Good News Church – Yukon, OK

If we aren't careful, we substitute people where there should be God. We start to rely upon others rather than God. It is of utmost important to make God your source. People are fallible and will let you down, but God is your creator who loves you and will always provide for you. It is especially important that when God provides for us, we do not mistakenly attribute it to other powers, but we mus...

I'd like to speak to you on an Ephesian prayer. It serves as a framework for a prayer expecting growth and good things in the future from God. God is our heavenly father and has good plans for us, and we must be open to what he has planned for our lives. Regardless of what you have faced in the path, God's desire is to heal you and guide you into his perfect plan for your life.

When you go through the letters that Paul wrote, you come across many prayers that he prayed. It is important to distinguish between what was a benediction versus a prayer and their intended use cases. In particular I would like to focus on a prayer spoken by Paul over the church of Ephesus. We are encouraged by the content of this prayer to expand our expectations for what God can do for us.

I was in my office praying today and felt impressed with the word "forward," as in the phrase of "going forward." If you think about it, in the Bible there is so much emphasis placed upon us moving forward. For example, Jesus describes that if anyone were to follow him, he needs to deny himself, pick up his cross, and follow him. The Christian walk is a concept of moving forward.

I want to speak to you on the all-important ministry of the Holy Spirit. He is the member of the godhead that you have the most contact with in this modern era. The Son of God came to live on earth and died for our sins. Before returning to heaven, Jesus spent much time talking on the Spirit of God and the important role he would play for Christians in the church age. The baton was being passed, a...

How do you know if you're mature? It can't just be age, as we have all seen people who are older but have failed to mature along the way. Life is not always predictable, but how we handle and adapt to situations can be a great indicator of what maturing we have accomplished and what is still lacking. Spiritual maturity is a very important topic emphasized by scripture that I hope to expound on for...

Language is one of the most vital cornerstones of human culture. Entire civilizations are built upon a foundation of a common language. It is therefore important that we recognize the power of the heavenly language that God has empowered us to speak in tongues of the Spirit. This act returns us to God's original plan for his church and permits us to truly connect with God in a way that our minds m...

I want to talk to you on one simple topic: try again. Sometimes only a small adjustment is needed in order to obtain breakthrough. When temptation comes to give up, we should instead consider another approach and pray that God would encourage us. Rather than just give up, God would will that we instead persevere and earnestly give it another effort. One of Jesus' earlier miracles was when he told...

I'd like to tell you about a man named Obed-Edom from the Old Testament. Through a series of events, he came to have the Ark of the Covenant in his home and cared for it for several months. Initially, this seemed like a coincidence, but it turned into a blessing. The Bible describes how he, his children, and their descendants were blessed by the Lord in all aspects of life because of his proper ha...

I'd like to talk to you about protecting the most precious thing in your life, the Holy Spirit. There are many things that mean a lot to us, like our career or home, that are transient. But our relationship with the Holy Spirit is infinitely more valuable: it is our connection with the eternal spirit of God. The Old Testament describes the outcome of a man who valued God's Spirit that inhabited th...

I want to read to you about a man in the Old Testament who was known as Obed-Edom. Through a series of events he came to possess the Ark of the Covenant at his home and take care of it for several months. What started as a coincidence became a blessing for him, as the Bible describes how he and his children, and their children had a blessing upon them by the Lord in all facets of life that was as...

The most important desire of my heart is to help the Lord fulfill his plans on the earth. Although God is omnipotent, he has always honored free will and works with man. It is for this reason that Jesus remarked that, "The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few." God needs us to live in a way that honors him and shuts every door on sin in our lives. It is imperative that we are fully dedic...

I and many others feel there is a common sense of community in Yukon. Our Ministerial Alliance group here is no exception and is a wonderful collection of pastors in the community that gets together and shares support and news with one another. Tonight I am joined by a good friend of mine from that group, Reverend Mark Borseth. He is a testament to the importance of ecumenical connection in a loca...

If you live very long, you'll receive bad news at some point. Life is full of discouragement. The various events of life are guaranteed to leave you with at least a few scars. Therefore, the importance is not what happens to us but how we respond. The discouraging thoughts that come to us, do not have to go through us. We have talked about Joshua in the Old Testament and his response to discourage...

I want to speak to you out of Ephesians 5, about characteristics of a spirit-filled life. When someone says they believe in a spirit-filled life, they are not referring to an abstract concept. The Bible describes specific signs that follow a life heavily influenced by the Holy Spirit's presence. It is not God's will that only some would be sensitive to the Holy Spirit. It is a second baptism that...

If you live very long, you are going to face some discouragement, it is a natural part of life. When you go to the Old Testament in the book of Joshua, you see that one of the primary things God told the next leader of the Israelites was to not be discouraged -- "be of good courage." Israel faced a great task, that of setting the promised land. God knew they would face adversity and wanted to enco...

Did you know that God talks to you? Even when you don't recognize God's voice, he is still speaking to you. I can think of many instances where I or someone I knew "had a feeling" that something bad was going to occur. God is speaking to our spirits constantly. The important part of being a Christian which brings empowerment is learning to recognize these messages and answering God's call.

I have felt impressed recently to speak on moments where I have felt God's call on me or visions to me. I feel that the next topic for me to share with you is times where I have witnessed a supernatural act from God carried out through his people. The passage of 1 Corinthians describes the spiritual gifts that have been given to the church as a blessing. It's safe to say that there are millions of...

It is a wonderful thing to have your prayer answered by God. Some have referred to the passage of Jeremiah 33:3 as "God's phone number" in that it describes how to get God' attention. But the reality is actually quite simple: God will answer you whenever you call out to him. God will not abandon us in our time of need. His love for us means he will answer to us as a good heavenly father. God's ans...

Last week I shared about visions to you. While I would not say visions are an often occurrence for me, they are always a blessing to receive and do their part to reveal something to me that God is trying to communicate. In the passage of 1 Samuel, we see the biblical precedent for God speaking outside of the written word to people to directly connect with his spiritual children. At a young age the...

On this Father's day I would like to talk to you about your heavenly father. Even for those who never knew their earthly father, or had a poor relationship with them, God is there as the model example of fatherhood for each one of us. The gospel of Luke describes the story of the prodigal son, one who threw away everything his father had given him and took it for granted. And yet when he returned,...

In my sixty years of life, God has given me various dreams and visions. Tonight I'd like to discuss seven of these with you and describe the impact they have had on me. The Old Testament has a passage in which the prophet Habakkuk is instructed to "write the vision and make it plain upon tablets." I believe that whenever we are given a vision by God that it is important for us to record it and all...

Hebrews 12 speaks on the importance of us running our race. Whether you are conscious of it or not, you are in a race, a spiritual one. You have been called to run it with endurance and excellence. Our ability to fulfill this call can be hindered by sins and other earthly attachments. In these latter days it is even moreso important to exhibit endurance in your race you run, as the great cloud of...

I want to continue on with the topic of words with you all. I think it's interesting that Proverbs states that "death and life are in the power of the tongue," putting death before life. I believe this serves to emphasize the incredible destructive power that words can have to the reader ensuring we take care. Tonight however I would like to cover the New Testament and its various passages of word...

I am continuing my series on the power of words, in particular the power of life and death that is held in your words. Our words have a way of lifting us up, like through praise. They are also just as capable as limiting us. It is therefore of utmost important to reflect on our words. Why? Your sayings can undo your prayings. Our time in prayer is not the only time where words matter, as our words...