What the church needs today is not more machinery or better, not new organizations or more and novel methods, but men whom the Holy Spirit can use.” These are the words of E.M. Bounds and how powerfully they speak to our generation. How can we become vessels through whom the Holy Spirit works to reach this hurting and broken world? This is the focus of Pastor Kevin’s message this Sunday (Pentecost Sunday) as he preaches part one of the the two-part finale to the series Because He Lives, a message titled The Resurrected Christ and and the Outpoured Spirit.

Where do we, as Christians, anchor our hope when the culture around us grows increasingly hostile to the truth we believe and proclaim? How do we maintain a hope that is more than wishful thinking in the midst of life’s challenges? Pastor Clayton unpacks 1 Peter 1:3-5 to remind us of two things that anchor us and fill us with “A Living Hope”.

Often it has been the case that we overlook or downplay the return of Jesus back to Heaven—the doctrine of Ascension. Some avoid the subject because they feel that it in some way denigrates or risks overshadowing the work of Jesus in His Incarnation, or at the cross, or in His resurrection. The truth is, however, that the ascension not only does not denigrate these precious doctrines, but in fact, elevates them. Here Pastor Kevin continues the series, Because He Lives with a message about Christ’s ascension and how this powerful doctrine enhances our understanding of his Incarnation, death, resurrection, and return.

19th century American Poet Carl Sandburg once wrote, “ There is an eagle in me that wants to soar, and there is a hippopotamus in me that wants to wallow in the mud.” While Sandburg was certainly no Christian, his statement reflects well Paul’s indictment of the Roman Christians. Though in-dwelt by the same Spirit that raised Jesus from the dead, most were living their lives beneath their privilege and were wallowing in defeat. Pastor Kevin will continue his series, Because He Lives and will address the issue of living up to our potential as believers, walking in the power of the resurrection as he preaches the message, Eagle or Hippopotamus?

Faced with an edict from the evil Pharaoh to kill very male Hebrew born in Egypt, Jochabed, the mother of Moses, chose to obey God rather than man and confront the godless culture that threatened to destroy the people of God. Her choice impacted generations to come. Pastor Kevin speaks to the issue of standing as godly parents in a godless culture with his special message to all parents, aspiring parents, and all who hope to make a difference in the world, A Choice that Impacted Generations.

From a Roman prison, awaiting his impending execution, Paul wrote letters to his young protégé, Timothy. He encouraged Timothy that no matter what trial might befall the young church in Ephesus, they should stand firm to the Gospel without compromise and know that the Gospel’s certainty was backed with the unalterable fact of Christ’s resurrection. As Tertullian once wrote, “Truth does not blush.” Part three of Pastor Kevin’s series Because He Lives features the message Truth Does Not Blush.

Timothy Keller said, “Worship is seeing what God is worth and giving him what he's worth.” Sadly, it seems today that many believers fail to see the worth of the resurrected Christ and consequently fail to worship Him appropriately. In part two of his series Because He Lives, Pastor Kevin will discuss the fulness of Christ’s worth and explain how His resurrection fully establishes that worthiness. 

French philosopher and Christian antagonist Luc Ferry, leveled what he thought was an insult to the Christian faith. “The entire originality of the Christian message resides in good news of literal immortality—resurrection, in other words and not merely of souls but of individual human bodies.” He could not have been more accurate. This IS the unique message and the foundational hope of our faith. Pastor Kevin’s Easter message, Now IS Christ Risen is the first of an eight-week series titled Because He Lives.

Naturally, we are inclined to be so mathematical and calculating that we look upon uncertainty as a bad thing...Certainty is the mark of the common-sense life. To be certain of God means that we are uncertain in all our ways, we do not know what a day may bring forth. This is generally said with a sigh of sadness; it should rather be an expression of breathless expectation.” These are the words of Oswald Chambers and they demonstrate the faith of one who trusts Christ in the face of an uncertain future. Pastor Kevin concludes his series, Facing Our Fears with his message about how Daniel faced the fear of an uncertain future and trusted the God who called him and rescued him from the den of lions.

Our culture values the big, the great, and the impressive and it is easy to feel if you are not, then you are insignificant. Many live their lives fearing that they don’t matter. Esther was an orphaned, Jewish girl living in a faraway land with no real hope of ever making a difference. The fear of being insignificant would have been natural for her but she found out that God wanted to use her, and use her he did. We will learn through the grand story of Esther, how to face the fear of being insignificant and allow God to accomplish His plan through us.