Church in the Valley Alhambra

Jesus invites the weary to come to Him, work with Him, and learn from Him, so we become the people like Him.

God is in complete charge of the universe and actively holds it together. He is concerned about us and our real lives, and He is committed to what's best for us.

We will focus on how long-term faithfulness and consistent courage in the face of opposition is the key to lasting impact.

Comparison and envy robs us of being able to enjoy God’s goodness in the lives of others—while at the same time not being able to see God’s goodness in our own. Comparison is the death of contentment and leads to much frustration in life.

Real love is something we choose and it’s more than a feeling. But how do we get it? God is the source of real love and when it’s rooted in Him, it’s unfailing and considerate.

We face tremendous pressure in life to be Wonder-Woman or Wonder-man—but we’re not super heroes and end up burning out on the pressure we experience from without and within.

God has designed men to thrive when they exercise the courage to fight for the right things and show strength by bearing their responsibility well.

God doesn’t want His people to be isolated from the world or infiltrated by it – he wants us to be insulated from cultural ideas and values that will translate into harmful attitudes and actions.

Don’t live for the future, it’s not promised. Live to say yes to God’s will today!

Peter was a man so passionate for the lost, that he literally walked right into harm’s way just to reach the next person. God and others warned him that he would face tremendous opposition, but he would not respond by altering course.

Moses, though he felt under qualified for the task (Exodus 3-4), played a major role as a key figure in God’s plan in history. Not a perfect leader, but determined to keep focused on moving God’s people towards God’s promises.

Sarah was a woman who by our standards would have ample reason to fear. Fear is a normal human emotion that can come upon us (alerts us to danger). What we do with fear or sudden fear can set a direction for our life.

As we embrace correction (last week) God can continue to train us as we seek Him and we can grow in wisdom over the long haul as we rely on His resources.

For wisdom to stick over the long haul we need to learn how to embrace correction (which is why we need humility and fear of the Lord). Wisdom’s approach in developing us comes with correction first, then principles and reasons follow.

To improve and grow in life we need wisdom. When we’ve experienced aspects of life unravelling, we need wisdom to see things differently. Wisdom allows us to see, consider, and learn from life and our circumstances

We can tend to live with the same problems plaguing us our entire lives. To truly change means we cannot just change our circumstances—we need to change our heart and what/who we live for.

Sometimes conflict and injustice comes into our lives and we didn’t directly provoke it. Whenever injustice occurs, it’s natural to desire retaliation, but when we pursue our own retaliation it reveals a heart that doesn’t trust in the Lord’s ultimate rescue.

Most of the time when quarrels and conflict arise we look for someone to blame, but James makes it clear that conflict with others is often rooted in our own blocked goals and desires.

All of us struggle with controlling our speech. Every time we open our mouth we are revealing to others something about us. What we say gives us away!

The genuine nature of true faith is evidenced by our real life not just our claims.

One of the major pressure points we face is learning to be people of action. Often we hear from God on something specific in our life, but we simply put it into our “interesting information” box. Over time without application, change doesn’t come.

We often don’t realize the deadly process that is taking place when we are being tempted. Temptation (enticing our desires) often wears a mask, so we often mistake it as harmless.

Whether you’re going through the fire right now or not, suffering may be right around the corner, and developing the right perspective on suffering is critical.

People will last forever but the trouble they’re experiencing right now will not, and it is accomplishing a purpose with an eternal dimension.

Christ followers are commanded not to set their hope on the uncertainty of riches but on God.