First Assembly NLR Audio Podcast

Is life performance based? Or, is there a different standard?

How do we treat people that society ignores?

Are you crippled?  We're talking about people who have endured crippling experiences in their lives.   Maybe it was rejection, or abuse, or divorce.  Whatever it is, you are not alone.  God has not forgotten you!

It's probably the most unpopular financial concept in our society:  delay.  We want everything now, but in this message, Rod Loy lays out the benefits of waiting.

The second important word to remember when dealing with money is Pay:  pay cash, pay off your credit cards.  Heavy credit card debt is the root of a lot of marital problems, and definitely a major source of stress.  In this message, Rod Loy talks about why it is important to avoid being a slave to debt.

If we want God to bless our finances, we need to obey His instructions.

Everyone wants to go to heaven, but we have some interesting ideas about how to get there.  Sometimes we think if we do enough good deeds, or if we work hard enough to be a good person, we'll get there.  But is that what it takes?

In this series, we've talked about the kinds of friends we need in our lives.  In this message, we learn more about the most important friend of all: Jesus!

Like Meshach in the Bible, we all need friends in the fire, in the hardest times in our lives.

In this message, Pastor Rod talks about loneliness, and if you are only going to have one friend - this is the friend you need!

You need a friend like Jonathan, who knows that God is not intimidated by impossible odds!

Sometimes, we all need a friend who can look at our situation and tell us the truth we really need to hear.

We all need a friend like Moses in our lives, a friend that can forgive us and help restore us.

We all need an older person in our lives to learn from, and a younger person to teach and carry on wisdom and faith.

We need friends who are passionate, creative, and determined about getting us closer to Jesus!

We all need a friend like Silas, someone who will stick with us in the tough times, when we are under pressure.

Barnabas was a disciple in the Book of Acts who was a great encourager to other believers.  We all need encouragers in our lives.  And, we all should be encouragers for other people.

We are not supposed to be alone.  We were designed and created for connection.  We not only need other people in our lives, we need the right people in our lives.  Who are those right people, and what type of friends are important in your journey to be a lifelong follower of Christ?

What makes a healthy church?  What are some things that can keep a church from becoming inward focused and dysfunctional.  Using the early church in the Book of Acts as a guide, Rod Loy examines the healthy church.

Don't make any New Year's resolutions until after you've heard this message - Pastor Rod will challenge you to look at resolutions in a whole new way!

Pastor Brad's original song for Christmas, recorded live at First Assembly on Christmas Day, 2011.

How many people celebrate Christmas, but miss the point? 

Rod Loy shares some practical ways that you can keep going in the right direction toward what God wants for us, and away from our past.

So many people who look back at their old lives do it based on a revised history, filled with faulty memories.  They remember the good times, and not the bad things that caused them to turn to God in the first place.  Satan likes to remind us of the good times while blinding us to the consequences.  We need to make sure to remember God's grace and how far He has brought us!

Even good people with good intentions can get totally distracted from what's right and do things that make absolutely no sense. But in spite of all that, we need to continue to move forward.  We should continually grow in our faith and relationship with Christ.