Each week our pastors study diligently to deliver practical, thought-provoking messages from the Word of God.
We need to learn to inconvenience ourselves. Getting involved in the nitty gritty of the lives of other people is not something Christians generally do well. However, Christ is concerned that we not only avoid evil but that we also do good.
Read MoreA lack of gratitude creates something that is ugly. It is destructive and originates with Satan. Discontentment robs us of the joy of having enough. Discontentment is a complaint against God and would be better directed at ourselves than at our circumstances. All of us are where we are for a reason. We often find ourselves on the road we travel down. We live in a world of sowing and reaping: good for good and evil for evil. Additionally, we are where we are because God has at least allowed us to be here. Through faith, we can have joy in the midst of our circumstances knowing that He is in control.
Read MoreAt the end of chapter 17, Satan's kingdom, which began at the beginning of time, will be ended and the world's religious system along with it. God's judgment and sovereignty will again be demonstrated. God's hatred and unfiltered feelings toward religion and anything else that pulls man away from Himself is on graphic display in this text. What are the harlots and what is in the golden cup that keep us from an intimate relationship with God? God forbid that, in our lives, there would be any part of the structure that one day He intends to destroy.
Read MoreWe have all experienced God's grace in a mighty way. It has saved us, and it has changed us. Having experienced God's grace, having experienced His goodness, we are to be conduits of that goodness. If we choose to be nominal Christians and choose not to avail ourselves to the grace available, we not only diminish our own lives, but we diminish the lives of others because we cease to be conduits.
Read MorePain and suffering may change direction, but neither can change the heart. Suffering only hardens a heart that has rejected God. We must allow His goodness to lead us to repentance because His wrath will not. And God's wrath is a terrible thing to experience.
Read MoreWhat you know should inform what you do. Israel was failing to remember their relationship with God. The relationship they had known should have informed their behavior, but they had forgotten. We must remember.
Read MoreGod's final judgment is looming just over the horizon of human history. Our Good is holy, and He despises the sin in our hearts and in His world. Our sin and our rejection of His salvation offends Him. The day of God's wrath is coming. He will judge the world and make all things right. In light of this reality, what manner of person ought you to be?
Read MoreDoctrinal, biblical teaching is of vital importance for our children. It plays a vital role in developing a love for God in the hearts of our children. However, happiness helps. Happiness can create a special affection in their hearts for the things of God if connected with the things of God.
Read MoreEvery person has an innate desire to be accepted and included. Jesus was amazingly approachable. He was a friend of sinners. He was a conduit of God's grace. We need to be the same.
Read MoreOne day very soon, the Lord is going to return, and He will execute revenge on all of those who’ve oppressed His people. But He’s not just returning to make things right; He’s also bringing with Him a reward for those who have done good. We must make it a goal every day of our lives to remember that that day is coming very soon and we need to be ready for it.
Read MoreIt is in the nature of all of us to be selfish. However, by keeping in our selfishness, we lose. This is a principle of God’s world. We impoverish ourselves by hoarding when we should be generous.
Read MoreHumanity has been given the amazing opportunity to choose God. However, humanity has largely refused Him collectively and individually. We will all be held eternally accountable for the choice we make.
Read MoreWe need to guard against always seeing evil in others and not in ourselves. Sometimes the greatest evil in our hearts is the way we see other people. Instead of seeing the faults of others and wishing judgment on them, we ought to try to make a difference in the world.
Read MoreTrue Christians entrust their care to Christ, no matter what the world brings their way. True followers of Christ are not fair-weather believers. No matter what life brings us, it has passed through the hands of our savior, and we are protected. We are to rest in that fact. Our contrast with the world should not change because our way of life is threatened.
Read MoreAs a church family, we are instructed to give to the work of the Lord equally. If one member (or group of members) gives more than another, less is being accomplished, and some are being over burdened. Christ desires everyone to be involved in accomplishing his mission for the church.
Read MoreWe have a choice before us regarding our giving. Our choice will reflect what we esteem, what’s important to us. We make choices about what’s important to us every moment of every day. We choose what to invest our limited resources in.
Read MoreThe word of God repeatedly warns us against believing the deceptive teachings of false prophets. There is perhaps no greater danger to God’s people than the intentional mixing of truth and falsehood. As God’s timetable for our planet draws to a conclusion, there will be a proliferation of those who will teach a compromised version of God’s word for selfish gain and self aggrandizement. The apex of all those who distort the truth of the Bible will be the Antichrist and his false prophet.
Read MoreWe can't go into God's presence and expect Him to receive our worship if we dishonor and abuse those He loves and those who are created in His image. Your treatment of others is a reflection of your estimation of the value of God.
Read MoreThe inevitable cannot be escaped. Life in a fallen world has inevitable hardship and hurt. We can't escape all things, but by the grace of God, we can survive all things. The things that hurt us do not have to destroy us. We win by dying in faith. A world of darkness and God-hating is inevitable. Be prepared for the inevitability of hardship, and be ready to endure it in faith.
Read MoreThe second great offense in the book of Malachi was that the priests were allowing the first to take place. They were accepting and facilitating faulty worship. Because the Levites were provided for by the people, they were literally hurting themselves by accepting the pathetic offerings from the people. So the people were being lead to stumble, and by their stumbling they were hurting those who were leading. Our failure to do right hurts ourselves and others. We diminish our lives and the lives of others by failing to uphold the truth.
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