Does the thought of another work week have you down? Maybe it's not that. Maybe it's just the thought of trying to find something to feed your family for dinner—again--that's got you dragging today. Pastor Bill opens up the life of Ezra for us today. Ezra looked at the work that needs doing and he said, “I'm going UP. I'm going to do the work” And he brought others with him. Come take a closer look at Ezra today with us, and find out how you can be the one saying to those around you, “Let's go UP.”

If you're not on a mission, you're just going to have another Thursday. I don't know about you, but the last thing I want is to have just another Thursday--or Tuesday or whatever day it happens to be. I want something more. You do too! You were created with a need deep inside to be on a mission for the kingdom. Nothing else will satisfy. So what are you waiting for? Pastor Bill is going to show you today how to be ready at any time to step into something larger, something extraordinary.

Pastor Bill is talking about what it means to be full of joy in today's message on Ezra. You are living in a world that is at war with the gospel. Your circumstances will never be perfect until all things are made new in the new heaven and new earth. But it is possible to live a life that is bursting with joy here, in the middle of the chaos, in the middle of the mess. How is that possible? Tune in to today's message and listen as Pastor Bill lays out the one way we can live joyful lives even in the war.

A lot of believers have gotten caught up in trying to fix this broken world through government or various social movements. We can’t put our hope in those things. The real movement we need to be a part of is the expansion of God’s Kingdom in the hearts of men, no matter what their party lines, nationalities, or whatever label we want to put on them. As Pastor Bill will explain in today’s message, this world is only going to get more broken, but we can offer hope of a better world to come through Jesus.

Will King Cyrus of Persia be in heaven? Was he a child of God? We may not have enough information to make a judgment on that, but as Pastor Bill will point out in today’s message, this leader – the most powerful in the world at his time – was used as an instrument by God. He was used to accomplishing good, despite worshipping other idols and having many other faults. This isn’t a testament to the greatness of Cyrus or justification for his sin, but it shows the power of our God and the way He works in this world.

Far too many Christians waste the freedom they have on looking back to Egypt and the pleasures it contained. It’s really a sad state to be in. The Israelites finally were free from the oppression they were under, on their way to the land God promised, but the temporary discomfort was too much. As Pastor Bill will warn in today’s message, we often make the same error. We look past the provision and grace we’ve been given in abundance because it doesn’t bring the fleeting pleasures we had in oppression.

If you’ve trusted in Jesus for salvation – you don’t have to worry about the wrath of God anymore. You have glorious freedom in Him. But, as Pastor Bill will warn us in today’s message, that isn’t an excuse for living in sin. When you trust in Jesus, He begins a transformation of your heart. Your heart can’t stay in selfishness and sin. Even if you somehow walk away from living a life for Him, that doesn’t change what He did for you. That sin will still bring consequences in your life, as well as hurting the people around you.

Nothing is worth more than your relationship with God. Any possession, position, desire, or whatever it may be, if it’s taking priority over your relationship with God, then get rid of it for good. Don’t try to keep a little bit of it. Don’t try to just reorganize your priorities. That idol will continuously sneak back into that place. As Pastor Bill continues his book-by-book study of the Bible, we’ll see this drastic obedience demonstrated in Josiah. He was a young king, but his submission to God made him great.

Have you ever been disappointed by a political leader? …You probably just laughed out loud, right? It’s such a ridiculous question. Of course, we’ve all been let down by our leaders. The higher you put them on a pedestal the bigger their eventual fall. In today’s message, Pastor Bill will remind us that God is the one in control. We aren’t always going to understand why He places certain leaders in their place of power. They might seem like the worst ones for the job, but God has some purpose for them.

When you hear the words peace and prosperity it may elicit different responses. Peace is nice of course, but haven’t we had enough of “prosperity gospels”? Jesus isn’t about making us rich. At least not in the way that you may think. In today’s message, Pastor Bill will help us understand what it means to be prosperous in God’s Kingdom. This kind of prosperity never comes at the expense of others. It’s an abundance of wealth that isn’t measured in dollars or possessions – it’s measured in joy.