In an American wedding, the bride is the center of importance.  However in Jewish culture during the time of Christ, the groom took center stage. Many times there was a betrothal period where the soon to be bride made a commitment to her future husband.  After the betrothal period, the bride would wait till her groom came for her, then the wedding began.  

Today Pastor Rich will discuss what it looks like to be the bride of Christ.  

Ephesians 5:25-30

Have you ever called customer service only to get an automated phone system.  While trying to get your questions answered, you end up going around in circles, while hearing "I'm sorry, that's not a valid option," or "Your call is important to us."  Meanwhile, you simply want to speak with a real person who can answer your questions.

Some of us approach our prayer life like calling an automated phone system.  "Press one for a health need, press two for a loved one's salvation, press three for other requests.  We fail to recognize that we can go before the King of kings and Lord of Lords, boldly approach the throne of grace and present our requests to God, who will hear us.  As we wrap up this Psalm, we find King David crying out to the Lord for help in walking in the ways of God.   

Psalm 119:169-176

Are you living a life of reverence and respect for God (often called fear) or is your life focused on an unhealthy fear of others?

Do you trust God in all circumstances or only in good times?

In our passage today we discuss how to have confidence, trust, peace and hope in God's Word.

Psalm 119:161-168

Ever had a bad day?  Life can be hard.  When faced with hardships David often forgot prosperity, but not obedience to God.  Today we'll look at what obedience looks like in the face of hardship.

Psalm 119:153-160

Tuning. Even folks who have little to no musical training can tell when an instrument is out of tune.  It simply sounds bad.  The same can be said of our spiritual lives.  We know when our lives aren't in tune with God, even if we can't quite put a finger on what is wrong, we know that something isn't quite right.  Today we'll look at how to get our hearts in tune with God.

Psalm 119:145-152

Righteousness is the ability to do right, and determine what is right.  God is righteous and He is the one who declares us righteous. 

As the Psalmist thought of God's righteousness, it changed him.  He learned how to rest in God's character, trusting that God's judgements are just, and will accomplish His glory and our eventual good.  

Psalm 119:137-144

Why should I listen to you?  Have you ever asked someone to do something and received this snarky reply?  In our passage today, the Psalmist is answering why we should listen to God and follow His commands.  

Psalm 119:129-136

There are 3 sources of suffering, 1 - God's discipline on us for sinful behaviors, 2 - The fallen, broken world we live in (the rain falls on the just and the unjust), 3 - Attacks from Satan because we're following Christ.   In our passage today, the Psalmist seems to be experiencing this 3rd the of suffering and is waiting for God to respond.

Psalm 119:121-128

Do you know someone who always backs out of something at the last minute after promising they will be there?  Or perhaps you know someone who talks about how much they despise a certain food, yet you observe them eating it.  For most of us this is annoying and hard to tolerate, especially when we notice it in ourselves.  The apostle Paul talks about this in Romans 7 when he says I do the things I don't want to do, and I don't do the things I want to do (like hitting the snooze button too much, causing me to sleep in and miss the event I had promised I'd be at).  This is called being double minded.

In our passage, the Psalmist discusses what to do about this double minded behavior, calling us to "hate the sin but love the sinner."

Psalm 119:113-120

When you have overnight guests in your home, often you will install a night light in the hallway or bathroom to help your guests navigate your house in the dark.  Sometimes we treat God's Word (the Bible) like a night light.  A night light helps provide comfort but it's not exactly life-changing.  It is a helpful convenience, but not a life or death necessity.  It can be easy to see God's Word as helpful but not necessary.  Today Pastor Rich will show us that God's Word is much more than a helpful convenience. 

- Psalm 119:105-112