Looking at the topic of the Resurrection Sunday, but of course the real question on EVERYONE'S mind right now is WHAT kind of Star Wars meme will Pastor Peter come up with to celebrate "May the Fourth Be You" Sunday. Also, we happen to have a famous rock star helping with the message!
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If you were to receive a letter in the mail saying that you have a long lost relative who has left you with a million dollars... you would be skeptical. Is this a scam? But that's a lot of money. So you would absolutely vet it. Why not do that with the resurrection of Jesus. On Easter Sunday we looked at the evidence for the Resurrection but also it's meaning and implications.
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This Sunday is Palm Sunday. In our sermon for Sunday we'll look at the significance of that special day. But we will also focus on what happened the day before and the night before. For Jesus, what happened then was perhaps even more meaningful than the crowds and the palms and the shouts of Hosanna.
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It's six months before Jesus goes to the cross. He is at the Feast of Tabernacles in Jerusalem. He has just said two startling things. Now in our text for Sunday he brings it all together in a way that changes one man's life forever and sets the stage for a dramatic showdown with the religious powers of the day. What is the text? Find out in this message!
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Jesus said some rather radical things about prayer and faith. If I'm honest, what he said does not often line up with my personal experience. In this message we will wrestle with that reality for many of us as we discover ten lessons about prayer and faith that the Enemy does not want us to learn.
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Some Christians would like to see the church engaged to change the world through the politics of the right. Other Christians want the church to spur on change in our world by embracing the politics of the left. Jesus had a different plan. It's called the Kingdom and it follows different rules. Find out in this message.
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Was Jesus bi-polar? It sure seems like it sometimes. One moment he's saying the most comforting thing, the next minute he says something really tough. But no, he wasn't bi-polar. There's a different reason. Find out in this message what it is.
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Matthew 7:13-27 is the ending to the greatest sermon ever preached. But it's also a very challenging text. Join us Sunday as we wrestle with the text and discover the masterful way Jesus ties the whole Sermon on the Mount together!
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Arguably the greatest parable Jesus ever told was what we call the Parable of the Prodigal Son. Many have noted that it's equally about the older brother too. But most significantly it was a story that would have outraged its hearers.
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The Sermon on the Mount. It was the greatest sermon ever preached. What were the main points of the Sermon and what is its message for us today? Find out in this message.
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Jesus came not just preaching the Kingdom but doing the works of the Kingdom. He healed the sick and cast out demons. And then he gave that same authority to his disciples. Question: Do we still have that authority? If so, how and when should we be praying for healing and how do we safeguard ourselves from falling into unhealthy extremes? Those are the questions we will tackle in this message as we look at nine Biblical clues about healing for the church today.
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Jesus began his public ministry preaching the Kingdom and healing every sickness and casting out demons. Far from "gentle Jesus meek and mild", Jesus came on the scene making a declaration of war! In this message we begin to look at the nature of that war and what our part is in it.
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Who were the three kings who brought gifts to the baby Jesus in the stable? Well, first off there weren't three of them and they weren't kings. And Jesus wasn't a baby and there was no stable. Find out who they really were and what really happened in this message as we celebrate Epiphany!
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400 years go by between the end of the Old Testament and the beginning of the New Testament. We call these years the "silent years" because no prophets arose during this time nor were any inspired Scriptures written during this time. However, God was not really silent. He was working "under the hood" to get things ready for Jesus. In this message we explore what happened during these forgotten years.
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You've heard the phrase "absence makes the heart grow fonder"? In the message we'll see the significance of that phrase as it relates to the closing chapters of the Old Testament drama and how it all sets the stage for Book Two of the Trilogy!
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Four Kings beats a Full House! Pretty good poker hand in this message as we look at the lives of FOUR GOOD KINGS of the southern Kingdom of Judah and what we can learn from their stories.
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The most powerful king followed by civil war and the emergence of two kingdoms. That happens and then it just gets confusing. In this message we make sense of the period of the kings of Israel and Judah and discover an Advent season romance embedded right in the heart of ancient Israel's story.
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In this message we begin the season of Advent. We will light the Prophecy Candle in expectation and hope of the coming of Jesus the Messiah, the Son of David. And we will also look at the tragic life of another "son of David" (Absalom) and how David's "father-fail" set the stage for a Descendant of his to accomplish what David could not bring himself to do.
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King David sinned just as miserably as King Saul. Yet he was called a man after God's heart. What was it that made David different? In this message we explore that question and discover seven lessons from the life of David.
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Do you ever feel insecure or have issues of fearing what others think and allowing those fears to impact your decisions and behavior? King Saul did. In this message we will be doing a study in brokenness - King Saul's and ours.
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God dramatically rescued the Israelites from slavery in Egypt and into a destiny for them in the Land of Promise that he is taking them to. But before getting to that land of promise the Israelites experience 40 years of wilderness wandering. In this message we do an overview of that "wilderness wandering" period for God's people and see what we can learn about our own wilderness seasons in our lives.
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Everything in the Old Testament are like shadows for which Jesus and the Gospel is the real object casting the shadow. Two of the greatest shadows in the Old Testament are the Passover and the Red Sea Crossing. In this message we explore those two shadows and what we learn about the gospel from them. NOTE: The first half of the sermon did not record the audio so this video is only of the second half of the message.
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The three great monotheistic religions - Judaism, Christianity and Islam - each regard him as the father of their faith. But he grew up worshiping the moon goddess Nana in present day Iraq. His name is Abraham and in this message we will explore where his faith in the One True God came from and what it was that made Abraham one of those most significant figures in all of human history.
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In this message we continue our "through the Bible" series with a look at the next two key events in the early chapters of Genesis: The Flood and the Tower of Babel. Why did they happen and what function did they play in God's plan of redemption? Find out in this message.
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Cain killed Abel and then was banished to the east. Then he found a wife, had a kid and built a city. So... if Cain is the firstborn of Adam and Eve, where did all the people come from? Find out one possible answer to that question, along with three core lessons from the Cain and Abel story in this message.
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If the stories of the Bible were a trilogy of books, book one would be the Old Testament, book two would be the gospels and book three would be the history of the early church in the book of Acts. Or maybe we could give them the three titles of "Diagnosis", "Cure" and "Treatment". In this message we begin a 12 month journey through the Scriptures and see the thread that ties it all together.
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What did Abraham Lincoln, Winston Churchill and Sir Isaac Newton all have in common? They were individuals who all left a positive mark on history, but who suffered with severe bouts of depression. Another such individual was the Prophet Elijah. In this message we look at what contributed to Elijah's meltdown of depression and the three things God did to help him out of it.
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What did Abraham Lincoln, Winston Churchill and Sir Isaac Newton all have in common? They were individuals who all left a positive mark on history, but who suffered with severe bouts of depression. Another such individual was the Prophet Elijah. In this message we look at what contributed to Elijah's meltdown of depression and the three things God did to help him out of it.
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This Sunday we wrap up our four week series called "Words Matter". Each week we've been doing a word study on a significant Hebrew word in the Old Testament. Our final word? Teshuvah! Often it is translated 'repentance'. But that's a bit misleading. Find out in this message.
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What is the doctrine of the Trinity and how did the church come to believe it? And what does that question have to do with our Word Studies series we're in? Found out in this message.
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EMUNAH is the Hebrew word for faith. But it doesn't exactly mean the same thing as the Greek word for faith. And the difference is kind of a big deal. Find out what that difference is Sunday as we continue our Word Studies sermon series.
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Sunday we looked at the meaning of HESED, the first of our four important Hebrew words in our Word Studies sermon series.
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In our final message of our "character study of Jesus" series we get to some of the harder sayings of Jesus. But we can now look at these challenging words of Jesus in the context of what we already know about him - that he is compassionate, forgiving, gentle and protective. And we'll be able to conclude that there are times when he also shows some tough love.
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What triggers you? You can learn a lot about a person based on that question. In this message we looked at what triggered Jesus to anger and what that reveals to us about what Jesus most cared about.
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Gentle Jesus meek and mild. Does that truly describe the Jesus who overturned tables in the temple and said I didn't come to bring peace but a sword? And yet... Jesus says in Matthew 11, "I am gentle". Was Jesus bipolar? Or did he just have massive mood swings? Find out in week three of our series learning about God by looking at the character traits of Jesus.
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What is God really like? How can you know you're not just believing what you would like to be true? We can know for sure by looking at Jesus and how he acted and what he taught. Jesus came to show us what God is like. This week in this series we look at the forgiving nature of God, and also his radical generosity.
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How Can We Really Know What God Is Like? We can know what God is like by looking at His Son Jesus and how he interacted with real people. This message starts a new five-week series looking at the character of Jesus with a view to learning what God is really like and how he truly feels about us and interacts with us.
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The grand finale of the book of Romans may seem a bit anticlimactic. Romans 16 is a bit like watching the credits roll at the end of a movie. But, it turns out there are some great lessons embedded in the credits! In this message we wrap up our nine month journey through the greatest letter ever written.
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What is God's will for your life? That's the wrong question. Paul asks the right question in our Romans 15 text... and as it turns out... it helps to answer that first question too!
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What do you do when you have a fellow Christian with whom you passionately disagree with about something and you're pretty sure you're right and they are wrong? Of course this is a complete hypothetical and would NEVER happen in real life... *cough* *cough*. In this message we look at Romans 14 and see five guidelines to use in handling disagreements with our brothers and sisters in Christ.
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After eleven chapters of Romans giving theology and doctrine, maybe you're the type of person who says, don't give me theory... just tell me what to do! Be careful what you ask for. In our text for this message we have only five verses but in them are twelve marks of the church - twelve things we're to do as Christians!
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Christianity is not a spectator sport. What are the unique gifts God has given you and how can you better use them (together with the rest of us) in fulfilling the mission Jesus gave us to be his visible presence in the world?
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Five pieces of evidence for the physical, bodily resurrection of Jesus and why it matters.
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Is God done with the Jewish people? How does the story end? Those are questions explored in this message as we wrap up Romans 11 on Palm Sunday.
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What do horticulture, green beer and Romans 11 all have in common? Find out in this message.
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Support for the modern day nation of Israel has unfortunately become something of a hot topic these days. What should the Christian's attitude be towards Israel? Romans 11 gives us some helpful hints towards a balanced perspective. In this message we wrestle together with an important topic. Text is Romans 10:16-11:12.
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Romans 9 to 11 is not about divine election. It's about global evangelism. It's the "missions link" that is often the "missing link" from most studies of the book of Romans. In this message we look at Romans 10:1-15 where Paul uses that missions link to start to pull it all together.
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Romans 8 is the chapter everyone loves. Romans 9 is the chapter everybody skips. In this message we begin a new section in Romans 9-11 which on the surface appears to be about happy-fun topics like election and predestination. But it's actually about something else. And that 'something else' happens to be the key to the entire book of Romans.
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So we keep calling Romans chapter 8 the greatest chapter in the Bible. Why? What makes it the greatest? That's a question we seek to answer as we wrap up three weeks in Romans chapter 8.
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If the book of Romans is the Himalayas of the Bible then Romans chapter 8 is Mt. Everest. In this message we begin spending three weeks hiking up the highest peak in the Bible!
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Romans 7 is perhaps one of the most confusing chapters in the Bible. It's also one of the most encouraging chapters in the Bible! Find out in this message.
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Paul in our Romans text for this Sunday (Romans 6:15-23) says that we are no longer a slave to sin but have become a slave of righteousness. I personally used to struggle with that verse until I learned the secret of what that verse really means. That secret is shared in this message.
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If salvation is really a free gift and not dependent on how we live, then why can't we just live anyway we want? That is the question that Paul asks as we move into Part Two of Romans, beginning with Romans chapter 6. And once he answers that question, the rest of Romans 6 (and Romans 7 and 8) is all about how real transformation happens.
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Final message in our Heaven series. This one shares three things Jesus promised us about Heaven and three application points for us to consider.
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Part Three of our Heaven series happened as part of our Christmas Eve service. We looked at the FIVE reasons God became one of us. Heaven collided with Earth that first Christmas. One day it will happen again!
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Part Two of our HEAVEN series. This message we uncover SEVEN true things about heaven that we can glean from the Bible.
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During the season of Advent we explore the topic of HEAVEN. Turns out heaven may not be what you think it is!
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This Sunday we'll be wrapping up Part One of our Romans series by finishing up Romans chapter 5 with a look at "The Tale of Two Adams" in Romans 5:12-21.
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Short five minute message giving a summary of Romans 4 which is all about what faith actually is by looking at the example of Abraham and asking three questions. How was Abraham saved? When was Abraham saved? And what were the elements of Abraham's saving faith?
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In the year 49 AD the Roman Emperor Claudius expelled all Jews from the city of Rome. Five years later they were allowed to return. What does that have to do with our study of the book of Romans? Find out Sunday as we finish off Romans chapter three with a look at Romans 3:27-31.
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Last week the central message of our Romans 2:16-27 text was that Religion Can't Save You! Well, then what is it good for? That's the focus this Sunday as Paul wraps up this first major section of Romans and prepares for the greatest pivot in the whole Bible. Text is Romans 3:1-20. And the pivot starts in the very next verse!
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It was all a set up. That's what last week's text was, Romans 1:18-32. This Sunday we'll revisit that text and the downward spiral of humanity and the decadence of a corrupt culture flowing from the Fall... and THEN see how Paul springs his trap in Romans 2:1-16. Paul was just setting you and me up.
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Houston, we have a problem! Last Sunday we started our new series in the book of Romans by looking at Paul's thesis statement for Romans - that the Gospel is God's power to save everyone! Starting this Sunday, Paul begins to defend that thesis. Why the gospel? Why is it so needed? Why can't there be some other way? Paul forcefully begins to give an answer to those questions in the second half of chapter 1. This Sunday... Romans 1:18-32.
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This Sunday we start our new year long series in the Book of Romans! This will be a rich study in what some consider the greatest letter in the New Testament. It's Paul's magnum opus! And it's all about the Gospel of Grace, as well as how to make sense of the Old Testament in the light of Jesus!
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In this message we wrap up our series on the six covenants of the Old Testament and also see how this series has been getting us ready for next series in the Book of Romans!
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It’s been almost one year since Queen Elizabeth II died after being the longest reigning English monarch in history, over 70 years. And then back in May of this year was good to see Charles finally get a real job at age 73 and stop living off his mom. Isn’t it interesting how fascinated our nation continues to be with the British Royal family? Why is that? This Sunday we delve into the answer.
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For our summer series we are going through the six covenants of the Old Testament, and as we come on Sunday to the fourth covenant, the Mosaic Covenant, we come to a bit of a plot twist in the salvation drama unfolding in the Old Testament. This Sunday we'll explore what the plot twist is, and how it plays into the overall storyline of God's great rescue mission of humanity.
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The three great monotheistic religions - Judaism, Christianity and Islam - each regard him as the father of their faith. But he grew up worshipping the moon goddess Nana. His name is Abraham and in this message we explore where his faith in the One True God came from along with the incredible meaning of the Abrahamic covenant.
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Message on the Nohaic Covenant with special focus on the Flood and Tower of Babel events.
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Sunday we started a brand new series called "Covenant". Using the covenant theme in Scripture to do a six week overview of the Old Testament. The first covenant we looked at Sunday was the Covenant of Creation where we learned in those early chapters of Genesis THREE things about God, TWO things about us and ONE thing about Jesus!
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In the message we enter into the final chapter of James and the first six verses are a blistering indictment upon the "rich"! Well... lest you get comfortable, by the world's standards... you are one of these "rich". In this message we'll see how Scripture (and James) teaches it's no sin to be rich. But James does identify three abuses of wealth and so it's a warning to all of us. But he also gives us the solution in the second half of our text.
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In this message we look at James 4:13-17 and the sin of presumption. But there are actually two other sins that lie just beneath the service of that one. In fact they may be the two greatest sins in the Bible.
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Quarrels and conflicts. They are all around us and in the news each week. It's a serious problem in our culture today. In this message we explore James 4:1-12 where James tells us where our conflicts come from along with the secret to putting an end to them.
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Here's an irony for you. The last few weeks we've been looking at James chapter 2 where the message is, "It's not so much what you say that matters but what you do!" In this teaching we move into chapter three where the message is, "But what you say does matter!" In this sermon we look at the power of words to direct the course of a life, to bless people, to damage people, to reveal what's inside, and to heal.
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Paul said in Romans 3 that we are justified by faith apart from works. But James in our sermon text this Sunday says a person is justified by works and not by faith alone. In this message we discover how James and Paul are really in complete agreement with each other.
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In this message we finally get to chapter two of James! James 2:1-13 says we should not show personal favoritism. Who would disagree with that? But James says it with such force and emotion. Why? Why is this such a big deal and what is the real heart of the matter? Find out this teaching.
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Our text for this Sunday was James 1:12-18 which shows clearly that James is a real pastor who understands the complexities of how human beings work. In this message James gives us a remarkably positive solution to a very ancient problem we all share.
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James says that if we lack wisdom, we should ask for it. But what does James mean by wisdom? It's not what you might expect. In this message we dove into James 1:5-8 and saw how those verses relate to last weeks text on putting our trials into the joy column of life.
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The Book of James teaches us to put our trials and hardships into the joy column of life. But how do we practically do that? James tells us that as well. In this message we do a quick introduction to the Book of James and then dive right into the opening verses of James 1:2-4.
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In this message Peter will be casting a vision and some next steps for a return to our pre-COVID vision for the church.
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Steve Colbert was asked what three words best describe what the Lord of the Rings books mean to him. Turns out they are the same three words that best describe Christianity and the meaning of Easter. In this Easter message we find out what those words are and what they can mean for your life!
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This Sunday is Palm Sunday. It's also called Passion Sunday because it marks the beginning of Christ's week of passioniate suffering for us. Why has Jesus come to this point? Why is he here? What motivated him to come to Jersualem knowing it would end in his death five days later? We learn of his motivation in the last of the seven parables of Matthew 13.
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How can something be totally free and yet still cost something... cost everything? That's one question we will be asking in this message as we at the parable of the treasure hidden in a field and the parable of the pearl of great value in Matthew 13.
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In this message we will be looking at the Parable of the Wheat and the Tares in our continuing study of the Kingdom Parables of Matthew 13. It's a parable about how the Kingdom of God is both HERE NOW... but also NOT YET fully. In other words, it's about the war.
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In this message we look at the first of the Kingdom Parables of Matthew 13, the Parable of the Sower... which happens to be a parable about... parables.
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In Matthew 13 Jesus says that it has been given to his followers to know the secrets of the Kingdom. In this series we will be sitting at the feet of our Rabbi Jesus as He unveils for us the secrets of the Kingdom of God hidden since the creation of the world.
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So what really is the deal with the tongues gift? Is it auto suggestion? Could it sometimes be demonic? Is it legit? And if authentic, what is it's purpose and how should it be used? 1 Corinthians 12, 13 and 14 has the answers. In this message we take a deep dive into what the Bible actually teaches about the gift of tongues as we wrap up our series on the Gifts of the Spirit.
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Healing is a mystery. Why are some people healed and others are not. In this message we look at nine biblical clues that piece together the puzzle.
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There are 22 gifts of the Spirit listed in the New Testament. On Sunday we are going to look at 18 of them! That's right... Peter has an 18 point sermon on Sunday. I know you can't wait!
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Can you tell the difference between real gold and counterfeit gold? Experts can tell the difference because they understand the nature of true gold. In this weeks teaching we look at the nature of the gifts. This will help us in discerning what is authentic and what may be counterfeit.
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On the cross Jesus won the victory. He set us free. And then he distributed the spoils of war among us. The gifts are the spoils of war. In this message we explore what that means as we launch our new six week series on the spiritual gifts.
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Do you ever have doubts? I do. Even though I believe we have reason to believe as we do and even though I have experienced God in several ways, still we believe in something we cannot see and that means doubts will naturally come. Why? Why does God make believing him so hard? This Christmas Eve message explores that question.
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There are four parts to the Mary Miracle. In this message we explore what that those four pieces are and how we can all get in on the Mary Miracle. NOTE: I'm indebted to Dave Johnson for this message who I heard preach this message way back in 1993. It has stuck with me all these years so glad to be able to share this message with each of you as well.
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The second advent candle is called the candle of faith. In this message we continue our Advent series with a look at how faith is the basis for the casting of the characters in the big God Story and how the oppositive of faith is fear. God calls each of us out of fear and into faith.
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In this message we enter the season of Advent with a new series entitled, "The Unexpected King." Each week of Advent will center around a significant birth in the Bible and how it points to the meaning of Christmas. In this message we look at John the Baptist and the role he played in the big God Story!
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The book of Haggai is about having right priorities. It also shows that God has a sense of humor and likes to mess with Pastor Peter.
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More wrath of God stuff from the Minor Prophets... this time from Zephaniah... but with a twist... two good twists actually.
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How are we to reconcile that God is a God of wrath and love, of kindness and severity? That's what this message explores as we continue our Minor Prophets series with the focus this week on the book of Nahum.
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What does the Lord require of us? Find out in this message on Micah as we continue our journey through the Minor Prophets.
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Week Five of our new series going through the Minor Prophets! This week we look at the Book of Jonah. Turns out it's more than just a great fishing story. It's all about sin, grace and the absolute goodness of God.
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Week Four of our new series going through the Minor Prophets! This week we look at the Book of Obadiah, the shortest book in the Old Testament - only 21 verses! On the surface its a judgment against Edom. Digging deeper we find its all about a family feud going back 1500 years. This message is all about how God ended the feud.
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