Covenant Life Church: Recent Episodes
Pastor John Butler
share their story. Along the way, they reflect on all the times God showed up mightily in their lives and talk about their desire to help other couples be successful.
re going to talk more about that help and healing by exploring how Elijah got into the mess he was in and how we can come back from, or avoid hitting, rock bottom.
re going to start talking about solutions, beginning with Psalm 23 and how the Lord restores our soul with green pastures and still waters.
and along the way, if we can do that, we will set our families up for spiritual and mental health.
s about the atmosphere that we create inside our homes and the impact of the choices we make.
to explore the things that God remembers. Because He is omniscient, God knows and remembers everything, but just like He chooses to forget our sins when we seek His forgiveness, there are also things that move Him to such an extent that He chooses to bring them to the forefront of His memory and ours.
delivers an encouraging message to our seniors using heartfelt stories from his own life.
ll discover six steps toward letting go of our worries and giving them to God, which is one of the most freeing and challenging things we can do.
ve heard and look at what they knew leading up to Pentecost. If it was enough for them, it ought to be enough for us.
re diving into what makes the Spirit of God different than anyone or anything else in the world, and Pastor John is tearing down two misused and misunderstood scriptures that the devil has hidden behind for many years.
exploring how Easter is partly past tense, partly present tense, and partly future tense.
t last in the face of pressure, but if our worship is built on our identity in Christ, it can endure the cross.
s work in their lives; He enabled them to do what they did. And the result of those supernatural happenings is that God was glorified, people were drawn to Him, and word of His goodness and power spread.
re looking at what the Holy Spirit empowers us to do when we surrender to Him, starting with prayer.
This "something more" is intended for everyone who gets saved, making salvation the beginning rather than the end, but to experience this saturation, the believer must surrender their soul to the Holy Spirit.
re going to discover that, even though we receive Him when we get saved, the Holy Spirit is still at work even after salvation.
ve been focused on filling ourselves up with things that are a good reflection of the character and nature of Jesus, so we can overflow with things that look like Him. It makes sense that filling yourself with things like love, joy and grace will result in an overflow that leads you to that full and abundant life Jesus talked about, but there are three really basic truths we need to explore before we go any further.
Being full of grace means you are a reflection of your Heavenly Father. Ultimately, if we are to be like Jesus, we've got to learn to live full of grace, which will then overflow as salvation, joy, strength, and love in our lives.
re breaking down the different sections of that prayer, so we know what to include in our own conversations with God.
s life, talking about Christmas the way it had to be and exploring the big picture God was trying to accomplish.
s there that we find both the subtle sin and the surprising solution that created Christmas in the first place.
s easy for us to shake our heads in judgment at how spiritually dull the people of the Bible were, but in all of our running around this time of year, are we also missing Jesus?
re exploring some principles we can glean from these Christmas accounts to help us have courage as we face hard choices.
re looking at some diverse pictures of boldness and trying to figure out what those pictures have in common.
s no different for us; if things are going to change in your life, you must have the boldness to lift up your head.
s abundance looking down or looking back. You have to lift up your head and let the King of Glory into your everyday life.
on the event to ensure that you can revisit it later. Thank you for your understanding!
s not just a one-time occurrence. He will meet us over and over, showing up when we need Him most and revealing different aspects of His character.
unless they are built on lies. To become like Jesus, we have to let Him pull down the poisonous paradigms and strongholds of our minds.
s the name of the message and our focus this week: finding out what needs to be demolished from our thoughts and attitudes.
t know where to start. Start where Jesus did with Peter: start with love. Forget about the habits you still have in your life, the mistakes and the failures. Repent and ask God for forgiveness, but when it comes to moving forward and being changed, we need to learn the value of starting with love.
t a one-time transformation. As we will discover together, following Jesus is about a process of continuous transformation.
re bringing these three things together to launch a new ministry focus for Covenant Life called the Hope Initiative. Together, we will explore ways to help widows, orphans, the elderly and those in poverty by providing opportunities and experiences that can serve as the breeding ground for hope.
re digging into the creation and trustworthiness of the Bible, helping us come to see it as a firm foundation upon which we should build our lives.
from our sin debt, from sickness, from death, from shame and so much more! The Spirit of the Lord was upon Him, which means that He brought freedom everywhere He went. This week, we are exploring what it looks like to walk in the freedom that Jesus gives us.
re kicking off a new two-part series, taking a quick tour of some cosmic mountains in the Bible and seeing what God might be trying to show us.
t just for what we do in public; His script for us means that those who know us best will love and respect us most. What we do in our homes is just as important as what we do within our jobs, churches and communities.
This week, we’re continuing our series called “Flip the Script.” We have established that the world has a script, a set of expectations that people are supposed to follow. However, the Word of God tells us in Romans 12 that we’re not supposed to conform to those customs and behaviors; if we’re going to be followers of Jesus, we have to live according to His will for our lives and flip the script in every area.Just like other things, the world has a script they want us to follow about money, but the way believers approach money should look different. Our basic understanding of money should come from the Bible. If every good and perfect gift comes from God, there is no such thing as YOUR money. We’re merely stewards of what the Lord has blessed us with, distributing it according to His priorities and principles.
When most of us read Mark 16 or Matthew 28, we think of missionaries and those who go to foreign countries to serve for a week or two. We think that’s how you fulfill the call to go and preach or make disciples, but every day, we get a chance to get up and drive into a “village” full of people who don’t know or don’t care about Jesus. It’s called your job.Most of us think of our jobs as a hindrance to doing the work of the ministry, but what if we flip the script on that mindset? What if we walked into our workplace every day and saw it not as what’s keeping us from going but the destination God is sending us? When Jesus told us to go, what if He meant work or school instead of church or overseas?
This week, we’re starting a new series called “Flip the Script.” Jesus never explicitly said that we’re supposed to be IN the world but not OF it, but the concept is laid out in John 17:14-16. For pretty much every part of your life, there is a plan or pattern this world wants you to follow: social norms, ethics, values and standards of behavior. These patterns dictate what we do, where we go and how we talk.There is a gravitational pull toward conforming to the world’s script, but Paul says in Romans 12:2 that we should not conform to it. Don’t give into it; don’t just lazily and obediently do what the world wants you to do. If there is a pattern laid out by the world, the people of God need to break it. This series is all about exposing the areas where we may be following the script and challenging us to turn it upside down.
In Jeremiah 29:11-14, God is speaking to the exiles in Babylon. His message to the Jewish people who had been deported from Jerusalem was one of hope and a future; He wanted them to know that He had plans for them despite their hardship. While graduating isn’t the same as being deported, it is a huge accomplishment reflecting hard work and dedication, and it is a move the rest of the students’ lives.For Graduation Recognition Sunday, Matt Carlisle — a member of our high school ministry team — encourages young people to build their lives on the firm foundation of God’s Word. By pointing out five common things we’re all likely to face, he illustrates that the things from our childhood can follow us through adulthood, but he also reminds us that Jesus can help us change and overcome the challenges of life.
Motherhood is a double-edged sword. We do not deny that children are a gift from God, but it is equally true that being a mother is a sword that will pierce your soul — as it says in Luke 2:35. Although that verse is about Mary seeing Jesus suffer on the cross, what mother hasn’t felt the slice of that sword as they have watched their own children suffer through the trials of life. Motherhood is messy. It’s difficult and leaves you with emotional baggage that you are too often too busy, too religious, too polite, too numb or too wounded to deal with, but Jesus is a Healer. If we truly believe our church is in a season of healing, it would make no sense to spend Mother’s Day glossing over things that cause pain. This week, we’re trying to help moms find healing.
Last week was a pivotal moment for the people of Covenant Life. We learned together that there’s power in the presence of God, and we don’t have to wait until the future to access it or worry that we missed it in the past. We can access it right now in our present. Many people prayed to God at the end of service, seeking His help in forgiving those who hurt them and trying to live out His will for their lives, but that type of life change doesn’t happen overnight.When the Israelites crossed into the Promised Land, they faced many battles and setbacks, but before they could move forward, they needed to stop and heal. The men required a physical circumcision to be set apart for God, but the hearts of everyone in the group needed a spiritual circumcision — a separation from their past selves. The same is required of us; the Lord must be allowed to mend us, so we have the strength to ascend the mountain and seek His glory.
The tent of meeting, which we read about in Exodus 33, was a tent that Moses set up outside the camp of the Israelites. He would go into the tent and meet with God about the decisions he needed to make and directions he needed to take in leading Israel toward the will of God. It was a place where Moses could be in the manifested presence of God. As a matter of fact, some translations called it the Tent of the Lord’s Presence.When we think of talking to or hearing from God, we often think it may happen at some point in the future or that we missed opportunity sometime in the past. However, the Bible refers to our bodies as temporary tents and says they are the dwelling place of the Holy Spirit. We don’t have to worry that we’ve missed our chance or wait until the future; we can enter into God’s presence any place and time — right here in the present tense.
When Jesus Christ walked out of the tomb on Easter morning, He walked out in a resurrected physical body. When He was on the earth, He was in a physical body. He was — and IS — a real person. He’s not a mythical figure or a philosophical construct; there is a real Jesus this morning who not only lived, died and rose again but also Who is alive and well this morning and will live forever!From almost every church on Easter, an invitation will go out to follow Jesus, but not everyone who claims to be a Christian is one. However, not every pulpit is preaching the real Jesus revealed in His Word. The goal of following Jesus isn’t fame or fortune. It is forgiveness of sin, relationship with Him and a commitment to His Kingdom. It’s the ability to say with confidence, “That’s my King.”
There is much to be learned in the four gospels by reading about the crucifixion of Jesus, but what often gets lost in the sensory overload of the events described is the perspective that only time and distance can offer. If you just read the accounts, you’ll get the impression that it was a power play, a political assassination or a religious feud. However, the Bible tells us that Jesus was sent for this.The crucifixion didn’t happen by accident. It was the plan all along because He loves the world that much. It wasn’t an assassination; Jesus willingly laid down His life. In fact, when Jesus talks about the cross in John 3, He refers to an event from Moses’s life that happened 1,800 years before He was even born. This week, we’re going outside the crucifixion accounts to find new depth and insight.
This week, we’re recognizing what is known around the Christian world as Palm Sunday, which is recorded in all four gospels. It was immediately recognized by all who were present as an announcement of Jesus as the Messiah. Their King had arrived, a moment they had been anticipating for centuries, but although the triumphal entry happened exactly as they had expected, there were a lot of things their hearts were not prepared for. Thanks to the benefit of hindsight, we understand what Jesus was doing and why it had to be the way it was. When King Jesus arrived, He started to put things in order and reset people’s priorities, which is the same thing that happens when we encounter Jesus today. Using the events of Palm Sunday, Pastor John shares four things we can do to align our misplaced priorities with the Kingdom and get our hearts ready for the King.
In December 2023, Pastor Robby unexpectedly lost his only child, Kylie. Despite being raised in church and having a great relationship with God, nothing could prepare him for the tragedy, and in the aftermath of her passing, he has faced countless questions and a lot of searching. Even now, he still can’t fully process the grief and cope with the new world in which he and his wife are living.This week, Robby opens up about his experience and the many “God moments” that have led him back to the pulpit. Amid all the things he still doesn’t know or understand, he has discovered that there is one thing he has needed more than anything: hope. Together, we will discover that hope has a name, and it’s Jesus. In fact, the name of Jesus contains everything we could ever want or need.
This week, we are finishing a short series called “Glimpses of Glory.” Sometimes, the glory of God gives you an understanding of the name and nature of God. Other times, you will receive cleansing from sin or calling to ministry. Now, we’re talking about times that the glory of God manifests itself in a tangible way, where Heaven touches earth in a way that is undeniable and unforgettable.If we are truly going to pursue the glory of God the way He is calling us to, we have to open our spiritual minds up to the possibility that God may express Himself in ways we’ve never seen and didn’t expect. In this message, we’re exploring times in the Word and in our own lives when God expresses Himself this way, offering glimpses of His glory that are spiritual in nature but physical in expression.
Throughout our current series, which is called “Glimpses of Glory,” we are talking about how God longs to show us His glory but can only share glimpses of it because of His overwhelming power and majesty. However, even a glimpse or a moment in His glory can change your life!When we talk about glory, we are talking about a manifestation of God in a way that is transformative; it isn’t understood so much as it is experienced.Last week, we looked at what happened when Moses asked to see God’s glory in Exodus 33. God revealed His name and His nature. This week, we’re using Isaiah 6:1-8 to explore the concept of cleansing and calling. There is no question that what Isaiah experienced in this passage of Scripture was a manifestation of God’s glory. It may have been a different experience than that Moses had, but it was no less powerful.
This week, we’re starting a new series called “Glimpses of Glory,” which is focused on the glory of God. The roots of this series are found in a previous series we completed last called “Covenant Living.” We encourage you to watch or listen to these messages if you have not done so. Exodus 33:11-23 served as the basis for that series, and we’re revisiting it for this series, too.There are many different passages in the Bible where God revealed His glory to people and many expressions of that glory, but churches don’t talk about it much because it’s difficult to understand and cannot be controlled. With this series, Pastor John is attempting to restore a biblical understanding and appreciation of God’s glory, starting with a message called “The Name and Nature of God.”
In Matthew 6:9-10, Jesus tells us how to pray that God’s will is done on earth as it is in heaven. In a sense, He’s trying to bring heaven to earth. In Ephesians 2, we read that Satan is the ruler of the kingdom of the air. He deceives people into doing the opposite of God’s will. He creates chaos and confusion. His whole purpose is to pollute the atmosphere here on earth with the same things that await him in Hell.This week, we’re talking about how easy it is to get polluted air in your lungs — even spiritually. Satan is really good at this. He can lead us to focus on negative things and breathe in the air of Hell until we are in a full-blown panic. On the other hand, we see that Jesus never allowed what was going on around Him to get into Him. We must learn to do the same; we have to change the source of what we breathe.
We’re continuing our relationship series called Crosswinds. Headwinds give you lift, and tailwinds give you speed. It’s the wind that comes across that will take you out. The Kingdom of God is built on relationships, and if we plan to have a growing intimacy in our vertical relationship with God, we have to pay attention to the horizontal relationships we have with others. It’s important that we address the crosswinds damaging our relationships.In this series, we have been talking about three big crosswinds. If you eliminate these things, about 85% of your relationship problems will be solved. We talked about excessive alcohol and sexual impurity, and this is our third week talking about immaturity. In the Bible, Jesus is calling us to be child-like to make it in the Kingdom of God, but Paul warns us to grow up and not be childish. We have been learning that the difference is humility.
We are continuing our series called Crosswinds, which is all about the things in your horizontal relationships that hinder your vertical relationship with the Lord. How you treat people matters, and if we’re going to pursue the glory of God, we have to pay attention to our relationships with others because God is definitely paying attention.So what are the crosswinds that will take out your relationships? We’ve talked about excessive alcohol consumption and sexual immorality. Last week, we began talking about immaturity, and we’re continuing that discussion this week by focusing on how we should change the way we speak, think and reason to be more mature believers.
This week, we’re beginning the last message in the Crosswinds Series, which has been all about the things that destroy our relationships and disrupt our spiritual progress in pursuing God’s glory. In other words, we’re exploring the horizontal things that become the lid for the vertical things in our lives. Wind isn’t a bad thing in and of itself. Headwinds provide lift, and tailwinds provide speed. Crosswinds, on the other hand, aren’t helpful for anyone.Our two opening scriptures (1 Corinthians 13:11 and Matthew 18:1-4) both reference childhood, but one seems to encourage it while the other seems to reject it. Jesus says that we have to be like children to be successful in the Kingdom of God, but Paul says we should put away childish things. For this message, we’re going to talk about the crosswind of immaturity, which takes a tole on our relationships. The key is to learn to be child-like but not childish.
We’re in the middle of a three-part series on relationships called Crosswinds. If you picture a cross, there are two pieces of wood: a vertical piece and a horizontal piece. Throughout this series, we’re talking about horizontal things — how we conduct ourselves and interact with people around us — that can hinder our vertical pursuit of God’s glory. While headwinds give us lift and tailwinds give us speed, crosswinds are never helpful.Last week, we talked about the first common crosswind in our relationships: the excessive use of alcohol. We learned that it never helps and provided resources to help those dealing with this issue. This week, we’re going to talk about our next crosswind: sexual impurity. It’s mentioned often in the Bible, but many churches don’t discuss it. Together, we’ll explore how sexual impurity is killing our marriages and other relationships.
This week, we’re starting a new series called Crosswinds. Numerous verses in the Bible illustrate the connection between our relationship with God and how we treat the people around us. In our vertical pursuit of God’s glory, there are things that happen in our horizontal relationships that will throw us off course and prevent us from rising into the upper atmosphere where God’s calling us. The purpose of this series is to remind us of important things we need to take care of horizontally, so we can ascend vertically without hinderance. Together, we’ll explore three issues that Pastor John has observed repeatedly over the years that, if addressed in accordance with the Word, could eliminate most of our marriage problems. The first crosswind we’re going to talk about is alcohol.
For as long as he’s been the leader of Covenant Life, Pastor John has delivered an annual State of the Church message because it’s important for accountability, integrity, and unity. In this year’s message, we’re looking back at 2024 and talking about the financial figures, attendance numbers, spiritual growth metrics, and even the intangible things that God did among us over the past 12 months.It won’t just be a tidal wave of numbers and figures nor will it be entirely focused on the past. We will turn our attention to the year that’s in front of us and talk about what Pastor John believes God is inviting us into. It’s not a business meeting, and it’s actually perfect for anyone watching or attending for the first time because it will help you understand a lot about the heartbeat of the church.
We’ve been walking through a series called Three Funerals From Revival. If revival is a life lived in pursuit of the glory of God, then there are some things that cannot coexist with that desire. Some things must die in order for us to see God’s glory. Over the past two weeks, we’ve seen that pride and religion must die. This week, we’re going to find out why Jezebel must die.There are only around 40 or 50 verses in the whole Bible about Jezebel, but the depth of her depravity and cold-hearted evil certainly left its mark on the world. Jezebel was the daughter of the king of the Sidonians, and Ahab, who was the king of Israel, married her. He gladly imported her idolatry to Israel, and through Jezebel’s influence, it became a state-sponsored religion.
Last week, we started a new series called “Three Funerals from Revival,” which explores the idea that some things have to die in our lives before we can truly live a life in pursuit of God’s glory. Last week’s message was about how everything in the Kingdom of God happens through humility. Arrogance and self-centered living will never lead you to the glory of God. Together, we learned that pride must die. This week, we’re going to talk about the second thing that must die in our lives: religion. Religion is any way of getting right with God other than the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus Christ. If you are trying to have a right relationship with God that doesn’t go through a wooden cross and the empty tomb, you will never achieve your goal; Jesus said that no one gets to the Father except through Him.
The Lord has been teaching us to draw near to Him, to climb higher up the mountain and get in the jet stream of spiritual effectiveness. There are many accounts in the Bible that describe the glory of God and its effect on people, but before we can start talking about God’s glory, we have to remember the “replacement doctrine.” As we’ve learned, it’s not enough to stop doing the wrong thing, you have to start doing the right thing.Some things can’t occupy the same space. Some things have to die before other things can live. God is jealous of His glory and doesn’t share it with anyone, so there are things that must die before the glory of God really manifests in your life. This week, we’re beginning a new series called Three Funerals from Revival, looking at three things that have to die to enable us to walk in the glory of God, and the first thing that must die is pride.
As we close out the year, a lot of people are preparing resolutions for the new year, coming up with things they’d like to do more or less often over the next 12 months. The sad reality, however, is that most people give up on their resolutions by the end of January. Could it be that these changes — many of which are positive or admirable — don’t stick because we’ve failed to include God in the decision-making process?This week, Jordan Weathers uses Psalm 139 to remind us about God’s intimate knowledge of us and His involvement in every area of our lives. With this in mind, we will discuss three prayers for the new year that revolve around who we are, where we go and what we do. By earnestly asking God these three questions, we can ensure that our hopes, dreams, plans and pursuits are closely aligned with His will and Word.
So much about the Christmas account is miraculous and supernatural that it gets hard to keep track of every thing. We are all familiar with the miracle of the virgin birth, the divine communication with Joseph through dreams, the angelic appearance to the shepherds and the miracle of the Christmas star. However, there is one miracle that we might have overlooked.Although it is not typically the book of the Bible in which you expect to find information pertaining to Christmas, Colossians 2:9 speaks about a miraculous truth. We’ve heard the term “incarnation” in relationship to Christmas. God became human in order to be with us in our human condition. It is a uniquely Christian concept and one of the things that sets Jesus apart from all others.
The first prophecy about the coming of Jesus was in Genesis 3 when God tells the serpent that Eve’s Offspring will bruise the head of the serpent’s offspring. That was thousands of years before the birth of Christ. There were many more prophecies over hundreds of years, and for the previous 400 years before Jesus was born in Bethlehem, the Jewish people had heard absolutely nothing from heaven. They waited on the Messiah for what seemed like forever, and Galatians 4:4 says that, when the fullness of time came, God sent His Son.This is like waiting for a bag of microwavable popcorn to pop. It only takes two minutes, but for most of that time, it seems like nothing is happening. For a while, the bag is just as flat as it began, but after a while, though, the first “pop” happens. The things happening inside the bag reach a point where the kernels are ready to pop, and once the first one pops, the rest follow. It’s similar with what God is doing in our church and in our lives. Be faithful and patient. Trust the process and know that He’ll bring it to fruition when the time is right!
This week, we’re ending our four-part series called Covenant Living. The series has been based on three requests Moses makes while talking to God in Exodus: revelation, habitation and manifestation. These three components form the foundation of what it looks like to live in covenant with Him. As we’ve learned, a covenant is a holy agreement between God and His people. Those of us who have surrendered our lives to Jesus are in covenant with Him, one sealed with the Holy Spirit and bought with the blood that Jesus shed on the cross.As we’ve walked through this series together, one thing has emerged that may be holding us back from heeding the call of God and making the same requests as Moses: fear. We may be sincere about following Jesus and wish to pursue God with all our hearts, but there is fear associated with that pursuit. It may be a fear of losing control, looking foolish or being asked to give up everything. It’s part of our sin nature to run from God, but as we end this series, we’re going to explore how we can move from afraid of God to a friend of God.
In Exodus 33, we see Moses having a conversation with God after the children of Israel enter into a covenant — or holy agreement — with Him. Two weeks ago, we focused on the first part of this conversation and the first request that Moses made, which demonstrated a desire for a life-changing revelation. This is a key element to covenant living; we have to understand the ways of God, which were shown to us by Jesus’s life on earth.After Moses asks God for revelation, he says, “Let me live in Your presence.” Moses’s second request was for habitation, which is when we begin to develop the character and nature of Jesus in our own lives. When we saturate ourselves with the Spirit of God, He begins to show Himself through us. This week, we’re continuing this conversation by looking at three things the enemy uses to hinder our attempts at pursuing habitation.
Last week, we started a series called the Covenant Living Series. We talked about how Jesus fulfilled the old covenant and established a new covenant, in which He was the sacrifice and His blood paid the price. As we learned, a covenant is a holy agreement between God and His people, and in Exodus 33, we read about what happened following the covenant that God entered into with the people of Israel.For the first part of our series, we talked about revelation. Covenant living begins with a revelation of who Jesus really is, seeing the ways of God and accepting the invitation to enter into a relationship and covenant with Him. This week, we're going to talk about the next aspect of covenant living: habitation. Together, we will explore what it is, what it means and what might be preventing it from happening in our lives.
Our church was established in 1943 as the Bremen Church of God. Pastor Rone Norton had been preaching in an old brush arbor, and they finally got the money to build a building right around the corner. Around 1968, they built what we call the Coley Building and relocated their church. When the pastor left about 30 years later, John Butler and the pastor he was serving at the time decided to come to Bremen to see if they could get the church going again. In 1999 or 2000, we became Covenant Life Church of God, changing the name of the church to communicate to the community that something was different, but in all these years, we’ve never really talked about what a “covenant life” is. We have used the term a lot within the modern church, but we might not really know what it means. This week, we’re starting a brand-new series called “Covenant Living” to see what it looks like to live a life in covenant with God.
Pilots prefer to take off in a headwind because it allows them to climb better. As a matter of fact, naval aircraft carriers turn into the wind when they are getting ready to launch their planes. Headwinds don’t scare an experienced pilot, but once they get off the ground, they need to move from a headwind to a tailwind. They have to move from one air mass — or one river of air — to another.The prophetic word that God gave to our church in the spring suggests a season of acceleration, and just like planes, this requires us to rise. Planes can travel faster in some air than in others, and sometimes, you have to go higher in order to go faster. Using the response of the people of Israel in Exodus 19-20, we’re exploring what it looks like to rise and reach the top of the mountain to which God is calling us.
John 15:1-8, which has been used as the primary scripture or a supporting passage multiple times this year, is all about being IN Jesus. These verses talk about the importance of abiding, dwelling, lingering and getting into lock-step with Jesus. It’s all about losing yourself in His character, nature, calling and empowerment.It’s more than being around Him, knowing about Him or being acquainted with Him. The connection is stronger, deeper and more important than that. It’s being connected to Him as the Source of everything — just like a branch is attached to a vine. This week, we’re exploring the topic of what it really means to be IN Jesus.
Healthy things grow, and growing things change. However, change requires intention, and too often, we respond to these changes with fear. When we’re afraid, we put up walls and push back from other people, but growing deeper with God requires us to put ourselves in difficult and uncomfortable situations. This week, Pastor John delivers an honest call to authenticity and embracing change in our relationship with the Lord. We should not avoid our calling or shrink away from Jesus when life gets difficult. Instead, we need to push through the discomfort because there’s so much more to live for and experience on the other side.
If there is one thing that hangs heavy in the minds of believers, it’s the will of God. We want God’s will to shine out like a lighthouse, so we will know when there’s danger. We want to hear the course corrections clearly and precisely.People are often terrified they’re going to miss the will of God, and sometimes, they’re terrified to find it.There is a way for us to find the will of God shining through the darkness and hear His voice directing our paths. As we learned last week, though, it’s hard to find the right answer if you’re asking the wrong question. This week, we’re going to talk about the will of God and explore the idea that we may be searching for the wrong thing.
People tend to think of vision as something exclusive to churches, businesses or organizations, but you can apply the same principles to your ministry, family or personal life. How do you find a God-pleasing direction for your life? Start by asking right questions.Pastor John consistently prays about God’s vision for Covenant Life and what we should do as a church. In response to these prayers, he recently felt the Holy Spirit show him that Godly vision doesn’t start with a “what.” Instead, it starts with a “who.”
In Mark 2, we see Jesus going back to His ministry headquarters in a place called Capernaum. The people of the town found out He was there, and soon, there was standing room only at the house He was in. Jesus was teaching the people when four men walked up, carrying a paralyzed friend of theirs on a mat. They wanted to take him to Jesus, but there was a crowd of people around Him. As a result, they climbed up on the roof, dislodged some tiles and lowered their buddy down in front of Jesus.Most sermons that are preached on this passage heap praise on the man who had the courage to be healed or the faith of the his four friends to get him to Jesus no matter what. These are worthwhile points, but today, we are examining the account from a different angle by asking an important question: how did the man get out after he was healed? The Bible says he walked out through a crowd of stunned onlookers, but is it possible that these people gathered were standing in the way of seeing a miracle?
For about a year and a half, God has been steadily sending our church messages that challenge us to get healed. We’ve talked about what it means to get healthy, forgive ourselves and those in our past, get strong in the Lord and tap into Him and the Holy Spirit as our power source. This week, we’re talking about the purpose for all that healing, strength and power by talking about the “main thing.”In Matthew 28:18, Jesus meets with His followers after His resurrection and makes a stunning statement; He says that all authority in heaven and earth has been given to Him. This is the same Jesus who remained silent in the face of His accusers, but here He is, standing on a mountainside in Galilee and saying something that had to blow their minds: every created thing in the universe is under His command.
Last week, we started talking about the connection between prayer and peace. The foundational truth of this message was that you can pray or worry, but you can’t do both. We discovered that prayer isn’t about persuasion; it’s about permission. It’s not about convincing God to move on your behalf; it’s about surrendering control of it to Him. Additionally, we found out that God wants us to pray about our own struggles with worry and anxiety just as much as He wants us to pray for other people and situations.This week, we’re going to continue exploring prayer and peace, but first, we need to revisit some of the other things we discussed in Part 1. We learned that prayer is power, the path to peace and progress, but these things are universally true. In 1 Kings 18, the prophets of Baal prayed earnestly and sincerely, but nothing happened. There was no power in their prayer. As we dive into Part 2, the central truth for us is that prayer’s power is in direct proportion to the power of the One to Whom we are praying.
Throughout the Bible, God talks a lot about peace, and it makes sense. He identifies Himself as a God of peace, and Jesus is called the Prince of Peace. The Bible also talks about worry and anxiety a lot because they are the enemies of peace. God loves us, and He wants us to walk in peace. During our last series, we talked about the replacement doctrine, which means that we have to replace our negative activities with positive ones, and this is exactly what we see in Philippians 4:6. This week, we’re starting a new series that explores the connection between prayer and peace.
Over the past six weeks, we’ve been in the “Prescription for the Promise” Series, exploring the three, two-word imperatives that the Lord gave us in a prophetic word a few months ago: Get Healthy, Get Strong and Get Ready. There were great promises contained in that prophecy, but it was clear that they were contingent upon us carrying out the commands — or prescriptions — God provided. We spent a couple of weeks talking about how to get healthy, the last four weeks learning how to get strong, and we’re ending the series with what it means to get ready.Let’s assume that we are all healthy or getting healthy, and we are learning to walk and live in the love of Christ, which is the source of spiritual strength. We could look in the Bible and follow scriptural principles for these first two commands, but the command to get ready leads to many questions. Get ready for what? How can you study when you don’t know what’s on the test? How can you be ready when you don’t know what’s coming? This week, we’re going to look at three things we can do to get ready for any time or place God may lead us.
We’ve been in a series called “Prescription for the Promise,” in which we’ve been talking about getting healthy and getting strong. This week, we’re continuing to focus on what it means to Get Strong. The central idea is to get strong in the Lord’s power, and we’ve explored many aspects of spiritual strength — all of them important, valid and backed up by multiple scriptures. In Ephesians 3:19, Paul writes about experiencing the love of Christ, so we can be “made complete with all the fullness of life and power that comes from God.” Throughout this potion of our series, we have learned that growing in God’s power is what gives us strength, and the Bible tells us that kind of strength only happens when we experience the love of Christ.
Covenant Life received a prophetic word a few months ago, in which the Lord told us to do three thingsL Get Healthy, Get Strong and Get Ready. We have been referring to these as prescriptions that we need to fill in order to see the promises that God said were coming, and we’ve been looking at each one throughout our current series, “Prescription for the Promise.” We have to actually do what He tells us to do if we expect to receive what He said He wanted for us.This week, we’re continuing to explore what it means to Get Strong. We already learned that spiritual strength has to be endued, which means that we have to surrender and allow God to wrap us in His strength. We also learned that spiritual strength has to be renewed; humans are weak and prone to leaking, so we have to be refilled. To “be strong in the Lord and in His mighty power,” we must learn how to stop poking holes in the supernatural buckets of our lives.
This week, we are continuing our series called “Prescription for the Promise.” The Lord spoke a word to Covenant Life a few months ago that included some wonderful promises He has in store for us, but it also includes three things that we need to do. The fulfillment of the promises is contingent upon our willingness to do the three prescriptions He gave us: Get Healthy, Get Strong and Get Ready. This week is the second part of our focus on “Get Strong.” As we started to discuss last week, strength and courage are often seen together in the Bible. To encourage means to put courage in, but you have to take something out before you can put in something new. Perhaps, the reason some of us have not gotten stronger in the Lord is because we’re trying to add strength, but we haven’t removed the fear first.
This week, we’re continuing our series called “Prescription for the Promise,” exploring the prophetic word about our church that the Lord gave to Pastor John a few months ago. Within this prophecy, there are three kinds of statements. There are descriptions that tell us what’s happening and predictions about things to come in the future, but there are also three commands we must do to see the promise be fulfilled. We’ve already talked about the first prescription: get healthy. Now, as we shift our focus to the second prescription, we’re going to see what the Bible says about getting strong. Ephesians 6 tells us to be strong in the Lord and in His mighty power, and in John 15, Jesus says that we’re unable to do anything without Him. Together, we’ll discover ways to improve our union with God, which is crucial for spiritual strength.
Last week, we began a brand new series called “Prescription for the Promise,” which seeks to unpack three commands within the prophecy that God spoke to and about Covenant Life a few months ago. He said that we need to get healthy, get strong and get ready. By doing these things, we will be prepared for the promises that He also spoke to us: victory, growth, freedom and repentance.With Get Healthy: Part 1, we talked about the first two steps in the process. First, we need to ask God for an honest evaluation about the areas in which we’re not healthy. Then, we have to be humble enough to accept the evidence and admit that we may have work to do. This week, we’re continuing the conversation about how we can be physically, emotionally, mentally and spiritually healthy.
A few weeks ago, Pastor John released a prophetic word for Covenant Life. Part of that message is descriptive; it describes the breaking and shaking of strongholds many people in our church are experiencing right now. Some of it is predictive; it predicts that the result of the sharking and breaking will be resolution, freedom, repentance, victory, revival and growth.Another part of the word is prescriptive. It is prescribing a course of action that we should take. This comes in the form of three commands that will hasten the fulfillment of the promises: get healthy get strong, get ready. This week, we’re talking about the first imperative and exploring its biblical foundation. No matter who you are what God has planned for you, you need to be healthy, strong and ready to walk into it.
Over the past three weeks, we’ve been talking a lot about sounds and how we often hear the rumblings of God doing things in our lives before we see those changes come to pass. As powerful as sounds are, though, I don’t think we realize that what we see has a significant impact on our lives. In fact, it’s more about how we see than it is about what what see.So much of life is about perspective, and the impulses deep inside of us tend to color how we interact with and see the world. If the way we respond to the things that happen to us is determined by the thoughts and tendencies we have, it’s worth some analysis. This week, we’re learning how we can properly guard our hearts and ensure that our default reactions to the inconveniences of life are more in line with the Word of God.
When you grow up in the church, one of the common themes that gets drilled into your brain is that faith and facts are in opposition to each other. We are taught that the “what is” of facts and the “what shall be” of faith are somehow diametrically opposed to each other, but what happens when the facts surrounding your life actually lead you to a step of faith? Could it be that facts and faith can work together to lead you to a future that pleases God and blesses you?There are a lot of man-made traditions and false conclusions that people have passed off as sound doctrine. Following Jesus is a faith walk, and The Bible is clear that it is impossible to please God without faith. However, it doesn’t mean that we completely ignore the evidence around us. We’ve been in a series called “Sounds From Heaven,” talking about the ways God speaks to us, and this week, we’re exploring the possibility that He may be speaking to you through the circumstances of your life right now.
Last week, we learned that there’s a sound before there’s a sight. We often hear something before we see something, and this is supported by numerous verses throughout the Bible. This timely and important message reminded us that God is always speaking to us and provided a necessary reminder that, if God ever stops communicating, we’re in serious trouble.Thankfully, the author of Psalm 29 shows us that the voice of God is everywhere. Sounds from heaven are emanating from the throne like a spiritual radio station, but we often miss it because there’s too much interference from doubt or distraction. This week, we’re exploring the sounds that surround us and the ways the Father, Son and Holy Spirit speak into our lives.
Back in April, Pastor John asked the Lord to speak clearly about what He was saying and doing in the body of believers at Covenant Life. What he received was a prophetic word that he has been waiting to share. Since God never contradicts His Word, the first thing Pastor John did was check it against the Bible, and after finding that it was in line with the Word, he sought confirmation from a couple of trusted individuals.The word he received bore witness with their spirits, so Pastor John asked the Lord to confirm it for me as well. He received a spiritual insight that shows up again and again in the Bible, which has served as the confirmation he requested. This week, Pastor John shares this prophetic word openly, encouraging us about things to come in the future of our church and urging us to be serious about our relationship with Jesus.
Throughout history, the role of the father has been vital to the stability of their children. Fathers have been the cornerstones of their families and the communities. In modern times, the role of the father has been diminished as part of an intentional spiritual attack designed to weaken our families and the fabric of our nation. In honor of Father’s Day, we’re talking about the investment that we make in our kids. There are thousands of dollars and thousands of hours spent raising a kid to 18, but this week, we’re looking at a different kind of investment: what fathers say, display and pray. These three areas naturally define a child — whether positively or negatively.
At Covenant Life Church, we’re devoted to making disciples who are real, relational and reaching. That is our mission and vision statement, and it’s derived from what we read in Acts 2:41-47. The early church established a discipleship system designed to fulfill the Great Commission — one that revolved around meeting, ministering, praying, worshipping, serving and giving together in community. This week, we’re talking about the power of community and how being an active part of the body helps people become better disciples of Jesus. To do this properly, we must KNOW Jesus, GROW in faith and fellowship and GO into the mission field. The challenge following this message is to get involved by finding ways to serve and using your gifts at Covenant Life or any church you call home.
In John 14:27, Jesus said that He was giving His followers a gift of peace that we can’t get anywhere else. Rather than being a peace that requires a solution to every problem or the silencing of every storm, it’s an internal piece that holds, keeps and sustains us. It is His peace, and it is able to bring us calm in every circumstance and courage and strength for every challenge.If this is a gift we can freely receive, it begs the question: what keeps us from being peaceful? A lot of people would say worry, but that’s actually an effect instead of the cause. Others might say that anxiety or busyness steal their peace, but the root cause behind many of these issues is fear. This week, we’re talking more about peace and how can we obtain it by defeating fear.
Over the past three years, we have seen unprecedented growth at Covenant Life. It has been a productive, fruitful and exciting season, but it has also been unbelievably painful and difficult. Amid the challenges we have faced collectively and as individuals, we can take comfort in knowing that God sees our sacrifice. He sees the losses you’ve experienced, the battles you’ve fought and the storms you’ve faced. He knows the fear, dread and uncertainty you may be facing now.In John 14:26-27, Jesus says that He has a give for us: His perfect peace. That peace has the ability to give us calm in every circumstance and courage and strength in every challenge. Nothing on earth can help with the battles and storms of life. It may ease the burden for a moment, but nothing truly satisfies, heals or makes the situation better. This week, we can be encouraged, knowing that we can overcome our fear by accepting what Jesus is offering and consistently relying on Him.
As Covenant Life celebrates its recent high school graduates, Matt Carlisle shares words of wisdom, reminding them about the importance of keeping their faith strong as they enter adulthood, overcoming fear and praising God in both good and bad times.
Mothers wear many hats and fill countless roles for their families, including alarm clock, short order cook, accountant, toxic waste disposer, wardrobe consultants, hair stylist, editor, referee, chauffeur and more. According to Galatians 6:2, we're called to carry each other's burdens, but sometimes, it can get out of balance, which can lead to uncertainty in our relationships.This week, Pastor Jay Mann walks us through some of life's "loading zones," situations and circumstances that cause us to take on more than we can reasonably bear. Afterward, he shares four biblical principles we can use to overcome the cynicism, burnout and tiredness we feel, relieving uncertainty and allowing us to live in peace with God and other people.
Throughout the “Employed by the King” series, we have learned that Kingdom work needs to be done in order for more people to be saved and ministered to. Since none of us is truly qualified for the Kingdom, Jesus made us qualified by what He did for us on the cross. He gave everyone gifts that we can use to carry out that work, and although those gifts may not all be spiritual in nature, they are made spiritual in their application.If you’re saved, you got the job. You’re employed by the King, but at some point, you’ll want to know how to increase your effectiveness. You got the job, but how do you advance? How can you be successful in serving Jesus? The Lord addresses this topic in Matthew 20 and flips the worldly definition of success on its head. The path to leading is one of service and humility; it isn’t a ladder to the top but a staircase to the bottom.
Regardless of what you think about their politics, you have to appreciate the way Starbucks has taken over the country. A coffee shop that began in the Pacific Northwest sells coffee to people in Haralson County and around the world. How did they do it? Starbucks created a culture that attracted people, and coffee was only part of it. They have what’s called the “Third Place Policy.” They want to be the third place in your life: home, work and Starbucks.This week, we’re continuing our “Employed by the King” series with a discussion about Kingdom culture. If you’re going be employed by the King in any capacity, it doesn’t matter what your job description or title is; God wants to create a culture around that work. As a matter of fact, once you understand and surrender to His culture, it won’t matter what the job is. People will know that you’re employed by the King by the way you live out the culture of the Kingdom.
Last week, we started talking about our "Employable Skills." Each of us has work to do, but thankfully, everyone has a special enabling given to us by God. People often get confused about what the gifts look like or where they come from. As we learned together, the work does not have to be spiritual in nature; it has to be spiritual in why and how it's used. All gifts from God and should be used for His Kingdom.This week, we're continuing this discussion by looking at five specific gifts. Verses in Ephesians 4 address what is commonly referred to as the five-fold ministry. There are five offices mentioned, but at best, the modern American church only has two of them: pastors and teachers. We never talk about evangelists, prophets and apostles — at least not in a way that is biblically-accurate.
Last week, we began a series called “Employed by the King” to help us address the issue of spiritual unemployment. We have to allow our faith to influence our activities, attitudes and decisions because there is important work to be done. Before engaging in the work of the Kingdom, however, we must first develop the character and nature of Christ.This week, we’re continuing the series by looking at our “Employable Skills.” This portion of the series will be in several parts, and it’s rooted in this idea: when you love King Jesus, you will naturally want to start being employed by Him, but people often believe that they don’t have anything to offer. Verses like 1 Corinthians 12:7 and 1 Peter 4:10 tell us that everyone has been given gift.
The church in America is suffering from an ailment that was present even in the time that Jesus was trying to establish the church: spiritual unemployment. In Matthew 9:37-38, Jesus tells His disciples that the harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. We don’t have a shortage of lost people; we have a shortage of saved people who are devoted to discipleship.This week, we’re starting a new series called “Employed by the King” to help us address the issue of spiritual unemployment, which is rooted in the false notion that you can be a person of faith without allowing that faith to influence your activities, attitudes and decisions. Being a part of the Kingdom of God is not just about what you believe; it’s about what you do. It’s about faith-fueled work.
When you consider the intricacies and beauty of the world around us, it’s easy to think of God as somewhat OCD. His attention to detail is unmatched. He created 20 different shades of green in the trees and put the earth exactly far enough away from the sun that we don’t burn up but close enough that we stay warm. The list goes on and on. If anybody understands efficiency, it’s the Lord.Given this, it’s baffling to read about His interactions with people after the resurrection. From an efficiency standpoint, they don’t make a lot of sense. There seems to be a lot of wasted time. This week’s message is called Encounters with the Risen Savior. By looking at the way Jesus interacted with people after His resurrection, we get insight into His passions and priorities, and in the process, we might find out just how important we are to Him as well.
The old song that many of us grew up singing says that on a hill far away stood an old rugged cross. That cross is what we reflect on during Good Friday. While the cross certainly is far away from where we are standing or sitting right now, it’s important to consider a question about a different kind of distance: how far are you from the cross? When you think about the cross of Jesus, how far away do you stand? In recognition of Good Friday, we’re going to talk about the cross from a distance and see how we can be close enough to the cross of Christ to be forgiven, grateful and changed.
Matthew 21 details the Triumphant Entry of Jesus into Jerusalem. This momentous occasion is recorded in all four Gospels, and churches around the world celebrate it each year on Palm Sunday, which marks the start of Holy Week and is named for the types of branches the crowd laid and waved before Jesus.This week, we’re diving deep into this passage to understand its significance for the Jewish people of that time and learn how we can have Jesus enter our everyday lives with the same prestige and prominence that He received during the Triumphant Entry.
The weather is warming up in Georgia, which means that snake season is quickly approaching. In addition to physical snakes, there are also spiritual snakes. From the first book of the Bible, the enemy has been portrayed either literally or figuratively as a snake or serpent. As part of the curse that God pronounced in the Garden of Eden, the offspring of Eve and snakes were set up as enemies.The offspring is Jesus, and crushing the head of the snake is exactly what He did on the cross. Even so, until God brings this earth to an end, there are still spiritual snakes trying to bruise the heels of His spiritual heirs. This week, we’re going to learn about these spiritual snakes, when they show up and the ways they attack us, so we can be prepared to defeat them.
The Bible says in multiple places that Jesus Christ is the Light of the world. He’s the Creator of the literal lights in the world, but He’s also the only source of spiritual light in the world. In the skewed, stained light of the world, everybody gets graded on a curve. We compare ourselves with each other and with our intentions.However, the pure and bright light of Jesus is accurate; it reveals our sin and illuminates our need for Him. This week, we’re looking at three groups of people and the different responses they have to this True Light: those walking in the light, those walking in darkness and those standing in the light with a decision to make.
This week, Pastor John delivers the annual State of the Church address to provide a detailed look at giving, attendance, spiritual growth, discipleship and more in 2023 — and share his vision for 2024.
Even though we live in a digital age, most of us has seen a Polaroid picture. It pops out of the camera and is pretty much blank, but given enough time and the correct conditions, you begin to make out the image in the picture. Eventually, it’s crystal clear because it’s fully developed.In Galatians 4:19, Paul expresses his hope that the Galatian believers would continue to grow until Christ is fully developed in them. This process is not as fast as a Polaroid, but it’s important that we give it the time and effort it deserves because there is nothing worse than a fuzzy picture when it comes to issues of eternity. This week, we’re going to look at three concepts that can help us — and our children — become fully developed in Christ.
The Bible contains many different names for God, including Adonai, El Shaddai and Jehovah, and for those who grew up in church, this might have caused confusion. Why would God have so many names? This week, Cindy Diaz shares how the names of the Lord show various aspects of the Lord’s character.There are times in our lives when we don’t recognize Jesus because things are too dark or distracting for us to look for Him, but make no mistake: He can be found. He can show up as El Roi (The God Who Sees Me) or Emmanuel (God With Us) even in the most unexpected places and difficult moments of our lives.
Acts 9 gives the account of Saul’s surrender. At the time, he was the most passionate persecutor and executioner of early Christians, but after an encounter with Jesus, he became Paul, the apostle to the Gentiles. His transformation was so complete, so incredible and so surprising that God changed his name.This week, we’re going to learn more about what surrender IS by exploring what it’s NOT. We’re going to look at the lifestyle of surrender embodied by Paul — who wrote 13 of the 27 books of the New Testament — to discover what surrender looks like for us today.
Due to the subject nature being discussed, this message is only intended for viewers age 11 and older (middle school and up).—We live in what has to be the most sexualized and sex-saturated generation in history. From video games and commercials to advertising and entertainment, sexual messaging and content is everywhere, and the attitudes of people toward sex and sexuality are different than that were a generation or two ago.This week, we’re continuing our Surrender Series with a look at sexuality, diving into the idea that there is virtually no difference in what we believe about sex and sexuality inside the church compared to the culture at large. We have lost — and desperately need to reclaim — the clear biblical foundation of truth about sex.
When we say that a follower of Jesus has to live a life of surrender, it may be difficult to think of a person we admire who was also completely surrendered. Often, we look up to the rebels, the mavericks and the ones who bucked the system to lead people to a better place. We build statues to the courageous and bold — not those who were fully surrendered.A few weeks ago, we started the Surrender Series, exploring the different aspects of surrender and how it interacts with things like our will or desire for control, and this week, we’re going to look at what it means to be fully surrendered by turning to the greatest example of surrender in the Bible: Jesus Christ. No one went all-in on things or surrendered more than Jesus.
We started a new series a couple of weeks ago called the Surrender Series. These messages bring together different things that the Lord has been sharing with Pastor John about the new year, and what ties them all together is the need to surrender. We have already talked about surrender in the life of Joseph, and last week, we explored the importance of getting out of the boat.This week, we’re diving deep into the topic of control. Control is our effort to bring order to a disorderly world; it’s how we try to make sense of things that are senseless and guarantee a specific outcome in an uncertain world. Control appears to be strong, courageous and full of faith. In reality, it is weakness, fear and pride in disguise — all hindering our ability to surrender.
Pastor John’s messages in the latter half of 2023 carried a tremendous weight each week. We spent much of last year digging through the ways that we’re hurting, grieving and suffering. We spent a lot of time looking in the spiritual mirror, and the Lord laid out some tools and processes we can use to find the healing that we need.If last year was about getting honest with ourselves about our need for healing and getting to the One who can actually heal us, the message for this year is this: it’s time to get out of the boat — just like Peter did in Matthew 14. There is a season in which it’s okay to be in the boat for safety, healing, reflection or rest, but at some point, we have to start living, loving and doing the work of ministry again. It all starts with surrender.NOTE: Due to technical difficulties, we could not record and stream our service as usual, which is why the audio for this message sounds different than it usually does. Thanks for understanding!
This week, we’re starting a new series called “Surrender,” and for the first message in this new series, we’re going back to the Christmas account to look at Joseph’s role in the birth of Jesus. In Matthew 1, we see Joseph intuitively demonstrating an understanding about who he was supposed to be that we need to learn and apply in our walk with Jesus.This is the first message of the new year. This is a time when people reflect on the old and look forward to the new, and a lot of people also get more serious about their spirituality at this time of year. They are determined to change something, so they can be who they are supposed to be in Christ. Surrender plays an important role in this transformation.
To capture monkeys in Africa, people set out cages equipped with bait sticks to lure them inside. The monkeys are too smart to go into the cages, so they reach through the bars to grab the sticks. However, this traps them because sticks are too large to fit through the bars, and the monkeys refuse to let go of the sticks.A similar thing is happening in countless churches around the world. The devil has set out cages in an effort to trap believers, but because we're too smart to go inside the cages, he adds a bait stick: offense. This week, we're exploring the fact that the most common tactic being used today to destroy the lives of believers is to get us offended.
John 1:1 and John 1:14 are not typically considered Christmas scriptures, but together, they lay the foundation for the whole thing. Additionally, it also describes the main difference between Christianity and all the other religions. Jesus Christ, the second person of the Godhead, the One through Whom everything was made stepped out of heaven and came to earth.He didn’t come to reveal Himself in all His glory. He didn’t come to demonstrate His power, might, splendor and majesty. Instead, He came as a poor Jewish baby in a troubled region of the Roman Empire. The passage says that the Word became human. This week, we’re exploring the amazing fact that Jesus, the Son of God, became one of us.
This week, we're wrapping up our Know-vember Series. Over the past four weeks, we have been trying to provide answers to questions that people within our congregation have wanted to know, and one of the big questions was about Israel. We started by discussing current events before looking ahead to the future fulfillment of prophecy.So far, we have talked about the rapture of the church, the tribulation, the judgment seat of Christ, the marriage supper of the Lamb, the Second Coming of Christ and the battle of Armageddon. There's still more to come, but we're now in the home stretch before we arrive at our eternal state as believers.
We are continuing our Know-vember Series, providing answers to questions that people within our congregation have wanted to know. Our first question was about how to know that you are hearing from God, which we addressed three weeks ago.For the last couple of weeks, we have been answering questions about Israel — not only what’s going on there now but also the things that are prophetically foretold in scripture. We’re picking up this week where we left off last week, as we continue to talk about Israel and the Prophetic Timeline.
We’re continuing our Know-vember series, which is a collection of messages designed to answer some of the questions on the minds of people within our church or that were submitted via our online form. Last week, we talked about the current situation in Israel, and now, we’re exploring the future of Israel and the wider world in which we live.This is an important topic for us to discuss because countless messages preached over the past 20-30 years have embraced the idea of a “here and now” prosperity gospel. We have focused on all the ways to make this life better while ignoring eternity, but there is a tomorrow coming that will change everything. It’s real and has to be what we are working, watching and longing for as followers of Jesus.
We’re continuing the Know-vember series by exploring subjects that are on people’s minds, and this week and next week, we are going to explore the subject of Israel. Many of the questions submitted for this series were about this subject, and it’s important to explore it biblically. We are going to start by talking about the war they’re in with Hamas and maybe Hezbollah in the near future, and next week, we will talk about future prophetic events, including the rapture, the Great Tribulation and more.
This week, we’re starting a new series called Know-vember, a short series of messages based on questions that were submitted by people within our church. Our first question is about hearing from God. The person who submitted it asked, “How exactly are we supposed to hear God and follow Him?”This is an important question in the life of any believer who wants to have a personal and intimated relationship with Jesus, and it’s a great follow-up to our recent message about the baptism of the Holy Spirit and surrendering our lives to just this sort of relationship.
There are no degrees of dead. A person who died 10 seconds ago is just as dead as one who died 10 years ago. A person with all their skin and muscles intact is just as dead as a dismembered skeleton. Clinically speaking, if your heart isn’t beating and you aren’t breathing, you’re dead. Breath is the difference between living and dying.When Ezekiel prophesied over the valley of dead, dry bones, they started to come back together with muscles, tendons, ligaments and skin. This was an incredible miracle, but the newly-formed bodies weren't truly alive because they were not breathing. This week, we're exploring the fact that we're not fully alive until we're breathing the breath of God.
In Genesis 2 and 3, we see that shame was the first manifestation of spiritual death. Sin brought shame to Adam and Eve, which brought separation from God, and since God is the source of life, anything that separates you from Him is death. What kills your soul will dry your bones, and just as much as church hurt, man-made lies and hateful words, shame is drying out our bones.The glass divider that’s keeping you from a deeper relationship or experience with God is shame. You’re not numb or dead; you are wrapped in layers of shame that are insulating you from almost every spiritual sense. You don’t think that you deserve to receive from God because of your faults, flaws and failures, and in order to rehydrate, we have to put a stop to it.
This week, Jordan Weathers is helping us answer the question: How’s Your Harvest? Families are taking their fall photos. Fall decorations are up. Leaves are changing and falling and clogging our gutters. Plus, we are one month into autumn and one month away from Thanksgiving, so it’s a great topic to discuss at this time of year.Beyond the connection to autumn, it’s an important question for us to ask at regular intervals throughout the year because the Bible talks about harvesting and reaping a lot. There are many examples of agricultural imagery, but beyond the physical, real-world references to harvesting that occur throughout the Bible, there is also a spiritual side that should not be overlooked.
We are continuing our Rehydrate Series, exploring the idea that many of us are suffering from what the prophet Ezekiel called “dry bones.” For a variety of reasons, the life, strength, passion and energy that we have for life and Kingdom work have been drained out of us, and we’re now lying scattered across the valley floor separated from God and each other. This week, we’re talking about the sensitive and important topic of church hurt, which occurs when the ones that God has called to heal the body are the ones who are injuring it. There are thousands of people in this country who are either no longer churched or who are disengaged due to church hurt. As we dive into this topic, we’re not just going to talk about what might have dried out your bones; we’re going to commit to a plan to get rehydrated.
As Pastor John has prayed about our church over the past few months, one image has repeatedly come to mind: dry bones. God has a mission, vision and purpose for us, but before we can achieve it, we have to get mended, repaired and restored from whatever it was that dried out our bones.The challenge in being restored is not just to identify the source of the drying but to figure out how to get our bones rehydrated, reconnected and ready for action. This week, we’re kicking off a new series called “Rehydrate” to help us find the healing that Jesus provides and the peace for which we’ve been searching.
In Luke 19, we read the account of a man named Zacchaeus who worked for what was essentially the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) of the Roman Empire. It’s safe to assume no one liked him, but aside from his profession, the Bible only tells us one other thing about him — that he was short.Bishop Tom Madden uses the account of how Zacchaeus responded to his issue to help us confront and overcome our own issues. Sometimes, God is calling us to do something differently or make a change. Like it did for Zacchaeus, repositioning our lives for God will require obedience and humility, but it will also allow the Lord to bless and grow us.
This week, we are continuing our “On Mission” series, which is focused on getting everyone who is called by God involved in the mission that Jesus gave us: to go and make disciples. We should be focused on that mission 168 hours a week, not just for the one hour a week we’re in church together.Last week, we talked about getting prepared to carry out the mission of discipleship that we’re on. We used the analogy of a military unit getting ready for battle and talked about three ways we should get prepped for the mission. Now, it’s time to talk about the fourth one, which is all about making sure that we’re repaired, mended, restored and ready to fulfill our mission.
The success of any military operation depends on the preparation of the soldiers involved. No matter how good the team is, there has to be a time of specialized preparation before they undertake any mission, and that preparation should take into consideration both the demands of the mission and the needs of the soldiers. A couple of weeks ago, we started a series called On Mission, which is based on the mission defined by Jesus in Matthew 28: go and make disciples. How do we prepare for that mission? Can anybody do it at any time? This week, we’re going to explore these questions and what it takes for us, the soldiers in God’s army, to get prepped for this disciple-making mission of service.
Last week, we began a series called On Mission. It’s an important series because it gets right at the heart of what Jesus called us to do. We talked about the Great Commission and the call to go and make disciples, but it begs the question: if the mission is the work, what are we working for? What is the church supposed to look like? In Ephesians 4, Paul paints a picture of the body of Christ as it should be.
It’s a church that’s known for loving rather than fighting, where it’s safe for everybody to come and hear about Jesus with no judgment and no pressure. It’s a church where the presence of God is tangible and authentic, a place where souls are being saved and lives are being changed. This week, we’re discussing the church and the people Jesus wants us to be and how we can’t stop until the mission is accomplished.
At the end of Matthew 28, Jesus delivers the Great Commission, the marching orders for those who would follow Him. This is the mission of Covenant Life and every other Bible-believing, Jesus-following church. It’s what we are supposed to be doing as Christians: going and making disciples.This week, we’re kicking off a new series called On Mission, which could prove to be a pivotal series in our lives and in the future of our church. As we unpack the sermons in this series and teachings of the Bible, let’s strive to hear what God is saying to us and surrender to what He’s doing within us.
When someone mentions fall, it’s easy to think about bonfires, and for most people, it doesn’t matter what gets burned — whether it’s pine, grass trimmings or old furniture — to make one. If it will burn, it belongs on the burn pile. Unfortunately, that may also be our concept of what God thinks when He looks at us. When you compare His holiness with our sinfulness, it is easy to think that he just sees us all as fit for the burn pile.
However, we forget that His ways are higher than our ways, and His thoughts are higher than our thoughts. He doesn’t think like we do. When Jesus looks at us, He sees our potential and possibilities; He sees a masterpiece just waiting for His craftsmanship. According to the Bible, we have been recreated in Christ, which means that He has taken us out of the burn pile and started the process of making us into something fit for the work of the Kingdom.
The pace at which we live makes it hard to notice what’s going on until we crash into a wall or break something. The cost of not addressing how we’re doing on the inside can include broken relationships, broken jobs, broken ministries and broken churches. As long as we’re still moving, we assume that we must be okay, but nothing could be further from the truth.
On most Sunday mornings, Pastor John fulfills the role of preacher or Bible teacher, but after sensing a weight in the room last week, he decided to fulfill a different role this week: that of shepherd for the flock of people who call Covenant Life home. This week, we’re being real with each other and getting biblical advice on how to deal with our grief, stress and anxiety.
Just as the book of Ecclesiastes says, the theme for this week is that there is a time and season for everything. The best and worst part about life is that seasons change. It’s unfortunate that we can’t live on the mountaintop our entire life, but thankfully, the opposite is also true. If you have been in a season of fire walking, you can be encouraged by the fact that change is coming, and the fire will not last forever.
Throughout the Fire Walking Series, we have identified a number of principles from the fiery furnace experience of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego to see how they can help us in the fiery seasons of our lives. We have already talked about three of them, and this week, we’re exploring the last two principles — and seeing what happens after the fire — in one message called the Fire Fallout Principle.
Throughout the Fire Walking Series, we have been exploring key principles from the fiery furnace experience of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego — and learning how to apply those principles in our own lives. It doesn't matter how spiritual, good-looking, wealthy, powerful, gifted or connected we are; everyone walks through seasons of fire.
This week, we're exploring the Fire Freedom Principle. Nobody wants to be tied up and held back, but do you still want to be free even if your freedom comes through the fire? Deliverance may come through a mighty move of the Holy Spirit, but often, the thing that prepares us for that deliverance is a season of fire walking.
Have you ever recognized that you were about to be thrown into a fire? Fear is probably the first thing that goes through your mind — fear of the loss of relationship, health, finances, fellowship. It’s usually hard to see beyond the pain and loss, but what the three Hebrew men in Daniel 3 found likely never crossed their minds.
We can’t let the fear of the fire blind us to the fact that Jesus is right beside us, and our relationship with Him will be deeper as a result of our experience in the fire. This week, we are continuing the Fire Walking Series to discover that, no matter what kind of fire we’re walking through, we can be confident that we’re going to find friendship with Jesus.
This week, we’re starting a brand new series for people who — from time to time and way more than they’d actually prefer — find themselves walking through the fire. Sometimes, we walk through fires of someone else’s making, but other times, we do it to ourselves. Regardless of the source, nature, intensity or duration of the fire, it isn’t pleasant.
Even if walking through a fire is not an enjoyable experience, there may be a way to approach it that can maximize the benefits and provide greater understanding. Throughout this series, we’re going to explore five different principles based on the experience of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego that can help us walk through fires in our own lives. The first one we’re discussing is called the Fire Focus Principle.
This week, we’re closing out the Love of God series with a message about salvation. Sadly, the modern American church has turned salvation into a business transaction — one in which we swap a simple prayer and church attendance with an eternity in Hell — rather than a covenant relationship.
This is an important topic to discuss because what Jesus says about being saved, becoming a Christian and following Him doesn’t seem to align with what most of us learn in church. We’re missing something in the way we understand and talk about salvation: love. We have to love Jesus more than anything and anyone else before we can truly be saved.
In 1 Corinthians 12-14, Paul describes a lifestyle of love, which should be the highest goal of every believer. The love of God should be the thing that makes you different, defines everything you do and draws people to you. The call of God on our lives is not to occasionally do loving things; the call is to be love.
Jesus exhibited this behavior through His life. He didn’t just do loving things; He was the physically embodiment of love. The loving things He did in His time on earth flowed from who He was on the inside. Just like the lifestyle of a rich person is defined by their wealth, the lifestyle of a believer should be defined by God’s love.
In this encouraging message, Cindy Diaz reminds us that we don’t have to overthink the season or situation in which God has us right now, and rather than striving to fulfill our calling with our own strength and effort, we simply need to surrender.
Ministry is not a destination; it’s a by-product of our union with Jesus and the overflow of His love in our lives. Just as it did with Jesus and the Samaritan woman in John 4, it happens along the way. Even when we find ourselves in pit, we can learn to trust God, so we can be like trees with deep roots along the riverbank — just as it describes in Ezekiel 47:12.
Certain pieces of furniture are engineered to be put together in a specific way. You shouldn’t look at the picture and go from there; there are directions that must be followed. Some parts have to be assembled before others. If you just eyeball it, you’re going to miss something, and even if you can make it look right, it’s not going to hold up when you put weight on it.
According to 1 John 4:19, God is the source of love, but if love starts with God, where does it go from there? Love originates in God, but it is designed to flow downstream in one particular direction. Some things have to come before others. If love out of order, it throws everything off in your spiritual life. It might look okay from the outside, but it won’t support the weight of life.
This week, Pastor John continues the "Love of God" series through a candid conversation with Jeff Shackleford. Together, they discuss Jeff's relationship with his father, how it impacted and influenced his relationship with the Lord and the lessons he has learned about God's love throughout his life.
In Matthew 9:36-38, Jesus tells His disciples to pray for God to send workers out into the harvest fields. He was enlisting people to pray for more laborers to share the gospel, and although most believers know that they’re supposed to work for the Lord, many of them feel unable or unworthy to do so.
However, if we’ll surrender ourselves to God’s love in our lives and allow it to flow into those around us, we will be amazed at the results. As a matter of fact, that’s the whole premise of this week’s message, which is called The Power of Love. We’re going to see what love can do in the life of a believer.
Last week, we started the “Love of God” series with a look at the baptism of the Holy Spirit. Love is everywhere n the Bible, and it’s an important topic to study because 1 John 4:8 tells us that God is love. You cannot understand the Bible if you don’t understand God’s love.
Inspired by this fact, we’re going to start sorting through some of the major themes about the love of God found in the Bible. This week’s message is The Foundation of Love, and together, we’re going to look at three “big picture” statements about love to us lay the foundation for understanding and implementing it in our lives.
In recognition of Pentecost Sunday, which is celebrated in many churches and denominations around the world, we’re talking about the baptism of the Holy Spirit. It’s something that both John the Baptist and Jesus promised, and Peter, John and Paul all referenced in their writings. It’s a biblical experience, but it’s also something that is desperately needed today. However, how we talk about and characterize the experience usually leads people to one of two ditches — one that sensationalizes it to the point of being unrecognizable from a biblical perspective and another that disregards it altogether. This week, we’re going to climb out of these ditches and explore the baptism of the Holy Spirit as a baptism of love.
The soul of a person is made up of his or her mind, will and emotions; it refers to how you think, feel and make decisions. That’s why Jesus said, “As a man thinks in his heart, so is he.” Since the terms “heart” and “soul” are used interchangeably, Jesus was recognizing the fact that a person’s actions and attitudes are determined by their thoughts. This is similar to how the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services defines mental health. It includes our emotional, psychological and social well-being and affects how we think, feel and act. Mental health operates in the same domain as the soul. This week, in recognition of Mental Health Awareness Month, we’re exploring the connection between mental and spiritual health.
Mother’s Day encompasses so many different emotions, situations and relationships, and too often, we paint in broad strokes. We preach messages based on the faulty assumption that all mothers are the same or the myth that the perfect mother exists.This week, we’re going to take a closer look at four different mothers in the Bible and see if we can find encouragement, help and hope for the real moms. All four of the moms that we’re discussing have one thing in common: Egypt. Two of them are Egyptian, and the other two are Hebrew women living in Egypt.
Over the past two weeks, we have been looking at the journey that Jesus took on the road to Emmaus following His resurrection. It seems that we don’t know what to do with ourselves after all the build-up of celebrating Easter, but through this series, we’ve learned to do exactly what the two men in Luke 24:13-33 did — take a walk with the risen Savior.When you walk with Jesus, you will discover some things along the way. You’ll learn that He is always there for you even if you can’t see or recognize Him, and you may also find out that He is an incredible friend. This week, we’re exploring another aspect of the journey to Emmaus. If you’re going to walk with the risen Savior, be ready to set an extra plate because Jesus wants to come over for dinner.
Easter is over. We celebrated the resurrection a couple of weeks ago, but now, what do we do? We do exactly what two guys in Luke did on the day Jesus rose from the grave: take a walk with the risen Savior.Last week, we started a new series, looking at the experience these two men had with Jesus on the road to Emmaus and learning things that might help us on our own walk with Him. In the first part of this series, we discovered that — sometimes — Jesus is in disguise, and this week, we’re exploring what it means to be friends with Jesus.
Because we spend so much time and energy preparing to celebrate the resurrection, the week after Easter can sometimes feel like a bit of a letdown. It’s possible that the people in Jesus’s day felt the same way. There was a ray of hope following the crucifixion, but how were they supposed to live in this post-resurrection world?In the midst of the mental and emotional chaos surrounding the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus, two of His followers take the short walk from Jerusalem to their home in Emmaus, and based on their experience along that road, we’re kicking off a new series today to explore some of the things we can expect to find and learn when we’re walking with the risen Savior.
“The truth shall set you free” is one of the most well-known and oft-repeated sayings of Jesus. John’s gospel records it, and countless people have said it in a variety of contexts over the last 2,000 years. However, it’s important to ask: if the truth sets you free, what does a lie do for you? If the truth sets you free and someone chooses to lie to you, they are obviously trying to keep you bound. This is what happens in Matthew 28:11-15. Within the first 24 hours after Jesus’s death, people were already meeting to fabricate a story to cover up the truth. Why would they do that? Because the truth — especially the truth about the life, death and resurrection of Jesus — will set you free. This week, we are exploring what really happened on that first Easter in a message called “The Reality of Easter.”
Many of us would agree that the world needs saving, and it seems like everyone is looking for a hero. As babies, we cry for others to come feed, clean and hold us, and as children, we cry in the dark for parents to chase away the monsters of our imagination. Even as adults, we view elected officials or celebrities as heroes.Although 2,000 years separate us from the events of Matthew 21, we’re really no different from the people who lined the road to Jerusalem on that first Palm Sunday. They were holding out for a hero, too. This week, Pastor Robby Williams helps us explore the ways in which Jesus — more than any comic book character, athlete, movie star or politician — is our true hero.
Despite the word “revival” being one of the most over-used and misunderstood words in the American church, no one can argue that what is described in Acts 2 was a revival. Even so, it leads to a lot of questions. How does a revival happen? Where does it come from? Is there a formula or pattern?If revival is like a volcano, the explosion and outpouring of something simmering just below the surface, how do we get there today? This week, we are going to look at a variety of passages in the book of Acts to see some things that we can do to help raise the spiritual lava level — first within us and then around us.
Following Jesus often requires twists and turns that we don’t see coming, and sometimes, we come face-to-face with circumstances, events or people from our past that we thought we’d never have to deal with again. God often circles us back to those things in order to accomplish something for our good, His glory or the advancement of His Kingdom.What do you do if you find yourself circling back to something you thought was behind you? What would be the point? This week, we’re taking a look at three times people circled back to something in the Bible to see if we can learn why God may have led them to do it — and how we can apply those lessons to our own lives.
There have been a lot of fantastic advertising campaigns throughout the decades, and one of most effective campaigns was launched only 20 years to advertise a popular western U.S. city. People who have never been to Las Vegas say some variation of the line, “What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas,” all the time because there is a notion that some things in life that should stay compartmentalized.Unfortunately, that mindset has invaded the American church. Too many people want to come to church for one reason or another but are determined to keep what happens at church from impacting the rest of their lives. However, if what we learn, feel, experience and find at church doesn’t make it out the doors of the church, we’ve missed the point. This week, we’re going to explore this topic and talk about the vison of the church in a message called “This Ain’t Vegas.”
This week, Pastor John continues the annual State of the Church message, casting vision for the future of our campus, highlighting how these investments connect to the Jericho Project and sharing the importance of devoting ourselves to discipleship.
Pastor John delivers the annual State of the Church message, providing an update on our latest attendance and financial numbers, commitment to the fight against sex trafficking, mission, vision and plans for the future.
What comes out of our mouths is important — more important than we often realize. James 3:1-2 and Proverbs 18:21 talk about the need to control our tongues, and there are two scriptural truths that support this fact: we can't pray in faith and speak worry, and we can't live in victory and speak defeat. This week, we're going to dive deep into this topic and explore these truths with a message called "Watch Your Words."
Hebrews 11:1 describes faith as both “confidence” and “assurance,” and the rest of the chapter celebrates a variety of prophets, teachers, leaders and believers for their courageous acts of faith. It’s easy for the amazing things they accomplished to seem like relics of the past because we don’t often see the same boldness today. This week, Jordan Weathers is going to help us explore the steps that we can take to have a courageous and confident faith in a special, football-themed message called Super Bold.
The Bible contains many verses about integrity and character, and while most people would agree on the importance of these qualities, we might not fully understand them. This week, Pastor Jay Mann from Lifegate Church is helping us determine what character is — and what it’s not — to ensure that we can respond appropriately to different situations and live a life that is pleasing to God.
Over the past two weeks, we’ve been exploring the areas of life in which balance doesn’t work. In areas like faith and prayer, an absolute choice is required, and we need to be unashamedly and whole-heartedly unbalanced. This week, we’re wrapping up this three-part series with a message called Unbalanced Words.The Bible has a lot to say about our words and the fact that what we say is important. Words affect our faith, our prayer lives and our salvation, and the words we speak need to be unbalanced words. We need to be all the way committed to making the things that com out of our mouths completely unbalanced toward the things of God.
This week, we’re continuing our “Unbalanced” series, exploring the areas in our lives in which we need to be all the win with no compromise and no diluting. Pastor Jay Mann from Lifegate Church talks about the need for unbalanced prayer.By looking at Nehemiah’s prayer in Nehemiah 1:5-11, we will learn four lessons about effective prayer and unpack five conditions of answered prayers throughout the Bible — helping us truly enjoy our prayer time and have better conversations with God.
The modern world has a Goldilocks complex. Just like the little girl in the story, we want everything just right. Not too much of this or too much of that. Our culture seems obsessed with finding the perfect balance.While there is wisdom in the concept of balance, there are some things in which you don’t want to find balance. Being called balanced is generally a compliment, but there are some areas in which we need to be boldly and unapologetically unbalanced. This week, we’re kicking off a brand new seriesto further explore this concept.
Join us as Pastor Jay Mann from LifeGate Church shares a message about face-to-face encounters, including the importance of encountering God rather than simply studying Him, the role God takes when someone encounters Him, what happens to those who have an encounter and how we can have our own!
Everybody wants to start the new year off right. We share resolutions, diets, work out regimens, money-saving tips, time-saving ideas, life hacks and all sorts of things, and we want to feel like we have a better plan to meet the challenges that may have whooped our tails last year.Jesus said something in Mark 2:23-28 that we need to slow down and understand because it’s the key to becoming whatever it is that God wants us to become and do whatever it is that He wants us to do. This week, we're going to explore the Sabbath and look at three principles we can apply to our lives.
The Christmas account in the Bible is really an account of what happened in the lives of the people who heard about the birth of Jesus. It's unlikely that any of them fully grasped what Jesus was going to do during His time on this planet, but all of them heard enough of the facts to know that something was special about this baby.This week, as we celebrate Christmas together, we're taking a look at three people or groups of people mentioned in Matthew 2 and Luke 2 to talk about the "Facts and Fallout of Christmas."
After the wise men returned to their land without reporting Jesus’s whereabouts, King Herod went on a rampage, but before he gave the order to kill all babies in Bethlehem under the age of two, God warned Joseph in a dream to escape with his family to Egypt. They stayed until Herod died, and when the Lord told Joseph that it was safe to go back to Israel, he chose to go to back to his hometown of Nazareth.This leads to a couple of interesting ways to identify Christ. It says in Matthew 2:13-15 that their move to Egypt fulfilled the prophecy that said, “Out of Egypt have I called my Son.” The Messiah would not be Egyptian, but He would be called out of Egypt. Then, when they moved to Nazareth, Jesus acquired His most frequently used title or identity: Jesus of Nazareth or Jesus the Nazarene.
In his famous tragedy, Shakespeare wondered through the voice of Juliet, “What’s in a name?” Depending on the situation, sometimes there’s a whole lot in a name! As Christmas approaches each year, different things stand out in the Bible’s account of the Jesus’s birth, and this year, what stood out most was the names He was or was to be called.Some of these names were specified and commanded by angels who visited Zechariah and Joseph; some were prophesied hundreds of years before His birth. There seems to be a lot of importance placed on the names and titles of Jesus, so this week, we’re going to look at four names outlined in Isaiah 9:6-7 to learn more!
In Luke 8:18, Jesus says, “Pay attention to how you hear.” This seems like a warning or an imperative for followers of Christ. Pay attention to — or be careful — how you hear His teaching, which is the Word of God. Most people don’t think much about it; you just hear it how you hear it. Jesus was serious, though, because not hearing correctly comes with consequences.He said that those who listen will be given more understanding, wisdom and insight from the Word, but those who don’t pay attention or listen correctly will lose the understanding they do have. He didn’t say they would lose the knowledge; He said they would lose the wisdom and insight meant to accompany it. There is a difference between knowing something and understanding it, between learning and applying. This week, we’re taking time to slow down and think about how we’re hearing the Word of God.
One of the clearest themes throughout the Bible is freedom. God wants to set people free, and Jesus came to make that happen — to set us free from disease, spiritual blindness and the pain of tragedy and trauma. Even in the Old Testament, God was constantly bringing freedom to His people and declaring freedom over situations in which people were hopelessly bound.
This week, we’re going to continue the Patriarchs, Prophets and Priests series, and we are going to look at two people who needed freedom from the chains of their past that locked them into a life that they were no longer satisfied to live. Our message is called “Jabez and Jacob: Breaking Free.” If you are being held back by anything in your past, today is the day that you can break free!
This week, we’re continuing the Patriarchs, Prophets and Priests series with a special focus on Thanksgiving. Genesis 14:17-24 is interesting. Abraham is the patriarch — or father — of the Jewish faith and a prophet, and Melchizedek is a priest. This means that all three roles in our series about patriarchs, prophets and priests are present in this one passage of scripture.
If you ever wondered what it would be like for all three roles to get together, this is it. It’s like what should happen when any two believers get together. There’s no jockeying for position as the greatest or most powerful, and instead of boasting about titles or accomplishments, it’s just a lot of humility, praise for God, remembering the sacrifice of Christ and gratitude for His many blessings.
As we continue the Patriarchs, Prophets and Priests Series, we’re going to continue to look at Aaron. We found out last time that Aaron was the brother of Moses and was right by his side as Moses negotiated the release of the Hebrews from Egyptian slavery. Through the first message, we learned that all Christians are priests to the extent that we can go straight to God without the need for a mediator and that each of us has work that God prepared for us to do.
This week, we’re exploring one more thing that is equally important. We all carry the call, but it is not the same call. In this passage, there is Aaron, the high priest, his sons who are priests and another group of people. This third group of people is the tribe of Levi, and Numbers 18:6 says that they are called to be Aaron’s special assistants and that they’re a gift to him. They weren't less capable or less gifted; their call was just different. Plus, if it weren’t for the Levites, there’s no way Aaron and his sons could have fulfilled their call.
This week, Jay Webb from West Metro FCA uses the account of Naaman washing seven times in the Jordan River (2 Kings 5) to illustrate the fact that each of us has something holding us back or hindering our walk with God. As Jay puts it, everyone has a spot.
In addition to the sins and shortcomings that may impede our spiritual growth, we likely have certain expectations about how our lives ought to go, and when things don’t go as planned, it can be easy to get mad and resist God. Instead of running away from the Lord, we should run toward Him, so He can cleanse our spots and renew our strength.
As we continue our series called “Patriarchs, Prophets and Priests,” in which we are looking at the lives and experiences of Old Testament heroes of the faith, we're now turning our attention to Aaron.
Before cell phones, you often did not know who was calling your phone or who they were trying to reach, but when it comes to spiritual matters, you don’t have to wonder who’s calling or who the call is for. God is calling, and it’s for you.
We are continuing our series called “Patriarchs, Prophets and Priests,” a series in which we are looking at the lives of the men and women of the Old Testament and finding the parallels for our lives. It’s like looking at character sketches of the framers and founders of our faith. You can’t talk about patriarchs without talking about Abraham, and today is our third and final message about him.
When you see Abraham mentioned throughout the Bible, it is almost without fail that the word “faith” is also going to be in that verse. Abraham’s faith characterized his life, so we’ve called these messages “Living by Faith.” Over the past two weeks, we’ve talked about many other things that we’ve observed in Abraham’s life, and this week, we’re going to talk about three final ingredients to living a life of faith.
For a couple of months now, we have been in a series called “Patriarchs, Prophets and Priests.” In this series, we’re looking at the men and women of the Old Testament to see the lessons we can take from their lives that will help us as we live our lives and follow Jesus. Last week, we started talking about Abraham, the ultimate patriarch of the Jewish people.
Almost every time Abraham is mentioned in the Bible, the word that is associated with him is faith, and in Hebrews 11, what we call the Hall of Fame of faith, he is certainly the star of the show. Over and over, it says, “By faith, Abraham did this or that.” Although he was not a perfect man, he was a great man of faith, so today, we’re continuing last week’s message with Part 2 of “Abraham: Living by Faith.”
We are continuing the series called Patriarchs, Prophets and Priests and today, we are focusing on the person who best fits the profile. The book of Genesis declares that he was a prophet, but he is also the best candidate for patriarch. Abraham is considered the patriarch of the Jews; he is the beginning of the family tree for the Jewish people.
Abraham heard the voice of the Lord speaking to him and got two verbs: leave and go. Leave family, nation and security — and go. Go where? Just leave and go, and I’ll show you the rest. There seemed to be an easy response: I’m not going, at least not until I get more information. Except for one thing: faith. Abraham was a man of faith, and the funny thing about faith in God is that, even when it’s all you’ve got, it’s also all you need.
In this short but powerful message, Pastor Mark Stroud from Kingdom Rock Family Worship Center uses Isaiah 60 to remind us that God is calling us to arise and shine our lights in the darkness around us. To do this, we must give Him our painful past and trust Him with our future.
As we continue our series called “Patriarchs, Prophets and Priests” this week, we get the privilege of looking at some of the women of God in the Old Testament who were respected, revered and admired. They were used by God to bring about victories in war and politics; they fought racism and oppression and made the worlds in which they operated safer.
Throughout this series, we’ve talked a lot about the call of God on the lives of believers and the fact that God has a plan and purpose for each one of us. It’s easy to hear about Daniel, Jeremiah and Joseph and get kind of overwhelmed about the call of God, but today, we’re bringing the topic into sharper focus by centering our discussion around this question: what if the call of God for your life is not an office but an opportunity?
Prayer is difficult for a variety of reasons. Maybe, you’re busy and don’t have as much to pray as you would like. Perhaps, your thoughts go into overdrive when you attempt to pray, you get overwhelmed by all the situations and people should pray about or you start to feel guilty for not praying as fervently or as long as you could have.
We’ve learned a lot of life lessons from the people that we’ve examined in this series called “Patriarchs, Prophets and Priests.” One of those people is Daniel. We’ve already talked about Daniel in a two-part message about his character, but it’s hard to talk about Daniel and not talk about the lion’s den and — more specifically — what it is that got him thrown into that den of famished and ferocious felines in the first place. This week, we’re going to talk about Daniel’s Prayer Life and see what practices we can imitate in our own lives.
One of the most frequent ways God is identified in the Bible is as the God of Abraham, Issac and Jacob. They are three of the main patriarchs of the Jewish faith. Joseph is Jacob’s son, and he is — as much as anyone — responsible for the formation of the nation of Israel.
The actions of Joseph set the stage for Moses to rise and lead the massive and powerful nation of Israel into its destiny in the promised land, so it’s not a stretch to consider Joseph one of the patriarchs. This week, we're going to talk about him as we continue our series called Patriarchs, Prophets and Priests.
For the past five weeks, we have been in a series called Patriarchs, Prophets, and Priests, in which we’ve looked at the lives of people from the Old Testament to discover the lessons that their lives can teach us. Today is the second part of a message we started last week about Daniel called Character Counts.
Daniel was operating in a culture that valued politics and pandering, but he didn’t do that. He was a man of character who let the quality and ethic of his work speak for themselves. Last week, we talked about clarity, one of the ways that Daniel’s character expressed itself, and this week, we’re going to talk about two more aspects: commitment and courage.
We’re continuing our “Patriarchs, Prophets and Priests” series this week, exploring the lives of the Old Testament saints of God who helped to form the foundation of our faith and applying important lessons to our lives. This week, we’re going to look at Daniel. He is likely best known for not being eaten by lions, but there is a lot more to learn from Daniel’s life.
As we zoom in a little further, we’re going to talk about Daniel’s character. We have become a society that is more interested in charisma than character, and we have developed social media tools that allow people with charisma to promote themselves to consumers of their content who have no ability — or even interest — to verify their character. For believers, we should be focused on deepening our character and developing wisdom.
In our “Patriarchs, Prophets and Priests” series, we’re looking at the Old Testament heroes of the faith and finding the lessons we can learn from their lives. So far, we’ve talked about Noah and Jeremiah, and this week, we’re looking at the life of Job, a man who is famous for suffering with grace and patience. Job was respected and loved, but as a result of a conversation between God and Satan, he went through a terrible trial that tested his faith and integrity.
Most of us will never go through anything even approaching what Job went through, but each of us has gone through — and will go through again — difficult trials that test our resolve in ways we never thought possible. This week, we are exploring three common temptations that we may face in addition to the trial, making it more difficult and more dangerous to our faith and future. As we do, we’ll also see how we can stand strong against temptation and stay true to the Lord.
We’re continuing our “Patriarchs, Prophets and Priests” series this week, looking at the lives of Old Testament heroes of the faith to learn the lessons we can learn from them. Last week, we talked about Jeremiah’s unqualified calling and explored the fact that he was very young when God called him. As expected, he was scared to death, but God assured Jeremiah that He would with him.
This week, we are looking at Jeremiah’s unrelenting faithfulness. Once Jeremiah accepted the call of God, he had to be faithful to carry it out. He challenged priests and kings to their faces, telling them things that they did not want to hear, and there is not a single recorded instance that shows him failing to do everything God told him to do. The same is true for us. As we step out and step up to answer God’s calling on our lives, we must be faithful to do it — even when it gets tough.
As we continue our series called “Patriarchs, Prophets and Priests,” we’re looking at the men and women of the Old Testament who formed the foundation of our faith. We’re learning the events of their lives and the lessons they can teach us. Knowing the entire Bible is from Jesus and points to Him, we are also trying to identify the types and shadows of Christ we see throughout the OT.
Last week, we looked at the life of Noah, one of the patriarchs — or fathers — of the faith, and this week, we’re looking at a prophet and priest named Jeremiah. While we explore the lessons that Jeremiah’s life can teach us, please remember that these are not stories or works of fiction; they’re accounts. These people actually lived, and many of them are verifiable through other historical records.
All scripture is inspired by God and given to us for a purpose — not just the verses about Jesus or those that appear in the New Testament. All 66 books are important. They seem like stories, but they are accounts of actual people and their actual experiences, and the Bible teaches us that those experiences have been recorded, preserved and transmitted to us to teach us what to do and what not to do.
We ignore these passages to our peril, and we need to hear about Abraham and Samuel, Elijah and Eli. We need to know about Deborah and Jael, Moses and Jonah. To help us, we’re kicking off a new series today called “Patriarchs, Prophets, and Priests,” in which we will spend time learning about the major players throughout the Old Testament to determine how those people and their experiences represent or foreshadow Jesus.
We don’t have to be defeated, doomed and depressed another day of our lives. The gospel of Jesus Christ still has the power to change lives, but those who have been going to church for years may be asking, “Why isn’t this working?” It’s because Christians have been mirroring the feelings of the world around us rather than relying on the Bible for strength and stability.
We want to do everything else with everyone else, and as a result, we don’t study the Bible or put it into practice like we should. Instead of allowing Satan to continue to steal the Word from us, we need to lock it down and let grow. This week, Pastor Mark Stroud from Kingdom Rock Family Worship Center explains how we underestimate the Word of God and offers nine steps to make it stick in our lives.
According to the Bible, our mission as believers is to go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit and teaching these disciples to obey all of the Lord’s commands.
As we carry out this mission, God has given us unique gifts, talents and responsibilities, and He encourages us to know and understand that He is always with us — no matter what we do or where we go. This morning, we’re going to unpack what it means to “live on mission,” so we can fully trust God and do what He has called us to do.
This is the time of year that people talk a lot about freedom. Most of these discussions revolve around political freedoms and civil rights, but there is a freedom that the Bible talks about that really has nothing to do with any of those kinds of external freedoms. It’s the kind of freedom Jesus was talking about when He said, “If the Son sets you free, you are truly free!” Truly free. That’s true freedom.
True freedom is the kind of freedom that can exist no matter what form of government you live under. It is a freedom on the inside that supersedes any lack of freedom on the outside, but the opposite is true as well. f you are lacking in this freedom on the inside, it doesn’t really matter what kind of political or civil rights you have on the outside. Today, we’re going to talk about four aspects of true freedom the Bible offers to everyone.
If you have attended more than one service at Covenant Life, you have probably heard us talk about The Jericho Project. As a matter of fact, if you’ve just driven near the church campus, you have likely seen the banners that we have about The Jericho Project. You may know about its existence, but you may not know exactly what it is.
This week, we’re going to talk about The Jericho Project — what it is, what’s the connection to Jericho, how we’re going to carry it out and how you can get involved. We’re also going to share some exciting news. Our hope is that, by the end of today’s service, you will be able to give a clear, memorable answer to others who may ask about The Jericho Project.
The relationship that Jesus had with His 12 closest disciples was a special one. They were hand-picked by Jesus after a whole night of praying about which of the larger group of disciples would get pretty much unrestricted access to Him 24/7. He was many things and filled many roles for them, but when you think of it all together, Jesus was fathering these men. He was a living expression of our Heavenly Father in their lives, and the way He treated them over the course of those years is a good pattern for us today as we try to figure out how to navigate this thing called Fatherhood.
Today’s message is focused on fatherhood and the way that Jesus treated His disciples, but the biblical principles of parenthood apply to moms and those in other relationships. We encourage you to look at how Jesus led the disciples and strive to put these lessons into practice in your life even if you aren’t a parent.
Jesus once told a parable about two houses, and if you looked at the two houses side by side, it would have been hard to tell the difference. However, Jesus introduced a variable: torrential rain. This turned out to be the deciding factor because one of the houses was built on sand, and when the rain washed away the sand, the house collapsed.
Every person builds their lives on something, and those lives are the houses that Jesus was talking about. When we build our lives on Jesus Christ and put our faith in Him, we are able to make it through any storm — even those that make us weak by coming again and again. This week, we are talking about how to keep our faith strong in a crisis, looking at the faith of two people in the Bible and see what we can learn from them about surviving our own crises.
People don’t seem to have an issue with songs, shirts or sayings about Jesus, but things tend to get weird when we mention the Holy Spirit. In light of Pentecost Sunday, it’s time to see what the Bible says about the Holy Spirit, so we can get to the root of this standoffishness and learn to respect and welcome Him in the same way that we welcome Jesus.
Part of the problem is that, when it comes to the Holy Spirt, we like to focus on Acts 2. We talk about the rushing mighty wind, tongues of fire and boisterous worship of the 120 in the upper room. It’s a wonderful and powerful moment, but you can’t get to know the Holy Spirit by only looking at one scene or description. We need to look at some different passages to round out our understanding of Him.
When Adam and Eve sinned in Genesis 3, God responded by asking, “Where are you?” Because of His omniscience, God did not need to know Adam’s physical location; instead, He was asking about his location relationally. Something had changed in their relationship, and God wanted to encourage introspection and remind His creation of the way things ought to be.
As believers today, we must regularly assess where we are in relation to God, and we can use the Bible like a map, helping to orient ourselves based on three sets of opposite directions. By understanding where we are and where we’re going, we can ensure that we’re growing closer to God each day and living in a way that points everyone around us to Jesus Christ.
The word “rapture” does not appear in the Bible and comes from a Latin word meaning “to carry or snatch away.” That is the definition of the word that appears in 1 Thessalonians 4:17 and is defined as “caught up.” This means that the rapture is the snatching away or catching up of all believers from the earth, and it is a common teaching in most evangelical churches.
Because of its level of detail and the emphasis that Paul places on it, scholars consider 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18 to be the definitive rapture passage in the Bible. Even more, it is presented as a revelation of Jesus directly to the apostle, which adds special significance. This week, we’re going to study this passage — and others — to better understand what the rapture is and how we should respond to that knowledge.
In recognition of Mental Health Awareness Month, Covenant Life Church is pleased to continue the Taboo Series, a series of messages designed to address topics that are considered “taboo” and are not talked about in many church services and sermons. As part of the latest installment, Pastor John and his wife, Valerie, are opening up about their mental health journey and sharing the lessons that they have learned along the way. Together, we’ll work to define mental health, explore possible causes for mental illness and discuss resources or treatment options for those in need.
If you’re thinking about suicide, are worried about a friend or loved one or would like emotional support, please contact the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-8255 (English) or 1-888-628-9454 (Spanish). The network is available 24/7 across the United States. TTY and Chat options are also available for those who are deaf or heard of hearing.
The word “soul” in the Bible refers to the core of a person and the place where thoughts originate, decisions are made, and feelings are experienced. Anything that changes what you think, how you feel or what you do changes your soul.
What we know about biblical motherhood is gleaned from the examples of mothers found in scripture, and no example is as prominently displayed as Mary, the mother of Jesus. This week, we’re going to look at Mary’s life as a mother to discover how mothering Him changed and affected her soul.
The first time Jesus came to earth was all about being the sacrifice for our sins. The next time He comes, He will set up His earthy Kingdom, and we will rule and reign with Him forever. However, there was another period that He was on the earth in the flesh that doesn’t often come to mind. We may understand the purpose of the first coming and the second coming of Christ, but what about the 40 days that He lived on this earth after the resurrection?
There does not appear to be any biblical or prophetic reason that Jesus had to be on earth for those 40 days, but He always had a reason for everything that He did. This week, we are going to track some of His movements and activities during that 40-day period, and in doing so, we will discover — as noted in the title of this message — that He came back for us.
This week, Bruce Deel — who founded City of Refuge in 1997 — teaches on Jesus’s encounter with the “woman at the well” in John 4. By examining the four ways that Jesus interacted with the woman, we will learn more about how we can effectively meet the needs of those around us and open doors to share the live-saving message of the Gospel.
Located in one of Georgia’s toughest neighborhoods, City of Refuge provides housing, medical and mental health care, educational training, vocational training, case management, an auto repair training center, a safe house for the victims of sex trafficking and a host of other services to the disenfranchised and homeless of Atlanta.
When it comes to Easter, it’s easy to get caught up in the hype, and we often put undue pressure on ourselves to say and do all the right things. The reality is that this day is special all by itself because God came to earth in the form of a man, lived a perfect life, died on a cross, was buried in a top and rose again from the dead.
We can rejoice today because Jesus is alive and lives forever, but the message of the resurrection will only change your life if you let it. It will only change your life if it matters to you, and no one cares more about this message than dead people. This week, we are looking at three groups of dead people described in the Bible and how the resurrection changes their lives.
God wants to draw us close and bring understand. He wants to heal, comfort, strengthen and renew, but if we're going to allow God to do these things in our lives, we must be willing to get real. Sometimes, we have to say aloud the things that have been holding us hostage inside.
This week, we're going to dive into Psalm 73, going verse by verse to see what God wants to say to His people. Together, we'll explore what the author of this psalm, a man name Asaph, says about God and discover how to apply the lessons we learn to our own lives.
What are you pursuing? Are you locking your eyes on Jesus, or are you easy prey for deceit? Many people think that godliness is a way to material gains; they try to bargain with God and say things like, "If you do this, I'll do that."
Instead of trying to acquire and achieve more, we must realize that we can rest in God's sufficiency and know that we have all we need because of the Holy Spirit dwelling inside of us. This week, Jay Webb from West Metro FCA explores what it means to pursue contentment.
We live in a nation of doers. It’s the American way. We are addicted to activity, and if we ever find ourselves with a spare moment, we feel compelled to fill it with something — social media, news, streaming, reading and more. Why do we act like this? Because we’ve been groomed to believe that if we’re not doing something, we’re wasting our time.
It’s into this crazy lifestyle that verses like Psalm 46:10 and Luke 10:38-42 speak. Be still and know that I am God. Only one thing is worth being concerned about, and Mary has discovered it sitting at the feet of Jesus. This week, we're looking at the importance of quiet moments and quiet seasons in the life of a Christian.
We’re coming to the last couple of messages in the CL 168 Series until after Easter, but we must continue to put into practice all that we have learned. We must work hard to become a church that leverages every hour of every week to move the needle on the Kingdom of God — not just the one hour of the week that we are together.
Our foundational scripture in Ephesians 5 tells us that we all have something God wants us to do and that we all must live thoughtfully and wisely, maximize every Kingdom opportunity, come together for corporate worship and have a private personal connection with the Lord ourselves. This week, we are exploring what a CL168 life looks like on a daily basis.
We are in a series called CL168, exploring the fact that the American church spends more time focusing on the one hour per week that we HAVE church than on the ways we can BE the church during the other 167 hours each week. Last week, we learned about being an empowered church and talked about the need to wade out into deeper waters in the river of the Holy Spirit.
As you start to put this into practice, you may think of the fruit of the Spirit and get overwhelmed by all the qualities you don’t currently possess, or you may think about being a witness for Jesus and get overwhelmed by fear. This week, we’re going to look at the one thing all of us can do to begin or deepen our journey with the Holy Spirit. To move the needle for the Kingdom of God every hour of every week, we must develop love first!
We’re continuing our CL168 Series, exploring how we can be a church that leverages our one hour of corporate worship to empower and equip the body to be the Church for the other 167 hours of each week.
This week, we’re looking to the Bible to learn more about the person and purpose of the Holy Spirit, so we can understand why we are encouraged so often in scripture to be filled with the Spirit. If we’re going to be a 168-hour-per-week church, we need the power that the Spirit provides.
This week, we're continuing our CL168 series, learning how we can leverage the one hour we spend in church together to prepare us for the other 167 hours of the week. We must become a church that moves the needle on the work of the Kingdom every hour of the week — not just during our services on Sundays.
To do this, the leaders of the church are called to train and equip, but because we don’t fully understand what this means, we often fail to do it properly. This leads to people getting hurt and deciding that they don't ever want to serve again. They suffer because they never find out what God has created, called and gifted them to do. If we're going to be a 168-hour church, we need to examine what the Word says about this topic, so we can do better.
We’re continuing our CL168 Series, exploring how we can be a church that leverages our one hour of corporate worship to empower and equip the body to be the church for the other 167 hours of each week.
This week, we’re talking about what church membership looks like biblically. Instead of deconstructing church membership in order to refute some of the common membership myths, we’re getting to the heart of the matter and discussing three important characteristics membership for a 168-hours-per-week church.
To ensure that our concept and understanding of church has not become skewed, we must first figure out who the church is. There is a capital Church and a lowercase church. You can be part of the Church and not be a part of Covenant Life, and if that is true, you might be right where God wants you. However, what you don’t want to do is be part of Covenant Life or some other lowercase church and not really be a part of the capital, overall Church.
This week, we’re continuing our CL168 series, exploring the idea that we should leverage our one-hour church service to be effective in the other 167 hours of the week. The goal is to align with the biblical concept of church and be a congregation that moves the needle on the work of the Kingdom of God all 168 hours of every week.
This week, Pastor John is sharing the annual State of the Church message, looking back at our ministry impact in 2021. Together, we’ll explore what we saw in the areas of attendance, giving and The Jericho Project, and we will discuss our church’s three areas of prayer for 2022.
There are 168 hours in a week, and we spend 167 hours in some place other than church. To be both more effective and more biblical, we need to “be transformed by the renewing of our minds” and change the way that we think about church.
We spend all 167 hours of the week focused on getting ready for the ministry of a one-hour church service when we should be spending our church services preparing for the ministry of the other 167 hours. This week, we’re exploring the changes we need to make and the fact that our church service should not be the sum total of all the ministry energy we exert.
Last week was officially the Sanctity of Human Life Sunday, as established by President Reagan in 1984. In Genesis 1:27, we find that God is the Creator of persons, and in Acts 10:34, we find out that He is no respecter of those persons. That verse in Genesis is all we need to know about why human life is sacred. It says we are created in the image of God Himself, which means that we have this divine resemblance that makes our lives different than any other created thing.
Christians believe that life and personhood begin at conception, but believing in the sanctity of human life means that we believe there is inherent value in every human being — regardless of age, gender, social status or any other reason we may use to rank order the value of other people. Their value is provided to them by their Creator, and the fact that they deserve to be treated with a certain level of decency and dignity that transcends their actions, attitudes or circumstances.
Last week, we talked about how prayer should not be a last resort for followers of Jesus Christ; it should be our first instinct. As we face each new day, challenge, opportunity and blessing, we should pray first, but as passionate as we should be about facing every situation with prayer, the phrase “pray first” is incomplete.
What happens after we pray or while we’re praying has just as much to do with our spiritual health and success as the praying itself. This week, we’ll discuss the missing step in our prayer lives and examine what should happen between faith and works, between praying and doing.
Unfortunately, many believers today view prayer as a last resort instead of recognizing that it is a tremendous privilege to bring our requests before the throne of the Almighty God. Too often, we get ourselves into trouble because we do not pray, so before we plan, brainstorm or call for the wisdom of our counselors, we have to learn to pray first.
Have you ever done what seemed right or made an easy decision only to have it be the wrong choice in the end? When we don’t pray first, we can find ourselves on the wrong path, making peace with things that God wanted us to destroy. This week, we will turn to the Bible to learn what happens when we don’t pray first and explore how we should be praying.
Based on Jesus’s descriptions of faith in Mark 11 and Mark 16, which focus on moving mountains and miraculous signs, how would you rate your faith? Would your ranking change based on certain circumstances?
This week, we’re learning how to overcome our doubt and increase our faith when it may be limited. Once our doubts have been dismantled, we can then ask God for more faith, enabling us to accomplish everything that He has planned for us — and our church — in 2022.
Every Christmas, we pause for a cute family photo and eat a delicious meal, but after the presents have been opened, we return to life as normal. Stores that close one day each year reopen, and we get back to our normal responsibilities.
This week, we’re talking about how we can hold onto the joyful anticipation and hope of the holiday season throughout the year, and it all revolves around slowing down, relying on God and taking the time to truly abide in Christ.
Did you know the first reference to Christmas in the Bible is not in Matthew or Luke? It’s not even in Isaiah or any of the other prophetic books. It’s in Genesis. No mention of wisemen or shepherds. No angelic visitation, no mangers and no one hating on the poor innkeeper yet.
Even so, right there in the first book of the Bible, there it is: a reference to Christmas. This week, we’re talking about the Genesis of Christmas — not just because it’s the book where it’s first referenced but because it’s where it all began.
When you read the account of Christmas in the Bible, you will see many people — including the shepherds, Mary, Joseph and Zechariah — who had unforgettable experiences with angels, but there were some major players in the unfolding events who got no direct, divine notice of their role. Not everyone got an angel.
While God certainly still speaks to us through angels, He often speaks in ways that are far more subtle today, but He still invites us to participate in His story. This week, we are looking at “The Ones Who Didn’t Get an Angel” and learning some important spiritual truths from three people who played critical roles in the Christmas account but didn’t have an angelic proclamation.
This week, we’re going to explore the fact that everything in our lives can change in a moment. As a matter of fact, the things that we remember most — the surprise proposal or the surprise break-up, the call with the job offer or the call with the diagnosis — are moments that changed everything. It’s been said over and over, but you should never underestimate the power of a moment.
In Luke 2:8-20, the shepherds had a couple of pivotal moments, and they are denoted by the word “suddenly.” That may be why moments are so powerful — because they come on so suddenly. It’s not like the stereotypical tidal wave or alien invasion in a blockbuster movie, where you stand there and watch it coming for you. Instead, it’s a pivot point, a watershed moment in which everything in your life changes direction or purpose.
This week, Pastor John shares an update on The Jericho Project, the local and global outreach of Covenant Life to join the fight against human sex trafficking. We’ll look back at the start of the Project and discuss our three-pronged approach to “rescue the Rahabs” and restore the lives of those who have been negatively impact by this terrible issue.
We will discuss our work with House of Cherith in Atlanta and provide additional details about our next steps in moving forward with the antique mall property adjacent to our main sanctuary. As we look ahead to the future of The Jericho Project, we are excited about everything that God has planned, and we can’t wait to see lives changes and souls saved as a result of our faithfulness.
To learn more about The Jericho Project and keep up with future updates, please visit www.thejerichoprojectwestga.org.
This week, we’re taking a break from our “Humility” series to seek encouragement from the Word of God. The world is full of uncertainty, and many people — both in our local church and the Church at large — are going through serious and difficult situations.
In Psalm 46:1 (KJ21), the Bible says that “God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.” We must remember that trouble doesn’t mean we’re sinful; it just means we’re human. Whenever we face those situations, though, we must also know and believe that God is our refuge and strength. He is always nearby, and He is ready and able to help us!
As we begin to wrap up our series called “Humility: The Key to Childlike Faith” over the next few weeks, Pastor John will focus on the things that will kill pride and help us walk in the character of Jesus. A few verses after Jesus starts talking to the disciples about the Kingdom at the start of Matthew 18, He tells the Parable of the Unmerciful Servant.
This week, we will use this parable to explore how pride impacts generosity. We cannot allow an attitude of hypocrisy to take root in our lives, believing that we deserve to keep what God gave us. Instead, we have to be motivated by humility and integrity. We must recognize that everything we have comes from the King and choose to be generous with all He has given us.
In this week’s message, Pastor John steps out of his comfort zone, moving aside the pulpit and being honest about what God is doing in his life. By learning about his experiences and focusing on the words of Christ in Matthew 18, we will explore the idea together that everyone has their own way of doing things, and we often put limits on God because of pride. We want to follow Him — but only if we can be successful while doing it. We want to serve others — but only in the areas where we feel well-equipped.
We worry about what other people will think if we do things differently, but God wants to use the messy, uncomfortable parts of our lives, too. To truly serve Him with humility, we must get rid of anything that holds us back and destroy (not just think outside of) the box that serves as our comfort zone.
This week, we’re continuing our series called Humility: The Key to Childlike Faith and looking at the ways that pride disrupts our relationship with Jesus. In order to see the destructive properties of pride, we’re looking at the first creation to sin: Lucifer, who we more frequently refer to as Satan or the devil. By looking at his life before he fell, we can be sure that we don’t follow his footsteps.
The Bible tells us that God had blessed Lucifer abundantly, but at some point, he stopped focusing on his God-ordained purpose. He started looking at the gifts instead of the Giver. It’s important to remember that the Kingdom of Heaven works backward; it only operates well when you operate in humility. If you operate in pride, the things that you think are good actually have the opposite effect, and sometimes, the blessing is the curse.
Throughout our lives, we may ask God why we must face difficult situations and circumstances. We may lament the injuries and illnesses that we endure, but we tend to forget that the Lord is incapable of making a mistake. He is always faithful, and if we’re still alive, it means that He has more for us to do and accomplish.
Using the experiences of Paul, Elijah and Mephibosheth, Pastor Jeremy talks about how it feels to be left for the dead and the things in our lives that often lead to such an outcome. Together, we will be reminded of the fact that God is always in control. He will never leave us nor forsake us, and as long as He is with us, there is nothing we cannot overcome.
Throughout our lives, we may ask God why we must face difficult situations and circumstances. We may lament the injuries and illnesses that we endure, but we tend to forget that the Lord is incapable of making a mistake. He is always faithful, and if we’re still alive, it means that He has more for us to do and accomplish.
Using the experiences of Paul, Elijah and Mephibosheth, Pastor Jeremy talks about how it feels to be left for the dead and the things in our lives that often lead to such an outcome. Together, we will be reminded of the fact that God is always in control. He will never leave us nor forsake us, and as long as He is with us, there is nothing we cannot overcome.
Throughout our series called Humility: The Key to Childlike Faith, we have explored the idea that being effective in the Kingdom of God revolves around being truly and authentically humble. Last week, we talked about the fact that pride prevents personal and spiritual progress.
This week, we’re looking at something else that pride prevents: spiritual intimacy. The word intimacy has lots of different applications, but it always includes elements of mutuality, vulnerability, safety, trust, honesty and openness. It’s the same in our relationship with God. Unless both parties embrace those elements, that relationship lacks intimacy and morphs into something unhealthy, unpleasant and unfulfilling.
Last week, we started a new series called Humility: The Key to Childlike Faith. In the first message, we learned that pride is the opposite of faith. If we have faith in God, we are totally dependent upon Him. If we are full of pride, we are dependent upon ourselves. True faith in Jesus is rooted in humility.
This week, we’re going to look at another aspect of the struggle between humility and pride. Many people would suggest that pride is the way to get ahead, the way to succeed and see your dreams come true, but pride can only take you so far. Eventually, you will hit a roadblock, and if you continue on that path, it will lead to destruction.
In Matthew 18, Jesus tells the disciples that they must turn from their sins and become like little children to enter the Kingdom of Heaven. Becoming like children does not mean that we become simplistic, shallow, scared and selfish. Instead, we are to become humble and remember that our place is God’s Kingdom will not be determined by our ability, education, worldly wisdom or physical attractiveness.
We like to talk about faith, being strong in the Lord, authority, overcoming and being more than conquerors. All of these descriptions are great, true and accurate for those who are in the Kingdom of God, but if humility is the measuring stick, we need to figure out what it means and what it looks like in our lives. Today, we are starting a brand-new series called Humility: The Key to Childlike Faith.
Though only five chapters long, the book of James encourages us to be doers of God’s Word. We’re not meant to merely listen to its teachings; we must take the next step and obey. It’s all about putting our faith into practice — what it commonly called Practical Theology. The faith of every Christian should be one that is not merely known or believed but one that is also acted upon.
This doesn’t happen overnight. We don’t just wake up one day and instantly or easily start doing all the things that James says we should do. Instead, it happens through a process that involves our heads, our hearts, and our hands. In this week’s message, we’re going to examine this process to help us gain the information and encouragement needed to be doers of God’s Word.
Why do we invest money with someone called a broker? Why is the slowest time of day — when we’re often stuck in traffic and going nowhere — called rush hour? How does glue not stick to the inside of the bottle? Why does spending a lot of time in the sun lighten your hair and darken your skin?
Beyond these silly examples, there are many things in our lives that don’t make sense, leading us to feel unsettled or confused. When we face these situations, happens, it is important for us to trust God and know that He is in control. This week, we’ll join Pastor Robby as he discusses the life of Ruth and how she handled circumstances that just didn't make sense.
According to Matthew 28, the mission of every Bible-believing church in the world is to go and make disciples. As a matter of fact, it’s called the Great Commission because there is no greater call on the lives of believers than this one. We are to be witnesses of the faith we have in Jesus — not just with our words but with our lives — and help push people along in their spiritual development as followers or disciples of Jesus.
It doesn’t matter what else we do, how hard we work or how good we look. If we aren’t making disciples, we’re missing the point. We might be doing lots of important things, but if we fail to do the most important thing, we cannot expect the Father to be pleased with us. To ensure that we’re becoming more effective at doing what the Lord is most concerned about, this week’s message is all about disciple making.
In Luke 4:18-19, Jesus makes it clear that it’s His will for you to be saved, healed and set free. As we begin or continue to walk on the path to freedom, we have to remember that it’s God’s will for us to be free and to be healed of our emotional pain and mental strongholds that have clouded our judgment for so long. This week, we will examine the four words that Jesus used to get free from His soul pain and how the same words can bring freedom and healing for us.
The Bible tells us that Jesus felt overwhelming pain in His soul the night before He was to be crucified. He felt it, but He was not bound by it. He used the resources and took the steps we discussed in previous weeks, but it was four words that finally set Him free: Your Will Be Done. When He said those words and settled it in His heart, His soul was settled, His mind was clear, and the plan of God was in full motion.
This week, we’re continuing to look at the specific steps that we must take to push through our soul pain toward the freedom that awaits us. We talked about the first step — Embrace the Pain — last week, and now, we’re going to talk about the second step: Reject the Shame. According to Matthew 26, Jesus said that His soul was “overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death,” but He knew that dying for our sins on the cross was God’s plan and would not allow anything or anyone to shame Him out of following the path to freedom.
Shame may be the number one obstacle to our freedom, but if we’re going to reject the shame, we need to understand some things about it first. We recently learned that all our chains are rooted in our own sin or other people’s sin against us, and as we examine the very first sin in human history and see how fast shame shows up in Genesis, we will learn some valuable lessons about how we can resist the enemy’s attempts at shame, guilt and condemnation that so often keep us in chains.
Who or what is driving your life? Is it fear? Pain? Revenge? Desperation? Rage? Addiction? Past abuse? Whatever or whomever is driving determines the course, the speed and the destination, and as we learned last week, if you are not submitting to the guidance of the Holy Spirit in your daily decisions, you need to stop and switch seats because at least one area of your life is out of control.
We’ve spent some time examining the resources that will help us get free, but if we’re going to walk the path of freedom, what steps should we take? This week, we’re looking at the first step toward freedom: Embrace the Pain. In Matthew, we read about Jesus overcoming soul-crushing grief to accomplish God’s will, and if we want to do the same and experience the freedom that is waiting for us on the other side, we must have the courage to embrace the pain of healing.
For the last several weeks, we have been going through a series called The Path to Freedom. We know that Jesus lived on the earth and died on the cross to set us free, but far too many of us — maybe all of us in at least one area — are still living in bondage. If we are ever going to experience the freedom that Jesus died to provide, we’re going to have to join Him on this path to freedom.
Over the past two weeks, we’ve been talking about the specific resources that Jesus gives us to help us get free, and in today’s message, we’re going to talk about the third resource: the Holy Spirit. Only by surrendering to and relying on the Holy Spirit can we discover the truth, power and self-control that we need to trust God as we navigate this life of faith.
The ministry of Jesus is the same ministry of the Word of God, and that is to set people free from sin, from sickness, from soul wounds, from chains, from slavery — free from anything and everything that holds us down.
Jesus literally died to set us free. Then, He gave us His Word as a resource to help us get free. Why are so many of us still walking around in chains? It’s time to get set free, and one of the resources Jesus gave us is His Word, which is The Gospel of Freedom.
This week, we’re continuing to talk about the path to freedom, getting free from our bad habits and addictions, hurts and pain, chains and challenges. Anything that keeps you stuck in an action, attitude or feeling is an area where you need freedom, but how does that happen in a practical way?
Christians in the American church often fall prey to the mindset of rugged individualism, but if we look closely at the ministry of Jesus, we’ll see that He was almost never alone. Every now and then, He would sneak away and pray by Himself, but other than that, everything He did, said and experienced was in community. There’s no way around it; we need each other on this path to freedom.
Galatians 5:1 tells us that Jesus died to set us free, but it doesn’t just say that He did it; it tells us why He did it. He didn’t just save us because we were slaves to our sin. He did it because He wanted us to be free. In other words, He didn’t just set us free FROM something; He is setting us free TO something.
The freedom that Jesus offers is the absolute best for us. When we get free from the things that are holding us down, it loosens us up to experience all that He has for us. This week, we’re going to look at the areas of our lives in which we need freedom — the things we do, say, think and feel — to help us become a soul set free.
Even though the Declaration of Independence was signed in 1776, it was not until 1783 that all of the British soldiers were off American soil. This is because freedom isn’t simply declared; it’s won. The freedom that Jesus offers is manifested in our lives as we allow Him to change us. He unlocks the chains, but we have to step out of them.
By studying the story of Israel following the exodus from Egypt, we’ll learn that becoming more like Jesus and walking closer to the freedom that He offers will bring us face-to-face with giants of our own. Like Caleb and Joshua, though, we’ll discover something that the other 10 spies did not know: freedom is worth the fight.
Sometimes, when things are going well in our lives, we put God on the back burner. We believe that we have everything under control, and it’s not until we’re at the end of our rope and have nowhere else to go that we reach out to God. Even then, we try to make things better with our own power and effort.
This week, Darron Reese uses an example from the Old Testament to illustrate how this way of living keeps us from receiving and achieving God’s best for our lives. Often, by not trusting God, we allow things in our lives that shouldn’t be there, and we find ourselves holding on to beliefs, behaviors or relationships that God wants us to get rid of. On the other hand, if we can learn to trust God with our nothing, we allow Him to miraculously turn it into something.
This week, Mitchell Cash, the leader of Covenant Life’s Men’s Ministry, shares his testimony. From wanting to be just like his dad when he was growing up to becoming a father himself, Mitchell opens up about the difficult road that he faced and the lessons that he learned on his way to becoming the man he is today.
In this message, Mitchell talks about his decades-long struggle with alcohol, how he started drinking at a young age and how that addiction impacted those around him — especially his children. Thankfully, Mitchell was determined to leave a different legacy and be more than a “just good enough” father.
Over the past couple of weeks, we have learned that it is healthy to come to the conclusion that “I Can’t.” I can’t save myself. I can’t change myself. I can’t meet God’s expectations in my own power. However, by relying on the Lord’s strength and His great promises, we can share in His nature, putting off the old way of life and putting on Christ instead. Putting on Christ is like taking off old dirty clothes and putting on new, clean clothes, and the Bible likens it to shining armor, which is described in detail in Ephesians 6. This armor is one of those great promises of God that empowers us to be like Christ. This week, we’re going to continue looking at the armor and talk about how to put on each piece.
Like marriage, salvation is a covenant, and there is an exchange, a difference that must take place in the life of a follower of Jesus. We have to stop living the way we used to live and start living the way Jesus lived. We have to throw off our old nature and put on our new nature in Christ. You should be able to tell by watching someone whether they are a follower of Jesus because followers of Christ should have different actions, attitudes and motives, but it’s important to remember that we can’t change on our own. We can only stop doing the things of the old nature and start doing the things of the new nature by embracing “I can’t” and putting on Christ.
Philippians 4:13 and John 15:5 form the foundation of the life of a follower of Jesus, but too often, we don’t believe them, don’t understand them or simply don’t put them into practice. Our salvation is entirely and completely dependent upon the power of Christ and His sacrifice for us, and there is no sinner too far gone for the power of Christ’s love to pull them back and no sin too difficult and too dirty for the blood of Jesus to wash it clean. What do we do now after we’ve surrendered our lives to Jesus? It is now the will of God for us to become like Jesus and continue His work. How do we do that? In our own flesh, we are no more righteous than we were before we got saved. In our own power, we are no more able to keep the rules than before we got saved. How in the world can He expect us to be like Jesus? By continuing to walk in The Power of I Can’t.
hear that verse and get stuck on the phrase “I can,” but those are not the two most important words in the verse. Instead, the most important words are “through Christ.” If we overlook those two words, we’re left to accomplish everything in our own power, but our human ability can only take us so far. The things of eternity cannot be accomplished by human effort. If we want to become like Jesus and truly connect with Him, we must rely on His ability and humbly rest in the power of “I can’t.”
We often see ourselves in light of our faults, failures, mistakes, hopes and dreams — the things we wish that we could change about or do with our lives. However, we can’t allow those things to define who we are. This week, we’ll discover how we can be free from that limited view of our identity and learn how we can allow God to define us. It’s not about our surroundings; it’s about our surrender. As we grow in our relationship with Christ, we will begin to see ourselves the way that God sees us.
In Acts 9:36-42, we read about the passing of a disciple named Tabitha, and although she was ultimately resurrected by Peter, the widows from her community showed up in mass. Instead of just sharing heartwarming stories about her, each brought something to remember her by, evidence of her impact on their lives. These ladies all stood there with robes and other clothes that Tabitha had made for them in their moments of distress, which served as expressions of her love for them, but more than that, they were reminders of her life and her character. This week, Pastor John discusses the qualities and characteristics that he sees in his mother’s belongings and explores the topic of the legacy we leave behind every day.
What’s most important during an infant’s formative years is that they learn the love of a parent. That is the things that gives them the ability, the confidence, the knowledge and the security to move forward in their lives. It’s gives them the ability to receive correction and strive for higher standards. They learn to trust the love of the parent. It’s the same with newly converted Christians. We need to give them time and emphasize the importance of learning the heart of the Father. Instead of conforming them to some external standard of behavior, we need to introduce them to the Word and the presence of God. After all, before a person learns to act or talk like Jesus, they must learn to know Him and love Him. It’s all about the love of the Father.
Running is a word that is mentioned in some form or fashion more than 100 times in the Old Testament, and throughout the New Testament, including Hebrews 12:1-2, it serves as one of the primary metaphors to describe the Christian faith. If the Christian faith is an endurance race, what do we need to know and do to run it well, so we can say at the end of our lives — like Paul —that we’ve finished the race and our efforts were not in vain?
The longer that a person lives, the more he or she realizes that lots of things in life are complicated. Things seem so simple when you’re young. For the most part, life will be full of good things and, occasionally, bad things. You’ll have great relationships with wonderful people. You’ll learn to avoid the people who will bring you pain. You’ll be very careful about the decisions you make and the people you choose to be around. Then, you reach a certain age and realize that not everything or everyone will fit neatly into your categories of good things and bad things. It is disappointing and confusing to realize that there are a whole lot of things in life about which you just have to say, “It’s complicated,” and this week, we’re going to explore what the Word says about dealing with these complicated situations and relationships.
In Mark 12:18-27, Jesus is responding to a question from the Sadducees and say, “You have made a serious error.” Jesus was plainly pointing out an error in their belief system, and because He is clearly the expert in this situation, it’s important that we pay attention. Jesus’s rebuke was clear, true and brutally honest. He said, “Your mistake is that you don’t know the scriptures, and you don’t know the power of God.” There are many people in the modern American church that fall into one of these ditches, so this week, we’re going to look at the mistakes that Jesus pointed out and make sure we stay far away from them.
Many who attend church on Easter may walk away wondering what difference the death of a teacher or prophet 2,000 years ago makes on their lives today, and if He did actually rise from the dead, they don’t see how that does anything for them now. To understand the impact of those events on our lives today, we need to realize what Jesus did in the weekend that we know as the first Easter was not a one-time event. He established a pattern that will lead us to a satisfying life — one of freedom that is completely different from the old life. In this week’s message, we’re going to talk about this pattern and how we can all go from Chained to Changed.
Although "passion" originally came from the Latin lord for suffering, the word has evolved over many centuries. Now, the Oxford English Dictionary defines it as an intense desire or a strong and barely controllable emotion. In this week's message, called The Passions of the Christ, we will look at the events of Jesus' life that got Him fired up. From the Triumphal Entry on Palm Sunday to the hours of prayer in the Garden of Gethsemane, we will experience the intense desires and barely controllable emotions of our Savior, and we will spend some time reflecting on our passions too. Why? Because passions reveal priorities. After all, we are only passionate about the things we really care about.
Next week, Christian churches around the world will celebrate Palm Sunday, and look back on the week that led up to Jesus' crucifixion and resurrection. It began with the crowds of people lining the streets, waving palm branches, praising God and expecting Jesus to overthrow the Roman government and set up His earthly kingdom. Jesus knew that the crowd in Jerusalem - and even his own disciples - were confused about the kingdom He came to establish, so He told a parable to clear up any misconceptions before Passion Week began. To ensure that we fully understand His kingdom, it's important for us to look at what He said and what it means for us today.
In February, the House of Representatives passed a bill called the Equality Act, which seeks to extend protections of the 1964 Civil Rights Act to sexual orientation and gender identification. A similar bill passed the house last year; this version includes a provision that states there can be no exemption based on religious objection. In light of what this legislation could mean for churches around the world if it passes the Senate, we will explore this issue in the context of what God created in the Bible and learn how we can uphold our religious beliefs while treating every single human being with the upmost respect.
As we near the one-year anniversary of the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, Pastor John is helping us "press reset" and rediscover the mission of the church: to go and make disciples. By unpacking scripture and the words of Jesus following the resurrection, we'll be reminded of our purpose and learn how we can continue to be real, relational and reaching for the sake of God's kingdom.
This week, we’re ending our Marriage Series with a special message called “Unveiled” by Cindy and Raul Diaz. Together, they will explain how 2020 was a breakthrough year in their marriage and share with us the lessons that they learned along the way. As we’ll discover, we have to seek inner healing and allow Jesus to remove our veils — of fear, rejection, pain, depression and more — in order to see Him and our spouses clearly. Removing these veils and inviting the Holy Spirit to be active in our marriages will allow us to have unity and show each other God’s unfailing love.
We’re continuing our Marriage Series this week, looking at what it means to choose the Tree of Life in our marriages. The Bible talks about four different things that are trees of life, and we looked at one of them last week: words. Now, we’re going back to the Garden of Eden one more time to see that choices change lives. It was not a sin for Adam and Eve to look at the fruit or contemplate the sin, so when did they ruin their lives and their marriage? When they actually made the choice and acted on it. It was true then, and it’s true today.
Adam and Eve had the greatest marriage in the history of mankind because they are the only couple to experience marriage without the influence of sin. This week, we’re going to examine their relationship to see if there is any wisdom we can glean from their story that will help us in our marriages. To do this, we have a choice to make—just like Adam and Eve. We can take the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, or we can choose to take the fruit of the tree of life to heal our marriage. The million-dollar question is: are we willing to make a different choice if it will make our marriage better?
This week, we’re kicking off a new series about marriage and talking about the joy of new beginnings. As we start this discussion, we first have to understand that our marriages are not centered around us; like other things in the life of a Christian, they’re all about serving and giving our best to the other person.
This week, Pastor John is delivering the State of the Church message, a look at various phases and dimensions of the church in an effort to be accountable and transparent. This allows us to celebrate the past, assess our current realities and set a course for the future, and together, we will cast vision for the days, weeks and months to come — while praising God for all that He’s already done.
We have spent the last couple of weeks talking about rejection, which is something that all of us can relate to at some level. We have been exploring the reasons that people rejected Jesus to ensure that those beliefs or mindsets are removed from our lives and get guidance on how to handle our own rejection.This week, as we wrap this series called Rejecting Jesus, we are looking at three categories of our lives–three price stickers if you will–that may cause us to want to reject Jesus. We don’t like to talk about these price stickers in church, but these reasons come straight from the Bible and are important for us to address.
Rejection is one of life’s most difficult — and most common — experiences. All of of us have to deal with rejection at some point in our lives, and what might surprise you is that Jesus Christ dealt with rejection constantly. When we think of Jesus, we often think of the Triumphal Entry, but we tend to forget that, within a week, that same crowd was calling for his crucifixion. Last week, we began a series called “Rejecting Jesus,” exploring the reasons that people rejected Jesus, so we don’t follow in their footsteps and can learn from Him how to handle the rejection that we experience in our own lives. This week, we’re going to look at how people rejected Jesus because He was different than expected.
Of the thousands of different ways that life can bring us pain, there are a few of them that are universal. Rejection is one of them. Every one of us at some point has dealt with rejection, and there are lots of reasons for it. Despite the reasons, though, rejection is a bitter and difficult pill to swallow. The Bible shows us that Jesus was despised and rejected, and this morning, we are starting a new three-part series to look at what caused people to reject Him, so we can guard our hearts against those same motives and learn from Jesus’s example how to handle rejection in our own lives.
In previous sermons and series, we’ve talked about all of the ways that life hurts us and discussed the importance of purpose. This week, as we kick off a new year and combine these two ideas, we can offer this fresh perspective on past events: there was a purpose for your pain, and there is a purpose in your healing. You did not suffer for nothing. The hurt, offense, betrayal, grief or abuse was not caused by God, but it can be used by Him for His honor and His glory. Not only can God get the glory from you being healed, He can also use your healing to help others. Pastor John is going to show us the Cycle of Healing, a biblical principle that – when applied – will help propel us into the future that God has for us.
We’re wrapping up our series about the ways that God spoke during the Christmas account and how we hear from Him today. We’ve already discovered that God still speaks through angels, dreams, visions and signs. This week, we’re exploring the simplest and most profound way that God speaks to us, and that is through the Holy Spirit.
As we continue to explore how God communicated during the Christmas account and the ways that He still speaks to us today, this week’s message is all about how God speaks to us through signs. Signs are another way that God speaks to help answer questions we have about His will. Many times, they will be tangible things that we can see that will help communicate a spiritual truth that we can’t see. They help answer when, where, how and why, filling in gaps along our journey of hearing, understanding and fulfilling the call of what God is asking us to do.
Angels are often part of the celebration of Christmas, sitting atop many of our Christmas trees, and they play a huge role in the real Christmas story found in the Bible, too. An angel that told Zechariah about John the Baptist. The angel Gabriel told Mary that she was carrying the Christ-child, and in Luke 2, a host of angels joined the one who appeared to the shepherds to declare that Jesus had been born in Bethlehem. All throughout the Bible, angels carried the message of God to the inhabitants of earth, and this week, as we continue to explore the ways that God spoke during the Christmas account to see how He speaks to us now, we are going to look at how God used angels to communicate then - and how He still uses them today.
If we want to hear from God and know His will, we must recognize the different means and methods He uses to communicate. To help with this, we are kicking off a new series about the ways that God has spoken to His people in the past and how He still speaks today. By looking at the Christmas account found in the gospels of Matthew and Luke, we will see how people heard the voice of God then and use that as a template for how we can hear from Him now. This week’s message will examine how God uses dreams and visions to provide His people with comfort, direction, protection and information.
As our church continues to pursue the vision of The Jericho Project, a ministry designed to help the victims of sex trafficking, there has been a lot of support and excitement, but there have also been a lot of questions. People who may not fully understand why we’re doing what we’re doing have asked questions about having those people in our building or in our church services. This week’s message seeks to address those questions and provide some answers. Right now, we are in the honeymoon phase. Everyone is excited about what we’re doing and where we’re going, but this kind of work is difficult and messy. There will be times when we need to remind ourselves why we’re doing it and re-anchor ourselves to the Word of God, so we will have the strength to carry out the work of God. It’s all about progressing from an attitude of those people to a view of all of us, working and serving together as these people.
In the Thanksgiving season, people are focused on a disposition of gratefulness and thanks, but it’s clear from verses like 1 Thessalonians 5:18 that followers of Jesus should carry an attitude of gratitude all the time. It is the will of God for us to be grateful - not just in the good times but in every circumstance. This week, we’re going to explore the fact that gratitude isn’t just a decoration, add-on or optional feature. It is a foundational disposition for the believer, and together, we’ll look at three ways that gratitude connects to and works together with other deep, foundational fruit to produce incredible spiritual results.
This week’s message – Help for the Hurting Heart – is the conclusion of Pastor John’s three-part series about guarding our hearts. Over the past three weeks, we have explored how the difficult circumstances that we endure affect our mind, emotions and decision-making process, and we have learned that Jesus came to heal the pain in our hearts caused by the tragedy, trauma and trials of life. To help our hurting hearts heal, Jesus left us three things. Last week, we discovered that the first of these three things is the Word of God, which can wash away the sin and pain that we have been through if we will consistently read and believe it. This week, we’ll talk about the other two things that Jesus left behind for us, so we can fully experience the freedom of being mentally, emotionally and spiritually healed.
Jesus said in John 10:10 that He came to give you an abundant life. There is no area of your life that cannot and should not be affected by your relationship with God, and although our relationship with Him begins at salvation, it doesn’t end there. He wants you to be forgiven and free and healed and whole! Last week, we talked about guarding your heart for the holidays, and this week, we’re taking it one step further. There is hope and healing for the hurting heart. Jesus said He wants you to have an abundant life, but that can’t happen if your soul is not healthy. If something in your past or present has harmed you and has affected your mind, emotions or decision-making, Jesus wants to heal you.
When you go to the doctor for a check-up, they are going to check your blood pressure, pulse and cholesterol. They’re going to check all of the things that have to do with your heart because it is the center of your existence. If it’s not healthy, it’s impossible for any other part of your body to work properly. The same is true for your spiritual heart, which is why Proverbs 4:23 says to “guard your heart above all else.” Why? Because your heart determines the course of your life. What you think, what you feel are the decisions that you make are all determined by your heart, and whether you wind up in a healthy place or an unhealthy one is determined by how healthy your heart is.
The society in which we live values titles, money, fame and notoriety. This is shown in the fact that, when meeting someone new, the first question we usually ask is, “What do you do?” Based on the answer to that question and our own experiences, we begin to assign a value to that person and the role they play in society. However, Jesus came to welcome us into a new society - one in which He looks at who we are instead of what we do. As we begin to understand that God calls us His children simply because of His love for us, it can quiet the worthlessness that we may feel at times and give us a new answer to the question of where we derive our value.
In Psalm 34:19, we read that “the righteous person faces many troubles, but the Lord comes to the rescue each time.” Sometimes, we suffer because of our own mistakes, flaws, failures and sins. If that’s the case, we should repent and ask God to help you change. Sometimes, though, stuff happens that we didn’t cause and can’t always fix. What do we do when things aren’t great? How can we be okay when everything is not okay? This week, Pastor John gives us four biblical, practical and honest reminders to help us respond to life’s troubles.
This week’s message - It’s Not Your Fault - is part of a series that began many years ago to address issues that are considered taboo and that the church has been silent about for too long. The taboo issue that we’re discussing this time is sexual abuse. Countless men and women have suffered sexual abuse in silence because the issue isn’t commonly addressed from the pulpit, but by looking at the accounts of Joseph (Genesis 39) and Tamar (2 Samuel 13), we will learn more about this issue, understand potential warning signs and find hope in the fact that innocent victims can be healed and set free. Whatever has happened to you, no matter how long it’s been or how many times it happened, it’s not your fault.
When it comes to fulfilling our purpose as doing the work of God, we are good at making excuses, but the reasons that we give hold us back from experiencing everything that He has in store for us. This week, Jay Webb (West Metro FCA) uses the life of Jeremiah to show us five excuses that we often say in response to our purpose and calling - and how God’s promises are bigger than each of them.
Purpose is so powerful that Jesus was murdered over it. Purpose is so powerful that the 12 apostles gave their lives to it and ultimately gave their lives for it. You and I have been gifted and called by God for a purpose, and we have been prepared for fulfilling our purpose. Not a function, office, position or title – a purpose. We’ve been invited to yoke ourselves to Jesus, so He can show us how to live our lives with purpose. The devil doesn’t care how religious, strict or outwardly holy you are as long as you don’t discover the power in your relationship with Jesus, as long as you don’t discover your purpose. The closer you get to purpose, the more spiritual warfare you will face because the enemy isn’t worried about function, but he is terrified of believers who find their purpose! Because with purpose comes power, authority, vision and provision!
A lot of people are looking for their function or position, but God wants us to take a step back and first find our purpose. Multiple passages of scripture say that every one of us is gifted in some way, and those gifts are given to us by God for the benefit of the body of Christ and fulfillment of the Great Commission. This leads to some logical questions. If we have a gift, how do we get ready to use it? How can we ensure that we’re prepared to do what God has called us for and gifted us to do? In this week’s message, we will discover that the answers to these questions run counter to what we think about purpose and success in the American church.
In 1 Peter 4:10-11, we learn that every one of us has a gift that God has given us, and He wants us to use it well. The problem is that we only tend to focus on the “what” and rarely step back to see the “why.” We have turned finding and fulfilling God’s calling into a seemingly endless lifelong pursuit of tests, inventories and profiles. We analyze, quantify, categorize, separate and study the gifts, but the problem is that, after learning all there is to know about them, most people never actually get around to using them! This week, we will dive deeper into understanding the purposes of God, so we can start to identify the functions that align with them and put our gifts to good use.
According to verses like 1 Peter 2:9 and 1 Corinthians 1:9, we are all called by God. He has called us into fellowship with Jesus, but He has also called us to do something. After all, the Bible tells us in Ephesians 2:10 that we are created to do good works, which God already has planned for us. Unfortunately, the concept of calling in the American church, like so much else, has gotten a little skewed. When you talk about calling, people often get frustrated because we have a misunderstanding of calling. This week’s message, which is called “The Wrong Question,” kicks off a new series designed to help us understand the source of our frustration and point us to a better, more biblical understanding of calling.
As we conclude the (Re)Born Identity series, there is one final declaration that defines our new identity in Christ: I Am Ready. That’s it. I am ready. Not I will be ready. Or I’m working on getting ready. I Am. Currently. Present tense. Ready. Ready for what? For living the life that Jesus saved me for. For living out my reborn identity. According to 2 Peter 1:3, Jesus has given us everything that we need for living a godly life. Everything! And Paul said in Colossians 2:10 that we are complete in Him. We are not lacking anything. All that adds up to that declaration - I Am Ready! So what are you waiting for? It’s time to get up and do what God’s called you to do!
We’re continuing the (Re)Born Identity series, learning about our identity as believers, and this week’s declaration comes from Philippians 3:20. The Apostle Paul said that we can say, “I Am a Citizen of Heaven.” What he’s talking about is not simply having a membership card. It’s not a casual affiliation with a foreign nation.
The original word that’s translated as either citizenship or conversation is really about the way you conduct your life. It’s about what you say, what you do and how you carry yourself. It is from a word that means community, so when you say, “I Am a Citizen of Heaven,” you are not a lone wolf or a free agent. Being a citizen means being part of a community where how you act, what you say and how you live affects every other member of the community.
When we become followers of Jesus, it’s the beginning of your place in the family of God. Jesus gave us the power to become the sons and daughters of God. And it’s the Holy Spirit who confirms it. So we can say with confidence, as part of our (Re)Born Identity that we are God’s children.
Sometimes we face situations in life that leave us feeling less than loved. And if we allow them to, the feeling of the difficult moment will overwhelm the reality of the spiritual truth and we will start to think and feel things that are not part of our new identity in Christ. When you surrender to the relationship that it offers, it unlocks some other (Re)Born declarations. More identity defining truths that you can speak over yourself that will help you on life’s journey.
God told Moses, my people are enslaved, they are oppressed. I see it. I know about it. It’s time to do something about it. And I have called you to lead them out. God has also called us to get into this fight against human sex trafficking. It's time to take action NOW
Our (Re)Born Identity teaches me that I am a work in progress. Jesus paid it all and is accomplishing it all, but He isn’t finished with me yet. Salvation is less a plan of salvation and more a relationship with an eternal Savior. A past, present, and future relationship with an eternal Savior.
Our (Re)Born Identity teaches me that I am a work in progress. Jesus paid it all and is accomplishing it all, but He isn’t finished with me yet. Salvation is less a plan of salvation and more a relationship with an eternal Savior. A past, present, and future relationship with an eternal Savior.
Identity. Who are you? That may be the most loaded of loaded questions. Salvation is used too flippantly in the American church. I’m not sure we really understand what it means to be saved. We talk about the “moment of salvation”, but I’m not sure we understand what all happened in that moment. And what happened in that moment has everything to do with our (Re)Born Identity. So let’s find out who our Father says we are.
There is a significance about the role of a father in a child's life. Over the years, this significant role has been minimized. The effect of that trend away from fatherhood is being felt in our nation and our world. Today, I want to encourage fathers and challenge you to rise up and take your place beside wonderful women of God and parent well the kids you've been blessed with.
God said through the prophet Micah, He expects us to love mercy. To walk in it. To be full of it. So we should probably start with what mercy is. I want to focus on three major ways mercy expresses itself, then we can talk about how to apply it and how it affects our lives.
If we are measured by how we love each other, but we don’t care about issues of justice and fair treatment, we can neither claim to love others nor claim to follow Jesus. Every person is God’s creation and the reason Jesus died on the cross. He does not take kindly to people mistreating or ignoring ANY of His kids. So justice is not optional. I want us to look at some things that might help us navigate these trying times and be able to continue to meet the metric of Christianity.
The sum total of God’s expectation of us as His people is three words - love each other. What love means to God and what love means to Americans is not always the same thing. Love is not about what you feel for someone, but what you do. So we need to find out what those actions are because Jesus was serious about this love thing. But what does love look like in our everyday lives?
Pentecost Sunday is celebrated around the Christian world as the day the Holy Spirit was poured out on the early church. The day that Jesus fulfilled His promise to send another One just like Himself. One who would not just be with them, but be IN them. We need a new and personal and powerful outpouring of the Holy Spirit in our lives, in our churches, and in our world! Let's take a look at the elements of Pentecost.
Today, I want to have a very honest conversation with you about the desperate need for grace and truth in our church, in our culture, and in our lives. I want to lay a biblical foundation for it, and then spend some time on some applications of that truth in our lives. Let's dive in to see how we can become full of grace and truth.
Sometimes Mother's Day isn't the easiest day for a lot of women around the country. The Sanders Family understands that. This is a conversation with them about the journey God has been taking them on.
Almost everybody can agree with these words of Jesus - In this world, you will have trouble. But just as surely as the Bible tells of the certainty of trouble, it also gives us the prescription for making it through. It says rejoice. In this message we'll talk about 3 possible perspectives or reasons why we go through difficult times, and why they might be reason to rejoice.
Just a matter of weeks ago, we were all just minding our own business, making plans and living life, when suddenly and unexpectedly this pandemic hit. For some of you, and I would venture to say most of us to one extent or the other, this crisis has caused us to fall flat on our faces and it has exposed us. Crisis does that like nothing else. When our weaknesses and faults have been exposed, what is our response?
On Sunday mornings, all over the country, people are having a very different experience than they would have had a month ago. Our church services were created to connect us TO God, but I am afraid that God is revealing in the church that some people have elevated the Sunday morning worship service to the point that it is now keeping them FROM God. We’ve made a religion of our routines of worship. Now we have a choice to make.
On Sunday mornings, all over the country, people are having a very different experience than they would have had a month ago. Our church services were created to connect us TO God, but I am afraid that God is revealing in the church that some people have elevated the Sunday morning worship service to the point that it is now keeping them FROM God. We’ve made a religion of our routines of worship. Now we have a choice to make.
On Sunday mornings, all over the country, people are having a very different experience than they would have had a month ago. Our church services were created to connect us TO God, but I am afraid that God is revealing in the church that some people have elevated the Sunday morning worship service to the point that it is now keeping them FROM God. We’ve made a religion of our routines of worship. Now we have a choice to make.
This is a very different world we are living in right now. Everything feels off. Things are changing. But if you will learn to be still, to quiet the noise outside and inside, you can KNOW God in a way that you have never known Him before. Don't miss this chance.
The national emergency that we are facing has affected nearly every facet of our lives, and as people face health concerns and struggle with uncertainty, it is time for the church to stand up and meet the needs of our local communities.
Today, we’re going to look at Nehemiah, an incredible leader who faced a crisis of his own, to understand how we ought to respond as believers and ensure that our actions are in line with the Word of God.
If you are drawn to respond and join our efforts as you listen to this message, we invite you to contact us via Facebook or by calling 770-537-3747. You may also consider liking our Facebook page and subscribing to our YouTube channel, so you can easily receive updates and see our messages.
The national emergency that we are facing has affected nearly every facet of our lives, and as people face health concerns and struggle with uncertainty, it is time for the church to stand up and meet the needs of our local communities.
Today, we’re going to look at Nehemiah, an incredible leader who faced a crisis of his own, to understand how we ought to respond as believers and ensure that our actions are in line with the Word of God.
If you are drawn to respond and join our efforts as you listen to this message, we invite you to contact us via Facebook or by calling 770-537-3747. You may also consider liking our Facebook page and subscribing to our YouTube channel, so you can easily receive updates and see our messages.
The theme of darkness and dawn is repeated many times throughout the Bible. There are seasons of this for all of us. It might be midnight where you are right now, but morning is coming. So how do we move from midnight to morning?
What we treasure or value is an arrow that points to our master. Jesus said we should store up our treasure in heaven. What does that mean? How do we store up treasures in heaven when all we have are earthly resources? Let's find these answers by looking at the perspective of Jesus.
The Great Commission tells us to go make disciples of everyone, everywhere. It is not optional. It is our mission as a church. Our vision is to carry out the Great Commission by being real, relational, and reaching. In this message we'll discuss the health of our church, how we are carrying out our mission and vision, and what our next steps are going to be.
The Great Commission tells us to go make disciples of everyone, everywhere. It is not optional. It is our mission as a church. Our vision is to carry out the Great Commission by being real, relational, and reaching. In this message we'll discuss the health of our church, how we are carrying out our mission and vision, and what our next steps are going to be.
Following Jesus and believing the Word gives us a perspective on things that sets us apart from everybody else. This should affect our decisions. There are lots of beliefs about life and humanity. We have to understand what the Word says before we take sides.
God takes us through a process so that we can receive more of His power. This process isn't easy. The tough times you're going through today will lead you to more of His anointing. We'll look at this through the life of Job.
God’s will for us, in this year and every year, is to be free and full. Free of self, and full of Jesus. So how do we get there? Let's look at several places in the Bible that God talks about these things.
God wired us to have seasons in our lives. Most of us right now are taking the time to think about where we are in life and what we could do better in the next season. As we prepare ourselves for a new season, let’s briefly talk about three mindsets that might help get you ready for A New Season that will help position you in the will of God for your life.
When I read the account of Christmas in the Bible, I see certain groups of people there. Some were ready for Jesus while others were not. But why weren’t they ready for Jesus? I want to talk about three reasons why most of the people in the biblical Christmas story, and many of us today, are Not Ready for Jesus.
Christmas truly is about gifts, but it isn’t about the things that are concealed under the tree, it was the thing that was revealed ON the tree. What Jesus was born to do, and what He fulfilled on the cross, was to bring us a new and exciting gift.
We are in the middle of what many songs try to tell us is the most wonderful time of the year, but for many people, it is the opposite of that. The holiday season is for many people the most difficult time of the year. The Bible provides a road map to gratitude that we can follow no matter how difficult our current circumstances.
Jesus commanded that we take part in communion to remember what He did for us and to be reminded that He is coming back for us. The Greek word for this is Eucharist and it literally means thanksgiving. What gifts are represented by communion?
How satisfied are you with your life? Where would you rank it on a scale from 1 to 10? Are you consumed with passion for the work of the Lord? If we're going to be followers of Jesus, we must be different. We are only one decision from different.
All too often in our lives we find ourselves empty. Sometimes we don't realize it, but we notice the symptoms. We need to make sure we are being filled with the right thing. What are you filling yourself with?
The Bible says in the last days the majority of people will lose their love, but it will be so gradual and so subtle that they may not even realize what's happening. It's time to check the gauge on your love. Are you running low on your love for God and others? Has it changed since you became a believer? What do we do about this?
The love of Jesus commands our attention and demands a response. Jesus knows you and still loves you. He sees you. In this sermon we'll look at four statements of God's love and our responses.
Everything you need to be healed was accomplished in the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. If you don't walk in the healing that He provides, you will continue to walk in the pain. The steps in this process may not happen in this order, but they need to happen.
There is a rebellion going on today against the powers of darkness. God is raising up a generation that will serve Him faithfully, fearlessly, and without limits. They will carry the power of God to a world desperately seeking hope.
Everything you need to be healed was accomplished in the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. If you don't walk in the healing that He provides, you will continue to walk in the pain. The steps in this process may not happen in this order, but they need to happen.
How do I know I need healing? What are the symptoms I would see? Until we learn to acknowledge God in all our ways, we will continue to have attacks in our hearts. It's time to receive healing from those things that attack our hearts.
Jesus wants us to have a rich and full life in Him. But we can't do that unless we love Him with all our heart, mind, and soul. What if our heart is broken, our soul is pierced, and our mind is overcome with pain from the traumas, tragedies, and trials we've been through?
We can't be a church of power unless our church is filled with people of power. A church will never exceed the spiritual capacity and commitment of its people. How do we know we are walking in spiritual power? What is the evidence of that?
Jesus told us that the Holy Spirit is our power source. His power will not do any good if there is no way to get that power to where it is needed most - the world. Today, let's talk about how His power is transmitted.
If we are called to walk in spiritual power, and we are, then what is the source of that power?If we ever hope to do the works of Jesus, and make disciples of Jesus, we had better operate in the same power as Jesus, and that is the Holy Spirit. In this message we will look at ways the Holy Spirit empowers us.
If I had to summarize the difference between the New Testament church and the modern American church, I could sum it up with one word - power. The church we read about in the book of Acts was power-full. The church in existence today, for the most part, is power-less. To be a church of power, we need to be a people of power.
A crisis is a time when a difficult or important decision must be made. We as a church are in a crisis of opportunity. Two paths lay before us. Will you join me on the Cross-road?
We are all born blind. This isn't just speaking of physical blindness. There is another kind of blindness that every person has to deal with in their lives. It takes a supernatural intervention that comes from only one source.
Have you had a personal, life-changing encounter with Jesus Christ? In this sermon, we will look at the man Jesus was talking to when He said the most famous verse in Scripture - John 3:16. Let's find out how Nicodemus broke through the blindness to have a life-changing encounter.
If a person is going to be a true disciple of Jesus, they have to see Jesus for themselves. In this series, we will look at people in the Bible who had a hard time seeing Jesus. Today we'll look at the Woman with the Issue of Blood.
If a person is going to be a true disciple of Jesus, they have to see Jesus for themselves. In this series, we will look at people in the Bible who had a hard time seeing Jesus. Today we'll look at how Zacchaeus was blinded from seeing Jesus and what he did to change that.
Not many people like change. It is difficult, but an essential part of life. God also uses seasons to impact our lives. Today we're looking at 3 seasons to see how God uses them to change our lives.
Manhood in general, and fatherhood in particular, is under attack in our nation. Sometimes it feels like the expectations on us as dads are myths. We're being held to standards that are impossible to meet, and then dealing with the criticism and unmet expectations of others, and the self-doubt and disappointment within ourselves.
Worship, just like every other aspect of our walk with Jesus, is an inside-out proposition. And if we only concern ourselves with what’s happening on the outside, we waste our worship and fail to meet the purpose, which is to bless the Lord with all that is within us, not just what’s on the outside of us.
We as Americans have a waste problem. There are also areas of our spiritual lives that we are wasting. In this series we will look in the Bible to see how to prevent and stop waste in our spiritual lives.
We as Americans have a waste problem. There are also areas of our spiritual lives that we are wasting. In this series we will look in the Bible to see how to prevent and stop waste in our spiritual lives.
The resurrection of Jesus isn't the end of the story, it's the beginning. What happened after Easter was the establishment and commissioning of the church, the body of Christ. It's time for His body to go change the world.
It's the single-most life-changing event in the history of humanity. On His resurrection day, Jesus conquered everything we had reason to fear. The resurrection of Jesus Christ is still affecting days for us too - yesterday, today, and tomorrow.
Not everybody had the same perspective on the day of Jesus' crucifixion. For some He was a servant, or slave. For others He is a secret. For some He's just a circus act. For others He is a substitute.
Believing and trusting the Word does you no good if you don't obey the Word. Society is trying to redefine God right before our eyes, but He has already defined Himself in His Word. If you don't believe, trust, and obey the Bible, you are not following the God of the Bible.
How did the Bible get to us? How can we trust that what we have today is what God authored all those centuries ago? We have greater access to the Bible than any generation in history, but believers know less about the Bible than ever.
What we believe about the Bible forms the foundation of our faith. If you want a relationship with Jesus, you have to get to know His Word. Today I want to offer evidence that might help you recognize how special the Bible is.
Loving God must be first and that love must be most by comparison with everything else in our lives. There is only power in love if we get it in the right place and in the right proportion.
Love is the best lifestyle to live for a believer. Love is a choice, not a feeling. We should speak the truth of Christ with the love of Christ. We can show love by choosing to forgive instead of being offended.
Love is the greatest power on the face of the earth. God's 4-dimensional love is foundational and we need to understand it and apply it as we continue to pursue a relationship with Him.
Love is the greatest power on earth. Love doesn't draw lines. Love doesn't keep score. Love doesn't stay hidden.
The mission of the church has to get personal this year. We will never do more than we are willing to personalize and implement in our own lives. We have to surrender ourselves to Jesus, be the change, and fall in love with Jesus.
The Word of God has a lot to say about money. Giving is connected to being a follower of Jesus. It cannot be separated from other parts of our lives as servants of Jesus.
Why is human life sacred? When does life begin? We'll explore what the Bible says about these things.
Most of what we deal with in our lives is either because we have created it or have allowed it. What will you create or allow in your life in 2019? Will you take the authority God has given you?
Pastor John recently launched the Taboo Series - a series of stand alone messages throughout the year in which he will address topics relevant to our culture, but about which the church has remained silent. The first topic was The Truth About Pornography. Click on the graphic for more information and for answers to your specific questions.
Taboo Series Resources
Pastor John recently launched the Taboo Series - a series of stand alone messages throughout the year in which he will address topics relevant to our culture, but about which the church has remained silent. The first topic was The Truth About Pornography. Click on the graphic for more information and for answers to your specific questions.
We are pleased to announce the launch of the Taboo Series - a series of stand alone messages throughout the year in which Pastor John will address topics relevant to our culture, but about which the church has remained silent. The first topic, on August 18th, is The Truth About Pornography. You don't want to miss this important message!
"Preparing the Soil" by: Pastor John Butler Visit our site: http://covenantlifebremen.org