Woodland Friends Church

You ever feel like the world's going down the drain, and no one cares... and you thought God cared, but He doesn't appear to either? Enter into the Northern Kingdom if Israel where powers and principalities ruled it, but one man rises up to face the tide of the culture with truth: it is indeed Yahweh who brings the rains, not Baal.

No matter where Jesus arises from, His history, His story, the truth He offers to the entire world is salvation - and when you hear salvation, don’t just think forgiveness, but think rest, think abundant life, think active, sure, hope… but here’s the truth, the one truth: the truth Christ offers for the world is found nowhere else but Himself. That’s it. What we offer as Christians, is Jesus, no more or less. It’s Jesus.

No matter where Jesus arises from, His history, His story, the truth He offers to the entire world is salvation - and when you hear salvation, don’t just think forgiveness, but think rest, think abundant life, think active, sure, hope… but here’s the truth, the one truth: the truth Christ offers for the world is found nowhere else but Himself. That’s it. What we offer as Christians, is Jesus, no more or less. It’s Jesus.

What are you living from when it happened last time to when it happens next time? What's your go to, to recharge? What's your FINAL, MUST-HAVE, thing that you sure will provide what you're looking for? And when will you learn it can't offer what you're looking for?

What are you living from when it happened last time to when it happens next time? What's your go to, to recharge? What's your FINAL, MUST-HAVE, thing that you sure will provide what you're looking for? And when will you learn it can't offer what you're looking for?

Do we ever forget that we’re introducing people to Jesus, but we don’t need to introduce Jesus to those people? He already knows the someone you need to invite to Him! God REVEALS Himself to you and me and He eventually reveals Himself to the people we invite, because He’s real! He’s still inviting people into His Kingdom, and He still shows Himself to people like Nathanael who might be at first resistant to think, that this Jesus guy that all the crazy Christians talk about might be anyOne worth knowing!

Do we ever forget that we’re introducing people to Jesus, but we don’t need to introduce Jesus to those people? He already knows the someone you need to invite to Him! God REVEALS Himself to you and me and He eventually reveals Himself to the people we invite, because He’s real! He’s still inviting people into His Kingdom, and He still shows Himself to people like Nathanael who might be at first resistant to think, that this Jesus guy that all the crazy Christians talk about might be anyOne worth knowing!

You never know what’s in a person's heart, do you? I mean at first glance, this is an odd response. Peter listens to a sermon or some teachings from Jesus, the people disperse, Jesus tells him to fish, Peter catches this miraculous load of fish and now, “Go away from me, Lord, for I am a sinful man.”

You never know what’s in a person's heart, do you? I mean at first glance, this is an odd response. Peter listens to a sermon or some teachings from Jesus, the people disperse, Jesus tells him to fish, Peter catches this miraculous load of fish and now, “Go away from me, Lord, for I am a sinful man.”

As long as you or I are content with the world, in all of its dark ways, and we aren’t BEING or REVEALING something new... If we’re not sharing the light of the world, if we aren’t being the city on a hill? There’s no news to spread, then! If we’re just people with busier Sundays, what do we have to offer for the searching soul?

As long as you or I are content with the world, in all of its dark ways, and we aren’t BEING or REVEALING something new... If we’re not sharing the light of the world, if we aren’t being the city on a hill? There’s no news to spread, then! If we’re just people with busier Sundays, what do we have to offer for the searching soul?

Ever been in a hotel and see a Gideons' Bible? Who are these people? Why are they everywhere in hotels, Doctors' Offices, or even coming home with your kids from school at times? John Swan, a local Gideon presented this Sunday at Woodland Friends Church.

Meet Fred and Jonelle Liddell, missionary candidates to the Balkans. In this presentation we hear their call, and their passion. Learn more and support them at: https://catalog.friendsmission.com/campaign/efm-missionary-candidates-or-the-liddell-family/c580952; and see the video at our YouTube. "Both Fred and Jonelle have felt a strong calling to serve overseas and have diligently prepared themselves spiritually, emotionally, and practically for this endeavor. They have expressed interest in serving in the Balkans region, including countries such as Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, and Serbia."

The antidote for complacency is Christ. If you or I know, love, serve, and follow Christ, and know Him as He reveals Himself to us, then we cannot be complacent. When Christ comes, He ignites a fire in your soul!

The antidote for complacency is Christ. If you or I know, love, serve, and follow Christ, and know Him as He reveals Himself to us, then we cannot be complacent. When Christ comes, He ignites a fire in your soul!

“It’s pointless to serve God. Others who don’t serve Him are ahead in life. That’s why its pointless,” some argue. To put it in opposite terms, perhaps a question that God might be asking is this: "what if serving Him is not about getting ahead in life? What if being at the top of the food chain is not where worth or value or identity is even to be had?"

“It’s pointless to serve God. Others who don’t serve Him are ahead in life. That’s why its pointless,” some argue. To put it in opposite terms, perhaps a question that God might be asking is this: "what if serving Him is not about getting ahead in life? What if being at the top of the food chain is not where worth or value or identity is even to be had?"

What if robbing God is actually robbing ourselves when we do so? We miss out on blessings when we disobey God because we feel the costs are too high. What if the costs are to high to NOT obey? What if our predicaments now that we're in is actually due to past disobedience, and the only way out now actually is our obedience?

What if robbing God is actually robbing ourselves when we do so? We miss out on blessings when we disobey God because we feel the costs are too high. What if the costs are to high to NOT obey? What if our predicaments now that we're in is actually due to past disobedience, and the only way out now actually is our obedience?

We might see so much injustice, “God why aren’t you doing anything?” His patience is not a sign of His inactivity. His patience is not a sign of His non-existence. It’s a sign of mercy. And the irony is, is His patience is meant for our repentance and redemption concerning where WE have been unjust and don't even know it.

We might see so much injustice, “God why aren’t you doing anything?” His patience is not a sign of His inactivity. His patience is not a sign of His non-existence. It’s a sign of mercy. And the irony is, is His patience is meant for our repentance and redemption concerning where WE have been unjust and don't even know it.

We might see so much injustice, “God why aren’t you doing anything?” His patience is not a sign of His inactivity. His patience is not a sign of His non-existence. It’s a sign of mercy. And the irony is, is His patience is meant for our repentance and redemption concerning where WE have been unjust and don't even know it.

We might see so much injustice, “God why aren’t you doing anything?” His patience is not a sign of His inactivity. His patience is not a sign of His non-existence. It’s a sign of mercy. And the irony is, is His patience is meant for our repentance and redemption concerning where WE have been unjust and don't even know it.

It's a simple enough logic that Malachi is preaching. He's essentially saying, “the man who can’t be faithful to his wife whom he knows and sees, obviously demonstrates he cannot be faithful to God whom he cannot see.” What does faithfulness with your fellow brother, sister, friend or spouse say about your faithfulness to God?

It's a simple enough logic that Malachi is preaching. He's essentially saying, “the man who can’t be faithful to his wife whom he knows and sees, obviously demonstrates he cannot be faithful to God whom he cannot see.” What does faithfulness with your fellow brother, sister, friend or spouse say about your faithfulness to God?

Integrity is defined as, a “firm adherence to a code of especially moral or artistic values,” and the dictionary points readers to see the entry for INCORRUPTIBILITY. Or, another definition states that integrity is “the quality or state of being complete or undivided.” I like that. When you or I act one way here, and another way there, that is divided. The Priests of Malachi were divided, claiming to be descendants of the likes of the Levites who cleansed Israel with Moses, or Phinehas, but acting in the present, less than that.

Integrity is defined as, a “firm adherence to a code of especially moral or artistic values,” and the dictionary points readers to see the entry for INCORRUPTIBILITY. Or, another definition states that integrity is “the quality or state of being complete or undivided.” I like that. When you or I act one way here, and another way there, that is divided. The Priests of Malachi were divided, claiming to be descendants of the likes of the Levites who cleansed Israel with Moses, or Phinehas, but acting in the present, less than that.

Respect. Is that a lost commodity in this world? A lack of respect for God leads to a complacent heart... and many times, as the definition of complacency implies, we're blissfully unaware of how our going-through-the-motions betrays a lack of respect of God and the way He wants worship? Maybe we should begin to ask God in our prayers, "Father, am I respecting You?"

Respect. Is that a lost commodity in this world? A lack of respect for God leads to a complacent heart... and many times, as the definition of complacency implies, we're blissfully unaware of how our going-through-the-motions betrays a lack of respect of God and the way He wants worship? Maybe we should begin to ask God in our prayers, "Father, am I respecting You?"

Jesus many times puzzles His hearers with his words. Sometimes they are enigmatic and mysterious. Other times they seem to constitute a tall order that hardly seems surmountable. What are they, and why does He speak so?

Israel had been through a school of hard knocks. You ever have a history? You ever get that scarred chip on your shoulder? “Yeah I'm a believer. I guess. I don't know why. XYZ happened. That threw me for a loop,” and then you kind of - either vocally OR subconsciously get to this, “God owes me,” sort of feeling. Embittered. “I guess I grew up. I thought He was with me. For me. I guess not.” Even so, God has the audacity to look Israel in the face after all they've been through when they thought they could trust Him - and He says, "I HAVE loved you!"

Israel had been through a school of hard knocks. You ever have a history? You ever get that scarred chip on your shoulder? “Yeah I'm a believer. I guess. I don't know why. XYZ happened. That threw me for a loop,” and then you kind of - either vocally OR subconsciously get to this, “God owes me,” sort of feeling. Embittered. “I guess I grew up. I thought He was with me. For me. I guess not.” Even so, God has the audacity to look Israel in the face after all they've been through when they thought they could trust Him - and He says, "I HAVE loved you!"

Most of us I think know the what of Easter Sunday. What happened: Jesus resurrected. But I sat down yesterday afternoon and said, “Why?” The why of Easter? And that’s what I wanted to answer plainly, and thus I set out to consider few verses from John.

Whether it’s deciding and believing and choosing to live for Christ altogether, or it’s discerning what you think God is saying to you about a few things in your life – it’s in, out, in, out, what they said, what He said, what they said, what He said, and maybe at the end of some choices all it has been is a defeated, reluctant choice. I wonder if we realize the stakes? The stakes at times of our obedience. Of our saying yes to Christ not only for He to save us, but also when He commissions us to do whatever He wants us to do. Who is waiting on your obedience right now, and neither that person or you know it? What does the Holy Spirit say to you about what yo need to do?

Whether it’s deciding and believing and choosing to live for Christ altogether, or it’s discerning what you think God is saying to you about a few things in your life – it’s in, out, in, out, what they said, what He said, what they said, what He said, and maybe at the end of some choices all it has been is a defeated, reluctant choice. I wonder if we realize the stakes? The stakes at times of our obedience. Of our saying yes to Christ not only for He to save us, but also when He commissions us to do whatever He wants us to do. Who is waiting on your obedience right now, and neither that person or you know it? What does the Holy Spirit say to you about what yo need to do?

We examine Peter's denial and find quite shockingly less a sad story of Peter's failure, but humbly, a story of faith, albeit broken, still challenging to aspire to. May we aspire to it, and even greater past it! Do we love Jesus? If we do, how are we tending His sheep?

We examine Peter's denial and find quite shockingly less a sad story of Peter's failure, but humbly, a story of faith, albeit broken, still challenging to aspire to. May we aspire to it, and even greater past it! Do we love Jesus? If we do, how are we tending His sheep?

Meanwhile here is a Guy who can walk on water, command the weather - you know, stop practically hurricanes on the lake! He can cast out demons! This Jesus can literally undo infirmities like paralysis, or blindness… But how is it that here - in this garden - He’s giving Himself up so quickly? He’s letting a bunch of knuckle-headed, oppositional, hostile people... He’s just going to give Himself up? So Peter steps up to the plate! He can't let this happen!

Meanwhile here is a Guy who can walk on water, command the weather - you know, stop practically hurricanes on the lake! He can cast out demons! This Jesus can literally undo infirmities like paralysis, or blindness… But how is it that here - in this garden - He’s giving Himself up so quickly? He’s letting a bunch of knuckle-headed, oppositional, hostile people... He’s just going to give Himself up? So Peter steps up to the plate! He can't let this happen!

After David defeats his son Absalom in the Civil War, as things are coming back together, there's a shadow and pall over the kingdom. What's this demonstrate? What is this about..?

After David defeats his son Absalom in the Civil War, as things are coming back together, there's a shadow and pall over the kingdom. What's this demonstrate? What is this about..?

I don’t know. Absalom maybe, had he lived, would have sucked up to David, “Thanks for beating the army and sparing me,” and looked for an opportunity later to kill his father. Maybe Joab was right. Maybe Absalom should’ve died. Maybe the world only goes around on the wheels of the likes of blood thirsty men like Joab. But then again, has the love of God reached you? You and I were part of this world, before He found us, and showed us His mercy. Ought we to be merciful like He?

I don’t know. Absalom maybe, had he lived, would have sucked up to David, “Thanks for beating the army and sparing me,” and looked for an opportunity later to kill his father. Maybe Joab was right. Maybe Absalom should’ve died. Maybe the world only goes around on the wheels of the likes of blood thirsty men like Joab. But then again, has the love of God reached you? You and I were part of this world, before He found us, and showed us His mercy. Ought we to be merciful like He?

With Ahithophel, we might feel the moral sting of David's sins against his own granddaughter - Bathsheba. Even so, we must not disagree with God's grace and forgiveness. And thus it is interesting in the fulfillment of judgment upon David’s sin (2 Sam 12:11,12), God also is redeeming David from his current predicament and restoring him as king!

With Ahithophel, we might feel the moral sting of David's sins against his own granddaughter - Bathsheba. Even so, we must not disagree with God's grace and forgiveness. And thus it is interesting in the fulfillment of judgment upon David’s sin (2 Sam 12:11,12), God also is redeeming David from his current predicament and restoring him as king!