Dec 2, 2018
In the Clouds
Series: (All)
This week, as we celebrate the birth of Christ, we look forward to His return!
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- Dec 2, 2018In the Clouds
Dec 2, 2018In the CloudsSeries: (All)This week, as we celebrate the birth of Christ, we look forward to His return!
- Nov 25, 2018An Everlasting Dominion
Nov 25, 2018An Everlasting DominionSeries: (All)Before we fully launch into the Christmas season, today we ponder the everlasting dominion of Christ.
- Nov 18, 2018Thankful for Deliverance
Nov 18, 2018Thankful for DeliveranceSeries: (All)What are you thankful for? Typically, we like to thank God during this time of year for the many material blessings that He provides. If that is all that we thank God for, we fall really short of being truly grateful for what He has done for us. Today, we take a look at what it means to be thankful for God's deliverance.
- Nov 12, 2018At Home and At Work
Nov 12, 2018At Home and At WorkSeries: ColossiansWhat does a Christian life look like? Specifically, what does it look like in our relationships with others? Today as we continue through Colossians, we see how the Christian life looks in three areas of our lives. These areas are at home, at work, and in public life.
At Home
At home, we see first that wives are to be submissive to their husbands. While modern sensibilities may find this concept offensive, we have to understand what is really being commanded. First, wives are to WILLINGLY submit to the leadership of the husband. They are not to forced into servitude or abused. They are to follow the leadership of their OWN husband (not every man). Likewise, husbands are to love their wives as Christ loved the church. Christ died for the church, and husbands MUST be willing to lay down their lives for their wives.Children are to willingly obey their parents. Fathers specifically are commanded to not exasperate their children. It is very important that men are good fathers. This is the example that children have of God the Father. Fathers who are abusive or absent lead children to believe that God is those things.At Work
How does the Christian life look at work? Christians are to work hard and have integrity, whether they are the worker or the boss. Your occupation is your calling at any given time in your life; you must work with the attitude that you are serving the Lord. Remember that how people see Christians behave at work colors their perception of Christ. Make a positive impact at your job.In the Public Square
As a Christian, you have the most important message in the history of the world to carry to those around you. You are called to proclaim the good news of salvation through Jesus Christ. The manner in which you do this is vital. If you are known for being hot-headed or insulting, this does not cause people to want to follow Christ with you. Our speech is to be gracious and loving, WITHOUT compromising the truth. Many will not listen.If you want to know more about following Christ, please Contact Us. - Nov 4, 2018A Higher Focus
Nov 4, 2018A Higher FocusSeries: Colossians
What do you focus on?
If you have bad habits or a sin that you can't seem to get rid of, you may find yourself focusing on the very thing that you do not want to do. How do we fix this? By not beating ourselves too badly, as Paul warns in Chapter 2. He noted that behaviors designed to prevent sin actually caused people to focus on the sin. Instead, as we pick up in chapter 3 we see that it is more helpful to focus on the things of Christ. Paul writes in 3:1 that since we have been raised with the Messiah, we are to "seek what is above, where the Messiah is, seated at the right hand of God." Also, we are told in verse 2 to set our minds on the things which are above and not the things of the earth.A Better Way
Today, Pastor Mike discusses how desiring the things of God changes our focus away from us to what God wants. We have to desire the things that God desires. To do this, we must be true followers of Christ. We must follow Him by studying the Word and praying daily. Christ desires a relationship with us; we should desire a relationship with Him. As this relationship develops, we will find ourselves discarding the things of the world.A Better Result
As we discard the behaviors and actions that were common to us before we came to Christ, there is more room to display the character of Christ. The more that we are WITH Him the more that we become LIKE Him. Like Christ, we become the one who seeks the will of the Father in all situations. Our mind becomes new because we do not think like we did before. We become the one who forgives those who wrong us.If you want to know more about how to have a relationship with Jesus, please Contact Us. - Oct 28, 2018Deceived by Persuasive Arguments
Oct 28, 2018Deceived by Persuasive ArgumentsSeries: ColossiansThe world is full of people with persuasive arguments about their various points of view. So how do we know what to think or to believe? Although we may think of this as a recent problem, and certainly one that has been exacerbated by the 24-hour news cycle and social media battles, this problem is not all that new. Apostle Paul dealt with this in his ministry context in the first century. Churches in various places we being subjected to false teachings and claims of "special knowledge".In Paul's letter to the faithful Colossians, he warns them about allowing themselves to be deceived by false teachings or heresy. There are principles found in his letter that still apply today. Specifically, we must walk with Christ, watch for empty arguments, and watch for false religion. This will help us to avoid deceptive false teachings, and ideas that are erroneous or even blatantly demonic. In this sermon, Pastor Mike uses Paul's teaching from Colossians 2:1-23 to point out how to follow these principles so that we can avoid living in error.If you are interested in knowing more about living for Christ, please Contact Us.
- Oct 21, 2018The Centrality of Christ
Oct 21, 2018The Centrality of ChristSeries: ColossiansIn our second installment in the book of Colossians, we address the centrality of Christ. You may remember that Paul had not been to the Church at Colossae, but last week we noted that he prayed for them and thanked God for them. He also was inspired by the Holy Spirit to address a particular set of false teachings that were coming into vogue in that area at that time. Paul must counter the lies that are being spread with the truth about Christ.Today, we look at verses 15-23 and take particular note of the manner in which Paul describes Christ. He describes Him as the Creator, as the head of the church, and as the Redeemer. It is essential that we understand all of these aspects of Christ, who is the center of our faith. We must understand His particular authority that comes as the One who spoke everything into existence. We must understand that He is the head of the church, of which we are each members of the body. We must also understand that He is the only One who qualified to make the sacrifice to save us from our sins. Understanding each of these leads us to serving Him appropriately.Christians are always being confronted with the false beliefs of the time; this is nothing new. Someone is always trying to mold Jesus into their image instead of being molded into His image. Or they will try to deny Him outright, being unwilling to submit to His authority. Understanding His divine nature helps us to see the truth of who He is, why what He claims about Himself is true, and what our responsibility is in light of this knowledge. The only appropriate response is to submit our lives completely to Him.If you would like to know more about following Jesus, please contact us here: Contact Us
- Oct 14, 2018Introduction to Colossians
Oct 14, 2018Introduction to ColossiansSeries: ColossiansThis week, we begin working our way through the book of Colossians. The church at Colossae, as well as those at nearby Heirapolis and Laodicea appear to have been started by Epaphras, who learned the gospel from Paul at Ephesus. Today we observe that even though Paul had never been to this particular church or met these particular believers, he had a message for them. Paul thanked God for them. He also prayed for them daily. And importantly, he wrote to encourage them and to warn them about a false belief system that was gaining inroads into their area.
- Sep 30, 2018The Church and Serving It
Sep 30, 2018The Church and Serving ItBy: Allen WoodsSeries: (All)Guest preacher Allen Woods addresses the questions of why we come to church, what is happening to the church, and what we are to do about it.
- Sep 23, 2018Habakkuk’s Third Prayer
Sep 23, 2018Habakkuk’s Third PrayerSeries: HabakkukFor the last three weeks, we have been working our way through the book of Habakkuk. If you’ll recall, we noted at the beginning that Habakkuk was surrounded by all manor of evil being committed by God’s own chosen people. Habakkuk raised the question that many of us have at least asked in our own minds, which is, “Why do You allow this, God?” The disturbing answer to Habakkuk’s question, as you may recall is that God will use that evil Chaldeans to punish His own people. This of course, distresses our prophet, because, he cannot fathom that God could use people who are even more wicked to punish the Jews. God’s reply was that the evil Chaldeans would also face their end. God points out in His response that those who oppress will be oppressed, those who are violent will have violence done to them, and that those who are idolatrous will find that their idols will not save them. God’s judgment will be swift and sure, and it will take place in His own timing. We have worked to recognize that the same principles apply even today. We of course, as believers know of a certainty that Christ will return, and we wait for this day. We also know, from our previous study of prophecy, that things will continue to get worse and worse until the Lord returns. Habakkuk finds himself in the same situation. He is told by God that things will get a lot worse before they get better. There is going to be disaster in the land. They are going to be conquered by a ruthless enemy, and it’s going to be a long time before the enemy that conquers them is going to be overthrown. Lots of people will die. The situation seems totally desperate. So what does our prophet Habakkuk do in this situation? Once again he prays! This time his prayer takes a different form. This is really more the form of a song, or a poem. We start at a bit of a disadvantage, not being able to read it in the original Hebrew, because we really miss out on the meter and organization of it, because it just doesn’t translate into English in the same pattern. Even in light of this, we can still get the points being made in Habakkuk’s third prayer. Habakkuk recognizes that GOD’S WRATH IS REVEALED, GOD’S DEEDS DEMONSTRATE GOD’S POWER, and THOSE WHO TRUST IN GOD WILL REJOICE.