Sermons

Are you feeling stressed out, anxious, or divided about the upcoming elections? You’re not alone. As Christians in the world, but not of the world, we recognize that some things will change whatever the election results. But our focus remains on Jesus, who never changes, and on championing his church in our priorities, in how we love, and in how we view the temporary in light of eternity.

Continuing our discussion on the fear of the Lord, we explore the benefits we receive from this aspect of friendship with God. How does fearing the Lord help us, prepare us, and build up our relationship with God and others?

We don’t often consider fear as a part of our… read more

You can’t be friends with someone if you don’t love them. As Christians, we should keep our love and passion for Jesus fresh. To do this, we can take the advice given to the church of Ephesus – remember our first love.

We have the deepest conversations with our closest friends. God wants to have those deep conversations with us, too, and the strongest friendship we could ever know. God isn’t looking for us to be perfect, but to get closer to him and listen to him.

Being a friend of God means we go beyond simply admiring and following God – we actively pursue depth and trust with Him. Friends of God know His voice, influence others by their faith, know His character, walk with God, and experience God’s provision.

Jesus prepares a table for us, his sheep, and gives us a place where our needs are met. Even in the midst of enemies we can have peace knowing our shepherd is near, greater than all, and anoints us with the Holy Spirit to protect our hearts and minds.

We don’t like to be in dark places, or feel like we’re in a “valley of the shadow of death.” We want to be on the mountaintop! To get to those mountaintop places, we must walk through valleys, understanding that these are the places we grow, learn to trust and rely on God more, and can find indescribable peace despite our circumstances.