Christian Fellowship Church

What does God get out of our salvation? Have you ever wondered that? We get forgiveness of sins, the promise of eternal life, and the Holy Spirit living in us. But, what does God get? He gets exactly what he wants - He gets us. This is the amazing love of God. He loves us so much that He wants to have us forever.

God is love. We've probably all heard that before but what does that mean? How does it affect us? How should it affect us? Our goal in this message is to understand how God thinks about us and acts towards us and why.

In this message we review what prayer and fasting is. We also talk about how God is generous towards us - wanting us to receive all that He has for us - and how prayer and fasting really helps us to experience all that He has for us. Then the last part of the message details what we as a church are fasting from and fasting for this coming month.

The birth of Jesus is a fulfillment of prophecy. And, His ministry is a fulfillment of prophecy. We conclude our "God With Us" series today as we look at what Jesus said about light and darkness. We compare and contrast light and darkness today. We also do a self-examination to see which one we are walking in.

Peace is one of the big ideas that Christmas is all about. But what if I told you that division is just as big as peace is? Today we look at an idea from the mouth of Jesus that should give us a different perspective on peace, division, and the close relationship that they share in our relationships with God and with each other.

There's a completeness to Jesus' work that we sometimes don't highlight enough. Jesus came to earth at Christmas - to be human - to give us a new life here and now. We too often fall short of understanding the fullness of Jesus' work though when we simply say, "Jesus came to save me from hell." That's part of it for sure, but there is so much more, too!

Merry Christmas! Today we start a Christmas series called "God with Us." In this series we're going to explore why Jesus needed to be Immanuel. Why did He need to come to earth and live as a human? In this first message we look at Luke 19:10 as we discover that Jesus came to earth to seek and save the lost.

What we choose to think about directs our lives. Romans 8:5 states this very clearly. As people our minds are set either on the flesh or the Spirit. What is the flesh? What is the Spirit? What happens if we set our minds on one or the other? How can we set our mind on the Spirit? In today's message, we try to answer all these questions.

Each of us has been given a gift to serve each other in the Church. This is absolutely crucial for everyone in the church to understand but also to practice! Think of it this way; God has put a piece of Himself in you through Spiritual gifts. What you are enabled to do is meant to make the church healthier and more whole.

What if there is much more to our worship to God than what we think? What if the way we sing to God is meant to be an encouragement to the people around us - a way to build up the church? The passage we look at today seems to be saying exactly that! What an exciting thought.

There's just no room in God's family for selfishness or being conceited. We're called to live like Jesus - with His heart and His love for each other. It's not just that we're commanded to do this but we're actually powerfully freed up and enabled by Jesus to do this.

James 5:16 might describe one of the most powerful ways that we can love each other and serve one another in the church. Confession and prayer are God given tools for us to use for the health and strength of the church and everyone who is a part of it.

Grumbling may seem like something that's obviously unhelpful in a church - and it is! But, we probably all do it from time to time. What's actually happening in our hearts when we choose to grumble against a brother or sister in Christ? This in an important question that we'll look into today.

While some passages in the bible say "do not judge" other passages say just the opposite. When is it right to judge people and when is it wrong to judge people? What is God's standard for us to know?

There's lots of positive one another instructions - where we're told to do something for each other in the church. But there are also some negative one another instructs where we are told to not do something to each other in the church. Lying is one of those things. It seems like lying is looked at as one of the lesser sins in our culture for some reason. But, it is much darker than we realize. To...

I think we all like peace. But, how do we get peace and keep it in the church? Do we have to all be in perfect agreement for peace to be experienced? Can disagreement be done in a healthy way so that peace is maintained in the church?

In the church we ALL have a responsibility to teach. Most Christians seem to assume that teaching is reserved for someone who's able to stand in front of the whole church on a Sunday and keep everyone's attention. But, the whole church is meant to teach and pass on truth to one another. This is an important function of the God's family here on earth.

Forgiveness. For many people, this is a really hard thing to do at all, let alone do well. But, when we understand Jesus' great forgiveness for us and the character that moved Him to forgive us, we suddenly have a really clear picture for what our forgiveness for one another should look like.

You know the old saying, "A chain is only as strong as its weakest link?" I think the body of Christ kind of works the same way. If we allow people in the church to be weak and overwhelmed by life's circumstances, the whole church suffers. I think that's why Paul talks about us helping carry each other's burdens in the church. Today we look at how we can help each other with the burdens that come...

Hospitality is one of these wonderful things in the body of Christ that is totally underestimated when it comes to how powerful it is. Today we look at the command to show hospitality to one another. If a church gets hospitality right, it can transform the way that church relates to each other and builds each other up.

As Christians who are part of the body of Christ, we have a responsibility to God and to one another. We don't just get to live side by side with each other but we're supposed to spur on or motivate each other to live in a Christlike way. We should be an asset to each other, not a detriment.

It's a new series today. We're looking at the "one another" commands of the New Testament. These commands are a call to not just live like Jesus but to have great intimacy with Jesus. We can't be like Him, if we don't know Him well. We start where everything about God starts - with love. Thanks for joining us for this important teaching.

When we put our faith in Jesus we become part of His redeemed family. And, His redeemed family has a purpose. We get to share in Christ's mission! Today we look at what God's mission is, how we share it as His redeemed people, and how to develop a Holy Heartache to see God's mission completed in us.

If we look at what our culture considers sin vs. what the bible considers sin, it's very different. But it shouldn't be! The lines have become more and more blurry over time. God actually longs for His people to see sin the same way He does.

As followers of Jesus we want to learn to have a holy heartache. We want our hearts to desire what God's heart desires. We want to be burdened by what burdens him, makes him sad, consumes him with passion, and moves him into action. Today we talk about having a holy heartache for the Lord's honor. Are we concerned when God's name isn't the name above every other name? Are we moved into action when...