Love is more than feelings, and the kind of love that is a fruit of the Spirit is the kind of love that takes action. The Greek word for that love is agape, and that love is a love that takes action and understands self-sacrifice. Christmas shows us that God took action and sent Jesus to humankind because he was motivated by love. How are you going to express the kind of love that takes action?
The words ‘good’ or ‘goodness’ don’t mean much these days. But if we look at the Bible’s definition for goodness, we begin to realize that it is strongly tied into the very nature of God, Himself. Jesus teaches us that goodness flows from the heart. God wants our hearts to become good so that we will be good and reflect his character. In this message, we explore how our hearts can become good as we experience the goodness of God.
Jesus is our example in all things, and our goal, as a disciple of Jesus, is to imitate his life.
It is so easy for us to become complacent with sin in our lives. The world around us tells us that sin is completely normal and that we don’t need to be weird or different from our culture because of our faith. Jesus calls us to take drastic actions to be free of sin to experience the full life that he has for us.
The kingdom of God can be so personal and intimate, but it is also so much bigger than our worldview and our limited perspective. The kingdom is bigger than my world. King Jesus asks us to join him in his mission to love the least of these. This message is very focused on launching Compassion sponsorships in Santa Rosa, Ecuador.
What is your life focused on? If we are focused or over-occupied by the things of this world, it can lead us to worry, but if we are focused on God and his kingdom, he promises to take care of us and provide for our needs. Jesus has a lot to say about worry. He teaches us that we are valuable to him, and as we seek first His kingdom, He will provide for our practical needs.
It is human nature to forget things. This Psalm reminds us that a life with God has so many benefits, and we need to remember what they are. When we remember God’s goodness, it results in praise!
Psalm 27 was written by King David, and we can get a glimpse of his relationship with God, and his confidence in God, as we read it. In this message, we explore where David’s confidence came from and how we can cultivate the same confidence in our lives.
Every one of us experiences disruption in our lives, and we often wonder where God is, what He is doing, and how we should respond. This week we will look at how Ruth responded to her disruption and how God worked in her response. We cannot get stuck in disruption. We need to get up and do the right thing and then watch as God works out His big picture.
We are challenging our people to be on a mission to reach one person for Jesus, but the truth is that this whole concept can be very intimidating for most people. So many questions arise. Where do we even start? Do I know the right thing to say? The bible often illustrates farming and cultivation to teach us about spiritual truths, and what if these illustrations helped us change the way we think about evangelism. When seeds are planted and cultivated, they are in a process of growth and transformation, and it is the same with us as we engage our one. We are working with God to plant spiritual seeds in our one’s life, but it is God who makes things grow.
We live in a time where we love to put labels on things. Once we label someone or something, it becomes easy not to see the individual. Removing labels allows us to see individuals with inherent worth and will enable us to become peacemakers. Jesus does not look at us with labels but desires to reconcile us to Himself and each other because of His work on the cross.
In order to have peace in our world, and to become the peacemakers we are called to be, we must have peace within and peace with God.
We are going to experience storms in our lives but how should we respond to them. It is so easy to let fear overwhelm us but in the middle of a storm but God has provided us with a way out. We are to respond to the storms of life with faith that Jesus is with us in the storm, he has authority over the storm, and will bring us through the storms of life.
Life can be a bully sometimes and we don’t always feel we have a protector but God is our protector. We will find God as our Protector when we seek his leadership and wait for his deliverance. We can respond in worship as we realize that God is our Protector.
