Invitation, Praises, Prayer Concerns: Father in Heaven, creator of…everything! Lord today we humbly come before you asking for forgiveness and mercy for missing the mark that you have set for our lives. Please teach us to be more like your Son and our savoir Jesus our Lord. In His heavenly name Father,

Amen!

Message:Why the Widow’s Mite Was Rite!

        Today I want to talk about how our God is active and robust, and most importantly for me, a real part of our lives. That might be the most important thing is say in this message, because we often either take God for granted, ignore his Majesty, or some of us, even begin to doubt His existence and purpose in our lives. All due to our being fallen people in a fallen world.

In fact, because we are sinners at heart, it becomes so so easy some times to get lost in our thoughts, momentarily or even long-term missing in actually being a part of the here and now, that we even go missing our relationships. Our status with other people and even God can get placed on hold so easily at times that it seems as if we are MIAs on autopilot.

What does any of this have to do with an old Widow, placing all she had into the offering for her Lord? As so often over the last six years that I have been honored to give the Sunday morning messages to you, the crux of the message today is attitude. You see, … it’s not enough to acknowledge God’s existence in our world and lives (even the demons of Hell know that)! We must also be in the business of working with the Lord on our attitudes. How we process information, the way we go about adversity, and the ways we behave in our dealings with God, and other people. How we forgive!

JESUS CHRIST IS OUR ONLY HOPE FOR SALVATION

Guest message by Randall Counts

“Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to mankind by which we must be saved.” (Acts 4:12 NIV)

The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full. (John 10:10 NIV)

Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” (John 14:6 NIV)

Jesus replied, “Very truly I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God unless they are born again. (John 3:3 NIV)

GOD DOES NOT WANT TO DAMN YOU!

GOD DOES NOT WANT YOU TO GO TO HELL!

YOU COUNT, YOU MATTER, YOU MEAN SOMETHING, AND YOUR LIFE MEANS SOMETHING.

Your skin color doesn’t matter

Your gender doesn’t matter

Your age doesn’t matter

Your looks don’t matter

How much money you have doesn’t matter

Your mental abilities don’t matter

Your physical abilities don’t matter

Your good works don’t matter

You count, you matter, you mean something and your life means something because of only one thing: Because of who created you!

Guest message by David Fowler on Revival.

Question for you; What excuse did Adam give his children about why they no longer lived in Eden? Your mother ate us out of house and home.
So it all began. The creation of Adam and Eve by God is related to us in Genesis chapter two. God forms the man from the dust of the earth and breathes life into his nostrils. God places the man in the garden to keep it and to cultivate it. God causes Adam to fall into a deep sleep, removes a rib and fashions a woman from the rib. God then brings the woman that He fashioned to Adam and Adam famously says to God “This is now bone of my
bones, And flesh of my flesh; She shall be called Woman, Because she was taken out of Man.” (Gen. 2:23 [NASB])
Adam and Eve, together in the garden planted by God. In a state of perfect creation and in perfect, proper relationship with God. How do we know that Adam and Eve were in perfect, proper relationship with God? [read more]

“Journey Mercies” (guest message by Suzanne Wall)

Today’s message reading comes from the book of Exodus in the Old Testament.

The word exodus basically means “getting out.”

Exodus records the story of a group of people who got out of a bad situation, and what their journey was like and how God led them. And it’s powerful because it’s not only a bit of history, but saved in the Bible as an up-close example of how God works. We can read about these people in the 15^th century B.C. and in a lot of ways it’s so recognizable for situations we find ourselves in today. And it gives a picture of how we can expect God to act.

Message: Only God is Judge & Forgiveness Possible!  

        Let me just cut to the chase really quick and say that 70 times 7 is as good as saying forever, or ongoing. Seven is a number for completion in the Bible and when you see it used by God, we are talking in deeper terms and ideas that that of the world. Our Lord is actually saying we must seek forgiveness; from God and other people, and then if we want to receive that forgiveness, we must be willing to forgive ourselves.

        Ongoing forgiveness is really the heart of the matter in fact. Since I am in an ongoing need for forgiveness from a God that must be really tiered of my lame antics of nonsense. And I am sure that I am not alone in this challenge for self-control. And the search plus the need, continue…

        Before the ongoing need for forgiveness, it is important to actually breach that reluctance in the very beginning of the forgiving process. At some point all of us are going to be tasked to forgive some horrific act of another person or persons. That just life. And sometimes it just goes beyond our understanding on just what God is calling us to do. Please let me read to you about an example, by reading the culmination of a story many of us know or have heard about. In the Old Testament, the book of Genesis unfolds a passage of forgiveness and grace that we must never forget. Reading from Genesis 50:15-21:

        All of us facing adversity, challenge and angst…those who are treading through the mud of distress, heartache, and deep sorrowful pain, that we once thought; not possible, unimaginable, are all going through a night of affliction of sorts.

        Night, can mean so many things to so many people. It’s hard to narrow down the term or the feeling, and maybe it’s not meant to be pidgin holed into a corner in our mind. I guess in a general way, night can represent a time of trial and contesting the status quo. Tasking our abilities to weather the storms that life can bring and the testing of the Lord’s investment in each of us.

        Like it or not and mostly not… we human beings (made in the image of God), seem to be built for adversity. There is something deep within us, that has been created by our God that kicks into gear just when we need God’s grace and mercy the most, to edify us and rise to the occasion.

        I was thinking this week just how bi-polar our existence in this life is. By by-polar, I mean how outright manic-depressive life can be! One minute we are soaring with Eagles oozing in confidence, the next… cruising the fiery depths of regret. Constantly in flux of hoping to belong to whatever (you name it), only in the next moment how to keep others from getting the same access that you have. Celebrating our salvation, and in the next thought, denying and condemning the salvation of others. All while daily we (who live here in this most beautiful region of this land of ours), are offered by God; landscape after awesome vistas, plus surreal natural one-of-a-kind landmarks, celestial wonders, all showing the work of God’s hands, only to filter out God’s gifts, or outright deny His ongoing involvement, guidance, or even God’s existence.

        It is plain to anyone who really is searching for Him, that the one and only God, creator of all of creation and more; is alive, robust, and in charge of every atom, molecule, and scintilla of content… everywhere! Every shred, spec, scrap, and jot, imaginable within the realm, knowledge, sustenance, and control of our majestic God! Always has been, and always will be so thru our eternity. I say our eternity, because we can’t speak for God’s infinity!

        And yet humanity being fallen and depraved as it is, chooses not to look at the wonderous creation for what it is, an overwhelming miracle in the making in real time life. No. From almost the beginning of the history of you and I, humanity has willfully chosen to go it alone without God time and again to humankind’s great peril. The Apostle Paul rightfully sums this up in his letter to the church in Rome, two millennia ago. Please let me read for you, Romans 1:18-22:

Message: Fallen & Dirty World. Solution? A Bath!   

        What is our answer to the fallen state of our sick world, how do we respond to the selfishness run amuck across our land, and where do we seek refuge from the sickness in which we live in? It is an acknowledgement that only our Lord can save us from all of the depravity and nonsense in our society, ultimately from ourselves.

        Inviting the Lord to share in and to be a part of our lives, is a beginning of an eternity that lays ahead for each of us who have gone down that road of trust in our Lord. After being saved by Jesus Christ, a new relationship is forged. A new you has been transformed from the old person you used to be, which will take us places we never dreamed we would actually venture to. The change for some of us happened in a flash, and for others the revolution within occurred over time.

Message; Talk is Cheap, and all too Often: Ugly! 

        If life were not filled with the challenges that you and I face every day, perhaps we would possibly come closer to the benchmark expressed in today’s Call to Worship that Sher read for us earlier. Please let me briefly revisit Psalm 133, which is;A song of ascent, by David. Or sung by all of Israel when they were ascending up to the Temple Mount to worship our God.                                                       

¹ How good and pleasant it is
    when God’s people live together in unity!

² It is like precious oil poured on the head,
    running down on the beard,
running down on Aaron’s beard,
    down on the collar of his robe.
³ It is as if the dew of Hermon
    were falling on Mount Zion.
For there the Lord bestows his blessing,
    even life forevermore.

How wonderful it would be if all of humanity could come together and sing, work, or just live, in perfect harmony! The problem is, life is not a 1970’s Coke-a-Cola commercial where the world comes together at a Christmas Tree to share in song and solidarity.

I am sorry, I have just betrayed my advance age with a blast from the distant past. Here’s the jist of what I am going to share with you today in a nut shell. We Christians do better when we praise in public, and critique in private. That sarcasm, gossip, and non-edified, betray our innermost, arrogance, selfishness, and fears.

If I were going to cut to the chase this morning, the central theme I want to share with you today is; the things I chase after so often are empty and do not satisfy, while the things God provides are not only satisfying, they lead to life eternal. For;

It seems like in this life, many of us spend our time, a multitude of hours, and countless days if not decades; chasing the dream. In fact, it would appear that a vast segment of the population is all consumed with chasing after, and getting stuff. And in the race for more and more, you get to pick the stuff that you are obsessed with, scheme for, and dream of.

Just be careful, for the selection often becomes the burden. Either immediately or over time, our hard-wired natures have a way of imprisoning us in yet another of the countless addictions or outright sick behaviors we as people battle. If by chance you are thinking that you are free of the smorgasbord of the addictive challenges out there cursing humanity, … my council for what its worth is to take another deep look at what is important to you.