Own Your Faith

From the very beginning, God has been responding to the temptation to entertain and even worship other gods. His word, his Son, and his work in our lives declare that he is the One True Living God! As Christians we are called to acknowledge, worship and obey him as such. God has no rival and no equal! 1 Kings 18: 20-40.

All that God created in the beginning was holy. All was whole, complete, just as God intended. When sin entered the picture what was once holy was now tainted and perversion found its place in creation. The redemptive plan of God through relationship with Jesus and the restorative work of the Spirit takes us back to being more human, as God intended...holy. We are instructed to be holy in conduct so we reflect the holiness of God's nature. 1 Peter 1:15,16; 2:9

Creation was not complete while Adam was alone. It wasn't until Eve was made that humanity and all of creation was now complete. Pastor Monique teaches us on why marriage is important to God and why he designed it the way that he did, and why it should be important and sacred to us.

When God created in the beginning he affirmed multiple times that it was good. What he had arranged physically and spiritually was just as he intended and nothing else needed to be added to it to make it any better. That goes for the principles that are implied by his creational design. God has set things in order and we are to orient our lives to his design. In creation he made many distinctions according to nature and function to order, produce, and sustain life. Genesis 1 | 1 Corinthians 14:40.

God has begun to create a new humanity in the community of believers. When Paul says that he is making one new "man" in Ephesians 2, he is saying one new "humanity," or "race" even is being created between the Jews and the Gentiles. The same work is being done today among ethno-racial lines, political parties, genders, age, etc. God desires to make his community one to reflect the godhead. Ephesians 2:11-19 | Romans 11:17-19.

(Comm)unity invites the presence of God. While Jesus is building his church, believers are called to sustain the "temple" of God, the community, by "maintain[ing] the unity of the Spirit" (Ephesians 4:3). God's presence and power manifests in the oneness of his community. We should expect to see devotion to worship, miracles, needs met, and revival...See Acts 2:42-47

As we are called to be in community we must realize that community usually just doesn't happen. Because of our sinfulness, personalities, selfishness, fears, and such (particularly in today's culture), communities must be built. Our role is to participate with God as the Holy Spirit builds the church of Jesus Christ. We are called to be a part of building THE house. (Audio quality for this recording is below our usual standard, but message can still be heard.) Matthew 16:18,19

Lost in an individualistic, narcissistic culture where ME is king or queen, is the WE of community. This series we take a look at the imperative of being in community, particularly as the people of God. All of humanity shares in the image of God, but believers IMAGE God. Genesis 1:27; 2:18; Proverbs 16:2; Proverbs 18:1

Why do the end times matter? Listen here to Pastor Sy Goraieb to gain insight as to why we ought to be mindful as Christians of God's ultimate plan for creation. It should inspire faithfulness, hope, urgency, and preparedness in how we live our lives, engage the culture, and share our faith, This concludes our three part series on creation, redemption, and end times as the context in which we answer many of the "why?" questions of the faith that we may wrestle with.

God is constantly at work reconciling the world to himself. We have a choice whether we are going to participate with him or be a disruption. We share our faith, we worship, we pray, and we "do justice" as ways in which we participate with God's redemptive work in and through out lives as we have been entrusted with the ministry of reconciliation. 2 Corinthians 5:16-21