The Bible says that without faith it is impossible to please God. Faith in God is one of the most crucial disciplines for the believer today. Faith is the conviction of the things we hope for. Faith is the vehicle by which we are saved. It is what allows us to see the unseen. Faith is what gives us the ability to keep going when everything around us tells us to quit. Faith is what motivated the saints of old to acts of love and obedience. Moses… Joshua, Enoch, Abel, Noah, Rahab, Sara and countless others. Our greatest power comes from God.

The book of Hebrews refers to Jesus willingness to face the suffering of the cross and His death was because of "the joy that was set before Him." It was the joy of redeeming mankind and restoring man's broken relationship with God. From His experience we learn that God can use suffering, pain and persecution to ultimately resound to His honor and our joy. In God's Word there are countless examples of God causing all that was meant for evil to work for the good of those who love Him and are called according to His purpose.

Each of us have plans. We have large plans like: getting great high paying job… furthering our education… starting our own business… There's also smaller plans like how we're going to spend our weekend… what to have for dinner, or which TV program to watch. from now.

We spend a great deal of our lives trying to shape our futures with a focus of fulfilling our wants and desires. But what happens when our plans go against the grain of God's plans for us? Today's challenge is a reminder of what happens when we fight was God has for us to do.

The call to follow Jesus will often take you to the most unlikely places: to different people groups… to areas of unrest and uncertainty… places that are out of your comfort zone. That's the place that feels safe, secure, and where you feel in control. Jesus often sends us to places where, if we're honest, we just don't want to go. Today Jesus encourages us to leave the comfort of where we are and follow Him "to the other side."

There are places that you can go where admittance might be restricted by any number of criteria: how you are dressed… whether or not you have a membership, at one time, even the color of your skin. But there are no such restrictions regarding the Kingdom of God. For "everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved."

In today's world we are experiencing a great deal of turmoil and uncertainty. It's difficult if not impossible to gauge what we'll wake up to from one day to the next. Uncertainty is the only thing of which we can be certain. Today's message of hope is that as believers we have something and someone we can count on.

A significant part of the information we receive on a daily basis comes to us by way of our eyes. It is through the eye-gate that images are processed and routed to our minds. That's why it is so very important that we are careful to be mindful of what we're letting into our thought life through what the bible calls "the lamp of the body." We're in Matthew chapter 5.

In today's teaching from Matthew chapter five Jesus says something to His disciples that on the surface might sound ominous. He points out a place where the religious leaders of His day had fallen woefully short. He then warns His disciples of the consequences that they would face if they didn't exceed where the others fell short.

We hear much today about role models. To society, a role model is a person whose behavior, attitudes, and successes are held as a standard to be admired and imitated by others. As we today celebrate Fathers, we need look no further than God's Word to see what He expects of Fathers as they fulfill their role in the lives of others.

The first 5 books of the Old Testament are called the Books of the Law. These books contain the fundamental and foundational laws, covenants, and history of Israel. In today's passage Jesus says that He came to fulfill the law, not to destroy it. What is the current day believer's relationship to the law? Are we merely following an Old Testament rule book, or does Christ have more in mind?