Today Pastor Tim gets sworn-in to America's Navy Reserve as a Chaplain and a Lieutenant. Congratulations, Pastor Tim.

Out of a pagan life, God calls Abram. What did God see in Abram to elicit this call- Was there anything at all that made Abram and Sarah special to deserve or earn God's promises and blessing- Pastor Tim looks at the beginning of Abram's life and sees how it applies to us today.

Last week we looked at how we are all selfish, and by definition, worldly. But how do we fight this natural temptation to always think about ourselves and let our emotions run wild- James gives us some very practical advice about how we can conform our hearts and minds and draw near to God.

The Tower of Babel is one of the most common stories that we hear as a child. But it also seems to be one of the most confusing. Why would God disperse the people- What were they doing wrong- Could this just be a story to try to explain the differences in languages- And what do we learn about God from this-

Is your life all about you- For most of us -even if we are believers-, the answer is a resounding, -YES-- even if we're not willing to believe it. As we will see today, our selfishness is the root of so many of our spiritual and interpersonal problems.

Covenant are important. God's promises and his faithfulness are often based on biblical covenants. Even today, we make covenants with other people through marriage or business contracts. What we will see is that our covenants and trust in each other are actually rooted in God.

We typically equate knowledge with wisdom. If someone has a lot of Bible knowledge, we think that they'd make an excellent teacher or preacher. But is that true- How can we discern who is wise and who just has knowledge- What characteristics will we see in someone who is wise-

When the flood ends and Noah and his family come out of the ark, God institutes two new laws regarding murder and the death penalty. But what is murder- And who is given the authority to practice carrying out the death penalty- Or is this simply just an Old Testament law that no longer applies-

We often try to minimize our sinful speech. We typically think that as long as we're not using profanity, it's ok. We justify things like complaining and gossip as -venting- or -just being honest.- Irate speech is justified by stress or feeling tired. But does that make it okay- Since we all fall short in how we talk to and about other people, does that make our wrong speech less sinful-

Today, missionary-to-Germany Jeff Brown, visits to preach after nearly four decades of church planning, teaching us about the love of Christ.