What kind of impact does God really want to have in my life during the Holidays?

It may be a timely thought for you right now because the more you consider this question, the more you crack open the door for the God of Wonders to do something amazing in your life!

It’s the first Sunday of Advent. It’s that time of year when we are reminded of God’s promise of light in the darkest of times; His promise of hope for our despair; the promise of His coming as “Immanuel,” which means, “God with us.”

Darkness, especially during the Holidays, can grab a hold of us so strongly that we often can’t think of anything else. Regrets, pain, loss, depression, and suicides are just a sample of what many people struggle with during the Holiday season. 

It’s often during these dark, difficult and tough times that we may not even realize how much God wants to remind us and reveal to us WHO He really is in our lives. In fact, every time we enter into the season of Advent regardless of where we may be at in life, it is God who wants to once again capture our attention, reveal Himself and fill us with wonder!

What kind of impact does God really want to have in my life during the Holidays? Take a listen and find out!

Why is it important to prepare our hearts for the Holidays?

The Holidays can be one of the most discouraging and depressing times of the year for people. It’s a time of year when death and suicide rates soar. And it doesn’t help that we’re living in some difficult times right now with a lot of people and their families trying to survive without essential food, clothing, shelter and/or someone to advocate on their behalf. 

What we should not forget, however, is that every year one of the things the Holidays are suppose to do is serve as a reminder that God wants to come and make His home with us. Regardless of the circumstances we may be trying to navigate through in our lives even right now, the Holidays are suppose to be a reminder of Good News—that God is coming, He wants to come and make His home among us!!

The church in the city of Laodicea, one of the seven churches in the book of Revelation, provides us with a picture of a church, a people, who were not ready for God to come and make His home among them.

What can we learn from their story about the importance of preparing our hearts for the Holidays? Take a listen and find out!

#FollowChrist #FollowingChrist #Foundations #HolySpirit

Why does God allow times of testing to come our way?

God is not absent in difficult times! On the contrary, He is at work, living within all who have put their faith and trust in Christ regardless of the circumstances.

The church in the city of Philadelphia, one of the seven churches in the book of Revelation, knew this well. They knew as Christ-followers that God lived within them and was present among them no matter how good or bad life was playing out in their world. They also knew that God was opening a door for them that no one could close.

The church in Philadelphia was not necessarily the biggest church in the region. In fact, Christ noted they had “little strength.” Yet He also praised them because they were people who obeyed His Word and did not deny Him. They were people in whom the Holy Spirit gave them the grace to persevere even in the most difficult of circumstances. 

What can we learn from their story about WHY God allows times of testing to come our way? Take a listen and find out!

#FollowChrist #FollowingChrist #Foundations #HolySpirit

What are the stakes of not being alert to the Lord’s leading in your life?

In our current series, FOUNDATIONS, we have been looking at the lives of those who answered the call of God on their lives TO GO beyond the world that they knew. They took the words of Jesus seriously and His promise when He said to His disciples . . . 

“But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you. And you will be My witnesses, telling people about Me everywhere—in Jerusalem, throughout Judea, in Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” Acts‬ ‭1:8‬ ‭NLT‬

Vitally important, however, in answering the call TO GO beyond the world that they knew, would be them being ALERT to the Lord’s leading in their lives. With the empowerment of the Holy Spirit they would have everything they needed to fulfill their mission. Yet, without being alert to the Holy Spirit’s leading how would one ever know if they were really WHERE God needed them to be, being WHO God needed them to be, and doing WHAT God needed them to do? 

The church in the city of Sardis, one of the seven churches in the book of Revelation, provides us with a picture of a church that lost its way. Its story is a reminder of just how high the stakes are when we are not being alert to the Lord’s leading in our lives. What does their story mean for our lives today? Take a listen and find out!

#FollowChrist #FollowingChrist #Foundations #HolySpirit

How does the Holy Spirit empower our lives to deal with things outside our comfort zone?

In our current series, FOUNDATIONS, we have been looking at the lives of those who answered the call of God on their lives TO GO beyond the world that they knew. They took the words of Jesus seriously and His promise when He said to His disciples . . . 

“But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you. And you will be My witnesses, telling people about Me everywhere—in Jerusalem, throughout Judea, in Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” Acts‬ ‭1:8‬ ‭NLT‬‬

While this is a powerful word and promise from the Lord, it also presents us with an undeniable and uncomfortable truth for those who would embrace it. In order TO GO beyond the world that they knew, they would also have TO LEAVE their comfort zone. And that’s not always easy!

How does the Holy Spirit empower our lives to deal with things outside our comfort zone? Take a listen and find out!

#FollowChrist #FollowingChrist #Foundations #HolySpirit

How can you remain faithful to your calling in an increasingly antagonistic world?

With temperatures dropping, and the rain and winds starting to ramp up again, it has become obvious here in the Northwest that summer is over, fall has arrived and winter is not be far behind!

In places where seasons transition in such dramatic fashion it often requires those who live in such places to change the way they live. People living in the Northwest will not be cutting their grass for a while. Winter sweaters, gloves and coats start to become part of people’s wardrobes again. Winterizing one’s home, making sure there is enough food and wood to fuel the fireplace begin to rise as top priorities. 

Here’s the thing: Regardless of what season we may find ourselves navigating through, we can’t stop being faithful to our calling in life. Our calling from God in regards to WHO we are called to be and WHAT we are called to do, our reasonable service of worship to God and contribution to the world, is something God wants us to be faithful to both in and out of season. 

How about when the world we are living in is becoming more and more antagonistic to that very call God has placed upon our lives? How can we remain faithful? Take a listen and find out!

#FollowChrist #FollowingChrist #Foundations #HolySpirit

What does it mean to truly live a victorious life? 

Have you ever gone through a time in your life when you have felt defeated? Or a season when you have found yourself in a battle that seemed like it would never end?

Battles can start in a variety of ways and come from a multitude of fronts, both internally and externally. They can often be the result of mistakes we have made, things we said or did, or shouldn’t have said or done; things we might have been able to do better. 

But at other times, battles can play out because we’re standing up for what we believe are the right things, trying to honor God with our lives and as a result disdain, contempt and persecution come.

How does God bring about the victory in our lives when going through the most difficult of times? Take a listen and find out!

#FollowChrist #FollowingChrist #Foundations #HolySpirit

How do you keep your life, relationships and purpose in this world from going stale?

God told the church in Ephesus that He had seen their hard work and patient endurance. They were faithful in holding up God’s truth in a not so kind world, patiently suffering for the cause of Christ without quitting. Yet, God had this complaint against them. He tells them…

“You don’t love me or each other as you did at first!” —Revelation‬ ‭2:4‬ ‭NLT‬

Their love had grown cold and stale, which in turn affected their very lives, relationships and purpose in the world they lived in. How can we keep our lives, relationships and purpose in this world from growing cold and stale? Take a listen and find out.

#FollowChrist #FollowingChrist #Foundations #HolySpirit

What kind of world was the Early Church bringing the Good News of Jesus Christ into?

In this installment of our series, we are in Didyma, home of the great temple of Apollo. It is almost an exact replica of the temple of Artemis in Ephesus where the Apostle Paul spent about three years of his ministry. Both temples were massive with sculpted columns and courtyards that give us a picture of the what would have been important to a lot of people in the ancient world. It was a world whose economy was directly connected to its system of pagan worship.

Money was made whenever a silversmith or any other artisan sold a shrine or statue of a god made of wood, stone or metal. This is significant because for every new believer in Christ the Early Church made and discipled, it was in essence, removing a customer from the economic system of pagan worship. Over time, the local economies eventually felt the impact of believers finding new life in Christ!

None of this would have even been possible without the Holy Spirit’s power! In fact, the Holy Spirit who empowered the Early Church to bring the Good News of Jesus Christ into the world they lived in, is the same Holy Spirit who empowers the Church to bring the Good News of Jesus Christ into the world we live in today! 

We were not meant to continue the Lord’s ministry in the world we live in in our own power, but in the Holy Spirit’s power. What does this look like for Christ-followers today? Take a listen and find out!

How do we become people of lasting influence for the Kingdom of God?

The Apostle Paul was in a hurry on the tail end of his third missionary journey. He was trying to get to Jerusalem in time for the Jewish festival of Pentecost. But he also wanted to meet with the Elders of the Church in Ephesus to give them words of wisdom, instruction and encouragement. Time was of the essence and Paul had to make a decision regarding what needed to take top priority.

Fortunately for us, Paul set aside his personal agenda in order to meet with these church leaders in the city of Miletus, about 50 miles southwest of Ephesus. And it would have a profound impact upon the early church and its influence in the world. 

The narrative in this story provides a wonderful model for us to consider in regards to the kind of lasting influence God wants Christ-followers to have in the world. How do we become people of lasting influence for the Kingdom of God? Take a listen and find out!

#FollowChrist #FollowingChrist #Foundations #HolySpirit