True North

Have you ever heard or seen a public service announcement warning against digging in your yard? More often than not, there are natural gas lines, cable lines, and other utility lines buried underground, and it is important to ask someone to help you mark where those lines are so you can avoid causing an accident in your yard! But when it comes to your heart, you need help to identify the sin issues that remain in your life, so that you can cut them out! Pastor Gary teaches you that the Holy Spirit will illuminate those issues in your life, so that they can be removed!

God renews lives, AND He instilled the Holy Spirit in people so they can continue to live on the righteous path of Jesus Christ! In today's message, Pastor Gary will bring some seriously good news…if you're born again, you already have the Holy Spirit! If your life has been saved, bought, and redeemed by Jesus, then you also have the Spirit guiding you to be righteous, holy, and set apart! You have the power to do what is right and to make the hard choice against your flesh to follow Jesus!

If you love Jesus, you will fear God, and if you fear God, you will love Jesus! There can't be one without the other. Jesus showed us that firsthand and modeled what that life can and should look like. In today's message, Pastor Gary will share how important it is to be in the Word of God, to be attending a Church to be in Biblical community, and to have a strong and consistent prayer life! The Way you spend your time and energy will directly show where your love is and how much you fear God!

The Holy Spirit isn't some sort of mystical or magical being or even a fictional thing; He is God Himself in the form of a personal Spirit meant to help us! In today's message, Pastor Gary will reveal a sliver of who the Holy Spirit is and how you can have a personal relationship with Him! If you are a born-again Christian, you have the Holy Spirit living inside of you. How could you not have a deep and rich relationship with someone living that close to you?!


How often do you help people? How often do you see or hear about someone in need and actually inconvenience yourself for the betterment of someone else's life? In today's message, Pastor Gary will point out that Jesus inconvenienced Himself. He surrendered His time to what the Lord wanted to do in and through Him. Look at how that worked out…look at all that Jesus accomplished by allowing the Lord to govern His decisions! So, today, stop and ask the Lord how you can help someone else!

Being a lukewarm Christian, or someone who just sits on the fence of full surrender, isn't a true Christian. Christians are people who follow God with everything they have; they're “little Christs”. In today's message, Pastor Gary will challenge you on where you stand with your faith. Are you on fire for God or barely wading in the water? God calls everyone to a passionate life devoted to Him and His ministry…does that describe you?! On fire, passionate, devoted?! These are all characteristics of a true Christian!

There are so many Christians who want to point out others' sins, but not even acknowledge their own. Some people consciously or unconsciously rank sin by their own judgment. There are varying consequences, but the heart behind sin is the same. In today's message, Pastor Gary will encourage you to let God be be judge of sin…your own sin and everyone else. It isn't fair for you to judge someone else while also still being a sinner. God loves ALL sinners and wants redemption for EVERYONE!

Have you ever found a mistake, and instead of correcting it right away, you just let it sit there until the last second? You knew it shouldn't be left undone, but you just didn't care enough about it to do anything until the pressure was on. Pastor Gary teaches you in his message today that when the Lord convicts you of sin in your life, you should purge it immediately. Don't allow sin to remain unchecked in your heart. The longer you allow sin in your life, the longer you will miss out on the blessings of God.

A lot of us will save up money to do special things for our families, like go on a nice vacation or go out to eat at an expensive restaurant. These are enjoyable activities, and can be a real treat for us. It's nice to work hard and then reap the benefits of all that hard work. In today's message, Pastor Gary challenges you with a question: What are you willing to sacrifice for Jesus? What does your worship look like? Do you offer Jesus whatever you have to spare of your heart? Or do you give Him everything?

Sometimes we see great athletes and think that they're just unstoppable. But do you know that even the best players have faced days of defeat? You don't become great at anything by wallowing in yesterday's failure; You must always get up and keep moving forward. In Pastor Gary's message today, he encourages you to get up and walk on in the victory found in Jesus. Don't let the burdens of the past hold you back from the freedom that Christ has given you to walk in today.

Who doesn't love a nice hot home-cooked meal? Most of us know someone who just has a knack for cooking up something good to eat. And when we smell that sweet aroma coming from the kitchen, if we know what's good for us, we'll stay out of the way until that dinner bell calls us on in. In his message today, Pastor Gary wants you to know that Jesus is always up to something good. You might not know what it is, but if you're your patient and trust Him, you'll be sure to find out.

What kind of house did you grow up in? Did you have a solid, loving home, and especially one where Jesus was honored and served? Or did you have one that may have seemed beyond hope? Today, Pastor Gary shares his testimony of how God completely saved and transformed his childhood home – starting with his father. Now the next question: What kind of home are you making for yourself – and your family if you have one – now? No matter what its condition is today, Jesus can remake it.

What kind of house did you grow up in? Did you have a solid, loving home, and especially one where Jesus was honored and served? Or did you have one that may have seemed beyond hope? Today, Pastor Gary shares his testimony of how God completely saved and transformed his childhood home – starting with his father. Now the next question: What kind of home are you making for yourself – and your family if you have one – now? No matter what its condition is today, Jesus can remake it.

If you live anywhere near the East Coast of the United States, or if you know anybody who does, you probably pay attention every year to the tropical hurricanes. And you've probably seen – or even experienced – a house flooding, because it's built too close to the beach. Today, Pastor Gary looks at two kinds of houses – those built on the rock and those built on the sand. You don't have to worry about what the storms might do to your spiritual house, as long as you build it on the solid foundation of Jesus.

It's soooo easy to criticize others. We can find those critical messages on yard signs, in social media posts, and overhear them in practically every conversation. It's become perhaps our culture's favorite pastime. But today, Pastor Gary brings a critical reminder: before you look at others, you must always first look at yourself. How do you do that? The answer is simple. God's Word is His mirror for your life. God's Spirit is His Spokesman to your heart. Will you let Him search you?

People have a great variety of attitudes about children. Some are gifted with such a love that they even find joy in becoming elementary school teachers. Others seem to have little patience or tolerance for children. How does God feel about children? Today, Pastor Gary answers that question by looking at God the Son in His personal ministry on earth. Jesus said, “Forbid them not, to come unto me.” When you have the same heart that Jesus has, you'll welcome His children in the same way that Jesus does.

If you're a follower of Christ, you have a high task set before you. God wants you to reach the lost. He wants you to find those to have no hope and give them hope! Today, Pastor Gary says God desires for the church to reach the lost. He doesn't want you to reach those who can make your church better, but rather wants you to go to the darkest of places and share the hope of Jesus with them. Show those who have no hope the love of Jesus today! Show them Christ so they have a reason to keep living!

Can I get vulnerable with you for a moment? When I was younger, I was bullied, and what these bullies did was make me feel small and insignificant. They would come into school to try and show me that I was worthless. Today, Pastor Gary says God gives significance to those who feel small, He gives purpose to those who have no purpose, and He gives hope to those who are hopeless. What you need to grasp is that God gives you purpose. He's the reason you're here and why you can have confidence!

When we sin, the biggest lie that gets put in our heads is that we must continually do things to fix our problem. The reality of that mindset is that you're depending on a sinner to fix the sin in their life! Today, Pastor Gary says the profound statement that the law says to do, but grace says done. Jesus paid it all for you on that cross. He desires you to have a relationship with His Father and died on the cross so you could have that opportunity! Rest in His love today, trust that when Jesus said it is finished, He meant it.

Have you ever put food coloring in a cup of water? It turns the whole cup the color of the food coloring, even if you only put a little bit of it in the cup! What if I told you that's how sin affects you and me? There's no way out of it but through the one who can make you whole. Today, Pastor Gary says Jesus went to the cross so you and I can live a life free from the bondage of sin. He was perfect, sinless! And yet He chose to die a brutal death on the cross so you and I could have a relationship with God. Isn't that awesome?

In the movie Avengers: Infinity War, the villain Thanos seems unbeatable. He must control all 6 infinity stones to control all! Once he had all 6, it felt like Thanos was in constant control of what was happening around him. Today, Pastor Gary says there's someone on the throne who doesn't need stones to be in control. He's someone you can depend on through any situation. You must depend on God so you can have a solid foundation for everything you do! He's in constant control! Trust Him to guide your life!

When I was in college, I remember taking exams where I would be lost… I would think so hard about what the answer to certain questions would be, only to never really know and end up just guessing. In today's message, Pastor Gary says there's someone who knows all the answers, so you don't have to guess in life! His name's Jesus. If you go to Him for help, He'll provide all you need. Are you relying on your own understanding for your situation today? If so, run to Jesus! He has all the answers you need!

When I was younger, I recall being upset when my parents would punish me because I had done something wrong. I know now that they were trying to make me a better man, but it didn't feel like that in the moment! Today, Pastor Gary says that many people don't want God's guidance but desire the benefits of knowing Him. To know God is to love all that He is. He wants to lead you and guide you to be more like His Son every day. Only God can give you eternal life, but you must be all in for His plan.

It's not too crazy to say we get hungry every day, but what if I told you there's someone who can feed you, so you'll never hunger again? Today, Pastor Gary says that in Mark 2, the roof wasn't the only thing that changed that day. You see, God worked through the hearts of everyone in that room. They didn't know it, but Jesus was giving them food that's everlasting, and He wants to give you the same thing! He's offering you eternal life through His Son because that's what will fill your soul forever!

Christ's rescue mission spans every generation, culture, and background; no soul stands beyond His redemption. In today's message, Pastor Gary will remind you that you can celebrate a Savior whose arms stretch wide enough to embrace both initial skeptics, saints, and seekers alike. His grace refuses to discriminate, offering new life to those weighed down by shame and to those falsely confident in themselves. The invitation is universal—acceptance hinges only on trusting in Jesus.

Transformation runs deeper than just revised opinions; it reshapes the very fiber of who you are. And in today's message, Pastor Gary will encourage you to invite Christ to renew both your mind and your heart, aligning your thoughts with His truth while softening motives with grace. When His love permeates head and heart together, beliefs become virtues, and conviction finds power in compassionate action, overflowing into relationships and daily decisions.

Pastor Gary will warn you that passive listening can breed spiritual stagnation, but action turns revelation into revolution. In today's message, you'll be challenged to tangibly live out your faith—serving neighbors, forgiving enemies, pursuing justice, and loving relentlessly. Each obedient step you take chisels character, builds credibility, and multiplies the Gospel's impact far beyond words alone. Let your schedule, budget, and conversations reflect heaven's values.

Faith matures when mind and heart pursue Jesus together. Study deepens understanding, sharpening our ability to discern truth and engage culture with wisdom. And in today's message, Pastor Gary will also remind you that relationship—not mere knowledge—fuels transformation. Conversing with Christ through prayer, worship, and obedient living turns learned concepts into lived convictions. You can discover a vibrant faith that is well-versed and walks closely with the One who calls you friend.

God longs to kindle a holy blaze within your soul, consuming complacency and radiating His love outward. In today's message, Pastor Gary will encourage you to consider the spark God offers—an invitation to passion, purpose, and bold witness. When you surrender dry routines to His breath, embers glow into flames that illuminate dark places and warm discouraged hearts. Step close to the Source, fuel the fire with prayer and obedience, and watch whole communities ignite through your surrendered life.

Pride can subtly infiltrate every achievement and praise, persuading hearts to crown the self rather than Christ. In today's message, Pastor Gary will encourage you to pause to examine your motives, recognizing that inflated egos can often eclipse gratitude. Humility, however, can keep you teachable, receptive, and anchored in grace. Regular confession, service, and listening to wise counsel are antidotes that deflate arrogance before it hardens into isolation and spiritual stagnation.

Trust forms the backbone of authentic discipleship; it means resting in the certainty that God fulfills every promise. In today's message, Pastor Gary will remind you that God's timing may stretch patience, yet His faithfulness never falters. Doubt whispers that circumstances speak louder, but persistence in prayer will tune your heart to anticipate His deliverance. Hold to His word like a lifeline, act in obedience, and watch Him weave outcomes richer than you dared imagine.

Even the smallest spark of faith can ignite Jesus' transformative power within us, reshaping horizons that once seemed immovable. In today's message, Pastor Gary will remind you that mustard-seed confidence in Jesus is enough to challenge towering doubts, lift burdens, and birth hope where despair clings. When you surrender your limitations to His limitless grace, obstacles crumble, paths open, and lives are renewed. Nurture that tiny trust; mountains yield to hearts anchored in His steadfast love.

The good news of Jesus Christ will not reach all corners of the world if YOU do not share it! If we're too concerned with what others are doing wrong, and we're too busy telling everyone about people's business, then we will never have time to share about Jesus! In today's message, Pastor Gary will encourage you to stop wasting time and breath on what others are doing, and start utilizing the breath God has given you to share about His love! Share the miracle of the very breath in your lungs!!!

Because of the obvious differences between light and darkness, it is easy to spot darkness and light in the world. Unfortunately it is a little harder to spot that in people's lives. God created it as so, He said the light was good and therefore we're to strive for light… for good! In today's message, Pastor Gary will show you how light and darkness effect people and just life in general, and how you can learn to spot that in people, places, and things. Knowing light from dark, good from evil, will help you thrive in all areas of life!

Submission is one of the most forgotten and misunderstood things in christianity. Oftentimes people are weary because it has been misrepresented and abused, so we shy away from it for obvious reasons. In today's message, Pastor Gary will share the biblical definition of submission and how God intended it from the start. Submission isn't just rolling over and doing whatever someone says, it is recognizing godly leadership and following who God has appointed in your life!!!

God wants to fill you with His presence and bless you with many gifts! When He does that, He wants you to share them with everyone! In today's message, Pastor Gary will share about the many blessings of Jesus and how they are direct proof of His love! Just as an apple tree doesn't eat its own fruit, but bears the fruit through much pruning and growth, so others can be blessed to eat it…you are the same way! You're gifts, the fruit you bear, are not for your own pleasure but to edify God's people!!!

God has perfect timing that we will NEVER understand! In our minds, we can only comprehend (sometimes) what has happened or what is happening. God, on the other hand, can comprehend and plan what is to come! God can see the future and can plan it according to His perfect will! In today's message, Pastor Gary will encourage you as you may be worried about the future, past, or even present, remember that God is in control. God can undoubtedly plan and handle your past, present, and future!

Ever feel like you don't belong, like life's pushed you to the margins? In today's message, Pastor Gary discusses Mark 5:19, when Jesus frees a man from demons—a man so broken, his community shunned him, leaving him to dwell only among graves. Yet Jesus saw him, delivered him, and said, “Go home.” Home! To a place he'd been exiled from. Jesus doesn't just heal; He gives you a place again. Are you carrying wounds that make you feel alienated? Will you let Jesus bring you back to hope?

Are you stuck in your own daily grind, wondering if there's a bigger purpose? In today's message, Pastor Gary brings up Peter, Andrew, James, and John—four ordinary fishermen. They're like countless others, grinding through backbreaking labor. Their lives were mundane, weighed down by nets and sweat, until Jesus called them to something greater. Jesus saw their potential. What's holding you back from answering His call? Will you keep casting nets, or step out toward His purpose?

In today's message, Pastor Gary discusses Luke 4, where it says Jesus preached with astonishing power—not a passive glow, but an active, life-altering force that gripped hearts. It's like the spark to a wildfire, it changes everything. Are you chasing that kind of impact in your faith? Is your goal to be effective for God, no matter the crowd? Jesus' doctrine hit hard because it carried divine power. What's your aim today—to shift lives or chase fleeting praise? Whose heart will you ignite with His truth?

Ever met someone claiming spirituality because of flashy gifts, yet they're mean, judgmental, or cruel? In today's message, Pastor Gary makes a point about the Spirit's fruit. They're like the heartbeat of God's character in us. Gifts of the Spirit, like prophecy or healing, show His power, but without fruit? They're hollow. You can have fruit without gifts, but gifts without fruit aren't truly His. That's a red flag. The Spirit's fruit proves His presence. So, what's growing within you today?

Pride is one of the main things that gets in the way of our relationship with God and His people…and surprisingly enough, God allows this type of pride in our hearts, so that we can learn humility; We can learn to be submissive to a higher power than ourselves. We need God, no matter what our pride may say, we cannot do life without Him. In today's message, Pastor Gary will encourage you to set your pride aside and surrender in meekness before the Lord! You will be surprised at how God rewards that humility!

Worship is prayer, raising our voices in adoration to God, reading the Bible, and everything else in between; Everything we do, inside and outside the Church building, can be worship! Whatever it is, we can use it to honor God and show Him our faith! In today's message, Pastor Gary will challenge you on how, when, and where you worship. God is a good God, and He demands true and sacrificial worship. That kind of worship happens starting in your quiet time and then overflows on a Sunday morning!

God allows hard times in our lives to test us…to test our faith and trust in Him! The test itself is designed for us to withstand temptation…not on our own, but with the empowerment of the Holy Spirit working with us! In today's message, Pastor Gary will remind you that if you have accepted Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior, and have been baptized in the Holy Spirit, then you have the strength and power to withstand any and all sin that threatens your relationship with the Lord!!!

Trusting God with our family, finances, and future isn't easy…but it is necessary! We can't say we trust God and want Him to direct our lives and then not move an inch to obey. Whether God gives us an undeniable sign or not, we have to move; God cannot direct us if we're not actively obeying…simply put…He can't steer a parked car! In today's message, Pastor Gary will show you how simply acting upon the prompting of the Lord without sign after sign can bless your life and set God's will in motion!

In life, we will go through hard times and good times…we know this. But, more often than not, we forget why this is. God gives us ups and downs in life to teach us! Whether it is to depend on Him for what we need on a daily basis or remembering to bless Him when He does provide what we need, we need to learn! In today's message, Pastor Gary will remind you that as you go through different seasons of life, whether good or bad, to be thankful either way! A grateful heart will never lead you astray!

After reading stories in the Bible of all God has done and all His people have done through the power of the Holy Spirit, how could you not want Him to intercede in your life?! How could you not want Him to bless you, use you, and guide you into amazing things, just like He has in the Scripture?! In today's message, Pastor Gary will encourage you to allow God to do those things in and through you! Surrender control to Him and then obey and see ALL that He can accomplish with and for you!

Think back to the time you were spiritually dead…or maybe you feel that way right now…Jesus came to defeat that spiritual death and physical death! He came so you and I could be spiritually alive in Him! In today's message, Pastor Gary will share some of what Jesus accomplished on the cross and what that means for you. Death is no longer a worry, your unending cycle of sin is no longer a concern, Jesus Christ defeated all your worries on the cross…and He did so with YOU in mind!

All people stumble and make poor choices…even Christians…the difference is we Christians know God and are forgiven when we approach God with a humble heart! We will never get to a place where we don't need forgiveness from God, not until we're in heaven with God. In today's message, Pastor Gary will encourage you to read your Bible. Reading your Bible sets you up for success, it can reveal more of God and His plan, and it encourages you to follow after God more fiercely!

A lot of time to the world, Christians look “wild”. People who don't know Jesus and haven't experienced Him tend to think we look crazy, but that doesn't matter! It doesn't matter what people think; It only matters what God thinks! In today's message, Pastor Gary will show you how nothing truly matters if you're obeying God and following Him! If you're aligned with God and His word and He says you're right, then no one's opinion matters. It is between you and the Lord to decide what is best!

Have you ever had an addition or a major renovation done on your home? Before the job started, did the construction crew get a blueprint? Or, did they just make it up as they went? Today, Pastor Gary shows how Jesus Himself set the example of following God's blueprint for His life. How well do you know God's blueprint – the Bible? And knowing it, how carefully do you follow it? By examining how Jesus observed God's direction, you'll gain insight into how you can do it as well.