|
 Prayer
Requests
|
|
|
Schedule of Messages |
|
May 2008
|
|
|
Series: Ten
Values for Abundant Living Exodus 20:1-17 |
|
5/4 |
What's in a Name? |
Honor God's Name |
|
5/11 |
A Command with a Promise |
Honor Your Parents |
|
5/18 |
A Time to Reflect |
God's Word to
Workaholics |
|
5/25 |
Memorial Day |
The Trumpet Call of God:
1 Thess: 4:13-18 |
|
From the Pastor’s Pen...
GOD’S BEST
What would it take to make you truly happy? Have you ever
thought, “I could be happy and content if only…..” Lately, I
have been thinking about what we really need in life from
God’s perspective.
Three realities are clear. The first is that God wants to
bless us. “I will never stop doing good to them...I will
rejoice in doing them good” (Jeremiah 32:40-41). This was
His message to Israel when every blessing they had ever
enjoyed was taken from them. God’s desire to bless us seems
to be the consistent theme through out scripture. He can’t
resist giving us the highest good.
Second, God’s blessings are not earned or deserved.
There is nothing we can ever do to make Him love us less or
cause Him to love us more. It is all about grace —undeserved
favor. God does not love me because I am wonderful or
worthy. He is love and therefore loves me. There is never a
day in our lives, from the moment we trusted Christ until
the day when we finally see Him, when God is not longing to
bless us.
Third, God’s blessing is what He thinks is good, what He
knows is good. We don’t always agree. We tend to have
our own ideas about what a good God should do in the middle
of our circumstances. Things like helping us find a really
good parking space, straightening out our kids or our spouse
or our boss, or transforming our Dr.’s report from a warning
to good news. We are like children who believe that a loving
parent will give us ice cream without making us eat the
spinach first. We want to be happy. Ice cream makes us
happy, not spinach, we think. The problem is our tastebuds
are broken. We don’t know what will actually make us happy.
As I have been studying the Ten Commandments, I am struck by
the constant theme of how God wants His people to know Him.
He wants us to be in relationship with Him. He made us for
Himself.
The highest good which He wants so very much to give us is
an encounter with Himself. It is the greatest blessing He
can think of. What will really make us happy, what will
provide the greatest sense of joy and satisfaction in life
is a real, personal relationship with Jesus Christ.
Last Sunday, I told a story about a little boy who
desperately wanted a bicycle, so much so that he resorted to
trying to blackmail God and bargaining with Him. It maybe a
funny story, but it is not fun for those who are caught up
in that kind of mindset. Sincere people like you and me
unconsciously reduce God, trying to tame Him to meet our
needs.
We end up bargaining with Him, “Oh Jesus, if you’ll do this
for me, then I will do this for you — please give me a great
marriage.” If not our marriage, then it is something else.
We want our kids to turn out right. Or we want to be healthy
all the time. Or we want our finances to be good. Or we just
want to be happy. “Oh Jesus, would you please make me
fulfilled?” These are good things, but ultimately they will
not satisfy the deepest need of our life. By putting these
needs first, and trying to use God to get them, we are
shrinking God.
Again, God wants to bless us. However, he knows that what we
really need most of all—is Himself. The heartache and pain
we often experience is an invitation to seek the Lord more
intently than we have been. God does us the most good by
making Himself available and seeing to it that we seek Him
with more energy than we seek anything else.
Can you say with the Psalmist, “Whom have I in heaven but
You, and besides You I desire nothing on earth. My flesh and
my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my life and my
portion forever”? (Psalm 78:14)
“And Jesus said, I am the Bread of Life. Whoever comes
to me shall not hunger, And whoever believes in Me shall
never thirst…” John 6:35
Yours & His,
Larry |
| |
|
Audio Sermons (Mp3) |
|
2007: |
| July 22,
2007 |
Approx. 45
minutes |
MP3:
41mb |
God's
Wisdom Works |
|
| July 15,
2007 |
Approx. 45
minutes |
MP3:
41mb |
Avoiding the World's Worst Surprise |
|
| July 8,
2007 |
Approx. 45
minutes |
MP3:
32mb |
Watch
Out for Wolves |
|
| July 1,
2007 |
Approx. 45
minutes |
MP3:
43mb |
It Is
for Freedom |
|
| June 17,
2007 |
Approx. 45
minutes |
MP3:
25mb |
Branded |
|
| June 10,
2007 |
Approx. 45
minutes |
MP3:
32mb |
Message
by Howard |
|
| June 3,
2007 |
Approx. 45
minutes |
MP3:
46mb |
The
Narrow Way |
|
| May 27,
2007 |
Approx. 45
minutes |
MP3:
39mb |
Judge
Not |
|
| May 20,
2007 |
Approx. 45
minutes |
MP3:
41mb |
No
Worries |
|
| May 13,
2007 |
Approx. 45
minutes |
MP3:
40mb |
When
You Fear for Your Children's Future |
|
| May 6,
2007 |
Approx. 45
minutes |
MP3:
31mb |
Sheep
and Shepherds |
|
| April 29,
2007 |
Approx. 45
minutes |
MP3:
43mb |
Secret
Praying |
|
| April 22,
2007 |
Approx. 45
minutes |
MP3:
45mb |
An
Audience of One |
|
| April 15,
2007 |
Approx. 45
minutes |
MP3:
42mb |
Outrageous Attitudes |
|
| April 8,
2007 |
Approx. 45
minutes |
MP3:
39mb |
Why
This Passion |
|
| April 1,
2007 |
Approx. 45
minutes |
MP3:
41mb |
The
Molten Moment |
|
|
2006: |
| Oct 29,
2006 |
Approx. 45
minutes |
43mb
streaming audio |
Pt 8
Are You Broken? |
|
| Oct 22,
2006 |
Approx. 45
minutes |
27mb
streaming audio |
Pt 7
Relating to Others |
|
| Oct 15,
2006 |
Approx. 45
minutes |
25mb
streaming audio |
Pt 6 |
|
| Oct 8,
2006 |
Approx. 45
minutes |
37mb
streaming audio |
Pt 5 |
|
| Oct 1,
2006 |
Approx. 45
minutes |
40mb
streaming audio |
Pt 4 |
|
| Sep 24,
2006 |
Approx. 45
minutes |
18mb
streaming audio |
Pt 3
Responding to the Word |
|
| Sep 17,
2006 |
Approx. 45
minutes |
44mb
streaming audio |
Pt 2
Temptations |
|
| Sep 10,
2006 |
Approx. 45
minutes |
37mb
streaming audio |
Pt 1
Trials |
|
| Aug 13,
2006 |
Approx. 45
minutes |
23mb
streaming audio |
Doubt -
The Fear Factor |
Numbers 13:1
- 14:11 |
| Aug 6,
2006 |
Approx. 45
minutes |
25mb
streaming audio |
The
Antidote for a Critical Spirit |
1
Corinthians 13 |
| July 30,
2006 |
Approx. 45
minutes |
17mb
streaming audio |
Critical Concerns |
Numbers 12:
1-12 |
| July 23,
2006 |
Approx 45
Minutes |
33mb
streaming audio |
The
Secret of Contentment |
Numbers
11:4 |
| July 16,
2006 |
Approx. 45
minutes |
22mb
streaming audio |
All
Consuming Passion
The Myth of
More |
I Timothy 6:
6-10 |
| July 9,
2006 |
Approx. 45
minutes |
24mb
streaming audio |
Conquering Complaining
Responding
with Thankfulness |
Luke 17: 11-19 |
| July 2,
2006 |
Approx. 45
minutes |
21mb
streaming audio |
The Trouble
With Whine |
Numbers
11:1-3 |
|
Hear Pastor Larry's message series
on the Da Vinci Code: |
|
First message: |
Approx. 45 minutes |
26mb
streaming audio |
Can We Handle The Truth? |
John 8:30-47 |
|
Second message: |
Approx. 45 minutes |
25mb
streaming audio |
The Jesus Controversy
|
2Cor. 11:3,4 |
|
Third message:
|
Approx. 40 minutes |
24mb
streaming audio |
Authority of Scripture - Can
You Trust It? |
2Tim 3:16,17 |
|
Fourth message: |
Approx. 40 minutes |
23mb
streaming audio |
The Core Idea |
Jer 31:3 |
|
