From the Blog
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Matters of…Reconciliation
We heard last week about having oneness and unity in our families, but sometimes things divide that oneness and we can’t see how to reconcile. In this message, we learn how to reconcile the division that has come between us and become unified once more.
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Matters of…Oneness
“Oneness” as it relates to the family refers to the state of being in complete unity with one another and with the Lord. Why don’t we see the oneness that God intended at creation and that Christ came to give with our salvation? Why are so many families and marriages fractured and broken? One of the main problems is poor communication.
In the apostle Paul’s letter to the Ephesians, he taught them to seek oneness in Christ as the goal of their family communication. We can make oneness in Christ the goal of our family’s communication. -
Matters of…the Family
You matter to God and your family matters to God. After all, the family was God’s idea. Yet, today families have strayed from God’s design and intent. In the book of Ephesians, the apostle Paul prayed that believers would experience God’s blessing on the family. We can experience God’s blessing on our families.
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Following Christ’s Commands
Many in the church today falsely think they are Christians when in fact, they are not. They have prayed the prayer, but they have not truly come to faith in Jesus, because their lives are unchanged. So, how can we be sure?
In the apostle John’s first letter, he wrote to give believers confident assurance of their salvation in Jesus Christ. We can have confident assurance of our salvation in Jesus Christ. -
Receiving Christ’s Love
Pastor Gary continued our sermon series called “So You Think You’re a Christian?”. Once we confess our mess and our need for a savior, the second movement of the gospel in our lives is receiving Christ’s love. Do you have a hard time forgiving yourself or others? Do you find yourself working really hard to…
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Confessing Our Mess
As we kick off the sermon series, “So You Think You’re a Christian?”, we look at the first movement of the Gospel, confessing our mess. When we fail to confess our mess, we limit God’s mercy and grace and we hinder fellowship with Him and our fellow believers. In 1 John, the apostle John taught…
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Serve to Lead
Leadership in the Kingdom of God is a call to service. In the book of Luke, Jesus taught his disciples that the true path to greatness in the kingdom of heaven was to follow His example of servant leadership. Jesus calls each of us to be servant leaders as He was.
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Bow Down to be Lifted Up
Are you “up” or “down” today? If you are feeling down today, guess what? God wants to teach you how to give that to Him today. He wants to show you how that actually puts you in a better position to hear from Him and get some things in order with Him. If you’re feeling…
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Talk Less to Say More
In a modern culture of self-promotion on social media and the constant chatter on our smart phones, texting and tweeting about every opinion that pops in our heads, the Bible says, “Be quick to hear and slow to speak.” That’s biblical wisdom, godly wisdom. Stop talking so much and start listening more. Even when we keep quiet, in our heads we’re already thinking of what we’re going to say. No wonder we’re having so much trouble in our society. Divisions within and without. Arguments everywhere. But no one is listening. And no one is really being heard.
What can be done? The book of James offers the paradoxical wisdom that we can actually talk less in order to say more. For real communication, real understanding to take place, we need less talk and more listening, and more appropriate action. The book of James is one of the most practical books of wisdom in the Bible. It is sometimes referred to as the New Testament’s book of proverbs. Written by James, the brother of Jesus, and the pastor of the first church of Jerusalem, it is also a very pastoral book, and a very practical one too.
In the first chapter of James, he told believers that the first place to apply this paradoxical principle of talking less to say more should be in rightly responding to God’s Word. We can learn to rightly respond to God’s Word. -
Lose to Find
How do you answer the question, “Who am I?” For many of you, you’ve tied your identity to your name, “I’m John or I’m Susie.” Others might say, “I’m a father or mother, or I’m a husband or a wife, I’m a son or daughter, I’m a teacher, I’m a nurse, I’m a coach, I’m a dog-lover or cat-lover. How do you answer the question? In Tim Keller’s book, Making Sense of God, he describes two ways that people have found their identity. One, he calls the “traditional path,” where the individual finds identity from the community in which they are born and grow up. The second path, Keller calls the “modern” or “secular” approach. This is the new emphasis on looking “inward” to find the true self, where one’s desires and dreams are to dictate one’s identity.
In the gospel of Matthew, Jesus told His followers that they must lose their former sense of self in order to find their true identity in Christ. The only way that we can discover our true, God-given identity is by losing our former one and finding our true identity in Christ. How can we find our true identity in Christ? The text gives three steps to finding your true identity in Christ.