Fresh Start Radio Ministry: Recent Episodes
Pastor Mark White
Why do we live where we live? Why do we work where we work? Why do we know the people we know? Was all of this an "accident" or could it be that we live by direction and plan of God? Are there things called Divine Appointments, even in bad circumstances and events, that we can find God has a redemptive purpose and plan in? Could it be that God is actually involved so intently with our lives that even in bad things, bad relationships, bad jobs and maybe even bad homes, He chooses to reveal His Glory and presence? God isn't the cause of our hurts, disappointments, and heartaches, but maybe He is trying to change such things into "Good Things"? Looking for God in the midst of our living is the first step in "Living Sent" and "Loving where we Live"! This encouraging message will change the atmosphere and bring joy into your living and loving! PS, At the end of this message there is a wonderful opportunity for you to take Communion with us, so join us for this worship experience. The music will also be a blessing as we eat and drink from the Lord's Table together!
It's so easy to forget. In fact, it seems like our society encourages a consumer mentality that keeps us thinking only about what we don't yet have. We willingly sell all of our most precious commodity, TIME, to get a little more of the elusive things that will 'make us happy'. We become slaves to what we want and the methods required to get them, while becoming more and more ungrateful for what we have. We used to take a day every week to just "give thanks", but now we trade that day of worship and family and rest to work for a few more bucks. Maybe we will be able to buy that new car, or afford another entertainment device, never realizing that we have sold our time needed to enjoy what we 'get'! The epilogue of the series, The Domino Effect, reminds us to reclaim our Time and redeem our attitudes with Christian Disciplines that open up Joys found, relationships rekindled, Rest restored. Remember these wonderful things that promise to bring us life and that more Abundant!
God gave us a gift and asks us to make it Holy. He wants us to set one day a week apart, or Sanctify it, make it His, so that He in return will give us Rest. All of life has a rhythm. If the sound of life is constant with no rhythm ( steady beats with rests), then it is noise. We live in a system of constant going, doing, working, striving and are made to feel guilty when we tire or get sick. Our culture is a culture of noise and we are caught in the confusion. God has a gift for us, but we've been told by society that it is archaic and obsolete. God has lots of reasons to draw us back to celebrate the day He gave us, to spend it with Him to rest, recuperate, refresh and restore our relationship with Him. That gift, this special day to spend with Him, is called Sabbath or "The Lord's Day"! Truthfully, we need this gift and it's inherent healing and refreshing "Rest"!
Did Adam and Eve ever have to eat for nourishment before they sinned? When God created the trees in the Garden of Eden, that were beautiful and the fruit wonderful to eat, did He do so, for them to be healthy and stay alive? If they didn't eat for health and life, then they ate and even feasted out of fullness not emptiness. They feasted with God in the Garden, because God wanted them to enjoy everything He had made for them to have in the family feasts He had planned.
Then sin entered in and because of their rebellion, they would eat for the first time out of emptiness. They ate to be healthy and stay alive. They would eat without God's fellowship with them and feasting and life gave way to fasting and death. Fullness would be sought after from things that could never ever satisfy like eating with God. Fasting and emptiness would remind them of what they once had with God, in God, because of God, but now had become only a memory. They once feasted on God and their fullness with and because of Him, now was only a memory. Death, sickness, emptiness would produce a hunger that food, pleasure, lust, money, relationships, would never satisfy. So God asked men to be willing to fast and remember that their hungers in life could only be satisfied when He became their Bread of Life and their Water of Life.
When God created man he did so out of family and relationship. God was not desperate for worship nor lonely, but wanted us to come into a relationship with Him and each other so that we could know the Joys that God the Father, Son and Holy Spirit had always experienced. Our media driven, Face Book world, has taught us to be casual about friendships. We brag about how many "friends" we have and yet know very few deeply. Our relationships are shallow and often empty. God is calling us to more. It is impossible to fulfill the two greatest commandments without knowing deep friendships. This message encourages us to return to relationships that will enrich our lives and bring us into accountability and commitment.
Part 3 of the Domino Effect sermon series presents 2 more daily habits that we need to make a part of our lives. The title of this message, "Mirror, Mirror", reminds us of our struggle to find out who we are and the many suggestions that fill our thoughts, producing destructive thinking and talking to ourselves. Most of us our being subtly conformed to the ways and thoughts of the world by our media that often begins every day and ends every day with critical, negative communications. However, God has given us a mirror to look into that we can frame our day with, when we wake up and when we go to sleep. This message will encourage you to build two small habits into your day and by them, transform your thoughts and living into success in all you do.
Part 2 of the sermon series, "The Domino Effect" introduces a daily challenge to eat at least one meal together with someone. Our society encourages us to eat on the run, by ourselves, with our media devices. The family table is almost completely gone in today's society. Children don't often eat with their Parents. Husbands and wives, often eat alone or in front of the TV or with their media in hand. We go to restaurants or fast food places alone sometimes to get away from talking to anyone. This message will encourage you to reevaluate the losses around our present day eating habits and re-establish a healthy involvement around the table. Family can be enjoyed, marriages made stronger, friendships built and even good news can be shared with the stranger around a meal together.
Small Disciplines produce big Results. Where do we start to achieve the Spiritual Excellence we need in our lives that will lead to victories for the new year? This word will challenge you to Habits that will bring you into success in the Kingdom!
What message does Christmas bring about how much God loves even the Scrooges in our lives? How can He change their lives and how much do we see of this Love in our own story?
How excited should we be about the Christmas story? How excited should we be about knowing the Gift of Christmas, Jesus? How important is our excitement, our Joy, our singing, our Wonder displayed, to the world and those who haven't yet received the Greatest Gift ever given? April Pruitt challenges us to become as a Child in the Kingdom of Heaven and declare with New Excitement, "Joy to the World, The Lord Has Come!"
Part 1 of Unwrapping Christmas reveals the wonderful transformation that Jesus' birth has made in our World. What would it be like if Jesus had never been born? What would your life be like. Would America exist? Would humanity have survived without the incarnation? What would it be like if you had never been born (again)? What would the world look like without your influence, love, grace, goodness, and faith, that exists because Jesus Came?
God calls us to Christ Likeness and the Joy of becoming GeneroUS is a divine calling. In the past messages we discussed the "The Meaning" and "The Mindset" of becoming a GeneroUS people. This word is to flesh out this calling with a biblical Method to be what Jesus leads us to be. "The Method" is biblically sound and encouraging as we realize that our Experience, in receiving generously from the Father, and the Expectation, that The Word promises to us when we come into Christ like obedience, will produce an Extravagance of Generosity in our lives.
A Mindset is the established set of attitudes held by someone. Your mindset is your collection of thoughts and beliefs that shape your "Thought Habits." What you think continually or habitually becomes the foundations for every other thought, what you feel and what you do! Colossians 3:2 ESV, encourages us to "set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth"! To be like God in our actions has to be based on thinking like He thinks. God's heart and mind toward us is best described as extravagant, generous Love. When we can establish His Thinking then we will naturally become GeneroUS too. Realizing that through Generosity we share the Glory of God with a world impoverished by sin and brokenness.
Proverbs 11:24 in the Message says, "The World of the generous gets larger and larger; the world of the stingy gets smaller and smaller. What are the benefits of becoming and being a generous people? What does it mean to be generous in a world where there seems to be a lot of selfishness and temporary, if not fake, altruism? In last weeks message we looked at the world of offenses and offensiveness. We don't want to be offenders or always being offended, yet we can never just stop there. The gospel of Jesus Christ and His character, call us to a generous spirit and Christ Likeness. It is what we as individuals and as the church at large should be, GeneroUS!
Offenses come so often in life and it seems like people in today's culture are always either causing offense or being offended! The selfish attitudes that seem to imply that everyone has the right to say anything they want, against anyone, at anytime, no matter how much they offend or how destructive such comments are, has become a norm of society. Graciousness is a lost art and kindness seems far from normal activity, especially if you use FaceBook or Instagram. On the other end of the spectrum, there are people that cry "offense" against anyone that should question their "rights" no matter how far fetched or ridiculous.
In the midst of our twisted society, where right is wrong and wrong is right, we have an obligation to know how to live together in a culture that cares enough about civility and social peace and family and community and logical thinking and humanity and love and joy, etc, to learn how to be gracious to one another. As Christians, that might start with our willingness to admit when we are wrong, pursue forgiveness when we have been offensive, and learn how to repent. It surely requires us who have been forgiven so much by God the Father, that we learn what forgiveness looks like, how to offer it and how to pursue it when those who have offended us, don't know how to repent. We must not just sweep things under the rug with a cavalier, "Well, I've forgiven him (her), but I can't forget it!" Society is full of broken people who need Christians to look and act like real Christians, who repent when they offend, and forgive when they are offended, and who pursue this Peace in a Scandalous World of Offense!
Peter said that because we KNOW that Eternity is ahead and the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand, we should live accordingly. 2 Peter 3:3-15. The Passion Translation: 10. The day of the Lord will come and take everyone by surprise—as unexpected as a home invasion. The atmosphere will be set on fire and vanish with a horrific roar, and the heavenly bodies will melt away as in a tremendous blaze. The earth and every activity of man will be laid bare. 11. Since all these things are on the verge of being dismantled, don’t you see how vital it is to live a holy life? We must be consumed with godliness 12. while we anticipate and help to speed up the coming of the day of God, when the atmosphere will be set on fire and the heavenly bodies consumed in a blaze. 13. But as we wait, we trust in God’s royal proclamation to be fulfilled. There are coming heavens new in quality, and an earth new in quality, where righteousness will be fully at home.
Does it matter what Heaven is like, where we live for eternity, what God's plans are for us from now till then? In this message we find out what the sum of it all is like and how the End is Just the Beginning.
In this part 3 of the sermon series, "The Sum of It All", Pastor White deals with the subject of Death and Resurrection. The understanding of what God has provided for His Family through the Death and Resurrection of Jesus Christ gives hope and peace to the Believer. Knowing what the state of the Saint is, in the presence of Jesus after death and the wonder of what we shall be like after the Resurrection, is an important part of the Gospel. Also seeing into Heaven and understanding where the believer lives and what makes Heaven wonderful, is an integral part of the Sum of it All!
Proverbs 18:21 says that the Power of Death and Life are in the tongue and there is a Fruit (or Consequence implied) that comes to both the speaker and those spoken to. We are also encouraged in the Bible to declare the power of the Written Word, in order for the hearers to experience the faith that brings the Kingdom to them. Lives are transformed both positively or negatively by how we speak. This encouraging message by April, will challenge you to align your speech with the heart of God as you declare and decree what will bring life and health to both you and the hearers.
The Lord gave Israel Holy Festivals or Feasts so that He could show them things to come. He wanted them to be ready for a Messiah that would become the Spotless Lamb, who would die for the sins of mankind. When He told them to celebrate The Holy Days of Passover, Unleavened Bread, and FirstFruits every year, on a specific date, in a specific way, He was prefiguring Christ's first coming, His Death, and Resurrection. Father wanted them to recognize His Love and provision for them so that they would experience His Love and Life. They missed the power of the Real Sacrifice, Jesus, even though He was and still is portrayed in those Spring Feasts! Jesus died on Passover, the same day and hour of the Passover Lamb. As the priest was presenting the sacrifice in the Temple, Jesus cried with a loud voice on the cross, "It is Finished" and right before the Priests' eyes, God ripped the Veil of the Holy of Holies apart from the top to the bottom. No longer would the blood of bulls or goats or lambs atone for their sins because the blood of the precious Lamb of God had been poured out and the way to God the Father forever opened by and through His Torn Flesh.
The Feast of Pentecost, that begins the harvest, was fulfilled on that exact day and hour with the outpouring of the Holy Spirit and the birth of the Church. The harvest began with 3,000 coming to the Lord at Peter's sermon.
The Fall Feasts have never yet been fulfilled prophetically. The Feasts of Trumpets, Atonement, and Tabernacles have tremendous meaning and insight in Christ and coming events. All of Israel is, at the day of this writing, entering the 10 days of Awe, in preparation in this new year for the most Holy event of all, Yom Kippur or the Day of Atonement. Israel awaits the coming of the Messiah and this message will encourage you to see that His coming is at hand.
Jesus asks us to Pray, "Thy Kingdom come on Earth as it is in Heaven", because that is the Sum of it All! God's plan has always been to establish His Kingdom on Earth and to do so, events are at hand that will soon bring that Kingdom to be. It already exists in the hearts of men and women who serve the King and have established His Kingdom principles and power in their lives. However, He has encouraged us to look for His Literal, Physical Return to establish His Kingdom on Earth. What are the signs of His Coming? What events are happening right now that should cause us to live with a wonder and excitement and anticipation for His Return. This message will cause you to prepare your heart and lives for His Return and should challenge you to share these truths with those around you that do not know His Coming is at Hand!
Are you living with intention? Do you reflect the heart of God? Do others see Him in you? In the final week of the Can You See It? Series, April Dawnielle Pruitt reminds us of how intimate our relationship is with our Creator. In the message, April challenges us all to live the life God has called us to live, a life that bears His image and puts Him on display for others to see. What are you displaying?
We so often see barrenness in our lives and want God to fix it, when He tells us that we are gonna have to be a part of the solution. He wants us to shout, sing, rejoice, build on a room, get ready, get involved, even before we get pregnant! Can you see it, believe it, feel it, as God sees it, believes it, feels it? Can we get involved with our faith and trust so much that we actually get ready for God to do the impossible by putting our lives into gear and begin to live like its already a reality, a fact, a done deal? This Word will encourage you with God's Plans and how He expects and invites us into the process.
What does God feel? Could Nehemiah 8:10 that says, "The Joy of the Lord is our Strength", refer to God's heart and feelings toward us when we celebrate His presence and rejoice in His Plans and Purposes for our Lives? Can His Law and the Grace of God to perform His Desires, produce health and well being if we pursue His presence and Rejoice in being with Him? This word will encourage you to see what God sees and feel what God feels. Next to the Love of God, the Joy of the Lord is maybe the next greatest attribute of the Lord and the next greatest character trait that we should exemplify as we seek to be like Him?
God’s Word is spirit and life, sharper than a two-edged sword. Discover how you can deflect Satan’s fiery darts that threaten to undermine your theology. Don’t be limited by your mindset or let your past experiences define your theology. Learn how to surrender misguided beliefs so you can enter into the truth about what God says about you. God wants to give you a life-changing word that He promises brings life and light. Can you see it? Can you connect with it? Can you believe what God believes?
Are you broken in your thoughts? Are you burdened with negativity, worry or depression? God wants to heal every broken area in your life. Jesus is our Savior, who can heal your mind, body and soul. Let God show you what needs to be healed so you can be made whole. Don't let spiritual blindness keep you from experiencing all that God wants to do in your life. Receive your healing and be that Christian who speaks life to a stranger, who pours out Jesus into the world and who touches the untouchable.
If you could rewrite your ordinary, what would it look like? The life you live determines your ordinary. Live every day expecting God to move mountains. In this Word, hear how you can live a life on purpose, taking an ordinary day and allowing yourself to be used by an extraordinary God. Find out what it means to live a one-day lifestyle, where you lean in expectantly and wait for what God is going to do.
No eye has seen nor ear heard nor has it even entered into our thoughts the things God wants to reveal to us. Holy Spirit is wanting to bring us into a prophetic grace through a revelation of the Knowledge and Wisdom found in Jesus Christ. God's desire is for us to be Spirit Filled and People of Prophetic Power so that we can declare Words of Freedom, Life and Love to those bound and broken. How can we walk and live in such Prophetic Grace? This Word will encourage you to establish a new ProLogue, to Rewrite your life dreams according to what God says you can have and can be!
In this final chapter of the sermon series, "Enough is Enough", we discover the Epilogue. It is so important that we live with a Holy Contentment, that says, no matter what comes, Jesus is Enough. We also must have a Holy Discontentment that seeks after God's help to change those things in our life that rob us of His Presence and His Glory. This final Word, defines the simple secret of His Presence; Living with a constant connection to God that provides for that Life that He promises that is "Abundant", more than ever even thought possible! It was a joy in this service to have my 91 year old parents in the service. They are a living testimony of the presence of the Lord and the resulting Long Life of more than "Enough"! I give honor to their lives that are an example of a People of His Presence. The story of their lives will bless you as you listen to this message, "Epilogue"!
In part 2 of the message, Holy Discontentment, we discuss the power of Spiritual Warfare against the thoughts that have become strongholds in our lives. These arguments and pretensions try to stand against the Knowledge of God. Our recognition of these things can then be presented to Father and we will be granted spiritual weapons that bring us into Spritual health. We can and must "pull down every argument and thought that raises itself against the Knowledge of God".
God wants us to get to the place in our lives where we are living both a Holy Contented and Holy Discontented Life. This kind of life will evoke a "Enough is Enough" mentality in two ways. First we realize that even in the most horrible situations of Life, that Jesus is our victory. He always loves and blesses us with His presence and hope and faith that, no matter what happens, we are gonna win. Thus we can say having Jesus is Enough, and Enough is Enough. However, there is also a dynamic of discontentment, when we realize there are things in our life that are not right. We've decided to live broken, or disappointed, or defeated, even though Jesus has come to give us an "abundant" life. We find ourselves in a "Comfortably Numb" lifestyle, though Jesus has plans to make us His Masterpiece. The moment we realize, this is not God's plan and we rise up with a Holy Discontentment and cry, "Enough is Enough"; then we Cry out to Holy Spirit, come close to Jesus, pray earnestly to the Father and Seek the Lord with all of our hearts, at that point, things begin to change. This message, the third installment of the sermon series, "Enough is Enough", and sets a ground work for next weeks message, Part 2 of Holy Discontentment. Blessings!
In part two of the sermon Holy Contentment, Pastor White introduced last Sunday, April fleshes out the way to find Contentment that will keep you in the midst of turmoil, disappointment, heartache and trial. This practical and personal Word will encourage you to find and walk in a Holy Contentment, no matter what you are facing. April laces the scriptural truths with personal testimony and practical Holy Spirit wisdom. This message makes sense and you will secure truth that can and should change your life when applied. April passionately presents this hard hitting message with love and her prayer at the end will put it all into perspective. Don't pass up this word.
This new series takes a twist on the phrase, "Enough is Enough" to present several meanings. This first message deals with our need to see Jesus as Enough in our lives and the resulting grace this "Enough" produces---called Holy Contentment. Is it really possible to be truly contented with life and all the relationships we have? Is it even reasonable to believe we can be overcomers in the midst of strife and heartache? Can we ever achieve such peace and joy and Contentment on this side of Eternity? The answer is absolutely! This word not only defines the truth and you will smile as you realize that our natural ways of handling life is broken, but you will also hear ways to achieve this grace of Holy Contentment!
Glenda shares a wonderful, encouraging Word about the need of Fathers to be present and active in their Children's lives. The effect on children whose Dads are not present and active is staggering and challenging. Father God is always ready to step in and become a father to the fatherless, but His original plan has been to equip Father's to do the job needed and to testify by example who He is to them.
Jesus told His disciples to wait until they received the Promise of the Father, another comforter, that would fill every believer so that they could be witnesses unto Jesus in the whole world. On the day of Pentecost, the Holy Spirit fell upon 120 believers in Jerusalem who had been waiting together in an upper room, since Jesus had ascended into heaven just a few days before. Holy Spirit filled every believer with His presence and they proclaimed the praises of God in Languages they had never learned. As they spoke in tongues, these different languages, the people in Jerusalem from all over the world, heard these unlearned Christ Followers, praising God in their own languages. That day the church was born, as 3000 people in the crowd, believed on Jesus as their Savior. The Holy Spirit outpouring was as Jesus had promised. The Holy Spirit had been with them, was now in them and in the 2000 years that followed, the church experienced the Holy Spirit flowing/ministering "Through" Them! The wonder of Holy Spirit Infilling is the subject of this weeks final message in the series, entitled, "Holy Spirit Through Us!"
The Crowd on the day of Pentecost were perplexed when they heard the 120 (Spirit Filled) Disciples praising God in the Languages of the foreigners visiting in Jerusalem for the feast. Holy Spirit had not only filled the town with the sound of a Hurricane or Tornado, Sent Tongues of Fire from heaven upon the believers in the upper room, but now He had given them the foreign languages of men and Angels with which to glorify and worship Jesus. The promise of the Father that Jesus had told His disciples about, would be poured out on those who waited and tarried until they would receive the Holy Spirit into their lives in Pentecostal Fulness. Jesus had told them that the Spirit that had empowered them to witness and serve the King, would not only be "with" them, but would be "in" them. There was definitely an outpouring of the Holy Spirit that John said Jesus would bring upon all who believed. This outward (with) baptism/anointing, would come into them and "fill" them with His Presence. From that moment on, the Pentecostal Experience would no longer be called just an anointing or Baptism, but would be referred to as the Infilling of the Holy Spirit. 33 years after this day of Pentecostal outpouring, Paul would ask the Christians in Ephesus if they had RECEIVED (in not on) the Holy Spirit since they believed. Their answer was that they had not even heard about the Holy Spirit. However we know that they could not have even been saved unless the Holy Spirit had baptized them into the body of Christ (I Corinthians 12:13). The anointing of the Holy Spirit, the "with" of the Holy Spirit, the baptism of the Holy Spirit is present for every one who comes into the body of Christ. However the Holy Spirit that was "With" them had not come "into" them until Paul explained, laid hands on them and they were "received" and were "filled" with the Spirit and began to speak with Other Tongues just as on the day of Pentecost, just as had happened in Samaria, when Simon the sorcerer tried to buy this Matter/"Logos" (speaking in other tongues) that was evidenced when the believers were filled, or just as it was in Cornelius' home when the disciples heard them all speaking in tongues as Peter preached about Jesus. In every case in Acts, when believers were baptized or anointed with Holy Spirit and they "received/ were filled" with the Spirit, they all spoke with Tongues as the Spirit gave them the utterance. This sermon is a celebration of this initial gift of Glossolalia (praying, worshiping, singing, speaking in tongues). Why does this seemingly strange gift hold such importance and how do we receive or become filled with Holy Spirit?
The Power of Holy Spirit is available to everyone who responds to His gentle revelation of Jesus. He brings us into Salvation and then abides "With" us to bring us into Christ Likeness. The greatest "power" of Holy Spirit is The Enriching of our lives with Love! He works constantly encouraging us with the Truth of Kingdom Wisdom and Relationship with the King! Every believer should experience Holy Spirit "with" you, 1. Energizing you with Power, 2. Enriching you with Love, and 3. Enlightening you with Truth!
Bringing Honor to all mothers! This message is given to bring you hope in a messed up world, that what you do and the love you give, and the hope you bring, matters! You will be encouraged to keep dreaming and not lose faith that God is watching and honoring your faithful love as a mother!
Thomas wasn't there when Jesus first made appearance to the Disciples after His Resurrection. The Disciples were afraid and hiding and Jesus almost scared them to death. He declared Peace to them in the midst of their Fear and Anxiety. When the Disciples explained to Thomas they had seen the Lord, He remembered what Jesus had told them before He went to Calvary, that after He was gone, many would come in His Name declaring themselves to be the Messiah and they were not to believe the deceivers. Thomas response to the disciples was that he would not believe unless he saw the nail prints in His Hands and Feet and the spear piercing in His side. Thomas was branded by history from that event as "Doubting Thomas", when in fact his doubting was no worse than the other disciples. This message by April Pruitt, gives us insight into what we can miss in our fear and disbelief, even in our worst times of fear and sorrow and how much Jesus loves to come to us in those times! He doesn't brand us nor rebuke us, He just shows us His Love and announces His plans for our lives. This message will encourage you to believe and not doubt!
Mary went to the tomb early in the morning and found the tomb was empty. An angel had rolled away the stone and was sitting on it. The explanation to Mary was that the Savior, her dear friend Jesus, who had died such a horrible death on Friday was not in the tomb, He had beaten death, Hope Arose! This Resurrection message will encourage your heart to believe that the same power that raised Jesus from the dead has come to live in your heart so that you too may come out of your tomb. God wants to roll away the stone that has kept you a prisoner to fear, hopelessness and death. God wants to make His throne, actually sit on the very thing, that has kept you in your tomb! This message is personal and encouraging and is shared to bring you Hope!
Who is Barabbas and why is he in the Crucifixion narrative? This question is answered as we see Hope Rising in the life of a throw away, hopeless, broken man's life. You will relate more with Barabbas than you can ever imagine as this message unfolds. This Word can change your life and your name forever!
This new series for the Resurrection Season, is called Hope Rising. In the first message we look at the life of Peter (Rocky), who came from a life of boring hopelessness, to a life of Faith, filled with the Hope of the Gospel. You will smile and maybe laugh as you relate to this very normal man who found life, love and Hope in Jesus, the Son of God!
This is part 5 of the series, This is Us! There are leaders and followers in life. Hopefully you will be both. However in our world there is a cry for Leaders with Character and concern for those they influence. Sooner or later you will realize that you are a leader and someone is watching your life. You will either be a good leader or a poor one. This word will challenge you to be a Leader that affects many around you to see the God in you.
We should always be Learning and growing in our Christian Experience. Sometime we get caught in the Middle of our journey and seem to be stuck, not going forward, and many times sliding back or at the least just spinning our wheels. That was the story of Israel on the way to a Land of Promise from the land of Bondage. God had delivered them from their Slavery, but they seemed to be forever in the Middle of their journey. God didn't choose this for them, but they refused to learn about who He was and the truth and wisdom He wanted them to have. The result, was "Stuck in the Middle". This word will encourage you in your "Middle" experiences to find God and the wisdom and understanding He has for you, so that you can reach the goal that you started for in your journey.
In this Part 3 of the Series, This is Us, we define our life as Family that Loves Much. However, this is not a word of just doing Love in large quantities, it is about Love as a Noun. Knowing Love that is wonderful, great, and life changing. It is the Love that we experience in the person of Jesus. Love that becomes a Noun as we know Him. God is Love, and people that know God, know Love. People who are in a relationship with God can say, because of Holy Spirit Making God Real in our life, we become Love! We must be a family personified by being Love, not just doing Love. If we never know Love as a Noun, we will never be able to experience or share Love as a Verb. Here's a quote: "One ounce of God's Love flowing from us to the World is infinitely more powerful than Tons of Hate and Evil, being dumped out on humanity by Sin and Satan!" It is imperative that we Know Much Love in order to Love Much.
This powerful message, Part 2 of the sermon series, "This is Us", declares God's great love to us when He fills us with His love and changes our lives. His love brings us His Joy and when we return our love and gratefulness to Him, He is filled with Joy.
This is the first message of the new series, "This Is Us!" We celebrate the family of God and this week look at the Life we have found in Jesus. We "Live Well" because of the Abundant life that Jesus Purchased for us. You will be reminded of the wonder of His Love to change your life from death to Life, from darkness to Light, from sorrow and sadness to Joy, and this is just the beginning!
What does your life Sound Like? What is your Soundtrack. This is Part 4, the Sound of Testimony. This message encourages us to let the Sound of Joy, Love, and Harmony, become a Testimony to the World. We have been healed by the Healer. We might not know how to explain it theologically, but we can proclaim, Like the Blind Man that Jesus healed, "All I know is that once I was Blind and Now I can see".
The Call of God to His Family is to make the sound of Harmony so that the World may believe He loves us and We love Him! The Dissonance of the world is always disconcerting to all who are forced to listen to such Disharmony. However, we can sing a song that brings hearts into peace, joy, and love, if we are willing to sing it. Often our sound, even in the body of Christ is far from harmonious. How can we learn to sing His song and make His sound, so that the lost can meet the Troubadour? This word will call us to a unity and sound of Harmony that the World so desperately needs to hear!
What does your life sound like? We all have a soundtrack that others listen too! It is so important that, as Christians, we make the sound of "Love" so distinct and so much like "Jesus' Love", that we assure the world knows who God is! This Word will encourage you to learn the song the "Singer" sings over you and echo that beautiful "Sound of Love" to all around you!
What sound does our life make. What does the world hear from our lives. If we have been redeemed, then the sound of Joyful Praise should be a constant sound of our lives.
Father calls us to declare His Son's Kingdom from the Church (Zion), by stretching forth Jesus' rod or scepter. In this sermon, we discover God's plan for us to see His Kingdom come on Earth as it is in Heaven. He wants us to be a Priesthood of believers that offer up Spiritual Sacrifices so that those we love, those we are called to minister to, those we connect with daily, those who desperately need Jesus, will come into His Kingdom before it is too late. This message lays the foundation for any and all actions that we must make to Leave our Mark in 2019!
Agreeing with God is the Only Way we can be successful in the new year. He has plans for us that we will accomplish as we walk with Him in Agreement! This is an exciting and challenging message that will call you to see this year as a year of victory for your life and Glory to the King and His Kingdom!
One of the most powerful influences on our lives, as we set out to make this new year successful, is our "Desire"! Without it we will not pursue transformation or excellence. Without Passionate Desire for God's Kingdom to come in our Lives, we will not affect anything of value. The question that April answers, is, How Can We Stir Up Desire! What must we do in order to see this new year the greatest year of accomplishment for the Glory of God and HIs Church, (OUR LIVES)?
As we begin a new year, it is imperative that we take inventory of last year, both good and bad, positive and negative moves, decisions, and plans. How do we make this new year more productive for the King and His Kingdom? Is it as easy as 1, 2, 3? This Word will be encouraging and challenging to you as your set your heart on seeing great things happen in your life this year, for the Glory of God!
Is there any thing UnderWraps about the Shepherds and Wisemen? What did the Angel mean when he said he was gonna give them a 'sign'? Every baby was wrapped in Swaddling Clothes when first born? There had to be dozens of mangers in dozens of stalls in Bethlehem, but the Angel said they would find the babe in "the" manger? What was Migdal Eder, the tower of the flock? Was Micah's prophecy about it important to the story. And where did the Wise Men come from and what was the miracle of their coming? Has their story been under wraps for centuries to be finally understood as one more Christmas Miracle we've never really understood. Maybe we all we get an "Ephiphany" with this word!
Why did Jesus come to Earth as a Baby? What did His coming achieve as a Baby that He couldn't have done as a grown man. If His dying on the cross to Redeem us was the reason He came, then why did He weave Himself into our lives as a baby, a boy, a teen, a young man, an adult? These insights will help you UnWrap God's love for us in new ways and wonder of wonders!
We know so little about the life of Joseph, Jesus' step father, but the Word gives us insights on this wonderful man. We will talk about what it must have been like when Joseph hears Jesus state in the Temple at 12 years of age that He had not been lost, but was about His "Father's" business. It seems like Joseph was forced to suffer humiliation and job reversals, and maybe even disgrace and little appreciation for taking on the hardest job in the world, "Taking care of God's Son"! You will relate to similarities in our lives when we realize that like Joseph, God chooses us to bring Jesus, His Son into our lives and our families! Can we be as responsive and gracious as this gentle giant, Joseph was?
In this Christmas Series, "UnderWraps", we discover the Best Kept Christmas Secrets. This Study reveals wonderful Truths about Mary and her Becoming Pregnant with Jesus, The Son of God. The Revelation of what she faced and how she responded is Grace Under Fire. You will find that God wants to Birth His Son in you and make you Pregnant with His Plans and purposes!
The Winter Seasons of Life often bring loss and God has given us His presence and love to help us grieve through this season till we can experience His Spring of new life and fruitfulness. We need to learn how to let God be a part of our grieving and turn our loss into a reflection of His Glory and Goodness.
This series through the month of November is to help us in our Seasons of Life! It's truly all about Time! We struggle so often with the changes in life and Father wants us to experience His Grace and Favor in every season. These basic principles will encourage you in your pursuit of Victorious Christian Living to use your time well! Much thanks to the sermon series on Seasons by Rick Warren that gave me wonderful material to chew on and challenged my life to let the seasons build Character in my life.
It's not only important that we Know the Devil's Devices, as shared in the first part of this series, but it is also important to Know the Devil's weaknesses. Not only are we not to fear or lose our Nerve as I talked about last week, it is imperative to know how to make the Devil Scared! This word is all about our victory in Jesus over Death, Hell and the Grave and how we should stand against the enemy in the power of the Grace of God, so that we literally UnNerve the enemy.
The Lord has encouraged us to "not be afraid" because He has not given us the Spirit of Fear but of Power, Love and a Sound Mind! We have the Power of the Holy Spirit in our Lives to remind us that we are loved by God and He transforms our thoughts so that we can have a mind that is calm and at peace, (sound and strong). This message comes to remind us of our victory over all the power of Satan in our lives and the encouragement to walk in victory over Fear!
This is the final message of the series, "Christian Atheists". We consider that a Christian Atheist says they believe in God but doesn't Like His Family. It is so important that we know the Spirit of the Age that is coming against the Church, Christ's Body, and how we often play into the hands of the critics by our actions that don't look much like Jesus. It is so important that the world's ideologies do not affect our holiness and that our testimony not be presented in a self righteous, condemnatory way so that we destroy the effectiveness of our faith and hope in Jesus. We also must be more concerned about the Gospel and our representation of Jesus than being politically correct.
This message will challenge you to understand the loving God of the Word! His plan for you to Know Him and in so doing, Love Him, is only accomplished when we spend time with Him. He has a plan for our lives, to bless and prosper us in our jobs, family, relationships, and the secret is found in His Word. This message will encourage you to find new joy in searching out the Truth and pursuing the God of the Word!
Often we question where God is when we hurt or see those we love hurting. We wonder why He hasn't stepped in to fix our messed up world, stop crime and punish evil people. We blame Him and judge Him either powerless to do anything, unconcerned about our pain, or maybe just missing? Understanding God's character and the reason why injustice, crime, pain, sickness, etc, is in our world, is the subject of this message.
So many Christians struggle with prayer and how to connect to God. We say we believe in Him but if we seldom communicate with Him, we might better be called a Christian Atheist? This sermon is an encouraging Word on prayer and communication with God that is productive and personal. We must understand the need for continual connection with the Father and Son through the working of the Holy Spirit in our lives.
The coming of Jesus is at hand and Paul told Timothy in the last days, the trend among even good, religious people would be to have a form of Godliness but deny the power of it. You might be a Christian Atheist, if you say you believe in God and Jesus, but don't believe in His power to transform your life. You might be a Christian Atheist if you say you believe in Jesus but don't believe He can heal your broken marriage, or your broken relationships or your fears, anger, lust, past failures, etc. This sermon is full of encouragement to believe and act on the truth of God's Word and His Power in your life!
When you have read the end of the Book, you know the wonders of what God the Father has planned for us. It is not a spooky life in the clouds where we are ghosts or spirits, flying around with harps, singing the Hallelujah Chorus for a billion, billion years. If you know the Father's plans then you know His plans to come and live with us, His family, on a new earth in a new heavens! The home Jesus is building for us, as He promised in John 14, is described in detail in the texts for this message in Revelation 21 and 22! During this message, Pastor White refers to a video he shows the congregation in the description of the foundations of the New Jerusalem, the home of the Bride of Christ. You can see this video at this link: https://youtu.be/7tRYoWGw3Rw
God's plan has always been that we would be HIs Family. Jesus prayed that we'd be one with each other like He is with the Father and Holy Spirit! In this Koinonia dynamic we find Healing and yet the enemy of God wants to separate and bring brokenness to us in our relationships with each other. Society is experiencing an deterioration of the Family and the world view looks bleak that anything will change. The call to the Family of God is to rise above the culture and love and care for each other so well that it brings healing physically, spiritually and emotionally to the broken homes in America.
How do we gain deliverance from the strongholds established by the enemy in our lives? What freedoms and victories are we given in Christ and how should we be living? If we are broken, defeated, fearful, depressed, or bound by anything and yet claim to be Christians, what should we do to be healed, victorious, full of faith, encouraged, and free? This sermon will bring you answers! The Living Word has been sent to bring His Healing to us, His Deliverance, His Victory, His Peace--- so lets reach out and take it!
This message tells the wonder of Holy Spirit led Praise and Worship through Song. God wants intimacy with His family and we are privileged to do what Heaven's Angelic Host cannot, sing the praises of the Redeemed. This sermon ends with a beautiful worship time as our team of singers and instrumentalists, lead the family in intimate worship.
This is one of the most important revelations Holy Spirit has ever revealed to me. It is an important message for the body of Christ. What does Jesus mean when He says, "greater things shall you do?" How does His prayer that we be one, like He and the Father are one, become the secret to the "greater things"? How do we become "one" with God and with one another?
The First Sermon in the series, "Playing With Fire" about the Holy Spirit's Work in The Church, The Bride of Christ, God's Family. This message deals with the powerful prayer of Jesus that when the Holy Spirit, the Comforter comes, that His purpose was to connect us the God. Jesus said, I want them to be one with me as I am with you (Father)! What does that union look like? Do we have any idea how important the work of the Holy Spirit is today?
Death vs. Life, Sin vs. Saint, Lie vs. Truth, all of these choices are ours to make. Jesus came to give us Life and Destroy Death. How are we then still experiencing the effects of Death, Hell and the Grave in our Lives. He came to bring Death to Death and Life to Life! This message is to show us how to reckon upon these truths and come into that Life He promises, that is Abundant!
We often measure our life by death! How many problems, tragedies, years left, struggles, hardships. We kid about the birthdays, "30", "40", "50", as though we're always growing old and getting closer and closer to death. However, there is a constant reminder that life is short and death imminent? The truth is that if we will meet Jesus at the cross and believe in His power over death, then we should be living like we are on the road to Resurrection, Eternal Life! Born once, die twice, but born twice, "never die!"
The 3rd sermon in the series DNA. D= Discover the Dynamics of God in You N= Nurture, Nourish, Need His Presence A= Act (like it). The effect of the new DNA in us, once the old man (Adam's DNA) dies and we are born again by the DNA of the Last Adam, Jesus Christ, everything in us becomes new and the result is that we declare by our actions and attitudes that old things pass away and all things become new.
Special Thanks to Pastor Roy and the Congregation of Outreach Church for sharing the ministry of Dan Mohler with CAU this weekend. We are forever changed by his ministry.
A wonderful testimony from our Missionaries in Honduras, Ken Harrell and Family. An encouraging Word about the need of the World for Jesus and our responsibility to meet that need!
DNA. Once we Discover The 'D'ivine Encounters we have with God and the many Miracles He has performed in our Lives, we realize how we must 'N'ourish & 'N'urture, Holy Spirit's Work in us. We 'N'eed to Pursue the Presence of God in our Lives so that what we celebrate in our Relationship with Jesus can be shared with the World that so desperately needs a Divine, Miraculous Encounter with God. In this sermon we discover ways to have encounters with The Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
We owe the World a Divine Encounter with God. He has put within us the power of the Miraculous that reveals itself in us everyday. However, we have a short memory and tend to forget the Miraculous. God forbid that we become like Israel who entered the promise land and yet the next generation did not know God or His miracles, His Power, and His Provision that their parents knew. The problem was that the parents quit talking about the Miraculous, the Divine Encounters of their wonderful God, to their families. In this sermon we discuss the miraculous in a special service that included our children. Listen to these testimonies of Provision, Protection and Paradox, and Discover your Spiritual DNA.
In this series of sermons, I have been emphasizing the verb "Church" as an action we do, instead of a noun, a place we go. It is so important that the power of the Holy Spirit abides in us. Today we celebrate the Spiritual Gifts that are gifts of Grace to us so that we can serve the world that same Grace. We receive so that we can give the world a Divine Encounter With God.
When we are Filled with the Holy Spirit, He brings gifts for us to use in our lives to bring the Kingdom of Heaven to Earth. We display the Glory of God in our lives as we minister in the Power of the Holy Spirit. Paul's teaching in 1 Corinthians 12 says we are to Covet the Best Gifts. This message helps us discover which are truly the "Best Gifts". The Word gives us God's thoughts on the matter!
What does it mean to be full of the Holy Spirit. The promise and command from Peter's 1st sermon on the day of Pentecost, was to Repent, Be Baptized into the Body of Christ, and Receive the Holy Spirit. What does it look like to "Church" full of the Holy Spirit. Church is a Verb, not a noun, in this sermon about Holy Spirit Infilling.
Does God call us to go to Church or Do Church everywhere we live? Church is a verb not a noun!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=helxFeG-0n0
To see Louie Giglio give his presentation of Stars and Whales, copy and paste the preceding into your browser.
Due to issues with our sound system this recording was made on cellphone.