Akron FBC

Deep within the human heart, there is a desire in each of us to be loved and accepted. God has created us with this desire, and God himself desires our companionship.  And yet, with this great potential for a meaningful relationship with God, most of the population remains very lonely.  The good news is God did not create us for loneliness, and He does not intend us to be lonely.  J...

By making us His inheritance, God has shown His love . By promising us a fantastic future, He has encouraged our hope. But now, Paul offered something to challenge our faith. - He prays that we might know God's Power.

We are God’s treasure! – When God the Father looked throughout the universe for something to give His only Son in reward for what He had accomplished on earth, the Father handpicked you! If you have accepted Jesus Christ as your Savior, You are the Father’s treasure—His priceless gift of love to the Son!

When you're adopted into God's family, your life has a customized purpose. God himself has called you. "The hope of His calling" is that one day, God will return for us, and we will be glorified and live with Him for eternity. The fact that we shall one day see Christ and be like Him – should motivate us to live like Christ today.

Knowing God is our greatest privilege, and being known and loved by God is our greatest pleasure.  Knowing the person of Jesus Christ means that we spend time with Him. We are sensitive and obedient to His voice and set aside time to know Him. Every Christian should have a desire to know Christ in a life-shaping way.

The Spirit-inspired prayers of the Apostle Paul provide a tremendous pattern for our prayers and a glimpse into the heart of this remarkable man of God.  Join Pastor Michael as he introduces us to Paul’s first prayer to the Ephesians. 

Ephesians 1:3-14 reveals to us “God’s run-on sentence. In these verses, we learn that our chief blessing is that we are a part of the family of God. And because we are in God’s Family, we experience a trinity of blessings.  In this single sentence, we learn of the spiritual blessings received from the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.

In Paul's language, Ephesians 1:3-14 is one continuous long sentence. The entire "run-on sentence" reminds us that our spiritual blessings in Christ are without end.  In our language, there is no way to fully describe all that the infinite God has made accessible to us! We experience blessing on top of blessing on top of blessing. 

Through salvation, we as Christians get to experience the fullness of His riches, His wisdom, His blessings, and His resurrection power in our life. This leads to the ability to live a victorious life, where we are fully capable of being who God called us to be! 

Before you got saved, you were living in guilt and shame, but now, if you have accepted Jesus Christ as your personal Savior,  you have received His mercy. You are now totally forgiven!  Join Pastor Michael as he breaks down our forgiveness in Ephesians 1:7

In Ephesians 1, we see two “r” words highlighting our value to God in Jesus Christ - "Redemption" and "Riches". When these words come together, it truly brings to light how valuable you and I are!  Listen as Pastor Michael breaks down our worth to God in Ephesians 1:7.

Finding and knowing your identity is so important in life.  It is your deepest desire of who you are. It's the story you tell about yourself. And it subconsciously drives everything else in life. Join Pastor Michael as he preaches on "Finding our Identity in Christ" found in Ephesians 1.

Much of the acceptance people receive today is based on what they do rather than who they are. And because of that, We are prone to make our performance the basis of God’s acceptance. And often, the grace in our life can be overshadowed by perceived expectations.  But the good news for believers is this is not how our God works! God does not love us because of our good works or our avoidance...

God loves us! Let that sink in. God loves you! Human love is fickle, and it fluctuates and it comes and goes. But God’s love for us is consistent and never changes. God’s love for us is everlasting. Because of Salvation, we are eternally loved by Almighty God!

Your identity and worth are not found in what you do, what you look like, or other people's opinions. Your identity and value are in Who you belong to, and His name is Jesus, the one who gave His life for you! No matter what fails in your life, if you have trusted Christ as your Saviour, you are a child of God. Outside, things can change, but you will always be one of God's own.

As Christians, we recognize the need to understand and discover our identity. But the problem is, we look for it in the wrong place.  We base our identity on what others think about us and our identity on what we think about ourselves, but this way of thinking will leave you feeling empty.  Because your identity and worth are not found in what you do, what you look like, or other people'...

God has a perfect plan for you, but if we base our identity on what others think about us rather than who we are in Christ, we will miss out on that plan.  Often, we base our identity in one of three ways. Two of these ways are wrong; one way is right. Over the next three days, we will highlight each and determine how to receive our identity rather than achieve our identity. 

Go. It is a small, two-letter word used 1,544 times in the Word of God. It is a word of deliberate action, of divine advance, and of definite aim. The Lord Jesus Christ commanded His followers to go with the gospel, which is the mission of every New Testament believer. Join Pastor Michael as he wraps up the Back To The Basics series by getting Back To Go.

(Sorry, Baby was sleeping so I had to whisper a little bit) The way you see yourself influences every area of your life. Your identity determines whether or not you will be happy, successful, full of hope, and able for God to use you for great things. Listen as Pastor Michael highlights the importance of identity found in Ephesians 1. 

There are over 35 different aspects of our identity in Jesus Christ, and number of those aspect are found in the first chapter of Ephesians.  Whenever I think about that, I can't help but think about the song - "Ephesians Chapter One" - by the Rochester/Matthews Family.  God says I'm blessed, I'm chosen, I'm adopted I'm Favored Redeemed, yeah, I'm forgiven Makes me wanna sing, I'm a chil...

We serve a God that wants us to know where we stand with Him, In Ephesians 1 He is saying to us, “I want you to know how I feel about you.” He gives us three words to describe our standing. 1. Adoption - Ephesians 1:4-5 2. Acceptance - Ephesians 1:6 3. Atonement - Ephesians 1:7 Join us as we break down the power of atonement in verse 7!

Much of the acceptance people receive today is based on what they do rather than who they are. But the good news for believers is this is not how our God works!  God does not love us because of our good works or our avoidance of bad works. He loves us because of who He is and accepts us because of His grace and sacrifice of His Son. Listen as Pastor Michael highlights the power of acceptance...

If you are going to have a good relationship with someone, you need to know where you stand with them.  Are you in good standing or bad standing? That is a question we often ask ourselves, and the same is true regarding God.  We serve a God that wants us to know where we stand with Him, which is one of the reasons He gave us the book of Ephesians.  Listen as Pastor Michael breaks do...

“In Christ” is the most frequently used phrase in the book of Ephesians, and the point is clear: If you’re in Christ, you have everything. Join us as Pastor Michael looks at the power of surrounding in Ephesians 1:3!

As a believer, you have everything you need to live the victorious, awesome, abundant Christian life! It isn’t about whether you feel that way; it’s about the reality of what the Bible says. And the Bible says we have been blessed with “all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ…” Listen as Pastor Michael breaks down the power of supply found in Ephesians 1:3.