Pastor Luke, Alex, and Bec dig into the 4-P's from Pastor Luke's sermon: Pits, People, Perspectives, and Personality.

This week, Pastor Luke continued on with our “Get up and walk” series with a sermon out of John 10: 7-18.

The theme of this passage is that Jesus is our shepherd. The job of a shepherd is to provide security, peace, guidance, and safety for their flock, which is exactly what a life following Jesus leads us into. He is the gate, and He leads us into the life and life to the full that is spoken of in John 10:10.

Understanding that Jesus is our shepherd also means understanding that we have an adversary, who is described within this passage as both a wolf and a thief. Our adversary is powerful but our shepherd is always victorious. We can not be destroyed by the world, and we are protected and guided into good places under our shepherd’s care.

“It is not your hold of Christ that saves you, but His hold of you.” ― C H Spurgeon

When we give our lives to Jesus, He first secures our eternal life, then transforms our internal life, which changes our external lives.

We as humans are somewhat like sheep; we have sheep tendencies. We gorge ourselves, we follow leaders no matter who they are, and we fall into various pits. Pastor Luke shared four of these great dangers for humanity:

1. Pits

These are areas of destruction and sin that trap us such as addictions and temptations. Everyone has different pits, but we all have them.

2. People

We are often the sum of the closest people around us, and so we have to be very careful to surround ourselves with those who point us to Jesus and righteousness.

3. Perspectives

Sometimes our perspectives on life can lead us into danger. We serve a God of life and life to the full, and we need to make sure that we live and speak out of transformed and sanctified perspectives.

4. Personality

We can not blame or hide behind our personality, refusing to change or be changed. It can not be used as an excuse not to engage in the Kingdom of God, or follow the shepherd’s leading.

These four P’s are not only dangers, they are also doors, and we have to be diligent and careful not to walk through them. However, we are never too far gone that we can not return to and follow Him. The good shepherd leads His sheep into good places, and we are never beyond returning to Him.

Join us as we interview our newest pastor on staff, Wyatt Johnson.

This week, Pastor Matthew continued on with our “Get up and walk” sermon series with a message out of John 10: 22-30.

The big idea of his message was that we are God's sheep. He expanded on this idea with seven primary points:

His sheep believe He’s the Messiah.
His sheep believe His works.

Jesus’s works confirmed who He was, and we see this thred all throughout John’s narrative. Similarly, His sheep notice the works that Jesus continues doing today.

On the alternative side, people both now and then look for and find reasons not to believe in His works. Works alone will not convince all people of His divinity, but they are recognized by His sheep.

3. His sheep hear His voice.

God wants us to hear Him more than we want to hear Him. We were made and designed to hear His voice. We grow in the Lord by responding to and obeying what we hear from Him. This obedience sometimes results in rejection, but that only aligns us with Jesus.

How do we hear from God? We make Him Lord, spend time with Him, respond in obedience, and repeat that process.

4. His sheep are known by Him.

We are called into a relationship with God; to know Him and be known by Him. Of course, He knows everything already – but He still desires to be invited in.

5. His sheep follow Him.
6. His sheep have eternal life NOW.
7. His sheep cannot be taken from Him.

This week, Pastor Jermaine continued on with our “Get up and walk” series, focusing on John 9.

In this passage, Jesus heals a blind man on the Sabbath, which greatly upsets the Pharisees.

Just like the Pharisees, we are often prone to be more concerned with other people’s sins than our own. Likewise, we can care more about the sin itself than the person.

One of the great joys of this passage is that we serve a God who not only sees through people, but also sees people through. He not only reveals our sin and darkness, but walks with us through it and out of it. God doesn’t waste anything or anybody.

The true blindness that is revealed within this chapter is that of the Pharisees. They were more concerned with their religion than the grace, mercy and power of God. On the flip side, the
blind man was more amazed by the unbelief of the Pharisees then by His own miracle.

Throughout this passage, Jesus went out of His way to see and heal the blind man, and then later on to find and reinstate him. God will find a way for those who find a way. He sees us when the world does not, and once again declares Himself within this passage to be the living water.

Jesus is the God who sees those who others pass by. He seeks us wherever we are at, and walks us through our sin.

Pastor Matthew Preached on the passage of John 8:12-59 and lets us know how much Jesus being Light also exposes our darkness and the importance of allowing that in our lives.

This week, Pastor Matthew continued on with our “Get up and walk” series with a sermon out of John 8:12-59.

This passage is set within a tense situation. Jesus is in the temple, but it reads more accurately as set within a courtroom. The one on trial within this passage was not Jesus, it was those who opposed Him. Their words and attitudes showed that they did not know the Father, and thus did not know Him.

Pastor Matthew broke his message into two primary points:

1. The light of the world

Jesus claims that He is the light of the world, and thus declares Himself to be the Messiah. However, a part of understanding this light is the difficult realization that it comes not only to illuminate the world, but also bring judgement to it. If we want the light to shine on us (bringing with it its love, restoration, hope, freedom etc), then we also must accept the fact that it will also shine on the darkness within us as well. This revelation of darkness within our lives is what we need to repent of and respond to, even though our natural tendency is often to want the light without the exposure of darkness that is brings.

Too often we turn the call of being God’s child into a call of living for ourselves, when what we are truly made for is Him, and others. It’s not about us. God brings us blessings in order for us to give them away. As we have been freely given, we must freely give.


2. The truth will set you free

Tyranny and slavery of every kind thrives on half-truths, evasion and cover up, and therefore the way to freedom is to know the truth. They are inseparable, and Jesus was and still is offering freedom at a deeper level than we can ever imagine.

Although we often don’t like to pay it too much attention, sin is much greater than the sum of its individual parts. Our sin affects not only us, but our families, relationships, communities, and nations. This is why it’s imperative that we seek freedom from our sin in the truth of Jesus, as only He has the ability to truly set us free. Only true members of a family have assurance of their position, and this is what we have in Him.

We are grafted into the family of God, which a family of complete freedom. We want to be people who both walk in freedom, and offer that freedom to others.

Pastor Luke and Hunter talk about our need to run to Jesus as the Living Spring and that we as believers would become springs of living water ourselves.

This morning, Pastor Luke continued on with our “Get up and walk” sermon series with a message titled “Refreshed and Refreshing” out of John 7:37-38.

These verses are set within the context of the feast of tabernacles. During this feast, the people
set up booths and tables after the harvest where they read Scripture, shared food together, and celebrated and remembered with one another what God had done. We can read further about the feast of tabernacles in Leviticus 23:36-43.

On the last day, the festival came to a culmination, a thanksgiving celebration of God’s deliverance and protection. It was within this context that Jesus said: “Let anyone who is thirsty come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as Scripture has said, rivers of living water will flow from within them.”

Out of this passage, Pastor Luke made three primary points:

1. He cried out!

Jesus waited until the very last day of the festival to make this declaration. His big point was “come to me.” At the end of the day, Christianity is all about being reconciled back to God through a relationship with Jesus, and all are invited to come to Him.

We are born into a war story, whereby the souls of humans are at stake. This is why Jesus made His message very emphatic, because it held great weight.

2. Think about thirst.

Thirst is a lack and a want, the absence of a necessary thing. And just as we can be physically thirsty, so too can be spiritually thirsty. Four symptoms of spiritual thirst:

- You are never content. We are the only species inflicted with chronic longing and restlessness.
- You can’t figure out the question of why am I here?
- You live in constant fear.
- You are worried about your eternal destiny.

Jesus says whoever is thirsty can come to Him. To believe in Jesus is to surrender ourselves and come under His Lordship. He provides the answer and peace to all of our spiritual thirsting.

3. Rivers of living water

Christians are never to be a drain. We are filled with the Holy Spirit, and thus must be people of sacrificial giving. We are also not storage containers, to keep the love of God to ourselves. Faith is not meant to be a private thing. Our love and the living of our faith is to be out loud.

We need to allow the river to flow through us. Just as we have been refreshed, we must refresh others. It’s all about being available to God, for His river of life to flow through us. We want to be people who connect others to the living God.

When we thirst, Jesus gives to us freely.

Pastor Luke, Alex, and Hunter talk about the John 6 message. Jesus feeds the 5000 and provides clarity on who He is and the true cost of following Him.