Port Orchard Church of the Nazarene

One of the most damaging ideas in Western Christianity is the one that God delights in torturing people forever in Hell, going as far as intentionally creating billions of people for this purpose in order to increase his glory. Now it's backfiring because many people are saying, “Well, if that’s your idea of God, I want nothing to do with Him.” We don’t want to change our theology because it’s pragmatic, but what if the traditional view of hell rose to prominence because of pragmatism? Pastor Jerry decides to take a swing at this topic in this week's sermon.

One of the most damaging ideas in Western Christianity is the one that God delights in torturing people forever in Hell, going as far as intentionally creating billions of people for this purpose in order to increase his glory. Now it's backfiring because many people are saying, “Well, if that’s your idea of God, I want nothing to do with Him.” We don’t want to change our theology because it’s pragmatic, but what if the traditional view of hell rose to prominence because of pragmatism? Pastor Jerry decides to take a swing at this topic in this week's sermon.

One of the most significant passages about the gospel of Jesus was written approximately 700 years before He was even born. Throughout Isaiah 53, we see a graphic- and surprisingly accurate- depiction of the Crucifixion. In addition, it shows us exactly why He came to us in the first place, whether or not we realize it on our first read.

One of the most significant passages about the gospel of Jesus was written approximately 700 years before He was even born. Throughout Isaiah 53, we see a graphic- and surprisingly accurate- depiction of the Crucifixion. In addition, it shows us exactly why He came to us in the first place, whether or not we realize it on our first read.

The Message of Jesus changed the World, until the world changed the message. The goal of the gospel is people sharing in God’s love life! The New Covenant is about our amazing privilege to live beyond ourselves with God.

Continuing on in the 'Learning, Living and Giving the Good News' series, Pastor Jerry explores replacing religion with the self-realizing nature of the New Covenant. “Self-actualization” is the drive within every human being to become all we are capable of being; to transform all potential positive qualities into actual positive qualities. The way this relates to scripture is that, while the Old Covenant held us back with sin and law, the New Covenant has allowed us to fully realize our identity in Christ.

Continuing on in the 'Learning, Living and Giving the Good News' series, Pastor Jerry explores replacing religion with the self-realizing nature of the New Covenant. “Self-actualization” is the drive within every human being to become all we are capable of being; to transform all potential positive qualities into actual positive qualities. The way this relates to scripture is that, while the Old Covenant held us back with sin and law, the New Covenant has allowed us to fully realize our identity in Christ.

This week, we were joined again by Pastor Brent Lokker. He shared some practical insights on why it's important to love yourself well.

Technical Note: Brent's presentation has been shared as an HTML file, as opposed to the usual PDF file we typically post with our messages. To access this file and follow along, download the 'Loving Yourself Well.zip' file, unzip it, and then open the folder it creates. The folder will likely be called, "Loving Yourself Well". Within this folder, open the 'index.html' file. This will open a new tab in your browser window that simply displays a white dot on a black screen. From here, you can click on the dot to follow along with the presentation.

In the next installment of the "Learning, Living and Giving the Good News of Jesus" series, Pastor Jerry focused on finding our purpose in life through Christ’s kingdom. In the days of the early church, the message of Jesus changed the world, until the world changed the message. As has been so eloquently demonstrated by Monty Python, it can be easy to misinterpret the gospel for one reason or another. This makes it all the more important to go back to the source to clear up our own confusion.

In the next installment of the "Learning, Living and Giving the Good News of Jesus" series, Pastor Jerry focused on finding our purpose in life through Christ’s kingdom. In the days of the early church, the message of Jesus changed the world, until the world changed the message. As has been so eloquently demonstrated by Monty Python, it can be easy to misinterpret the gospel for one reason or another. This makes it all the more important to go back to the source to clear up our own confusion.