New Life Anyone?

1. Hayden 4-25=17

God has called us to new life. Jesus Christ rose from the day around this time of the year and each year we gear up to celebrate His resurrection. The kids get an Easter basket full of chocolate and baby peeps (and some adults too!), many have a barbecue cookout with family, and we lounge for most of the day watching a game or good movie (or at least sleeping on the couch while one is playing).   A nice day of rest. I certainly enjoyed it. But let me encourage all of us to be sure and take the time to go deeper as we remember the resurrection of our Lord. It was not so that another holiday could be added to our calendar in the spring. It was done so that we might experience resurrection for ourselves.

Jesus rose from the dead so that we might, along with our own bodily resurrection when God calls us home, experience the resurrection of our own soul and spirit today. We can know what it means when Paul says this in First Thessalonians 5:23-24, “Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you completely; and may your whole spirit, soul, and body be preserved blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. 24 He who calls you is faithful, who also will do it.” When we were born again, God provided us a new spirit made alive to Him through the power of His Spirit so that we might live redeemed, resurrected lives in Christ. Our Lord’s death and resurrection paved the way so that we may have a new life, free from the bondage of sin, free from our past failures and mistakes and free to live from Jesus Christ, our Lord, our Savior, our Friend.

As Paul tells us in Galatians 2:20, “I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me.”

Paul applied the death and resurrection of Jesus to his own life and God calls us to do the same. We need to be able to say of ourselves, “We our crucified with Christ, but live as one raised from the dead and now live for the one who raised us up to new life.” Can you say that today? Look to Jesus for help in living out this new life in Christ that we have been given.

Be blessed even more!!

Pastor Chris

Faithful To The Word

1. Hayden 4-10-17

The last decade has revealed an ever-growing apostasy that has attached itself to many in the Church. This apostasy has its support in the idea that “diversity” is the greatest benefit to society and so we need to embrace the belief systems of other religions so as to promote diversity. First of all, diversity that does not have “unity” as its foundation brings division and chaos. We see this in the news on a daily basis. But this idea that all religions are the same, only the names are different, is absolutely false at its very core. Focusing on the words of Jesus, it is clear that the Lord did not in anyway buy into this false concept.   While there may be many Christian denominations and non-denominational fellowships that are pathways to a relationship with Christ, there is only one pathway to God and that is through Christ alone. It is this apostate doctrine that all religions lead to God that has led many liberal leaders in organizations like The National Council of Churches and the World Council of Churches to label missionary efforts and proselytizing (witnessing for Jesus) for the Lord as being arrogant and intolerant of other people and their culture.

John 14:5-7 says this, “Thomas said to Him, “Lord, we do not know where You are going, and how can we know the way?” 6 Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me. 7 “If you had known Me, you would have known My Father also; and from now on you know Him and have seen Him.” Jesus is not one way to God, He is the only way to God! That does not mean we should be unkind with others of different religions or cannot be a friend to people of other faiths. On the contrary, we are told to love even our enemies, so loving those who believe differently than we do is a hallmark of our faith. But we should never join with them in accepting their faith apart from Christ as an acceptable pathway to God. We need to be faithful to God’s Word, realize that apart from faith in Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross for our sins, and continue to love others enough to tell them the truth of their need for The Savior, who is Christ the Lord.

Be blessed even more!

Pastor Chris

Joy, Joy, Joy

1. Hayden 3-25-17

Don’t let the devil steal your joy. Let me say that again. Don’t let the devil steal your joy. It never seems to fail that when we experience a victory in our lives, i.e. a wonderful time of worship, a soul being saved and baptized, or a step forward in our spiritual growth, an unexpected blessing, the devil can often be found trying to rob us of our new found joy.   This can happen through negative circumstances or negative people or our own personal negativity arising in the shadow of victory like a wall sent to block all the good things God has been doing. We end up focusing on the negativity and soon the victory we experienced is forgotten and our joy in the Lord has evaporated. Proverbs 4:23 reads thusly, “Guard your heart with all diligence, for out it flow the issues of life.” If we allow the devil to steal our joy, our whole life is affected and we end up becoming the vehicle of negativity that goes about stealing joy from others, affecting the whole Church.

So how do we combat those attacks on our joy? First, look upon negative incursions as an opportunity to be joyful anyway. Scripture says, “My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials, 3 knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience. 4 But let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing” (James 1:2-4). Though the attack may have it’s origin in the devil, God will use it for our good if we let Him.

And second, take the advice of Philippians 4:6-9, “Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; 7 and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. 8 Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy—meditate on these things. 9 The things which you learned and received and heard and saw in me, these do, and the God of peace will be with you.” Let God’s peace be a guard over your heart. Remember, an attack from the enemy of our souls often means we have been and are doing something right! Don’t let the devil steal your joy!

Be blessed even more!

Pastor Chris