"the journey" Tagged Sermons (Page 5)
3 Faith Increasing Beliefs
“If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given unto him. But he must ask in faith, without doubting…” (James 1:5-6a) We are called Believers, not Feelers. We are a Faith-Based Community and not a community of Thinkers. Our feelings, thoughts and actions are meant to follow our FAITH. Instead, we allow our thoughts, emotions and experiences shape our faith. When we believe God’s…
A Culture of Faith & Risk
Faith is confidence in God–that God is who He says He is and that we are who He says we are. Faith is confidence in the voice that comes from the One we cannot see. Without faith it is impossible to please God, yet we almost always see faith as the way to see miracles instead of the way to enter into a deeper, more trusting relationship with a Good Dad (see Hebrews 11:6). It is from the midst of…
A Culture of Joy
God says, “I made you awesome and unique, to bring glory to My name!” and then we add in the fine print “And you will be miserable and unhappy and won’t have any fun at all”. (Pastor Les) Whenever joy is brought up really good Christians often go on a rant about how God doesn’t care about us being happy or about having fun. It is almost as if any conversation exploring joy must be shut down before someone smiles…
Walking with The Cross
“When we follow our compassion into the crowds, we will find Jesus there, doing amazing things thru us” (Pastor Les) I spent a 5-days in Costa Rica last week with my friend and Panamanian missionary Jim Sim. Each year, for years, we have set aside some days for prayer. I flew to Costa Rica and Jim travelled via bus from Boquete, Panama. The last few years God has been healing me in the area of my emotions. By healing I…
Communion
(This communion was celebrated after the message, Judas and Peter at The Cross) When we participate in communion we celebrate the common union between us and God that the cross has purchased, as well as the common union between us and other believers. We celebrate communion as a declaration of what has been done, is being done and will be done. We do not participate in communion as a prayer but as a declaration. In Judaism remembering is not necessarily…
The Cross & Easter
“The Mother of All Bombs was dropped on the weight of sin that held us captive at the cross of Jesus. It obliterated my sins and they can no longer be found” (Pastor Les) The main point of the Easter story is that JESUS WAS DEAD BUT IS NOW ALIVE. The main point of the Easter story today, right now, it that I WAS DEAD BUT NOW I AM ALIVE! When we focus on The Cross without going to it…
DISCOVER You
“To discover my design helps to reveal my destiny” In step #3 of our GROWTH classes we start exploring and discovering how we are uniquely and awesomely designed by our God. You will need the workbook for this one as we utilize an abbreviate DISC personality profile and a Spiritual Gifts Assessment in the workbook. Once you’ve taken the assessments and have some new words to describe how God made you, what should you do? Les shares the A-E of…
Money Wisdom that Will Make You Happy
“God loves increase. He loves multiplication. He loves profit. This truth is found within the context of the simple and quite unattractive seed.” (Pastor Les) Finances are one of our favorite things. We love the things money can buy, what it allows us to do and where it allows us to go. Beyond that we often have hidden in our hearts a love for the position and power it gives us in the eyes of others. Money and our resources…
The Art of Maintaining Vision
The question is never what lies before me but rather What Lies within me? And, what lies are within me? I mentioned last week that during a time of prayer, listening to a great message or reading an inspiring book that VISION seems to be right there, very clear and resonates with us emotionally and actually makes us hopeful and happy simply to envision ourselves being that person in our vision, leading that sort of life. We close the book…
The Art of Finding Vision
Lots of people struggle with admitting to having vision yet every one of us has vision. Pastor Les breaks down Proverbs 29:18 and describes vision as both deeply spiritual and fiercely practical. The Bible teaches that we receive vision four different ways… Thru God and angels Thru experiences, such as prophecy, vision, etc. Thru scripture Thru natural functions You may be surprised to learn that Nehemiah did not have a vision to save the city but rather a deep desire. And,…