As Pastor Bill will explain in today’s message, Asa had a good track record in heeding God’s word and obeying Him. He was a faithful king, but after decades of that faithful obedience, he chose to disobey and the consequences were dire. He didn’t finish his race well. This can happen to all of us. You can’t let your guard down against the selfish desires of your heart. Determine to finish your race with a heart that’s submitted fully to your loving, Heavenly Father.

“Lord, help us…” “Jesus, save me.” That’s all it takes. With those three words, coupled with a genuine heart, and you can have confidence that God will come through. That doesn’t mean He’ll answer in the exact way you expect or hope. His solution could be very different and it could take much longer than you’d prefer, but as Pastor Bill will encourage us in today’s message, when you stand with God, trusting in His power, there’s no earthly power that can overcome you or take you out of His will.

In today’s message, Pastor Bill will draw our attention to the parallels between the Queen of Sheba visiting Solomon in Jerusalem and the experience of a new believer encountering Jesus and His Church. She was in awe of the place. She couldn’t believe what had been accomplished. It’s not that we need bigger, more impressive buildings. It’s the scale and steadfastness of our faith and the unity brought about by our love that should shock people as they come in from this broken world.

Wisdom is an amazing gift, but it needs to be coupled with humility. One of the most significant intellectual and philosophical movements of the last thousand years was the Enlightenment. Many important discoveries were made through it. But some men looked at their own wisdom and knowledge and decided that they didn’t need God. Solomon, known for his wisdom, suffered a similar outcome. Today, Pastor Bill will remind us to seek wisdom and never forget who gives it.

For most of us, when we’re confronted with hard circumstances, what’s our first reaction? Some may run the other way. Others trudge forward bitterly. Very few of us look at it as a privilege, but that’s what it is. That hardship provides an opportunity to lean in and trust God more fully, pointing the glory towards Him when the world notices your supernatural peace through the storm. Pastor Bill will encourage us in today’s message to direct our eyes heavenward when trouble comes our way.

When you come to a chapter of the Bible containing a genealogy, your first reaction may be to skip forward, or maybe just skim over till the next “relevant” verse shows up. As Pastor Bill will explain in today’s message, these lists matter. God inspired and directed the writing of this book, and there’s life and meaning behind every word it contains. The people listed in these genealogies are part of God’s story. With the help of the Holy Spirit, your eyes can be opened to their relevance in your own life.

Today you’ll learn with Pastor Bill that the heart of Jesus was to love His enemies. Why? So they too could turn to the Lord. Even while He hung dying on the cross, Jesus asked that they be forgiven. “They don’t what they’re doing, Father forgives them.” How different would you treat those you considered your enemy if you saw them in the same light as Jesus does? If you saw as people who don’t know what they’re doing? If you saw them as God’s children who are still lost and wandering in the darkness?

At times your life is going to seem chaotic…like you are surrounded by an army that is not on your side. In those moments, what do you do? Where do you go? Do you fight the battle, or do you run away? Do you trust in your own strength, or do you trust the strength of one who is greater? Today Pastor Bill will teach about a moment when an army surrounded the good guys. But rather than run, they chose to trust in the Lord. How do you respond to what ‘surrounds’ you? Do you run or do you trust in the Lord?

A child’s faith is an incredible thing to witness. They don’t question the ‘how’ as much as an adult does. Today you’ll learn with Pastor Bill, that Naaman had his faith tested when he sought to heal his leprosy. He was told to go wash in the River Jordon to be healed. Now a great commander like him questioned the insignificance of it all. Really, bathing in a river was going to heal leprosy. Faith like a child is what was required of him. Don’t question why or how, just go wash.

All you need is Jesus. It really is as simple as that. You don’t need all the lights and glamour. You just need Him. As you listen to today’s message with Pastor Bill, you’ll learn about Naaman, a favored commander in Syria who brought victory and great hope. Naaman, however, eventually found himself with leprosy…a disease that was both isolating and humiliating. But the Lord provided a way for healing. It wasn’t flashy and it certainly wasn’t what Naaman expected. But it was real.