Media Library

It is so easy to become comfortable in our faith routines. To live life fully in the Spirit we need to take some risks and try new things.

The spirit of adventure that ought to be the hallmark of following Jesus should be adventurous. If your relationship with God as anything less than adventurous, then maybe you think you’re following the Spirit but have actually settled for something less.

Heaven and hell. What do we think about them? How can we understand them as reasonable, thinking people? Heaven or hell, which one do you choose? You see, we all have to make that decision somewhere along the way. Don’t leave it to chance! There’s not a lot we have control of in this world, but you do have control over where you go when you leave this world. You decide which of those places you want to be. You get to decide what happens to you in the future.

What’s the relationship between what you read in the Bible and what's being taught in science classes? Because they aren't the same. And the disconnect between science and religion has some scientists claiming to be atheists, and some Christians abandoning the sciences … or at least seriously questioning what the scientists are teaching. But there are many connecting points between what we learn in the field of physics and biology and geology, and what we learn in the area of theology and Scripture. Hopefully, a better understanding of scientific truths can help us end up saying, “Okay, these truths from physics help me understand my faith more clearly.”

As we are all unique children of God, he speaks to us in different ways. These are some of the ways: God speaks through Scripture, God speaks through nature and God's creation, God speaks through music, God speaks through His Spirit, God speaks through prayer. and God speaks to us through circumstances.

God, indeed, does have a plan for all of us. But it’s a game plan with lots of freedom, not a blueprint with every detail spelled out. Our job is not so much to find something; it’s to become someone, a reflection of His image and character in whatever circumstances we find ourselves.

Today we begin a new series of sermons, “Questions for God.” Earlier we asked you: “If you could ask God just one question, what would it be?” And you came up with some great questions. Today we tackle a biggie: suffering and evil. This question, more than any other question, turns people away from God and away from the church. It’s a problem we all wrestle with, and without a satisfactory answer to this question, people say “If that’s how God is going to act, I want nothing to do with that God.” Christianity does have answers to real life questions. The Bible really is a guide to life. We choose to follow Jesus Christ because He is the only one who can give us the ultimate victory over life and over death. Choose to follow Christ because He is your Good Shepherd and He loves you more than you can imagine.

All ancient people recognized, as we do today, that there is a certain rhythm in our world. It’s the rhythm of the seasons that moves from springtime where there is new life, to summer where there is abundance, to fall where there is harvest, and finally into the winter where there is death. Winter is never the final word. Winter is not the end. And every day that we endure winter is a day closer to the next spring, and new life. Winter is never the last word. Springtime always comes after winter. And that’s what the Resurrection of Christ proclaims. Martin Luther wrote about it: “Our Lord has written the promise of the resurrection, not in books alone, but in every leaf in springtime.”

Prayer is immediate access to the real, live presence of God. Prayer is companionship with God. You see, God wants to be personally involved in your life, and for personal involvement in any relationship, you have to make time and space. The gift of Jesus Christ must be received. God will not force Himself on any of us. Every person has to individually make that decision to invite Jesus Christ to come into your life and fill you with the Holy Spirit. In simple words, from a true desire of your heart, all you have to say is this: Jesus, come into my life and fill me with Your presence, that I may live forever in an intimate friendship with You.

Jesus came to save the world, but how does that work in the lives of individual people? Discover a life-force that transcends illness and death, the power of faith in "Prayer, Health, and Wholeness."

Today we tackle the biggest blockage to prayer: unanswered prayer. This is the cry of so many people’s hearts. This is where so many people find their expectations of the Christian faith grinding against the hard realities of life. “How come God never seems to answer my prayers?” is a question asked again and again by children, youth and adults. This is the experience that keeps people from becoming Christians. Why doesn’t God answer our prayers at times? And then, how should we understand the whole practice of prayer?

We've made prayer a complicated ordeal. Jesus taught us a simple prayer for powerful connection "The Lord's Prayer". Life takes on new meaning when you're "Living on a Prayer."

Hopefully we can live long enough and save enough money to retire. What is God’s retirement plan? And along the way, what is God’s plan for the relationships between parents, children, and “elders”?

What are you living your life for? What’s the goal? At the end of it, how will you know if you “won”? Today's message offers a hopeful message that offers practical suggestions in living a life of real meaning and significance.

Life is full of reasons to be discontented. Somebody else always has bigger. Somebody else always has more. Somebody else always has better. Some of us are never really satisfied. How can we escape this trap?

A right relationship with God depends on our willingness to maintain a right relationship with one another. If we are not willing to live in right relationship with our brothers and sisters, then we are not fit to come and worship the God in whose image they are made. True worship is not enhanced by better music, better prayers, better architecture, or even better preaching. True worship is enhanced by better relationships between those who come to worship. God wants us to remove the hindrances before we bring Him our praise and our gifts.

Nearly everyone has heard of the Golden Rule, but how many of us really apply it to everyday life? Discover practical ways to live by the standard Jesus set, and how this one rule increases the joy in life.

“The Redemption of Ebenezer Scrooge” is based on the movie “A Christmas Carol”) A relationship with Jesus causes Zacchaeus to repent, be forgiven, and experience redemption. Scrooge is visited by Marley’s Ghost (his Christ-figure), who helps Scrooge repent, be forgiven, and experience redemption.

A Christmas Story allows us to look inside a family Christmas from the late 1930’s era and its main plot is the obsession of the main character, 10 year old Ralphie, and his perfect Christmas gift: a Red Ryder Bee Bee Gun. The most perfect gift that God has given us is His Son, Jesus. God delights in giving the perfect gift. No matter what else you may receive for Christmas this year, God has already offered the greatest gift that has ever been given. Accept the gift of salvation in the name of Jesus Christ and in so doing you are reclaiming the true meaning of Christmas.

National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation is all about the way we stress ourselves out at Christmas time. Like bridges, every person has a “load limit” of stress they can take before they crash. Only God knows our “load limit,” and so we need to partner with him to keep our stress levels below our limits, especially at Christmastime.

Today’s theme word is “Comfort,” and our theme verses are from the prophet Isaiah. “Comfort” is a word we associate with Christmas. It underlies so many of the secular songs we sing at this time of year. And the subject of today’s message, “I’m dreaming of a white Christmas, just like the ones I used to know….” White Christmas was originally recorded in 1942, when America had gone to war and the world seemed confusing and unstable. Zechariah and the Jewish people lived in a similarly confusing and unstable world. They had been looking for the fulfillment of the promise of a Messiah for so long that many began to wonder if He was ever coming. But He did come to save His people, just as the dance troupe came to save “The Old Man’s” inn.

The money we give to God should not be viewed so much as a debt we owe, but as a seed we sow, a seed to grow our trust in God’s willingness to bless us and to take care of us. In Luke 6:38 Jesus promised, “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 when we give, we, as a local body of Christ, experience spiritual growth and unity. Our giving brings joy to our Heavenly Father. We can also get pleasure from giving if we do so sacrificially. This is a way to trust God. To enjoy giving, we must put it in the context of our love for Christ and our commitment to Him. This must be our motivation. When we give it to God’s kingdom, it becomes something that lasts forever.

Exactly how much is enough? In a culture guided chiefly by shiny, life-promising distractions, “enough” seems elusive and keeps us indebted to that next source of satisfaction. What if the Giver of Life offered freedom from this downward spiral—would you take it?

Got idols? It’s hard to believe there are perfectly sane people who dress up and chant out in obsessive worship toward inanimate objects. We are so beyond that – right? NOPE. We still seek life from non-life-giving sources, don’t we? Shiny things still dazzle and lure us in.

Today we come to the very end of David’s life—the last words that he spoke before he passed away, and the legacy that he left behind for his children and for us. David’s final words for his son, Solomon, were, “Solomon, when we walk in God’s commandments we find life. Don’t forget that. When we stray from his commandments that’s when you get into trouble. And you know that I know this one from experience. My son, if I have any words of wisdom to pass on to you, it is this: Don’t leave Him. Don’t walk away from God—God’s grace, God’s mercy, God’s teachings that lead to life.” And so, David, after he had served the purposes of God in his own generation, fell asleep and was laid among his fathers” (Acts 13: 36).

Today we experience David the poet, David the singer of hymns, David the lover of God. The center of the Bible is the Book of Psalms. The Psalms are literarily at the heart of the Bible … and spiritually it is the heart and soul of the Bible. Of the 150 Psalms, the words “of David” appear in 73 of them. Now that does not necessarily mean David wrote them. We’re not sure how many of the 73 Psalms were personally written by David. Certainly he wrote some of them. But we do know that from boyhood David was a musician. The Psalms are the human response to God. It is human beings crying out to God in the midst of the various seasons

David loved his children deeply, but he was not a very good father. As a result they lived sinful lives that ended in death. It's unfortunate that David realized his mistakes after his sons were gone. The lesson to be learned from David is that as Christians … life doesn’t have to be that way! When you give your life to Christ, and you say, “Lord, I want to follow you,” God sends his Holy Spirit to live inside of you; to remake you into the person God dreams for you to be. That is a shaping force more powerful than anything else. When you actually surrender your life to Christ and invite the Holy Spirit in, he begins to shape you, he breaks the chains that have been binding your heart and binding your family for generations upon generations.

Friendship is very much under-estimated in its spiritual power. It’s every bit as significant as Bible study and prayer. Friendship takes what’s common in human experience and turns it into something holy. Friendship with David complicated Jonathan’s life enormously. He risked losing his father’s favor; he sacrificed his own right to the throne—he saw that David was God’s choice for king. But none of that deterred him. Jonathan became and stayed David’s friend. Jonathan’s friendship was essential. And here’s the thing to note about the relationship David had with Jonathan compared to the relationship David had with Saul: Jonathan’s friendship entered David’s soul in a way that Saul’s hatred never did.

David sinned against the laws of God when he committed adultery with Bathsheba and sent her husband, Uriah, to certain death. After this, all the stories about David have a tragic twist to them. Sin has consequences. After judgment had been rendered, after the consequences took their toll, David fell on his knees before God. He cried out to God. He got on his hands and knees and said, “O God, I deserve to die.” And he cried out in anguish and pain the words to Psalm 51: “Create in me a clean heart, O God, and put a new and right spirit within me. Do not cast me away from your presence, and do not take your holy spirit from me. Restore to me the joy of Your salvation, and sustain in me a willing spirit.” And God gave him grace. That same mercy is available to you. God’s ability to redeem our lives is greater than our ability to screw them up and God has made salvation, and healing, and fresh starts in life available to all of us.

David’s defeat of Goliath won the people over to David and away from Saul. In fact, they sang about it: “Saul has his thousands, and David his ten thousands.” With that jealousy began to eat away at Saul’s heart. David flees from Saul’s presence. He spends 10 years in hiding, living among the enemy, the Philistines, and living in caves. Saul decides that he must find David and kill him. So every time Saul leads the troops of Israel into battle against the Philistines he takes his finest troops and they go searching for David … to try to end his life. Why is Saul so paranoid about David? Well, the prophet Samuel came to Saul one day and said, “Saul, you have forsaken God, A day is coming when there will be a new king, and neither you nor your children will rule over the house of Israel. In fact, God has already chosen a new king—a man after God’s own heart. And when the time is right, He will replace you.”

Today we tell what is probably the most familiar of all the stories about David—his battle with the Philistine giant, Goliath. David had a monstrous-sized problem in his life, Goliath. Do you have a Goliath-sized problem in your life? Are you wondering how you are ever going to conquer problems that are overwhelming, monstrous, bigger than your meager resources and courage can possible defeat? God will enable you to defeat yours. You serve the living God. He has given you the resources you need to defeat your fiercest foes. What the living God does is give us the tools we need: A Bible—our owner’s manual, a worship celebration—where we encounter and reconnect with the living God, home groups and small groups—where a circle of friends love and encourage us … and faith grows. And then, when the test comes, we have the tools to defeat our Goliaths.

So many of us turn away from God when tragedy strikes, which means you have turned away from the only one who can help you; the one who can take tragedy, and redeem it, and bring something good out of it. God is the one who promises to be with you, and hold you, and keep you, and will never leave you or forsake you. God does not promise that you will never experience tragedy. God promises that He will walk with you through it. What lessons can Ruth teach us? What we learn from Ruth first is that there are times when God calls us to stick by someone, even if they pretend, or maybe they even believe, that they don’t need our help. Ruth was a woman of remarkable character. She was sensitive to the Spirit of God and yielded her life to his guidance and direction. In God’s universe, the way to spiritual development is through selfless service to other people.

David was the best king Israel ever had. He is a towering figure in the Old Testament. Only Moses has more verses attributed to him and written about him than King David. To this day, the symbol for the nation of Israel and of all Judaism is the six-pointed star, the star of … David.

In the Methodist Church there are only two sacraments—Baptism and Communion. They are what God does for us, regardless of what we do and in spite of who we are. That’s what grace is; grace is getting better than we deserve. We serve Jesus by serving the needs of others. Mission trips are a great way to serve others in Christ’s name. Mission trips could be considered “portable communion.” Mission trips are one very special way we can take the love and grace of Christ that we receive through this sacrament out into the world, out to the people and the places where the love, grace, forgiveness, healing, hope, and joy of Christ is needed so much and can do so much.

We had a God-moment last weekend. Fire fell from heaven last weekend as 250 of us participated in Stirred2Serve. Passions were ignited, ministry happened in an amazing and unprecedented way for us. And people came away from this all-church mission project different, transformed, maybe even renamed.

“Passionate spirituality” is important for the health and growth of a church. Studies have found that the style of worship or spirituality has nothing to do with the health or growth of a church. The secret is in the level of passion at which faith is lived out among its members. No matter what your preferred style of spirituality is—charismatic, Pentecostal, traditional, liturgical, non-liturgical, whatever, wherever the personal relationship with Christ is intensified, passionate spirituality is freed up and the church becomes a church on fire with the Holy Spirit.

When you and I sign on to be a disciple of Jesus—when you give your life to Him and you say, “Jesus, use me however you see fit for the transformation of the world into your kingdom”—you need to expect persecution. The Bible says everyone who wants to live a godly life in Jesus Christ will be persecuted. Everyone. No exceptions. Everyone who makes a commitment to the mission of Jesus in the world goes into the world with a target on their back—and the attacks come from unexpected sources. How do you deal with external persecution? How do you turn it around? How does this become a life attitude? You turn it around by retaliating with love. Every time we receive persecution, whatever it is, we wage peace.

In today’s text Jesus said, “Blessed are the peacemakers for they will be called sons of God.” Let us think of what is the meaning of peace in the Bible? The Hebrew word for “peace” is Shalom. This word, “shalom” occurs over 300 times in the Old Testament. Shalom means “well-being, wholeness, health, security and safety for the total personality.” When fellow Jews meet each other, they greet and depart with this word, “Shalom.” They are not just wishing an absence of war or trouble but they are bestowing a blessing and wish for goodness, wholeness, and well-being.

“Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.” Blessed are those who are truthful, for their life is to be admitted to God’s presence. Blessed are the single-minded, for they will experience God’s glory. Blessed are those who have full and total allegiance to God, for they will be comforted by God’s grace. Let us try to be thankful, single-minded, and fully allegiant to God. Let us ask God to have a pure heart. Then we will be blessed to see God. We will experience God’s presence, God’s glory, and God’s grace in our life. Thanks be to God!

When you grasp God’s promise of mercy, then you become a channel of God’s mercy in the lives of other people. Mercy is not sentimental emotion, it is the heart of God in action. We are the Body of Christ and missions of mercy are the heart of God in action.

The great thing about being meek … is that the meek inherit the earth. The meek are God’s demonstration of true greatness in the world. In the kingdom of God, it’s not how many servants you have; it’s how many people you serve. Jesus said, “Whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first must be your slave, just as the Son of Man did not come to be served but to serve and give his life as a ransom for many” (Matthew 20:26-28). So here’s the question for today: Where are you serving? Only what you do through service will live beyond you. Everything else becomes rust. Jesus is saying the future of the world is in the hands of those who serve the world. Those who are actively fulfilling Jesus’ challenge to serve are the ones who will inherit the earth. The meek are the ones who have made the conscious decision to turn their will and their lives over to the Father.

The second beatitude, “Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted," takes us the next step in the spiritual healing process: Face the pain. To face your pain is to believe that God can transform you to the sanity of Christ-like living and esteem.

Being honest, most of us want to make more, be more, have more and do more, and we want to do it ourselves! Life Attitude #1 says that it’s only as we acknowledge our deep need for God that we can begin to discover real life and meaning.

Relationships with people can be a source of strength and joy. We need each other. We all want to feel loved and cared for. Relationships matter to our emotional well-being. We are able to face tough times largely through the emotional support and compassion of our loved ones. But sometimes there are those relationships that are absolutely toxic to us. They drag us down and make us feel bad about ourselves. Toxic relationships steal our joy, health, and well-being.

The most dangerous force in the world is not sickness or injury or bankruptcy. It is sin. Sin is the deadliest force because it takes us out of the flow of the Spirit. Cancer and depression are terrible things, but sin is worse. Cancer affects our body, and depression attacks our mental health, but sin works its way inside and strangles our soul. Sin keeps us from becoming the person God wants us to become.

With VIM – vision, intention, and means – we can center into the life God has for us and become the person God had in mind when He created us. John Ortberg puts it this way: “Jesus does not come to rearrange the outside of our life the way we want. He comes to rearrange the inside of our life the way God wants.”

Don’t we all wrestle with the “me” we want to be or could have been and the “me” we truly are? From time to time we need to face the gap between those two “me’s” and ponder the deeper question: Who can do something about the gap? Who has the power to bridge the gap; redeem the gap? Who can begin to change it? Christians realize that the only person who can bridge the gap is Jesus Christ.

“It’s not important where you’ve been, but what direction your feet are heading today.” God says to you, “Come on home. Come as you are. Don’t try to clean up your life first. Give me the hang ups—the good, the bad, the ugly. You don’t have to be perfect in your life. Come to me just as you are.” And God will love you unconditionally. God loves you just the way you are, and God loves you too much to let you stay that way. So God will help you make the changes both you and He want to make.

The last reformation was a reformation of creeds. The next reformation will be a reformation of deeds. The last reformation was symbolized by one central figure. The next reformation will be led by millions of reformers living compassionately, creatively, and courageously for the cause of Christ. It will be marked by broken hearts and sanctified imaginations. And the driving force will be the love of God. A love that is full of compassion, wonder, curiosity, and energy.

We’ve explored what it means to love God with all our heart, soul, and mind. But compassion, wonder, and curiosity aren’t enough. Strength is the final frontier. And that is where the quest for the lost soul of Christianity takes us. So what does it mean to love God with all your strength? It means expending tremendous amounts of energy for kingdom causes. It means blood, sweat, and tears. It means servanthood and sacrifice. It means good old-fashioned hard work.

There is untapped potential in all of us. Your imagination is capable of far more than you imagine. Yet somewhere along the way, most of us stop living out of imagination and start living out of memory. We stop creating the future and start repeating the past. And that is the day we stop living and start dying. Why? Because we stop learning. Loving God with all your mind means making the most of your mind by learning as much as you can about as much as you can.

When you descend the flight of stairs into the soul of Christianity, what you discover is primal wonder. When you get past all the traditions and institutions, all the liturgies and theologies, all the creeds and canons, what you’re left with is raw wonder that is beyond logic and beyond words. It cannot be reduced to the logical constraints of the left brain. Wonder defies logic. Wonder defies words. Loving God with all our soul means a soul full of wonder, a soul flooded with the glory of God, a soul awed by beauty and mystery, a soul that hallows God above everything else.

Love the Lord your God with all your heart. Your life may be filled with lots of mountaintop moments, but nothing even begins to compare with that miraculous moment when you give your heart to Christ. That single decision sets off a spiritual chain reaction with infinite implications. Amazing things happen when an old heart is exchanged for a new heart. When you give your heart to Christ, Christ gives His heart to you

We live in a first-world country in the twenty-first century and we're grateful for the freedoms and blessings we enjoy because of where and when we live. But think about what the Christians in the catacombs went through to worship God and serve Christ … and then think about the things we complain about in the church today…. what we call sacrifices for the cause of Christ don’t even qualify as hardships by second-century standards.

Jesus did not come to start a religion. Jesus did not come to earth to start an organization. Jesus came to start a revolution and He sustains this revolution on earth through this amazing community of people called Christians—the body of Christ. The revolution continues as we live in love under the authority of the Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, Son of Man, the Servant of All, and Savior of the World.

When we ask, “Why Baptism?” it’s because water has a deep significance. It is symbolic of Spirit. We’re not changed because we hear words from a preacher, or we write down notes in an Explore Guide. We’re changed through the supernatural presence of God through the Holy Spirit

Jesus gave us the sacrament of Communion to help us remember—remember who we are and Whose we are, because our spiritual foundation—everything Jesus has tried to teach us—faith, values—gets tested every day. It gets shaken! We are tempted every day! Remember, remember, remember … who you are, Whose you are.”

God says, “No matter what, you can trust Me. Put your trust in Me.” Jesus says, “God will give us all that we need—just seek the Kingdom and all these other things will be given. Seek the Kingdom. Don’t put on that worry wardrobe stuff—just walk in what I have given you, walk where I have sent you, and do what I have given you to do. Don’t worry about it. Just do it.” Why trust God? What do you have to lose … besides a worry wardrobe?

Why pray? Prayer is the only means we have to meet God face to face and heart to heart. It’s the only thing that will fill the God-shaped vacuum in each and every human heart.

The Bible is useful in four areas: teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness. The Bible is a Christian’s final standard on what’s true. God works through the Bible to transform us into fully devoted followers of Jesus who love God and others.

We can summarize John Wesley's views on theological diversity as follows: In essential beliefs, let there be unity. In those things that are not essential, let there be freedom. In all things, let there be love. John Wesley did not consider theology simply a matter of theory or speculation. He called it “practical divinity” because it is the foundation for our words and acts, the basis for holiness of heart and life. This is the Methodist way.

Jesus didn’t come into this world to start an institution, He came to start a revolution! These are the days of Elijah! And God is, right now, turning hearts, bringing light, seasoning with love, leavening the loaf. Why church? When enough people live together, demonstrating the heart and mind of Jesus, we can change the world.

In the Christmas Story there is the Gospel, the good news of God’s grace and love. It is like a two-part score. While the on-going misery of the human race is played out, with all of the political conflicts, the economic struggles, the hardness of human hearts, and the brokenness of joyful moments, above all of this, in the upper register, the angels sing, a bright star shows the nations, and God completes His perfect will.

“In Him was life, and that life was the light of all people. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.” Light is such an important part of what we do in celebrating Christmas. We hang Christmas lights because they point to the light of Christ. We celebrate Christmas on December 25th because of what the day means symbolically about light.

Joy’s a by-product of serving others and seeking to give them joy. Joy’s a by-product of looking at your suffering and seeing it as an opportunity for God to do something great. Joy is a by-product of trusting God in the midst of adversity.

What does it mean for us to produce fruit worthy of repentance? The fruits of repentance, the proof that you have actually repented and desire to serve God, are generosity and compassion. Isn’t this the message of Christmas?

We are beginning our Advent series today entitled Advent Conspiracy. The goal of Advent Conspiracy is to simplify the busy Christmas season by looking at what the original Christmas was all about.

Hopefully, this message will inspire and encourage you to practice a Thanksgiving that is truly about Thanksgiving and a December of kingdom-first priority living.

Simplicity is the intentional act of right-sizing our lifestyles as we commit ourselves to the challenges of both the word of God and the world of need. You can’t separate faith from works—that’s why Jesus talked more about money than any other single subject in the Gospels. Jesus talked more about money than He did faith and prayer combined. He talked about money seven times more than He talked about prayer.

There will never be something that gives us joy until we learn the characteristic trait of generosity. When God designed human beings He designed us to be generous. God created us with the willingness to give—give to God and give to others.

Paul reminds us that Christianity is not a promise that terrible things will not happen to you. We live in a world where bad people do bad things. We live in a world where our bodies are subject to illness and disease. We live in a world where accidents happen. God never promises us that those things will not happen to people who are Christians. He promises us that no matter what, He will be with us. God will not leave us or forsake us. God will bear us up. He promises that in the very worst of circumstances, the day will come when we will see Him face to face.

Titus is a Gentile, a Greek, one of the converts under Paul’s ministry. Titus is not circumcised (not practicing Jewish laws), and yet he is filled with the Holy Spirit. In him you see Christ shining through. So in essence Paul is going to say, “What are you going to do with this man, if you’re going to insist that people have to be circumcised in order to be Christians? What do you do with a man like Titus?” So Titus becomes the test case of why Gentile converts to Christianity don’t have to become Jewish first.

All of us are called to lead others and influence them towards Christ, so we are all leaders in that sense. Some of you are leaders in the church. So, 1 Timothy has a great deal to say to all of us about leadership. Here’s the leadership principle Paul’s teaching us: Effective leaders who change the world persevere.

Philemon is the shortest of Paul’s letters. Philemon has some profound truths for us. Philemon teaches us is that God calls us to see what people can be, not what they have been. To see ourselves, not in the light of who we have been and victims of how we have been treated, but what we might be if we truly embrace the love of Christ.

God wanted to give humanity one last opportunity. He wanted to reach out to the Gentiles and all the world and share His love. And so Jesus said the kingdom of God is breaking into the world. It’s upon you, but it hasn’t fully come. That’s why we pray, “Thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.” Jesus says that day is still coming. I have come, I am defeating evil, I am defeating sin, I defeated death in my death and resurrection…. But the final victory won’t come until I return once again. This is what the New Testament teaches us. Yes, the day of the Lord will come, but in some ways the day of the Lord has also already come. Jesus already offers us abundant life, and makes it possible for us to stand on the day of the Lord. But one day He will return, and the world as we know it will now longer exist. Judgment will occur, and God will right every wrong. There will be a new heaven … and a new earth.

In Colossians 4:12 we learn that Ephaphras is with Paul, in Rome, and that Ephaphras prays mightily for the church. He is mentioned again in Philemon, written at the same time asColossians and there we learn that Ephaphras is now in prison. He is imprisoned for his faith, along with the Apostle Paul.

Today we turn to the letter to the Philippians. This is one of the most loved of all of Paul’s letters. It is known as “The Epistle of Joy” (“Epistle” is the technical term for the kind of letters Paul writes). Fourteen times in this four-chapter letter Paul refers to “joy” or “rejoicing,” which is amazing when you understand the circumstances in which the letter was written.

Today we continue in our series of sermons on the letters of Paul, and we move to studying Ephesians. We’re calling Ephesians “Paul’s Doxology.” I’d invite you to take out your sermon notes and study guide from your bulletin …. the study guide is “the rest of the story.” As you may have noticed, every sermon is aimed at teeing up the study guide, so you can dig in for yourself and listen for God to speak to you as you read the Scriptures on your own. Ephesians is only six chapters long. It would only take you 15-20 minutes to read it in one sitting, but to really maximize your experience you’d want to spend 10-15 minutes a day using your study guide to read it chapter by chapter. I guarantee you’ll be blessed.

In today's text we hear of a church that was perverting the true gospel, and was messing with the gospel. Paul wanted the Christians in Galatia to hear the genuine gospel. What is the genuine gospel? The gospel is that Jesus Christ was raised from the dead by the powers of God and that someday we too shall be raised up to eternal life. The gospel is that Jesus died for all of our sins and paid the penalty for all of our sins, and that we are called to live a life of forgiveness. The gospel is to love one another as Christ has loved us. Eternal life, forgiveness, and a life of love, these are the gospel. We must be reminded of the gospel because of what it means for our everyday living.

2 Corinthians is the most fascinating, puzzling, intriguing of all of Paul’s letters. . It is a confusing letter. Paul seems to be bragging about himself, talking an awful lot about himself. And that’s off-putting … until you understand what was happening at Corinth. That’s when you can finally hear God’s word to us through Paul in Second Corinthians.

The test of Christian character—according to Jesus, according to the Apostle Paul, according to God—is the test of love. And our ability to love others with the love of Christ, is to be emptied of spiritual pride and self-centeredness, and to walk humbly with our God.

Not only is Romans the longest letter of Paul which has survived; it is the weightiest. And it is unquestionably the most important theological book ever written.” Romans is Paul’s masterpiece.

We need to continually grow in the love of Christ in doing our ministry. We need to make our church a better brand in and beyond our community, so many people know about our church’s ministry and mission work and through those works we can glorify God.

The United Methodist Men who went on the Mission to Mississippi recall their trip and its personal meaning in their lives.

We decide many things, from small things to big things everyday. Whether they are small things or big things, we need to know that God intervenes miraculously in our lives. We need to be assured that God is involved. We need to know that God cares enough to work in us and help us deal with the problems we face every day.

As Christians, becoming like Jesus should be our reason for living and our goal as well. So our training should never end. We should never quit trying to grow more and more like Jesus in our thoughts and actions. We need to continually strive for the Christian perfection.

DVD's of this service available upon request. Contact Church Office at (815) 459-0785.

Are we going to be a Bo Peep church or a Good Shepherd church?

The thorns that cause us severe pain and constantly irritate us are not from God, but from Satan. God only wants what’s best for you! God doesn’t send us junk; God sends us blessings! Stop blaming God for what Satan is doing to you!

At First UMC - Crystal Lake. God is calling us to lose our religion and embrace a mission. What’s our mission? To go make disciples; to embrace a hurting neighbor with the love-righteousness of Jesus. Be the open arms of Jesus. Embrace a stranger and make them a friend in Christ; losing our religion to help someone else find a relationship. There’s nothing better.

We all procrastinate in some areas of our life, but when it is a way of life, it is problematic. When it stops us from doing the will of God, it is sad and can be considered sinful. In other words, procrastination can cause us to lose out on God’s best for our lives.

Anger management is an area where a lot of us need to be aligned. Anger is like a tennis ball. You can try to hold that thing under water, but it is eventually going to pop up. You try to hold onto your anger and the pressure builds up. You have to let it go.