Category: From the Pastor’s Desk

30 A.D. was a tough time to be a Jew in Jerusalem.  Oppression by Rome, corrupt rulers, oppressive taxes.  There was a deep longing for a deliverer, someone who would fix things and who would be a worthy ruler to follow; but what does that mean?  Do all agree one what it means to “fix things”? Does everyone agree on what a worthy ruler is?  We certainly don’t today! Things were no different in 30 A.D.  Everyone had a different idea of how things should be and who a worthy leader was.  This message looks at the Triumphal entry of …

I remember about 10 years ago I was helping to load a full length flatbed trailer with haybales.  I was on the ground with two of my boys while the farmer was on the truck.  I hadn’t worked that hard physically in quite a while and by the time we were on the top layer, my arms felt like jelly and I found myself with my head sagging.  I no longer looked up, I just kept picking up the next bale and tossing it on the elevator.  The only thing that kept me going was a little pride, a sense …

Not every message is encouraging or inspirational.  Sometimes bad news needs to be delivered, hard things need to be said.  So it is with the letter to the Church in Thyatira.  They may have thought because of all their good works and their busyness for God that everything was good, but it was not.  In the midst of this loving, hard working church, was  horrible immorality.  Some were believing the lie that is was okay, others may have just tolerated it to be polite, but God was outraged.  His letter expresses this and gives one more chance for them to …

In the effort to be kind, accepting, and loving, we can sometimes be harmful and destructive to ourselves and to others. Not telling someone their beliefs and actions are harmful is not only dishonest to them, it sends an dangerous message to all involved.  It approves a destructive behavior that will likely grow and be adopted by others. Christ addresses the seriousness of this reality in Revelation 2:12-17.  He sends a message to the church at Pergamos addressing this very issue. He reminds the church of His watch over them, the good that they have done, but also points out …

Doesn’t sound like much of a slogan for an ad campaign, does it?  Yet the reality is, faithful followers of God have known persecution since the beginning of time.  Why?  Because since the fall in Genesis, this world has been under the influence of Satan and anyone seeking God has been in his crosshairs.  God, however, is never absent in the lives of His children.  He is very much in touch with their pain and their needs. As we continue our study of the book of Revelation, we come to the letter Christ sent to the church of Smyrna.  This …

We are excited to have Bob Mays as a guest speaker for this service.  Bob is a member of the Gideons International and will be sharing about their work and his own experiences spreading God’s Word through their ministry.  We will get to hear first hand stories of the power of God’s Word changing lives. The Gideons International are a body of believers dedicated to making the Word of God available to everyone and, together with the local church, reaching souls for Christ.  They began with just two businessmen in 1908 who were burdened for evangelism and began to place …

Have you ever gotten so wrapped up in doing something that you forgot why you are doing it?  That sounds crazy, and sometimes it’s kind of funny when it happens, but it can be very serious.  A task that starts out brining us joy and satisfaction can become wearisome and mundane if we forget the purpose and value of it. That is what happened to the church in Ephesus 1900 years ago, and sadly, it happens a lot in churches today.  We get so busy doing “God’s Work” that we forget God; we forget who we are serving and why.  …

For many, church is something they go to.  It is “that building with the big steeple” or maybe it’s “that gathering we attend each Sunday”.  Some have it more correctly when they refer to the church as a group of people who meet each week to worship God.  The question is, do we realize how important the church is?  Church should never be seen simply as a building, a place, or just a casual gathering.  The church is the heart of God’s plan for the world. In our age of celebrating the individual it is easy for us to miss …