Mother's Day 2017 at Grace with special speaker Lisa Whittle

Mother's Day 2017 at Grace with special speaker Lisa Whittle

The kingdom of God is not in talk, but in power.

As Christians, we stop short with affirmation and comfort. Instead of allowing immature Christians to grow, we baby them and unintentionally stunt their growth. We accommodate behavior and sins that are actually harmful to them. Many times this happens because we think it’s unloving or judgmental for a Christian to either clarify boundaries or appropriately discipline. We have somehow bought into the lie that dealing with sin should be confined to something that happens between the individual and God. We don’t have a proper understanding of healthy boundaries and healthy discipline. So, let’s define them...

I think most Christians understand what we need to do to be more more like Christ every day. The problem is, we don't naturally desire to do those things. So how do we change our desires? How do we change our appetite?

Over the next several weeks we're going to be taking a journey through 1 Corinthians and hitting some topics that are keeping you and I from growing up. If you're not a Christian, relax. I'm going to be talking to Christians. You are finally going to have a chance to say Amen! But, I want you to tune in because hopefully you will see a standard for Christian maturity unveiled, one that is inspiring, something to which you might want to aspire.

He is Risen! We check out two perspectives on Easter and how it effects our lives each day!

As you read through Scripture, sin has always been a problem. No shock there. You’ve struggled with sin, I’ve struggled with sin. So did our parents, grandparents, great-great-grandparents on down the line. If, in BC days (before Christ or for the purposes of my illustration, before the cross), we would have been fortunate enough to have been God’s chosen people, the Jews, we would have been familiar with the process for dealing with sin. It involved blood. There had to be a sacrifice made for the sins of the people. And for 365 days, their sins were taken away. But, it had to happen again the next Day of Atonement.

The cross symbolizes a significant change. And it had everything to do with WHO was raised to hang on the cross.

Over the last couple of weeks, we’ve been working our way through 1 John. We’ve learned that we can KNOW we are forgiven. We can KNOW God is for us. Today, there is something else we need to know. We need to KNOW we have an enemy gunning for us. An enemy that is all about breaking up our relationship with God.

This world is not our home. We are being tempted by the desires of the flesh, desires of the eyes, and the pride of life. In this message, we look at what 1 John 2 has to say about these desires and where they lead.