True North

Being under someone’s authority comes with ups and downs. Sometimes you may think you could do better or make wiser choices. But God’s perfect leadership is different. He loves us more than we can imagine. Today, Pastor Gary encourages you to ask God for the desires of your heart. Do you need healing? Maybe you have a strained relationship? He may or may not answer these prayers in the way you’d like, but in the meantime, lean into His peace that passes all understanding! He’s got you!

We shake our heads and say, “People just don’t want to come to church anymore.” We watch empty seats and wonder what changed. It feels easier to throw up our hands than to examine our own. But what if the issue isn’t that they won’t come; it's that we’ve stopped going? Today, Pastor Gary will tell you that Jesus never told you to wait behind stained glass. In the Great Commission, He told you to go. And you were never called to guard the building. You were called to carry the gospel into the streets.

We talk about distance from God like it’s something we have to fight through. We picture barriers, walls, and separation. In the temple, there was a veil that kept people from the Holy of Holies, a thick curtain no one could casually pass. But when Jesus was crucified, that veil was torn from top to bottom. Pastor Gary will explain to you today that it wasn’t just the fabric that was ripped; Jesus was, too. Jesus was torn so we could come near. And you don’t have to stand at a distance anymore; you have full access to God.

We can get into a rhythm of doing things for God simply because it’s what we do. We serve, we volunteer, we show up, we check the boxes. And somewhere along the way, devotion quietly turns into obligation. Our hands are busy, but our hearts feel distant. It becomes a duty instead of a delight. Today, Pastor Gary will share with you that God never asked for a cold routine; He desires love. And you weren’t created to grind through faith out of pressure. You were invited to walk with Him in wholehearted devotion.

When Jesus comes into your life, He doesn’t just leave a little mark identifying you as His own child. Instead, He completely transforms your life and makes you into a new creation. In today’s message, Pastor Gary teaches you that salvation isn’t something you can fake because it involves a life change that you cannot accomplish on your own. If someone claims to follow Jesus but doesn’t show signs of that transformational power, they have yet to fully surrender to the will of Jesus. It’s all or nothing.

It’s easy for us to forget that the Trinity is both one God and three persons. What this means for us is that one member of the Trinity will not contradict the other. In today’s message, Pastor Gary teaches us that the Holy Spirit doesn’t teach us anything that we don’t already know from God’s Word. He is here to give us wisdom and insight, but He will only speak what Jesus has already spoken to us. In order to hear from the Holy Spirit, we need to have an intimate knowledge of the Word of God.

If you live in an area that gets lots of tornadoes, you’re probably familiar with the different systems in place that are meant to warn people to get to safety. Between tornado sirens and emergency alerts on smartphones, it is hard for someone to be caught completely unaware that severe weather is incoming. Today, Pastor Gary teaches you that the Holy Spirit is like an emergency alert system for your soul. The Lord points out the sin in your life and implores you to repent before it is too late.

Have you ever heard or seen a public service announcement warning against digging in your yard? More often than not, there are natural gas lines, cable lines, and other utility lines buried underground, and it is important to ask someone to help you mark where those lines are so you can avoid causing an accident in your yard! But when it comes to your heart, you need help to identify the sin issues that remain in your life, so that you can cut them out! Pastor Gary teaches you that the Holy Spirit will illuminate those issues in your life, so that they can be removed!

God renews lives, AND He instilled the Holy Spirit in people so they can continue to live on the righteous path of Jesus Christ! In today’s message, Pastor Gary will bring some seriously good news…if you’re born again, you already have the Holy Spirit! If your life has been saved, bought, and redeemed by Jesus, then you also have the Spirit guiding you to be righteous, holy, and set apart! You have the power to do what is right and to make the hard choice against your flesh to follow Jesus!

If you love Jesus, you will fear God, and if you fear God, you will love Jesus! There can’t be one without the other. Jesus showed us that firsthand and modeled what that life can and should look like. In today’s message, Pastor Gary will share how important it is to be in the Word of God, to be attending a Church to be in Biblical community, and to have a strong and consistent prayer life! The Way you spend your time and energy will directly show where your love is and how much you fear God!