Fresh Start in Christ with Viroqua Nazarene

Jeremiah had some really great sermon illustrations just dumped into his lap. In this series we look at a few of them and connect the dots between the message given so long ago and the one God has for us today. It may be an immature question, but it connects to the message: "What did you bury under there?" listen to find out.

Do you work and work and work and wonder..."What good is all my work?" Labor day is a day to celebrate and appreciate the U.S.'s labor workforce. But what does the bible say about Labor?

Picture this: A person gets their life all straightened out. They aren't doing the destructive things they once did, they can hold down a steady job, they're responsible, they seem happy to be free of a past burden. Then one day they CRASH and crash, Hard! They seem to be in worse condition than they were before their life changed. What went wrong?  Jesus addresses this in Matthew 12:43-45. W...

You know people talk about praying...but what is prayer anyway?

King David, mighty slayer of Goliath and champion of the God of Israel. A man with integrity and military prowess. But not always. Certain circumstance led him to make a series of decision that were not in keeping with his public image. In this podcast we will look through the eyes of Uriah, the man most effected by David's poor and selfish decisions. We'll see what David was NOT and hear what he...

Have you ever been in a disagreement with someone...and started to question their Christianity? No I'm sure you haven't. But some people experience this every day. One might think: "Christians don't have arguments! And if they did, one of them is wrong and needs to repent! They fell from grace!" Not all disagreements are clear cut and Acts 13 and 15 show us a "Sharp Disagreement" between Paul and...

This whole series has been about stumbling and falling in our relationship with God. We all are susceptible to it and some fall harder and further away than others. There was an "Odd Couple" in the book of Acts that fells hard, it killed them. What was their fatal misstep? Listen to today's podcast and find out. Also I'll give you 3 things to watch out for so you can avoid falling into the same tr...

Celebrated Hero or arrogant strongman? Samson has been well celebrated in children's bible stories, but when you take a look at his full story, it starts to make sense why he might get into a Big Hairy Mess. 

This one is about the sensitive topic of suicide. Its unfortunate, for a very real situation that even those who follow Christ stumble, fall and stay down for the count. They lose all hope of recovery or reconciliation. One such example was Judas. This message delves into the mind and heart of Judas Iscariot with the intention of not walking down his same path.

This series was inspired by the song originally written and performed by dcTalk called, “What if I Stumble?” In life, whether you are a Christ-follower or not yet a Christian, you might have turning points in your life. Events that shape the direction of your future, how you react and respond to certain situations. Will you stand up and lead or fall in line and follow? In this series we will look...

The Forth of July is all about Independence, right? What if I told you that rather than completely being Independent...our founding father and our fledgling country actually just shifted it's dependency? Yeah, It's true. But to whom and what did it shift that dependency when it Declared Independence from Great Britain? Is dependence on others truly a bad thing?

Rainbows. They are everywhere. On logos, cartoon ponies, and yes...even in the clouds following a rain shower. But what is "The Rain-Bow Connection"? Join us as we delve into not only what the rainbow is all about but what you should do when you see it. Genesis 6-9.

Title not intriguing enough for you? You might be familiar with this expression, "Who's your daddy?!" Someone dunks on you in basketball, defeats you in a video game, or is just plain rude. This expression has invaded our culture, but it is applicable to our scripture for today's podcast.  In John 8, Jesus has a conversation with some folks and the question at hand is: "Who's your Daddy?!" Je...

Stars . Beautiful lights in the nights sky. The closest one to our planet warms us and gives us light during the day. Marvelous. But somewhere along the way, created things like the planets, sun, moon and various stars became something to revere. Something to base your life off. Something that controls your destiny. Or does it? In this podcast we will look at biblical and non-biblical texts, histo...

Have you ever met someone who was so convinced God wanted them to do a certain thing? Live a certain way? What do you think would happen if that person lost there conviction? Special guest speaker, Dr. Kevin Donley brings the message: Authenticity matters.

Have you ever had a good friend seem to try and hang up on you or end a conversation quicker than you’d like? I picture that's how the disciples felt when Jesus ascended into Heaven. But he did not leave them without a promise. The promise of real revival. Acts 1:12-14; 2:1-41

In this message, we look back at the previous year in the life of our local church. We also look ahead to goals of this coming church year. Also, seek to see our story overlapping with the story of the Israelites in Isaiah 60.

Confrontation is uncomfortable, but necessary for change and growth. Many times in life we call this moment of confrontation a "Come to Jesus Moment." But why? What does Jesu have to do with it?  What should we do when we actually sense Jesus calling us to com to him? Main passage for this message from from Isaiah 55:1-13. Please share us on social media, email and word of mouth! We appreciat...

Today, we get another type of interesting imagery used by Isaiah: motherhood . Isaiah was not only a prophet, he was a master poet. He turned words and phrases to not only keep his audience listening but also accurately express the spiritual, using these physical metaphors and similes.       To understand what dots Isaiah is connecting here with these passages concern...

Imagery is an amazing teaching tool. It can relate thoughts and feelings without words. Or words can paint pictures that the wise understand but the foolish do not. It can veil a warning in poetic threats. Imagery can make something imateral...like hope or joy more solid and easier to understand. Throughout the book of Isaiah, imagery is used to do all this and more. One specific type of imagery k...

God wants me to do, what? How do I know I am hearing a call from God? In this episode, we will look at Isaiah's calling in Isaiah 6. We will also look into other prophets' calling stories for comparison. Discover the 3 things about the calling of God.

In the second part of our bible study series on Isaiah, we come to a passage concerning Judah's neighbor: the Moabites. Surprisingly enough, scripture seems empathetic with their plight even if it was their own actions or inactions that caused them to become refugees. How exactly was Judah supposed to help them and how can you and I be like Judah when those around us are "refugees?"

This is the beginning of a 7 part journey through the book of Isaiah. We are taking a bible study approach to this massive book, but we will cover the main parts...rather than all 66 chapters.  Our first message is all about two things that the people of Judah were dealing with: Their rebellious hearts and their tendency to worship wrongly.

No matter what one fasts from, the heart of the matter is making the willing decision to put God’s will ahead of our own. Today we are going to look at some examples from the Old Testament and the New Testament about fasting. We will also touch on the topic of Prayer, as it directly connects to fasting. Fasting without prayer is just a really peculiar diet.

Though the main thing that most people think about when they think about Lent is the prayer and fasting, I want to save those topics for another day. The intentional practices, or spiritual disciplines help us to focus our spirit on the sacred, the holy, the things of God. We can’t hope to succeed at connecting with God by fasting, praying, confessing or even fellowshipping with other believers un...