As we begin this series on Peter’s second letter, we take a look back at  the story of Peter’s denial of Christ, and how by the grace of God and  the cross of Christ, he was restored to the point where he could write  these life changing books that we have in our Bibles today. How can we,  like Peter, be used by the Lord to reach our neighbors and serve our  brothers and sisters in Christ, even if we too have a period of darkness  and unmitigated failure in our own lives?

At the beginning of each year, Pastor Joshua Shirey shares a message in the theme of “The State of the Pulpit”. We take some time to consider the health of the global church and how our local congregation may be able to grow in light of the challenges the church may face in the coming year. 

This year, we consider Jesus’ message to his disciples where he tells them what they should expect as they follow him: that they should deny themselves, take up their cross and follow him. One cannot expect to enjoy all of the temporary pleasures of this life and all of the eternal joy that awaits us in the life to come.

As the people of God, we must consider how we have done patterning our lives after that of Christ who “emptied himself” and “humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death” (see  Philippians 2). Do we live our lives in such a way as to show that our greatest desire is yet to come, or are we far too easily pleased with the temporary pleasures of this life?

In this final week of our series on Prayer in the life of the church, we consider how we ought to pray in between the first coming of Christ that we celebrate in the Christmas season, and the second and final coming that is our great hope. Let us look forward to his future return, and pray to hasten the day, that gives this great day its ultimate meaning.

During our Christmas Eve hymn sing and candlelight service, Pastor Joshua Shirey shared a short gospel message and exhortation to remind us that the baby in the manger has become our Peace if we put our faith in him.

(Various Scriptures)

As we continue to consider the role of prayer in the life of the church and in our own lives as individual followers of Christ, we turn now to Psalm 74 to consider how we should respond when things are disordered and when the name of the Lord is blasphemed by the world around us. Is it appropriate to pray prayers of lament? Is it right for us to be brought down in sadness by the pain in this life? What sets our Godward sorrow apart from the empty sadness of the world without Christ? And how should we respond when our lamentation is the result of our own sin or rampant sin in the covenant community of God’s people?

On this Celebration Sunday, Pastor Joshua Shirey brings us a message from Psalm 111 to encourage us to praise the Lord both individually but especially when we gather together as God’s people. We ought to practice our own private prayers of praise, even when we don’t feel like it; and we should prioritize prayers of praise, gathering to sing and to worship, and in every way bringing honor to the Lord whenever we gather together because he is worthy of it. 

What is the purpose of prayer of petition? Do we unnecessarily burden the Lord with our needs, fears and insecurities? In this continuation of our end of the year series on prayer, Pastor Joshua Shirey shares that not only is our Heavenly Father ready to hear our prayers of petition, but that he has also created us with our weaknesses and great needs to remind us to look to him for our needs. He doesn’t want us to be “with it” and self-reliant, he wants us to put our daily faith in him to walk with us through our trials.

In this second of six sermons in our series on prayer, we turn to Psalm 106 to consider prayers of confession and repentance of sin. How should we respond when we fall short of God's righteous standard? And how should we be encouraged by God's gracious love toward us and faithfulness to forgive when we approach him in humility?

What stands in the way of a healthy personal life of prayer, and what affect does that have on the gathered people of God? In this first sermon in our short series on prayer, Pastor Joshua Shirey shares from the book of James what the apostle has to say on the spiritual adultery of our often self-centered prayers (or lack of prayer), and how we can actively pursue a shared life of prayer as the church.

As we return again to the book of Psalms, guest preacher Paul Stockton shares a message from Psalm 139 titled "Search Me, O God". Drawing from David's song, Paul shows us how God's intimate knowledge of David led the psalmist to trust the Lord with his whole heart, desiring to know him in the same way and to continue to be known without pretense or secrecy.

Guest Speaker: Paul Stockton