Serving as a place of power and restoration (1 Peter 4:10) Quote: Esau McCauley (Asst. Professor NT, Wheaton College)—“The religion that needs a politician to protect it is not Christianity. If death couldn’t hold Jesus then we’ll be fine come what may.” If we think the church needs recuse then we have one of...
“The accomplished Son” Luke 15: 11-32 Remember this is a parable about a father not sons. Last week we looked at the Father and his mercy and willingness to accept the wayward son back. The Father even brings embarrassment to himself in receiving the son back. This week we will look at the older brother....
The undignified love of the Father Turn in your bibles to Luke 15:11-3215 Verse 12The prodigal comes and ask the Father to divide his estate. This was basically the equivalent of saying “ I wish you were dead.” This was a completely outrages request and an insult to the father. Upon receiving such a...
Rest and Mourning • Matt 5:4 Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted. • There is a blessing that comes with mourning. Part of that blessings is direct comfort from the Lord Himself. The Commandment: Exodus 20:8 “Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy. 9 Six days you shall labor and...
Pentecost and the Color of the kingdom In this message we explore Pentecost and the color of the Kingdom. When the Holy Spirit came at Pentecost it was for all the nations on earth. (This message was recorded outside so there is some extra back ground noise) Revelations 5:7-10 Rev 5:8 This is all...
Complete Joy in the midst of a Pandemic. In John 15:9-13 Jesus promises us complete joy, or the full measure of joy. But for many of us we would say that we aren’t living in the reality of complete joy. Then on tip of that add the circumstances of the a global pandemic and...
As I look at how this Corona-virus pandemic has been playing out, I keep asking God what are you doing? And I believe one of the things that God is doing is exposing the idols and blind spots in the church, at least here in the U.S. This is a very biblical concept. When we...
Sorry for poor audio quality Covid-19 The Curse, the Mercy, and the Response The Curse • This is a question I have been hearing both from believers and non-believers. o “Why would a loving God allow this to happen?” o To briefly answer this question, we must go back to Genesis 1 & 2 •...
Pastor Tim Mengler continues in the series Winning the War for Your Mind this week dealing with temptations. • 1 Cor 10:13 There is nothing unusual about our temptations. • Why is this important? Because the enemy tries to convince us no one else has this problem. o Use this verse, don’t condone the sin;...
Winning the War for Your Mind Pt II Scripture as Our Weapon (Psalm 23) Psalm 23:1 What is the job of shepherd? To provide and care for, to protect, to look out for. • When those thoughts are coming against you. I feel alone, I feel unprotected, I feel uncared for. o Respond with what...
Winning the War for Your Mind (2 Cor 10:1-5) Verse 3 Paul realizes that this is spiritual warfare. This is a spiritual issue, not a worldly one. Verse 4 The implication is that Paul sees their criticism of him being rooted in a demonic stronghold. • The word stronghold refers to a place where an...
The Heart of Worship (Physical posture as worship) • In Matt 14 after Jesus clams the storm, it says “they worshipped Him.” • The word ‘worshipped’ here means: to fall down, to kneel, to bow down, fall at the feet of another, to prostrate oneself. It can even mean to kiss the hand of. o...
On Mission with God: To the Nations and the Neighbors (Rev 5:8-10) • Matt, Mark, & Luke all have the same basic command from Jesus to be on mission and take the Gospel to all nations. • These passages are generally referred to as the Great Commission. Acts 2:5 God saw fit to have every...
Let God be on Mission in You: Growing in the Desert (Matt 4:-11) • The Lord wants to grow us to be more like Him and one of the primary ways He does that is through a wilderness or desert experience. o Desert seasons are also often very long, sometimes years. • All three Gospels...
On Mission with God: Immanuel • Isa 7:14 This Hebrew name occurs three times in the OT with two times being in Isa 7 & 8 • The name implies that Jesus is leaving heaven and coming to be with us here on earth. The structure of the name: The name is really made up...
Trust Last week I talked about walking into the fire, and how it takes deep trust in God to be able to enter in. But, in the fire we find what we were looking for all along. This week I want to talk about why can it be so hard to trust God, and where...
The church of Jesus has been born out of the presence of God and was created to gather around His presence continually through the Holy Spirit. In the book of Acts, we see that, within a few short weeks, the crowd in Jerusalem went from saying, “Crucify Jesus” to “What must we do to be...
In Matthew chapter 12, Jesus illustrates spiritual realities through the natural world that apply to us as humans. Fruit trees require great care and attention to produce good fruit. The same is true for us – the words we speak reflect the condition we have cultivated in our hearts. Jesus condemns the religious leaders (the...
There is no getting around it – God is concerned about justice for those who have no voice. Justice was a major part of Jesus’ ministry as well. In fact, the word “justice” is used 130 times in the NIV translation of the Bible. Jesus saved some of his harshest words for the religious leaders...
My House Shall Be Called A House of Prayer. This scene comes during the Palm Sunday entry into Jerusalem. After Jesus comes riding into the city with everyone cheering and singing praises there is this little verse where Jesus goes into the Temple and looks around. Verses:12-14 He curses the fig tree and a...
