The fire triangle is an illustration that shows the 3 things required to start a fire: heat, oxygen and fuel.  Remove any one of them and you no longer have a fire. Today, Pastor Rich will discuss the "spiritual fire triangle" that is found in Colossians 1:1-8.  In order to be "on fire" for Jesus, (that is to be walking in close fellowship with Him thereby impacting your life, your family, your neighborhood etc...), you need faith, hope and love.

Colossians 1:1-8

Think back to childhood trips to the store with your mom.  Every so often she would promise a reward (ice cream, new toy) for good behavior at the boring store.

God gives us the promise of a future reward for walking by faith in the here and now.  We find it in the book of Revelation - this is the goal of worship.

Revelation 7:9-17

Have you ever stopped to reflect on your life and thought that something seemed to be missing?  Do you remember being in school, listening to your teacher and thinking "is this going to be on the test, should I be paying attention?"

In our passage today Pastor Rich will discuss the greatest commandment and how it relates to worship, and to life.  

Mark 12:28-34

This time of year several folks begin "spring cleaning."  All the snow has melted and the threat of snow is mostly gone. We can now see all mud and debris that winter has brought.  The sun, shining brighter through the windows, casts its light on the cobwebs and dust bunnies we might have missed throughout the dark, dreary winter.  

Cleansing comes with preparation.  The period of time leading up to easter is traditionally called lent, a time to get yourself ready to celebrate the Resurrection, through a time of personal sacrifice and reflection.  Today, Pastor Rich will speak from 1 John 1:5-10 on how we can cleanse our spiritual lives.

1 John 1:5-10

How do we know where our heart is?  Jesus said "Where your treasure is your heart will be also (Matthew 6:21)."  What do your finances say about what is most important to you?  Is your heart invested in what God is doing?

How are you motivated to give? Guilt is a common technique used to get folks to give, however guilt has a limited life span.  When it starts to wear off you have to pile on more guilt to get folks to give more.  No one's heart is ever changed by guilt.

Today, Pastor Rich will discuss how to align our heart with God's desires, and give as an act of worship.

2 Corinthians 9:6-12

When we think of worship, we usually think of singing.  However, worship encompasses far more than singing.  

In Joshua 24 Israel passionately declares their commitment to worship God and forsake all false idols.  Yet by the first few chapters of Judges (the next book), we see tribe after tribe failing to obey God's directives and falling to false idols.  Today Pastor Rich will discuss what it means to commit to worship, and how we should put ourselves on the path to successful worship.

Joshua 24

Have you ever seen someone completely given over to anger?  Maybe they're shouting, throwing themselves around, completely loosing their mind.  Now imagine yourself approaching them and asking "Bro, what's your problem," or "hey, why are you angry?"  Asking these will never help anything get better.

In chapter 4, Jonah is having a fit of anger over Ninevah's repentance.  God spoke to Jonah and calmly asked "Is it right for you to be angry?"  Jonah's biggest problem was that his knowledge exceeded his obedience.  Jonah knew about God and His character, but Jonah's heart and passions were far from God.  

Jonah 4

What does it mean to repent?  Essentially it means to change direction and go the opposite way (sort of like a u-turn).  All of us are headed for destruction (eternity in hell).  When we have an encounter with Jesus, He convicts us of our sin.  As we confess Him as Lord, and trust in His death and resurrection, we are forgiven of our sins and begin a new way of living - this is repentance.

This doesn't mean that we are instantly perfect.  Until we see Jesus in eternity we must continually be walking in repentance.  We get easily distracted by sin.  Our hearts' natural desire is sinful behavior.  We must walk in faithfulness, and forgiveness daily.  The more we spend time with Jesus (reading Bible, praying) the more He shows us how to live a life that points others to Him.

In our passage today Pastor Rich will show us that God can use Jonah, the messy missionary to bring repentance to an incredibly wicked culture.  If God can do that, He certainly can forgive us and use us to bring His message of life to our hurting world.

Jonah 3

While watching a movie or reading a book, have you ever wondered if the main character was a bad guy who is sometimes good, or a good guy who is sometimes bad?  You can get that same question while reading through Jonah.  

Today, Pastor Rich will encourage us to ask this question of ourselves.  Whose side are you on?  Are you a bad person who occasionally does good, or a good person who occasionally does bad?  

Jonah 2

When you read through Jonah, it's easy to get annoyed at this messy, insolent prophet.  However, if we look closer we'll see a lot of our own short comings (sin) in his life.  We can be encouraged that if God can use someone like Jonah, then God can surely use us.

Today, as we look at what not to do as evidenced in the life of Jonah, Pastor Rich will discuss the dangers of self righteousness, how to recognize it and what to do about it.

Jonah 1