Valley View Baptist Church

This morning we had an amazing, spirit-filled service in which Pastor Justin never even got chance to preach. Instead, we spent the morning worshiping our awesome Savior! One soul was saved and the altars were filled with people crying out to Him for help, or in thanksgiving, or just to worship Him. After the service, the church surprised Pastor Justin and his family with some gifts as we celebrated Pastor Appreciation Day, capped off with a lunch in his honor.

But tonight, Pastor Justin shared his heart with us. With a heart full of gratitude and love for our church, he showed us his heart's deepest desires as a Pastor. What are the things he prays for as our under-shepherd? What are the things that he asks us to pray for him as he leads us? Tonight he laid it out there before us, and it would do each of our church members good to listen to this sermon and commit to praying for our Pastor in these things.

Tonight we continued our series Stand Up and Fight with what might be the toughest fight you will face; Temptation.

We all have temptations. Maybe your temptation is alcohol, drugs, extramarital affairs, pornography, greed, getting out of church, lying, stealing ,etc. Regardless of the temptation you face, the Bible shows us a clear plan for fighting against it.

The Devil is a rotten, stinking, no-good liar. The Bible calls him the father of lies. He will tell you anything and everything he can to get you down and discouraged. He even convinced Elijah that he was no good to God and worthy of nothing but death. He led him down a dark path of depression to the point that Elijah prayed to God to kill him!

The Devil wants to discourage you. And he will lie to do so. But if we know his plan of attack, we can prepare our hearts for it and know exactly how to battle back against him. So how does the Devil want to get us down?

Maybe the Devil is lying to you too. Maybe he's doing everything he can to get you down and discouraged. Maybe you're where Elijah was. Learn his plan of attack, and then you'll know what to expect.

Do you wish to live a life that is pleasing to the Lord? It is impossible to do it without having one very special ingredient; faith.

Are you living by faith? It's one thing to say that you are, but it's another thing entirely to live like you are. Hebrews 11, the Faith Hall of Fame, lists many Biblical figures who did live by faith. Mark and Matthew both recorded the story of a time when the Disciples were caught in the midst of a storm. When Jesus stepped onto the deck of the boat he asked them why their faith was so weak.

Without strong faith, you will never live a life that is pleasing to the Lord...

God sent His prophet Nathan to David with a message, a reminder of how good God had been to him. A reminder of his past. He'd brought David from the pastures, a shepherd boy, and had placed him in a palace. He;d guided his steps all along the way.

Can't we all say the same today? When we look back on our past we can see just how good God has been in our lives. He's brought us from a life of filth and sin, cleaned us up, and placed us in His palace!

Raise a hand this morning, and shout out His name as you think back about the Goodness of God!