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1 John series message 4
Text: 1 John 2:12-14
God has a lot to say about who we are in Christ. Yet the more I interact with people, I see there is a bit of a disconnect between what God says and what we actually believe to be true about us. This text is a wonderful reassurance regarding how God views us as His children.
Guest speaker Mark Seager.
1 John Series message 3
Text: 1 John 2:3-11
Last Sunday we saw the power of Christ’s blood to provide complete forgiveness and set us free in our thinking. That brings joy and peace to our lives. This week we'll see the centrality of obedience in our Christian life, from I John 2:3-11.
1 John Series message 2
Text: 1 John 1:5-2:2
The apostle John, one of the Sons of Thunder, squarely addresses the nature and effects of sin in our sermon text. While circumstances have changed, core issues have not: sin is not subjective and nor is it without consequences. Admitting our sin is what drives us to Christ for salvation, and, sin will keep you from fellowship with God should you cherish it as a believer. Bad teaching about Jesus and sin destroys lives and John is anxious to set the record straight about our wonderful Savior and His unchanging love. Jesus came full of GRACE and TRUTH, and speaks on our behalf when we are accused by our adversary. He does not defend us based on our performance; that would be a nightmare. He simply declares “I died for him…she is covered by the blood!
1 John Series - message 1
Text: 1 John 1:1-4
An Elder's Care for the Flock is the title to this week's message. As we overview I John, we'll see John's great care for the churches under his charge. He was concerned that the truth about Jesus Christ was faithfully proclaimed, and, that the lives of believers were characterized by Christian love and righteous living.
Text: Ephesians 4:7-16
Great stories often have a reluctant hero. One who doesn't see their value until someone intervenes or circumstances force them to act. This week we will see Paul identify the reluctant heroes of the faith in the church at Ephesus and what that means to us today. You might just be a hero.
Pursuing Excellence Series message 12
Text: Selected Scriptures
This Sunday we will wrap up our Pursuing Excellence series by looking at guilt. Do you ever have a nagging sense of guilt and, at times, don't even know why? There are three basic ways we experience guilt, and the good news is it need not be an ongoing part of our lives. We will examine guilt from the perspective of Jesus' death and resurrection and who we are in Christ. We'll also look at practical ways to maintain a clear conscience in all that we do.
Text: Romans 1:1-5
Our theme for this service is, of course, the RESURRECTION! I pray it will be an encouragement for each of us as we consider seven very specific ways the resurrection impacts our lives. In addition, the Gospel will be woven throughout as we trace the origins and necessity of the resurrection (and suffering) on both ends of the Bible.
Text: John 12:12-19
In the picture of people celebrating Jesus there are two aspects of this scene which are noteworthy. First, God offers comfort to Israel, but it runs totally counter to what they would have perceived as real help. Second, while Jesus is being praised and celebrated, the dark cloud of spiritual opposition that would lead to Jesus' death was gaining momentum. These elements are often true in our own lives: opposition often follows our pursuit of God, and, God helps us in ways we might not expect.
Pursuing Excellence Series message 11
Text: Daniel 6:1-10
One study shows that between 75% - 90% of doctor office visits are for stress related concerns or ailments. Busy schedules, challenges at work, relationship issues... these all add stress in our lives. While there are many helpful ways to manage stress, too often we overlook our true source of peace and strength: our personal time with God. In this installment, we'll see how Daniel leveraged this refuge as he faced a litany of stressors each day.
Pursuing Excellence Series message 10
Text:Phil. 4:4-9
Who among us does not worry about situations or people in our lives? It is a natural response to challenging circumstances. Yet, God calls us to live above worry. Remember Galatians 5:1, "It is for freedom that Christ has set us free." When we hold a God-ward focus and settle our mind on the fact that that HE is on the Throne, our perspective changes! In Philippians 4:4-9, the Apostle Paul helps us see what this looks like. To put it in an equation form, it looks like this:P____ + P_____ + P_____ = P______. We'll crack the code on Sunday as we pursue excellence in our walk with Christ. What a load is off our backs when He helps us not to worry!
Pursuing Excellence Series message 9
Text: Proverbs 22: 24-25
We've built a platform for our Christian lives by looking at our position in Christ and the perspective we now hold. We saw last week that we are to be diligent in slaying sin through the power of the Spirit. Anger is a powerful emotion that can lead to sinful behavior. It is mentioned over 500 times in the Bible, and you'll find it in both Genesis and Revelation. The only emotion referenced more often is... love; (aren't we glad for that!). We'll look at root causes of anger and how to prevent it from dominating our lives.
Pursuing Excellence message 8
Text: Romans 8:13
We've laid a foundation for empowered Christian living through perspective and our position in Christ. We have the privilege of considering ourselves "dead to sin" and also the responsibility of choosing not to live as we did before we knew Christ. Sometimes, the struggles we face in life are directly tied to the sin we are tolerating instead of mortifying. John Owen, my favorite theologian/pastor, said this: "Be killing sin or it will be killing you"; this is very true. Some churches never talk about sin, while others leave their people feeling beaten down and asking, "where's the grace?" A healthy perspective on sin is balanced in its approach: in light of God's wonderful love for us and our our high calling as children of God, and, out of reverence for Christ, we must not tolerate sin... period. We'll look at practical ways to address the temptations we face as we lived in a fallen world.
Pursuing Excellence message 7
Text: Phil. 3:4-14
Joy. Zeal. Focus. All of us are passionate about something, even if that passion wanes in different seasons of life. But our consuming passion should always be JESUS CHRIST! In Philippians 3:4-14, Paul gives a personal testimony about putting the past behind and pressing on to what God has called him to. We'll take a look at Paul's past, present and future: how he viewed his past and what he was passionate about as he considered his future. It's a great model for us today!
Pursuing Excellence message 6
Text: 1 John 3:1-3
Last week we saw what Ephesians 1 has to say about our position in Christ; accepted, forgiven, chosen, predestined and adopted. Nothing in heaven or on earth can, or ever will, shake that relationship we now enjoy. Our salvation is secure and God is faithful to His promise from Jeremiah to remember our sins no more. We have been born again, and our identity is now in Christ. If anyone is in Christ, they are a new creation. This is how we live life and approach our challenges; totally accepted by our Heavenly Father, empowered by His Spirit, co-heirs with Jesus Christ, and citizens of heaven.
Pursuing Excellence message 5
Text: Ephesians 1:1-10
Through Christ's suffering and wonderful work of redemption, God has blessed us with EVERY spiritual blessing in Christ! We hold our heads up high because we are children of the KING! Understanding and believing what the Bible says here will provide a solid foundation for our lives, as we BY FAITH extinguish all the flaming darts of the evil one. Amen!
Pursuing Excellence message 4
Text: Hebrews 12:1-4
Paul tells us that we need to set our hearts and minds on things above; that is,on things that hold eternal value. Jesus invites us to come to Him to find rest; we find rest by trusting Christ alone for salvation and learning from Him through personal relationship. Hebrews 12:1-4 paints a picture of running the race before us with perseverance, fixing our eyes on Jesus. This is true discipleship at its core: intentionally following what God has for us by focusing on Christ and learning from Him each and every day.
Pursuing Excellence message 3
Text: Matthew 11:28-30
Last week we said we need to set our affections and thoughts on things above. Now we'll be a little more specific - we need to fix our eyes on Jesus and what a wonderful Savior He is. He is majestic and yet He calls us in gentleness. He is God yet He is humble. We are to learn from Him. It is only in Him that we find true rest; rest for our souls. All good and so encouraging!
Pursuing Excellence message 2
Text:Colossians 3:1-4
If we are to Pursue Excellence in our lives, we have to have the right perspective. Our focus needs to be in the right place - if we set our hearts on temporal things or passing pleasures, we only set ourselves up for failure. What a joy to live life with a perspective that rises above the temporal and sees Christ, enthroned next to the Father. Paul bases his appeal about perspective on seven glorious facts that are true for every Christian.
Pursuing Excellence message 1
Text: Psalm 1:1-3
The point this Sunday as we start off a new year is to purposefully get ourselves in God's Word, so He can teach us, comfort us, convict us, build us up and strengthen us. The picture in Psalm 1 is of a tree with deep roots that thrives because it is near its life source of water. The Word is our life source and our lives are firmly established if God's Word is firmly planted in our lives.