What does it mean to live like Jesus? What does it mean to love our neighbors and even our enemies? I think we’re often content with not doing them harm but loving them goes so much farther than that. Listen to this week’s message on loving your enemies.
Continue readingCategory: Messages (Page 15 of 41)
This week in our message we took a simple word and realized how not so simple it really is! The word love is probably one of the most overused and yet misunderstood words in our language. I mean think about it. We can use the same word for how we feel about our spouse or significant other and for pizza, dogs, sports, cars, just about anything! Does it mean we think of them all the same? Does that mean we love our husband or wife the same way we love our car or our pets? Of course not! But how can we be a little more clear?
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Now I’m not one who normally likes to fit the typical mould. I stand out in a crowd more often than I blend in. I’d rather make my own picture than coloring one that someone else creates for me. But there are times when it’s necessary to color inside the lines. As a parent I try to teach my children to slow down and follow the boundaries of the pictures they are coloring. I like it when I see the picture of the teddy bear with two colors of brown, a darker for the fur on the body and a lighter color for the belly. It just looks like they took more care and time with it. The same is true with life. When we carefully take the time to shade our lives and color inside the lines, we begin to see a picture far better than anything we could draw ourselves.
Continue readingThis week in worship it was time to get real. It was time to be honest, bold and hold nothing back. Our world is trying to rip the words of the Bible out of our hands. People are redefining terms to fit their agenda. And while all of this is happening, the church is sitting idly by minding its own business. But that has to end! And it has to end now. In this week’s message I spend a little time unpacking the reality of who we are as followers of Christ and what we’re supposed to be about in this life. We’ll look at a variety of ideals and how they are all impacted by God’s Word and design for life.
Three pretty significant things happen in the text for this past Sunday’s message. Feel free to check that out here. The Bible story was from John 2:1-12. It’s a familiar passage commonly referred to as the Wedding at Cana or the Water into Wine Miracle. Many of us approach this passage with questions and wonder what Jesus was up to with this miracle. We ask questions like why was it at a wedding? Why did he start with water? Why did he choose to do this miracle in the first place? And why did he call his own mother – woman!?!? This post will hopefully address a few of these questions.
Continue readingThis week we take another famous section of Scripture and look at it from another angle. It’s called the wedding at Cana. Jesus performs his first miracle there. Jesus’ first miracle is often talked about for its uniqueness. Why the water? Why the wine? Why the stone jars? This week we’re going to reframe this passage and focus on a part we rarely notice. Listen as Pastor Derrick shares a potentially new perspective on this familiar section!
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We often get so confused about some of the stories in the Bible. Throughout this year we’re going to look at some of these familiar stories in the Bible and see their meaning from a different perspective. Last Sunday was a special Sunday in the church year known as Epiphany. Now Epiphany is the day we celebrate as the twelfth day of Christmas, or the day the Magi (aka wisemen) visited Jesus. It was up to two years after his birth and definitely not in the manger!
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When we go through life we often miss the sites along the way. We sometimes miss the highlights that are part of the journey. In life we need a guide to point out the way to where we’re going but also to help us see the important parts along the way. This Christmas we pray you find the way to Christmas Hope, Peace, Joy, Love and Life. That way was found in a manger, and his name is Jesus. May God be with you as your Guide this Christmas.
This year for Christmas we take an unusual journey to find the real meaning of Christmas. Listen in to Christmas Eve 2018 as Pastor Derrick takes us into a conversation that didn’t necessarily happen but explains why Christmas is so important.
Darkness is sometimes comforting because you can hide the things you don’t want seen. But darkness is also somewhat terrifying because we don’t know what’s lurking in the dark recesses of our lives. This week we journey into the darkness to find the power of the light. We look at one verse in John’s gospel that overflows with powerful imagery and life-changing truth. Listen this week as Pastor Derrick unpacks the rich truths in John 8:12 and what it means when Jesus says I am the light of the world.