First Assembly of God Freehold

The Lord himself says, "Be holy, because I am holy." (1 Peter 1:15). The Lord is holy, separate, set apart, from sin and the world. Peter, quoting from holy scripture, then instructions Christians to be different than those around them. Pastor Jeff highlights why many times, we seem to de-emphasize holiness in Christian circles, and then gives us some wise counsel on how to know right from wrong b...

Do you find yourself in need of hope today? There's such a wonderful hope that we have in the Lord, knowing that despite our circumstances, how we feel, or what we've done, God is still faithful towards us! Pastor Jeff gives context to the prophet Jeremiah's life and calling from God. Jeremiah finds himself in a place of despair, from both the world and from the fruit of his own life, but then he...

Happy Summer! It's been pretty busy for everyone at First Assembly, but the staff finally sit down to discuss our July sermon series called, "Emotions." With both Sawyer and Gianna interning this summer, they add their thoughts to the discussion as well, as Pastor Matt, Pastor Todd, and Pastor Bonnie break down into more detail some of the points from Sunday Sermons. Some things we discuss in more...

07/25/21 | Joy. Sadness. Anger. Compassion. God has given each of us the capacity to feel deeply. And when we can better process our powerful emotions, we can start to understand how He will use them for His good. How do I experience joy in my walk with God, even when I'm going through something difficult? Reading from Luke 15:11-32, Pastor Matt shows how when we know what brings Jesus joy, it ena...

07/18/21 | Joy. Sadness. Anger. Compassion. God has given each of us the capacity to feel deeply. And when we can better process our powerful emotions, we can start to understand how He will use them for His good. Jesus Himself needed anxiety relief. And when He despaired, He gave us the blueprint for how to deal with worry, stress, and fear (Mark 14:32-36). If you need anxiety relief, Pastor Bonn...

07/11/21 | Joy. Sadness. Anger. Compassion. God has given each of us the capacity to feel deeply. And when we can better process our powerful emotions, we can start to understand how He will use them for His good. Jesus felt many emotions—and anger was one of them. But there are a few things we can learn about why Jesus got angry, and what He chose to do when He felt strong emotions. Pastor Jamal...

07/04/21 | Joy. Sadness. Anger. Compassion. God has given each of us the capacity to feel deeply. And when we can better process our powerful emotions, we can start to understand how He will use them for His good. Where is God when you hurt? Sometimes we feel like God is old, cold, and in the sky. However, Pastor Matt reminds us that Jesus feels compassion for people who hurt. Looking at Jesus' re...

06/27/21 | What does it mean to be a good neighbor? It involves more than simply waving "hi" across the street or across the aisle. Being a good neighbor involves Loving Your Neighbor, Crossing Culture, Changing the Narrative, Coming to the Table, Creating Space to Engage Our Neighbors, Tenacious Friendships, and Living Differently. In this final week, Pastor Jeff says that our vertical love for G...

If your faith journey was a movie, who would be on the credits list at the end of the film? Pastor Matt, Pastor Todd & Sawyer Matthews discuss why sometimes it can be hard to be vulnerable and ask someone to help us, and also talk about who has been on their "credits list" for their faith journey. We also talk about the importance of listening, and how that is simply the baseline when it comes...

06/20/21 | What does it mean to be a good neighbor? It involves more than simply waving "hi" across the street or across the aisle. Being a good neighbor involves Loving Your Neighbor, Crossing Culture, Changing the Narrative, Coming to the Table, Creating Space to Engage Our Neighbors, Tenacious Friendships, and Living Differently. In Week 6, Pastor Jeff reads the story of the four friends and th...

If we've experienced the amazing grace of God, why can we so easily forget it? Pastor Matt asks Pastor Todd and Pastor Jamal to weigh in, and also discuss how as Christians, we often can relate more to the Pharisees in Jesus' parables, and what kind of attitude we should have to make sure that we don't suffer from Pharisee Syndrome.

06/13/21 | What does it mean to be a good neighbor? It involves more than simply waving "hi" across the street or across the aisle. Being a good neighbor involves Loving Your Neighbor, Crossing Culture, Changing the Narrative, Coming to the Table, Creating Space to Engage Our Neighbors, Tenacious Friendships, and Living Differently. In Week 5, Pastor Jeff challenges us to live out Moses’ psalm of...

06/06/21 | What does it mean to be a good neighbor? It involves more than simply waving "hi" across the street or across the aisle. Being a good neighbor involves Loving Your Neighbor, Crossing Culture, Changing the Narrative, Coming to the Table, Creating Space to Engage Our Neighbors, Tenacious Friendships, and Living Differently. In Week 4, Pastor Jamal shares from Jesus’ parable of the Banquet...

05/30/21 | What does it mean to be a good neighbor? It involves more than simply waving "hi" across the street or across the aisle. Being a good neighbor involves Loving Your Neighbor, Crossing Culture, Changing the Narrative, Coming to the Table, Creating Space to Engage Our Neighbors, Tenacious Friendships, and Living Differently. In Week 3, Pastor Todd unpacks Jesus' well-known instructions to...

How is a church community united without being uniform? How do we speak to issues we're individually passionate about without creating disunity in the church? Pastor Matt, Pastor Jamal, and Pastor Todd discuss these questions, and then spend some time talking about what we mean by Baptism In The Holy Spirit. We talk about what scripture says of this experience, why some don't believe in this today...

05/23/21 | What does it mean to be a good neighbor? It involves more than simply waving "hi" across the street or across the aisle. Being a good neighbor involves Loving Your Neighbor, Crossing Culture, Changing the Narrative, Coming to the Table, Creating Space to Engage Our Neighbors, Tenacious Friendships, and Living Differently. In Week 2, with it being Pentecost Sunday, Pastor Jeff shows from...

05/16/21 | What does it mean to be a good neighbor? It involves more than simply waving "hi" across the street or across the aisle. Being a good neighbor involves Loving Your Neighbor, Crossing Culture, Changing the Narrative, Coming to the Table, Creating Space to Engage Our Neighbors, Tenacious Friendships, and Living Differently. In Week 1, Pastor Jeff asks, "How Do I Neighbor Well?" By looking...

What does it mean to "deconstruct" our faith, and should we be doing it? What negative role has the church played in this conversation? What perspective should we have if we find ourselves personally going through deconstruction? Pastor Matt, Pastor Jamal, and Pastor Todd discuss these questions and offer their insight into this conversation. In this episode, we talk about how deconstruction shoul...

What does it mean to "deconstruct" our faith, and should we be doing it? What negative role has the church played in this conversation? What perspective should we have if we find ourselves personally going through deconstruction? Pastor Matt, Pastor Jamal, and Pastor Todd discuss these questions and offer their insight into this conversation. In this episode, we talk about how the global church ne...

05/09/21 | We're excited to have missionaries to Costa Rica, Tim & Nicole Strange, with us on this Mother's Day! Nicole gives such an encouraging word in this Mother's Day message to moms everywhere. And whether you're a mom or not, Nicole shares spiritual truths from scripture that she's learned through tremendous hardships in her own life that will speak to you today.

Pastor Matt, Pastor Jamal & Pastor Todd talk about how to tell the difference between a distraction and a God-given opportunity (some answers: a cultivated prayer life and discernment from the Holy Spirit). We talk about having the right perspective when it comes to what others may think of us, and how to guard against having an attitude of entitlement. Pastor Jamal also spends a few minutes a...

05/02/21 | Each one of us has a good work to do. We may not see it yet, but it’s often right there in front of our eyes. For Nehemiah, it was a crumbled wall. For you, it could be an injustice in the world, or a need you see what no one else does. During this series, we will learn how Nehemiah responded to his own calling and learn how we can change our own world just by leaning into the unique ca...

What is "The Good Work"? How do I discover a burden God is placing on my heart?  Pastor Matt, Pastor Jamal & Pastor Todd discuss these questions, and talk about the discovery process in their own lives when it comes to God's call. We talk about when things don't go according to plan, and the difference between receiving a critique and ignoring a criticism. Spoiler warning! We end the disc...

04/25/21 | Each one of us has a good work to do. We may not see it yet, but it’s often right there in front of our eyes. For Nehemiah, it was a crumbled wall. For you, it could be an injustice in the world, or a need you see what no one else does. During this series, we will learn how Nehemiah responded to his own calling and learn how we can change our own world just by leaning into the unique ca...

04/18/21 |  Each one of us has a good work to do. We may not see it yet, but it’s often right there in front of our eyes. For Nehemiah, it was a crumbled wall. For you, it could be an injustice in the world, or a need you see what no one else does. During this series, we will learn how Nehemiah responded to his own calling and learn how we can change our own world just by leaning into the uni...