Messages

[Matt 5:1-3] Blessesd are those who mourn - see Isaiah 61, which Jesus takes up and applies to himself for the entirety of humanity in the sermon on the Mount, not just Israel. This hope manifested is finally fulfilled in the New Heavens and New Earth depicted in Revelation 21.

[2 Peter 1:3-4] God has one agenda in our lives: conform us into the image of His Son in godliness and holiness. These verses provide us the source, goal and means of this sanctification. Source: His divine power granted to you Goal: Life and godliness, partakers of divine nature - like God Means: Through true knowledge of Him Only through knowing Jesus-fixing our eyes on and seeking Him-will we be godly.

[2 Peter 1:2] Peace is an absence of conflict and presence of well-being and wholeness with a sense of blessing. God’s peace can be granted in the midst of conflict. God is the only one with the ability to free our hearts from debilitating worry and establish us in a sense of loving control of our lives, that He is for us. Why are you afraid? Do you have a prayer life, full of thanksgiving? Jesus will lead us into storms, He will not fret. Our hardships are His idea, His plan, His working good in our lives-He is for us.

[1 Peter 1:2] Peter wants us to experience God‘s multiplying grace and His peace so that we might live holy and fruitful lives. The Grace of God is something from God to you for your everyday life and every sphere of your life so that you can be fruitful and have hope. Grace is God‘s love and favor embued with power given to the undeserving.

[1 Peter 1:1] Jesus Christ is the one true God and only savior of sinners like us. God is who Jesus is, and Savior is what he has done as Christ-the purpose for which he came into the world.

[2 Peter 1:1] Holiness and certainty go hand in hand, for those who doubt are fruitless and tossed about. Peter writes this second letter to inoculate the saints against false teaching with the truth. What does it mean to be a bond-servant of Jesus Christ and to have the same kind of faith as Peter?

[2 Peter 1:1] Holiness and certainty go hand in hand, for those who doubt are fruitless and tossed about. Peter writes this second letter to inoculate the saints against false teaching with the truth. What does it mean to be a bond-servant of Jesus Christ and to have the same kind of faith as Peter?

Steve Cowden and Michael Reece visited our brother Andre in the Central African Republic earlier this year and report back what they saw and heard with a presentation full of photos. They also visited Jonathan's House, an orphanage, clinic and school that serves hundreds of children and adults in the area. We praise God for the opportunity he has given us to partner with faithful brethren in Africa.

What are we doing? Appointing an elder before God with His authority: Jonah Stauffer What is our responsibility? As elders: diligently labor, charge over the body, admonish, work, bring the word of God, example of life and faith. As body: appreciate, esteem, love, peace, obey, submit, and let them do their oversight with joy and not grief.

[1 Peter 5:13-14] Family relationships are a precious reality in Christ, full of tender love and peace.