February 26, 2023 | Basic Christian Living Part 3

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February 26, 2023 | Basic Christian Living Part 3

February 26, 2023 • Pastor Ken Cline

Ephesians 2: 1-10

Be imitators of God - to imitate we must first receive his love , then let it leak out of us.

1John 4: 19-21 We love because He first loved us…

God is love and out of him comes both grace (favor) and mercy (not getting what you deserve).

We need both every single day. We were DEAD in sin, not just broken or lost, we were made ALIVE in Christ. When we receive this, it changes us and revolutionizes our life!

In order to do the good things he has planned for us, we need to let him into every area and thought. In John 8:7-8 the Pharisees were about to stone a woman for adultery. Jesus wrote on the ground (presumably a list of each man’s sins) and slowly they walked away. Then he released the woman telling her to go and sin no more. Similarly, we need to take the “rocks out of our pockets” (the grudges and anger we hold onto) and trust God to deal with difficult people and situations in our life.

March 26, 2023 | Basic Christian Living Part 6

March 26, 2023 • Pastor Ken Cline

When you hear the word “vine,” what comes to mind? For me it’s usually a vineyard with long runs of grapevines - or sometimes Tarzan swinging through the jungle – but for our purposes, let’s stick with the grapevines. The grapevine comes out of the ground and can stretch upwards of 100 feet. Then all along its length, canes (or branches) emerge and produce flowers and eventually fruit. Amazingly, the main vine provides the nutrients of the earth to its entire length of branches and shoots, flowers and fruits! In today’s final message of the series, Pastor Ken digs into John chapter 15, verses 1 – 17 where we find that just like the branches of the grapevine get their nutrients from the vine, our source of life comes from God – but only if we stay connected to him. In the verses above, Jesus uses the vine and branches analogy to show us that without him, we can do nothing. If God is the vine and we are the branches, what good are we if we don’t remain in the vine? Can a branch cut off from the vine grow or produce fruit, of course not. How then should we expect to grow in our walk with the Lord or produce spiritual fruit if we don’t remain in his will, in his word, and under his watch? Listen in as Pastor Ken teaches us about God, the master gardener. He chose you. He planted you. And it brings him joy to see you grow.

March 19, 2023 | Basic Christian Living Part 5

March 19, 2023 • Pastor Ken Cline

Love is basic to the Christian life. What is love? The Apostle of Love is John. 1 Jn 4:7-8 says love comes from God. We don’t define love; God does. God gets to decide, and we must submit to His will. Agree and obey, or disagree and disobey. 1 Jn 4:9 – God sent His one and only Son. Atoning sacrifice = a stand in for us. The Father, in His passion, sent the Son, and the Son willingly obeyed in His love for the Father and us. “Love Hurts” was a song by the group Nazareth. It’s true; it does hurt. Love requires sacrifice and puts others first. If we haven’t sacrificed, it’s not love. Another group, Foreigner, said in the lyrics of one of their popular songs: “I want to know what love is.” Lou (the writer of the song) is now a Christian and knows what love is: I Jn. 3:16-17. If love lives in us, we will sacrifice for others. Love and truth go together (v. 18). Love isn’t love; God is love. He gets to define it. We don’t know what love is without Jesus. It is defined by “God’s character revealed in His commands and manifested personally by Jesus.” In the book of John, the author refers to himself as “the disciple whom Jesus loved.” Maybe he didn’t start out being so loving and lovable. James and John were very competitive early on. Jesus called them “sons of thunder.” In Luke 9:54, they asked if they should call down fire to consume their enemies. Later, they learned love. Are we forgetting the love God gave us and letting our love grow cold? It makes it very difficult to love others if we aren’t getting that love from God. Where are you as far as loving your family, co-workers, and others? Rev. 1:9-18, when John was in prison at the island of Patmos, he had a vision of the glorified Jesus and what he said to the early churches. Acts 20:29-, Paul warns of the danger to come, both outside and inside the Church. Rev. 2:1f: Ephesus Church, had forsaken its first love. Jesus walked among the church there as He does in our church today through His Spirit. He will never leave or forsake us! Rev. 2:2, He knows our deeds and hard work (to the point of exhaustion), but we must not compromise to the ways of the world. We must be gallant and courageous not to say “yes” to things. It will be a challenge to us to say no to what the world says is good that is ungodly. We will be in the minority. The Ephesians fought, but they were tired and grew weary. When we hear “Love is love,” “this is my truth,” and other sayings of today, we must say no. Have you forgotten why you are here? To proclaim the Gospel of Jesus! We must stand on the truth and have the love of God in our hearts. God must be our first love. What is occupying your mind, money, time? It must be about a relationship with God and NOT rules. Truth without love is not good. We must proclaim God’s Word the way it is; we are not God. Let’s not fall in love with causes. Let’s fall in love with Jesus. If something else is before God, we must repent. It must be about the LOVE of Jesus. Rev. 2:5: The Ephesians fell and needed to repent. We must also recognize when our love has grown cold. Do we still have that passion and enthusiasm for Christ? Are you desperate for God? We need to get back to our first love. Ps. 42:1-2 says his soul pants for God. He is passionate for us; we need to be passionate for Him. God sings over us. Rev. 2:7 says we must hear what God says to us. Challenge: If you have left your first love, you need to repent and do what you did at first.

March 12, 2023 | Basic Christian Living Part 4

March 12, 2023 • Pastor Ken Cline

Jesus came to give us abundant life—not only in eternity, but during our earthly lives as well. To enjoy this life of blessing He promises, we must follow His ways. Scripture teaches that if we lack wisdom, we are to ask God. Then when we hear from Him, we are to obey what He says. Both secular studies and Christian researchers have proven that those who live according to the principles in God’s Word have better health, better marriages, and greater levels of happiness than those who choose other paths. How do we hear from God? He’s given us three ways. God speaks to us through the Word of God, the Spirit of God, and the People of God—the three-legged stool of basic Christian living. 2 Timothy 3:16-17 tells us that the Word of God is profitable to Christians for teaching us what God wants us to know, for reproving us when we go the wrong way, for correcting us when we need to make a change, and for training in righteousness so we know what pleases God. For those times that we need to make a decision that isn’t clearly defined in God’s Word, He has given us the Spirit to guide us through prayer. He has also given us pastors and teachers who are filled with the Spirit who will pray with you and give godly advice when needed. It can be easy to confuse your feelings and desires with the voice of God, so be sure to filter every decision through the principles of Scripture. God will never tell you to do something that violates a biblical principle. With this safeguard in place, and these resources at your disposal, God has made a way for you to make good decisions that lead to blessing in your Christian life.