First Assembly NLR Audio Podcast

Pastor Randy Jumper talks about another of God's gifts:  Freedom!

Grace:  You can't earn it, you can't buy it, but you can have it. 

So far in this series, we've talked about how we can forgive.  In this message, we come at it from the other side. What do you need to know and what do you need to do when you are the one who requires forgiveness, when you are the offender?

You are going to be hurt in life.  It's inevitable.  When it happens, though, our response is our choice.  The Bible says we should forgive.  Great - now how do we do it?

We have to learn to forgive.  People who decide not to forgive are consumed, held captive, and defined by the hurt they refuse to forgive. But how? How can we forgive?

Why is forgiveness one of the hardest things we have to do?  A lot of times, we don't really understand forgiveness.  In this message, Rod Loy uncovers what forgiveness really is, and why it's important to forgive.

Another myth we sometimes carry about God is that he can't use us, and doesn't have a plan for us, because we aren't perfect.  Only "perfect" people can do great things for God.  Well, a short look through the Bible shows that God used plenty of imperfect, and sometimes plain messed up people, for great things.  You feel messed up?  Join the crowd!

We believe a lot of myths.  Sometimes, our myths are formed from our attempts to understand difficult situations.  We can't find a logical reason why we haven't been healed or helped,  so we reach incorrect conclusions about God.  We decide that we are too small, and God is too busy, to care about us.

You can convince yourself of almost anything.  What starts with a feeling can become a fact.  We sometimes talk ourselves into a self-concept, and even a God-concept, that has no basis in fact.  Are you really hopeless?  Is anyone too far gone for God to care about?

Many people view God as angry and unforgiving.  But in the Bible, we see a different story.  In this message, Rod Loy looks at how Jesus dealt with betrayal.

One of the challenges of so many religious systems being taught today is too much emphasis on ourselves:  if we accomplish enough, if we do enough good, we can obtain miracles or salvation.  Even many Christians feel that if they don't have enough faith, God may not provide miracles.  Is there a formula?  Does your healing or your miracle really depend on what you say or do?

Have you ever felt like you don't matter?  Like you are worthless, insignificant, and overlooked?  Sometimes people think God sees them that way, too. 

People believe a lot of myths about God.  One of the biggest ones people struggle with is "I've messed up too many times. I believe in a loving God, but I'm beyond that. I don't think God would want someone like me.  I need to clean up my life before I can go to church." In this message, Rod Loy looks at this myth and talks about the truth of God's love for everyone.

Life in a family is often a lot of fun. But, challenges can arise and hard times come.  At some point, every person and every family will find themselves facing an unexpected crisis.   What do you do?  What role does your faith play in how you deal with life's unexpected problems?

People don't like to talk about death and loss.  But when someone close to you dies, you are forced to think about it.  In this message, Rod Loy covers what happens when we grieve and what to do if you or someone you know is going through grief.

In this message, Rod Loy talks with six couples from different stages of life about the challenges and lessons they've learned from their marriages.

It's easy to have opinions and theories on raising kids if you don't have any.  One thing parents find is that no one formula works for their kids.  The Bible says, "train up a child in the way he should go, even when he is old he will not depart from it."  That's a great passage, but how do we do that?  In this message, Rod Loy looks at some thoughts about what's important when you are raising ki...

It's not a popular topic on Christian TV, and it doesn't sell many books, but the Bible deals constantly with the topic of suffering in a believer's life.  How should a Christian respond to persecution, hard times, suffering, and hardship?

All too often, when Christians encounter opposition from the world, they freak out, busying themselves with forwarding e-mails, and getting angry at the government, or whatever is the target at that time.  What if Christians took all the time they spent being angry and instead spent that time praying?  In the book of First Peter, Peter gives us strategy about not how to react to the world around u...

Living for Jesus and demonstrating your faith is easy at church.  It's accepted and popular.  But it's not so easy everywhere else.  Like it or not, we have to live out our faith in the real world.   So, how do you do it?

Unresolved conflict -- broken relationships between people who claim to be followers of Christ -- is the reason many unchurched people want no part of church.  We often try to pretend such conflict doesn't exist.  What does the Bible say about conflict?  What should we do when this happens to us or to other Christians?

The church should be a hospital for the broken - for people with a past, for people who have messed up.  It is a place where people can be restored.  Too often, though, the church is known as a place where they shoot their wounded.  How should the church react to people who've messed up?  What is our role as Christians in helping broken people get whole again?

How could a loving God allow me to hurt like this?  Why haven't I been healed?  Why hasn't God answered my prayers? Rod Loy looks at these and other questions in this message.

Just like the ill-fated egg of the nursery rhyme, sometimes it seems like we will never be able to put it all back together again.   In this message, Rod Loy looks at how to get your life back together when everything seems broken.

There are studies that indicate that the average American household carries between $8,000 and $10,000 balance on their credit cards with interest rates in the high teens.  Many owe much more.  Being in debt is like being in chains: your decisions are based on how much you owe on your cards. In this message, Rod Loy challenges some commonly-held attitudes about credit and debt.