Discovering Jesus with FirstNaz Zephyrhills

Pastor Nick's sermon "Forgive Like Jesus 2" focuses on forgiveness, drawing lessons from the story of the prodigal son in Luke 15. The prodigal son's journey of rebellion and redemption illustrates the themes of forgiveness and restoration. The sermon highlights the contrast between the father's unconditional forgiveness and the older brother's struggle with bitterness. Pastor Nick challenges list...

In the sermon "Forgive Like Jesus," Pastor Nick addresses the significant impact of forgiveness. He notes that many people harbor anger and hurt due to others' actions, which subsequently holds them back and hinders growth. He urges his audience to contemplate their most profound pain caused by someone else and asks them if they would like liberation from those emotional chains. The sermon uses Je...

Pastor Nick's sermon, "Travelling with Jesus," stresses the significance of following Christ by delving into the Bible. Using John 6:66-69, he illustrates how some turned away from Jesus, but Peter stood firm, recognizing Him as the source of eternal life. The sermon highlights that despite challenges, embracing Jesus' teachings is a personal journey of faith and calls for a deep relationship with...

The sermon focuses on the story of Pentecost and the Holy Spirit's effect on believers. Pastor Nick emphasizes the importance of quality time with loved ones and relates it to his experience with his daughter. He explains that the Holy Spirit is like God's quality time with us, always seeking to deepen our relationship. The sermon encourages seeking more of the Holy Spirit in our lives and emphasi...

Pastor Nick's sermon discusses Ascension Sunday, highlighting Jesus' ongoing work post-ascension in power, position, and place. Luke wrote Acts for a person named Theophilus, focusing on Jesus' continuous work through the Holy Spirit and intercession with the Father. Jesus went to heaven to prepare a place for believers to coexist with God, offering hope of eternal life. The sermon calls listeners...

Pastor Nick's sermon "Two Choices: Heaven or Hell" delves into God's plan for humanity, emphasizing salvation through Jesus Christ. By accepting Christ, individuals align their past and future with His, ensuring qualification for heaven. The sermon explores the consequences of rejecting Christ and the importance of understanding both heaven and hell as realities influenced by personal choices. Con...

Borrowing a phrase from pastor Josh Howerton, when you are saved, Jesus' past becomes YOUR past and his future becomes YOUR future! The will of God for humans is that everyone would be saved through Jesus Christ!

In the sermon "Making Disciples," Pastor Nick stresses the crucial role each person plays in sharing Jesus' message and making disciples. He challenges the congregation to consider their time on Earth and the impact of making just one disciple annually. Pastor Nick uses the story of Abraham to show the importance of passing down faith through generations and being a blessing to others. The sermon...

The sermon "Intimacy with God" by Pastor Nick delves into the concept of closeness with God through biblical stories like Adam and Eve, Moses, and Jesus, highlighting repentance as a key step. It stresses the importance of cherishing a deep relationship with God, contrasting it with hiding from Him due to sin. The sermon encourages the congregation to prioritize intimacy with God in their lives as...

The sermon "What is Truth?" explores Jesus' conversation with Pilate, emphasizing Jesus as the ultimate king and truth. Despite controversy throughout history, belief in Jesus as king carries significant implications for believers. Pilate's question, "What is truth?" prompts Jesus to assert himself as the embodiment of truth. The sermon challenges listeners to align their lives with Jesus as king...

Pastor Nick's sermon on Palm Sunday discusses Jesus' peaceful and humble entry into Jerusalem, emphasizing transformation and repentance. He highlights Jesus' healing miracles, visit to Bethany, and encounter with Greeks as lessons about purpose and serving God. Pastor Nick stresses the importance of sacrificial living, sharing the gospel, and aligning with God's will for ultimate fulfillment and...

In this sermon, Pastor Nick discusses the misconception that the book of Revelation serves as an end-times roadmap, emphasizing the overarching theme of Jesus' victory. He clarifies misunderstandings about the rapture, encouraging the audience to seek understanding from scripture rather than cultural influences. Pastor Nick highlights the importance of faithfully serving Jesus and eagerly anticipa...

Pastor Nick challenges the idea that the Bible is individually tailored, explaining its diverse nature and historical context. He links the faith of Abraham to the importance of accepting Jesus as the Messiah. Emphasizing the Bible's resilience through history, he urges daily engagement to draw wisdom and truth. Concluding with an encouragement for a daily scripture habit, Pastor Nick stresses the...

After spending quite some time with Jesus, he had now ascended. From his place in Heaven, seated at the Father's right hand, he would make a request--one that the Father was eager to give! Jesus would ask the Father to send the Holy Spirit to empower the believers for life and ministry. In the meantime, however, they waited. Somewhere in those 10 days of waiting, Peter stood up with a Bible lesson...

In the First Chapter of Acts, we have a brief account of the last days and moments Jesus spent on this earth. Before the very eyes of the Apostles, Jesus ascended into Heaven. He gave them instructions: WAIT. Then, once you're given the gift of the Holy Spirit, GO! There are 4 important reasons for the Ascension. Listen in and hear why!

The disciples of Jesus had to wait 50 days after his death and 10 days after his ascension before the promised Holy Spirit arrived.  50 days isn't too long...10 days sure isn't much...but when you are awaiting the BIGGEST thing you'll ever witness, even one day feels like a lot! So, what do we do while we wait for God to fulfill his promises? In other words, how well do we wait? Let's open up John...

Jesus gave his disciples the Holy Spirit and then said that they could forgive and retain sins against people. WHAT???!!! THAT isn't our job, is it? So, join in and listen while we do the work of interpreting this passage and find out what God would have us to do with it. 

In this episode, Pastor Nick went a bit off-script...but if you know how he preaches, sometimes those are the best! Check out Part A here and stay tuned next week for the conclusion. You WON'T want to miss it!

Jesus had some very stern words for people who harmed the least of these among us. He was concerned for children and wanted to protect them. God loves our kids more than we ever could. (Note: Contains Scriptural interpretation opinions on Gender and Abortion issues)

Jesus returns as King of Heaven’s kingdom on Earth. And he has a message to be shared. But the people he chooses to share it aren’t always the ones we would assume. 

Moses had told of the day when God would bring another prophet to lead Israel. But when Jesus rode into Jerusalem on a donkey and not a warhorse, he failed to meet up to the expectations of the people. 

Moses said God would raise up prophets from Israel. He reminded them that they had been scared to have God too close so he said he would speak through prophets.  But he knew the temptation to look into the future through dark arts and fortune tellers was going to be there. So he promised that he would speak through prophets and eventually through his own Son, living as one of us. 

After all the ups and downs, Israel was overthrown and carried into exile by Assyria.  Now, the kingdom of Judah was all that was left. King Hezekiah brought some reforms, but those quickly fell away. What’s worse is that the Book of the Law—their Bible—was lost! Hezekiah’s great-grandson Josiah became king at 8 years old. 16 years later he saw the futility in all the idol worship and he went on a...

We missed a week of recording when we had a guest preacher. (Solomon built a temple and invited God to dwell in it.) Ultimately, God chose for his Son to dwell among us as for a while. Now, rather than a temple built with human hands, the Holy Spirit dwells in our midst.  This week, we are looking at what happened when Solomon turned away from God and how it affected the kingdom when his son Rehob...

In Psalm 3, we see a very sad story where David and his family and officials had to make a tactical decision to flee the royal city because his very own son was committing treason. However, this had been directly because of David's own sins in the past which had caught up to him. How did he react and where do we see ourselves in this story?