January 2, 2022
What Jesus is doing here is awakening His followers to the new reality of God’s plan for His people in the Church age. The reason God’s Kingdom will not be established at this time, is that in just a few days, the Holy Spirit is going to come upon them all, and the Church will come into existence. Now, through theChurch, God’s kingdom will take up residence in the hearts of ordinary men and women, and together they will have one purpose: to be His witnesses in the world!
June 1, 2021
If the Spirit has set you free from the burden of the law, if the Spirit is changing you so you now want what God wants, and if the Spirit is empowering you to kill off the old life and embrace this new life in Christ – that means, the Spirit in You is leading you. And the very fact that you are living surrendered to His leading is a clear statement that you are a new person in Christ. More specifically, you are a child of God. And the good news is that God has done all of this for you.
May 18, 2021
God wants to make your heart a home for Jesus. But this doesn’t just happen because we want it to happen. It happens when we allow God to transform our hearts with the riches of Christ. It happens when we allow Christ’s Spirit to fortify our hearts with His truth. And it happens when God’s people pray.
July 23, 2019
Moses’ heart was with pleasing God. He would rather live for Christ, then be the richest man on earth. His value system was a kingdom value system, and it was this kingdom value system that dictated his choices. Can we say the same? Do we make our choices in light of the rewards of eternity or in light of what they can do for us today? There’s a tension here and we can all feel it: we are constantly being pulled toward the treasures of the world or the treasure of God’s smile. But choices based on faith choose eternities rewards over the rewards of earth.
October 16, 2018
What manner was this power? How was it manifested in those first followers? It was the power of the Holy Spirit who moved them to thirst after the Word. It was the power of the Holy Spirit who moved them to seek God constantly in prayer. It was the power of the Holy Spirit who moved them to sell whatever they had so they could share with others in need. It was the power of the Holy Spirit who moved them to open up their homes and include friends and neighbors in their lives. It was the power of Christ’s love that compelled them to love one another deeply. And it was the power who moved in their hearts to tell the good news about Jesus, to talk about the cross.
April 3, 2018
That’s why the resurrection changes everything. For when you receive Jesus you receive His Spirit. And when you receive His Spirit, you receive the power to live this new life of grace, truth, hope and love. And this is what our world needs today.
January 23, 2018
It is well and good to praise God for the good things in our lives – a loving family, great friendships, financial success, a great church. But here David shows that a man with a heart after God doesn’t praise God just when things are going well. Here he praises God when life isn’t going his way. This is why David is a great example OF EVERYDAY PRAISE.
November 7, 2017
Our Problem: We come into Christianity by receiving Jesus Christ by faith, but then we try to live this new life OUT OF OUR OWN ABILITY and STRENGTH. And when we do that we fail. We try to love but we can’t. We try to be kind but sometimes we don’t really feel like it. We try to not get angry, but we lose our cool. And then we feel like we’ve let God down; so we try again. But we fail again and again and again. And eventually we find it’s TOO HARD to live this new life, so we stop trying. Oh a part of you still wishes you could live this new life, but you’ve figured it’s just not worth the aggravation or disappointment. And if that’s where you find yourself this morning, then I have some good news for you. You are right! You can’t live this new life, but Jesus can.
February 21, 2017
The Holy Spirit is the catalyst that helps us know the Father’s love, and it’s the Holy Spirit that now awakens us to want to love like the Father loves. So the next time you experience that inner compulsion to love someone unselfishly, whereas before, you might have feared them, ignored them or rejected them… that is evidence of God’s Holy Spirit alive in you.
December 13, 2016
No one is too damaged or too far-gone for Jesus. And that makes Jesus our greatest hope: He will never give up on you. He will never throw you away. He will never let you go. This is our Jesus, the Hero of our story. He is always for us, never against us.