Sermons

December 14 – The Joy of Being Wanted

Mary bursts into praise when Elizabeth expresses her joy at the coming of Mary. She does so, not because of some commercial or cynical motive. She bursts into praise because she knows that God is doing a profound thing in Jesus.

December 7 – Jesus is Our Peace

Peace means to be at rest. We need to be at rest between us and God. We need to be at rest between us and other people. We need to be at rest inside ourselves. Who can do such a feat? Jesus.

November 30 – What is Your Hope?

The complete confidence that someone has because of the power and character of God is called hope. We have this hope because we have seen God work. We have this hope because of who God is. Our hope can rest in Jesus.

November 23 – Give Thanks

November 16 – A Generous Spirit at Work

Giving is wonderful. Being a giving person doesn’t happen by accident. Paul shares with us how to become that person who gives like God does.

November 9 – Why? Why Talk about Hell?

As we think about the gospel message, part of that message is what happens if we ignore it. The Bible teaches us that the consequence of ignoring the gospel is severe. It also teaches that it is forever. What do we do with that?

November 2 – Why? Why Treasure the Bible?

When it comes to the Bible, we are challenged by the Bible to see it as authoritative, powerful, and precious. What makes it these things to us? Is it really these things to us?

October 26 – Why? Why Tell…

We need to answer for our own hearts the question, “Is it right (and important) for me to openly and intentionally share my hope in Jesus with others?”. When that question is solidly answered in our hearts, we can then be clear to those around us.

October 19 – Why? Why Only Jesus

C.S. Lewis said in Mere Christianity, “I am trying here to prevent anyone saying the really foolish thing that people often say about Him: I’m ready to accept Jesus as a great moral teacher, but I don’t accept his claim to be God. That is the one thing we must not say. A man who was merely a man and said the sort of things Jesus said would not be a great moral teacher. He would either be a lunatic — on the level with the man who says he is a poached egg — or else he would be the Devil of Hell. You must make your choice. Either this man was, and is, the Son of God, or else a madman or something worse. You can shut him up for a fool, you can spit at him and kill him as a demon or you can fall at his feet and call him Lord and God, but let us not come with any patronizing nonsense about his being a great human teacher. He has not left that open to us. He did not intend to.”

October 12 – Why? Why Go to Church

In our current culture everything is personalized. We have personalized phones, cars, and even our news feed. Our lives are so individualized that the call to be the body of Christ is confusing to us. This leads to the question, “Why commit to a local church?”

October 5 – Which Church is Best? Living by Grace All the Time

When the Bible teaches us the same thing from different points of view we can miss the connection. When Paul teaches grace he focuses on the failure of the alternative. When Peter teaches on grace he focuses on its transforming power. So, Peter takes grace into the trenches of life so that we will see what it does every day.

September 28 – Which Church is Best? When Life is Tough Sledding

We are surrounded by a culture that tells us that two opposite things are true. First, they tell us that Christianity is not that different from other beliefs because all religions basically teach the same thing. Second, they tell us that faith in Christ is wrong because Christianity is so horrible. Which is it? How does a person live in faith with such contradictory messages?

September 21 – Which Church is Best? Faithful, Yet Worried

There are too great powers that will lead our lives. They are what we love and what we are afraid of. When we love something or someone, we run toward them. When we fear something or someone, we run away from them. Where are you running and why?

September 14 – Which Church is Best? Jesus or Bust

September 7 – Which Church is Best? Choose Joy

August 31 – Which Church is Best? When You Feel Small (Part 2)

August 24 – Which Church is Best? When You Feel Small (Part 1)

August 17 – Which Church is Best? Keep the Main Thing, The Main Thing

August 10 – Which Church is Best? Without Love…

We talk much about love. However, we don’t often define what we mean. The word we use to describe our love of acquaintances and light friends is the same word we use to describe our love of our family and closest friends. When we talk about the love of God and the love of the Christian toward both the saved and the lost, we must be clear about what love we are talking about.

August 3 – Which Church is Best? The Gospel is the Thing

In any group that has believed in Jesus for a while, certain attitudes begin to creep in. They manifest themselves through things like forgetfulness and pride. The answer to these things is to re-embrace the glorious truth of the gospel.

July 27 – We Need Him

If we believe in God, then we know that the simple definition of Him is that He is the greatest of all possible beings. However, that only answers the question, “Is He worth trusting?” Our question today is, “Do I need to trust Him?”

July 20 – God’s Victory, Our Home

We have all heard the phrase, “Keep your eyes on the prize.” Do we? When it comes to the Christian life, do we keep our eyes on the future promises that Jesus has made? Do we see how they are connected to our present life?

July 13 – God’s Glory in the Church

The Bible teaches a double-barreled humility. Yes, it teaches us the humility that challenges pride and arrogance. However, for the church to be the church we must also embrace the other type of humility. It is the humility that God can use such broken people like us to do His glorious work.

July 6 – Trinity, Really?

The doctrine of the trinity can either be a confusing jumble, or the doctrine can shine a light on how truly big our God is. His omnipresence certainly tells us He is big, but omnipresence is relatively easy to imagine. A triune God who is 3 and still 1 is an even bigger reality to imagine.

June 29 – Our Redeeming God

Even though we may have become used to the word redemption, we must realize that what God has done in saving us is either the most foolish act in the history of actions, or it is a profound wisdom that borders on the unimaginable.

June 22 – God’s Sovereignty and Evil

This week on the Front Row – We could solve the problem of evil by making God smaller. Yet, this would be a lie. We could solve the problem of evil by making God less good, yet that, too, would be a lie. So, to understand how our great God is great and can allow evil in the world, we are going to have to look deeper. We are going to have to see how He interacts with us as the sovereign King.

June 15 – When the Pagans Praise Him

In 1 Samuel we read of a pagan country that comes to respect God. They show more reverence for God than His own people. Do we take God’s greatness for granted? How amazing is it that those who don’t know much about God show Him such respect?

June 8 – How is He Worthy? Our Creator

When David thought about creation he was overwhelmed by its grandeur. Specifically, he was overwhelmed that with such a glorious creation God would still make people His great focus. Are we overwhelmed by that thought, too?

June 1 – The Omnis – Not Just About God’s Greatness

Anyone who imagines a being greater than all possible beings imagines a God of supreme power, supreme knowledge, and supreme presence. That’s the easy part. The more challenging part of God’s embracing God’s greatness is discovering how such a great God wants to sit so closely to us.

May 25 – When We Get God, We Get All of Him

We are inconsistent. Very often we are made up of parts that fight for control. God is always consistent. The fancy doctrine term for this is Divine Simplicity. Have you considered what it means that God is consistent?  Have you thought about why it’s important to us that God’s love is combined with His righteousness, and His power, and His omniscience, and all the rest?

May 18 – The Beauty of Holiness

God’s holiness is a declared given from the very beginning of His covenant with His people. He even requires His name to be treated as holy in a separate commandment in the ten commandments. Why is God’s holiness beautiful? Why is His holiness life to us?

May 11 – Prayer. Being Alert and Bold

Everyone needs oxygen. The Bible suggests that everyone needs prayer. When we think someone doesn’t need it, we are doing them a disservice. Prayer is an essential for others and for us. We all need to be ready to pray.

May 4 – Gearing Up to Fight for Our Life

It is very tempting to put on whatever armor you can find when you feel scared, overwhelmed, or hurt. However, it does no good to put on the wrong armor. It only leaves us vulnerable. God’s armor prepares us to truly find victory.

April 27 – Being Prepared to Fight for Jesus

When it comes to our attitude toward mistake making… do we see sin as our inevitable future or as an enemy we must stand against again and again? Like much of life, God urges us to see our struggle with out personal sins with the long view: a stumble today is not the end of the war. It is part of a long line of skirmishes that Jesus will turn into victory!

April 20 – As Good As Promised

The resurrection is the pivotal event of the gospel of Jesus. In it we can see the approval of God upon the sacrifice of His Son. In the resurrection we also see a profound power that calls us to respond.

April 13 – A Closer Look at the Cross of Jesus

Pastor Alex shares with us the account of the crucifixion. It is a thoughtful remembrance of what Jesus experienced and did for us.

April 6 – Preparing for the Resurrection

As we consider what Jesus did in John 11, we discover that we need to get ready for the resurrection. Then, we need to tell others!

March 30 – Imitating God When We Go to Work

Working can be more than just making a living, getting paid, or even doing what you love. Jesus gives us the opportunity to make our work an offering to Him.

March 23 – Trust in Focus…

There are so many things that we rely on everyday that we first learned when we were children. That is both a wonderful and challenging truth. As believers, we have the opportunity to grow in looking like Christ with our families. In the Christian family it is where we first learn what Christ-like means.

March 16 – The Wisdom of Imitation (2) – Becoming Like Jesus

Are we people who have merely the form of godliness but have no power?  If we have never embraced Christ’s new way of thinking about life, we have no real power.

March 9 – The Wisdom of Imitation: The Light of Life

How do we get more of God’s light into our lives?  How do we see our life for what it really is?  We are given the answer here.  Wisdom comes not in principles, rules, and facts. Light comes as we imitate God. There is no other way to get it.

March 2 – Why Imitation is Important

Believing in Jesus is just that: believing.  Real beliefs change us. The proof is not in what we say.  The proof is in what we do.  That is why genuinely imitating God is so important.

February 23 – Loved Children, Confident Children

It has been said that imitation is the sincerest form of flattery.  What does it mean, though, to imitate God?

February 16 – Choices In Light of Eternity

Christians are called to make a permanent choice regarding the type of life we will live.  However, the other path continues to beckon us.  We must make no mistake. There is a difference between the paths.  Living as Christians calls us to make our choices for Christ.

February 9 – Truth, Anger, Greed

Christians sometimes believe that the culture around them just needs some minor changes to be acceptable to God. That belief often ignores the reality that those “minor” problems are persistently pulling us away from God’s truth. The best man-made system will be corrupted by sin.  God’s way will either challenge and guide us or we will be corrupted by our culture.

February 2 – Laying Aside The Old You

When it comes to our salvation, there are implications everywhere. The implication that is the foundation of all the other implication is that we have been saved to live a new life.

January 26 – Give Up Immaturity

In a child, mixed up thinking can be cute. However, we all want to grow out of the misconceptions of childhood. God wants us to do the same with the mixed up thinking that leads away from Jesus. He calls us to resist it.

January 19 – Growing Together

What does it look like for a Christian to grow up? The measure of growing up as a Christian is to look more like Christ. We must think deeply about what that really looks like.

January 12 – The Gifts that Unite and Grow

Why are we here? We ask that, but often the answer we are looking for is all about self-fulfillment. Such a search will be less than fulfilling if it is just about us. Our true answer lies outside of self. Our answer lies with God’s declared mission.

January 5 – What I Want for You

Hear a pastor’s heart in this statement: Imitate me as I imitate Christ. Every pastor longs to pass on essentials to their people. These essentials include both truths we know and the type of people we are to become.

December 29 – A Dragon at Christmas

A dragon at the nativity seems like a pretty weird picture, doesn’t it? However, Revelation 12 gives us a different nativity picture. It pictures a dragon intent on destroying the redemption child. It also pictures that child becoming the King of All! What a Savior!

December 22 – Lasting Love

1 John 3:1-3 1 See how great a love the Father has bestowed on us, that we would be called children of God; and such we are. For this reason the world does not know us, because it did not know Him. 2 Beloved, now we are children of God, and it has not appeared as yet what we will be. We know that when He appears, we will be like Him, because we will see Him just as He is. 3 And everyone who has this hope fixed on Him purifies himself, just as He is pure.

December 15 – Immanuel, God With Us

It is something for God to give us a goal to shoot for.  It is quite another for God to come and live that goal for us.  This is Jesus. In the name, Immanuel, we discover what that goal is and how to live in it.

December 8 – The Son of God

Names can tell us truths that give us confidence. Jesus’ names tell us truths that we need in order to stand in this world.  His name, the Son of God, gives us the foundation we need for true peace.

December 1 – The Branch

We are used to hearing the name “Son of David” in the New Testament in reference to Jesus.  It is the name Branch that tells us what that means.  May we rejoice that our King has come.

November 24 – The Grateful Heart

November 17 – The Generous Heart

God asks us to let how we use our money be a tangible expression of grace. God asks us to keep growing in how we understand how money meets our needs and invests the future until we live out God’s grace in our generosity.

November 10 – The Key to Unity

If our life is about secondary things, then staying unified becomes harder. Our circle will be small, and who we truly connect with will be few. If we identify and value the One who is supremely important, then connecting with any who value Him becomes a reality.

November 3 – Too Small?

Scripture is clear.  Looking powerless doesn’t matter.  Power is not found in how we look or how we feel.  True ability to affect change is found in Jesus.

October 27 – Letting Our Relationship Influence Us

If we are really going to go against the way the world does things, we are going to have to catch a new vision.  The only way to catch that vision is by listening to someone different.

October 20 – The Heart of a Christian – An Essential Relationship (part 2)

Some may wonder about how much we talk about a relationship with Jesus.  However, the Scripture is clear that along with our commitment to Jesus as our King comes our relationship to Jesus as our friend.  It is that relationship component that we too often neglect.

October 6 – The Bold Christian

From where does courage come? Healthy courage doesn’t come from a false belief that we are bullet proof.  That creates recklessness.  In fact, it cannot come from inside us at all.  Courage comes from our trust in a truth that is outside us.

September 29 – True Christian Humility

True Christian humility is not feeling like we are less than others.  Christian humility is not a suffering but a joy. If humility and joy seem to be a contradiction then understanding what humility truly is must be our next step.  

September 22 – The Heart of a Christian

Fulfillment is important for all of us.  However, we will never find fulfillment as long as our personal fulfillment is the goal.  Since we are made in the image of God, we only find fulfillment when the heart stops looking at itself and looks at others.

September 15 – Saved to Connect

Paul has shared with us unexpected warnings: separation, exclusion, hopelessness, and homelessness. Today he shares with us unexpected blessings that come from trusting Jesus.

September 8 – Graciously Grafted

Our Associate Pastor shares about how we have been graciously grafted in. What does that grace call you to do?

September 1 – Feast at the Open Table

Our Associate Pastor shares about the glorious grace of our God. His table is open. Is ours?

August 25 – Separated from God

Danger signs.  When we don’t see them we are surprised when the warning comes sharply.  Yet, God’s warnings are so important!

August 18 – What the Cross Gives Us

There are Christians who only know what they are avoiding when we talk about getting saved. Salvation is about much more than avoiding hell. There is a glorious life to discover when a person comes to Jesus to be saved.

August 11 – We Need Forgiveness

God’s Word is clear. We need Jesus. We all need Jesus. Jesus did not come just to help the really bad people. Perhaps He did, but we are all really bad. Is that a truth we are ready to accept?

August 4 – Not By Our Own Power

It is easy to get discouraged with the storms and battering of life. The greatest discouragement comes when we forget the power that is with us – when we think that we face them on our own.  Remember, the power of Jesus is with us!  

July 28 – Aligning Our Life Vision

Our spiritual sight affects everything we experience.  We sometimes wonder how we should pray for people (even ourselves).  Paul gives us the answer.  We must pray for our spiritual sight!

July 21 – The Power of the Average Testimony

What do we believe about God’s ability to use us to bring someone else to Him? Do we limit Him because of some flaw in us? It is time for us to understand anew what it means that we serve a big God.

July 14 – What Has Jesus Done?

Many people think of the death of Jesus as an important thing.  Some may even think of His death as pivotal.  However, it is difficult (yet so important) for us to grasp truly what Jesus has done for us if we don’t know fully what He brings us.

July 7 – What Makes God Great?

How do we feel when surrounded by those who believe differently than us? Do we feel small? Do we wonder if we are right? Do we struggle with the constant pull to be quiet about our faith, stop making waves, or quit being so judgmental? It is time we discover what makes it possible to stand firm as followers of Jesus in a sea that constantly pulls against Him.

June 30 – Careful Touching the Bones!

We struggle with how we are supposed to respond when God urges us to make sure of our faith. Is guilt the proper response? Should we protest that we are, of course people of saving faith? Or, is this a time to reaffirm our faith and shake off the substitutes for faith that cannot possibly hold us up when the hard times come.

June 23 – God Keeps His Promises

It may seem like some promises of God are slow to happen, but God is always working. Will we have the eyes of eternity to see what God is doing?

June 16 – God Restores and God Brings Low…

Every adult human being has wrestled with two connected problems: the existence of sin and the existence of pain. We see both problems wrestled with throughout Scripture. God’s answer is not focused on suddenly removing those struggles. God’s answer is that He is still working and redeeming us through those struggles.

June 9 – Unexpected Joy When Times are Hard

June 2 – Horror and Disbelief When Times Are Hard

When Christians talk about how bad life can get, we aren’t just talking about the circumstances of life. Circumstances can get bad for anyone. We are talking about something deeper. We are talking about hope.

May 26 – Fun & Games With the God of the Universe

The hymn, “Trust and Obey,” begins with the words, “When we walk with the Lord, in the light of His Word…” All the verses share this truth: there are lessons we learn from Jesus primarily as we live them.

May 19 – What Do You Value?

Have you ever wondered what your point of compromise might be? For the servant of Elisha it was a few changes of clothes and 2 years salary. May we find the strength of faith or character to resist compromise!

May 12 – Did God Really Say That?

Should the way of Jesus be the only real choice for us? Is it bad for us to believe Jesus and also have a plan “B” in case His way doesn’t work? We must wrestle with how the idea that following Jesus just until His way doesn’t “work” undermines and dismantles our faith.

May 5 – In Case You Missed It… God Provides!

We say that God provides. However, when we say that we are not talking about a type of providence where we are merely passive observers to the work of God. God provides in, through, AND beyond us.

April 28 – God, When the Trouble Comes

It can be hard to walk with others when trouble comes. If we do walk with others then, we will get to join them in praising the God who saves.

April 21 – The Faithfulness of God to the Faithful

It is tempting to us to turn God’s promises of faithful love into bumper stickers about protection as if God works like a deflector shield. The truth of God’s faithfulness through the hard times is much more profound than that.

April 14 – The Need for Mercy

April 7 – 3 Kings and a Prophet

March 31 – The Picture of Our Risen Lord

A picture is worth a thousand words. God paints a picture with words through John  to capture our imaginations. God’s picture is the glory of our risen Lord.

March 24 – The Cross Defeats Despair

We try so many things to fill the void in our lives. Activity, substances, and even righteous acts do not fill that void. Jesus does! Scripture(s): Hebrews 10:1-25

March 17 – A Prophet Approved

Faith can seem like a profound leap. It can make us nervous. God does not leave us alone in our faith. He comes alongside us and shows us why we can trust Him.

March 10 – The Mantle is Passed

In Elijah’s final days, Elisha shows us key choices that the faithful follower of God consistently makes. These choices reveal to us where we need to focus our attention.

March 3 – Watching and Learning

There are two ways to learn the important lessons God is teaching us. We can pay attention to God’s Word and God’s people OR hard experiences can teach us in painful and costly ways. Elisha’s early ministry urges us to learn from the former.

February 25 – The Call of Elisha

Following God and Jesus is straightforward when the voices around us support it. When urged to deepen our walk or when the voices around us tell us faithfulness to Jesus doesn’t matter, we find in those moments that following Jesus is a surprising struggle.

February 18 – Remember This…

Paul’s final letter challenges us with this question – Why do you say that you follow Jesus? Are you running from something? Or, are you running to the One who is truly glorious?

February 11 – The Heart of the Faithful Christian

As we come to the end of Paul’s letter to Timothy, we see a man who believes that he will leave this world very soon. He is ready. He is not ready because his body is weak. He is not ready because he is sick of the world. He is ready because His heart is like Jesus.

February 4 – We Need Support?

How do we see Paul? Powerful? Aloof? If Paul is a giant in the faith, would it surprise us to discover that he needed his family of faith?

January 28 – Leaving a Legacy

Paul declares that he has “fought the good fight, finished the course, and kept the faith.” If you were at that place, what one thing would you want your family and friends to know about the faith you have in Jesus?

January 21 – Embrace the Call

When a church isn’t sure that it is what it wants to be, that is a stressful time. When a church pushes against God’s call, true peace cannot be found.

January 14 – Trust the Bible, Find Life

Jesus has offered us true life in Him. One of the struggles of living that true life is how often we trust our own feelings and experience rather than His teachings. Yet, He still tells us to trust Him first, last, and always.

January 7 – Where Good Character is Needed

Paul concludes the second chapter of 2 Timothy urging followers of Jesus to live in such a way that they have nothing to be ashamed of. This week he reveals why such character is needed. It is needed precisely because such character will not be valued.

December 31 – Resolved to Shine for Jesus

As we think about what we have learned this last year, are we resolved to shine for Jesus? Let’s think about our resolution to shine for Him this week.

December 24 – Mary, What Did You Know?

We see the love of God come down in Jesus. Mary’s song of praise reminds us of God’s great love!

December 17 – Joy Inexpressible

Joy is a movement of the soul. Joy is the soul declaring that something is so significant to us that it changes our entire understanding of life. Jesus is that joy.

December 10 – The Promised Peace

Peace means to be at rest. We need to be at rest between us and God. We need to be at rest between us and other people. We need to be at rest inside ourselves. Who can do such a feat? Jesus.

December 3 – Where is Your Hope?

The complete confidence that someone has because of the power and character of God is called hope. We have this hope because we have seen God work. We have this hope because of who God is. Our hope can rest in Jesus.

November 26 – What to Do With Wealth

When we think about blessing, we don’t often consider how wealth reveals what is already in our hearts. So, what are we doing with the wealth that we have now? Are we rich toward God?

November 19 – Being Thankful Rather than Just Doing

When we talk about doing the will of God, we tend to think of activities. We rarely think about our character as the will of God. Even less, do we think about a heart that is thankful.

November 12 – Unashamed Workmen Live Unashamed Lives

How do we make ourselves into vessels of honor? How do we make ourselves useful to Jesus?

November 5 – Disciples Let the Word Speak

Unfortunately, in our ME obsessed culture, we are always asking how things affect US. When we study the Bible we need to ask a different question.  Only then will we hear accurately what God has to say

October 29 – A Gospel Worth Proclaiming

Paul repeatedly says that he is sharing ‘his gospel’. What was Paul’s gospel? What is yours?

October 22 – Mentoring: A Modern Word for Discipleship

We are called to make disciples. To do so means that we reach out to someone else and walk with them. Walking with others in this way is called mentoring. It is also called discipleship.

October 15 – Committed to the Gospel

Paul has urged us to know that believing in Jesus is worth it. Now he turns his attention to how we can show that we know it. We show our confidence through the clarity of our message.

October 8 – Embrace the Foolishness of Being a Christian

There are two types of shame spoken about in the Bible. We talk often about the shame connected with failure. However, we are even more familiar with the feeling of shame that comes with being made to look like a fool.

October 1 – Faith Passed On

Jesus talked compared our life of faith to a person who has treasures to share. Have you thought about what those rich in faith share with you? Their lives are worth learning from.

September 24 – The Church’s Commitment to the Word

What makes a church noble? The answer may surprise us. We are told in the Psalms that we should love the law of God. The New Testament church that was called noble was the church that was committed to the Word of God. Is that us?

September 17 – Sin and Restoration in the Body of Christ

When we talk about sin we are tempted to focus on the failure. However, life rarely ends with such failure. Life goes on. Life usually has opportunities for change, growth, and success. It is this hope in the work of God that brings us to Jesus. It is this hope in the work of God that makes us believe that He will work in us when we fail too.

September 10 – The Saints Suffer

September 3 – Conflict and Need in the Body of Christ

Life in the church is still life in a broken world. God doesn’t take us out of the brokenness. He gives us tools and attitudes that express to one another the grace we have all received from God. This grace allows us to hear one another, reconcile, and walk forward together in hope.

August 27, 2023 – Character of the Church

There is no critically cowardly careless church!

August 20, 2023 – Baptism – An Outward Testimony of an Inward Transformation

Water is important to life. It keeps most of God’s creation alive and healthy. It is also an important symbol of life. Clean water speaks to us of a clean and pure life. This is the statement that baptism makes.

August 13, 2023 – The Call to Share

Pastor Alex opens up the Word of God to urge us to consider how we might be a part of Jesus’s Great Commission. What will be your part?

August 6, 2023 – Those With Whom God is Pleased

Often, even Christians will praise non-Christian character traits.  Think of the harsh Christian who can put that lost person in their place. We envy their supposed boldness.  Or, we think that being cunning is better than being innocent.  We must be very careful that we do not let the ends justify the means, and in doing so negate what Jesus has taught.

July 30 – Jesus Shares the Gospel

After Nicodemus came to Jesus, Jesus began one of the most important teachings of the New Testament. Jesus teaches the New Testament in miniature. Jesus tells him the good news. (sound quality is a little diminished because we were outside)

July 23 – Circumstances, Faith and Answered Prayer

The hope in the struggles of life is not just that Heaven is coming for us. The hope in the struggles of life is also found as we embrace a God-focused and God-character-trusting view of those struggles.

July 16 – Walk Together On Purpose

Wanting to urge your fellow Christian to walk more like Jesus must come from a love that has earned the opportunity to do so. It also must come from the hope of what Jesus has said – that He wants to do so much more in each of our lives than we ask or imagine.

July 9 – Does God Want Me?

We may not always realize it, but we have a deep need to be accepted. People use their work to prove their worth. They use their relationships to let them know they are worthy. Ultimately, people want to know if they are forever accepted by God.

July 2 – Can I Be Trusted?

We don’t need to verbalize the promises of love. However, our everyday interactions with fellow Christians should communicate clearly that we can be trusted with their heart.

June 18 – The Christian Heart: Bending Toward One Another

What does it mean to regard each other as more important than us? What does it look like? It looks like a person holding someone else up when they are too weak to stand on their own. It looks like that all the time.

June 11 – Living in Grace – A Life of True Conviction

Many times people associate the word ‘conviction’ with words like ‘strident’ or ‘unapproachable’ or ‘angry’. All of those words describe a person’s character. We are encouraged to have conviction. We are told that those other words should not really be a part of our character. Christian convictions must be different.

June 4 – Living in Grace with Others

Have you shared grace with others?  No, this time we are not talking about witnessing.  This time I am talking about living with people in grace.  Not judgment.  Not legalism. Not criticism.  Grace.

May 28 – The Good Debt

The Bible talks about love in a peculiar way. God invites us to see love as a kind of debt. It isn’t a debt we want to be rid of. It is a debt that we want to always have hanging over our head.

May 21 – Letting God Be in Charge

How big is your God? Is He big enough to change how you see yourself?  Is He big enough to change how you see your family? Is He big enough to change how you see your government?

May 14 – Authentic Love

Romans 12:9 “Let love be without hypocrisy. Abhor what is evil; cling to what is good.” Sounds easy, doesn’t it?!

May 7 – Eccentric is Normal

Do Christians understand that we are to be a peculiar people? What will make us peculiar?  Because our thinking is to be completely different!

April 30 – Overcome by God’s Mercy

When we ask questions we discover things that we miss in simple reading. As we think about Paul’s declaration of praise this week, the congregation discusses together what questions Paul’s praise brings to mind. In the discussion we discover the glory of the God who shows us such mercy.

April 23 – The Promise Keeping God

Our God is a promise keeping God. We believe this rationally, but do we believe it the way God’s people in His word believe it? It was their bedrock when times were hard. It was their unshakable truth when life was confusing. It is an essential part of stepping out in faith. God keeps His promises!

April 16 – The Test of the Christ-like Heart

Paul’s hope in God’s sovereign plan was not based on bravado or self-confidence. Faith in God is just that. It is faith in God. The proof of our faith is a strange one – humility.

April 9 – Why Does The Resurrection Matter?

When we come to the week Jesus died, we focus much on the details. We think about the suffering. We think about His sacrifice. Yet, the early church believed so strongly in the importance of the resurrection that they changed the day of worship because of it. Why is the resurrection so important?

April 2 – The Cross of Christ

Pastor Alex tells the story of the cross from Psalm 118 and Isaiah 53. We know that Jesus came to die. Do we know why? We know that it was God’s plan that Jesus die for us. Do we know how He felt about Christ’s death?

March 26 – The God-Trusting Heart

What attitude do you expect from people who say, “God is in charge. People are selfish both by accident and on purpose. Judgment is coming, and we keep resisting God?” Can you believe that the attitude is hope?

March 19 – When God Says Hard Things

When thinking about what God is doing in our lives we must spend time considering God’s purpose. We must spend enough time thinking about His purpose that we embrace that purpose as our own. His purpose is to reveal to His loved ones His glory.

March 12 – Don’t Give Up on Them

When we try to understand what God is doing in the lives of difficult people, it can be tempting to look at a couple of pieces of information and jump to conclusions. However, the Christian’s call is to see life and the people in it as Jesus sees. We must understand life using truth rather than personal experience.

March 5 – How Will They Hear?

February 26 – God’s Greatest Gift – Jesus!

How does one become a Christian? In a question and answer format, Pastor John shares with us a key scripture that explains just that!

February 19 – The Failure of Effort

There are two difficult heart questions for Christians to answer. The first is the question of evil: “If God is so good and powerful, why is there so much evil in the world?” The second is the question of good people: “Why do good people ignore and reject Jesus? We examine the second question this week.

February 12 – A Powerful Mercy

What is the natural result of sin?  The natural result is death and separation from God. How can we escape the natural course? We escape only if someone intervenes.  That someone was and is God.

February 5 – Mercy and Compassion

January 29 – Wants & Truth

When it comes to salvation, many struggle facing reality.  Many run from salvation believing that they will be all right in the end.  Many ignore the truths of Jesus in the vain hope that there will be a plan B. The child of God hears the call of Christ’s truth.  They don’t just hear it for themselves.  They hear its call to everyone.

January 22 – Conquering in Christ

What leads to living a defeated life is not just our struggles or our failures. We all have those. What leads to a defeated life is a lack of certainty about who is on your side. If we can’t be certain that God will ALWAYS love us, then there are all sorts of circumstances that can knock us down.

January 15 – Praying with Confidence

When we pray, we can get caught up in theology and words. Yet, the prayers of God’s people in His word don’t look like that. They are passionate pleas to a loving Father. They pray like that because they remember how God has loved them.

January 8 – The Power for Living: The Resurrection!

‘Out of death,’ was more that a spiritual idea for Paul. The promised resurrection of the body to match the spiritual resurrection that salvation brought gave Paul great confidence. Does it give you the same confidence?

January 1 – Anna and Simeon Lead the Way

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