Each week our pastors study diligently to deliver practical, thought-provoking messages from the Word of God.
God chooses to accomplish His will through His own power, not man’s. God saves and protects His people through his own power. We are limited in power and resources, God is not. The primary means by which God’s people are to achieve victory and success is God’s power. If we think we can win in life and gain success based on human effort and wisdom alone, we are sorely misguided.
Read MoreAs Jesus begins to break the seals in chapter 6, the events that follow are awful and terrifying. God effectively removes all restraining grace from the earth, and man is left to face the consequences of his own depravity. The result is catastrophic. We’re reading of a future reality; what should be our response? Future realities ought to press themselves into present conduct and behavior. This revelation is a demonstration of what our sin looks like unchecked. The irony of the tribulation is that those who sided with Satan think they are winning. Their sin brings them gain for a short time, but the reality of sin is that it will always cannibalize itself. Every time we willfully sin we bring tribulation on ourselves.
Read MoreYou reap what you sow. If you want your life to be better, plant seeds now. The only thing that stands between you and what God wants for you is probably you. People often give up on something that is better because it is hard. God wants to bless us, but we have to do our part. We have to sow.
Read MoreHumanity’s hope is utterly dependent on the Lord Jesus Christ. Christ alone has the power to redeem our lives. Our everything is dependent on Christ. No meaning can be found outside of Him.
Read MoreGod says, “Your relationship with me will be evidenced by the way you treat other people.” God is concerned about the vulnerable. God is concerned with social justice. He is concerned that those who have the power to help others do so. A gospel void of a desire to help others is not pleasing to God.
Read MoreThis passage is a picture of what heaven will be like. As human beings, we bow down and pay homage to countless other things. However, there is nothing that compares to the incomprehensible glory of God.
Read MoreGod gave Zechariah a vision, and in chapter 6, God revealed to Zechariah that He is sovereign and in control of everything that is taking place in the world. The theology of God’s sovereignty continues to our present world and current condition. Our understanding of this great Bible truth should be reflected in our faith, our hope, and our praise.
Read MoreFor us to believe that modern Christianity is what God intended, we would be sorely mistaken. The blessing and prosperity in Laodicea was doing something insidious in the hearts of the believers there. God cares what happens in His churches. God’s message to the church at Laodicea was nothing but sadness and rebuke. Their wealth and prosperity made them blind to how useless they were to God. Sometimes our greatest enemy is within ourselves. If Laodicea, in its first century wealth, was rendered useless, what hope is there for us? This is a strong warning. Wealth, success, and security make people weak.
Read MoreThere is no place for abuse of others in a community of faith. We can’t build the community of faith God wants if we are careless in the way we treat other people. We can’t bring Babylon into the church and be okay. There is an evil that, if we’re not careful, can filter and find its way into the church.
Read MoreOne of our greatest human shortcomings is that we are shortsighted. We live for the moment. We live indulgently. We make compromises too easily. We forfeit a better future by living at a low level right now. Present sufferings are worth enduring for life’s future rewards. Some losses incurred in the moment are worth the gain to come in the future.
Read MoreAre you authentic? We often think of authenticity being on the inside, but authentic Christians are externally verifiable. One is not a Christian just because he says so. Anyone can call anything gold, but a simple test will determine whether or not it really is. If one is a real Christian, he will have a spiritual pulse. This is not a question of merit. It is a question of authenticity.
Read MoreGod’s Spirit, power, and Truth are what this world needs. God’s Spirit and Truth are the solution to all of life’s problems, not systems and methodologies. His Spirit is the answer. It’s the answer for your brokenness. It’s the answer for your weakness. It’s the answer for your bitterness. It’s the answer for our church. It’s the answer for your family. It’s the answer for our mountain of challenges. Let us never underestimate the power of the Spirit in our lives, and let us never fail to ask for this power.
Read MoreLove has to have the right impetus and source: Truth. In Thyatira they loved people, but their doctrine was falling apart. This was unsustainable because they had no basis for the love they were demonstrating. Thyatira is alive and well today. If we are going to love people as Christ did, our love must find its source in Truth; otherwise, our love has no foundation.
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