God is with us even in our darkest moments. He is there when we feel Him close and even when we don’t. In today’s message, Pastor Ed doesn’t deny that difficult times are going to come in our life. However, he warns us that it is possible to turn away from God when trials arise! We have a choice to make when life becomes hard –we can turn to God, or walk away from God. God promises to comfort us in times of stress, and give us the strength to endure. God will always be the better choice!

When we face trials in this life, we frequently find out what our true beliefs and feelings are. In today’s message, Pastor Ed encourages us to take the responses to stress and difficulty to God, even if they are not what we would want Him to see! God has the power to help us change how we see our situation, and the everlasting love to remind us that He is still there. God can take any difficulty and turn it around for good, and He can take our current state of beliefs and bless us with new insights and knowledge!

What we have materially in this world won’t be coming with us when we die. When we reach Heaven, it won’t matter how big our house was or what our position was at work! As we walk through this life, we shouldn’t allow our focus to land on these worldly symbols of status. Our focus should instead be on sharing Jesus with everyone we meet! Today’s message from Pastor Ed shows us how important it is to have a mission mindset, and to look for ways to help others and build up eternal treasure in Heaven!

The world certainly has a different set of standards than what we are taught in the Bible. Their standards tend to result in self-centeredness and self-indulgence. The world definitely holds an appeal with its opportunity for wealth and status, but those things simply don’t last! The Bible offers a little different way of life as Pastor Ed shares with us today. The Bible’s standards result in blessing multitudes of people, and allowing God’s love to permeate the earth! The perks are always lasting, all the way to eternity!

Our lives are a gift from God. He didn’t have to create people, but He chose to, even knowing what we would become. God also gives us each day that we live. These daily gifts should not be wasted, as Pastor Ed reminds us today! God also has a purpose for each individual, and we have the chance to make a difference in our world. Every day we are given, we can also make the choice to give it back to God, allowing Him to work through us and touch people around us, all the while blessing us as well!

None of us knows what tomorrow brings. In today’s message, Pastor Ed reminds us that we cannot know our future, no matter how hard we try! We are also never guaranteed another day. With that truth set before us, we have an opportunity to do something for God right now! God has a plan for each person’s life. This plan is meant to benefit others, and to bring glory to our Creator. This plan for our lives also requires trust in God, and the willingness to lean on Him for direction and support!

Christians are not perfect. This may not come as much of a surprise, but Christians are fallen, broken humans as well. At times, Christians can even seem to be living a double life, one that is living for God, and one that is trying to please everyone in the world. This double life is ineffective, and pushes the Christian further from relying on God to sustain their needs. Pastor Ed today encourages everyone to set aside the worldly self, and step fully onto the path that God has laid out for us!

Our culture is very I centered. How can I get ahead? How can I make an impression? How can I benefit from this situation? In today’s message, Pastor Ed challenges us to take a different approach to living in this fallen world – submit to God! This isn’t what the world tells us to do, and will not support us in this way, so how do we submit to God? The book of James provides great answers to that question, and we will learn a great deal about the blessings God has waiting for us when we look to Him for direction!

Today, Pastor Ed will be teaching through a text that is extremely popular in Church these days. This scripture is constantly being taken out of context, and abused at the pulpit as well. When Jesus said whatever you ask in My name, My Father will give it to you, He was speaking of whenever you ask according to His character and will. When we pray in faith according to the Lord's will, that's when the Father will give us the answer to our prayers.

As Pastor Ed continues to teach through the Book of James he'll be reminding us that all our external problems are due to a main internal problem. Our internal problem is that we have a sinful nature that we need to constantly beat into submission. James asks the question: What causes fights and quarrels among you? He answers His own question by saying they come from the desires that battle within us. We have to feed our Spirit man and starve the fleshful nature. Only then will we live a victorious Christian life.