From the Pastor's Desk / Revelation / Sunday Sermons

Regaining Perspective

Sometimes life is discouraging.  It may be personal struggles, it may be injustices, it may  just be the daily grind that gets us down.  Sometimes, we need to regain perspective. Usually we think of reading the Bible as something that should help us, should encourage us. I have to admit though, that as I worked through Revelation 13 last time, I found myself being discouraged.  You see, even though I believe I will miss the events of Revelation 13, it reminded me too much of today, and it reminded me that things are unlikely to get better any time soon.  …

From the Pastor's Desk / Revelation / Sunday Sermons

The Beast and His Partner in Deception Part 2

Are you a spiritual person?  The fact that you are here, reading this post  seems to indicate that you are or that you at least have some interest in the spiritual.  It is only, well, natural.  We are spiritual creatures made in the image of the True God.  Although we are a fallen and sin-corrupted image, we still are spiritual, longing to know and worship some form of deity.  Unfortunately, there are many varying religions out there claiming to point you in the “right” direction, but  only one True God, worthy of our worship.  Do you know Him?  Do you …

From the Pastor's Desk / Revelation / Sunday Sermons

The Beast and His Partner in Deception Part 1

Revelation 13 paints a portrait of a future leader to whom the nations of the world will give  absolute power and worship.  It describes how the world will submit to a totalitarian form of government where even the smallest buying and selling requires  the official seal of this man on your body and any disobedience results in death.  Amazingly, we will see that the nations not only submit to this; they will cheer it. You see, in the midst of crisis, people are always looking for a deliverer.  The greater the crisis and the stronger the fear, the more people …

From the Pastor's Desk / Revelation / Sunday Sermons

Understanding the Battle of the Ages Part 2

Whether we realize it or not, we are living in a world occupied by the worst enemy of all time – Satan. We live under his oppression – it is seen all around us.  The Bible tells us that the whole world lies under his sway.  He easily controls those who don’t know Christ as their Savior, but he is also powerfully at work influencing believers, tempting them and seeking to deceive them.  He also accuses them before God in heaven, seeking to provoke Him against us.  If you are a follower of Jesus, however, you have a solid hope: …

From the Pastor's Desk / Revelation / Sunday Sermons

Understanding the Battle of the Ages

Throughout history their are many examples of oppressed people waiting for deliverance.  One example is that of the French in World War 2 hoping and waiting for the Allies to deliver them from the oppression of the German occupation.  In the midst of that waiting and hoping, they had to continue to live and not loose heart.  The day that those living near the coast saw the beginning of D-Day, their faith became sight as the Allied forces began to drive the Germans back and the uniformed soldiers occupying their land no longer wore the Swastika, but rather the flags …

Revelation / Sunday Sermons

Trusting the God Who Finishes What He Starts

Have you ever promised in advance to do something for someone, but when the time came to follow through, you forgot?  I find it very upsetting when I realize that I have not followed through on a promise to someone.  It is easy to have good intentions on doing something but then mess up keeping that promise, whether through forgetfulness or some other limitation that keeps you from completing it.  It is part of being human; even the best fail sometimes. It is easy to transfer that human weakness to God, especially since in His wise timing, there is often …

From the Pastor's Desk / Sunday Sermons

Giving Grace to the Very End

Dane Ortland, in his book “Gentle and Lowly”, describes Christ’s desire to show grace with a story about a doctor on a mercy mission. He flies to a remote village that has never had the benefit of modern medicine to bring a cure to their illness and disease. He is traveling with all his tools and medicines, eager to bring them healing and relief. When he arrives, however, the proud and cautious tribesmen will not allow him to treat them, out of fear of the unknown and pride in their own (unsuccessful) methods. Finally, through gentle persuasion, the doctor gets …

From the Pastor's Desk / Sunday Sermons

The End of Delay

Psalm 24 tells us: “The earth is the Lord’s and all it’s fullness  the world and those who dwell therein.  For He has found it upon the seas, and established it upon the waters.”  It can be hard sometimes to understand why, if the Lord is the master of the world, that it is so dark and evil.  The short answer to this is found in Ephesians 2 where we see that currently Satan is operating as the Prince of the Power of the air and he works in the “sons of disobedience”, those who are not redeemed followers of …

Sunday Sermons

Special Speaker – Bill Kennedy from CEF.

Today we are excited to have with us Bill Kennedy, the Lycoming County director of Child Evangelism Fellowship. Bill became the director of CEF Lycoming County in 2000 after working for a number of years as a youth leader with middle and high school teens in church ministry. Bill’s heart is not only making sure that children have an opportunity to trust Christ through hearing the gospel, but to raise up the next generation of children’s workers through the mentoring of college and career age young adults. Working faithfully with Bill is his wife of 32 years, Mary Ann. Bill …

From the Pastor's Desk / Sunday Sermons

God and the Forces of Darkness

Have you considered the relationship between God and the forces of darkness, i.e. Satan and his demons?  Is it a classic dualism with both sides fighting neck and neck to win?  Is Satan equal to God?  Where did he come from?  What is he really like? As we continue the study in the biblical book of revelation, we come to chapter 9 and read about “the abyss” being opened and horrible creatures come out and torture many on earth.  This raises many questions about the nature of these creatures, the abyss, and the questions stated above: “Who is Satan?”, “What …