God's Word with Pastor Tom Smith

Prayer is placed alongside the other practices as a core activity of the church. Prayer is what confesses and lives out our dependence on God for everything.

A reveiw of the basis for Studying Revelation, chapters 1-11, and a preview of this semester's study.

Acts 2:42 shows us that fellowship is much deeper than social, it is a shared life centered around the cross, which the Lord’s Supper repeatedly brings us back to.

Acts 2:42 gives us the Spirit-formed practices that were the priority of the early church. We seek to understand these practices to give us the why behind what we do, starting with being devoted to the apostles’ teaching.

How do we live a faithful life in between Sundays, in between the highs and lows of life, and in between Jesus’ advent and his return?

Matthew 2 presents three responses to Jesus’ kingship. These aren’t just historical reactions but reveal how the human heart responds to Jesus.

Luke 2 provides the royal announcement that God has moved and the promised King has come. Our response to this news is joyfully receiving it in humility, experiencing the peace, and proclaiming the news because of what God has done through Christ.

Peace is the theme of the 2nd week of Advent. We see in the story of Mary how an interruption of her life plans could have destroyed her peace, but her surrender led to peace. And through her surrender, God was preparing to send the King to the world.

Advent invites us to look back at God’s fulfilled promises, which give us hope as we look forward to his promises to be fulfilled.

Jonah is a story of self-centered desires and hearts not aligned with God’s mercy and mission.

The story of Elijah and the prophets of Baal isn’t about spectacle but God calling his people back from divided worship to himself.

Daniel and the lions’ den is a story of faithfulness and vindication that points us toward the gospel of Jesus Christ.

David & Goliath provides more than good morals and needed encouragement in our struggles. It points us to Christ and his victory, the reason we can trust God's presence and power in our trials.

The exodus is both an echo of creation and a foreshadowing of salvation in Christ where God’s people are transformed and set free. How do we walk in that freedom for God’s purposes?

The story of Joseph points us toward Jesus and shows how God can use for his good purposes what man meant for evil.

Noah's Ark - The truth behind this familiar narrative is God’s judgment on sin and his mercy and grace seen within that judgment. The deeper story is how the ark points toward Jesus and his offer of saving grace.

We are called to be holy. We are promised an abundant life. How are these two seemingly contradictory calls reconciled? What we'll see today is that the call to pursue holiness is the gateway to life.

Judges closes with Israel in worse shape than where it began. But this cycle of disobedience is a lesson for us. We must trust in and follow God lest it be said of us “They did what was right in their eyes.”

Sampson was rebellious, yet kept turning to God. In turn, we see God's patience and faithfulness to his servants. Sampson's pride led him to forget that his gifts were from God and repeatedly caused him to rebel.

Are you guilty of bringing cultural and worldly practices into religion? Are you listening to God and trusting that Jesus is enough?

God uses a man who he did not raise up as a judge.

God uses three faithful people to accomplish his purpose. It’s often not about one person doing everything, but a community coming together to accomplish a lot.

The story of Ehud shows us that while we might want to use our deficiencies as an excuse not to serve the Lord, God wants to work through our weaknesses.

The Book of Judges shows the importance of living faithfully and raising a new generation to Faithfulness. But regardless of what we do, God remains faithful and has sent us the perfect Judge in Jesus Christ.

Baptism is a sacrament that connects us to Jesus and proclaims our faith. Have you obediently followed Jesus in baptism?