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.
Casual Friday has become Casual Every Day, and we can often bring the same casual attitude toward how we approach and think about God. This passage looks at how to think about God’s holiness and approach Him with the reverence He deserves.
In today’s message, we’ll look at a conversation Jesus had with one of his disciples just prior to leaving this earth. Jesus was trying to give him (and all of us) critical truths to be able to spiritually flourish this side of heaven – so that we might make a difference for Him.
The pandemic has made us spend more time in our homes, and home renovations and home purchases are hotter than ever. Solomon’s greatest accomplishment was building a house for God, but it was overshadowed by the castle he built for himself. This message looks at how we can know when our priorities are out of balance and what we can do about them.
We long to feel the presence of God, but we’re often at a loss as to how to experience it. God gave clues in the construction of Solomon’s temple that show us how we can know God’s nearness in our lives today.
Relationships are a foundational part of life. Whether it is our spouse, parents, siblings, friends, or co-workers, we all depend on relationships. Sadly, despite their importance, relationships can be so hard to forge, develop, and maintain. In this sermon, we move past the world’s advice, dig into Scripture, and learn what God says about how we should approach our various relationships.
People who are skilled in organization and administration are critical to the blessing and effectiveness of the church. But they’re often misunderstood and face unique temptations. This message looks at what we can learn by understanding Solomon’s skills as a leader and the blessings and inclinations that accompanied them.
We all have times in our lives when we feel like we don’t measure up. In the life of Solomon, he realized as a young king that the shoes of his father David were just too big to fill on his own. This message looks at what we need to do in these moments, the importance of humility before God, and what true wisdom looks like when it is applied.
The words we leave our children have a profound influence on what they believe and how they will live. And yet we often spend too little time reflecting on those words or choosing them wisely. This message looks at David’s final words to his son Solomon and what we can learn from them to better impact those who will come after us.
1 Kings 2:1-12 // [outline]
We learn to procrastinate early, but as we grow older, we can put off the inevitable and fail to deal with important decisions in life. This message looks at how King David’s incredible legacy was almost destroyed by his failure to think ahead and take steps to prepare for the future.
Faith is unseen, and we can’t know all that is in a person’s heart. But our lives reveal more about what’s inside than we often admit. This message looks at how people responded to the life Jesus came to offer and what it shows us about how we see Jesus’ promise of life.
We all consider ourselves rational, open-minded people. The reality is, however, that we’re often not interested in listening to certain truths and can go to great lengths to avoid them. As Nietzsche said, “People don’t want to hear the truth because they don’t want their illusions destroyed.” This message looks at some of the obstacles to confronting the truth and how to overcome them.
We all want easy lives full of easy circumstances. But Jesus sometimes denies us ‘easy’ in order to give us something greater. This message looks at how Jesus works in the midst of the painful tragedies of our lives to bless us.
We often find ourselves waiting for God’s help and wondering why. God could solve our problems instantly, but often He doesn’t. This message looks at what God is doing when we have to wait.
Insecurity makes us hide. It often doesn’t feel safe to just be ourselves and so we work to present a more invincible version of ourselves. That work can be exhausting, and the inner self-doubt remains. Jesus offers a different way of addressing our insecurity – the promise of eternal security in Him. This message looks at how to embrace that security and let it change us.
The Bible warns us of the extent that we’re susceptible to the people and influences around us. This message looks at how to evaluate those influences and determine which ones we can trust.
Entering our second Easter in a global pandemic has left many of us feeling worn out, empty, and anxious about what comes next. This message looks at how Jesus’ resurrection gave hope to the first disciples and can do the same for us.
Many people wonder about Jesus’ death. ‘Where there’s smoke, there’s fire,’ people say. ‘Maybe Jesus wasn’t as innocent as Christians like to suggest. Understanding why Jesus was crucified is crucial to understanding the message of Good Friday. It teaches us something about ourselves. And it teaches us something about Jesus. Join us for a reflection on His death and what it means for us today.
The idea of hell is troubling to many people today. It seems primitive and barbaric. Have we rightly understood the Bible’s teachings on this controversial doctrine? Is there a way to reconcile God’s love and goodness with a place of eternal torment? This message confronts these difficult questions through an examination of Jesus’ teachings.
To many today, it can feel proud and even intolerant to claim that there’s only one way to God. Are those charges true? How should we respond? This message looks at an event in the early church that dealt with this issue and seeks to address it honestly.
