There are several valid excuses we may give for doing or not doing something. But when it comes to God's agenda, God will not ask you to do anything or not do something, where you can give a valid excuse to skip God's directive. Very often the reason we give an excuse is because we think we are an exception to the rule. Sometimes it's true. But when it comes to God's revealed will, there is never a valid excuse. So when we know that God has asked us to do something, we must act. Can we be forgiven? Yes, but there is one invitation we must act upon now. This is because we never know when we may face the eternal judgment seat. Are you prepared? Check out heavenornot.net.
This week's message is on prayer. What a great subject! As we look at how Jesus teaches on prayer we discover that prayer changes us first. Then we go back to our prayer request with a better perspective.. In essence, Jesus coaches us on prayer. Sometimes my athletic coaches would give me instruction that seemed unnecessary. For example conditioning when I was not at practice. This seemed like overkill. However, as I matured as an athlete, I discovered the benefits of additional conditioning. The more personal conditioning I was able to implement on my own time, the greater the performance in the game. Some of us need to get into prayer shape. Join us this Sunday either in person or online to discover some of Christ's conditioning tips.
The good Samaritan may be one of the best known parables in existence. However, was Christ’s point to make us better neighbors or was there something deeper? It turns out Christ’s point was of a eternal significance. A lawyer, expert in the Mosaic law, was devastated by the story Christ told. Why? It’s important for us to understand the story of the good Samaritan or we end up beating ourselves up or misrepresenting the gospel. I’m excited about this message. I hope you’ll join us this Sunday either in person or online.
The easiest way to disguise hypocrisy is cover it with moral superficiality. Being a vegan is healthy, not smoking is healthy, moderation is healthy, exercise is healthy, etc. But we can be the healthiest person in the room, which admittedly makes us feel superior, and yet our deceitful lying superficial love finds us to be in greater mortal danger than the sickest person in the room. Do we show grace to people who are less disciplined than we are? Do you tend to over value one aspect of your righteousness to compensate for your lack of righteousness in other areas? When sharing Christ with people they detect, very easily, whether you’re sharing from a point of humility, one sinner showing another sinner where the bread line is, or whether you’re sharing from pride from your moral stance on various issues: I’m going to heaven and you’re not! The fact that all have sinned is one of the great evidences the Bible is true. Do you realize that your moral pride may undermine this very central truth of Scripture? This Sunday we will investigate Christ’s view of sin and forgiveness and judgment.
We would all like to see a miracle. Yet do we realize this may require greater faith than we currently have? This Sunday we will try to determine how the disciples failed to learn the lesson on miracles from Luke chapter 9. Miracles generally don’t happen for personal gain. When we see an opportunity for the kingdom and the gospel, we have to bring what we have, we have to take some initial responsibility, and it is not unspiritual to be organized. Little is much when God is in it and the way God gets in it is through prayer. Remember miracles happen when the gospel is clarified by showing who Jesus is. Is that your goal when you ask for a miracle? So next time you think you need a miracle, consider the above New Testament guidelines from Luke nine and take the risk for the good of the kingdom and the gospel.
Jesus was busy ministering in a packed home but stopped everything to minister to the man brought in by friends. I think that means Jesus honors us when we try to reach family and friends for Jesus. Will you bring your friend to meet Jesus? Will they understand that the most important thing that Jesus can do for them is forgive their sins? Do we wrongly believe that people will seek out Jesus without any help? Sometimes people’s personal needs will open them up to hearing more about the Unmatchable Jesus. In order to introduce people to Jesus, you need a list of unchurched/unbelieving friends who might be open to the conversation. Do you have such a list? Start with the most receptive people first. Maybe develop a prayer strategy with two or three people to reach your common friends and family. Pray that other mediums, radio, television, movies, books, the internet, podcasts, Twitter, Facebook, etc. that are Christian will somehow enter the life of your unbelieving family member or friend.
One of the most central questions in calling Pastor Next is his character qualifications. This Sunday we will examine the qualities the Bible considers key characteristics of a pastor/elder. No one is perfect. If you look for shortcomings you’ll find them. Not every pastor is a straight A speaker, leader, shepherd. The Search team will ask every candidate in the final round, a series of behavioral questions that reveal whether or not they live their life in sync with the first Timothy 3 qualifications. I will reveal some similar questions I have used in the past as we move through first Timothy this Sunday morning. Clearly pastors must have higher standards because although pastors are flawed they do lead by example.
The apostles and early Christians weren’t afraid to stand up to unjust policies in their culture. As a matter of fact you could say that their commitment to Christ and the resulting persecution inspired their worship. Their worship was centered on what God has done and what God can do. They saw God‘s hand in persecution and asked God for boldness in spite of the opposition. What’s the most difficult situation in which you find it difficult to share the gospel? How does your worship and your prayer life prepare you for what could be tougher days ahead for Christians? How is worship not something you go to but something you live? When was the last time you were empowered By the worship service to be bold in your witness? We will look at these and other worship considerations in our message on Sunday.
The apostles and early Christians weren’t afraid to stand up to unjust policies in their culture. As a matter of fact you could say that their commitment to Christ and the resulting persecution inspired their worship. Their worship was centered on what God has done and what God can do. They saw God‘s hand in persecution and asked God for boldness in spite of the opposition. What’s the most difficult situation in which you find it difficult to share the gospel? How does your worship and your prayer life prepare you for what could be tougher days ahead for Christians? How is worship not something you go to but something you live? When was the last time you were empowered By the worship service to be bold in your witness? We will look at these and other worship considerations in our message on Sunday.
As we look at Psalm 119 there is so much. Reasons to thank God. Errors to avoid. Truth to believe. Sins to confess. Commands to obey. Attitudes to change. Promises to claim. Psalm 119 has changed lives. This Sunday let’s find out how and why.
Pretty much everyone knows the three ways that God answers prayer: yes, no, wait. What if there were four more ways that God answers prayer? Wouldn’t you be encouraged to see more of your prayers answered? Once you have daily answers to prayer you’ll be more excited about your prayer life. The purpose of prayer is that God‘s will be accomplished in each of our lives. What hinders prayer: sin, wrong motives, puny faith, lack of perseverance, stubbornness etc. We are all plagued by those deficits, but answered prayer will soon diminish our excuses for unanswered prayers.
What we think we own actually is on loan from God. We have what we have because God, the owner, has blessed us. What we do with our financial resources reveals what we believe about God. American entitlement is not a biblical value. If you are a good steward, God gives you all you need.
Is Laurelwood a friendly church or a church in which people can find friends? When our guests show up, especially the ones looking for a new church home, they are looking for someone to take a personal interest in them. Take them out for lunch, meet during the week for a coffee, even invite them into your home for a meal. Inviting them to your home Bible study group as another option. The problem is we are so connected to our current friends, we don’t make room for new friends. Can we create a fellowship in which people looking for friends can find them? It’s not easy. But if we’re going to have an impact in East Vancouver, we need to have people who are dedicated to making new friends. I hope you’ll consider being one of those people.
When it comes to sharing our faith, we all could use some improvement. To solve a problem you have to know the causes before you give solutions. When I think of my own evangelism hesitancy I think of: fear, hypocrisy, they may ask questions I don’t know the answer to, if I push too hard I could lose the friendship, lazy, I have offended people when I have witnessed before, I don’t want to turn them off to future presentations of the gospel, etc. So this Sunday I’m going to try to address some of those fears so that we might be better equipped to help people find and follow Jesus.
One thing is for certain, we have to deal with sin. First John chapter 1 tells you how. If you fail to deal with sin there are several negative consequences: not feeling forgiven, guilt, doubt, blame, and denial. The presence of these feelings indicates that sin has not really been dealt with according to the principles of first John chapter 1. I’d like to know who said this and if you know let me know, "Sin will take you farther than you want to go, keep you there longer than you want to stay and cost you more than you want to pay." Let’s confront sin this Sunday and put those debilitating feelings behind us.