Treasured Truth

We often wonder why there are shadows in our lives.  Pastor Ford will explain today that it’s sometimes because we’ve let something in our lives—some kind of moon—come in between us and God, replacing His priority in our lives.  What is a moon?  It’s a celestial body that doesn’t possess its own light.  It only reflects the light that the sun gives it.  So Pastor Ford will ask us, “What has God given to us in our lives, that we’ve allowed it to replace Him?”

In today’s world, we buy more, but we enjoy it less.  We have bigger houses, but smaller hearts.  We have more conveniences, but less time.  We have multiplied our possessions, but we have reduced our values.  And we have learned how to make a living, but we haven’t learned how to make a life. On today’s Treasured Truth, we’ll continue to look at stewardship and Pastor Ford will encourage us to not follow the world’s example of how to handle our money and view our possessions.

As we begin to look at the theology of stewardship, Pastor Ford will ask how many of us have made God the Lord of the leftovers?  Because if we’re honest with ourselves, He usually gets our leftover time, our leftover talents, our leftover treasures.  We often think, "If I have anything left, then I can give to God."  Learn more about how we should view our responsibility to be actively giving back to God on today's Treasured Truth.

As we continue to look at the reasons why people reject Jesus, Pastor Ford will emphasize the holiness of Jesus.  Jesus is holy just like God is holy.  And then he will ask us to consider how we react to that holiness.  Do we revere it?  Or do we scoff at it, trying to minimize the truth of it, like so many people in our society try to do today?

As we begin a study in Colossians 4 today, Pastor Ford will remind us that if you are a follower of Christ you are called to get involved with ministry at your local church.  And what the Church needs is more people who utilize their gifts and are faithful in service. Those who will say, “God called me to this and I’m going to do this to the best of my God-given abilities. I may not always do it right.  But I’m going to keep doing it until I get it right.”

The Holy Spirit plays a major role in revealing who Jesus is to those who are seeking to know Him.  Simply put, some people reject Jesus because the Holy Spirit has not yet revealed the truth about Jesus to them.  Find out more about this important concept when you join us for today’s Treasured Truth.

Pastor Ford will explain that some people reject Jesus because they say they’ve tried Him, but He doesn’t work.  But we’ll learn today that what those people have actually tried is going to church.  They haven’t really encountered Jesus in an authentic way.  We’ll discover the difference between just going to church and really knowing Jesus on today’s Treasured Truth.

If you saw a house on fire, and the people inside were unaware their lives were in danger, but you could warn them and save them, would you pass by and keep going?  No one would!  Then Pastor Ford asks those of us who are followers of Christ—why, then, when you know that people around you are on their way to hell, are you passing them up—even the very loved ones who you know aren’t saved?

As we continue our current study in the gospel of John, we’ll see how the Apostle Andrew decided to follow Jesus, but then immediately realized that his brother was not aware of the good news about Jesus. So, the first thing he did after coming into a saving relationship with Jesus, was to seek out his brother and share the gospel with him. He made it a priority!  And Pastor Ford will share how we need to make evangelism a priority in our own lives on today’s Treasured Truth.

If you are a follower of Christ, Pastor Ford has a probing question for you on today's Treasured Truth—How do you look at people who you know are dying and on their way to hell?  Do you go out of your way to share the Gospel with them?  Or, are they just in your way?