Through the death and resurrection of Jesus, there is hope for the hardest heart. Look again upon the nail-scarred, risen Christ, that we would proclaim with unrestrained worship, “My Lord and My God!”

In Mark 14, as Jesus’ death nears, we see the people around him seeking many different things - hearts are revealed - and one of them the Lord wants us to learn from and never forget.

The first part of the book of Zechariah is filled with mysterious visions. As the citizens of Judah were returning to their devastated land after decades of exile, their question, “Is God still with us through these dark times?” was answered in part with visions that pointed to God’s faithfulness to his promises and an even greater fulfillment in the future. Seeing God’s faithfulness to his promises in Zechariah’s day brings great encouragement to God’s people today who still wait for the ultimate fulfillment as Christ returns.

Zechariah is a strange book and according to one early church leader is full of "riddles, parables, dark sayings, and various other forms of obscurity.” In that puzzling book, however, there promise after promise of redemption, hope, justice, and restoration. After their exile in Babylon, God promises that he will continue to be with his people. But even beyond those immediate promises, the book of Zechariah points to even greater things in a coming Messianic King and his eternal kingdom. God’s promises remain for his people even in times of loss and darkness.

Because of the gospel, racial and ethnic harmony is possible in the church in a way it isn’t anywhere else, but we must have an eternal perspective and work that back to where we live right now.

In Zephaniah, we witness the restored worship of God’s people, by the saving work of God on their behalf, through a grace and love so deep that He sings over them.

The prophet Zephaniah calls all people to prepare, “For the day of the LORD is near” and to seek the Him and find refuge before that day comes.

The prophet Nahum proclaimed, “Look, upon the mountains, the feet of him who brings good news, who publishes peace!” We come to see the uniqueness of God’s peace - coming those who come into communion and those who are conquered.

In the book of Nahum, we hear God’s pronouncement of judgment against Assyria, Israel’s enemy, and the promise of good news for all who take refuge in Him.

God's people are to do justice, love mercy, and to walk humbly for him, and are able to because of his steadfast love, shown in his Son, who truly did justice, displayed mercy, and lived as a humble servant to redeem his people.

In the doom and crisis coming to Israel, we hear through Micah promises of the divine grace of Yahweh, that His kingdom would prevail through a Messianic King, and he would save his people by his steadfast love and faithfulness.

Habakkuk 2 is a contrast between competing locations for hope. Power, wealth, and domination were the idols of Babylonian culture, achieved at any cost. In contrast, God’s glory will fill the earth “as the waters cover the sea” (2:14). While Babylonian glory is fleeting, God’s glory is eternal. Only when one's hope rests in God’s glory, which is ultimately found in the person and work of Jesus, can they find a stabilizing, joyful faith.

The role of the Old Testament prophets was to speak God’s word to God’s people, reminding them of God’s character and his covenant. Habakkuk’s day was filled with “destruction and violence ... strife and contention” (1:13), yet he was able to “rejoice in the Lord” (3:18). As Habakkuk’s eyes focused more on God’s glory than his own circumstances he was able to find joyful faith. As we look on the destruction, violence, strife, and contention of our day, we too, can find joyful faith as we enjoy God’s sovereignty and mercy.

Psalm 121 is a song for and about our journey in this life, to assure us that God is ever present with and keeping his people every single step of the way – from the beginning all the way until the end.

In the final benediction of the Book of Hebrews, we see that God wants to equip His church "with everything good", by giving us a renewed wonder and awe of Jesus Christ, our Great High Priest. Greater than angels, greater than Abraham, greater than Moses. He is bigger than all our fears and better than all our desires. And He is your Great Shepherd, leading us, providing for us, drawing near to us through every trial.

Leadership in the church involves calling people to obey and follow Christ together. Christians in the church follow pastors in obeying Christ’s commands. All of this is done in light of the superiority of Christ and the sufficiency of his sacrifice.

Guest Pastor Rick Gamache uses Mark 4:35-41 to show us who "The Lord of the Storm" is.

As believers we have access into God glorious kingdom through the blood of Jesus Christ, and it is a kingdom that cannot be shaken.

We are encouraged to endure and run our race as Christians - with confidence in our relationship with God as his sons and daughters and with a pursuit of holiness to reflect him as our Holy Father.

We are called to run the race of the Christian life with endurance and are able to do this with joy and hope as we fix our eyes, by faith, on Jesus, who blazed the trail for us and who secures our joyful reward in Him.

The times we’re living in may feel chaotic. But that’s only if we focus on what you can see. What we cannot see is a faithful, wise, loving, sovereign God, orchestrating and moving all human events in a redemptive direction. Keep your eyes on Him, the God of promise, knowing He is faithful in this life, and in the life to come.

The Christian life is one that requires endurance. God brings both warnings to not drift, and assurances that bring faith so that we keep our eyes fixed on Jesus.

Faith in God is not only a belief that God exists. It’s believing that God rewards those who seek him. It’s one thing to believe God exists. It’s another thing to believe He is good. The kind of faith that we are called to is to trust in the goodness and faithfulness of God.

The most important relationship in your life is a vertical one, between you and God. But if that vertical relationship is healthy, it overflows to become horizontal as well, with our relationships with one another. Jesus said, “By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another” (Jn 13:35). And for Christians, the clearest, most visible expression of living our lives together is the Sunday gathering.

Salvation happens when we repent of our sins and trust in Jesus. But that’s not the finish line. That’s the start. Those who trust in Jesus are called to follow Jesus. To have transformed hearts means we will live transformed lives. That’s called sanctification – to grow to be more like Christ.

By his death, Jesus becomes the mediator that provides a perpetual-once for all forgiveness for his people.

We are in the heat of battle - not against each other, but against the devil, against the world, and against our own flesh. And it’s time that the church of Jesus begins to see that. Since the devil can’t separate us from Christ, he works overtime trying to separate Christians from each other. But we refuse to let that happen. As we look forward to a new ministry season, God wants to remind us today that the unity He has given us in Christ is precious and must be defended.

Josh Montague uses Psalm 27 to show us how we can wait in the land of the living.

"A guilty conscience is one that carries the weight and the burden of sin. But a pure conscience comes when we confess those sins to Jesus, when you see His blood as powerful enough, His sacrifice as payment enough, to not only take away the guilt of what we’ve done wrong, but to fill us up with His grace, assuring us of His love…not because of what we can do, but because of what He has already done."

People under the old covenant didn’t need new rules. God’s people needed a new heart. That’s what we’re given in the new covenant we have in Christ. Jesus has fulfilled the law, obeyed the law for us, and has given us a new heart and a new mind.

After Jesus laid down His life for us, He rose from the dead in resurrection power, guaranteeing that all who trust in Him would not only be made sinless like He is, but death would no longer have claim on our lives either. In Christ, we are free from death, free from bondage, free from judgment, and are given eternal life, forever with Jesus, whose priesthood is forever.

From one Old Testament figure, Melchizedek, we are reminded that you and I don’t serve a dead King, but one who is alive, who is ruling and reigning in all power and authority. And likewise, we do not have a high priest with term limits because he gets old and has to retire. Our High Priest is the High Priest, forever mediating, forever interceding for His people.

The time we live in is filled with uncertainty. So much anxiety about the present and the future. All the variables, all the “what if’s” swirling around in our hearts and minds, it can feel like we’re in a little boat caught in a big storm. We need to have our hearts anchored, reminded of the unwavering, sure and steadfast hope we have in Christ – not only in our salvation, but in every aspect of our lives.

Can a Christian lose their salvation? Can we stray so far away from God that they can never be redeemed? In one of the most sobering warnings in the Bible, we also see one of the most beautiful encouragements revealing how we can know for sure that we are followers of Jesus.

Guest pastor Greg Dirnberger attempts to persuade us that being joined to a family of like minded churches is something to value.

"We are missional”. That means we are a church (and group of churches) that are on a mission. Jesus saves us to send us - to send you and me with His gospel, with His power, with His presence, to see others saved.

Pastors are mature Christian men, called by God to care for and humbly lead Christ’s church. As the churches of the NT were planted in the different cities, these were the men who had a God-given call to ministry, who had sound character, and sound doctrine to lead the church as fellow-disciples of Jesus.

As men and women joyfully function in our distinct God-given roles, our churches and homes will be clear reflections of the gospel.

The purpose of the spiritual gifts are to glorify Jesus (point to something greater than us), and secondly, to edify (or build up and encourage) the church.

We celebrate God's sovereignty in all things, including salvation.

How are we to respond to all the injustice and unrest in our society? When will real change happen? When we surrender our lives to the Savior, He fills us with the Holy Spirit who breaks down every division and transforms every heart from the inside out.

The high priest of the Old Testament had to be holy enough to reflect the person of God to people. And at the same time, he had to be humble – a man of the people, who could relate to human weakness. No high priest ever did this perfectly. He would either fail on the part of representing God by being too sinful. Or, he would fail in representing man by being too distant, too separated, too out of touch with the common person...That is, until Jesus.

Without the Cross, the throne of God is a place of terror and judgment. But because Jesus completed the work of redemption, you can be confident, for those who trust in Christ, that He is smiling upon you ready to pour out mercy and grace, ready to give you more of Himself, in your time of need.

God’s word is sharper than a two-edged sword. We will be cut either way. Either we will reject the authority of His Word and be cut down in judgment, or we will surrender to the power and authority and truth of God’s Word, to have our hearts cut and pruned everyday, so that we can see Jesus as the glorious fulfillment and embodiment of God’s Word.

There’s a difference in believing in God, and truly trusting in God. When we don’t trust God, that’s when anxiety and fear increase. But for all who truly trust in Jesus, He gives us rest: Rest from our attempts to please God through our own efforts. Rest from carrying our burdens alone. And the promise of a future rest with Him when this life is over.

Trying times can encourage us to reach out to Christ and to others for help. Or we can be tempted to go inward, become bitter, and eventually find our hearts hardened toward God. Through trials and pain, and discouragement and fear, maybe your heart has become hard. That doesn’t mean you’re not a Christian. It means you need to be revived. Draw near to Jesus, to His throne of grace, knowing that He is the one who makes hearts of stone into hearts of flesh. He’s is the one who takes weary, hurting Christians, and pours out His love and His grace on us when we need it most.

For the guards at Jesus’ tomb, their problem was not going to be trying to keep someone out. The problem was going to be trying to keep someone in. But no guards, no stone, not even death itself could hold Jesus in the tomb. And how timely it is for us to look again at the empty tomb and be reminded of the resurrecting, redeeming, redemptive power of our Savior!

Jesus fought death to the death, and won. So that all who trust in Him are given the same victory over death, to know that the grave is not our final destination. That means death is not something to fear. For the Christian, death is the glorious moment that God says, “Your work here is done. Your purpose in this life has been fulfilled. Well done, good and faithful servant."

Jesus told His disciples “All power in heaven and earth has been given to me” (Matthew 28:18). But if Jesus has all power, why is there still so much evil in the world? Why do bad things happen to good people if God really is in control? For the persecuted Christians that the letter of Hebrews was first written to, that question was real. Maybe you’ve asked this as well. God’s word helps us with the answer...

Drifting from the truth doesn’t happen overnight. It happens slowly, little-by-little, when we’re not paying attention. And it can happen to the best of us. Especially in a gospel-centered church. We hear the gospel so often that we could be in danger of becoming deaf to it. So the writer of Hebrews not only gives us the warning against drifting from the truth, but he also gives us the remedy…

Because angels were used by God to deliver the law, Jews held angels in high regard, even to the point of seeing them as divine. Some even saw them as objects of worship and adoration. So for new Jewish Christians being persecuted, it was very tempting to just go along with that belief, to stop claiming that Jesus is the Son of God, and to deny His deity. So the writer of Hebrews points to different Old Testament passages to remind them, and us, of the total supremacy of Jesus over all things, including angels.

Jesus is God’s Prophet, God’s Heir, Our Creator, God’s Radiance & Imprint, Our Sustainer, our Savior, and our King. How big is your trial? How big are your doubts and fears? How big is your need? Not nearly as big as your Jesus!

Maybe you’ve experienced low points in your life where you’ve even been tempted to walk away from the faith, as some have done. Whether you were weary or worried, discouraged or distracted, condemned or just confused, the Book of Hebrews has something to say to you. In this first sermon in the new series “Jesus is Better”, we look at the Book of Hebrews as a whole, seeing the supremacy of Christ over all things.

Baptism is a sign of that new covenant in Christ. When we go under the water, it is to symbolize the death of that person’s old way of life. We have died to sin. Paul uses the act of water baptism to remind the Romans, and to remind us, of the beautiful realities of the gospel that you and I should celebrate, realities that should change the way we live.

Pastor Nathan Treguboff uses Romans 1:18-32 on Sanctity of Life Sunday to show us “The Image of God and the Glory of Personhood.”

Your Heavenly Father wants to replenish and revive you. And He wants to revive you by drawing you to Himself. Prayer is communing with God in such a way that we are reminded of our need for Him and of His faithfulness to us.

God increases our longing for Him through our reading and meditating on Scripture. Through His Word, God gives us understanding to obey Him, the desire to treasure him, and the courage to live out His commands.

When it comes to sharing the gospel with others, guilt is a terrible incentive. Jesus doesn’t call us to evangelize out of guilt, but out of gratitude, out of joy, out of grace. How does our gratitude grow? By seeing the truth afresh, looking again at what God has done in your life. Seeing how God has gloriously, graciously reconciled you to Himself.

This week’s guest speaker Justin Lakemacher unpacks Titus 2:11-14 to show us “The Gospel of Grace for the Enslaved”.

The whole book of Exodus is about God wanting to be with His people. God rescuing a people, making covenant with that people, and wanting to come down and live among those people. That’s what the people were promised, and that’s what they were waiting on – for God to come down and dwell with them.

When Moses came down from the mountain, his face was shining from being in God’s presence. Moses asked to see God’s glory. Instead, God gives Moses something better. He reveals who He is. And Moses would never be the same. The greatest thing God can give us is Himself, to let us truly know Him.

Guest pastor Chris Oswald uses Colossians 1:9-16 to consider, what it does it mean to be saved?

Without God’s presence, Moses didn’t want the promised land. He valued God over what God could give. You and I have something Moses did not. We have the Holy Spirit living inside of us, His very presence empowering us for a purpose.

The Hebrews were blinded by their longing for a god they could see and control. Jesus came not only to open our eyes to the false gods we chase, but also to reveal to us the One True God who saves. Because of Him, the sin we once reveled in, we now mourn. And the mystery of the gospel we once dismissed, we now treasure.

The Bronze Basin and the Golden Altar were both places of prayer and reflection. Self examination is good, but only if we see ourselves the way Christ does – loved and forgiven. Condemnation can never take hold when we focus on the cross.

God intended the garments of the high priest in the Old Testament to be an outward sign, a visual aid, to remind the people of two major things: The priest represented God before the people. And, the priest represented the people before God. But over and over, human priests failed. God knew we would need a perfect High Priest. We would need Jesus.

The veil in the tabernacle separated God from man. At the moment of Jesus’ death, the temple veil was torn in two, from top to bottom. Torn from the top, to signify this was not man’s doing, but it was done by God. And torn, to show that the chasm, the separation between a holy God and sinful man was now reconciled through the final sacrifice of God’s own Son.

The Tabernacle of Moses in the OT was not only God’s lavish expression of His desire to dwell with His people. Ultimately it was meant to be a type and shadow, an illustrated sermon, a sign post pointing forward in history to when God in the flesh would come and “tabernacle” with His people through Jesus.

Here in Exodus 24 we see an amazing thing: the God of the universe comes near and invites men to enter into covenant with Him, and then they sit and eat in His presence. The gift wasn’t the meal. The gift was God’s presence, His approval, His acceptance and invitation to a sinful people to be in covenant with Him. To call them friends.

We all know the feeling: Constantly running on empty, feeling like you’re just one more obligation away from burnout, and one more crisis away from collapse. But our weariness can often be a gift from God, reminding us that we are connected to the wrong source. The remedy is not trying harder, but being a branch connected to the Vine.

These chapters in Exodus (20-23) are called “The Book of the Covenant”. Here, God is instructing His people what it looks like to live out His covenant law in different situations of everyday life. In the Ten Commandments, God’s law is spoken. Now, we will see God’s law applied.

We often say to ourselves, “If I only had this one thing, if only this situation was different, then I could be happy.” But whatever that thing is, it has the potential of being an idol. You could be putting your hope or your desire into something you don’t have while forgetting what you do have. The remedy is finding true contentment in Christ. Here’s how…

A false witness lies about what he hasn’t seen. A silent witness stays quiet about what he has seen. We are called to be faithful witnesses, to courageously tell others who Christ is and what He has done for us.

In his application of the OT Law, Jesus often showed that behind a simple prohibition like “You shall not steal” is a matter of the heart. In contrast to theft, scripture shows that because God established a pattern of work and rest, we are to follow suit. Stealing disrupts that pattern. Ultimately, we rest in Jesus’ finished work on our behalf, which frees us to do good work.

The transformation from caterpillar to butterfly is a radical change. When Jesus came he fulfilled the OT law covenant. He transformed the 7th commandment, expanding and internalizing it. Whoever even looks with lust commits adultery in their hearts. Jesus calls us to radical obedience. Hell is at stake. But there is hope for the adulterer.

The Sixth Commandment reminds us that God is the God of life. He made man in His own image, and that image should be valued and protected. Surrounded by a culture of death, you and I need to be reminded often of the gift of life, and even more, the One who gave His life for us…

The first four commandments are vertical, focusing on man’s relationship with God. The remaining six commands are horizontal, dealing with how we relate to one another. And the very first command where God instructs us on how to relate to one another has to do with children and parents. That’s because the family is the foundation of every other relationship, and ever aspect of society.

Is it a sin for Christians to work on Sunday? How is Jesus the fulfillment of our Sabbath rest? The Fourth Commandment teaches us more than we realize.

The third commandment tells us not to take the LORD’s name in vain. That means much more than just watching our language and not using God’s name in our curse words. It means having a heart that has been changed by Christ and growing in the desire to honor the name of Christ in every way possible.

Our hearts are often noisy and crowded, with something or someone competing for our affection, our attention, our allegiance, our pursuit, our trust, and our worship. But there’s only room for one ruler of our hearts, and that’s God Himself…

It would be hard to find another section of literature of any kind that has had as big of an impact on mankind and modern society greater than the impact the Ten Commandments have had. Also known as the Decalogue, or “Ten Words” in Hebrew, the Ten Commandments hold a unique place of prominence in human history, not only for what they meant to the Hebrew people at Mt. Sinai, but also what they mean in the life of the Christian today.

It is the death of an organization when it depends on just one person. It will either inflate a man’s ego, or it will crush his soul. Unshared burdens destroy people, but responsibilities that are shared grow humility and bring glory to God…

Jesus, the Sovereign Lord and King we belong to, flies His banner over us, reminding us we belong to Him, we are part of His kingdom, and the spiritual battles we fight in this life, we fight with His strength, with His power, and with His authority. And He is undefeated.

The rock is struck, water comes out, and God’s people are saved (Exodus 17:1-7). Like Moses, Jesus stood before the angry mob, received false accusations, had false charges leveled against Him, put on trial by sinful men. But unlike Moses, Jesus was given the death penalty by those deserving death themselves. And from that Rock, we are saved.

God loves to meet the needs of His people. That first requires for us to be in need, and to look to God to provide. For Israel, God provides bread from heaven. But this was not just about God meeting their physical needs. There was a greater provision in mind. For them, and for us…

“I am Yahweh, your healer” (Exodus 15:26). Sadly some twist this into a promise to guarantee physical health and prosperity in this life. That false interpretation misses the point. And frankly, it aims too low…

God created song so that when we sing of His goodness, that we would not only remember the facts of what He’s done, but our hearts would also be moved as well with gratitude, with awe and wonder, with joy and peace. Song helps to join the head and the heart in worshiping God…

One of the greatest miracles in the Bible, the parting of the Red Sea and God saving the Hebrews. And it many ways, it points to the greatest miracle of all, God saving all His people through Jesus Christ…

We should not live in past, but we also must not forget the past. We grow through constant reminders of the awe and wonder of being redeemed, the joy of knowing you belong to God, that His is faithful in all His promises to you in Christ, and that He will never leave you. These truths are worth fighting for…fighting to remember.

There are moments in history that change everything. This is one of those moments, not only for the Hebrew people, but a pivotal moment in God’s redemptive plan for all His people…

Egypt’s false gods are exposed as fairy tales. Mighty pharaoh is powerless. And through it all, God’s people are protected. God does all this so His mighty works to be remembered, celebrated and proclaimed among all future generations…including us.

Through the ten plagues, God revealed Himself to the Egyptians by exposing the impotence of their false gods. And God has reveals Himself to us by exposing our idols and destroying our functional saviors, and showing us the real Savior.

If God were sovereign, but not good, He would be a tyrant. If God were good but not sovereign, He would not be God. But because God is both sovereign and good, that’s a God we can trust…

To be broken in spirit is not always something to be rescued from. Sometimes being broken is actually a condition God leads us into – to humble us, or prepare us, to remove what is harmful, and fill us afresh with His Spirit.

In Christ we can find hope in every burden that comes from broken expectations.

“In the cultural debate of choosing life, Christians should not be known only for what we are against. Not only pointing at the problem, but we should be offering the solution. Not just standing against abortion, but also promoting adoption – starting with our own families, and also helping to support other families who adopt with our prayers and our resources.”

Every Christian knows the struggle to be consistent with our Bible reading. Guilt doesn’t work. New Year’s resolutions don’t work. Here are some ways we can we grow in our desire to be in God’s Word…

In Luke 11, Jesus answers a request from one his disciples to teach them to pray, so he instructs his disciples on the content of and the confidence we can have in our prayers.

Those who had a difficult 2018 could be tempted to feel exhausted and a little discouraged facing a new year. But God wants to revive your weary heart so that you can face a new year with new strength and hope, not rooted in your performance or in your circumstances, but in His grace...

The miracle of Christ’s birth reminds us our hope in God is secure. The Incarnation - Jesus coming to earth – reminds us that we have a God who is faithful in the lives of His children. He is the source of all our hope. And in Him our hope is secure...

God specializes in the impossible and delights in using the humble to exault His name.

Providence is God’s foreknowledge, goodness and sovereign power providing all that is needed to accomplish what He has planned. Even when we can’t explain it, and we don’t always understand it, we know that God is the one who guides every detail of our lives. In good times and bad, He is the one who is working all things out for a purpose...

Before God ever sent Moses on a mission, He first brought Moses into His presence. When we are weak, in His presence we find strength. When we are hopeless, in His presence we find hope. When we are afraid, In His presence we find the faith and the courage to go on...

Guest preacher Rick Gamache uses Philippians 4:10-13 to show us "Contentment As Worship".

"When we stop to consider just how holy God is, it will blow our minds that this holy God invites redeemed sinful man into His presence, not only that we would be with Him, but that He would dwell in us."

"Sometimes God leads us through uncomfortable times so that we won’t get too attached to our comforts, our own desires, or our illusion of control. And God does this so that we will trust in Him, not ourselves. He's preparing us for our calling..."

"In the midst of suffering, God brings redemption upon redemption. Grace upon grace. He is powerful enough to direct every detail of our lives to fulfill His plan. And God is loving enough to ensure that His plans are good for His people."

Moses is not the hero of Exodus. God is - His power, His character, His covenant-keeping faithfulness to His people. And it's here we see the foreshadowing of the great Deliverer to come who would save all God's people from the slavery of sin. Join us as we begin our journey through Exodus this Sunday...

"Who are you voting for?" "What do you think about immigration?" "How about the 'Me Too' movement?" We are living in a divided time in our country. As dual citizens, Christians are residents of this world, but we belong to Christ's kingdom. Here's how one affects the other...

Joshua Chambers uses 1 Samuel 25 to show us "The God Who Saves from Wrath."

When you trust in Christ, you belong to Him. He has written our names on His hands. And He has written His Word on our hearts. Right now, in your trials, He is holding you up, sustaining you, strengthening you, and keeping you...

Real peace is not the absence of conflict. Real peace is calm in the midst of the storm. And only in Jesus can we have that perfect peace...

A friend comes to you who is hurting. They share painful details of a trial they are in. They are looking to you for comfort. What do you do? What do you say?
Here are five questions our hearts ask when we're hurting, and how to help answer those questions with truth...

"We exist to glorify God by making disciples through treasuring, living and proclaiming the gospel of Jesus Christ." Our mission is not to get decisions for Christ, but to make disciples of Christ. And what a joyful, supernatural call it is...

Remember: God is not done with you yet. He has not forgotten you, and He will act. In your weakness keep praying because God hears. And in your trial, keep trusting because God is near.

When we want our situation to change, it’s important to remember the truths that don’t change. God is at work in your trial. Trust Him. Find comfort in His righteousness, in His Word. And He will give you a song, even in your darkest night...

"Beloved, if your delight is small, your obedience will be small. If your delight is great, your obedience will not be a burden, but the overflow of joy. If you have an obedience problem, the solution is not more effort but more delight." -Joshua Chambers

Three truths that remind us why we can trust the Bible, especially in our times of suffering…

We make our trials 10 times more difficult when we’re not teachable. When we resist godly counsel, try to do things on our own, isolate ourselves from fellowship. Trials will either harden us or humble us. Which will you choose?

When you’re battle-weary, when you need a break from the fighting, God’s word is a place you can go to get away, to get off the treadmill of life and breathe again, to be reminded of who God is and who you are to Him, how much you are loved, how faithful God is, and be refilled with faith...

To love God is to obey Him. To love God is to know His word and joyfully embrace His will for our lives. But that doesn't come naturally. It must be cultivated. Here's how...

Let this blow your mind: The same God that made and sustains the world with His word will keep you and sustain you with His Word...

As Christians called to the gospel mission, we are also called to one another. In relationship. Living life together as a family. That can be a great blessing, but it can also a great challenge. And that’s exactly what God intended...

Keeping God’s word central in our preaching and in our lives will help guard our hearts and keep us faithful to our call...

Guest Pastor Ryan Chase uses Acts 4:23-31 to show us why we should be "Asking for Boldness."

The Gospel has the power to touch and sanctify every area of your life, preparing you and equipping you through God's word to glorify God and to make much of Jesus in everything that you do and say!

Three ways Christians can be better prepared to deal with deception...

Do you know someone who just likes to debate and quarrel? (Maybe you are that person.) If so, consider these 7 ways God gives grace for difficult people...

Guest Pastor Chris Oswald uses the crucifixion account to show us the dangers of the fear of man.

Four ways for Christians to remain faithful to our gospel call...

We may all struggle with sharing the gospel. We become afraid and awkward. But God wants to encourage us - the Holy Spirit has empowered us to be His witnesses who will be bold, courageous, and unashamed...

Don’t surrender your joy. Don’t let go of the hope you have in Christ. Don’t let the fire of the Spirit die – fan it into flame. Take that gift, that calling, that passion of living for Jesus and the joy of serving Jesus, and stoke that fire once again.

To truly trust in Christ is to be transformed by Christ and His resurrection.

In a sermon entitled "The Week that Changed the World", Pastor Scott Crook walks us through a day-by-day journey of Jesus's last week before he goes to the cross.

Generosity is showing love by giving to others (to God's people and to God's mission). It's never about the size of our wallets, but it's the condition of our hearts. Here are four truths God wants His Church to know about giving...

When we are fully dependent on Christ, only then we will know what it is to be fully satisfied with Christ...

The church is a family, the household of God, and are called to care for their family members well, and even giving specific attention to caring for widows.

When it comes to being part of a local church, we all have a responsibility to one another. Church leaders and church members alike, we are all called to help each other grow in the gospel and to hold each other to the standards of Christian living laid out in Scripture...

What you believe will determine how you live. And how you live will tell others what you really believe. Watch your life and your doctrine...

It’s the job of the pastors to guard the flock and to warn against false teachers. But every Christian needs to be on guard. We all need to know the difference between the true gospel and a different gospel, between godly leaders and wolves in sheep’s clothing...

"In God's Image", for Celebrate Life Sunday...

Our hope is not in an event or a circumstance. Our hope is in a person – the person of Jesus Christ. He is the truth we hold dear and hold high. He is the One that changes the way we live. He is the one we hold to – the one who holds onto us. Remember who He is, and who we are in Him. You are part of His family, His household...

Jesus loves His church so much that He created the offices of elders and deacons to care for God's people. Here's why deacons are vital to the health of the local church...

There is a Sabbath-rest God’s people now live in - by grace through faith in Jesus, that we experience in part now, while anticipating a greater “future-rest” eternally with God.

Jesus born in a manger was not the end – it was the beginning. The reason Jesus came, and the good news of His life and death and resurrection, is the gospel message that continues...

A praying church is a powerful church. Not only because God intervenes and changes those we pray for, but God also changes us in the process...

What kind of men is God looking for to lead His churches? Not perfect men - they don't exist. And not professionals, but shepherds who will humbly follow the Great Shepherd, point others to Him, and lay down their life for the church.

It’s been said that mercy is withholding the bad that I deserve, and grace is giving the good I don’t deserve. In 1 Timothy 1:12-17, Paul is contradicting those who would look to the law for salvation by reminding us all of the extravagant, abundant, overflowing mercy and grace we find only in Jesus...

Join us on the journey as we begin a brand new sermon series, “I Timothy: Preserving the Gospel-Centered Church”.

When Paul is teaching about spiritual gifts, why did he suddenly go off about women being silent in the church? Here's what that does (and does not) mean...

Q: "If we start letting people prophesy and speak in tongues in church, won't things get out of hand?"
A: Not if we follow the Bible's instructions. The right use of prophecy and and interpreted tongues will result in the building up and encouragement of the church.
Here's how...

"I believe spiritual gifts are for today. But I'm just not comfortable with gifts like prophecy or speaking in tongues." Many Christians hold to this opinion. Thankfully, abuse and neglect of these gifts are not the only two options. The Bible has a lot to say about how these gifts should function in the Church in a Christ-honoring way...

If we are moved by the love Christ has shown us, we will show it to others. And with spiritual gifts, that means we won't abuse them, neither will we neglect them, but we will serve one another in love...

Guest pastor Shawn Powers uses John 2:19-24 to show us what it means to be "Sent by God."

Pick any one local congregation, and you should see many different people with different gifts, different personalities, and different backgrounds. That's what God intended - not that we would be cookie-cutter duplicates of each other, but gloriously diverse, yet one in Christ...

God gives the church spiritual gifts, not to divide over differences, but to be unified in the purpose and power of the Holy Spirit. (Current blog post on our sermon series "Walking by the Spirit")...

We are completely dependent on the power of the Holy Spirit to live gospel-centered lives and to do the work Christ has given us to do.

Jesus has lifted our eyes to cause us to see the gospel and be saved. While that starts with our hearts, it must not end there. Jesus is also lifting our eyes to the harvest, reminding us that we are disciples called to make other disciples.

God uses sinful people to accomplish his purposes for good.

When we are in the middle of a trial, the time between our prayers and the answer to those prayers can seem like forever. But in the waiting, God has a purpose. He is teaching us that His Word is enough to sustain us through every trial, through every heartache, through every doubt and fear. His word is that powerful, because our God is that faithful.

When you deal with real hardship, raw optimism and positive thinking don’t help. Smiles and denials won’t change anything. When you’re going through the storm, you need something bigger than you to hold onto. You need some deep roots anchored in truth to withstand the wind and the storm. Through proclamations and prayers, the psalmist continues to celebrate God’s word, and in these verses in Psalm 119, he points to the hope we have in God, rooted in the truth of Scripture.

God truly is good. And since He is perfect and never changes, He will be good and do good forever. That’s the heart of Psalm 119:65-72. The psalmist is celebrating the goodness of God and how God expresses that goodness through His word.

The psalmist proclaims, “The Lord is my portion” which means God is enough. Not just what God gives, but God Himself. And when we value the Lord above all else and trust in His word, life-changing truths await…

When you and I look in the mirror, and we ask, “Am I a good person?” the only way that question can be answered truthfully is to ask a second question, “Compared to what?” To define good, according to the Bible, we can’t do it without God, and we can’t measure “good” by comparing ourselves with another person. We have to place our trust in the only One good enough - Jesus Christ.

As followers of Christ, you and I are sojourners in this world, on a journey to a better home. But on that journey, we are going to face difficulty. So we need a source of joy that is bigger than our fears. We need to keep a song in our hearts that reminds us of God’s care and God’s love for us. God’s word does that for us. He provides the lyrics for the sojourner’s song.

To trust in God is to trust in God's word. When our hearts are anchored there, we will find our words, our ways and our worship will be transformed.

Because of His amazing mercy and by His sovereign power, God not only makes dead hearts alive by saving the lost, but He also takes the hearts of His children, those who love Him, but are weak or tired or distracted, and draws us to Him again.

In our times of struggle and sorrow God holds us close and provides the strength we need to keep going. Through His word, we are comforted by promises given, promises kept, and the reminder that we serve a covenant-keeping, burden-lifting Savior.

As sojourns on this earth, we will be confronted with criticism and insults against us, but because of Christ and His Word, we can remain steadfast and hopeful - we can find rest when we are resisted.

So often our spiritual growth can feel more like one step forward and two steps back. How can we break that cycle and be more consistent in our spiritual growth? And what role does God’s word play in that growth? Real change happens when our hearts are submerged in and submitted to the Bible. Our hearts are transformed and we grow in Christ by reading, remembering and delighting in God’s word.

Psalm 119 is one big acrostic poem, an "A to Z" of all the reasons we should thank God for His word, delight His Word, and obey His word.

Jesus says, “surely” I am coming soon. That means without a doubt. Iron-clad. It’s going to happen. Nothing can stop it. Bank on it and believe it. And how does one respond to a promise like this? “Amen. Come, Lord Jesus!”

When we are in the New Jerusalem, we won't need to be reminded to worship God - not only because our sin will be gone, but because we "will see His face" ...

Did you know we actually won’t spend eternity in heaven – at least not as it is right now? We will actually spend eternity on earth – also not as it is right now...

Are you pre, post or a-millennial? Not sure? There is a more important question that we should ask from Revelation 20. Is your name written in the Lamb's Book of Life?

When Jesus returns, it won't be like the first time. He’s not coming as a baby in a manger, but as Conquering King. He won't be a lowly servant riding into Jerusalem on a donkey, but He’s coming back on a white horse, as King of kings and Lord of lords...

The great harlot has her judgement fulfilled, and now the great Bride, that God has been protecting, defending, and preparing is presented to the Lamb.

Revelation reveals God's end-time judgment, not only as a warning to unbelievers, but as a wake-up call to Christians for us to live holy, sanctified lives...

The resurrection of Jesus matters – not only as something that happened in the past, but something that affects us every day...

When the great prostitute of Rev. 17 is seated on the beast, it looks like the kingdoms and institutions of men she represents were in control of the devil and using his power for their purposes. The truth is, wicked man does not control the devil. The devil controls wicked men.
And yet, God is behind it all...

One way God sanctifies His people and makes us holy is to remind us of His holiness, of His righteous judgment – the kind of judgment that we have been rescued from in Jesus, yet will be poured out on all who reject Jesus...

John sees the final, holy judgment of God on sinful man as a grain harvest and a wine press. The seriousness of God’s judgment reminds us of the power of the cross and the seriousness of our calling...

Just as there is a Holy Trinity of Father, Son, Holy Spirit, we are introduced in Rev. 12-13 to a perversion of that – the unholy trinity of the Dragon, the Antichrist, and the False Prophet...

"Colossians 3:16 teaches that singing is an essential of God’s church, designed to deepen, strengthen, and grow His people in the gospel."

Guest preacher Caleb Hoisington uses Hebrews 4 to show us Jesus as "A Superior High Priest."

God uses some vivid, mysterious imagery to remind us that Satan will attack, buGod will preserve His Church. Though our battle rages, Jesus has already won the war, and those who trust in Him will share in that victory.

“The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ, and he shall reign forever and ever” (Rev. 11:15). That's the kind of promise that changes everything...

The measuring of the temple and the two witness of Revelation 11 are metaphors to remind us of this amazing encouragement: God will keep His people through persecution as we preach His word to a hostile world...

God stops John from writing, and instead commands him to eat the scroll, to eat the word of God (Rev. 10). It was sweet to the taste but bitter in his stomach. The Lord's promises are sweet and encouraging to His people, knowing that Jesus is coming soon. But it is bitter to the world, knowing that God’s judgment is at hand...

God is releasing a great judgment upon the earth in the last days, depicted through angels blowing 7 trumpets. Yet in at all, we see a reminder of God's great mercy and a call to action for His Church.

In the middle of great judgment from God, He pauses. In Revelation 7, God stops and "seals" those who are His. It's a beautiful reminder: we are not shielded from tribulation, but for those in Christ, we are forever protected from God's wrath. Jesus took that for us. And we are His, forever...

Our hearts get crowded and cluttered. Sometimes we just need to hit a spiritual reset button to remind us of what is important. Fasting helps do that. By temporarily neglecting physical appetites, there is a refocusing of our spiritual appetites and our desire for the Savior...

Prayer is communing with God in such a way that we are reminded of our need for Him and of His faithfulness to us.

In today's sermon guest pastor Rick Gamache uses Psalm 19 to show us "The Reward of the Word".

As God's community, our anticipation of Jesus' return helps us keep kingdom priorities - to pray well and love well.

After Jesus was buried, the Jewish religious leaders placed a guard at the tomb to keep the disciples from stealing the body and claiming Jesus rose. But the problem was not going to be trying to keep someone out of the tomb. The problem was going to be trying to keep someone in...

The suffering Christian finds hope in the suffering Christ, knowing that as He shared in our temporary pain, we will share in His eternal victory.

Our text today asks us what makes our lives as Christians look different than those who are not Christian?

In a sexually broken world, God calls His people to purity and holiness. "For this is the will of God, your sanctification: that you abstain from sexual immorality" (Thess 4:3).

Love without truth can promote sin. And truth without love can devastate the sinner. This is especially true with responding to the topic of homosexuality. We need to know the truth, and we need to be able to speak the truth in love.

Our text today instructs us to not fear the persecution of men, but hope in Christ who promises to bless you and use your witness for His glory.

Just in this one verse, there are four instructions to husbands we want to look at today, and by God's grace, have our hearts affected.

Continuing the theme of Christians being used by God right where they are, Peter includes instructions to wives in how to be a Christ-like witness to their husbands.

We can endure unjust suffering by entrusting ourselves to God and looking to Christ as our strength.

Fasting is a spiritual discipline and a means of grace that helps us refocus our worshipful appetites and affections on Christ.