Marriage is hard. Sometimes, it feels too hard. But the Bible shows us why it’s worthy fighting for and what’s at stake if we don’t.
Malachi 2:10-16 // [outline]
Marriage is hard. Sometimes, it feels too hard. But the Bible shows us why it’s worthy fighting for and what’s at stake if we don’t.
Many people are outraged today at the scandals and abuses of priests, pastors and ministers. Today’s passage shows that God is even more outraged and lays out His plan to not only confront bad priests who misrepresent Him but also raise up a faithful people who will honour Him.
Worship is the first and primary area where God expects to see our response to His love. And yet we often bring Him worship leftovers. We give our devotion to the world and assume that God will be happy with a better-than-nothing offering of our lives. This message examines the anatomy of worship leftovers and God’s antidote to it.
Just as children starve emotionally when they fail to experience a parent’s love, people limp along spiritually when they don’t experience the love of God. But people often misread God’s expressions of love. If you’re expecting God to express His love in a particular way and He doesn’t, it can leave you feeling empty. This passage from Malachi shows us how God proves His love.
We live in a world of unprecedented choices. We pick food from a buffet. We want the infinite choice of Amazon and on-line shopping. And we swipe right to choose a partner. But we can also bring the same mindset to God and the Bible. This message deals with how we can avoid the ‘choice mindset’ getting in the way of experiencing the blessing of God.
We can feel invisible in our relationships, invisible in our careers, invisible at school, even invisible to God. And feeling invisible can lead us to destructive choices. This message looks at a person who felt invisible but was transformed by the God who saw her.
Painful experiences can fuel doubt about God and where we stand with Him. But God meets us in our questioning and can lead us to a place of hope and peace. This message looks at how God responded to Abraham’s doubts and shows us what we can do when circumstances overwhelm us.
God is at work! In the midst of social upheaval, more Muslims have come to Christ in our generation than in the previous 1,000 years. Ten million people are displaced within Syria, Iraq, Jordan and Lebanon. And the church has mobilized to serve their new neighbours. In this message, guest speaker, Joseph Najem, will share how “Eyes on Syria” gives us a view to this new frontier.
Good News for the Middle East // [outline]
We live in a world of power politics, power couples and power grabs. And it’s distorted the way we see power. This message rethinks our relationship to power from the Bible and shows that we can be content to lend power instead of grabbing it when we know how to wait on it.
There’s a spiritual dimension to life that many people are blind to. Faith helps us to see decisions more clearly and understand reality in all its facets. This message looks at how to engage our faith to see life more clearly.
When God’s plan doesn’t seem to be working quickly enough, we often turn to our own plans and make things worse. When we do it’s only the faithfulness of an uncompromising God who can lead us out of compromise.
Some people are certain that, ‘God helps those who help themselves.’ Other people, ‘let go and let God.’ But what does the Bible really teach? This message looks at God’s plan to bless people and the caricatures of that blessing that we often turn to.
In a world of fake news, alternate facts and bitter partisanship, you may ask: “Is there anyone we can trust?” If you are confused, discouraged or fearful, and wondering where to turn; whom to trust; what to build your life upon; then Psalm 23 is the perfect prescription for your dilemma.
God offers hope to people who feel abandoned by Him and strength to those who wait on Him. This message shows the wonder of Christmas to people battling discouragement.
People sometimes struggle their circumstances and a God who often doesn’t seem to make sense. In this message, God meets our questions with some of His own, helping us to see that meaning in life comes in embracing the mystery of a God who is greater than any of our questions might fathom.
We need strength and love to cope with life, but often we look for it in the wrong places. The good news of Christmas is that God’s might is revealed in the tenderness of a shepherd who gently leads His sheep.
Sometimes our circumstances are too bitter for us to hope that things will ever be different. This message shows how God provides for our comfort and how we can welcome His involvement in our lives.
Finances are a source of stress for many people, but God promises to provide. This message considers that promise and the attitude toward money that gives peace and security.
We live at a time when we have more than ever but feel more dissatisfied just the same. Satisfaction can seem like it’s always just around the corner. This message looks at the secret of contentment and some of the lies that keep us from it.
There’s more to worry about than ever before, but most of our means of coping with worry either don’t work or make things worse. This message looks at how to let go of our anxiety and lay hold of God’s peace.