Blessings

Don’t Negotiate Against Yourself

“My dear children, I write this to you so that you will not sin. But if anybody does sin, we have an advocate with the Father—Jesus Christ, the Righteous One.” – 1 John 2:1 Today, I would like to share this truth with you: Because you are God’s beloved and live under His loving care, you don’t have to negotiate against yourself anymore. Regardless of what we believe to be true about ourselves, we should never presumptuously think that we are unworthy of God’s blessings. Jesus’ resurrection has paved the way for us to receive God’s best. Allow me to illustrate how life in God’s Kingdom can play out like a modern courtroom with a twist. As Christians, the Bible says that Jesus is “our attorney,” and we’re in the court of law and being judged by Satan, our enemy. As the defendant, you are on trial. Christ stands beside

February 9, 2023 No Comments

Celebrating Jesus’ Birth

“She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.’ All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet: ‘The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel’ (which means ‘God with us’).“ – Matthew 1:21-23 Merry Christmas, friend. This is the day to celebrate the birth of Immanuel, God with us, and to rejoice in Jesus, our Lord, and Savior! It’s interesting that when we think of the nativity, we remember those who came — the shepherds, who were probably teenage girls, and the magi or wise men. Though Jesus was born in a water trough in a barn (definitely not a proper setting for a king), He broke down barriers and accomplished more than any other leader before or after Him

December 25, 2022 No Comments

Blessed Are You

“Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God. Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God. Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” – Matthew 5:8-10 If you’ve been in church for a long time, you may have heard that the Beatitudes are almost like the Ten Commandments of the New Testament, that Jesus is saying that if you do these things, you’ll grow and be blessed. While this is true, let’s look at another dimension of the Sermon on the Mount. Jesus looked out at a crowd filled with people needing help — the outcast that society had rejected — and declared them blessed. He wasn’t saying to do or be certain things; instead, He was saying that the Kingdom of Heaven had come and was available to them right at that moment.

November 23, 2022 No Comments

When You Know Christ

“All things have been committed to me by my Father. No one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and those to whom the Son chooses to reveal him. Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.” – Matthew 11:27,28 Today, I want to share the best thing that has ever happened to me. Before I do, I want to express that I have many blessings in my life, including a wonderful wife, children, and extended family who love me unconditionally. I am also blessed to live in America and enjoy its freedoms and opportunities. All of these joyful gifts of God’s goodness are amazing but do not compare to the best thing that’s ever happened to me: The day someone invited me to follow Jesus Christ, and I chose to do so. The

October 22, 2022 No Comments

Called to Reach the World

“Scripture foresaw that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, and announced the gospel in advance to Abraham: ‘All nations will be blessed through you.’ ” – Galatians 3:8 In Jesus’ day, the idea of holiness had become very important to the Jewish people. Babylonian exile and captivity experienced by the Jews five hundred years earlier due to embracing pagan practices caused them to build a fence around the Torah. This meant that you obeyed the law perfectly and never violated it. For first-century Jews, many lived out holiness by following rules and legalism, but were bereft of blessing others. So much of the heart to reach people had been lost because they were afraid to fall out of God’s favor and into captivity once again. During this time, I think there was this huge separation between God’s people and those outside of their culture they were intended to reach.

July 21, 2022 No Comments

Jesus and the Beatitudes

“Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” – Matthew 5:3 When we choose God, we are forgiven, rescued, and become a new creation. But in our daily lives, we can still feel thirsty for Him and wonder why we’re still struggling with some of life’s issues. So often through our churches and sermons, we make the mistake of forgetting that Jesus isn’t just our Savior, He’s our Rabbi — our Teacher. He gives us the words of life, and we can learn from His life-giving lessons. In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus begins with the Beatitudes, which are nine sayings, or blessings attributed to Jesus. There are many wonderful, helpful, and meaningful teachings of the Beatitudes, but I find that many teachers and pastors actually misunderstand what Jesus is saying. This sermon states if you follow these nine principles, then you will receive

July 10, 2022 1 Comment

God Loves to Bless Those Who Plant Seeds

“Even now the one who reaps draws a wage and harvests a crop for eternal life, so that the sower and the reaper may be glad together.” – John 4:36 I remember Don Trotter, who was a neighbor of ours and a wonderful man. He truly impacted my life and those of my peers while growing up. When I was in high school, Don had a struggling business and was barely making ends meet. But he also felt as if God was calling him to just open his house to teenagers. He hosted what we called Thursday Night Teens. He felt it was God’s heart urging him to just gather kids in a safe place to hang out, eat pizza, and have some worship time. The primary purpose was getting teens together who perhaps had no place to go. As these gatherings progressed over the course of a year, his

June 3, 2022 No Comments

An Uncomfortable Sacrifice for the Better Good

“And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.” – Romans 8:28 God is calling you to make an uncomfortable sacrifice for the better good. There are invaluable and specific moments in life when we’re called to do something that’s responsible, honorable, life-giving, and meaningful. However, sometimes this can become a really hard choice to make. We know in our hearts we’re supposed to move into these life-giving moments and actions, and we must trust God with our sacrifice. Our sacrifice should never be half-baked, it should never be a half-step, but it should be our very best, and it should be accomplished with our whole heart. An obedient response to God’s call on our life honors God and brings dignity to our being, but also is practical. This undertaking actually is to your

June 2, 2022 No Comments

The Goodness of God

“I assure you that there were many widows in Israel in Elijah’s time, when the sky was shut for three and a half years and there was a severe famine throughout the land. Yet Elijah was not sent to any of them, but to a widow in Zarephath in the region of Sidon.” – Lule 4:25,26 God is faithful and longsuffering; He never lets anyone’s wrong choices go unchallenged and He always provides ample opportunity to change course. This was certainly the case for Ahab, to whom He sent the prophet Elijah to confront his wickedness and remind him of another way. Since the king refused to listen to his counsel, the Lord brought a horrible drought on the land of Israel that lasted for three and a half years. During that time, there wasn’t even a drop of rain! As you can imagine, the consequences of this were disastrous

February 28, 2022 No Comments

Filled to Overflowing

“Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.” – Luke 6:38 Yesterday we talked about living life with open hands. Today, I want to build on that idea by sharing with you a somewhat spiritual law that enables you to maintain this posture of openness: give away what you desire most. I firmly believe that one of the best ways to invite God’s blessing into our lives is to give to others the thing that we feel we most lack. To some of you, this may sound like a radical proposition. In light of what the world teaches, it just may be. However, the idea behind it is that the more you give away, the more room you have to be filled

February 11, 2022 No Comments

Don’t Negotiate Against Yourself

Celebrating Jesus’ Birth

Blessed Are You

When You Know Christ

Called to Reach the World

Jesus and the Beatitudes

God Loves to Bless Those Who Plant Seeds

An Uncomfortable Sacrifice for the Better Good

The Goodness of God

Filled to Overflowing

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