White Pine Community Church: Recent Episodes
White Pine Community Church
White Pine Community Church is located in Cumberland, Maine. We exist to help people find and follow Jesus. Through these podcasts, Pastor Greg Sidders and other White Pine leaders provide practical ways to apply God's truth to your life. Join us on Sundays at 10 a.m. at Greely Middle School.
“By his wounds you have been healed.” When Peter wrote that, quoting Isaiah 53:5, he applied it to our spiritual lives, telling us that the death of Jesus healed us from our addiction to sin (1 Peter 2:24). That’s wonderful, but what about physical healing? Is that part of salvation as well?
The post You Will Be Healed first appeared on White Pine Community Church.
It’s one thing to believe that God is in control of world events, but does His sovereignty extend to every detail of your life? And if it does, how does that change the way you think about the dead ends and detours that have landed you on a path you never expected to travel?
The post You’re Still on Plan A first appeared on White Pine Community Church.
Who decides the winners on election day? Ultimately, it’s not who you think. The good news is that whoever is President, God is King. And no matter how chaotic things feel down here, everything is under control up there! In this message you will see American politics from a new perspective that will give you peace and hope regardless of the headlines.
The post Whoever Is President, God Is King first appeared on White Pine Community Church.
You know what you should believe about prayer. But do you? The seeming disconnect between what Jesus taught and what we experience can make us doubt that prayer makes any difference. How do we overcome our unbelief and resulting prayerlessness?
The post Your Prayers Will Be Answered first appeared on White Pine Community Church.
Psalm 91 is the most fear-dispelling chapter in the Bible … but can it be trusted?
The post You Have Nothing to Fear first appeared on White Pine Community Church.
If you use words like “faith”, “gospel” or “Christianity” in today’s culture, who knows what kind of response you’ll get? Words like these are wrought with misunderstandings, misgivings, and even outright disdain. The word “gospel” means good news, and in this message you’ll learn how Mark explained the gospel to Christians in Rome who, like us, lived in a culturally difficult time.
The post A Gospel That Is Good News first appeared on White Pine Community Church.
If there’s one thing that right-leaning and left-leaning Americans have in common, it’s our desire for our community and our country to flourish. That’s one reason why the upcoming election is so important to us. But what if politics is not where the power is?
The post A Power Greater Than Politics first appeared on White Pine Community Church.
If you were on a committee tasked with making your political party’s platform more consistent with the teachings of Jesus, what changes would you suggest? In Part 2 of Jesus for President, we look at both the Republican and Democratic platforms through the grid of Scripture in an effort to identify strengths and weaknesses in each.
The post What the Other Political Party Gets Right first appeared on White Pine Community Church.
Republicans and Democrats have a party platform, so why can’t we? In this message you will learn how to be more like Jesus in your political behavior.
The post The Jesus Party Platform first appeared on White Pine Community Church.
There is nothing more attractive than the love of God, but how do we know we can count on His love when we need it most?
The post God Is More Loving Than You Think first appeared on White Pine Community Church.
If God is gracious and compassionate and abounding in love, does that mean He never gets mad? Or does “slow to anger” mean that His patience, long-suffering as it is, has its limits?
The post God Is More Patient Than You Think first appeared on White Pine Community Church.
“Grace” is a beautiful word that awakens the hope of a fresh start regardless of our past. We would love to think that there are no limits to God’s grace, but what does the Bible say?
The post God Is More Gracious Than You Think first appeared on White Pine Community Church.
A TIME Magazine poll revealed that when Americans think about God, 77% of us see Him as either distant or angry. If that’s how you view Him, God is more compassionate than you think!
The post God Is More Compassionate Than You Think first appeared on White Pine Community Church.
If someone were to ask you, “Can Jesus accomplish big things with small resources?” you would probably say “Yes!” But pain, disappointment and obstacles often cause us to forget this truth. In this message, you’ll watch Jesus perform a miracle that reminds us of His ability to defy the odds and save the day.
The post True Abundance first appeared on White Pine Community Church.
Most of us are better at seeing God as our Father who art in heaven than we are at hallowing His name. The word “hallowed” means holy, but just how holy is God, and what are the implications for us?
The post God’s Awesome Holiness first appeared on White Pine Community Church.
It’s one thing to be smart, but something else altogether to be wise. Thankfully, God is both. He not only knows everything, He knows how use that knowledge to make things work—things like your life. In this message, you will learn how to access God’s wisdom and apply it to the complexities of real life.
The post God’s Awesome Wisdom first appeared on White Pine Community Church.
The only thing that obscures the nearness of God is His invisibility. In this message you’ll discover the difference God’s omnipresence can make in the most challenging moments of your life.
The post God’s Awesome Presence first appeared on White Pine Community Church.
When was the last time the truth about God’s power set your heart on fire or turned your legs to jelly? In this message, you will learn how His omnipotence can be transfused into the areas of your life in which you feel the weakest.
The post God’s Awesome Power first appeared on White Pine Community Church.
What do you do when God lays something on your heart, and you frankly don’t want to do it? Just as importantly, what does God do? This study of the prophet Jonah will answer these important questions.
The post The Call of God to a Reluctant Heart first appeared on White Pine Community Church.
“Be careful what you think, because your thoughts run your life.” That’s Proverbs 4:23 in the New Century Version, and it was as true for Jesus as it is for us. In this study you will learn how to think (and thus live) more like Jesus.
The post The Mind of Christ first appeared on White Pine Community Church.
Whatever images of Jesus you have seen—whether on canvas or on film—are nowhere near as good at depicting His emotions as the Gospels are. You may not have been taught to think of Jesus as a passionate person, but He was—and His emotions tell us, not only what we should care most deeply about, but also what He feels when He thinks of us.
The post The Heart of Christ first appeared on White Pine Community Church.
Where would Jesus go if He came to the State of Maine? How would His mission, His values and His character impact His travels? As the 21st-century Body of Christ, we who represent Jesus are called to use our feet to go where Jesus would go if He were here. In this message, we’ll trace His steps and learn how to follow His lead.
The post The Feet of Christ first appeared on White Pine Community Church.
You know it’s half of one the Ten Commandments—to honor your father—but how do you do that for someone so far from perfect? It starts with thinking about what is noble, admirable and praiseworthy in him, and out of the overflow of such thoughts come spoken words of gratitude.
The post Honor Your Father first appeared on White Pine Community Church.
What is your favorite kind of preacher? And does Jesus fit the profile?
Yes. And no. He was far too unpredictable to be typecast. But why? How did He decide what to say and how to say it on different occassions to different audiences?
The post The Tongue of Christ first appeared on White Pine Community Church.
Are you like Jesus in the way you listen? That may sound like a simple question until you study Christ’s listening habits—and the results of His ability to hear what wasn’t being said out loud.
Can you listen like that? Yes, you can, and when you do, the changes you see will amaze you.
The post The Ears of Christ first appeared on White Pine Community Church.
“Oh, the power of our hands. Leave them unmanaged and they become weapons. But manage them and our hands become God’s very hands.” So says Max Lucado in his book Just Like Jesus. But what did God do with His hands when He became a man?
The post The Hands of Christ first appeared on White Pine Community Church.
What if Jesus lived in Maine? As far-fetched as that sounds, are we not the Body of Christ? Do we not have the potential to reveal Jesus to those with whom we live, work and play? We do—but only if we do with the parts of our body what He did with the parts of His body.
The post The Eyes of Christ first appeared on White Pine Community Church.
Whether you see yourself accurately depends, to a large degree, on the mirrors you choose. Do you see your reflection in the funhouse mirrors of comparison, culture and critics, or in the reliable mirror of the word of God?
The post Seeing Yourself as God Sees You first appeared on White Pine Community Church.
The grace of God. There is nothing sweeter, nothing more powerful, nothing more life-changing. But how do you tap into it?
The post Tapping Into the Grace of God first appeared on White Pine Community Church.
On the eve his death, Jesus taught His disciples some of the most important truths He wanted them understand. One of those teachings used the metaphor of a vine and branches. In this message, we will see how the metaphor impacts our lives today.
The post Two Choices first appeared on White Pine Community Church.
Throughout history those who care about helping people change have echoed the advice given in Proverbs 4:23 (NCV): “Be careful what you think, because your thoughts run your life.” But how do we get control of something as wild as our thought life?
The post You Are What You Think first appeared on White Pine Community Church.
What has shaped you as a person more than anything else? Odds are your answer is not a what, but a who. Most of us, for better or worse, are more deeply influenced by other people than by anything else. That’s why healthy mentoring relationships are encouraged and modeled for us in the Bible. In this message you will learn how to benefit from mentoring as you pursue your God-given potential.
The post As Iron Sharpens Iron first appeared on White Pine Community Church.
If there’s one thing faith in Jesus should do for us, it is to change us—to make us more like Him. But how do people change?
The post How People Change first appeared on White Pine Community Church.
Two-thirds of Americans believe in the miracle of Christ’s resurrection. So why don’t 2/3 of us follow Jesus?
The post Risen first appeared on White Pine Community Church.
Have you ever asked God for wisdom? If so, how do you know whether or not He gave it to you?
Fortunately, you don’t have to guess. James 3:13-18 gives us a description of what God’s wisdom looks like—and what it makes us look like when we embrace it.
The post What Wisdom Looks Like first appeared on White Pine Community Church.
If there is one question we all want to know the answer to, it is this one: What must we do to gain God’s approval of us on the Day of Judgment?
Two apostles answered that question directly. In Romans 3:28, Paul said: “…One is justified by faith apart from works of the law.” But almost a decade earlier, James wrote: “…A person is justified by works and not by faith alone” (James 2:24).
Who was right? Too much is at stake for us to avoid that question.
The post Life’s Most Important Question first appeared on White Pine Community Church.
Have you ever had a déjà vu moment – the illusion of having previously experienced a situation that is happening again? The end of John’s Gospel in chapter 21 seems to have such a déjà vu moment. It looks like he repeats a story that appears at the very beginning of Luke’s gospel in chapter 5. It makes you wonder why and how they are connected, if at all. It turns out the connection between the two may provide the key to all connections—connections that you may yearn for – connections to your children, your parents, your date, your enemy, and/or even your God.
The post Déjà Vu first appeared on White Pine Community Church.
In Matthew 6:1-18, Jesus teaches how we should express our relationship with God. He addresses three fundamental practices: giving to the poor, prayer, and fasting, along with much more. This rich teaching provides a key to enhancing our relationship with God and other people.
The post What Is Done in Secret first appeared on White Pine Community Church.
You may know what markers to keep tabs on when it comes to your physical health, but what is the most accurate indicator of your spiritual health?
The Book of James not only identifies it for us; it also gives us nitty-gritty advice on how to eradicate evil and do more good in that area of our life.
The post Taming Your Tongue first appeared on White Pine Community Church.
In Luke 7:36-50, Jesus took a man to where he didn’t want to go. It’s a place He takes all of us, but whether we do or don’t want to go there says more about us than it does about Him.
The post When Jesus Takes You Where You Don’t Want to Go first appeared on White Pine Community Church.
Darkness comes in many forms. Sometimes it is physical, other times emotional or even spiritual. But when we find ourselves there, or someone we love is there, our hearts are troubled. How can we push back the darkness that threatens to swallow us? It was when Jesus Himself was troubled in heart that He taught His disciples how to experience emotional peace and spiritual power despite the darkness that enveloped them. The post Pushing Back the Darkness first appeared on White Pine Community Church.
Have you ever seen the glory of God? If you have stared at the night sky, watched the sun rise or witnessed a miracle, you have! But never has the glory of God been brighter than it was during the last 24 hours of Jesus’ earthly life. In this message, you are going to see God’s glory in the Upper Room—and you are going to learn how to glorify God just like Jesus did. The post God on His Hands and Knees first appeared on White Pine Community Church.
In Matthew 15, Jesus encounters a Gentile woman whose daughter is suffering. The interaction between this woman and Jesus is striking. Is Jesus ignoring, dismissing or devaluing her? What is going on? How does the woman respond? The post A Wrestling Match of Faith first appeared on White Pine Community Church.
When it comes to following Jesus, we talk a lot about faith, but not so much about courage. Yet discipleship involves both. There are times when it is easy and comfortable to be a Christian, but there are also times when following Jesus can be downright dangerous. John 12 is a chapter that describes the time in Jesus’ ministry when both He and His followers had to summon courage to do the will of God. It’s a great passage to The post The Dangerous Will of God first appeared on White Pine Community Church.
Warren Wiersbe wrote: “If Jesus Christ can do nothing about death, then whatever else He can do amounts to nothing.” John 11 is a passage in which Jesus did something about death. It’s the best news you will ever hear if you want to live forever. The post 15 Forever first appeared on White Pine Community Church.
In a more perfect world, everyone would have a pastor they could count on to be with them through the ups and downs of life—a person of character, compassion and wisdom. Unfortunately, as church engagement decreases and clergy scandals increase, too few people enjoy that invaluable relationship. But John 10 tells us that the pastor par excellence is on call 24/7, eager to provide the kind of care we all need. The post The Perfect Pastor first appeared on White Pine Community Church.
When it comes to your relationship with God, do you think you are in the dark or in the light? However you answer, John 9 can help you to take the next step. In this passage, Jesus teaches His followers how to shine the light of the world on those who are still in the dark, and He reveals the qualities that anyone can cultivate to see His light when it shines on them. The post Strobe Light Moments first appeared on White Pine Community Church.
Some people who think they’re going to heaven aren’t. Others who they think they’re not going to heaven are. Why all the confusion? It’s partly because of our spiritual battle with the father of lies—but it’s also because our definition of faith has not been adequately informed by the teaching of Jesus. In John 8:12-59, Jesus takes it to the devil by clarifying what genuine faith looks like. It’s an important passage for everyone on the dot who wants to The post What Real Faith Looks Like first appeared on White Pine Community Church.
Have you ever been betrayed? Falsely accused? Forgotten? Have you wondered where God was when you were in pain, and what He was doing? The Old Testament character of Joseph was familiar with that kind of suffering, and his story teaches us how to persevere in faith when God seems absent, and what He is up to when we feel alone. The post Joseph’s Pain first appeared on White Pine Community Church.
As hard as we try to put our best foot forward, there are times when we are forced to see ourselves as we really are—broken and sinful before a holy God. What does God want to say to us when they is no covering our guilt and shame? What does He want us to say to others when we find them in such a vulnerable place? The post When Jesus Sees You At Your Worst first appeared on White Pine Community Church.
Everyone who knows anything about Jesus has an opinion about Him. Put a bunch of random strangers together, and there will be almost as many opinions as there are individuals. This has always been so. But why? Was there something about Jesus that made Him open to interpretation? Or is there something in us that keeps us from seeing Him as He really is? The post Who Do You Say He Is? first appeared on White Pine Community Church.
Is Jesus who you want your God to be? No doubt you found Him irresistible when you first started following Him, but has He always met your expectations since? Or have there been times when He has confused you, frustrated you or even offended you? How do we keep following Jesus after He has let us down? The post When Jesus Lets You Down first appeared on White Pine Community Church.
You are hereby summoned to jury duty. In this message you will decide, based on the evidence presented by the prosecution and the defense, whether Jesus of Nazareth is guilty of breaking the Sabbath and committing blasphemy. However, unlike other trials, your verdict won’t determine the defendant’s fate; it will determine yours. The post Jury Duty first appeared on White Pine Community Church.
Does Jesus still heal? Believe it or not, those who lived in first-century Israel faced as many obstacles to healing as do those living in 21st century Maine. But seeing how Jesus overcame those obstacles there and then can help us to expect miracles here and now. That’s good news because, no matter how healthy you feel, you suffer from the deadliest disease known to humanity—but Jesus has the cure. The post The Deadliest Disease first appeared on White Pine Community Church.
Have you found what you are looking for? The search for lasting satisfaction can be frustrating to spiritual and non-spiritual people alike. In John 4:1-42), Jesus tells both those who know him well and someone He meets for the first time how to find what they’re looking for.
The post What Really Satisfies first appeared on White Pine Community Church.
Are you a Jesus person? You may be a Christian, but is your preoccupation as a Christian Christ, or something else? If you are at all unsure about whether Jesus is the true foundation of your faith, this message will help you with self-assessment—and, if necessary, re-alignment.
The post Only Jesus first appeared on White Pine Community Church.
Forgiveness is one of the toughest roads you will ever be asked to drive. In this study of the parable of the forgiven/unforgiving servant, you will discover a way to navigate this challenging two-lane road that leads to and from the very throne of God.
The post On Hatching Golf Balls first appeared on White Pine Community Church.
If you’re looking for answers to life’s biggest questions, there’s no one better to ask than Jesus. But among those who approach Him, some do so openly while others do so secretly. In this message we are going to eavesdrop on a conversation Jesus had with a secret seeker. And what He shared with him in John 3:1-21 was so good that everyone needs to hear it.
The post Night People first appeared on White Pine Community Church.
If you want to want to know the real Jesus, you have to think out of the box. All of us have our own ideas about what He is like, but if we learn anything from His earthly life, it should be that He has no intention of conforming to our expectations. In John 2, Jesus astounds one group after the other. But why?
The post You’re Going to Need a Bigger Box first appeared on White Pine Community Church.
Everyone has a portrait of God hanging in the gallery of their mind, but we all get Him wrong. In fact, one of the reasons Jesus came was to replace our distorted image of God with a more accurate one. From the beginning of His earthly ministry to its end, He defied expectations. In this study of John 1:19-51, you are going to learn things about God that you never dreamed could be true.
The post Fear Not first appeared on White Pine Community Church.
When it comes to knowing God, we’re all beginners. But wherever you are in your journey with Jesus, the Gospel of John is just the right book to take you to the next level. In John 1:1-18, John introduces Jesus to his audience.
The post Who is Jesus? first appeared on White Pine Community Church.
In a world of bad news, it’s time for a little good news.
The post Easter 2023 first appeared on White Pine Community Church.
How easy it is for us to forget that every choice we make, every temptation we face, every trial we endure—every twist and turn in our lives—is affected by what is going on in a realm that is invisible to us. And the more we understand what’s happening there, the better we will navigate the challenges of living here.
Ephesians 6:10-24 gives us a rarely seen glimpse of the spiritual world.
The post Life Is War first appeared on White Pine Community Church.
No matter where you look in our world, you will find power imbalances. And with human nature being what it is, those who have power tend to leverage it, and those who don’t tend to resist it. But Jesus started a revolution of love that can break down walls between the powerful and the powerless. In Ephesians 5:21—6:9, the apostle Paul applied the teachings of Jesus to the power structures in his world, and what worked way back can change today’s world too.
The post The Blessing Zone first appeared on White Pine Community Church.
Ephesians 1-3 is a celebration of all that God in His grace has done for us. But have you ever asked Him, “What can I do for You?” In this message, you will be reminded of His vision for the world He created, and you’ll learn exactly how to do your part in giving Him the desire of His heart.
The post Making God’s Dream Come True first appeared on White Pine Community Church.
God has given every single Christian spiritual gifts—unique abilities to serve others in a powerful way—and He wants us to fan those gifts into flame. But there are also spiritual disciplines that we all need to practice, no matter how unnatural they may feel to us.
Prayer, for most of us, is a challenging spiritual discipline. But we can get better at it by watching how the apostle Paul prays in the Book of Ephesians.
The post The Most Powerful Prayer You Can Pray first appeared on White Pine Community Church.
Jesus died to break down every wall, but the lingering presence of graffitied barriers around the world remind us that God’s dream of world peace has not yet come true. Why? Is it possible that we have re-built walls that Jesus removed? What can we do to more deeply appreciate and more fully cooperate with God’s peace plan for our church, our nation and our world?
The post No More Walls first appeared on White Pine Community Church.
In order for us to end up in heaven (and what could be more important?), there’s something God must do and there’s something we must do. But what percentage is God’s part, and what percentage is our part? Exactly what must we do to be saved? In this study of Ephesians 2:1-10, we’ll find a clear answer to that question, plus we’ll learn why God rescues us.
The post Clearing the Fog on Life After Death first appeared on White Pine Community Church.
When the eyes of your heart are enlightened to see what is yours because of your union with Jesus, what will you see? A treasure that is invisible to the naked eye! In this message on Ephesians 1:3-14, you will be given a peek into the heavenly realms. And what you see there, waiting for you, will give you a whole new perspective on life down here.
The post Blessed Beyond Belief first appeared on White Pine Community Church.
GRACELIFE is not a word you’ll find in the dictionary, but it’s the perfect description of the kind of life God invites us to enjoy. Learn more in this overview of the Book of Ephesians.
The post Happy New You first appeared on White Pine Community Church.
When an angel told Joseph not to call off the wedding with his pregnant fiancee, he also gave the baby both a name and a nickname. His name was Jesus. And his nickname? Immanuel. God with us.
It’s no small thing to affirm the blend of full deity and full humanity in Jesus. But then comes the question So what?What difference does it make that God once took on flesh and lived in the world He created?
The post Immanuel first appeared on White Pine Community Church.
Christmastime is known as the season of light, but if you’re struggling through a time of personal darkness, all that brightness just spotlights your misery.
When Isaiah painted a word picture of the coming of the Messiah, he said, “The people walking in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the land of deep darkness a light has dawned” (Isaiah 9:2). But what exactly was he promising? How does the Light of the World chase away darkness in our lives?
The post Light of the World first appeared on White Pine Community Church.
It’s good to know that, in this world of unrest, Jesus will come as the Prince of Peace. But what kind of peace will He bring, and how will it change the world? And, in the meantime, what kind of peace is available to us as followers of Jesus?
The post Prince of Peace first appeared on White Pine Community Church.
If Jesus was the Mighty God promised in Isaiah 9:6, why did He restrain His power when He came to earth? The post Mighty God first appeared on White Pine Community Church.
Why is it that, among your non-Christian loved ones, the person you most want to be with you in heaven seems to be the least likely to end up there? It is no accident that God has put this person on your heart. But do your prayers really make a difference? Or does their stubbornness negate your desperate pleas for their salvation? In this message, you will be given the biblical truth you need to know whether or not they The post Never Say Never first appeared on White Pine Community Church.
Everything was fine until you came along. But now your “saltiness” has made Jesus too close for comfort, and you are feeling the friction. How can you keep sharing your faith in such a way that you increase the odds of having a positive spiritual impact even on those who, right now, are reacting negatively? The Book of 1 Peter has some great practical answers to that question. The post When Your Faith Causes Friction first appeared on White Pine Community Church.
What advantage do you have over pastors, missionaries and evangelists when it comes to helping people you care about find and follow Jesus? Time. Most people take a long time to ripen spiritually, and what helps them to do that is the patience cultivation of the gospel seed that was once planted in their heart. In this message you will learn what you can do to be part of the slow-motion miracle God is doing in the lives of your The post After the Seed Has Been Planted first appeared on White Pine Community Church.
Why is praying for one and loving our neighbors so much easier than telling them the gospel? It’s not because we think we shouldn’t do it. It’s because we think we can’t. Would you believe that Christians have always struggled with timidity? But there is a reason why some become courageous and others don’t. In this message you will learn how to close the boldness gap. The post The Boldness Gap first appeared on White Pine Community Church.
If this life is just a dot on the endless timeline of eternity, does the dot even matter? As those who have been called to love our neighbor as ourselves, this is a critical question, because the answer will help us to know how to love them. Is it just by meeting their earthly needs, or does God want us to prioritize their eternal needs? The post Does the Dot Matter? first appeared on White Pine Community Church.
If Jesus used social media, what platform would He use to list every rule God wants us to obey? Would you believe Twitter? That’s right, it takes less than Twitter’s maximum of 280 characters for Jesus to tell us everything God expects from us. Image the whole Bible in a single tweet. The post If Jesus Tweeted first appeared on White Pine Community Church.
Want everyday life to become epic? Just begin each day with this prayer: “Lord, send me someone today with whom I can share your love and truth.” It’s amazing how an expectation that God will answer that prayer changes everything. The post When the Everyday Becomes Epic first appeared on White Pine Community Church.
Have you ever wondered, suspended as we are on this tiny blue-green ball 46 billion light years away from the edge of the universe that God measures with the breadth of His hand, what He sees when He looks at us? Here’s one way to know: Watch the eyes of Jesus. He is the image of the invisible God and the exact representation of His being, so what Jesus sees tells us what God Himself focuses upon. ThIn this message, The post What Jesus Sees first appeared on White Pine Community Church.
How has White Pine’s history shaped our vision for the future? Join Greg and Joe in this discussion about our church’s present health and future mission. The post Fall Kickoff 2022 first appeared on White Pine Community Church.
In this message Tres and Kate Sansom share their journey of faith. The post The Sansom’s Story first appeared on White Pine Community Church.
Does it ever feel to you like God is piling on? When He allows us to experience multiple trials at the same time, it can drain our emotions, damage our relationships, age our bodies and break our spirits. So where in the Bible can we find support to bear up under the crush of multilayered suffering? In the story of Job. As sad as his story is, there are wonderfully encouraging truths embedded in it that can help us endure even The post The Story of Job first appeared on White Pine Community Church.
Just think of what God could have done through you if not for what others have done to you. You were a rising star until that person, or those people, made you the target of their mistreatment. You were betrayed. Blindsided. Bypassed. Accused falsely. Abused. It halted your momentum and downsized your potential. Or did it? What if unjust setbacks are not obstacles to being used by God, but opportunities for Him to use you like no one else? The post The Story of Joseph first appeared on White Pine Community Church.
God has never created a person that He does not want to use to do special things. Everyone in whom the Spirit of God lives has potential beyond their wildest dreams. But why do some of us never fulfill our potential? In this message, you will hear the story of someone who squandered their mind-blowing potential. It’s a cautionary tale preserved in Scripture to help us avoid the same pitfalls. The post The Story of Samson first appeared on White Pine Community Church.
The story of David and Goliath reads like a children’s Sunday school lesson until you are standing face-to-face with a giant—not necessarily of the flesh-and-blood variety, but in form of an overwhelming challenge. That’s when 1 Samuel 17 feels very relevant. In this message, we take a fresh look at that old story and find in it the keys to winning the battles that we are facing in our lives right now. The post The Story of David first appeared on White Pine Community Church.
Do you love Jesus passionately? If not, you are probably either attracted to or irritated by those who do. What do they know that you don’t know? What do they do that you don’t do? In this message, you will learn from Mary of Bethany how to cultivate a more passionate love for Christ. The post The Story of Mary first appeared on White Pine Community Church.
There are some people who overestimate their potential to be used by God, but more of us do the opposite: we underestimate what God can do through us. But what if the people God uses the most are those who expect to be used the least? In this message, you will learn the common denominator of those who are used most powerfully by God. Hint: It’s not self-confidence. The post The Story of Joshua first appeared on White Pine Community Church.
If you know Jesus, you are familiar with the fuel of grace, the voice of the Holy Spirit and the guidance of Scripture. But do you know how to leverage these divine resources to help others experience transformation? In this message you will learn, from Jesus, practical lessons on how to use conversational questions to lead others to the life they were created to live. The post Transforming Conversations first appeared on White Pine Community Church.
Do you think your future can be better than your past? The more birthdays you celebrate, and the more mistakes you make, the less likely you are to expect the rest of your life to be significant. But from the story of Moses we learn that aging people with a regrettable past are on God’s Most Wanted list. In this message, you will see why that’s true and how you can be more useful to God than ever before. The post The Story of Moses first appeared on White Pine Community Church.
Abraham is remembered as the father of faith, as if he never struggled with trusting God, but look closer and you will see that his faith was tested and purified by the kind of trials that all of us can relate to. The post The Story of Abraham first appeared on White Pine Community Church.
If there were no men in the audience, what would God say to women about how to help make their marriage the best it can be? The post A Woman’s Guide to a Better Marriage first appeared on White Pine Community Church.
When other gives us advice, it is always wise to “eat the meat and spit out the bones.” But what if you find bones in the meat of Scripture? Impossible, you say? Have you read Ecclesiastes? God left bones in this book but also gave us the discernment to spit them out, savoring only the meat of divine wisdom that occasionally comes out of the mouth of cynical old Solomon. In this message, we will feast on the meat of The post Firmly Embedded Nails first appeared on White Pine Community Church.
Someone has said that the longer we are separated from someone, the less our evolving memory of them resembles who they really are. Could the same be said of our relationship with God? When we drift away from Him, how distorted does our image of Him become? In this message, you will see what attributes of God Solomon doubted as a consequence of his drift—and how you can avoid the same spiritual slide. The post When God Is a Stranger first appeared on White Pine Community Church.
What happens to your faith when what you can see is all you believe? The deconstruction of Solomon’s faith changed his perspective on everything, including death. In this message from the Book of Ecclesiastes, we will see how the inevitability of death prevented Solomon from enjoying life. And we will evaluate whether his change in perspective opened his eyes to reality or blinded him to it. The post The House of Mourning first appeared on White Pine Community Church.
What if you could look at life through the eyes of a person whose faith in God has been eroded by the hard edges of life? What would you see? What would you believe to be true? Where would you find hope?In the book of Ecclesiastes we encounter cynicism where we least expect it: in the heart of a man blessed with everything that we thought would make life the best it can be. What can we learn from his The post Under the Sun (Part 1) first appeared on White Pine Community Church.
What does it look like to do the will of God on earth as it is done in heaven? No one has ever made it more clear than Jesus did in the Sermon on the Mount. In this conversation with Joe Campbell, Greg Sidders talks about how to build our lives on the solid foundation of Christ’s teaching. The post Manifesto first appeared on White Pine Community Church.
One reason why many men do not have the kind of marriage they want is not because they married the wrong person, but because they haven’t invested the effort that it takes to make a marriage thrive. In this message, you will discover the six commands given specifically to husbands in the New Testament. The post Husbanding 101 first appeared on White Pine Community Church.
We live between the joy of the resurrection of Jesus and the day that He will come and make everything new again. In the middle, we face many pressures as Christians in this world. What does it look like for us to remain faithful to Jesus in the midst of pressure? The post When the Pressure Is On first appeared on White Pine Community Church.
You know that Jesus died and rose from the dead. But guess who else did?You.Yes, when you became one with Jesus through faith, there is a sense in which you died and rose again. In this message you will discover three different aspects of your death and resurrection. The post The Death and Resurrection of Us first appeared on White Pine Community Church.
If you’re like most Americans, you believe that Jesus Christ rose from the dead—physically—some 2,000 years ago. But why does it matter? What difference does it make in our lives today? The post Easter 2022 first appeared on White Pine Community Church.
Should Christians take the initiative to talk about their faith with non-Christians, or should they wait to be asked? I’ll bet you have an opinion about that. But what was Jesus’ opinion? The post Jesus Was Right About Evangelism first appeared on White Pine Community Church.
You may not want to admit this out loud, but if greatness, in some form, was accessible to you, wouldn’t you want to pursue it? Who wouldn’t like to go down in history?The ambition to be great may sound incompatible with godliness, but Jesus never discouraged it. Instead, he taught his disciples how to achieve the greatness they longed for. The post Jesus Was Right About Success first appeared on White Pine Community Church.
What is encroaching on your relationship with God? In this encouraging message, Larry Strondak shares how to make space for God amidst the distractions of life. The post Making Space For God first appeared on White Pine Community Church.
Does prayer work? Before you answer that, ask yourself: What do my prayers reveal about what I believe? If, in your experience, prayer has been less powerful than you hoped it would, this message is for you. The post Jesus Was Right About Prayer first appeared on White Pine Community Church.
You think 21st-century Americans are passionate about politics? We’re mild compared to many who lived in first-century Israel. Where Jesus lived, the mere mention of the word “Messiah” set off political fireworks. How did He feel about that? What were his political convictions? What did He teach that can guide our political behavior? The post Jesus Was Right About Politics first appeared on White Pine Community Church.
We live in a time of rapid change and passionate opinions about sex and sexuality, and it is becoming more difficult than ever to discern what faithfulness to Jesus looks like in this aspect of life. But clarity comes when we filter out the noise of our culture and simply listen to Jesus. We can always trust Him to speak the truth in love. The post Jesus Was Right About Sex first appeared on White Pine Community Church.
Nothing tends to brings out the unrighteousness in us like money does—and yet, when we love Jesus and acknowledge His lordship, He can lead us to use money in uncommonly righteous ways. But what does righteous stewardship of “the mammon of unrighteousness” look like? Find out in this study of Christ’s teachings about money in the Gospel of Luke.
The post Jesus Was Right About Money first appeared on White Pine Community Church.
Hell is something no one likes to talk about, and yet Jesus talked about it more than anyone else in the Bible. What did He teach about it? Is it the same as death? Does it last forever? What will it be like? Who will go there? These are the questions you will find answers to in this message.
The post Jesus Was Right About Hell first appeared on White Pine Community Church.
We don’t use the word “abide” very much these days, but Jesus did. It was the word He used to describe a whole new way of living. If you want to cease striving and tap into God’s power for living a life that pleases Him and impacts others, don’t miss this message by Kurt Holmgren.
The post Abide first appeared on White Pine Community Church.
Much of what we want to know about heaven will remain a mystery until we get there, but what did Jesus want us to know about it now? Fair warning: It will change the way you live the rest of your life.
The post Jesus Was Right About Heaven first appeared on White Pine Community Church.
How do you get to heaven? You already know the right answer, don’t you? But what if you’re only half-right? What Jesus taught about salvation is more multi-faceted than the answer most people give.
The post Jesus Was Right About Salvation first appeared on White Pine Community Church.
What did Jesus believe about the Bible? That’s an easy question to answer if you are wondering what He thought about the Old Testament, because it was the Bible He read. But what about the New Testament—that part of the Bible that was written after Christ’s time on earth? How can Jesus-followers know whether it’s God’s Word too?
The post Jesus Was Right About Scripture (Part 2) first appeared on White Pine Community Church.
Did you know that Jesus read the same Bible you do? Three-quarters of it, anyway. When He unscrolled the Scriptures in the synagogues of Israel, His eyes landed on the very same words we read in the Old Testament. And did you you that Jesus made it clear what He believed about those Scriptures? That’s good news, because He was right about everything. What He believed about the Bible, we can believe with confidence. In this message, you will study Scriptures in which Jesus revealed what He believed about Scripture!
The post Jesus Was Right About Scripture (Part 1) first appeared on White Pine Community Church.
If Jesus was God, He was right about everything. But how do we know whether or not He was God? In this message, we will find out who Jesus claimed to be, and we will examine the evidence for His claims.
The post Why Jesus Was Right About Everything first appeared on White Pine Community Church.
If you are a genuine seeker of truth about any important topic, this is a very confusing time in which to search for answers—because truth itself is under attack. How can we know anything for certain anymore?In this message, you will hear a statement that will be repeated dozens of times in this series: Jesus was right about everything.We’ll dive into specific subjects later, but first we need to know whether the Gospels got it right when they told us what Jesus said and did.
The post Jesus Was Right About Everything first appeared on White Pine Community Church.
Healing our past hurts is critical for mental, emotional, and spiritual health. In this message, Angel Silva uses Micah 7 as a framework for healing the hurts that hinder us.
The post Healing Our Past Hurts first appeared on White Pine Community Church.
Jesus entered our world more than 2,000 years ago, but there is also a point in time when He makes His entrance into our personal world. And what we do with the realization that He is Someone we have to reckon with reveals whether or not we are true seekers of God.
The post Life’s Defining Moment first appeared on White Pine Community Church.
If God asked you to do something that would require you to set aside all of your plans and dreams, would you say “Yes”?There’s a great way to predict whether He will make such a request of you, and whether, if He does, you will say “Yes” or “No”. Find out what it is this message.
The post The Kind of People God Uses first appeared on White Pine Community Church.