The first title Isaiah gives the coming Savior is Wonderful Counselor. A good counselor is able to see things about you that you yourself cannot see. A good counselor can listen and empathize when you think no one would ever understand. A good counselor offers hope and healing where you think you are stuck. Jesus is more than a good counselor; Jesus is the Wonderful Counselor. To name Jesus Wonderful Counselor is to trust Jesus to come into your life with help, and with your best interests at heart. Speaker: Greg Hartnett

Jesus made a stunning claim. He said very clearly that the entire canon of Scripture is there to do one thing and one thing only—to point us to him! Jesus Christ is the Word of God incarnate. “The Word took up flesh and dwelled among us.” Jesus Christ should be read off every single page of Scripture. Every page speaks of Jesus (T Keller, Preaching, Ch 3). Without the Word we sat in silence. Without the Word we sat in darkness. Give thanks for the Word of God we hold in our hands and how it leads us to the Word of God incarnate, our Savior Jesus Christ. Speaker: Tim McConnell

Is the Word of God a regular part of your life? What are good ways to keep God’s holy Word pouring into your mind and heart? We receive all kinds of messages every day, many of them designed to inflame our desires, increase our devotion, or aggravate our needs, all in the name of getting us to buy new products or maintain our brand loyalty. Some messages are designed to erode our trust in God directly. Psalm 119 is a celebration of the Bible. What a gift to have the Word of God to guide and direct us, to comfort and inspire us, to correct and train us, and to lead us to salvation. The Word of God is a lamp to our feet. Speaker: Ellen Dawson

Let’s get very pragmatic and down to the brass tacks! We believe this book, the Bible, is a canon of inspired literature which comes to our hands by the direct work of the Holy Spirit who inspired the original writing, protected and conveyed the texts to the church down through the ages, and opens our minds and hearts to understanding and hearing the Word of God as from God’s very voice into our lives. We believe in the infallibility of Holy Scripture, the plenary inspiration of its original texts, and the clarity of its message. In the words of Kevin DeYoung, “The Bible is knowable, necessary, and enough.” But which Bible? I want to give you some insights on the various translations of Holy Scripture (King James; NRSV; NIV; ESV; Message; Passion). You can trust the Bible you have. You can receive the Word of God Written. Speaker: Tim McConnell

Overcoming apathy. Jesus comes to meet us in our chambers. He stands at the door and knocks. Do we have enough energy to get up and let him in? Or are we, like the church of Laodicea, lukewarm, neither hot nor cold? Apathy is numbing. Jesus is enlivening. It is like moving from black and white to color when Jesus enters your life. Open the door to Jesus Christ today. Speaker: Tim McConnell

Disengagement apathy. I just don’t want to get involved. We are tempted to stay disengaged even when a problem presents itself to us. “God bless you,” we say, and then we go our way. No. It’s time to step up and put skin in the game. Faith that saves is faith that works. Don’t give in to the temptation to say “Whatever. Someone else will do it.” I want to give you another “whatever.” Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with all your strength. What difference do you want to make? Together at First Pres we are giving to make a difference. Speaker: Tim McConnell

Exhaustion apathy. I would care, but I’m just so exhausted! This even happened to Elijah after his battle with the priests of Baal. Sometimes we are just too tired to care. But when we give in to the lethargy, it takes over. The angel visited Elijah telling him to rest, get some sleep, then get up and eat a little food. Keep moving. You don’t have to do everything right now. One next step. One healthy nap. One little snack. Keep moving and the Lord will meet you with a still small voice of the Holy Spirit and call you into greater life. Speaker: Tim McConnell

Motivation apathy. Moses did all he could to make his people happy, but it only seemed to make things worse. When you don’t feel like anything you do will make a difference, it is very hard to get out of bed in the morning. Moses opened up to God with lament – complaining with a purpose. God responded with help. What helps you when you lose track of your purpose? Speaker: John Goodale

Compassionless apathy. We return to Jonah this week. Remember the series this May? There are few better pictures of compassionless apathy. It is hard to keep an open heart to the suffering of our common man. Your news feed flows by: NFL quarterback to divorce; cat falls in well; 3,000 die in flooding in Libya; new drug promises relief from acne. A million things demand your attention and eventually you grow numb. Jonah had no compassion for the loss of the souls of Nineveh. God did. We can’t live in the ho-hum of our comfortable lives. Find a way to connect with the global church, its challenges, its suffering, and its pain. Be regularly exposed to painful things and measure them rightly. Speaker: Tim McConnell

The commonality of apathy. Does the Bible understand how I feel? Time and again we find that God does know and understand how we feel, and we most often find that in the Psalms. Why do I feel like this? Why should I care? The soul longs for deeper meaning and purpose. Your soul remembers a time when it was moved and full of life. Apathy and lethargy are common experiences brought on by many factors. Worship can lift your soul, gratitude can remind you of God’s faithfulness, and hope can move you again out of your stupor toward your Savior. Speaker: Tim McConnell