Last week we concluded that God is keenly aware of exactly what we need at all times. Sometimes God doesn’t seem fair, but He is faithful and forgiving. Faith allows us to know that, and enables us to redefine fairness. This week the story continues to get interesting. It was a sabbath, meaning a prescribed and commanded day of rest for EVERYONE, if they were Jewish. Jesus has healed this man, and the man is up walking around after being paralyzed for 38 years.


What did the paralyzed man do to earn his healing? Nothing. Was he good enough? No. Was he kind enough? No. Was he responsible enough? Charitable enough? Honest enough? No. He didn’t even want to take responsibility for carrying his mat. He immediately moved the interrogation to Jesus, even before he knew it was Jesus who healed him. His merit did not merit the work of God in his life. No one in the four narratives of Jesus’ life on this earth do anything to earn their healing, life, or salvation? Nothing. God just does, and He doesn’t stop doing. And He doesn’t require we do anything to earn the joy of experiencing His doing.

(John 5:10-18)

In this sermon Pastor Leonce asks a very dangerous question, “Is Jesus fair? And because Jesus is God, is God fair?” Is God fair in His dealings with humanity, with us? Jesus’ little brother John seems to have some clear thoughts on that question, and the hope today is that not only will we come to some conclusion on this but also that whatever that conclusion is we would accept it and act on it.

(John 5:1-9)

This sermon concludes our three-week series, “My Emote-Control.” The premise for this series is simple: all of us have emotions that, to one degree or another, infrequently or often, control us. The immediate sense of guilt we feel when we worship ourselves or our things or other people in place of God is there not to condemn, but to convict. Condemnation drives us away from God, but conviction drives us toward Him. Guilt is a healthy emotion God has given us to have a sense of right and wrong. However, lingering guilt can be a pathway to tormenting mental and spiritual bondage. Guilt and Shame prevents us from having intimacy with God because it makes us feel unworthy and distant from Him. Guilt and shame prevents us from having intimacy in the community of Christ, because we fear being found out for how “filthy” we are, so we fake it.


Here are two truth’s Pastor Leonce encourages us to meditate on, think about, and pray to believe: 1. In God’s grace my guilt is carried away, and I am granted access to Him through Christ. 2. In God’s grace my shame is covered and I am clean because of Christ.

(Colossians 1:21-22)

Fear causes thoughts and speculations swirl in our mind about whether we are loved. And because of fear, people and problems are made big and God, if we even believe in Him, is made small. So we must overcome it! If you want to overcome fear, you must first have faith that God is bigger than your fear. A genuine trust in God is the beginning of fighting fear.

(2 Timothy 1:7)

Emotions, whether good or bad, are the product of the mind, will, and heart. Oftentimes they are expressed because of a lack of control over ourselves or our circumstances. Since every emotions is based on what we believe, and the loyalties of our hearts, we need new beliefs and new loyalties. So for those of us whose greatest struggle is with the root emotion of control, what do we actually believe. It would seem that we believe we are the ultimate definer of our destiny. And what do we actually value? It would seem that we value having authority and control over, and in, every aspect of our lives. And guess what will change that? Submitting to the reality that God is the ultimate definer of our destiny. And God is the only true authority, and He has all control over and in every aspect of every single human being's life. God’s control gives His people comfort.

(Isaiah 40:1; 15; 18; 22 - 23; 25 - 27)

What is the deepest human need? If your first thought was food, you and I speak the same language, but most argue that it’s care; concern; affection; being valued—that is the deepest human need. Even Jigga says, “Love, I can’t get enough of it!” This need is what causes us to hide our hopes for affection in temporary relationships with the first person that shows us an inkling of attention. Human beings need know that we are loved, and feel that we are valued. It is an unstoppable impulse.


God, the Creator of everything, wired you with that impulse: to need love; to feel valued; to want care. He wired you with that need so that He could fulfill it with His overwhelming, unearned, and magnanimous love. And though God is often painted as distant dictator, or looming judge, or the absentee and uninterested winder of the clock that set creation's course and then backed off—He is NONE of those things!

God has great love, immeasurable love for humanity; even for you, individually.

(Matthew 10:28-33)

A continuation of the previous week's message, "As the World Turns." Last week Pastor Leonce urged us to pray for the lost, our friends and loved ones who do not know Jesus. God is patient with us, not wishing that any should remain separated from him. We are also told in Romans 10 that those who carry the gospel to the lost have beautiful feet. The second thing we must do as servants of God is to carry his message of reconciliation to the lost. We must open our mouths! God has so limited himself to use humans in his mission. It is so inefficient and counterintuitive that God would use his sinful, flawed, bumbling creatures to be the conduits of his grace. Nonetheless, the truth is that He has chosen the least likely people to take his message of good news to the lost. It's about souls! Let's share his gospel!

(Romans 10:1-17)