New Light Audio

Life can wear you out emotionally, mentally, and spiritually, and pretending to be a superhero only makes it worse. In week three of Thrive, Pastor Dale Hester shows that God gives the strength you need for the day you are in, not the day you are afraid of.

1. Everybody gets tired, so stop pretending and normalize your fatigue.

2. God gives strength to the weak. Come to him weak and he will make you strong.

3. Waiting on God changes everything. To wait is to trust.

4. The secret is the source: proper faith in Jesus Christ and what he finished on the cross, not your own willpower.

Week 1 of the Thrive series with Lead Pastor Dale Hester.

New Light Church · Sundays 10am · 307 Chestnut St, Bladenboro, NC

Nicodemus was a religious expert who sat three feet from Jesus and still did not know him. On the last Sunday of 2025, in the Hallmark Christmas series, Pastor Nathan Hood walks through John 3 to show what it means to be born again: salvation is received, never achieved.

1. You can be near Jesus and still not know Jesus.

2. Good works are not the answer; they are evidence of the Spirit of God at work in your life.

3. There is no neutral. To ignore Jesus is to reject him.

Between the lights, sweaters, and traditions, it is easy to lose sight of why we celebrate. In week four of Hallmark Christmas, Pastor Dale gives three things to take home about the real meaning of Christmas.

1. Christmas is about the good news of Jesus Christ: God became man to reach us.

2. Christmas isn't about nostalgia; it's about salvation.

3. Christmas is about Jesus coming to make us new, not just to make us feel better.

Hallmark Christmas movies always include a reconciliation, and Christmas is God bringing peace where there was separation. In week three of Hallmark Christmas, Pastor Dale shows how forgiveness and healing work.

1. Forgiveness and healing require someone to make the first move, as God did when he sent Jesus.

2. Forgiveness and healing require honesty with ourselves, with God, and about the situation.

3. Forgiveness and healing free both sides.

Life is full of unexpected turns, some joyful and some devastating. In week two of Hallmark Christmas, Pastor Dale shows that Christmas is the greatest unexpected miracle and that God works in our turns.

1. An unexpected turn gives God an opportunity to work in our life, so do not let the facts silence the dream God gave you.

2. Do not lose your expectation of a miracle-working God who gives more than you ever dreamed.

3. God is still coming after you with an everlasting love, shown in Jesus.

Hallmark movies always end with someone coming home, but many people struggle at Christmas because of loss, hurt, or hard times. In week one of Hallmark Christmas, Pastor Dale uses the prodigal son to invite everyone to come home to Jesus.

1. Coming home to Jesus brings us into the Father's presence, where there is unconditional love, grace, and rest.

2. Coming home to Jesus starts with a step, and when we take the first step, God runs the rest of the way.

3. Coming home to Jesus restores the relationship, bringing back joy, peace, and contentment.

Why should we be thankful when life is hard and others seem to be getting ahead? In the final week of the ...ful series, Pastor Cory Hester shows that thankfulness is rooted in who God is, not in how we feel.

1. Thankfulness resets your heart, moving us from pride to humility because everything we have is grace.

2. Thankfulness refocuses your eyes, shifting them from what we are missing to what God has done.

3. Thankfulness releases your worship.

4. Thankfulness remembers what God did for me, which leads into Communion.

Everyone wants more peace, but sin, worry, unforgiveness, and trying to change other people can all rob us of it. In week three of the ...ful series, Pastor Dale shows that peace is found in Jesus, not in our circumstances.

1. We can have peace through circumstances, because our peace is in the Lord and not in whether things work out.

2. We can have peace in our relationships by forgiving and letting go, since God wants us to live in peace with others.

3. We can have peace with God, because rejecting him leaves a heart as restless as the sea.

Christians are meant to be joyful, so why are so many of us not? In week two of the ...ful series, Pastor Dale teaches that real joy depends on who Jesus is and what he did, not on our circumstances.

1. Joy and happiness are not distinct in Scripture, and it is uncharacteristic for a believer not to be joyful.

2. Joy and happiness grow from knowing that everything we have and everywhere we are is a gift from God.

3. Joy is not found in what we have but in who we have.