Sometimes, we look at sin as only affecting us and our personal relationship with God. Many times, however, the wake of sin creates a ripple that flows great distances! Our family, friends, and relationships of all kinds can be affected by our choices! Pastor Ed today reminds us of how specifically not keeping the seventh commandment – do not commit adultery – can have a great impact, and can leave us broken, and potentially completely alone to pick up the pieces!

Today’s message centers on the seventh commandment: do not commit adultery. Pastor Ed takes a moment while discussing this topic to wonder with us what God’s intention was for giving us this, and the other nine, commandments, and provides this answer: God calls us to be holy! Marriage is one avenue that provides a chance to grow up, both spiritually and emotionally. By working at a marriage, no matter how difficult it can be at times, we are becoming more and more Christ-like, more and more sanctified!

That is an interesting way at looking at mankind without God. As Pastor Ed says, we are made in God’s image, and by not following God’s ideals for people, we are basically taking God’s image out of us. God’s image is not just a physical likeness, but also a spiritual and moral likeness, and by dismissing that part of it, we aren’t anything more than a physical body. Today’s message looks closer at this and other causes of moral decline, and even deeper into the Biblical definitions of murder.

Pastor Ed is continuing his study on the Ten Commandments, and in today’s message, touches on the sixth commandment: do not commit murder. As a people created by someone with the perfect moral compass, why is it that society as a whole seems to have the exact opposite of a moral compass? Pastor Ed today suggests that this is due to people turning away from God – from His teachings, from His love, and overall, from Him. The further from Him we go, the more dangerous the world becomes!

Honoring our parents – and more broadly, our elders – is something we are called to do by God. And like many things we are called to do by God, this isn’t always easy! Pastor Ed today gives us wise council as to why our elders deserve our attention, and ultimately our respect. One reason is that they have been through more life than we have! Their experiences have formed them into the people that they are, and by heeding their advice, we too can be shaped, and potentially avoid making similar mistakes!

Today’s message centers on the family, specifically honoring our mothers and fathers. Everyone has a unique story surrounding their family, and Pastor Ed reminds us that we didn’t just get our families by chance! In as much as God created each individual person, so He also created each family. No one is perfect, and no family is perfect, but they have been created for a purpose. God doesn’t create mistakes, so therefore our families, as strange as they may be, are anything but a mistake!

Ah, control…that terrible word that no one wants to admit they have a problem with. But, really, don’t we all? Staying in control, whether at work, at home – really everywhere – is what we all seem to be striving for! In today’s message we are given a suggestion from Pastor Ed: maybe we should consider the Sabbath a practice in releasing that control. Let God take your worry, your need to be busy, and your stressful life, and then simply REST in His abundant grace and peace!

In the busyness of today’s world, it can be our tendency to bypass the 4th commandment – remember the Sabbath. And, as a result, people today are more tired and more stressed than ever! Pastor Ed today contemplates with us the idea that God created in us a need for this day of rest every seventh day, much like our need for food or our need for sleep. This time is for us to take a mental break; to focus not on our demanding lives, but on God, and to worship Him for all He has done and continues to do in our lives!

Have you ever stopped to ponder the meaning – or rather meanings – of God’s name? Is there one name that stands out to you? Everyone has an aspect of God that has touched them deeply and impacted their life in a way no human being ever could. While Pastor Ed speaks today on not taking God’s name in vain, he joins us in celebrating the power and majesty attached to that name, and the mercy and beauty that radiate from Him – reasons enough to worship God continually!

The way we speak says so much about us – it can reveal our country of origin, our regional preferences, and even sometimes our family’s history. But what Pastor Ed reveals to us in today’s message is that it also gives away what is deep in our heart. Our use of certain profanities, even when it is only occasionally, or only when we are truly upset, is actually an indication of what we really believe. Culturally acceptable or not, God has called us to a higher standard, and that includes what we say!