Introduction: How do you talk about peace? How often do you pray for peace? What would real peace look like for you? Do you have peace this Christmas Season? The Bible is all about the message of Shalom, peace. God is even called the God of Peace. Jesus was announced as the Prince of Peace....
Introduction: Buying gifts can be a difficult task. What color? What size? Will they like it? Do they need it? These are questions that play into our gift buying decisions. When Jesus came to earth with gifts of Hope, Love, Peace, and Joy, He didn’t expect a gift in return even though He did receive...
Introduction: Into a dark world, Jesus came bringing HOPE to the darkness. It is pretty much a given that you will experience difficult and painful times in your life. To travel through life’s trouble successfully, you HOPE. Humanity longs for HOPE – hoping the future will be better than the present. Placing your HOPE in...
Introduction: 1 John ends like a Zoom call that gets disconnected. It seems as though John is in the middle of a statement, and the internet shuts down. This loving, warmhearted disciple of Jesus, John, concludes by telling the 2nd and 3rd generation Christians to make Jesus the center of their life and worship. What...
Introduction: Have you ever met a family member that you hadn’t seen before and were surprised at the family resemblance? Maybe you’ve experienced a moment when an adopted child met their biological parent for the first time, and they saw a resemblance of themselves in their biological parent, both physically and in behaviors. The Apostle...
Introduction: Have you ever purchased a knockoff watch, handbag, or pair of shoes? Did you know that you were purchasing a knockoff, or did you think you were purchasing the genuine product? In 1 John, the Apostle lovingly encourages us to remain in fellowship with Jesus Christ who is the “Deep Truth” and not a...
Introduction: Recalculating is something we’ve all done during the COVID-19 pandemic. How we do most everything has been altered. Not everything is bad about the recalculations. New Life Church is attempting to improve its online presence. I understand the environment has been helped since so many are working from home and not commuting to offices....
Introduction: Following Jesus results in overwhelming faith, but at times it can also be inconvenient, costly, and even embarrassing. It can cause us to miss opportunities, lose business, or stand out in the crowd when we’d rather fit in. Even Jesus’ earliest followers wrestled with this tension. But one of his disciples asked a question...
Introduction: The people who first started following Jesus were misbehavers and non-believers. It took them a long time to believe in and then to follow Jesus. As Jesus was approaching the Cross, many of His closest disciples were captivated by human concerns more than they were given to God’s concerns. They eventually embraced God’s agenda...
