3 in our Introduction to Prayer Series
Challenge yourself to listen for God in a way that you may not be expecting. That is, know that God speaks in quieter ways many times. Do not refuse something good simply because you cannot be sure it is from God. Next, remember to tell your story so that yours may help another as those before you have told their stories to help you.
We will continue to be frustrated with things that will sometimes cause us to be downtrodden. And we realize that frustration is never completely...2022-06-1921 minWelcome HomePrayer Demons - 12 June 2022Part 2 in our Introduction to Prayer Series
Today, we are going to cover a few reasons why we do not pray. They are not reasons not to pray, but they are reasons that keep us from it. Perhaps they sound like excuses, but they are really tools that the Devil uses to make you think that you cannot pray. He wants to use every possible tool to prevent you from forming a close relationship with God.
The first reason why we often do not pray is because we do not think that our prayer can...2022-06-1224 minWelcome HomeGreater Works - 5 June 2022Part 1 in our Introduction to Prayer Series
John 14:12 tells us that we can do greater works than Jesus: In the words of Jesus, “Very truly I tell you, the one who believes in me will also do the works that I do and, in fact, will do greater works than these.” Wow. If we work on becoming consistent in our prayer, and believe in the power of God and the difference that God still makes in this world, we can do bigger things than Jesus did. I believe that this is one of the most spectacular verses in t...2022-06-0527 minWelcome HomeTender Loving Care - 29 May 2022Part 7 of the "Alleluia: Believing the Risen Lord" Sermon Series
Return to this question that we asked earlier: How can a person grow toward God during their lifetime on earth? A similar and just as important question: How can I grow toward God during my lifetime on earth? We should always be focused on growing toward God just as a plant grows toward the sunlight. When I offer tender loving care to a cat, for example, that cat tends to grow closer and closer to me. If I do not pay much attention to it, the opposite...2022-05-2931 minWelcome HomePraise You in This Storm - 22 May 2022Part 6 of the "Alleluia: Believing the Risen Lord" Sermon Series
Praise God. Make requests of God. USE the Advocate by having a teachable spirit. Just as the disciples were encouraged when they were told, “Do not let your hearts be troubled,” may you also come to believe. May you also come to expect that because your face is turned toward God, God’s face will indeed shine upon you, and you will have your small role in making God’s way known throughout the earth. The call to be a Christian is not to give in to the pain...2022-05-2225 minWelcome HomeLoving in the Valley - 15 May 2022Part 5 of the "Alleluia: Believing the Risen Lord" Sermon Series
Love is an act of praise. To our graduates, who have graduated from a school or maybe just from a school of thought, ready to come to God with a new attitude or new opportunity, this is your message and challenge: Love one another. Make no distinction between people. Commit to live like the Lord and you will be successful. You will be made new. When you find yourself in the valley, find a way to trust. Find a way to praise. Find a way to love...2022-05-1531 minWelcome HomeServing in the Valley - 8 May 2022Part 4 of the "Alleluia: Believing the Risen Lord" Sermon Series
We are becoming more spiritually healthy by accepting these truths in the midst of recognizing weaknesses. Even in the darkest valley, when we are surrounded by enemies, we have a table prepared for us in the midst of them. We know that we are protected from them by our Lord. We know that when we are exhausted from what life throws at us, we are refreshed by being led along still waters. We may not believe that goodness and mercy truly follow us every day of our...2022-05-0827 minWelcome HomeSticking Together - 1 May 2022Part 3 of the "Alleluia: Believing the Risen Lord" Sermon Series
Maybe God does not cause or want to allow any suffering. In the book of Job, we are told about God wrestling with a Leviathan, which is a big beast (Job 41). Although God is ultimately the victor, God does not win easily. The same is the case here. God will be the ultimate victor, but Satan puts up a good fight. God has wins and losses; those wins are the little miracles that we celebrate, but the losses are those where God grieves with us. God is...2022-05-0120 minWelcome HomeWe Have Seen the Lord! - 24 April 2022Part 2 of the "Alleluia: Believing the Risen Lord" Sermon Series
The early disciples are our model for good Christian living. The text of the Bible is crucial for this as well. We can feel comforted about the doubts that we read which they felt, and we can also feel encouraged by the work they are able to do to surpass those feelings and fears. If the disciples are able to surpass those feelings and fears even amid their doubts, that must mean that wecan surpass those feelings and fears just as they did. As we read in...2022-04-2426 minWelcome HomeAlleluia - 17 April 2022Part 1 of the "Alleluia: Believing the Risen Lord" Sermon Series
I have two challenges for you this Easter and this Easter season. First, come to God as you are. Bring to God whatever you are thinking, whatever you are ashamed of, and whoever you are now. All that God cares about is the direction you are facing; whether you are turned away from or towards God. God does not care how far or how close you are. After you resolve both to face God and to be honest with God, your next challenge is this: Believe God. T...2022-04-1721 minWelcome HomeEmbraced - 10 April 2022Part 6 of the "Embracing Christ" Sermon Series
In the three acts of embracing, then, you have your three challenges this week: Show commitment, trust, and affirmation toward God, and also toward one another. And while you do this, remember to continue forward with your attitude of gratitude and all the rest you have taken with you from this journey. May you proclaim the words as the prophet Isaiah did: “I did not hide my face from insult and spitting. The Lord God helps me; therefore I have not been disgraced” (Isaiah 50:6-7). Jesus did not hide his face...2022-04-1026 minWelcome HomeAn Attitude of Gratitude - 3 April 2022Part 5 of the "Embracing Christ" Sermon Series
Remember, as you practice your attitude of gratitude, that the promise is eternity. It is not a life free of suffering right now. Too many people turn away from God because they expect life to be free from suffering. They say, “If I am a Christian, God will bless me.” Jesus did not promise this; he only promised a life of eternity in Heaven. Do not let the little things that go wrong – nor the big things - steer you away from this path again. Stand your ground. Make gratitude a regu...2022-04-0326 minWelcome HomeWelcome Home - 27 March 2022Part 4 of the "Embracing Christ" Sermon Series
Today's theme is forgiveness. How do we capture God's desire for the people of the world and make it our own desire as well?
So far this Lent we have touched on three themes. First, remember what God has done for you. Remember the moments where God has met you, in trials, in joys, and in your fears. But when you do find yourself slipping, and you find yourself afraid, we come to the need for our second theme. Repent of your fears so that you can again p...2022-03-2727 minWelcome HomeThe Shadow - 20 March 2022Part 3 of the "Embracing Christ" Sermon Series
How do we accept each other? Take on God's way of accepting others, just as God accepts you.2022-03-2027 minWelcome HomeStronghold - 13 March 2022Part 2 of the "Embracing Christ" Sermon Series
Today, consider repentance. When the world attacks our sense of hope, how do we respond? How do we know to come back to God when our hope strays?2022-03-1324 minWelcome HomeAn Opportune Time - 6 March 2022Part 1 of the "Embracing Christ" Sermon Series
Over the coming weeks, we will review other ways to stay true to God. Your challenge this week is to start with remembrance. Remember what God has done. What has God blessed you with?2022-03-0624 minWelcome HomeMountaintop - 27 February 2022Part 6 of the "Finding Hope in God" Sermon Series
My first challenge for you this week is to find your mountaintop. If you have not or will not share it with someone else today, give it some more thought when you get home. If you do not do this step, you are like a car without wheels. It may look pretty. The engine probably even works. But you are going nowhere. God cannot use you to the fullest extent that God wants to use you. You can keep someone warm inside the car. You can play the...2022-02-2735 minWelcome HomeThe Golden Rule - 20 February 2022Part 5 of the "Finding Hope in God" Sermon Series
We should forgive because we would want others to do the same unto us. Further, our eternity depends on it, and it removes the vices of anger and malice from our heart that take up room from other God-given attributes. But how can you forgive someone who has hurt you quite a bit?
I have a challenge for you: Think of someone - just one person to start - who you need to forgive. Then, work on giving them forgiveness. Decide to be Christ-like. Picture yourself bein...2022-02-2122 minWelcome HomeDelight - 13 February 2022Part 4 of the "Finding Hope in God" Sermon Series
If there is one thing you remember from this message, remember your search for delight. Do things that delight you to take care of yourself. Also delight in God as you do ministry, for we are all ministers of Christ’s church. Remember that when you spend time making a disciple, you are spending that time with God. If you enjoy it, you are delighting in God. I have two challenges for you to take with you this week. First, pray about who you can take under your wi...2022-02-1323 minWelcome HomeGlory - 6 February 2022Part 3 of the "Finding Hope in God" Sermon Series
We can find hope by giving God glory. When Jesus returned to the disciples, and especially to Peter, Peter responded, “My Lord and my God!” He praised the name of the Lord when he realized that the hope he had in Jesus had not died with the crucifixion. We glorify God because it gives us something to hope in. We glorify God because God deserves it. God sends us, enables us, saves us, and amazes us. We respond by praising, praying, listening, and sharing.2022-02-0621 minWelcome HomeFaithfulness - 30 January 2022Part 2 of the "Finding Hope in God" Sermon Series
Jesus did not let the reaction of one group of people halt his entire ministry. He knew that things would be difficult, but that he must do what God had called him to anyway. He did not retreat and do nothing. He did not let fear of retaliation, disapproval, or even fear for his life stop him from following his path as ordained by God. Like him, we cannot let that get in our way either. If it gets in our way, it is getting in God’s wa...2022-01-3028 minWelcome HomeThe Book - 23 January 2022Part 1 of the "Finding Hope in God" Sermon Series
We need to have a strong foundation. So, when you read Scripture, ask about what you do not understand. You may have heard this before, but there is no such thing as a dumb question. Ask. Ask God. Ask a friend. Ask the pastor. Ask whoever you want. But do ask when you do not understand. Further, try to hear the words of the Lord in awe and reverence, just as the Jews held their scared scripture in faithful awe and reverence toward God. And finally, do not...2022-01-2327 minWelcome HomeVindication - 16 January 2022If you are having trouble seeing and feeling God, God is your vindication. God is your way to turn your attitude around. Depression is just a downward spiral that goes deeper and deeper until you feel that there is no way out. This is the battle that Satan wages; it is a victory for him to get a Bible believer to give up on God. This is what he tries to do all along. Do not let him get this victory. Let people of the church journey with you and support you and love you. And for those who...2022-01-1627 minWelcome HomeListening - 9 January 2022In any relationship, you know that you have to give time to it to make it work. The extent to which you value your relationship to God is told in the amount of time that you spend seeking God. Do you spend time in your devotions? Do you spend time worshipping God? Do you spend time praying? Do you spend time listening?
The third sermon of a four part series: We live lives of service for God, praising God, praying to God, listening to God, and sharing God with others. We have talked about how important it...2022-01-0923 minWelcome HomeA Year of Prayer - 2 January 2022I challenge all of us over this upcoming year to focus more on prayer. Put God a bit higher on your list of priorities if God is not already your highest priority. Paul told us in Thessalonians to pray unceasingly. And when you pray, remember to pray these four things: Remember to pray God’s praise, remember to pray for God’s will, that you might know and do God’s will, remember to pray in confidence that God is here and will fulfill your every need, and remember in prayer to ask for God’s help.
Prayer i...2022-01-0324 minWelcome HomeMerry Rest of the Year - 26 December 2021It is better for us to join in with the churches praising God by living the lives that God has called us to live. That is, we live lives of service for God, praising God, praying to God, listening to God, and sharing God with others. We will consider all four of these areas over the coming four weeks. Today, and this week, we are talking about praising God.
We all want to stay at the manger praising the Lord Jesus, born to us from God to teach us how to live. Yet even the shepherds went...2021-12-2613 minWelcome HomeRecapturing the Wonder - 19 December 2021Are you discouraged? How do you recapture your passion for God, especially in a season of Christmas?
Malachi 5:2-5, Luke 12021-12-2022 minWelcome HomeWhy Should Someone Start Believing in God? - 12 December 2021Why do you believe in God? If you don't know why you believe in God, how can you tell someone else to believe in God? God is the only source of true hope for salvation. Also, God rejoices because of you, after all. Consider why you believe, then help another to do the same.
Zephaniah 3:12-202021-12-1354 minWelcome HomeWhy Doesn't God Answer Prayer? - 5 December 2021Instead of turning away from God when God does not answer us in the way we want, we need to call ourselves back to God. Even if God did not fix things now for reasons unknown to us, God STILL promises to fix things at the end of the story.
We can know God intimately. We just need to be in right relationship with God. First, we need to be in right relationship with others. Second, we need to come to God with proper motives. Third, we need to believe in God’s capabilities. And finally, we ne...2021-12-0525 minWelcome HomeMystified - 28 November 2021Psalm 25 and 1 Thessalonians 3 emulate hope. The Psalm is a prayer to God, asking for God’s leadership, confident in God’s steadfast love and faithfulness. 1 Thessalonians 3 envisions an increase in abounding love for one another. If we were to see our hearts strengthened in both areas, we would see a much more confident hope in our future. May God bless us with such a vision and hope.
If we do not have wonder, we have knowledge, not faith. If we are not mystified, we have suppressed the questions that are on our hearts. Come to God with whate...2021-11-2921 minWelcome HomeStrive First - 21 November 2021Strive first for the kingdom of God, above all else in your life. If not, God is not in you.
Instead of worrying about where we will stay, or what we will eat, or what we will wear, we are told to strive first for the kingdom of God (Matthew 6:33).
If we pray hard enough for the people in power to either turn to God or turn closer to God, we are letting God into power. This is why we pray for our leaders, whether or not we like them. We want God to bless t...2021-11-2221 minWelcome Home"All the More" - 14 November 2021Always seek to strengthen your faith. Especially in a world today where there are so many things that distract us from things of God, we have to put all the more effort into finding God amid it all. We are at a crossroads. Either America will continue to be secularized, and the eighty percent of children that do not belong to a church will turn to ninety percent, and before long there will be almost zero young people left in the church, or we will fight the increasing social norms and put more effort into finding God and into...2021-11-1520 minWelcome HomeThe Threshing Floor - 7 November 2021Ruth 3-4 - Scripture Reading
First, you need to rely on the saints in your life who have been placed there by the Lord. They help you return to the right track as long as you seek their help. Some may help you through mere memories, others will help you through their words and actions. But always lean on your saints. God places people into your life for a reason. Believe in that. Trust the good people in your life. Second, believe that God is working behind the scenes. When your life doesn’t se...2021-11-0729 minWelcome HomeA New Land - 31 October 2021Ruth 1:1-18 - Scripture Reading
First, know that you are not alone. Others before you have gone through what you are going through. You can see yourself through the characters of the Bible. You may be making the same accusations and thinking the same things about God that they did. Second, God is working behind the scenes whether you realize it right now or not. God worked by placing Ruth in Naomi’s life when she most needed her. God used Ruth to restore blessing to Naomi, as we will see later in Ruth. God will use wh...2021-10-3122 minWelcome HomeTo Bless the Lord - 24 October 2021We ask God to bless us, but do you know that a relationship is a two way street? How are you expected to bless the Lord?
Job 42, Hebrews 7, Mark 10:46-522021-10-2523 minWelcome HomeStill God - 3 October 2021"Faithfulness is a decision, not a feeling."
Job 1-2, Hebrews 1-2, Mark 10:2-162021-10-0423 minWelcome HomeThe Wisdom From Above - 19 September 2021"What do you desire?” Do you desire to get into trouble and get away with it? Do you desire to appear as a law-abiding Christian but you don’t actually care? Do you actually desire a close relationship with God? Is God your strongest desire? After all, you are God’s strongest desire. God wants to be close to you; God longs this. But you and I often pay more attention to other things. Don’t be asking yourselves who is the greatest among you – who is the best Christian here; who has scored the most points in heaven? – Instead, ask...2021-09-2024 minWelcome HomeWho Do They Say That I Am? - 12 September 2021Perhaps we can’t all solve world hunger or the crisis of the poor. But we can create a healthy community of God. One healthy community will stem into another. James reminds us that a healthy forest is set ablaze by a small fire (3:5). The fire of the Spirit spreads in the same way. The tongue can be a curse, where gossip and poor words damage the body of Christ, but it can also be a blessing to the kingdom of God. You can stay where you are right now, comfortable, and satisfied. But Wisdom warns that you need to...2021-09-1224 minWelcome HomeA Good Name - 5 September 2021We are defined in the name of God. Christ’s name is within our identity as Christians. It is up to you to live up to this name. Be astounded. Be open to seeing the majesty of God in the world around us, just as the people were astounded at Jesus performing miracles (Mark 7:24-37). First, we must open ourselves to seeing God’s majesty. We must hear God. We must see God. We must listen to God. Second, we glorify God because of this majesty, and because we need to make sure for our own sakes that we do n...2021-09-0523 minWelcome HomeUnstained - 29 August 2021The world aims to stain us so that we cannot carry out the will of God for our lives. The world wants to cripple us with the fear, worry, and doubt that we cannot keep the faith of God in this world. How can you capture a faith that is not torn apart by the ruin and tragedy that you see in the world?
2021-08-2923 minWelcome Home"This Teaching is Difficult!" - 22 August 2021"As shoes for your feet put on whatever will make you ready to proclaim the gospel of peace." (Ephesians 6:15)
"Lord, to whom can we go? You have the words of eternal life. We have come to believe and know that you are the Holy One of God." (John 6:69)
Where do you go when you see evil, suffering, and violence in this world? Does it make you tell Jesus that the teaching of peace and faith is too difficult to hold on to? Or do you turn back to Jesus because He is the only place you...2021-08-2322 minWelcome HomeLoving Correction - 15 August 2021"At Gibeon the LORD appeared to Solomon in a dream by night; and God said, "Ask what I should give you." (1 Kings 2 3:5).
What would you ask of God? What should we ask of God?
When you pray, be open to God giving you correction. Start by reminding yourself when you pray of what God has already done. PRAISE God. God has done so much for us already. Second, know God. God loves us and always will. Third, know ourselves. We are weak without God's help. Fourth, see God. See where God is, where God is needed, and...2021-08-1625 minWelcome HomeThy Will Be Done - 8 August 2021When bad things happen, do you wonder if it is God's will? Perhaps bad things do happen, but they are not God's will. God does, however, use what happens to still allow good to come from it. God's will may be temporarily defeated, but nothing can happen which will finally defeat God's will.
We will also have moments when we feel defeated. Yet may you do your part to ensure that you are not finally defeated either - ask God to take your hand - so that you may continue being an imitator of God and a doer...2021-08-0820 minWelcome HomeThe Seed Grows - 20 June 2021Mark 4:40 He said to them, "Why are you afraid? Have you still no faith?"
Mark 4:41 And they were filled with great awe and said to one another, "Who then is this, that even the wind and the sea obey him?"
Just because you find yourself afraid from time to time, or even multiple times a day, does not mean that you have little faith. It only means that your faith has room to grow. We may never reach the point of a true lack of fear while we live within this world. But if we keep...2021-06-2121 minWelcome HomeUnrevealed - 13 June 2021"when [the kingdom of God] is sown it grows up and becomes the greatest of all shrubs, and puts forth large branches, so that the birds of the air can make nests in its shade." (Mark 4:32)
We plant seeds in the young ones among us, and we hope that they will cause them to grow in the Spirit. Jesus told us that the kingdom of God is like a mustard seed, which starts out as the smallest of all seeds but then grows up and becomes one of the greatest of shrubs (Mark 4:31). Our faith may be...2021-06-1421 minWelcome HomeUnited We Stand - 6 June 2021Do you stand united with other Christians, or do you find yourself arguing, dividing, and forming walls between yourself and others? What would Jesus want us to do?2021-06-0723 minWelcome Home"Here I Am!" - 30 May 2021"I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God without being born of water and Spirit." ~ John 3:3
In Isaiah's call story, Isaiah 6:1-8, the land is in a time of mourning for their deceased king. When Isaiah sees the holiness of God, he knows that he cannot compare to God's greatness. But God grants him forgiveness, and the seraph tells him, "Now that this has touched your lips, your guilt has departed and your sin is blotted out." This allows Isaiah to feel confident enough to respond to God's call and say, "Here I am! Sen...2021-05-3123 minWelcome HomeCan These Bones Live? - 23 May 2021"They say, 'Our bones are dried up, and our hope is lost; we are cut off completely.' Therefore, prophesy and say to them, Thus says the Lord GOD: I am going to open your graves, and bring you up from your graves, O my people; and I will bring you back to the land of Israel." ~ Ezekiel 37:11-12
Do you feel lost, or that you have lost a lot, especially this past year? As Pentecost begins, we celebrate the birthday of the church, when the Spirit was poured out on the waiting disciples. You may need a fr...2021-05-2420 minWelcome HomeAscending - 16 May 2021"You will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth." ~ Acts 1:8
The disciples realized that they would miss Jesus when he went away from them, now that he had been appearing to them for the past forty days. But Jesus told them that he was sending an Advocate to give them power, and that they were to wait for it to come to them in Jerusalem. We may still find ourselves looking up to Heaven at...2021-05-1721 minWelcome HomeRestored / To Be a Shepherd - 25 April 2021Even though I walk through the darkest valley, I fear no evil; for you are with me; your rod and your staff– they comfort me. ~Psalm 23:4
As the disciples feared no evil, we also face no evil when we face those who are against us, and those forces that try to break us! They may knock us down, but God helps us back up. We are the church. Only together can we be the church.2021-04-2519 minWelcome HomeThe Last Five - 18 April 2021He said to them, “Why are you frightened, and why do doubts arise in your hearts? ~Luke 24:38
Go into the world, encourage another, bless another, and let Jesus crowd out your doubt. Do not wait until the last five minutes. God is working through us now. Thanks be to God.2021-04-1821 minWelcome HomeGood News! - 11 April 2021How do we reach out to others and spread the news of Christ? First, see the word; we declare what we have heard and seen. The second reason to declare what we have seen to others is so that our joy may be complete (1 John 1:4). Third, we declare what we do to others to help them gain protection from sin.
When Jesus appeared to the disciples, he said, “Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained" (John 1:22-23). Jesus has sent...2021-04-1223 minWelcome HomeNow What? - 4 April 2021Now, we are called to spread the message. We are called as the body of Christ’s disciples to believe in the power and the occurrence of the resurrection, and to make it known through our work and through the way that we live our lives as a church. How do we believe in the power of God? By accepting the evidence of Christ’s resurrection in the empty tomb, and making the decision to believe in the power of God. If we decide that we will not accept something, we will not. It cannot be forced upon us. Geor...2021-04-0521 minWelcome HomeTo Be a Disciple - 28 March 2021Philippians 2:5 says, “Let the same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus.” This is Paul’s wish for those who follow Christ. Let us have the same mind. That is, let us have the same focus on God and love of others. Let us have the same unshakable faith. Let us not consider ourselves as more righteous than another (Phil 2:6). Let us be the spark that causes others to come to Jesus (Phil 2:10-11). People will want to know Jesus by the way that we live our lives, because of how happy we are able to live it. Th...2021-03-2919 minWelcome HomeThe One Served - 21 March 2021Is who you serve evident by who you follow? You decide. Only you know where your heart is right now. But whenever you find that you feel far away from God, there is something that is holding you back. I challenge you to find that something by asking God to search you and purge it from you. Only God can do that. And if you do not fill it with truth, with the Holy Spirit, and with the fruits of the Spirit, it will only come right back. There is a force in the world that will do anything...2021-03-2120 minWelcome HomeFill Us, Jesus! - 14 March 2021The first way to fill ourselves is by accepting the movements of the Holy Spirit.
Once we have received the Holy Spirit, the rest begins to unfold from there. We must fill ourselves with love.
We need to fill ourselves with faith, or trust in God, as well.
What really keeps us going? We live in a world where we are afraid. The snake in the wilderness was a symbol of fear, but it stood as a testament to God being able to keep God’s promises, and get us through, for five hu...2021-03-1420 minWelcome HomeRenewing the Mind - 7 March 2021Last year, Pastor Craig wrote a book called, Dangerous Prayers: Because Following Jesus was Never Meant to be Safe. He suggests that we do not feel God as much as those before us because we always pray safe prayers. We pray, “God, bless me.” We pray, “God, heal me.” He argues that if we really want God to move our lives, we need to pray more dangerous prayers. The three prayers that he suggests are: search me, break me, and send me. Search my soul, break my habits, and send me on my call to do ministry for God. We want...2021-03-0816 minWelcome HomeFrom Transgressions to Grace - 28 February 2021We each have transgressed against God, and we each will again. But God continues to seek us out. God has grace where we have fallen. We may not have done enough to love God recently, but we can try again. I have let my mind wander with thoughts that I can never do enough, but what does God ask of us but to show us God’s love? What does God ask of us than to show God that we want to spend time with God, that we want to serve others, and that we want to worship God? It...2021-03-0115 minWelcome HomeWith God in the Car - 21 February 2021The first way to recognize a transgression is if we are tired. If you feel tired, perhaps you have been relying on your own strength for too long. God gives us the strength we need to capture our love for what we do and to rediscover why we feel called to do it. If we do not make time for God in our lives, we have not made the trip to the supermarket to buy more food. We keep trying to stretch the little food we do have, and as our meals become less and less balanced, we become...2021-02-2217 minWelcome HomeCloser, My God - Ash Wednesday, February 17th 2021Every Christian has the responsibility to grow. Much of growing is growing closer to God. We have the responsibility to read the Bible, have an active prayer life, and be connected to a Christian community. Join us for the first sermon of a Lent series, sparked from how we show God our love and grow as Christians ourselves. We highlight how we realize our transgressions but accept God's grace for where we have fallen short. We then work with God's grace to ask God to renew us, by taking out those habits or desires that draw us away from God a...2021-02-1816 minWelcome HomeLove is in the AirToday, we must not let up on figuring out how to be disciples of Jesus. It will start by relying more deeply on God in the midst of suffering, and to do that, we must seek to spend time with God. Practice God’s love languages. Practice with haste. The season of Epiphany has ended. The gathering of the first disciples has been done. Next, we learn more about discipleship. We learn how we can make it through this world by following Jesus. We learn how to draw closer to God, to love God, and to love one another. We...2021-02-1528 min
Welcome HomeGod is Still GoodOur own strength is not enough. How do we know that God is good? Because we know what the end of this story is. Jesus told us. We do not know what God has in store for us, exactly, for this knowledge is “unsearchable” (Is. 40:28). But we are not hidden from God (Is. 40:27). Jesus told us what is to come: “And he will send out his angels with a loud trumpet call, and they will gather his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other” (Matthew 24:31). For this, we live and wait, confident in the goodn...2021-02-1527 min