Throwing the Word

In this podcast, Pastor Steve walks us through Jude's contrast between the ungodly and the Archangel Michael and we see the obvious difference. On one side we have those who only know what they want to know - they only do what they want to do - and they only say what they want to say - they ARE ungodly. On the other side we have one who, for all intents and purposes, has so much more right to do what he wants but he is completely submitted to the Lordship of God - Contending for the faith means submitting to the lordship of Jesus Christ and waiting for Him to carry out His own will.

Way too often we think of the Bible as if it were God’s purpose to kill our joy and destroy our freedom but that is a terrible way to look at it! It shows us how to stay safe - it protects us from straying outside His will, and it establishes boundaries for our thinking, feeling, and doing. What part is His Word playing in your life? In this podcast, Pastor Steve will look at how everything that the returning exiles have been doing so far has been according to the commands of God in His Word. The feasts, the sacrifices, use of the vessels, and even their priestly garments all find their origin in the Word of the Lord. When they acted, their methods were based on the Word of the Lord and they were united in this!

In Ezra 3:8-13, we can see how the Word shows them where to go, what to pay attention to, and how to follow God’s commands.

In the most recent Podcast, Pastor Steve tells us about how Jude wanted to write another letter, one that presented the gospel. Something happened that caused him to write a letter of warning and correction - In the verses that we are going to look at this morning, Jude will begin to describe the end of these ungodly people. He does it by turning to the Old Testament.

In this week's Podcast, Pastor Steve has a Mother's Day message. Everywhere in the Bible, God is the one who gives life and this is a prime example! This ought to cause us to appreciate these rewards from the Lord! It ought to cause us to look at our kids with hope and courage because God is the source! Mothers, your children aren’t an accident and neither are you! In today's message we will see how God brings suffering into our lives and how Hannah serves as an example of how we can think of God in the face of emotional struggles. It is our prayer that you will find hope in the same place that Hannah did!

In this podcast, Pastor Steve is excited about how God is revealing so many parts of the Gospel message. As we look at Ezra 3, we can see that God has been laying the groundwork for the message of Jesus Christ and it is clear for anyone to see. Join us as we share in Pastor Steve's excitement.

In today's podcast, Pastor Steve is going to help us see why lists of names are important for us to take some time to read and try to understand.

In the list in Ezra 2, we can see priests, levites, singers, gatekeepers, and various other individuals who did all kinds of tasks all focused on giving God the glory that He deserves! When we read this kind of list, at the very least we ought to consider the enormous responsibility that God laid upon His worshippers to get it right! We need to consider the tremendous amount of work that had to be done to make one person right with God in a temporary fashion!

In today's podcast, join us as Pastor Steve challenges us to contend FOR the Gospel. It is crucial that Christians know the Gospel, share the Gospel, and that they intensely strive to make sure that others know that the Gospel is Truth.

Join us today as Pastor Steve tells us about the significance of the vessels of the Temple. There were golden vessels and silver vessels, each made to the exact specifications that God had commanded to Moses. These would’ve been beautiful and precious to behold - all pointing to the magnificence and grandeur of the One whose exaltation was their purpose! They each served a purpose and played a part in the life that God had given the Israelites and they point us to the One who fulfilled all of the purposes of these vessels and so much more. Listen as Steve encourages us to recognize that, just as those vessels were meant to draw the attention of the Israelites to their moment in the history of God's people, God is at work in us to grab ahold of the moment in history in which God has placed us!

Join Pastor Steve as he looks at how it was God behind Jeremiah's prophecy, Cyrus' proclamation and provision, and the Israelites’ return to rebuild His Temple. God is in the Driver's seat and He is the One who is the source behind the Power. It is our prayer that God will use this message to stir up your hearts to serve Him.

Join us as Pastor Steve answers this question. 

Maybe for some of you, the book of Ezra is part of the Bible that is a bit murky for you. It certainly was for me! I knew all of the early stories - Creation, Fall, Exodus, Samson, David and Goliath, Solomon the wise, and even Isaiah's great vision of heaven where the Cherub took a coal and touched his mouth to purify him. I knew there were kings and rulers and such that lived and ruled for years between David and the New Testament but the books that come after Psalms were just not a part of the Bible that I read. It is possible that somewhere in my mind I understood that Esther and Daniel's history fell with-in this time but since they weren't set in Israel I didn't know how they worked.

This morning we are going to look at a couple of passages in the Old Testament story that will help us to see how the Children of God ended up living in Babylon.