Wizard of Oz clip...Isn't it amazing what a little information can do for your confidence? Dorothy and her friends were scared to death by the "great and powerful Oz" until little Toto pulled back the curtain. You saw their fear give way to bold confidence once they knew the truth about the Wizard. Today I want to pull back the curtain. I want to expose the enemy of our souls. I'll warn you in advance that we will not discover some impotent old man who couldn't hurt a flea, far from it. Satan is a formidable foe. But if we know the truth about who he is and what he is up to, we can overcome our fears and gain confidence in God's strategy to foil his evil intentions. Life is hard enough without the added burden of living in the dark about the devil.
Unmasking The Devil
Ephesians 6:12
April 10, 2016 • Gary Brandenburg
A Father's Battle
June 19, 2016 • Kurt Pressler
In the summer of 2002, my wife Martha gave me a surprise gift. It wasn’t for any particular day or event. It was just a gift, out of the blue. Based on its size, shape, and weight, I was pretty confident my present was a new music CD. I’d recently purchased a new car with a sweet sound system and thought Martha was giving me a gift to listen to at an irresponsible volume. Was it The Who, The Police, Rush, Pearl Jam? I was excited. So I unwrapped the gift and it was immediately confirmed that I was being given a CD. As as I looked at the front cover, there, staring back at me, was someone I didn’t recognize, holding an infant. My eyes darted around trying to find who the heck this person was when they finally settled on the name Twila Paris. No idea. But look, one of my love languages is gifts and I really was grateful for Martha’s gesture, whatever the heck it was, and tried to conjure up a look of satisfaction and gratitude. So I told her “thank you” but apparently did a lousy job of selling it because she asked if I knew why she was giving me the gift. I apologetically confessed that I didn’t so she told me to look at the title of the album. It was named “Bedtime Prayers: Lullabies and Peaceful Worship”. No idea. I mean, I’d been sleeping just fine. I didn’t need any musical help. And now she’s looking at me like I’m an idiot. (Kind of like some of you are right now.) But I’m a guy so I once again try to show her that I know exactly why she’s giving me this CD. But she sees right through it and says, “Hey dummy. We’re having a baby.” It all made a lot of sense after that.
The Mystery Revealed
June 12, 2016 • Gary Brandenburg
At the end of the letter to the Ephesians, the apostle Paul reports that he is in prison for preaching "the mystery of the gospel." In 6:18 He says, pray in all ways, at all times, with all perseverance for all the saints. And then he adds, pray "also for me, that words may be given to me in opening my mouth boldly to proclaim the mystery of the gospel, for which I am an ambassador in chains, that I may declare it boldly, as I ought to speak." Eph. 6:19-20. What is this mystery?
Fighting on your Knees
June 5, 2016 • Gary Brandenburg
We are at war. "For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places." Eugene Peterson says it this way, “This is no afternoon athletic contest that we’ll walk away from and forget about in a couple of hours. This is for keeps, a life-or-death fight to the finish against the devil and all his angels.” God provides powerful weapons that are effective in spiritual warfare. Paul uses 6 pieces of armor corresponding to those worn by a Roman soldier. This morning we have organized our service to illustrate how to put this armor on - through prayer. Paul concludes his letter to the Ephesians by revealing his secret weapon - prayer. Prayer is the recognition that this invisible war is not our war, it is God's. In order to fight God's war, we need God's weapons. When we pray we acknowledge that God, by His grace, has made available to us the character of Christ. Truth, Righteousness, Peace, Faith, Salvation, the Word of God are all ineffective if we don't take the time to appropriate them through prayer.