Napoleon Church of the Nazarene

Week three of the series RESET, talks about reseting our Identity. This world likes to label everything including people. Too often we label ourselves with lies of who we are according to past mistakes. But thats not how God sees us. We look at the book of Ephesians where Christ talks about being adopted to sonship through Jesus Christ, in accordance with His pleasure and will. Our identity is found in Christ whom redeemed us and has called us by name. A label may describe you, but your identity in Christ defines you!

Stepping into week 2 of the RESET series, Pastor Chip preaches on resetting our faith. "And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to Him must believe that He exists and that He rewards those who earnestly seek Him." -Hebrews 11:6. Pastor Chip takes us through some passages in scripture highlighting stories of little faith and great faith and how God is amazed by both. We need to trust Jesus, get away from our securities and step out in faith.

"Lord cause me to believe so that I may see!"

Happy New Year! Welcome to the first week of our new series, "RESET"!

We all want a better version of ourselves, right? We may try to obtain that every new year with resolutions for ourselves in some way, shape, or form. How about a resolution for our heart, soul, and minds? Pastor Chip teaches on reseting our hearts. He walks us through Jesus' parable about the sower, describing the different types of soil and how the crops grew on them. He explained that each different type of soil represent a different type of heart that we may find ourselves having. The end point is that to have a good heart, we need to RESET our hearts to make it available to God's Word. "He who has an ear, let him hear!"-Jesus

We end the Vintage Christmas Series with the truth that, "God came to be with us so He could live in us". Pastor Chip recaps on the all the vintage truths in the Christmas Story of Jesus' birth. The last truth he highlights is that God came to be Immanuel, "God with us!" He knows us and knows what we are going through and everything that we feel. Jesus was fully human and fully God and He came to dwell among us so that He could save us! Merry Christmas!

Pastor Ken takes over teaching on week 3 of our Vintage Christmas Series. Pastor Ken reads from the Luke 2:8-20 and highlights the account of the shepherds who heard the great news of Jesus' birth. We receive some background and history about shepherds which Ken ties into later in the message. He also takes us through Matthew 2:1-12 talking about the wise men. The focal point is the truth that no matter who or where you are, our natural response to Christmas is to come to Jesus.

Week two of the sermon series, "Vintage Christmas" hits on the truth that trust and obedience are always God's way. Pastor Chip walks us through the accounts found in Luke and Matthew when Mary and Joseph would find out they have been chosen to be the parents of Jesus the promised Messiah. It would take trust and obedience from both of them to follow God's plan. From their story we learn that you don't have to understand the plan to "Trust" that God has a purpose!

Pastor Chip kicks off a new sermon series called, "Vintage Christmas". He discribes the word "vintage" as something that is classic, timeless, quality or choice. He takes us though the lineage of Jesus, which then brings us to the book of Ruth, where we find the truth that redemption is at the heart of Christmas. These truths on Christmas are classic, timeless, "Vintage!"

We conclude our SHIFT series with how to "Shift our joy". Pastor Chip teaches that joy is different from happiness; that it is internal, Christ-centered, and a choice. He shows what God says about joy through passages from the Bible and talks about how we can have joy!

Our special guests, Petras and Naomi Rahmat, share about their testimony of faith and their journey from Pakistan to the U.S. They encourage us all that our mission field is our own back yard and call us to spread the gospel with boldness!

In week two of the series "SHIFT", Pastor Chip talks about shifting our perspective of "thanks" and how giving thanks creates a deeper connection to God. Pastor Chip explains what thankfulness is and goes through scripture, highlighting the different ways we can give thanks to God.