Time of Grace With Pastor Mike Novotny

God does perform miracles and there are still incredible stories of healing and blessings.  Sinfully, we at times sit back and wait for God to fix all of our problems, but God challenges us to be active participants in our lives.  John the Baptist walked the earth to tell others of the coming Messiah, but was not saved himself from being put to death.  God had a plan for John the Baptist, a plan for his son to die for our sins, and he has a plan for us too!

Be strong and don't be afraid! The time is now to reach out to those around you.  Haggai motivated God's people to get back at the temple building project.  They had walked away to serve themselves and were not serving God by finishing his place of worship.  God blesses us with earthly gifts and talents and our job is to use those gifts to serve the Lord.

Satan is the ultimate tempter and can easily sway us in how we feel about our relationship with Christ.  But we have the ultimate tool in the Bible.  God tells us to arm ourselves against Satan and stay strong in the way of Christ.  Jesus shed his blood on the cross to pay for all of our sins, so no more bloodshed is necessary.  Our spiritual war wages on, but through faith we are winning the battle.

In society, there is a lack of Christian fathers to serve as good role models for their children.  Men have the best example, God the Father, to show them how they should act as a father.   He gave mankind the ultimate blessing of his son to die on the cross for all of our sins.  If you have no earthly father, remember that you have a heavenly father.  If you have a bad earthly father, take comfort in knowing that God the Father cares for you and watches over you.  If you have a great earthly father, praise God for this wonderful blessing he has given you!

Elisha called upon God to save the believing people from the Assyrians.  God sent his angels to blind the Assyrians and save his people from a brutal attack.  God is always there to protect us in our times of hardship.  God could have killed all of the Assyrians, but he showed them mercy by only blinding them.  God shows mercy and love to even the lowest of mankind.  We are blessed to have such a loving and forgiving God!

During Jesus’ temptation, he used God’s Word to combat Satan. Jesus stayed strong despite his physical weakness and hunger. He endured these tests, went on to sacrifice himself on a cross, and rose, defeating the devil and death once and for all. We too can fight the devil’s attacks using God’s Word and know that our God will not leave us to fend for ourselves.

Even back in the Bible days people didn't always get Jesus' message.  A woman in the crowd wanted to bless Mary, the mother of Jesus, but Jesus told her that the blessed are those who believe the word of God and obey it.  What we have from Jesus is more important than all of the other earthly things in our lives.  So listen to what Jesus says and take it to heart. 

Daniel was thrown into the lion's den, but miraculously was not killed or even harmed by the lions.  God works in two great ways.  People sometimes perish for their faith and sometimes God chooses to let his believers live and performs a miracle.  Either way, as children of God, we trust that he is in control and our only job is to believe.

The Babylonian king ordered all to worship false gods, but when three brave men said no they were thrown into a fiery furnace.  God chose to save them from burning alive and the people on Babylon worshipped the one true God.  Standing up for your faith and what God tells us is right can be intimidating.  We might not be saved from embarrassment, ridicule, or even death, but by representing ourselves as true children of God we will be blessed with a glorious eternal life in heaven.

God mentions five extraordinary women, both good and bad, in his genealogy of Jesus Christ.  We can learn from their mistakes, their good attributes, and how God used them to serve a role in the lineage of the Savior.  Today, God uses women, and mothers, to serve as Christian role models.  Our only job is to allow Christ to work through us, even the times when we do bad things!