Pastor’s Messages (Page 9)
Developing the discipline of praying for others Elder Homer Haynes
Pray for others too: Recently, as I contemplated my prayer needs, God spoke through the confusion I was experiencing: What about the needs of others? Don’t forget to petition God the Father for the needs of others. Immediately I remembered my numerous prayer lists, the members of my family, church family, single parents, singles, couples, widows, orphans, co-workers, prisoners, and other acquaintances. I see the names, and the faces, I see the written, and spoken prayer requests. And in the…
Dance before the Lord?
Dance before the Lord? 2 Samuel 6:14 And David danced before the Lord with all his might. I’ve always loved to dance. I was a teenager in the 80’s when there were no rules to dancing. My friends and I would form a circle on the dance floor and take turns showing our best moves in the middle of our boogie arena. With every new move that was shared we would cheer with delight. Thirty years later,…
Who is Jesus…..Really??
Paul, in his letter to the Colossians, writes in response to some false and destructive teachings on the gospel message being spread in the early years of Christianity. These were not unique to that time, however, for we are faced with similar distortions today. Interestingly Paul never specifically identifies or confronts the actual false messages, but simply presents Christ as the CENTER of our faith; the very image of God, the Creator, the sustainer of all things, the fullness of…
Matthew 6:12 Devotion
CBF Elder Devotion Matthew 6:12 “Forgive us our trespasses as forgive those who have trespassed against us. As part of the “Lord’s Prayer”, many of us may mention this passage almost automatically and not give much thought to what it actually says. If we pay some attention on what we are really asking God here, however, at best it is puzzling and at worst is frightening. Consider; I Jn 1:8-9 “If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves…
Ramblings about the Lord’s Prayer
ELDER DEVOTIONAL… As I mature in Christ, the Lord’s Prayer in Matthew 6:9-13 and Luke 11:1-4 increases in impact to my daily life. For example, I was taught the Lord’s Prayer in Sunday school as a little boy. I learned to blast through the prayer in record time, proud of the accomplishment. Nonetheless, I didn’t know that the Lord’s Prayer was part of scripture, located in Matthew 6:9-13 and Luke 11:1-4. When I joined the Catholic Church, the prayer’s relationship…
“We Were Made in God’s Image”
ELDER DEVOTION “We Were Made in God’s Image” Malachi 3:3 The Setting: Malachi was written about 100 years after the Jews had been restored to their homeland as part of the Persian Empire, and was probably the last prophet of the OT era. Although the Jews had been allowed to return from exile and rebuild the temple, several discouraging factors brought about a general religious malaise in their nation: (1) their land remained but a small province in the backwaters…
Loving God Together In An Ungodly World
The church in Corinth was really hurting. The Christians of Corinth were surrounded by temptation and immorality, just like we are today. Corinth was the, Las Vegas of its day. Pleasure and philosophy were worshiped above all. Instead of impacting this lost city with the gospel of Jesus Christ, the city was influencing the church. Do you ever look around and feel discouraged by the direction of our culture and its influence on the church? Do you experience shame…
Stop Living In the Past
Why do we struggle with the same old things? Why do we find ourselves breaking that vows we made to God and ourselves? Are we destined to go round and round, living in the fear of our future and the shame of our past? Is living in a constant state of recovery all there is, or is there something more? Over the next three weeks we will be looking through the lens of John 8:31-36 at three different people who…
Growing In God’s Grace
Every time we look at the newspaper we’re reminded about of a world that has no true understanding of real love. In Romans 1-11, we learned about important doctrinal issues like grace, mercy, God’s sovereignty, and other points of faith. Now in the last five chapters our focus will pivot towards how we love and relate to each other in Christ. Love is an action word that that builds community through caring for people and here in Romans we will…
We’re In This Together (series)
I was 10 years old when I saw the shape of a scary face in my bedroom window. The light hit the glass in just the right way to cause me to fear death. The only thing that changed that night was that I believed the lie that if I fell asleep I was in danger. But lies are funny things. They can feel so much like truth. God’s word says that “the truth will set you free”, that also…
A bare cross and an empty tomb.
This Easter I want to encourage you to set everything aside for a little while and simply come before your Lord and Savior. Find a quiet spot for a few minutes away from the noise and “to do list” … then focus your thoughts and devotion on the two matchless scenes that define our faith, the bare cross and the empty tomb. Mark 16:5-6 Entering the tomb, they (Mary and Mary) saw a young man sitting at the right, wearing…
Jesus- MVP
Matthew 4:18-20 As Jesus was walking beside the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon called Peter and his brother Andrew. They were casting a net into the lake, for they were fishermen. 19“Come, follow me,” Jesus said, “and I will make you fishers of men.” 20At once they left their nets and followed him. Why would Peter and Andrew leave everything to follow Jesus? With the Super Bowl ending as it should (Go Baltimore), I was reminded about…
Romans: Bondage In Sin … Freedom In Christ
Paul’s letter to the Romans is extensive in scope and deep in insight, enabling us to move from “Bondage In Sin” to “Freedom In Christ”. We will spend the next ten months diving into the great theological truths that affect our daily lives in very personal ways. So hold on tight and be ready to be challenged, exposed, enlightened, encouraged, inspired and most importantly transformed by God’s truth and love. I also want to encourage you to invite your friends…
Nothing “New” about Newtown!
“The Christian ideal has not been tried and found wanting. It has been found difficult; and left untried.” ― G.K. Chesterton Let’s be honest. Trusting God is difficult, especially when the headlines remind us that there’s nothing new about Newtown. The killing of so many of our young children in Newtown Connecticut has left some asking the question, “Has our Nation lost its soul?” People are crying out for a modern day Moses, to lead them…
Hey Worry Wart
This last week many of my conversations with people have revolved around the area of worry. I have personally spent much of the last few nights failing to sleep because I’m worrying for friends in the church and my family. I’ll role over quickly with new ideas of how to rescue someone from the consequences of a poor decision. Morning arrives and the clock reminds me that my time was poorly spent. We learn to worry through experiences, examples and…
The Pastor’s Message No.1
Wherever you are at in life, we would like to invite you to join us Sunday mornings or at one of our many Bible Studies and see what a difference Joy in the Lord can make in your Life.