Sunday, April 11, 2021. Matthew 28:16-20 | “Behold, I Am With You." In context, “The Great Commission” is the climax of the Easter story! It presents the fulfillment of the promises of Easter and propels the Church forward on mission to make disciples in submission to Jesus’ total authority. Positioned at the end of Matthew’s Gospel, we are reminded again that genuine faith is not based on what is seen, but acts upon what is heard in the form of obedience to God’s Word.

Introduction I love ancient civilizations and so from time to time I will look at pictures and read articles about them. It is incredible to me that right now buildings exist that were constructed in ancient times. For example, the isle of Malta is home to temples believed to be several thousand years…

Will you trust God even when life hurts?

There is a good chance that you have or have seen one or more copies of the Chicken Soup Books. What started out as one book of inspirational stories designed to encourage us, has now turned into a huge series of books. Everyone needs encouragement. The popularity of these books show us that many people…

Introduction Main Idea : Suffering and affliction are going to happen. It is how we respond to it that is important. Are you growing bitter? or are you growing better? Illustration : Confession. You guys might not think the same about me after this, but you need to know. I sometime like chick flicks.…

Reading: 2Kings 4:8-37 When she reached the man of God at the mountain, she took hold of his feet. Gehazi came over to push her away, but the man of God said, “Leave her alone! She is in bitter distress, but the Lord has hidden it from me and has not told me why.” 2Kings 4:27 (NIV) I. An Unasked promise…

By Pastor Glenn Pease The danger of making a hero out of a man who does a great thing after a long time of doing nothing is that you give the impression that there was nothing lost by doing it that way. A man lives a life of sin, or of indifference to God's will, and suddenly he sees the light and is…

It’s in your family where you will usually experience your greatest joys and also your greatest heartaches. Watching our children grow, knowing the love of a spouse that is steady and sure, and sharing milestones and celebrations are certainly among life’s greatest joys. On the other side, divorce, conflict,…

Introduction Last week we introduced Xerxes a King of kings that was a fool. Showing off his glory through a 6 month party and then throwing a 7th day part for the common folk. Where every single guest got a unique Gold cup. and You thought your grab bags were cool. When he is really drunk he decides…

A Time to Gain and a Time to Lose You have heard it said, "It is the decisions that kill me"; and there is an element of truth in that. It all depends on the kind of decisions that are made. If we make the right choices, the inevitable consequences will be demonstrated in a life of righteousness. On…

Introduction Have you ever experienced addition by subtraction? Have you ever experienced a loss that made your life better? All of us dread the thought of loss — the loss of a job or a friendship or a responsibility — and we fight as hard as possible to prevent experiencing any of these losses. But,…

Each of us can have our own redemption story because we have a God who specializes in turning bad things into good things.

Funerals can sometimes be interesting. When a number of people are given the opportunity to speak at a funeral you discover people sometimes have bizarre ideas of what is appropriate to say at a funeral. Sometimes the weather makes a funeral interesting. There have been times when it has been bitterly…

Disorder, Deprivation, Disruption, and Death are our common lot in this fallen world, but none of these distressing circumstances falls outside the guiding providence of God.

Grief & Mourning “Grief is the painful emotion of sorrow caused by the loss or impending loss of anyone or anything that has deep meaning to you.” Biblical Counseling Keys on Grief Recovery, June Hunt. Be gracious to me, O Lord , for I am in distress; my eye is wasted from grief; my soul and my body…

Over the last few weeks, we have begun to explore Paul’s letter to the church in Philippi. We have learned that Paul thought that the church needs to live a life that exhibits our belief that God is always in control. We learned that Paul believes, even when things are at their worst, that we need to…

We explore the many losses people can experience in life, the inner responses we experience (grief) and the outward expressions of those responses (mourning). A rough timeline of grief is edscribed, as well as how we can accompany those who are grieving.

In this world we’re bombarded with temptation to focus on ourselves. Our status, popularity, career, authority, position, wealth, security, time, race, nationality, sexuality, feelings, thoughts, identity. All of these used by Satan to bring our focus off of Jesus and onto ourselves. Religious Leaders were bringing a works-based teaching into the Philippian church. Match this with a Philippian culture striving for status and position, it was a recipe for disaster. Paul addresses the problem.

Intro – A doctor comes in and tells his patient, “I have some very bad news for you.” The man said, “What’s that, Doc?” “Your tests came back and you have only 24 hours to live. But I have some even worse news.” The man said, “What could be worse than that?” The doctor said, “I was supposed to tell you…

The Death of Jesus marked the temporary death of hope for humity.

We all face grief in this life, everyone loses someone they love. We can be so thankful that we have a God who understands what grief feels like. A God who did something about grief. He came to end loss and grief by paying for sin on the cross.

Even in our greatest seasons of loss and loneliness, God continues to provide for and providentially guide his people.

Welcome to the memorial service of Lisa Shor. I never had the pleasure of meeting Lisa myself. But they say you can learn a lot about the character of someone by examining the characteristics of those they’ve influenced. So we look at one of the individuals Lisa had the most influence over. Her son Billy.…

It is important to do God's work God's way; the cost of carnality is severe, but the reward of faithfulness is sweet. Mistaking the Source of spiritual growth means missing the mark in ministry!