Messages

Everyone is willing to do for those who can do for them, but what set Christians apart from the very beginning was their care for those who could not care for themselves. Building on the foundation laid in the Old Testament, the early Christians took seriously the call to take care of the poor and the marginalized in their midst. Today, we are called to do the same.

In a world where children were literally thrown out with the trash and left to die or to be picked up and sold to slave traders or sex traffickers, it was the early Christians who would take in those kids to raise them as their own. Knowing that all humans were made in God's image meant that all life was worth saving.

Slave and master, rich and poor, Jew and Gentile, and men and women, were all invited to be a part of the kingdom of God. The multi-racial, multi-ethnic, and economic diversity in the church was unmatched in its day. Everyone was welcome. Since all people are made in the image of God, all people are invited to be a part of the body of Christ.

As Christians we often read and hear that we should forgive one another, but is there a limit to the amount of forgiveness we should give? At what point is it okay to stop forgiving someone? The answer to these questions is actually a matter of life and death.

Today Pastor Corey Huard takes us through the biblical command to share one another's burdens. There are types of burdens we can help share with others such as emotional burdens, financial burdens, and grief and mourning.

This year for Variety Pack we are teaching through the famous "One Another" commands of the New Testament. Joe Zizz takes us through a conversation on the importance of using our words to encourage others while we still can.

This year for Variety Pack we are teaching through the famous "One Another" commands of the New Testament. Tim Duensing takes us through what it looks like to biblically admonish one another, as well as how to receive admonishment well if we are confronted by other believers to turn from our sin.

At the end of Job's suffering, scripture says he was blessed in the latter part of his life more than he was before. Does that mean we, too, will experience greater earthly blessings after our suffering? Unfortunately, no. However, for those who remain faithful to Jesus, we are promised that one day, our suffering too will end, and we too will be richly blessed beyond measure. Job got in this life what we are promised to get in the next.

Many people will say, “I can’t wait to ask God why he ____________.” There is an expectation that God owes them an explanation. Job gets the opportunity so many people dream of, and it doesn’t go as he envisioned. When confronted about Job's suffering, God offers no explanation except: I am God.

A few weeks ago we learned what not to say from Job's three friends. Today a new voice jumps in, a young man named Elihu. He offers a different perspective on what to say to someone who has suffered greatly. Sometimes, in addition to encouragement and lament, there are hard things that need to be said in love and truth.