Viewing entries tagged
prayer
As we heed Paul’s warnings about how a church falls off the rails, this message examines what is expected of the church when it meets to worship the Lord. We’ll look at how the Bible shows us the essential priorities of a worship service.
1 Timothy 2:1-7
Whatever season you currently find yourself in, this message will delve into the profound journey of encountering God’s presence by exploring the life of the prophet Habakkuk.
Habakkuk 1:2-17
We live in an age of busyness and burnout. Life often feels like a hard, exhausting, and never-ending grind. We need to rest! But, resting, truly resting, is way easier said than done. In today's sermon, we turn to Scripture and learn practical steps to take to experience true, lasting, and rejuvenating rest, especially when life is a mess.
Psalm 4:1-8
When God doesn’t answer our prayers, it can leave us confused. Does God not care after all? Is it because I don’t have enough faith? Is it because I’m not good enough? This message looks at the answers to these questions and provides a guide to understanding prayer.
James 5:13-20
Many Christians are enthusiastic to share the good news about Jesus, until they get a negative reaction. It can be disorienting when people don’t share our excitement with the gospel. This message looks at what it takes to be effective in sharing our faith.
Prayer is a universal phenomenon that can be seen in almost every culture. Even many atheists pray. The question is how? How should a Christian’s prayers differ from the world? This message looks at principles to guide our prayers from the Apostle Paul’s prayer for the Colossians.
Jesus chose to humble Himself, eschew His own divine power, submit to the leading of the Holy Spirit, and rely upon His empowerment to live a holy life, in total obedience to His Father. This message will look at how to be filled with the Spirit, how to welcome the Spirit into our lives, and why the Holy Spirit chooses to come.
Jesus chose to humble Himself, eschew His own divine power, submit to the leading of the Holy Spirit, and rely upon His empowerment to live a holy life, in total obedience to His Father. This message will look at how to be filled with the Spirit, how to welcome the Spirit into our lives, and why the Holy Spirit chooses to come.
Conflict hurts. Whether at work or in the home, arguments have a way of draining our energy and robbing our joy. The Book of James addresses conflict that the early church was having. They were fighting and arguing with each other. He addresses the root cause of conflict and shows how prayer can work to change us and our approach to the conflicts we face.
Unfortunately, it is not an uncommon thing to see people who grew up in the church and always had the right answers walk away from their faith completely. This message looks at how although Solomon had all the right answers, was a great leader, and heard from God directly, he still didn’t get a free pass. This should serve as both a warning of what things do not equate to salvation and a reassurance of what it is that we can truly trust in.
Our prayers often resemble shopping lists of things we want from a divine vending machine in the sky. And our relationship with God and His working in our lives are stunted when they do. This message looks at Solomon’s prayer when he dedicated the temple and how it should shape our own prayers today.
Our ability to cope with difficult and painful circumstances will be tested over the course of this pandemic. We’ll likely face times when our strength seems to fail and the answers to prayer that we had hoped for don’t come. This message looks at some practical steps we can take when it feels like the world is against us.
People keep describing the COVID-19 pandemic as unprecedented. While our times are unprecedented in one sense, you don’t have to look far back in history to see examples of people who have faced similar situations. This psalm looks at a person who dealt with the pain of isolation and it gives some warning signs to look for as well as some steps that we can take to cope with quarantine.
COVID-19 has put everyone on edge. While we all work to take necessary precautions, many feel a sense of panic as well. The greatest example of this has been the mad rush to stockpile toilet paper. The Bible promises confidence in God, but many are unsure of how to lay hold of it. This message looks at a psalm of David where we learn some practical steps we can take to overcome our anxiety and find confidence in troubling times.
Many books and movies tackle the theme of coping with hardship. Usually, the take-away is that human willpower conquers all adversity. But most of us have come to learn that willpower has its limits. If we think that God might help, then we often struggle to understand how. This message looks at specific steps we can take to find hope in circumstances that feel hopeless.
Some of the prayers in Scripture sound like the bartering in a Middle Eastern market. There's a back and forth that seems deliberate and intentional. Today's message looks at one such 'prayer negotiation' between Moses and God. And it shows us that sometimes God tests us in prayer to see what we'll settle for. His hope is that we won't settle until we've seen His glory.
Parents are busier and more stressed than ever. But in our race to help our children lead happy, successful lives, we can lose sight of what’s most important. This message looks at a simple prayer for parents and what it can teach us about how to pray for our parenting and see the role that God has given us through His eyes.
Passages like the Lord’s Prayer can teach us what God wants us to pray about, but we can still be left wondering how. Our prayers can be timid and hesitant or flippant and casual. After Jesus taught His disciples what to pray, He also taught them how to pray. And the attitudes He encourages us to bring to prayer are both counter-intuitive and life-changing. This message looks at the boldness, persistence and confidence that God encourages in our prayers and what He’s seeking to do in our lives and our relationship with Him as we pray like this.
Prayer is an almost universal experience. Just about everybody has times in their life when they call out to God. But prayer is like marriage: it’s easier to start than it is to figure out. This message looks at what we can learn from the world’s most famous prayer, Jesus’ response to his followers’ desire to be taught how to pray.
We’d all love to attend the perfect church, but it’s hard to find one. Is there anything that regular people like you and me can do to make the church all that it can be? This message looks at how average Christians can partner with God in making the church extraordinary
