Agape Center Ministries Coldwater: Recent Episodes
Agape Center Ministries Coldwater
Sermon from 6/2/2024. Selected Scripture was 2 Corinthians 5:11-6:10. Open your Bibles and follow along!
Brother Ron Evans brought the Word this week out of the Book of Haggai. Open your Bibles and follow along.
Today we finished up our sermon series on the Book of Hebrews. Open up your Bibles and follow along!
We are down to the last couple weeks of our Hebrews Sermon Series. Today we covered Hebrews 12:18-13:10. Open your Bibles and follow along!
Continuing our Hebrews sermon series, we began chapter 12. We covered Hebrews 12:1-17, so open up your Bibles and follow along!
We continued our sermon series in Hebrews 11, discussing Biblical faith. Pastor Josh also made a follow up video to explain more in depth what Biblical faith looks like. That video can be seen at: https://youtu.be/5QJ2yncCON8
We got back into our sermon series in the Book of Hebrews. We went through Hebrews 10:19-39. Open up your Bibles and follow along.
We took a break from our Hebrews Sermon Series to talk about the blameless life we are called to live as Christians (2 Peter 3:14). Apologies for the audio issues in a few places throughout the sermon.
We continued our sermon series in the Book of Hebrews, covering finishing up chapter 9, covering Hebrews 9:11-28.
We covered Hebrews Chapter 8 in our sermon series. Open up your Bibles and follow along!
We picked back up in our Book of Hebrews Sermon Series, covering Chapter 6:13-7:28. Open up your Bibles and follow along!
Took a break from the Book of Hebrews on preached about the importance of the eternal mindset we as Christians are called to have!
We covered Hebrews 5:11-6:12, teaching in the topic of apostasy. Prayers for your hearts and minds to be discerning in what is heard, as discernment was exercised in what was spoken.
This was the recording for our Covenant Meeting that was held at Agape Center on January 5, 2024 after worship service. This meeting is meant to discuss Agape’s financials and doctrine/distinctives as a church. We believe this information to be public knowledge and a benefit to those who attend Agape Center regularly.
We covered chapters 3 and 4 in the Book of Hebrews. There was a lot to cover and more that could be taught. We ask that you also listen to a sermon that was preached on 2/7/2022 at Agape Center called “Enter God’s Rest” to help add some more context to this sermon. The link to that sermon is https://open.spotify.com/episode/1kxWPwYkMzgiOr795flAOh?si=85ZwcG9oRr-l5N6ryxgjaA
We unpacked Hebrews Chapter 2 today in our Hebrews sermon series. Open up your Bibles and follow along.
We started our Sermon Series in the Book of Hebrews this week. The sermon begins with an imperative reminder (and warning) to stay sober-minded in these last days, focused on Christ and His supremacy. Open up your Bibles and follow along.
Pastor Josh had the opportunity to give his testimony publicly at Refuge Coffee House in Quincy, MI. Prayers that it is edifying and encouraging.
We can easily impose unbiblical meanings onto Scriptures to help explain human behaviors, especially behaviors that are influenced by our sin nature. Reading Scripture for what it teaches rather than what we want it to mean will be the only way to provide the Truth people need for freedom. Please listen to this message on what the Bible says and teaches about generational curses, addiction and “soul ties”.
The theology behind Christmas is important to understand what Christmas means for the world and also what it means for our way of life as Christians. The Light of the World has come, which means we take the Light into the world. Merry Christmas.
Many people have a distorted and watered down view on what it means to be a Christian. God’s gift of salvation is free, however when one truly receives it, it then will cost them everything as God’s Word says. We however endure because of the glory to come, and that makes all of what we may endure worth it.
Humility and faith play into our willingness to obtain Godly wisdom (wisdom from above). James explains to us what wisdom from above is and how we get it. Open your bibles and join us!
We all have asked God “why?” before. We may think we want to know why, but even if God told us, we would struggle to believe Him. We are called to praise Him and trust in who He is, not in what we would want Him to do for us. This is biblical faith. Today we read through the minor prophet Book of Habakkuk for encouragement and teaching on our posture as children of God, even in the midst of calamity and struggles.
Unpacking more about saving faith, we also look at what it means to hunger for God and “taste and see” that He is Good! Follow along!
We can get caught up as a church with the signs of the times which can pull us away from the work we have been called to do. Jesus instructs us to “be ready” for His 2nd coming, but being ready does not mean a ceasing to our ambassadorship of His Holy name.
This sermon is to challenge those who hold a dispensational viewpoint on eschatology (the study of the end of things). God has one people and no stepchildren. It is through the True Israel that we find our adoption into the Kingdom of God as His children.
When you think of the local church, what comes to mind? Do you have a local body that you are connected with and see as family? Have you ever viewed the gathering/local church as an undeserving gift from God? Pastor Josh gives a brief word of encouragement and thought to those who maybe wrestle with going to a weekly gathering and committing themselves to a local body.
Sermon today was on the identity of Christian households based on our individual daily walk with/in Jesus Christ. Following the sermon we held a baby dedication ceremony (not recorded).
We concluded our Ecclesiastes Sermon Series with a overview of Chapters 10-12, a recap of the message of the entire book and why the Preacher’s words hold such a high value for us Christians today!
Does the value of knowing God surpass the value of anything and everything of this world? Salvation should be seen as an endless treasure. Open up your Bibles and hear God’s voice.
We continued out Ecclesiastes Sermon Series, covering Ecclesiastes 9. Open up your Bibles and follow along.
Getting back into our Ecclesiastes Sermon Series this week, we covered Chapter 8. Open up your Bibles and follow along!
We will pick up our Ecclesiastes series next week (Lord willing). Are you bold enough to ask the Lord to have it all? Will you ask Him to have all the things that you have put in place of Him for the sake of living a life that shows Him to those around you? Take a listen.
We finished out chapter 7 in our Ecclesiastes sermon series. Open yon your Bibles and follow along.
Continuing in our Ecclesiastes Sermon Series, we covered Ecclesiastes 7:1-22. Open up your Bibles and follow along!
Taking a break from our Ecclesiastes Sermon Series to ask a profound question to all so-called Christian’s; do you love the Truth? God will know us by our love for the Truth Jesus Christ brought to man. Not only will many not know God by not loving His Truth, but God will not know those who do not love His Truth.
This past week we covered Ecclesiastes chapter 6. Open up your Bibles and follow along.
Recent sermon preached during Agape’s annual “backyard gathering” at Pastor Josh’s home.
We started off our Book of Ecclesiastes Sermon Series with a brief recap of the context of Ecclesiastes and covered Chapters 1 and 2.
Faith, hope and love keep us rooted as Christians. These 3 attributes and truths are the bedrock of our relationship with Jesus. Open up your Bibles and follow along.
Seen as one of the more difficult parables to teach (Luke 16), it puts our motives on how we spend and use our worldly possessions for God’s Kingdom in perspective.
One of the main pillars of the Christian character is patience. Why? Open your Bibles up and follow along.
So often we may think we as Christians/a church we need to be relevant according to the world to reach a fallen world. God’s truth is always relevant and He doesn’t need us to do anything but preach it and live it. God uses the weak and foolish things to shame the strong and wise. Open up your Bibles and follow along.
As Christians, our fellowship with one another should always begin with a “me too”. We are all sinners saved by God’s grace. Pastor Josh opens up about some recent struggles with anxiety and how fellowship is a huge component to our witnessing and enduring the world.
Sermon from Easter Sunday 2023. We opened the sermon with the reading of Mark 15:42-16:8.
We come into churches every year and hear the story of Jesus coming into Jerusalem as King, but do we grasp what is truly going on? By a means of God’s grace I pray our eyes are opened to the truth of Christ’s entry into Jerusalem.
Listen as we discussed the dangers of coveting and what it exposes about our hearts, especially towards a God who desires our worship.
We wrap up our Strength in Weakness Series with 2 Corinthians 13. Open up your Bibles and follow along.
We covered 2 Corinthians 9 this week! *Please note at minute mark 6:40, Pastor Josh wanted to acknowledge that he misspoke in saying that Lot was Abraham’s cousin rather than nephew.
Many churches today preach and teach tithing as a primary means to give to the church, and some churches demand it. We have all heard pastors use, or misuse, Malachi 3:10 as a justification to tithe. We dive into what the Bible actually says Christian giving looks like for the church, and it is much more than 10 percent of your finances. Cain and Abel gave to God, but only one was seen as favorable. It was favorable because Abel gave out of a reverence to his Creator, which was shown in HOW he gave, not just what.
We took a break from our Strength in Weakness Series to discuss the need of biblical fellowship for believers.
We covered 2 Corinthians 7 today! Open up your bibles and have your hearts and minds quickness to God’s word.
We covered 2 Corinthians 6 today. Open your Bible, and pray for your hearts and minds to be quickened to the reception of the Word of God
Took a break from our “Strength in Weakness” Series this week. Listen to this much needed message and the photo will make plenty of sense.
We started our new 2 Corinthians Series “Strength in Weakness”. We started with chapter 1 of 2 Corinthians.
We concluded our “It Started in the Garden” Series with a sermon on why the knowledge of the things we practice should matter to us.
We took a break from the New Age Series and Pastor Josh preached a needed message to remind us as the church our calling and Who we belong to.
God’s word is Holy Spirit inspired! His word has objective meaning and sadly is twisted and has been meshed with origins of teachings that are demonic. Many have been taught that they will do greater works than Christ regarding miracles. Think about that. Do you really think you will do greater works in that aspect than Christ? We will do greater works regarding quantity because of us being here 2000 years later still living for Christ! Signs and wonders are for today, but they are also used by Satan to deceive the very elect (Matthew 24:24)! Have discernment! Please test and weigh what is said, and cling to what is good during this sermon. (Pastor Josh is more than welcome to provide his notes and sources for this sermon and welcomes questions from the online audience. Email Pastor Josh at AgapeCenterColdwater@gmail.com (Note, from the 1:03:10 mark to the 1:10:00 mark Pastor Josh read from a write-up on Biblical faith from gotquestions.org)
Pride is something that is advocated in the world, but as Christians we should be cautious of. Open up your Bibles and follow along!
You can’t serve two masters as Jesus tells us. With that being said, who do you serve? Do you say you are a Christian but serve the world? Does Christ pose a threat to your comforts and “power”? Check your hearts and listen to the sermon.
We discussed the true meaning of Jesus’ teaching of BEING the salt and light of the earth (soil). We have to look at Matthew and Luke’s Gospels to get the clear picture of this teaching.
Sermon from 7/31/2022- Final week of our teaching in 1 John. Chapter 5 was the reading. Get your bibles out and follow along. We pray for your hearts and minds to be quickened to the word of God.
Pastor Josh gave a sermon in wake of the Supreme Court’s overturning of Roe vs Wade, reminding us what comes with bearing the name of Christ.
Pastor Josh gave a topical message on obedience, faith and remembering Whom our battles truly belong to.
Pastor Josh preached on evil being under the sovereignty of God. No one should say God has nothing to do with evil, because that would be saying God is not aware of evil. Even evil is under God’s control.
Message today was on understanding that our fruit of our faith (love) comes from remembering and knowing who we are in Christ. When that is practiced and understood within a marriage, that marriage will never dissolve but grow stronger and stronger with time, giving glory to God, witnessing to other marriages and people!
Sermon today was on the power of our criticisms and praises, especially within our marriages. Sermon scripture was James 3:1-13.
Message was on roles of husband and wife in a Christian marriage. Reading was out of Ephesians chapter 5!
Sermon recap of our week 1 marriage series. This sermon is based around the importance of truly knowing the person you are with.
Pastor’s wife Julaine read John 20:1-31. Open your Bibles, ears and hearts to the message and purpose of the resurrection of Jesus Christ.
This is a recap of what was discussed during the first week of home gatherings. Hebrews 10:1-25 was the scripture taught. May the Holy Spirit quicken your hearts and minds.
Pastor Josh gave a message based on the significance of praying for the church as a whole around the world, not just a “land”. The church is the means of the Gospel to a fallen world, so Pastor Josh challenges not only our motives when we pray, but also a doctrine that has been taught for the past 150 years to the US that we will be spared tribulation. In Matthew 24:37-39, in the days of Noah we ask, were the righteous or wicked taken away? Prayers that the Holy Spirit quickens your hearts and minds to receive the word.
Message from Sunday, February 20, 2022. Pastor Josh preached on the Biblical understanding of strongholds and capturing arguments and pretensions that blind people to the truth of Christ. 2 Corinthians 10:5 speaks as the selected scripture.
Pastor Josh preached for the first time out of Job. We may ask God “why” a lot in our relationship with Him, but as Christians, we are called to trust Him not just when we don’t understand, but accept that we cannot understand. Does your theology (knowledge of God) win over your experiences in life? *Note: Pastor Josh recanted a few statements he made about Job being “sinless” during the sermon. Job being seen as “upright and blameless” was a description of a perfect loyalty to God, not a life without sin). Open your Bibles and follow along.
First service back after being off for the month of January. Pastor Josh preached on what it means for us as Christians to enter God’s rest. I pray for your hearts and minds to be quickened by the Holy Spirit to receive the word of God.
Sermon from 12/19/2021- We live in a world where we are told that peace is simply the avoidance of pain and trouble. Peace with God is knowing you as a Christian are in a position of acceptance with Him, instead of pursuing acceptance with the world. Operating from a position of acceptance leads to rest, while operating from the worldly pursuit of acceptance brings restlessness.
Sermon from 12/12/2021- Many Christians believe that they have to go find their “purpose” for God, dismissing the calling for content and peace as a Christian. You do have a purpose, and God’s word reminds us of what that is.
Pastor Josh preached on how our witnessing matters to the unbelieving world, and how even our willingness to submit causes us to standout in a world that is all about rebellion and self. Josh preached out of Romans 7 and Romans 12:9-13:14. Open up your Bibles and follow along.
Today Pastor Josh finished preaching on 1 Corinthians 15, reminding us of the power of the hope we have in Christ. Get your Bibles out and follow along!
Pastor Josh was back in the pulpit covering 1 Corinthians 15:1-11 in Agape’s “Church in Corinth Series”
There is nothing new under the sun when it comes to the world. The church is going through some trying times right now. Divisiveness and even apostasy. Keep preaching and teaching and living the word of God.
Pastor Josh finished Chapter 14 of 1 Corinthians, covering verses 6-40. Get your Bibles out and follow along. (Links for songs played during service are as follows: 1. https://youtu.be/Dga4WDOtTfg 2. https://youtu.be/BppKOFLig2w 3. https://youtu.be/F2tKVqZZiI4 )
Pastor Josh’s wife Julaine preached this past week on 1 Corinthians 14 verses 1-5. Julaine was joined by our sister in Christ Nicole in the pulpit. Get your Bibles out and follow along.
We veered off of the Church in Corinth Teaching Series this week and Pastor Josh’s wife Julaine joined him to give a reminding message (a revelation for some) of God’s providence and sovereignty. Habakkuk was discussed as an example of not only God being in control, but also our tendency to murmur and forget who He is in our “finite” thinking. His ways are infinite as He is infinite. He is Lord and Creator of all. In that truth we find peace. We actually find that in the moments we are struggling and hard pressed, we are in a position to allow God to show us our pride, which we need to seek Him out to have removed. This is a blessing for us as His children. We read out of 2 Corinthians 12 and also Ephesians 6. Enjoy the message and prayers for your hearts to be evaluated and for you to draw closer to God which in return draws Him closer to you.
Week 18 of our “Church in Corinth” teaching series, covering 1 Corinthians 13, also known as the “Love Chapter”. Open your Bibles and follow along.
We finished out 1 Corinthians 12, covering verses 12-31. Open your Bibles and follow along.
This is a recap of weeks 15 and 16 of our “Church in Corinth” series, covering Chapter 11:17-33 through Chapter 12:1-11. ESV was the translation used by Pastor Josh. Get your Bibles out and follow along.
This week we began Chapter 11 in 1 Corinthians, going through verses 1 - 16. Get your Bibles out and follow along.
We finished out Chapter 10 this week in 1 Corinthians (v.14-33). Please open up your Bibles and follow along. (Please note around the 25 minute mark Pastor Josh paraphrased Colossians 2:8 but said it was from Galatians)
We picked back up in our Church in Corinth series with chapter 8! Apologies as I used the term “consciousness” rather than “conscience” in certain parts of the message. Follow along in your Bibles.
Took a break from the “Church in Corinth” Series to preach on the saving grace of God. Please listen.
Click the following link to view the message https://youtu.be/D7F_wgdGSmU Passages were 1 Corinthians 7:1-16
We went through 1 Corinthians chapter 6 this week. Open up your Bibles and follow along!
We went through 1 Corinthians chapter 4 this week. Get your Bibles open and follow along.
Scripture was 1 Corinthians Chapter 2! (Note I said this chapter was Paul elaborating more on chapter 1 verses 18 through 35 - there is only 31 verses in chapter 1, so apologies for that error)
Starting out with our “Church in Corinth” series, we laid out some context of the church and then went to God’s word, reading verses 1-17 in 1 Corinthians.
May the message offer conviction, encouragement and growth. Dear child of God, know who you are and for whose name’s sake you live for - in joy and suffering. To read this sermon, visit our websites “Pastor’s Blog” section at https://agapecentercoldwater.wixsite.com/website/single-post/for-his-name-sake-not-mine
(Excuse the audio quality, as it does have a “old school” feel to it) How do you pray? Jesus lays out the model for how we are to pray and even how we are to live. Prayer is an expression of weakness and dependency on our Father in Heaven. It does not matter how long you have been a Christian, prayer can be difficult.
Legalism and religion are often noted together, but Christianity is a religion that is not based around legalism. Legalism is us resorting to the “flesh”, even after we may have started our faith in the Spirit. Listen up and get your Bibles out!
Pastor Josh explains what it means and looks like to hear from God. So often we hear ourselves and our flesh and claim it is from God, but once again God has given us reassurance and discernment through His word on how to know whose voice you are hearing.
This message is filled with a lot of heeding, warning and encouragement for us as to being wise to who we are listening to, learning under and even “following” online. Preachers, evangelists, prophets and ministries are popping up everywhere, and sadly many of them have selfish motives behind what they are doing. This is nothing new sadly when it comes to the church. Pastor Josh opens up about his own “falling short” of using discernment in the situation with Ravi Zacharias, whom Pastor Josh has attributed lots of his growth in the faith. Ravi was sound in much of his teaching, and used intelligent but never preached a complete gospel and did not live a life of integrity that coincided with it which makes him a false teacher. Pastor Josh will explain more of this in the message. Please share with your friends. God through His word gives your pastors and teachers the authority they have in the church, but that authority is governed, based and structured on the word. The word keeps those in positions of authority in “check” and you are called to be a position of accountability.
Agape Center Ministries sermon from 1/24/2021. Focus passages are 1 Timothy 6:11-16, 2 Timothy 4:7-8, 1 Peter 3:8-4:19, Ephesians 6:12 (At the end of the sermon, Pastor Josh addressed the church regarding “color talk” when it comes to liberal and conservative. Liberal or “free thought” unhinged us from thinking the way the world thinks and brought us to objective truth as Christians, which we are now called to conserve. No more free thinking is needed, God’s word is truth and we need to conserve it.
Message from Agape Center Ministries 1/10/2021. Page turning noises in the beginning, because we don’t use IPads/tablets 😎 Mark 9:42-48 is the reading.
This week we taught on the gift of speaking in tongues. We allowed some brief dialogue amongst the body on this topic in the beginning of the message due to the gathering being smaller in size, so stick with us throughout the entire message and may it bless you!
Paul reminds us of the significance of prayer, being wise in how we act around non-believers and making sure our words are seasoned with salt and a constant recognition of God’s grace.
Paul gives us a pretty straight forward look at what a Christian household should look like and what roles we play. It all is based around the understanding of “submission”, and doing away with what culture and even adverse experience deceives us in thinking it means. True submission is voluntary, and it is always to show reverence for Christ.
Living in the Spirit is the only way to have peace rule in your hearts. Ridding yourselves of the earthly things that bring about chaos and wrath is only done with the power of the Holy Spirit. Today we read out of Colossians 3:1-17, so get your bibles out.
Chapter 2 of Colossians hits on a lot of things going on in the church when it comes to false humility and tradition. He once again reminds us to hold fast to the Gospel and the identity of that.
Starting our Colossians study and going through Chapter 1. Get your Bibles open and follow along.
Summary of our weeks reading out of Mark chapter 4, verses 1-34. Get your Bibles out and join along.
This is a summary of the sermon from 8/23 at Agape Center. Reading is 1 Corinthians 10:23-33
Following our August 30th baptism service, we stayed in Romans and read through Romans 12 for the next few weeks. Here is a summary and teaching of that chapter :)
We are reading out of Numbers 14:17-18. God has attributes that to us may seem contradictive, but simply lay out His Holy and Just nature, which all meet at the Cross on Calvary.
Continuing in our Romans Series, we preached and taught out of Romans 5:1-11. Get your bibles out and follow along!
A word from pastor Josh on the significance and power of fellowship with the Holy Spirit.
We taught out of Romans 3:1-8. Paul lays out some great strategies for dealing with folks who may “scoff” or question the Gospel. God is faithful and true, regardless of what we believe on the contrary!
We have no excuse...we are all guilty of judging others. There is a calling for us to do so biblically as well. God displays the perfect and righteous way to judge, as His judgement is based on truth! We preached out of Romans 2:1-16 today. Get your Bibles and follow along with us!
God is the Master Weaver of life, working all things out for those He has called according to His good purpose! We dive into more of the elements of the “golden chain” of His macro salvation process. Enjoy!
Today at Agape we read through Romans 8:18-27. Suffering today leads to future glory in Christ! Even creation has groaned and has been subjected to frustration (sin). Knowing this is one thing, but operating in the Holy Spirit and praying in the Spirit is critical to the Christian. In our weakness we need to remember that hope in Christ is not seen, because hope that is seen is not hope at all!
Starting our Romans series for the next couple months on Romans. Today's message was out of Romans 8 "Life Through the Spirit".