Samson

Petra Church

Samson

Out of Weakness, Made Strong

April 23, 2017 • Brian Coles

Over the next few weeks we are going to study a few characters from the bible...Sarah, Peter, Mary, Martha, and today, Samson.
The purpose of this series is to remind you that even the greatest characters in the bible, the ones whose lives are surrounded by the miraculous, were just people and they were flawed. Their families had problems, they had a past they were embarrassed of, and in essence they were a lot like you and me. Our hope is that you will not be trapped by the lie that you have to be perfect or have it all together to be used by God; or even just loved by God.

Mary and Martha

May 14, 2017 • Gary Buck

Our generation is quick to call people heroes. We have sports heroes, superheroes, the list goes on. But so many of you women and moms out there are the real heroes and I salute you. You are an amazing group of people. And you’ve overcome much. We’re continuing our sermon series on Unlikely Heroes. These are people in the scriptures who are flawed but we can learn something from their lives and see how God used them through their weaknesses. Today we’re going to be spending some time looking at two women who approached Jesus very differently. Mary and Martha.

Peter

May 7, 2017 • Lester Zimmerman

The people we read about in the bible were flawed people like you and me but that didn’t stop God from calling them and using them. The primary lesson in all of this is that you don’t have to have it all together to be used of God. Today we are looking at the unlikely person of Peter. Peter's original name was Simon until Jesus changed it to Peter. Peter live the tough life of a fisherman. He and James and John were partners in the fishing business. Peter was married and he and his wife would often travel together in ministry. Peter met Jesus through his brother Andrew who took him to meet Jesus. In the natural Peter was a poor candidate for the ministry. He wasn’t the most pleasant, kind and considerate person to be around. If he was in the school year book he probably would have been listed as the most unlikely to succeed as a leader in the church. The most unlikely to be chosen.

Sarah

April 30, 2017 • Brian Flewelling

Today we’re going to learn a very important lesson from a failure in the life of Abraham’s wife Sarah. Sarah went through a test that every person in this room will walk through, at one time or another. If we’re not careful, our response to our test can cause someone else’s duress. When Jesus went through his test, people were blessed. I do confess that our test can bless instead of oppress. So let the caress of Jesus possess you so that you can address your mess with success. That might take a moment to digest.