New Life Church - Fort Smith

We have all felt the pressure to fit in with what is most popular or what other people are doing. It can be easy to take our eyes off the things that matter most and direct our attention to what others say matters. Through Shadrach, Meshach, and Abdenego, we see how to live as followers of Christ when we face this pressure.

Sometimes when the pressure is on, we need to be wise to avoid getting burned. Saul was new to being king. When pressure was applied, his true character surfaced and mistakes happened. 1 Samuel 13 teaches us how to handle these situations in a way that honors God.

Have you ever felt dry spiritually? Like your cup was empty? Just kinda stuck spiritually. It's not that I think I've lost my salvation, it's just that sometimes you lose the joy of your salvation. The spiritual passion isn't thereRoutine replaces relationshipDuty replaces delightPerformance replaces passionWhat do you do when you've lost your edge! You may not be chopping the cedars of Lebanon but maybe you have lost your spiritual edge, your spiritual power is gone, how do you get it back??

On this Father's Day, we look at what it means to leave a legacy. David was aware of the legacy he wanted to leave with Solomon and made clear the things that were most important to him: the things of God. When you invest your life, you are exchanging the days you do have to impact the days you don't have. The greatest use of your life is to invest in something that outlasts it.

Hannah faced a life of pain. She faced that pain by taking it to the Lord, and in doing so, God gave her peace in the midst of the pain and ultimately gave her a son.

Sometimes, God will let you have the thing you think you want, so you can find out how much you need Him. Just because you get the things you want does not mean you're getting the things that are best. Sometimes, you get the things you want, and God shows you that those things aren't the solution you think they are. This happened to the people of Israel. They wanted a king when God was supposed to be their King.

Sometimes, decisions in life are clearly lined in Scripture. Other times, we experience things in life where the answers are not so easy. Should I accept this job? Is this who I am supposed to marry? What's for lunch after church?!! Thankfully, the Bible does give principles that can help us navigate these situations.

If I only had ____________, I'd be happy…. What is that you need in order to find contentment? Is it possible to even be content in life? Paul says yes, it is — and he's learned how. Check out this week's message as we walk through the Secret of Contentment in Philippians 4.

Previously in Philippians 2, we discussed values Paul wanted the church in Philippi to know, giving us Jesus as the greatest example of them. Paul, in Philippians 2, continues to teach these values through 2 other examples, Timothy and Epaphroditus.

When Paul is writing this letter to the Philippians from prison. At this point, he had been intensely following Jesus for between 20 and 30 years of his life. He was a FULLY DEVOTED FOLLOWER OF CHRIST. Paul is someone who has been on a long walk with Jesus. He's learned some things on his long walk and you can see them in this letter.

In Philippians 2, Paul is outlining some family values for Christians. There are some things that, if you're a Christian, we do these things. This is what has to be important to us. He says, if you've experienced any good from being “united with Christ" and being in God's family, then this is for you. It's like putting up a fence . You figure out what land belongs to you and you put up a fence. That fence does a few things: it keeps stuff in, it keeps stuff out, and it sets boundaries. This is what Paul is doing here by telling us our family values.

The book of Philippians is all about joy. It's one of the most joyful books we're going to read. But here's the catch: the man writing this book about joy is writing it in CHAINS! He's in prison! One reality of life is that there's always something out to steal it from me.The question is how do I keep my joy? Paul faced continued hardship, prison and suffering, but with joy in his heart.

Worship is probably one of the most misused words in the Bible. We use it to mean, a church service or the music we sing at church. Worship isn't lip service, it's life service. It's what I do with my life. It's how I use my life. In today's passage, we see a woman named Mary and the posture of her life was one of worship. When we see Mary, she's at the feet of Jesus. We can learn from the way she worships, and we can learn from her life.

Have you ever dreamed about doing something great with your life? God has called us to do great things, but greatness looks different in His Kingdom.

The story of Jesus and the fig tree can be confusing at first glance. Some might conclude that Jesus was upset that he didn't find anything to eat and he overreacted. As we studied this parable in Mark 11, we learned that Jesus was teaching us about the importance and expectation of producing good fruit in our lives as Christ-followers. He gives us precious insight into how our entire lives (not just our prayers) are affected by harboring unforgiveness! Jesus wants freedom for us today!

The rich young ruler runs up to Jesus, and he gets down before him and says I've done it all. I've checked all the boxes, and I'm wildly successful. And yet there's still something is not right, something is missing. And the Bible says, Jesus looked at him and loved him/.He saw what really had a hold of this man's heart. Jesus didn't want this man's money, he wanted this man's HEART.

The condition of our hearts determines how we receive God's Word. The parable provides a mirror for us to assess the condition of our hearts and make adjustments so that God's Word can bear fruit in our lives.

In Mark 1, we come across Jesus healing a man of leprosy. In Jesus' time, leprosy was a prevalent disease that caused physical, emotional, and spiritual decay. Jesus proves to not only be able but also willing to heal this man and change his life forever.

The vision of our church is to reach our friends and family with the life-giving message of Jesus, to see them become fully devoted followers of Christ. We do this by living a Christian life, telling others about the Gospel, and surrounding ourselves with other believers.

A new year is an opportunity to hit reset on life and get yourself a fresh start. Maybe you find yourself coming into this year feeling stuck. By God's grace, you get a new set of 12 months. And you can make some changes so that you don't end up making the same mistakes that you made in years past.

Everyone has things they are afraid of in this life. Hundreds of phobias exist for the fears people face today. In spite of our fears, we must trust that God is faithful and obey what He calls us to do.

Everyone has made mistakes. It is part of life. Some mistakes we make actually lead to funny stories later on in life. But there are also mistakes in life that are the opposite of this. There are mistakes we make that are not funny, that we wished we could forget. If we are not careful, we will live under the umbrella of our mistakes and constantly feel weighed down by shame and guilt. Learn how to overcome the guilt and shame of mistakes and live in the freedom that comes from Christ.

So many people get nervous or anxious about the return of Christ, but the Bible doesn't. The Bible tells us that when you really understand what's happening, it should give you comfort, strength, and confidence to face the future because we know how it all plays out.

When it comes to the end times, the Bible is clear that we should not only be ready but to also focus on the correct things. God is far more concerned with who will are when Jesus returns than us knowing that time or date He returns.

The greatest adventure that you will ever go on in life is to do what God has for you to do. Nothing else compares to that. Nothing comes close to the feeling of God working through you. God has never made anything without a reason – not once.

The church is growing, and we have a lot to celebrate! And there are so many stories right now of people going all in following Jesus. God is moving and we're so HOPEFUL about the future! Here's our heart for what we hope to see IN this house

Vision happens by default or design. Either you determine the vision or someone else will. Godly homes don't happen on accident but rather they are built. We build our homes on God's Word, accepting the responsibility He has placed on us to lead and, by His Spirit, we adopt His vision over our own.

It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Jesus declares this exact mission when He sits down in the synagogue and unroll the scroll of Isaiah 61. He tells them that He is anointed " to proclaim good news to the poor... to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor" and that this was being fulfilled right before them. He is still doing this same work today.

God went to incredible lengths to provide a way for us to have relationship with Him. What a blessing we have! In response, we should live our lives in light of His sacrifice, worthy of His calling.

In life, we all love a story or movie with a happy ending. When we think about our lives, we want to see it end in a grand fashion. On the contrary, life doesn't always end that way. The Bible is always honest about the realities of life, and the book of Jonah is the perfect example of that. We didn't get a happily ever after! Instead, we get Jonah Chapter 4– we get real life. We get real emotions. We get a real argument – between Jonah and God – and we don't even get a good end to that argument!

At some point, all of us are going to need a do-over. All of us are going to need a clean slate, a fresh start. That's why Jonah 3 is good news for us! We get to see the heart of God and it's the heart of a Father who tracks us down with a second chance in his hand!

In Chapter 2, we find Jonah in the worst place of his life, the stomach of a fish. It's in this place that he finally decides to reach out and pray to God. We learn through these 10 verses to quickly turn to God, that He hears us even when we pray imperfectly, and that every place we find ourselves has purpose.

Jonah begins his book by running away from what God told him to do. It takes him much further than he imagined and had more impact on those around him than he thought as sin always does in our lives. What Jonah finds in the midst of running away is a God of second chances and a God who provides a way back to Him.

If you don't have a clear picture of your destination, you are unlikely to get to the place you want to go. The same could be said for our walk with God. Often, we either have no vision or the wrong vision. However, when we live by God's Word and the guardrails He has placed around our lives, we are able to live the way God created us to live.

In the conclusion of our series on the Life of David, we look at what it takes to live a life that last beyond our own lives.

The Bible details at length the life and success of David, even calling him a man after God's own heart. But what if one of greatest lessons we could learn from his life came from failure and not success. David was not a man without mistake but rather a man who knew where to go when he failed. We can also develop this reflex to run to God in both good and challenging season of life.

David was anointed king but immediately went back to the field. On his way to the throne, he would learn lessons that prepared him to reign as king. Too often, we want to rush to the end product before learning what it takes to do what God has called us to. Learn how to be faithful where you are as He prepares you for where you are going.

In life, we will have times that feel like we're being pressed down. David was in a similar situation when he arrives at a town called Ziklag, which means "pressed down." Oftentimes, we want to run or ignore the situation, but David takes it before the Lord and "recovers all that was taken."

Often in life, our kindness is directly related to how well someone else has treated us. It's conditional and runs out. God's kindness is different than our kindness. David's treatment of Mephiboseth shows us how to show kindness when we have every reason not to show it. We see how God saw us in our brokenness and thought we could offer Him nothing, He still showed us His kindness through the blood of Jesus.

Sometimes we approach familiar biblical stories with the assumption that we know everything about it. David and Goliath is one of the most popular stories of the Bible. Let's revisit this familiar story and see what deeper things God would have in the passage.

David is one of the most well-known Bible characters. This summer, we revisit some of the key moments in David's life to see more of who God is and how would have us live today. Today, we look at the differences between Saul and David and what makes David a man after God's heart.

If we're being honest, none of us would want all of our thoughts displayed on a screen for all to see. We all think and do things we know we shouldn't. However, in spite our mistakes and shortcomings, we have a God who loves and forgives, abounding in grace and mercy, and calls us to live a greater in Him than we could ever live on our own.