Staff Pastors
Committed - 7/23/2023
July 23, 2023 • Psalm 31:1–5
Time and time again, I have heard a story that went something like this, "I have tried being a better Christian, but it was too hard. I found myself constantly failing. I am tired of feeling guilty for my actions, no one is perfect, and no one has the commitment to stay the course!" Does this sound familiar to you? Have you felt this way yourself? Why is it when we talk about commitment, the notion that embeds itself deep within our inner self that says," You don't have what it takes, and you are not good enough!" My goal for today's message is to stomp out the enemy's accusations in the form of lies and self-doubt. The enemy is crafty and redirects the argument to you and your inabilities instead of the abilities of the one who matters.
Knowing Jesus 6/25/2023
June 25, 2023 • Bekah Louie • Philippians 3:7–11
As humans, we all value something. We all spend our lives (time, energy, money, attention, love) on things we believe are valuable. Values act as our compass, directing and motivating our lives. There are many different messages about what is of greatest value. So what is the most valuable thing in life and how do we get it?
Being over Doing - 5/14/2019
May 14, 2023
How do we keep our relationship with Jesus fresh and vibrant? How do we keep setbacks in life from tainting our closeness with him. Conversely, how do we keep excitement and progress from distracting us from this relationship too? Often even, this excitement comes from seeing God move powerfully in our lives. How do we allow ourselves to be tempered so that the blessings that come from God as we follow him remain a side benefit and don’t overshadow the main thing: our abiding and close relationship with God? In February, I preached from the beginning of Luke 10. The abridged SparkNotes version of that sermon could be summed up as this: Every Christian is called to be in the business of making obedient disciples and encouraging people to follow Jesus. These verses 1-9 outline Jesus’ instructions to 72 followers about how to do this right before he sends them out to go practice disciple making. Today, we’re going to look at the conversation Jesus has with these same followers upon their return from their assignment, a conversation kind of like a locker room debrief a coach might have with players following a semifinals game or a company’s year-in-review celebration banquet. Here we see Jesus put perspective on what these students have experienced while also modelling healthy follow-up. He explains the mystery of how to know God laying the foundation for the main method of how future generations (that’s us!) will also be able to know God. He reminds them that they are completely capable only because he has made them capable. But he doesn’t miss the opportunity to immediately and clearly remind us that our being with God is always more important than whatever we are doing for God. And finally, Jesus models the discipline of giving thanks to God. Each one of these things is essential to us maintaining and deepening our relationship with him.
I’m a Follower of Jesus... Now What? 2/5/2023
February 5, 2023 • Matthew 28:16–20, Luke 10:1–9
A person’s salvation, their process of repentance and being restored to right relationship with God through the saving death and resurrection of Jesus, is the most pivotal step a person can take. To be at peace with the maker of heaven and earth, to know him as a friend forever seems the starting point for a blessed life. But what part do we, as fellow followers of Jesus play in this journey for other people? Discipleship is the process of belief being proved out in action. Disciples are people who start following and continue following. Disciples of Jesus are people who decide to start following him and continue following him. Jesus told his first disciples to go and make other disciples, and we are a continuation of this process. Obedient disciples make other disciples. But discipleship starts with simple obedience, and beginning to obey Jesus (that is, to begin to put his teachings into practice, applying what Jesus said to our everyday lives) often happens long before that moment of accepting him as Lord and Savior. Through today’s teaching, I hope that you are equipped with some practical tips and tools for how to make disciples of Jesus. I also hope we are reminded that “leading someone in the sinner’s prayer” is just one moment (however hugely significant) that happens on a continuum of discipleship in a person’s life. I am convinced that every disciple, every follower of Jesus, has the ability to do what Jesus tells us to do in Matthew 28. You don’t have to be college educated, have a high IQ, a Bible school diploma, be a pastor, be on-staff at a church, be a missionary, or be gifted as an evangelist to put these things into practice. Your past, your family background, how much money you make or anything you might think seems to disqualify you has no bearing on your ability to do the things we’re going to talk about today. I also admit that this is a work in progress for me as well— some of the things I’ll share today I have only recently started putting into practice myself (you might call it experimenting). I hope this encourages you to try some of the things we’ll discuss today.
What is the Kingdom of God? Sunday Aug 28th 2022
August 28, 2022
Introduction What is the Kingdom of God, and what bearing does it have on society? To highlight this, suppose someone told you today, “the kingdom of North Korea has come to you!”; assuming this were a true statement, would this not be something completely surprising and likely demanding our full, immediate attention? In our passage today, Jesus demonstrates casting out a demon and credits this as the work of the Holy Spirit. He speaks about the Kingdom of Heaven and goes into detail to illustrate that this Kingdom is the joining of the Authority of God and the Power of God, and goes so far as to say that this Kingdom is now being actively lived out on the Earth. Before we jump in, let’s take a moment to see the leadup to this passage. In Luke 10:38, we see the famous exchange between Martha and Mary where Jesus chides Martha for all of her DOING and affirms Mary for ABIDING with him; “Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her”. Luke then immediately writes about Jesus’ famous teaching on prayer after his disciples ask him “Lord, teach us to pray”, and this passage is ended by Jesus saying how much Father God wants to give the Holy Spirit to us, saying, “how much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!” We are going to read our key passage in just a moment, but we didn’t want to overlook the context Luke has set for the reader. Notice: • A demonstration about the importance of BEING and ABIDING with Jesus • Followed immediately by a teaching on prayer, which is COMMUNICATING with God • Followed immediately by the availability and need of the Holy Spirit With that in mind, let’s read our passage:
Guard Your Mind
April 3, 2022 • Bekah Louie • 2 Chronicles 10:3–6, Proverbs 4:23
Recently, we have been experiencing incredible moves of God in and through our church body. The spiritual battle is becoming more and more tangible as we get on board with what God is doing and keep in step with the Spirit. I believe God is preparing us (his army) to fight effectively for the Kingdom. The purpose of this message is to equip us for victory by (1) drawing our attention to the spiritual battle in our minds, (2) exposing the enemy’s strategy of attack and (3) exhorting us to wield our spiritual weapons with the authority given to us by Jesus.
A Courageous Witness
November 21, 2021 • Bekah Louie
We have a call on our lives to be witnesses and make disciples (Acts 1:8; Matthew 12:19-20). Many of us desire to be courageous witnesses, but we live in a culture where people can be sensitive, offendable and reactive. In this hostile climate, it can be uncomfortable and even frightening to tell others about Jesus. While we don’t face the same type of persecution that people face in other countries, there is still a high cost to sharing our beliefs and witnessing about Jesus. Now more than ever, we need courage in order to witness. How we can be courageous witnesses in a culture that feels hostile towards Jesus? In Acts 4, Peter and John model 3 characteristics of a courageous witness. A courageous witness is rooted in relationship with Jesus, motivated by the Father’s love, empowered by the Holy Spirit.
The Love Of God
June 20, 2021 • Bryan and Anna Hulen
Pastors Bryan and Anna brought a word on the Love of God. If you missed this message, this is a great word to hear and share with friends and family. We are sure you will be touched as they share The gift of Life, The gift of Salvation, and The gift of the Holy Spirit.