The Living Word

Jesus was the incarnation of the spirit and being of God. He was God in the flesh, though we often think about his earthly ministry as just the three years between turning water into wine at the wedding in Canaan to his resurrection and ascension. His ministry on earth goes from the formation of the world right till now. As Pastor Danny will explain in today’s message, he was at work all through the Old Testament, visible in the lives of men and women whose faith in God brought them righteousness.

One of the most perplexing stories found in scripture is that of God calling Abraham to offer his son Isaac as a sacrifice to Him. That doesn’t sound like a loving God, but Abraham had faith that God would provide. Child sacrifice was a common thing in that time, but God demonstrated that He would never require that of His children. He would provide the sacrifice needed by giving His son. As Pastor Danny will point out in today’s message, we simply have to place our faith in God to provide.

Abraham was promised by God that he would become the father of many nations and that kings would come from him. He promised that his offspring would be a blessing to the world. Abraham simply had to have faith, but Abraham made mistakes. He lost patience and his faith waivered, and he took matters into his own hands, having a son through his maidservant. Today Pastor Danny is going to point out how God still came through on his promise but Abraham’s lapse in faith had long lasting effects.

We live in the age of grace. Paul clarified that in 1 Corinthians everything is permissible for us, but that doesn’t mean that it is beneficial. He warns against being mastered by the desires of the body. In today's message, as Pastor Danny contrasts the life of Lot to his uncle Abraham, we will see how this plays out in real life. Lot was saved by God’s grace but sadly following the desires of his flesh had consequences that plagued the children of Abraham for generations to come.

Apologies to every Disney movie ever made but you shouldn’t follow your heart. That idea has been so ingrained in our media for the last few decades that you might even recoil a bit to hear that. The truth in scripture reveals to us that our hearts are deceitfully wicked. Our hearts are greedy, lustful and glutinous. We want to do what’s best for us. As we will be reminded in today’s message from Pastor Danny, our hearts will often lead us to disobedience against God and with dire consequence!

We all love to sit and listen to good preaching on faith & God, and you might feel a swell of inspiration when you listen to the account of Abraham, but does it go beyond that? Will you step out in faith, even if it means leaving you Ur of the Chaldeans, your comfort zone. In today’s message, Pastor Danny is going to examine the life of Abraham and draw our attention to not only that he trusted God in his heart but how that faith carried over into his actions.

When you find a good thing, your first instinct isn’t to get up and find something else. You’ll want to put down roots and enjoy it as much as you can. But over and over again, starting with the story of Abraham, we find people in the Bible being called out of their comfort zones, and relatively easy lives, into the wilderness and often they don’t know where they are going or what they are going to do. As Pastor Danny will point out in today’s message, what God is ultimately calling them to is faith in Him.

When you look up at the stars at night or across a vast landscape you'll likely feel pretty small and insignificant. But despite how small you are, God loves you! The God who created all of it values you! As Pastor Danny will point out in today's message, the fall of man described in Genesis set off a massive undertaking on God's part. It began the process of redemption through His son, that is still happening right now in our hearts and in the hearts of millions of people.

If you look into the creation stories of other cultures, they reveal a couple of things. First, God made humans with curiosity and creativity. And second, there is something in all of us that wants to know how we got here and why we are here. As Pastor Danny will point out in today's message, there is an astounding amount of overlap between what God revealed in scripture and what science is finding as evidence today. Sadly, many scientists are trying to subtract God from the story.

In this day and age of technology and online everything, it’s easy to get what you want. It’s even easy to go to church, just turn on your computer. But there is something so incredible about meeting together in a church setting. It’s a place to pray for one another and to learn more about Jesus. It’s something that Pastor Danny advocates for today as he wraps up our study of Jude. Meeting together happened a lot in the day of the New Testament writer and it’s something that should continue to happen today.