Is it possible that we rely too much on the outside marks of pretend Christianity rather than the inside marks of the Holy Spirit's life within us? After the circumcision crisis of the early church, the apostles gave only 3 instructions for outward living. We take a behind the scenes look at why they chose these three and what it might mean for us today.

We welcome Brian Betts to our Church Pulpit. He talks to us about the value of diligence. The Bible has much to say about this value and especially its opposite - laziness. Open your Bibles to Proverbs and prepare yourself for wisdom!

How do the great issues of Christian theology become orthodoxy? We see the first example of how God's Holy Spirit moved through the hearts of Christ's most trusted and faithful followers to decide the outcome of the Christian faith we believe in today. Open your Bible to Acts 15:1-19 to see how the first Jerusalem council ruled in the grace crisis.

As we study Acts 14:21-28 we notice the use of "committed" twice - first in regards to appointing elders who are committed to their churches, and second in regards to Paul and Barnabas, who are committed to their evangelistic works. The Christian life requires commitment. So - in this sermon - we challenge ourselves with the question: to what are we committed?

What does life look like for a genuine Christ-follower? Surely it is different for each one of us, but Jesus talked about the Christian life in his final hours on Planet Earth. And Paul lived out that life as an example for us. Open your Bible to John 14 & 15 as well as Acts 14 and be prepared to compare your own experiences as a Christ-follower.

We continue our Resolution Sermon Series for 2019. For the month of June, we resolve to live with integrity. We talk about what integrity is and how we achieve it. Is there duplicity in you or are you the same person regardless of where you are or who you're with?

Have you ever considered that God may have placed you exactly where you are so that you can impact your world around you? Are you a force for good in a world of evil? Does evil even know you exist? Today we learn from our study of Acts 13 and 14 that Paul and Barnabas stirred things up wherever they went. They did all they could to speak out God's good news, which caused no little bit of division. As they left town after town they shook off the dust from their feet symbolizing they had done all they could. What about you? Are you carrying around extraneous dust because you haven't yet stirred up your world?

On this Baptism Sunday, we ask the question that every baptized Christ-follower asks themselves many times throughout their lives: "Is my Christian faith the real deal?" How can I know for sure? Today Pastor Mark considers a very special prayer from Colossians 1:3-10 for answers to living out our faith with confidence.

On this Mother's Day we are thrilled to once again welcome Bethany Pierce to the Church Requel pulpit. We consider the four different Biblical stories where Mary's words play a part. Along the way we will learn some wise advice for our own lives by listening to what Jesus' mother had to say.

Our mini-resolution for May is to live with a clear conscience, to rid ourselves of guilt. Psychologists tell us that we experience 5 hours of guilty feelings each week. Unresolved guilt is like having a snooze alarm in your head that won't turn off. Guilty feelings make it difficult to think straight and makes us reluctant to enjoy life. This is not what God wants for us. He created a solution for our guilty feelings. In this sermon we talk about God's plan for our guilt and how we may take advantage of His solution.