You don’t have to be a genius to know that it takes good communication in marriage. What about working through a miscommunication with your best friend? It’s not just a walk in the park…it takes work! Are you willing to step into real relationship with people, knowing that it might be hard, and even painful at times? But what Pastor Mike is getting at today is that the only way to have true relationship with people is to be real with them, and to work through the things that are a problem.

When you have close friends, you work at getting together with them and catching up. You share your hurts and your struggles, but you also celebrate the good things too! It takes effort and intentionality to help your friends grow and thrive. So why would it be any different with your relationship with God? He wants to be your friend, but that means it takes effort for you to connect with Him! Pastor Mike wants you to know today that God wants a relationship with you, and it doesn’t happen accidentally.

It never feels good to be talking to someone, and you realize they have their earbuds in and don’t have a clue what you said. What about if you were pouring out your heart to someone, but they couldn’t see the tears that were streaming down your face? You’d feel a bit hollow or empty about wanting to “go there” with a person who can’t see your hurt or can’t hear your pain. What Pastor Mike teaches today is that God isn’t either of these. He's not blind to your hurt, and He isn’t deaf to your pain.

You’re in a good place. You’re waiting and trusting that the right person will come into your life. But in a moment of weakness, you give in to your desire, and you make a big mistake. What God had in mind for you, you tried to take control of, and serious side effects came with that decision. In today’s teaching, Pastor Mike speaks about another case where it was hard to wait on God’s timing, and so people took matters into their own hands. The result had centuries-long historical side-effects on the world.

Most religions teach that your good deeds must outweigh your bad deeds in order to get into Heaven when you die. Christianity is the only religion, that doesn't focus on what you can do to get into Heaven, but on what God Himself did for you. As Pastor Mike continues his teaching series through the book of Genesis, he'll be encouraging you to hold fast to the basic truths of the Gospel and to reject any false teaching that says the sacrifice of Jesus alone isn't enough for salvation.

The Bible says very clearly that there is no one righteous, and that even the best deeds man can do, are as filthy rags before a Holy God. Pastor Mike will be explaining to you today that there's nothing you can do to earn God's favor and forgiveness. It's only the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross that can take your sins away and allow you to have fellowship with God. Don't fall into the trap of trying to earn God's love with works, because you have the righteousness of Christ already within you.

God, Himself is the great reward and prize as you make it to the end of your race here on Earth. As Pastor Mike continues his teaching series through the book of Genesis, he'll be explaining how only God can fill the void that is in every soul of man. Everyone is born with a God-shaped void, and sadly people try to fill this void with all sorts of things, but only God can satisfy it. This is why so many get caught up in various addictions, and even materialism, because they don't have God as their reward.

As you analyze the life of Lot, you'll quickly realize he had a saved soul, but a wasted life. Today, Pastor Mike will be warning you against small compromises and how even sins that seem little, will always lead to bigger ones. A lot started off by pitching his tent facing Sodom, and then ultimately he ended up living in that city. Sin will always take you further than you want to go, and keep you longer than you want to stay! There's a reason the Bible says to not make any provision for the flesh.

There's a spiritual battle taking place all around you, even though you can't always see it! Today, Pastor Mike will be exhorting you to put on the full armor of God and to make sure you are prepared for battle. If you're not making an eternal difference in the lives of others, most likely your not experiencing much spiritual warfare. The best tactic for the enemy to use is to allow you to continue being complacent, rather than attack. If you're a Christian, you need to get in the fight.

All throughout humanity, there's been wars and violence against other groups of people. Today, Pastor Mike will be explaining how the ugliest aspects of humanity all stem from the flesh nature of mankind. Even the worst aspects of creation itself, also derive from the sinful nature of mankind. The moment sin entered the world, mankind and creation became immediately tainted with the destructive nature of sin. The only way sin can be forgiven and ultimately removed, is by the sacrifice of Jesus!