Words

We Need to Be Doers

“Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says.” – James 1:22 In yesterday’s message we expressed the thought, “If you give God a little bit, He can do a lot.” Today I want to encourage you to become the type of person who not only is a hearer of the word, but also a doer as well. As a pastor, I went to seminary to complete four years of graduate study. Seminary can actually cause some students who are passionate about God to lose their faith and die spiritually. The origin of the word seminary means the place where seeds are planted to grow into seedlings. You can think of it as a nursery for little plants. These seeds are grown into little plants, and then you take those seedlings and plant them all over the world. So, what enabled some students to

February 26, 2023 1 Comment

The Fullest Life Ever Imaginable

“But the seed falling on good soil refers to someone who hears the word and understands it. This is the one who produces a crop, yielding a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown.” – Matthew 13:23 What would you say is a good return on investment when investing money? Since the 2008 housing crisis, banks have offered nearly zero percent interest rates on savings accounts. So for the past 15 years, the return on investment has been very low if you’ve had cash to invest. Now that interest rates are creeping up, some people are opening savings accounts. Right now, there are savings accounts that offer 4 percent these days. It doesn’t sound like much, but it’s a lot more than zero percent! Again I ask, what is a good return on investment? There are many who would say 20, 30, or 40 percent. What if I told

February 24, 2023 1 Comment

Power In, Power Out

“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made.” – John 1:1-3 The universe is actually made up of words. John the Apostle knew this, as stated in the above scripture. He was echoing the first chapter of the Old Testament, which says God spoke and all things were created. Philosophers and theologians had trouble understanding this, however, modern science and computing enable us to understand it better. Everything breaks down into atoms, and every atom has a word attached to it. DNA has even more fascinating implications. Atoms are not solids, but positive and negative charges of electricity. By faith we understand that the worlds were prepared by the Word of God, so like atoms, what is seen was

February 22, 2023 1 Comment

The Spirit of God is Always Speaking

“‘Still other seed fell on good soil. It came up and yielded a crop, a hundred times more than was sown.’ When he said this, he called out, ‘Whoever has ears to hear, let them hear.’ ” – Luke 8:8 Yesterday, we discussed how God communicates with us through our spiritual antennas. The spirit of God is always speaking and you can catch it if you tune in. The above verse is part of a parable where Jesus said that a sower (God) throws seeds almost carelessly everywhere. Guess what He says those seeds are? The seeds are words! Luke 8:5-8 describes the types of soil and harvest of those seeds. “…some fell along the path; it was trampled on, and the birds ate it up. Some fell on rocky ground, and when it came up, the plants withered because they had no moisture. Other seeds fell among thorns, which

February 18, 2023 3 Comments

God Wants Your Ears to Tingle

“The Lord came and stood there, calling as at the other times, ‘Samuel! Samuel!’ Then Samuel said, ‘Speak, for your servant is listening.’ And the Lord said to Samuel: ‘See, I am about to do something in Israel that will make the ears of everyone who hears about it tingle.’ ” – 1 Samuel 3:10,11 Our topic for today is the wonderful story of the prophet Samuel. It begins with this profound statement by the author: “And the word of the Lord was precious in those days; there was no open vision.” What does this mean? Simply put, everyone wanted to hear from God. They wanted to see what He was doing, but they were unable to hear, see, or feel it. They wanted to experience something but they were disconnected from Him. Samuel’s mother, Hannah, has a miracle pregnancy and as a result, commits him to the Lord as

February 16, 2023 No Comments

Embrace Good Words

“May our Lord Jesus Christ himself and God our Father, who loved us and by his grace gave us eternal encouragement and good hope, encourage your hearts and strengthen you in every good deed and word.” – 2 Thessalonians 2:16,17 Today I want to continue yesterday’s discussion on how words can contribute to designing our lives. Our strategy is to incorporate the teachings of Jesus as an anchor for our daily thoughts and actions. I want you to consider again the world we live in and how at times it is immersed in chaotic and harmful words. Whether you are driving on the way home or watching television, all those advertisements that you see are saying buy me, indulge in me, visit me, eat me, or vote for me. All of it seems to be all in one string. Almost all of these negative infiltrations make the same false promise

February 15, 2023 1 Comment

Life is Surrounded By Words

“The Spirit gives life; the flesh counts for nothing. The words I have spoken to you—they are full of the Spirit and life.” – John 6:63 Today is Valentine’s Day, a holiday to honor love! It is through the Holy Spirit that we have received the love of God into our lives — isn’t this great news! The word love is defined as an intense feeling of deep affection. As we think about the power of words, here’s a question for you: How would your name be remembered if it was kept in a jar and put on a shelf? What words will be reflected when that jar is opened? Throughout our lives, the words we use to describe ourselves will change. Especially when you’re designing your life and defining who you want to be. Designing a name is clearly one of the most important things you can do. Only

February 14, 2023 No Comments

Words Are a Big Deal

“Now I commit you to God and to the word of his grace, which can build you up and give you an inheritance among all those who are sanctified.” – Acts 20:32 If you want to become the kind of person you were born to be, here’s something to think about: Words form the foundation of your life, so it’s important to consider what kind of words you want to surround yourself with. Words are a big deal, aren’t they? As a pastor, there are certain words that I cannot say from the pulpit. If I did, I would be defrocked and lose my job. Each of us has a responsibility to be accountable for the words we speak, and that’s a good thing. I believe there are certain words that I say every week that change people’s lives for the better, and that’s a positive thing. Words are powerful.

February 13, 2023 No Comments

Encourage Yourself

“Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.” – Philippians 4:8 We discussed yesterday the importance of building others up! Today, as we conclude our exploration of the value and power of words, let me remind you that it’s also important to build yourself up! It’s okay to look in the mirror and encourage yourself. Often, we plow through our trials and hardships without taking into account that we’ve been climbing a steep hill and need to replenish ourselves. Perhaps you have forgotten about enduring your financial hardships, trips to the children’s hospital, or even a brush with death. We briefly tell ourselves we can make it up the hill, but it can be more powerful if we build ourselves up and encourage ourselves along the way. At

January 31, 2023 No Comments

Speak With Gracious Words

“The wise in heart are called discerning, and gracious words promote instruction.” – Proverbs 16:21 Today, I’d like to encourage you to speak with gracious words! As we focus on the above verse from Proverbs 16:21, it explains that the wise in heart are called discerning and their use of gracious, forgiving, and beautiful words allow grace to “promote instruction.” Next, it reads, “Prudence is a fountain of life to the prudent, but folly brings punishment to fools.” Almost always, the fool in Proverbs reflects someone in their foolish words. But in contrast, “The hearts of the wise make their mouths prudent and their lips promote instruction.” And I just love this last part: “Gracious words are a honeycomb, sweet to the soul and healing to the bones.” As children, we internalize the words of our parents, parental figures, or the people who raise us. Therefore, it is important to

January 29, 2023 No Comments

We Need to Be Doers

The Fullest Life Ever Imaginable

Power In, Power Out

The Spirit of God is Always Speaking

God Wants Your Ears to Tingle

Embrace Good Words

Life is Surrounded By Words

Words Are a Big Deal

Encourage Yourself

Speak With Gracious Words

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