In the Word with Pastor Mike

Jesus has set us free from the old so that we can move forward in the new. He did not just leave an empty place of selfishness but an enabled place of opportunity!

A sense of worth is considered one of the deepest of human needs. Our only true worth must come from the Lord and it is given to us in Christ as the gift of righteousness!

Its easy to see the faults in those around us and overlook the issues in our own lives. progress begins by working on ourselves before others.

Sometimes our most sincere efforts can be misunderstood and our motives questioned. It is in those times that we have to draw deeper into our relationship with the Lord and just know that God knows!

Showing hospitality to others is one of the great characteristics of being a follower of Jesus Christ. Its not always convenient and it typically is going to put you out in some way, but it is a beautiful reflection of the grace that Jesus has given to us through the cross.

Almost may seem like you have attained, but almost is not there. When it comes to salvation in Jesus Christ and the forgiveness of sin, almost is lost!

Easy is a virtue that our culture screams, but reality is that easy is not always best. There must be other factors of consideration.

Its a huge mistake not to change our mind or position simply because we have stated something firmly and publicly. In fact, it can be a real sign of spiritual immaturity to be unwilling to change. We must stay open to new direction and opinions as long as they are guided by God's Word and wisdom.

Beliefs from the Bible that Christ followers hold can sometimes put us at odds with the culture around us. The Apostle Paul experienced this himself and his reply was simply, guilty as charged! This should be the response of faith, we may not be understood, but we are on a good foundation with the Lord.

When Jesus told us to go into all the world and preach the gospel, He intended that world to include our families! As we pursue our life for Christ we need to be sure that we are continuing to build our relationships with family members who may not know Jesus.

The way we treat other believers is a reflection of our treatment of Christ. Jesus' word to Saul ring out to each of us today, "Saul, Saul, why have you persecuted me?"

No matter how well we treat others it is inevitable that there will be times when our kindness is repaid with rejection. In spite of this. we go on in the name of Jesus with His example of grace before us.

Purpose serves as a guiding light and anchor to life in the face of trials and other uncertainties. Jesus gives to all who follow Him a purpose and it is the believers responsibility to pursue it!

Satan is an uncaring enemy of the soul whose only motivation toward people is to deprive the Lord of the glory they may bring Him. On the other hand, we have the Good Shepherd of our soul, Jesus, who knows us by name and is deeply concerned with our good! He's the One that deserves our undivided devotion and love!

No matter what our individual vocations or likes in marriage, as believers there should be a meeting place in marriage where we come together for the gospel. This is modeled for us so well in the lives of the NT husband and wife team, Aquilla and Priscilla.

As we look out at the many problems we face in the world and our culture, there is a temptation to apply fixes that are only temporary at best. The real lasting change we look for and desire will only come as a result of the good news of Jesus Christ. It is a person by person long range solution not a moral Band-Aid that will never really work.

The consistency by which we live our lives for Christ can actually be one of the greatest witnesses of our faith

There are times in the Christian life when good people disagree, even strongly. In those times we must follow our conscience guided by principle in order to disagree agreeably.

All of us have a tendency to resist difficulties and always attribute evil to difficult situation. The reality is difficulties are a tool that God uses to bring about greater successes in our lives. They pave the way and give greater substance to our successes.

God uses prayer to tune our hearts to hear from Hm. It is in these times of prayer that we gain the confidence to go forward with certainty of God's leading.

Leaders come and go, but the Word of God lasts forever! Rest your hope in the eternal, not the fleeting.

God leveraged persecution in the early church to propel the good news of Jesus Christ into all the world. There are pressures we face in life that may actually be opportunities for greater gospel proclamation.

God the Holy Spirit comes to work in the world to bring people to faith in Christ and to bring believers to growth in Christ. Unfortunately, His work is often cut short as people resist Him. It is important that we are not guilty of working against what the Lord id doing in our lives.

When difficulty comes into our lives often the temptation is to isolate, to separate from others and try to deal with it on our own, But the example we see so often in the Word of God is people running into the arms of fellow believers, brothers and sisters in Christ and this is the place of grace and healing.

Life can become so hectic that you feel like you don't even have time to catch your breath. This is true in the spiritual realm of our life as well and leads to life becoming mundane and so ordinary. Jesus desire to give us refreshings; spiritual renewals that are like fresh breaths of air.

Many things in life can give us joy as we anticipate its arrival: Christmas, a new baby, or even a big game, but there is an anticipation for believers that should create our greatest joy- the anticipation of our resurrection! The hope Jesus experienced can be our hope as well.

Even as His beloved children, Jesus does not ell us everything about what He is doing in the world and in our lives, but He does tell us everything we need to know to accomplish His will and purposes.

The tide of history has been changed by a single word from a great leader; how much more powerful is the impact of a word received from Jesus Himself!

If we would be completely honest with each other, we would have to confess that often we are more bystanders to Christ's sacrifice than we are proclaimers. What can make the difference?

Happiness is a poor measurement of right or wrong. Happiness can come from all kinds of sources, even the Devil. The only sure foundation of good decision making is the principles of God's Word.

When we give, God desires it to be a reflection of His heart in giving. When He gave, it was not a leftover type thing, but a giving of His best thing... His only Son!

In the example of the wisdom of Jesus' speech, we can take away this important lesson, winning an argument should never be our goal; pointing people to the wisdom of the Lord should be.

We must be careful not to serve the Lord with an attitude that says, "I have to". We should come with a spirit that says, "I get to!" He does not need us, but graciously calls us into relationship with Him!

In life we have great needs and a greater need for a God who can be pursued confidently in prayer. This is the God who desires us to pray to Him without ceasing!

In a world full of offenses that come at us from all sides, Jesus encourages us to make sure that we don't become so jaded by what is coming our way that we excuse the same behavior in ourselves. "Take heed to yourself", He says to us. Rather than judging the motives of others, judge the reality of your own heart!

The answer to our questions is sitting right in front of us in God's Word, but sometime things are so obvious that we look right past them.

Rather than looking out at those we perceive to be in worse shape than we are with an air of superiority, we should look up to the Lord for a fresh understanding of His grace in our own lives.

We get into trouble in life when our value system is at odds with the value system of God. This is especially true when we devalue the people around us that He has sent us to bless.

Its easy for us to mistake God's longsuffering with us as a lack of concern, but this can not be further from the truth. God's nature is to lean toward mercy, but we must not mistake this for a lack of concern

Allowing our heart to follow principle rather than the reverse will serve us well in living a productive and victorious life. Jesus tells us to lead with our treasure, not our heart!

What we do with Jesus shows our opinion of truth no matter where it is spoken. Jesus is the sum total of all truth and what we do with Him, shows our true regard for truth.

There are many things in life that bring us joy, but there is a greater joy that surpasses all joys. This joy when placed at the head of the line increases all of our other joys. It is this joy that Jesus calls us to!