Many people who are antagonistic towards God and His Word... accuse believers of using the Bible as a crutch. But you see, that's EXACTLY RIGHT. We DO use the Scriptures as our crutch! Without the Word of God, we can't walk! The Psalms teach us that His Word is a lamp to our feet and a light to our path! When left without the Word, we are lost in the dark. We'll stumble and injury ourselves. Simple put: We NEED the Scriptures. We NEED God. Without Him we are lost...destined for Hell...with no hope.

Often times we really forget who God is. While it's true that He is holy, righteous and mighty...He is also kind, gentle, and merciful. He LOVES us. It's His desire that NONE would perish! That's why He sent Jesus, His only Son, to this earth! He longs for a relationship with each and every one of us. He wants to be our comforter, our provider, our shield. But even closer than that, it's His heart that we accept Him as our FATHER...our ABBA. He has promised to NEVER leave or forsake His children.

There's something that we must understand...that in and of ourselves...we cannot attain righteousness. There's nothing we can do to earn it. The ONLY way we can be made righteous, is through the shed blood of Jesus. By faith in Him, WE can be made righteous. How wonderful is that!? In today's message we'll be reminded that there's nothing our flesh can do to put us in a right-standing with God. We cannot RESTORE ourselves unto Him. That's why we NEED Jesus! We need His blood to cleanse us.

The common thought today is that there are many ways a person can access God. Or that there are many different avenues to reach Heaven. But this simply is not true. The Scriptures are clear. There's only one way to have access to the Father...and there's only ONE way to get to Heaven. And that's through Jesus. He is THE way, THE truth, and THE life. No man can get to God, but by Him. It doesn't matter how good you think you are. There's NO amount of good-deeds that will earn you a spot in Heaven. You MUST be born again.

In today's message, we'll discuss idols. Pastor Terry will share with us that an idol doesn't necessarily have to be a golden statue. You see, an idol can be ANYTHING that you place before God. It can be ANYTHING that you devote yourself to. So sit back and think for a moment. Is there any person, thing or practice that you value over the truth of God's Word? Is there anything that has taken priority in your life...ahead of God? If so, it's time to rearrange those priorities. It's time to put your Heavenly Father...in first place.

Do you desire to be a disciple of the one true God? Do you long to be a part of His body and ministry? Well, in order to do so, we must die to ourselves. We must relinquish our fleshly ideals, agendas and goals. We must take up our cross and FOLLOW the Messiah. We must follow after His perfect example. You see, Jesus came so that we might know what it looks like to live a life of obedience to the Father. He didn't come to do His own will, but to do the will of God. And that should be our model to follow.

Our Heavenly Father loves us. He longs to be our ever-present help in time of need. You see, we don't have to do life alone. He wants us to come to Him for cleansing, with a heart of humble repentance. Then He wants to work His grace in and through our lives...causing us to walk in His ways. He wants to help us work through our problems. He wants to change us from the inside out. No longer are we dead, but we are new creations in HIM! We not only have LIFE, but we have life more abundantly! Praise His name!

We were reminded today that as believers, we're to have an eternal perspective. That means that our focus shouldn't be on the temporal things of this world. Instead, we should be focused on the things of God. On serving Him and others. On actively sharing the truth of His Word. You see, it should be our heart to turn people back to the gospel...to the pure Word of God. We can do so by sharing the Bible. And we can ALSO do this by simply LIVING it. By our testimony, others should be able to see the work of God's grace.

Our Heavenly Father is AMAZING. Just think of who He is and what HE's done. He is the CREATOR of all things! He formed man out of the dust of the earth. He breathed life into our lungs! He provides for our every need. He causes it to rain. He allows the sun to shine. And one of the most beautiful things about our God...is how much He loves us. He sent His only Son that we might have the chance to receive LIFE. REAL life, in Him. And as we'll learn today, it doesn't matter what we're facing, we serve a BIG GOD. The one TRUE God. And His love for us is boundless.

We were reminded today that as believers, we're to have an eternal perspective. That means that our focus shouldn't be on the temporal things of this world. Instead, we should be focused on the things of God. On serving Him and others. On actively sharing the truth of His Word. You see, it should be our heart to turn people back to the gospel...to the pure Word of God. We can do so by sharing the Bible. And we can ALSO do this by simply LIVING it. By our testimony, others should be able to see the work of God's grace.