Each week our pastors study diligently to deliver practical, thought-provoking messages from the Word of God.
The 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.
Read MoreThe temple did not and could not function apart from the service of good people. Just as the temple did not and could not, our church cannot function without the service of good people.
Read MoreEven against the most hostile attack, God is greater. We overcome our spiritual deficit and fate not though ourselves or anything we do, but by the blood of our Lord Jesus Christ. It was that event on the cross that allows us to stand before God one day cleansed by the blood of the Lamb. Nothing Satan can do will take that away. It does not matter if it looks like Satan is winning both on earth and in our lives, we don’t have to be discouraged because we know that God is greater and that He has already won. However, even though Satan’s doom is sure, that does not mean he is not fighting and causing casualties. What are you doing to help the winning side? You can’t win a war you won’t fight in. We need to be soldiers in this life.
Read MoreWhen God's people act out of duty versus devotion, they're always going to do the bare minimum. This was the state of the nation of Israel in Malachi's day. God was not being honored. He was not even receiving the base levels of honor that were willingly given to men. The small amount God was given was a weariness to the nation. The fact that the pathetic gifts were a weariness was actually the bigger problem. God wasn't just concerned about the gift, but He was also concerned about the attitude of giver.
Read MoreWe are response-able. We have the ability to effect, with our response, the outcome of many situations in our lives. There is a difference between those who act on what they are supposed to do and those who don't.
Read MoreThe Bible teaches that pride always goes before destruction and a fall. The greatest and most consequential of these falls was and is the fall of Satan. He went from spectacular and exalted to enemy of God and adversary of men. He is full of animosity toward God and every part of his kingdom, including us. We have a spiritual adversary who targets us with his vitriol and hatred. A lack of awareness and caution leaves us extremely vulnerable. Our thinking and philosophies must be grounded in Truth. If Satan can get you to believe a lie, he has, in some measure, won.
Read MoreAt this point in Israel’s history, the nation of Israel was still under the power of Persia, and they were discontent. They felt that God hadn’t really come through for them. They wanted to move on as a nation as God had said they would. Instead of serving God in the midst of their unfavorable circumstances, they became very apathetic. God in turn sends messengers to address the nation’s condition. God, in His first message, reminds the nation of His love. When God chooses you, you’re chosen. That choice does not change. He loves His children because He chose them. Those who are God’s choice never stop being the objects of His love.
Read MoreBlame and excuse are as old as man. From the beginning, mankind has had a tendency to make excuses and blame others for failure. All too often, we sit and rot in a prison that only we have a key to. As long as we continue to blame others for our captivity, we will continue to rot there. We cannot always choose what will happen to us, but there will always be a range of options when choosing how we respond to what happens to us.
Read MoreWe are either a part of the Kingdom of God, or we are a part of the kingdom of this world. Those are the only two options, and they are mutually exclusive. We're taught that this absolutism is not legitimate. We are told to reject anything that is absolutist. If we are not careful, in an effort to embrace this ideology, we may swear fealty to the kingdom of this word, one of the two. Christianity isn't a choice among many valid choices. Christianity is a Truth.
Read MoreGod will return when He intends to return. God is concerned with how we live in the interim. We ought to live in such a way that we can be blessed. We're waiting for a return, but we have to make a decision: how are we going to wait? We can waste the days of waiting, or we can be part of God's plan. Live in light of the glorious return of the Lord Jesus Christ.
Read MoreGod wants us to own the responsibility the responsibility of getting necessary things done. The tendency of humanity is to make excuses. We ought to ask in each and every situation, "What can I do to be a help?" All too often, we ask, "Why isn't any one doing anything about this?" We need to own it.
Read MoreGod has always sent messengers to the world to call men to repentance. Mankind's response has always been the same: they harken not. God will send witnesses, as He always has, at the end of time. The vast majority of men will not respond. However, despite this fact, there will always be a remnant of people who love God, and His purposes will still be accomplished.
Read MoreThe idea that beauty comes through pain is found throughout the New Testament. It was true for the nation of Israel, it's presented as truth throughout the New Testament, and it's true for us. We are saved through the pain and suffering of Jesus Christ. After Salvation, we are to be refined by suffering. The fact that so few Christians embrace this is fact is the reason we see so few Christians that look like silver and gold. Elementary Christianity is the ability to endure suffering with a joyful, right spirit. We often forfeit the deepest joys in life because we refuse to give up a life of ease and comfort.
Read MoreAsking the right questions in life leads to right action. Perhaps the most dangerous incorrect question we ask in life is "why?" It creeps into our thinking and makes us feel sorry for ourselves. When we think and act like victims, no one benefits. The best way to eliminate the victim mentality in our world is to eliminate it in ourselves.
Read MoreServing God understands that He is in control. Every day of our lives is under His omnipotent supervision. Our God is in control. The earth is being ripped apart from above and below, and God is in control in the midst of it.
Read MoreZachariah was trying to tell the people of Israel in chapter 12 that a better day was coming. Zechariah said that there would come a day when they realized just how good God had been to them, and realizing this, they would weep because they had neglected Him. The Creator God of the universe is in control of your present circumstances. The goodness of God should always lead his children to repentance. We may look back one day and realize the One Who was pierced for us was worthy of more of our devotion.
Read MoreAction follows thought. What we end up doing originates in our minds. If you want to change your actions, you have to change your thinking. We need to learn to take personal responsibility and think the right way.
Read MoreThe fifth and sixth trumpet represent the greatest judgments the world has ever seen. Demons rise up from below the earth to torment men. They unleash horror and pain. They turn against those who have worshiped them. Sin and darkness always turn against those who serve them. In all of this, men do not repent of the priorities they have given their lives to. Humanity, in its fallenness, gives itself to that which wounds, kills, and destroys. As a dog returns to his vomit, so a fool returns to his folly.
Read MoreIf we're not careful, we'll persist is pushing for what we want, and we may get it. But in doing so, we may lose what we had. In time, people often get the king they deserve. It is only when we do things God's way that we can experience God's blessing.
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