Yearly Archives: 2016
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Jesus is calling… You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven. (Matt. 5:13-16 NIV) Jesus tells his disciples that they are the “light of the world.” He uses this metaphor of being “light” because light was extremely important in the biblical culture where there were few sources of illumination and it was dark everywhere after the sun would go down below the horizon. To expound what he means by saying that his disciples are “light,” Jesus gives two illustrations. First, he says that a town on a hill cannot be hidden, and […]
I heard a story one time about a man who was stranded by himself on a small island in the middle of the ocean. When he was finally located and the rescue team arrived, they noticed three huts on the island. While he was being tended to by the medical team, one of the doctors asked him why there were three huts. The man grinned as he sat up, pointed to the first one, and said, “That one is my home.” Then he pointed to the next one and said, “That one is my church.” And then he pointed to the last one and said, “And that was my former church.” Such a story is humorous and makes us laugh because of the irony and silliness, but is it really that far off from the attitude of so many people? It is astonishing the reasons that people come up with […]
Let your eyes look straight ahead; fix your gaze directly before you. Give careful thought to the paths for your feet and be steadfast in all your ways. Do not turn to the right or the left; keep your foot from evil. (Prov 4:25-27 NIV) Life can get busy, and it can be pretty tough to keep everything straight and to even slow down and think at times. And with so many tasks that need to be accomplished, we’re often challenged to maintain an underlying focus in life beyond simply trying to get done everything we need to. As we try to fulfill job responsibilities, care for family and friends, take care of our homes and belongings, and carve out some time to relax, our focus can be scattered and ever-changing. Throughout our busy days, if we don’t have an underlying focus or consistent guiding point of reference, we […]
Habakkuk and a Message for Revival Date: July 23, 2016 Audio Sermon: Click on the play button below. Revival comes from the word “revive” which means “to bring to life again” or to “restore to health.” But revival is something that happens to those who have life already, not to something lifeless. Thus, revival is something that is directed toward those who already follow Christ and have eternal life within them. Revival is about refreshing, refocusing, restoring, and bringing to life again one’s faith and their pursuit of God. However, revival is not primarily about renewed interest in the church, increased attendance, or overall enthusiasm of the congregation. Rather, revival is something that emerges from deep within the heart of each believer. It is something that arises from a determination and disposition of the heart that turns to God and seeks him in all things. Concerning what it takes for […]
What Are You Looking For? Date: June 25, 2016 Audio Sermon: Click on the play button below. What we are looking for will determine what type of “soil” we are preparing in our hearts. And if we are looking for Jesus and seeking to submit to him as a disciple and follower, then how we live, what choices we make, and the habits we form will either support that endeavor or deter us from it. If we are not disciplining ourselves in godliness, then we will inevitably succumb to the temptations of the world and pursue the desires of our flesh rather than the things of God. Furthermore, when it comes to the temptations of the world, one of the most pervasive is that of lust. And lust is like a slow disease that can creep into our lives almost innocuously and then slowly grow and become stronger and stronger, […]
Emotionally Healthy Spirituality Date: May 21, 2016 Audio Sermon: Click on the play button below. What does it mean to be spiritually mature? And what does it mean to be emotionally mature? Well, emotional health and spiritual maturity are actually inseparable. You cannot be spiritually mature and emotionally immature. It doesn’t work. It can’t work. Our spiritual lives are inextricably tied to our emotional life. Most of us have some category of life in which we are an emotional infant. A category that we have not surrendered to God; a category that we have not relinquished our hold on so that the power of God’s spirit and the blood of Jesus can heal us. Emotional underdevelopment is not always obvious. For most, it is the part of us that we like to hide and keep in the dark. But when we don’t address our emotional dimension, we will always be […]
Pentecost – A Day We Will Never Forget Date: May 15, 2016 Audio Sermon: Click on the play button below. Pentecost is a Jewish festival known as Shavuot that takes place each spring to commemorate giving of the Law on Mount Sinai, to make an offering of the firstfruits of the wheat harvest, and to honor God as the owner and provider of the harvest. But during one particular Pentecost about 2,000 years ago, everything changed. That Pentecost was a Pentecost unlike any before it because on that day the prophecy of Joel was fulfilled as promised by God (Joel 2:28-29) and prophesied by Jesus Christ (Luke 24:49). On Pentecost, God poured out his spirit upon the 12 apostles gathered together in the Temple area along with a demonstration of God’s power through the apostles when they began to speak in other tongues as “the Spirit gave them utterance” (Acts […]
Psalm 5:1-3 NLT O LORD, hear me as I pray; pay attention to my groaning. Listen to my cry for help, my King and my God, for I pray to no one but you. Listen to my voice in the morning, LORD. Each morning I bring my requests to you and wait expectantly. Prayer isn’t a “cash in your lottery ticket” and “get-whatever-you-want” enterprise. We often see only one side of prayer—the part where we ask God for something. We tend to come to God in prayer with our list of requests, filling our prayer time with asking for things. We come hungry for what we desire to see God do. Is that wrong? No, certainly not. We ought to come and lay our requests before God. “Don’t worry about anything, but in everything, through prayer and petition with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God” (Phil. 4:6 […]
Psalm 51:10 ESV Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me. God Is Relentless in His Pursuit God’s love is unquestionable, for He has put up with an unimaginable degree of disobedience and rebellion in our hearts. God’s love is also so unreasonable because of His never-ending patience and mercy with our stubbornness and refusal to surrender to His will at times. What love is this that is so inexhaustible and unyielding? When we might expect our failures would evoke an attitude from God of “Enough is enough, I’m done with you!” He never ceases to pierce the deepest part of our hearts and draw us back to Him in such gentle and mysterious ways. It was the ultimate expression of such an unfathomable love when God sent His only Son, Jesus Christ, to die for a world that didn’t deserve him so […]
Psalm 37:7 GWT Surrender yourself to the Lord, and wait patiently for him. Our world is inundated with the cultural mindset that if you just work hard enough and make the necessary sacrifices, you can achieve whatever you set your mind to. This “super-human,” “I am unstoppable,” “I’m the only one who can make it happen” mentality is completely self-reliant and dependent upon one’s own capabilities and dedication. If we think that we must grit our teeth and work as hard as possible in order to achieve our dreams and goals in life, and that simple brute force and sold-out commitment to the task at hand is the only way to make it happen, then why don’t we just keep working on Sundays and forget about God? It’s All About Us What many have been falsely led to believe is that success and achievement are among the highest goals we […]
