Faith Matters Podcast

Prepare for Your Purpose It’s easy to dream big, but it’s hard to start small. Pop stars and musicians took music lessons and vocal lessons. Actors took acting classes and often started with small roles. People who live out their big dreams all started small. In order to live out your purpose, you need to prepare for it. Now is the time to start doing what it takes to live out the purpose God inte...

Purpose The past few days, we’ve read stories throughout the Bible that show how God used the most unlikely people to do great things. He used people who weren’t accepted by society to change culture. Moses was bad at speaking, but God used him to persuade the leader of the Egyptians to let millions of slaves go. He used David, who was the smallest of his brothers, to defeat a giant. God used Jose...

Not quite enough, or is it? Insecurity is something all of us deal with in some way or another. We all look around at other people, and at times, feel like we don’t measure up. But here’s what you need to know: You have everything you need to do what God needs you to do. And here’s the lesson we can learn from the Bible story today: life’s not about what you have; it’s about what you let God have....

The One Who Got Picked On Joseph was picked on by his brothers when he was young, but later in his life, he was put in charge of all of Egypt. Bullying is a big deal. People get picked on all the time, and it’s not OK. If you are someone who gets picked on, do not let that person take you out. God has given you a purpose and a plan for your life. Don’t ever let anyone take that away from you. Keep...

The Smallest One David was the smallest one of his brothers, yet he was the one to defeat the giant. This just goes to show that it’s not the person we are or even the things we have that can overcome the big, hard things in our lives, but it’s God. It’s His strength and His power that will help us overcome. We will all face giants in our lives and go through difficult things, but God will be with...

The Bad Speaker Moses wasn’t a good speaker, but God still used him talk to Pharaoh, which ended up saving millions of people from slavery. He was also a part of some pretty incredible miracles God did through him. Here’s the thing. You don’t need to be the best. You just have to be willing to be used by God. He can even take your weaknesses and do great things with them. Moses even argued with Go...

Potential (Day 1 of 7) from YouVersion Unique Our gifts are given to us by God. Talents are what we have that we can give back to Him. Some of you may have talents you haven’t even begun to discover yet, but we are all created with things we are good at. They won’t be the same as others’ talents. Some of you will be good at drawing, while others of you may be good at singing or acting. And some of...

“Radical Risk and Radical Reward” Jesus said to his followers, “Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.” In this, Jesus clearly acknowledged that following him involves risking the safety, security, and satisfaction we look for in this world. But in the end, Jesus said, following him leads to a radical reward that the world can never offer. This ch...

“Compassion for Those God Has Compassion Upon” Jesus told a story about a rich man who lived in luxury while he ignored a poor man, Lazarus, who sat outside his gate, covered with sores and surrounded by dogs, eating the scraps that fell from the rich man’s table. Both men died. The rich man went to hell, and the poor man went to heaven. The rich man could see into heaven, and he cried out for rel...

“Christ’s Plan for Us” Loving Jesus enough to radically follow and obey him leads to radical new priorities in our lives, including making disciples (Devotional Day 3) and giving sacrificially to the poor (Devotional Day 4). First, picture Jesus in the upper room as he prepares to go to the cross. Praying to the Father, he begins, “I have brought you glory on earth by completing the work you gave...

“Infinite Treasure” As we saw in yesterday’s devotional, Jesus’ claim on our lives is exclusive and demanding. And so, if we are not careful, we can misconstrue Jesus’ radical statements in the Gospels and begin to think that he does not want the best for us. But he does. He is not trying to strip us of all pleasure. Instead he is offering us the satisfaction of eternal treasure. We see this in Ma...

It's day 1 of 5 in our daily devotional called Radical by David Platt on youversion read by Andi and Brian Hale “The Shocking Truth About Following Jesus” At the end of Luke 9, we find a story about three men who approached Jesus, eager to follow him. In surprising fashion, though, Jesus seems to have tried to talk them out of doing so. The first guy said, “I will follow you wherever you go.” Jesu...

Pastor Bob McCartney gave a sermon series on current social issues this fall highlighting the truth found in the Bible. Here are my notes from this third sermon in his series, True Colors. WHY LIFE MATTERS

One Step at a Time Day 7 of 7 Habits of Holiness from YouVersion read by Brian Hale

Forgiveness; Day 6 of 7 Habits of Holiness from YouVersion read by Brian Hale

Say You're Sorry; Day 5 of 7 Habits of Holiness from YouVersion read by Brian Hale

We are called to live lives worthy of our calling. What is that calling? Remember 1 Peter 2:9. As followers of Jesus, we have been set apart and specially chosen to live as holy people in order to represent our holy God. So let’s start getting practical. What does this calling look like in action? When we know who we are and decide to live in light of that identity, not only will there be a greate...

Like the World is Going to End Day 3 of 7 Habits of Holiness from YouVersion read by Brian Hale for our Jr/Sr High AWANA group we call AWANA WITHOUT WALLS. We meet Sundays at 3:30 pm. https://awanawithoutwalls.org

Don't Forget to Remember; Day 2 of 7 Habits of Holiness from YouVersion read by Andi and Brian Hale

Church Words Day 1 of 5 Habits of Holiness from youversion read by Andi and Brian Hale

Pastor Bob McCartney gave a sermon series on current social issues this fall highlighting the truth found in the Bible. Here are my notes from this second sermon in his series, True Colors. The deepest truth about you what is God says about you. We all live with absolute truth except in the area of morality where we want it to be negotiable. 1. We were created on purpose for a purpose 2. We are de...

Wise Fear There are good fears. The fear of God is one of them. It is foundational. It feeds all other good fears. Wise is the man or woman who first fears God. Fear of God is fervent at the beginning of your faith walk. It is the honeymoon stage of your marriage with Christ. You don’t know any better than to do what is expected. But if the fear of God is neglected, you drift into disobedience (Ps...

Day 4 of 5 from Seeking Daily The Heart of God Wisdom’s Wealth Wisdom is like money. Its value compounds over time. If you regularly add wisdom to your life, you become wealthy in the ways of God. This is why it is imperative that you get wisdom above most everything else in your life. Wisdom is the ability to discern right from wrong and to understand what is true and lasting. It is your ally tha...

Living on purpose is the only way to really live. Everything else is just existing. When God's at the center of your life, you worship. When He's not, you worry. You can start living on purpose today!

Seeking God's Heart daily on the topic of Wisdom from YouVersion by Boyd Bailey as read by Andi and Brian Hale. This is Day 3 of 5.