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My friend Dr. Jay Strack has said, "Five years from now you will be the same person you are today except for the places you go, the people you meet, the books you read, and the Scripture you memorize."

So where will you take the Gospel? In today's message, we look at Isaiah 52 and how the one who brings the message must go to great lengths to bring the Good News to those who so desperately need it.

The best compliment ever is that someone else glorifies God because of Christ in you. That's the aim for 2025. The question is, "What does your life say?" Join us as we look at Galatians 1 to see what press release you should make about your life here, now, and forever.

After all that Jesus has said to His followers in the Sermon on the Mount, how do you feel about yourself? Living up to Jesus' teachings here in Matthew 5-7 is difficult. It wasn't meant to be easy, nor is the road to heaven. So how do we build our lives? Jesus gives one final exhortation on how we are to order our lives.

It's the darkness and gloom that's a problem in life, isn't it? Which makes sense, since Winter is statistically the saddest yet darkest time of the year. Not so surprisingly, we as Christians celebrate the incarnation of Christ at Christmas, that the Light of the world has come to His creation, and this brings us hope.

In Matthew 7, Jesus gives His followers three commands: ask, seek, and knock. The problem is, sometimes we don't ask, seek, or knock. Maybe we forget that God will provide. Or maybe we don't trust that He will. But Jesus reminds us that God gives the good stuff.

You don't have to like medicine, but you'll need to take it to help with healing. Medicine has good benefits. In Scripture, we usually tend to like the verses that make us feel warm or fuzzy or good about ourselves. But in today's message, we look at what Jesus says about "judging," and you're probably not going to like it.

What do you worry about? Worry, trouble, anxiety -- all similar forms of the same word in the Greek. In Matthew 6, Jesus gives believers encouragement on worry:

When you're down, look up.

Fasting defies feel-good religion and helps us focus on the God who provides.

In Matthew, Jesus says, "When you give" and "When you pray," assuming we already give and pray. But He also preaches, "When you fast." Do you fast? Part of the reason we don't is because we don't fully understand the activity. In today's message, we look at Matthew 6:16-18 to understand the biblical concept of fasting.

Our relationship with others affects our relationship with God. It's why the only thing we should owe others is love. This is the debt we should have. But sometimes we carry with us a debt to others we can't (or won't) abandon when they've wronged us so deeply. In this message in Matthew 6:14-15, we look at forgiveness and debt.

For deeper devotions, visit ⁠c112.org

We could all use a better prayer life. Jesus tells His disciples in Matthew 6, "when you pray," as if He knows and expects His followers to pray regularly. So how do we do it?

For deeper devotions, visit c112.org