Each week our pastors study diligently to deliver practical, thought-provoking messages from the Word of God.
The trumpets bring about staggering apocalyptic events as God’s wrath is poured out on the earth. The judgment described in chapter 8 is both sobering and unimaginable. The judgment reveals the hardness of men’s hearts as they refuse to repent, even in the face of awesome displays of power and wrath. Sin has a callousing effect on the human heart. We would be prudent to check the condition of our own hearts.
Read MoreWorldly-wisdom, pragmatism, and self-reliance may get you somewhere, but they wont get you where God can get you. Yet, worldly-wisdom, pragmatism, and self-reliance are a huge temptation for us. Trusting things other than God for life's successes and rewards is tempting, but we should not place faith in the world to meet our needs.
Read MoreSin perverts the goodness we are supposed to show to one another. It disrupts our relationships. That is why Paul said "crucify the Flesh." Our flesh is dead, and we are made alive in the Spirit. Since our life is in the Spirit, we ought to act like it. This should improve our relationships
Read MoreMercy is not getting what we deserve. We become the recipients of mercy by grace through faith in Jesus Christ. In chapter 7, 144,000 redeemed people sing and rejoice because of this reality.
Read MoreGod 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 MoreSpecial Guest: Furgus Tunnell
Whether or not God is King of our lives is evidenced by our lifestyle. When we dethrone God, we invite horrible consequences. When we keep God in His place, we invite blessing. Don’t dethrone God.
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 MoreWhen we stand before the judge, how will the Lord find you: guilty or not guilty? We are not to presume on God’s grace but to grow in it. We are to grow and be better people each and every day. The Lord should not find us the same as the day He saved us. We ought to be better.
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 MoreThe world may scoff. The world may mock and ask, “Where is the Lord?” But the reality is that the Lord is coming back; it will be a day of judgment, and it will not be a good day for those opposed to God. However, God is long-suffering, and every day He delays His coming is a display of His patience. The only reason He delays His coming is that men might repent. God values lost people, and we ought to be part of the process of bring men to faith in Him.
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 MoreThe belief that “we can do what we want because we are already saved” is empty. The people that teach that and similar beliefs are like a well without water. They have no depth; their lives are empty. Are you a dry well? If someone came to you would they leave thirsty or quenched? How do you fill your well? By going to Christ every day. He is the everlasting water. We are all subject to other influences in our lives. We can be mastered by God or self, but we can’t be mastered by both. Every time you give in to your own selfish wants and desires, you become more of a slave to self. We can overcome that, but we have to make God our master. We have to love Him, know Him, and want to serve Him.
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 MoreThere is a right way to live, and we all know that our feet have at one point strayed from the good and right path. If we are going to stay on the right path, we need to remember that there is a spiritual battle being waged, and we can never allow pleasure to become life’s supreme goal.
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 MoreChildren are a significant part of Jesus' mission. It is children and those with hearts like children that make up the kingdom of God. It is vital that we make Jesus' mission our mission and give great effort to reaching children.
Read More
