In honor of Veteran’s Day, Pastor Andy reflects on the speech he heard when he was being commissioned into the US Air Force. General Samuel Jaskilka’s three main points were 1) Know your God 2) Know your people 3) Know your stuff. These three points are the instruction manual for showing Jesus’ love and compassion to every person we meet. We can see miracles happen as we show compassion to people in practical ways. We can bring people to Jesus in our everyday lives! As we walk in compassion, we must listen to and obey God when He directs us to do something or talk to someone.

Attached are the slides from the sermon, including pictures of General Jaskilka!

As Jesus saw the multitudes coming to Him during His earthly ministry, He was moved with compassion and acted to change their lives. He provided for their needs. As we show people compassion, our priority is to show them Jesus. Never be afraid to bring truth to people – truth is the only answer to save people! We wouldn’t hesitate to throw a life preserver to a drowning person – we should never hesitate to tell people about Jesus because He has the power to save them eternally! The Word is our weapon. We must know God’s Word not just for our own sake, but so we can mentor others. Knowing the Bible thoroughly equips us for the good work that God has for us to do.

Scripture references:

Matthew 14:14

Matthew 15:32

Mark 6:34

Proverbs 18:10

Psalm 119:11

2 Timothy 3:16-17

Hebrews 4:12

Matthew 24:35

John 1:12

Compassion is love in action. We minister compassion out of the overflow we have from our relationship with Jesus. Everybody needs more of God in their lives. As the culture drifts away from truth, it is our responsibility to stand firm on God’s truth and show compassion towards those who have not found God’s truth yet. Loving people means showing them Jesus and telling them how to be saved. If you’re imperfect you are qualified for God’s work! God does not call the qualified: He qualifies the called. When we show people compassion, we give them hope.

Attached as a PDF are some pictures of Pastor Andy and his bow as mentioned in the sermon.

Scripture references:

Matthew 14:14

Matthew 15:32

Matthew 15:36

Mark 6:34

Ephesians 1:3

Ephesians 1:22-23

Ephesians 1:17

John 3:16

2 Corinthians 5:17-19

Compassion is love in action. We minister compassion out of the overflow we have from our relationship with Jesus. Everybody needs more of God in their lives. As the culture drifts away from truth, it is our responsibility to stand firm on God’s truth and show compassion towards those who have not found God’s truth yet. Loving people means showing them Jesus and telling them how to be saved. If you’re imperfect you are qualified for God’s work! God does not call the qualified: He qualifies the called. When we show people compassion, we give them hope.

Attached as a PDF are some pictures of Pastor Andy and his bow as mentioned in the sermon.

Scripture references:

Matthew 14:14

Matthew 15:32

Matthew 15:36

Mark 6:34

Ephesians 1:3

Ephesians 1:22-23

Ephesians 1:17

John 3:16

2 Corinthians 5:17-19

God never, ever runs out of compassion – He’s always on overflow! Compassion is deeply concerned with other people’s pain and suffering: mental, physical, emotional, and spiritual. Jesus never left people in the same condition that He found them. Through compassion, He transformed their lives. One of the best ways to bring people to Jesus is to share with them what He has done in our lives and to show them compassion. We have to receive God’s compassion towards us to be able to show love to the people around us. The compassion of God is not an isolated event – a compassionate act always has a ripple effect!

Scripture references:

Matthew 5

Psalm 145:8

John 11:48

Isaiah 54:7-10

Luke 9:49-56

Mark 5:18-20

Matthew 15:29-32

The Book of Jonah

Ephesians 4:32

Ephesians 5:1-2

Each one of us was hand-crafted by God with the specific talents we need to fulfill our God-given calling. In order to live by faith and fulfill our purpose, we have to walk in love because faith only works through love. Faith is birthed through intimacy with God. If we love God, we will spend time with Him just like we spend time with people to deepen our relationship with them. Even when people treat us horribly, there is never an excuse for us not to walk in love. When someone sins or hurts us, it is our responsibility to pray for them to be restored. We hurt ourselves if we choose not to walk in love.

Scripture references:

Hebrews 10:38

Hebrews 11:1

Romans 10:17

Galatians 5:6

1 Corinthians 13:4-7

Galatians 5:22

1 Corinthians 11:28-30

John 3:16

1 Corinthians 13:13

Revival starts with us as God transforms us through His love. God continually draws us deeper into His love which strengthens our relationship with Him and makes us shining examples of Him. We must take the time everyday to refuel on God’s love so that we are ready to care for the people around us. God is with us everywhere that we go, and we were designed to show Him in our everyday lives. If we continue to display God’s love as the Body of Christ, we will see God’s Kingdom manifested on earth. We can be confident that God’s love will never fail us because love is His very nature.

Scripture references:

1 Corinthians 13

Hebrews 13:8

John 15:13

Matthew 28:19-20

John 3:16

Romans 2:11

Romans 8:37-39

Today we are observing Joshua as he goes through the process of conquering Jericho and the aftermath of the Israelites’ victory. The Book of Joshua is our instruction manual for when we are walking into God’s calling for our lives. Joshua and the Israelites conquered Jericho only because they trusted and obeyed God. We must follow God’s directions carefully; we cannot just plunge ahead on our own and expect good results. We have to separate from what is unholy so we can wholeheartedly pursue what God has called us to do. As a church family, we are committed to sanctifying ourselves (separating ourselves to holiness) and having compassion on the lost.

Regardless of their occupation or stage of life, God has called every Christian to reach out to people and show them Jesus. The purpose of the pulpit is to be the catalyst to train Christians to represent Jesus. Everyone in the body of Christ has a place in the church that they are designed to fill. Our different gifts are not meant to compete, but rather to complement each other. Just as God’s love is multi-dimensional, the church should also minister in a multi-dimensional way. Christians express the length of God’s love through outreach, the depth of His love through discipleship, the height of His love through worship, and the width of His love through hospitality.

Today we are following Joshua and the Israelites as they get closer to entering the Promised Land. Joshua’s conquest of the Promised Land gives us a battle strategy for accomplishing what God has given us to do. As Christians, we are not supposed to be like the world! We are called to be different. Separating ourselves is sometimes painful, but our obedience to God will be rewarded. As the church, we must be grounded on the Word of God and not allow ourselves to be swayed. As we walk in relationship with Jesus, He is continually refining us to look more like Himself.