An unknown person once said, “There are two great moments in a person’s life. The first is when you were born; the second is when you discover why you were born.” That leads me to make one of the most arrogant statements any pastor could ever make to anybody. If there is a God and if that God has revealed himself in the Bible, and if the Bible is God’s word and true, then I can confidently, though it may sound arrogantly say, “I know the purpose for which every person was born.” Now we may not carry that purpose out the same way throughout our lives, but nevertheless we were all born for the same purpose. Paul in one simple sentence gives us the one purpose for which we were created. It is the purpose of the church. In fact, in the grand scheme of things it is the purpose of everything. The reason we exist individually, why do we exist as a church, why did God create anything or anyone? Here is the purpose, “So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God.” (1 Corinthians 10:31) Now here is the kicker. We will never understand our purpose, or accept our purpose, or practice our purpose unless we understand one thing about our lives – it is not about me.
It's Not About Me
June 11, 2023 • Dr. James Merritt • 1 Corinthians 10:23–31, 1 Corinthians 11:1
He's Alive
March 31, 2024 • Dr. James Merritt • 1 Corinthians 15:12–20
Today, we are going to deal with the doubt people have about Jesus being raised from the dead. Either like every other person who has lived and died, Jesus is still dead or he is physically still alive. A man named Paul went through unbelievable torture, hardship, and finally a beheading because he preached and believed and would not deny that Jesus Christ was alive. In a letter he wrote to a church in Corinth, he laid out what would be true if Jesus was not alive and if everything he said was either an intentional lie or a bad mistake. If Jesus is not alive it has a tremendous impact on whether you are a believer or not. If Jesus is dead nothing else matters, but if He is alive it is the only thing that matters. Knowing that either He was raised or He wasn’t, I want us to answer two questions in this message. When we are finished, I can assure you that your doubt will be destroyed and your faith will be fortified.
Taking Care of Business
March 24, 2024 • Dr. James Merritt • Ecclesiastes 5:1–7
A man by the name of Solomon wrote the book of Ecclesiastes in the Old Testament. And in that book, he was saying that all that you do for God and with God is serious business, so you had better be serious about what you choose to do. Then he tells us how to do serious business with God and what that looks like practically as followers of Jesus. In this message, we are going to look at Solomon’s instructions and learn more about how to take care of business with God.
Holy New Year
December 31, 2023 • Dr. James Merritt • Psalm 119
It is the start of a new year, and we are all in the same boat. It is called “social jetlag” but I call it a “holiday hangover.” Maybe you’ve slept late, taken time off of work, partied it up, ditched your diet, enjoyed the new gadgets, and swapped your gifts. But now it is time to re-enter the real world of traffic, alarm clocks, school, and making a living. You have neither the will nor the energy to do it, but the new year is coming one way or another. So what kind of year are you going to have in 2024? I hope and pray it’s a holy new year! But how can we make that happen? That’s exactly what we’re going to discuss in this message.