So How Do I Get The Spirit? | Something Is Missing
October 15, 2023
The Holy Spirit can’t be purchased, so how do I receive Him? Is it when I believe? When I am baptized? Does someone need to lay hands on me? Can the Spirit be taken away?
Isn't Jesus Enough | Someone is Missing
October 8, 2023
Jesus promised that He wouldn’t leave us as orphans, but rather, He would send an Advocate to help us. The Holy Spirit comes as a great promise of the New Covenant. He is the great gift that the Father and Son want to give us.
Let Me Reintroduce Myself | Something is Missing
October 1, 2023
63% of Bible-believing Christians confess they don't believe that the Holy Spirit is a person of God. Let's examine what the Scripture says about the Trinity and the Holy Spirit. Who or What is He? Can He be grieved? Lied to? Pleased? Resisted?
Excel in your Commitment | 2 Cor. 9:5-7
September 24, 2023
It doesn’t matter what we are committing to, it is tempting to walk away. We often commit to something with excitement and joy, but over time that excitement wanes and only the commitment remains. The people in Corinth were once excited about joining in the generosity initiative that Paul was inviting them into, but it seems as if that excitement waned and they needed a little prodding. Today is the day we make a commitment. The question is what do we need to do to keep it?
Excel in Thanksgiving | 2 Cor. 9:12-15
September 17, 2023
When we invest in the kingdom of God, it has eternal ramifications. We are thankful for those who invested before us, and others will be thankful for our generosity. We give to God because he first gave to us and we overflow in thanksgiving!
Excel in Joyful Giving | 2 Cor. 9:6-11
September 10, 2023
Like a tip that is mandatory, a tax that is required, or a gift that is obligatory, compelled giving doesn’t honor the recipient. This is why God loves a cheerful giver. Cheerful giving moves God to act. He promises that he will supply and increase our righteousness. He will enrich us, not so that we will have more, but so we can be even more generous!
Excel in your Sacrifice | 2 Cor. 8:10-15
September 3, 2023
Generosity in the church is a shared sacrifice. While not all people can or should give the same amount, we should all give with the same sacrifice. We are called to give according to our means. And our giving will be accepted, according to what we have. In other words, God doesn’t just look at what is given, he also looks at what is left. So, has your giving grown with your means?
Excel in your Eagerness | 2 Cor. 8:8-9
August 27, 2023
Generosity isn’t something we have to do, it is something we get to do. Our generosity is an outward reflection of our devotion to God. It reveals the sincerity of our love for God and others. And our sacrificial giving is a reflection of the sacrificial love of Jesus who went from rich to poor for us!
Excel in your Discipleship | 2 Cor. 8:1-7
August 20, 2023
When it comes to surrendering ourselves to Jesus, often the last part of our lives that we surrender is our money. Jesus expects that as Lord of our lives, he is Lord of all. Yet for many, we live as practical atheists, saying we believe in a Gracious God who will supply all our needs, but we live as if God doesn’t exist. As if the only way to have all our needs met is to disobey what the God we believe in commands us to do.
And for those who have grown in their discipleship and do give, they believe that giving at all is giving enough. Whether it is an amount or a percentage, there is a line to reach and once it is crossed we can check the box forever.
But Paul teaches us that just as we are called to grow in our faith, speech, knowledge, earnestness, and love... we are to keep growing in our generosity.
SILENCE & SOLITUDE - Spiritual Disciplines
August 13, 2023
Even after Jesus had a full day of ministry, the first thing he would do is retreat to a place by himself to commune with the Father. Why did He do this? What benefit would it be for us to do the same? Silence, solitude, praying, and listening to God were intensional essential times for Jesus and His ministry. Therefore we should consider what that should look like for us in our modern time where constant noise competes for our attention.