First Assembly of God Freehold

04/19/2020 | This Sunday Pastor Jeff begins a new series called, "Mission: Possible." Pastor Jeff talks from a famous story of Jesus healing the paralytic man in Luke 5:17-26, and talks about how People Matter More to God Than: 1) Our Own Personal Plans, 2) Meetings & Crowds, 3) Buildings, 4) Sermons or Theology, and 5) Personal Comfort & Feelings. He ends the message with a challenge for...

The pastoral staff sit down and discuss [through Zoom] the last reading from the Bible Reading Plan for Easter Week 2020; Luke 24:36-48. We talk about Jesus' post-resurrection appearances, the important distinction that it was a physical, bodily resurrection, the Holy Spirit's role in using us to share this news with others, and how because of the resurrection, we can experience the peace that com...

04/12/2020 | Happy Easter Sunday! It looks different than what we'd normally do, but that doesn't change the fact that Jesus has RISEN from the dead, and we can still celebrate that together! Pastor Jeff talked about how the Resurrection of Jesus leads to: LIFE, HOPE, and LOVE. Awesome message to share with a friend. 

Continuing our discussion for Easter Week, the pastoral staff discuss the passage of scripture where Jesus says that one of his disciples will betray him (John 13:21-32). All week long our church is reading different passages of scripture leading up to Easter, and this was the reading for today, with the Prayer Focus being God's Sovereignty. We talk about Jesus' divinity & humanity, Judas' fre...

On today's podcast, Pastor Matt, Pastor Jamal, Pastor Todd, and Pastor Bonnie sit down and discuss the story of Mary anointing Jesus' feet with oil (John 12:1-11). As we're beginning Easter Week, our church is reading through Easter passages about Jesus' life leading up to Easter, and this is the passage for Monday.  Link to the Bible Reading Plan can be found here: https://docs.google.com/do...

04/05/2020 | Pastor Jeff reads from the famous passage of Jesus riding into Jerusalem on a donkey, also known as Palm Sunday, beginning the Holy Week of Easter. He points out how the crowds cheered praises when Jesus rode in (Matthew 21:9), yet days later, crowds shouted, "Crucify him!" (Matthew 27:21-22). Pastor Jeff talks about the difference between a casual faith and a committed faith, and sho...

03/29/2020 | Pastor Jeff talks about the importance of continually praising God, especially in times of uncertainty. Reading from Hebrews 13:15 which tells us to "continually offer a sacrifice of praise," Pastor Jeff shows us that: 1) Praise keeps our FOCUS on God, 2) Praise increases our UNDERSTANDING of who God is, and 3) Praise helps build your CONFIDENCE in God.

03/22/2020 | Pastor Jeff brings us the truth of God's Word in the midst of uncertainty, and emphasizes that "every crisis is a call to seek God." This was the first Sunday of our church not being able to physically gather due to the COVID-19 crisis and the government recommendations which prohibited public gatherings. Pastor Jeff answered the question, "As Christians, what should we personally do...

03/22/2020 | The pastoral staff sit down and discuss the sudden change to American life due to the COVID-19 Crisis. At the time of this recording, the state of New Jersey had recommended all public gatherings to refrain from meeting, and our church followed these recommendations. As a result, our church decided to stream a Sunday service, and the staff discussed this change of events as the openin...

03/15/2020 | This Sunday, Pastor Dave Greco came and preached in honor of Pastor Jeff's 25th Anniversary of being at our church! We're so glad we were able to celebrate him on this special occasion. From Matthew 9:37-38, Dave shared an inspiring message called, "Anyone," and talked about how God can: 1) Reach Anyone, 2) Use Anyone, and 3) Send Anyone.  This is a shorter version of his message...

Pastor Matt, Pastor Jamal & Pastor Todd discuss Pastor Jamal's sermon on Waiting Well. We talk about the tension of continually bringing something to God without complaining about it, the importance of being faithful where you are, and unpack the idea of Christian Hope, and how conversations in Christian circles can change in a positive way.

03/08/2020 | Pastor Jamal shares that with services like Amazon Prime in our fast-paced culture, waiting isn't something that many of us enjoy. However, we shouldn't take our "Prime attitude" into the Throne Room of God; we can't expect God to operate like Amazon Prime, moving at whatever pace we want him to move. Pastor Jamal looks at scripture and talks about what it looks like to Wait Well. We...

03/01/2020 | For our Sunday Evening Service, the Pastoral Staff sit down and have a live panel discussion on the Baptism in the Holy Spirit and speaking in tongues. This topic that can be difficult to talk about sometimes because of differing beliefs or past experiences, so our goal is to take the pressure off by simply having a conversation about it.  We start by defining terms, establishing...

03/01/2020 | Pastor Jeff talks about the ministry of the Holy Spirit in our lives by going over six symbols that the Bible uses to describe the person and work of the Holy Spirit. Starting with Leviticus 6:8-13, Pastor Jeff explains that in scripture the Holy Spirit comes as: 1. Rain = refreshing (Joel 2:23-24; Acts 2:17) 2. Rivers = overflowing for counsel & encouragement (John 7:37-39) 3. Wi...

02/23/2020 | Pastor Jeff finishes our Anonymous series with Week 4: Behind Every Name Is a Story (Part 2). He continues to go through the significance of each name from Romans 16, why they were important to Paul, and how God sees each of us where we are at. And even though Paul knew each of their names, he encouraged them to know each other's names ("Greet each other" v. 16). Paul's words admonish...

This week, Pastor Bonnie joins the crew again as we discuss Pastor Jeff's sermon, Anonymous: Week 3. From looking at Romans 16, we see that many of the important people who served the Early Church equally alongside the Apostle Paul were women. We spend a lot of time talking about the topic of Women in Ministry; why this is controversial, what the Bible says about it, and what our perspective as a...

02/16/2020 | Pastor Jeff continues our series called "Anonymous" with Week 3: Behind Every Name Is a Story (Part 1). He reads a list of names that were important to the Apostle Paul from Romans 16, and shows how each one of these people, many of whom are women, are known and valued by Paul, and more importantly by God. Even if you feel like a nobody, you're a somebody in God's eyes. Pastor Jeff re...

This week Pastor Matt, Pastor Jamal and Pastor Todd discuss Week 2 of our Anonymous Series. We talk about labels we sometimes identify with, how to have the right perspective when it comes to our new identity in Christ, and how we can positively influence those around us and begin to change the perception of of the name "Christian."

02/09/2020 | Pastor Matt continues our Anonymous Series with Week 2: God Changes People's Names. He talks about how our names determine our identity, and our identity determines our destiny, which is why God changes people's names. From reading 1 Peter 2:9-10, we see Peter's encouragement to live up to our new name in Christ. Pastor Matt shows how it's a community (v. 10), it's a process (v. 5), a...

This week we're excited to have Pastor Bonnie join us on the Monday [Tuesday] Morning [Afternoon] Recap! We talk about Week 1 of "Anonymous," and how we aren't anonymous to God; we are known, loved, and valued. When we believe we're anonymous, we live without accountability and look to find meaning in our sin. But when we know and are known by God, that changes everything.

02/02/2020 | We start a new series at church called Anonymous. Pastor Jeff says that we aren't anonymous to God; prisoners have numbers, but children have names. He reads from Isaiah 43:1, and talks about 1) The Darkness & Danger of Not Knowing or Being Known by God, and 2) The Light & Life of Being Known by and Knowing God. Satan wants you to think that you're a statistic, that you're jus...

It's two recaps in one! We're glad to be back this week after missing last week, so we talk about Pastor Jeff's past two sermons, We Value: The Local Church (03:47 - 33:58), & We Value: People (40:10 - 1:05:57). Pastor Matt, Pastor Jamal & Pastor Todd talk about the idea of holiness: how the church has been set apart, but also that we need to have the right perspective when it comes to thi...

01/26/2020 | Pastor Jeff finishes this series with Week 3: We Value People. From looking at the story of Zacchaeus in Luke 19:1-10, we see that Jesus met Zacchaeus with unconditional love & acceptance, and that this unconditional love has a transforming power. "We have a name, we have a heritage, we have an identity. We are valuable to God. Go out and live it." -Pastor Jeff.

01/19/2020 | Looking at the Early Church in Acts 2:42-47, Pastor Jeff shares about how the Local Church is God's vehicle to accomplish His mission to reach the world. "Ekklesia," Greek for "church," means to be called out from the world, and then to be sent back into it to shine the light of Jesus. As the Local Church, we are: 1) To Be an Agency of God for Evangelizing the World, 2) To Be a Corpor...

This week, Pastor Matt, Pastor Jamal & Pastor Todd discuss why We Value Missions based off Pastor Jeff's sermon from the day before. We talk about a brief history of our fellowship the Assemblies of God, why it's important that we share our faith, and how to have the right emphasis when it comes to talking to others about Jesus.