Greater Life Church

Man has marveled at the sea for all of history. It appears to go on forever. It is awesome in it’s scope and can bring storms and danger. Even today with advanced communications, ships at sea today rely on centuries old method of communications using flags. These flags form their own language that means something to the sea faring man. The most famous of these signals is SOS. There is another that...

As we begin the new year, we have goals and aspirations. We often begin these with much enthusiasm and effort. We need to realize that life is not a sprint, but a marathon. Many stumble with their new year resolutions, and often abandon them after that stumble. The problem with new year resolutions is that life gets in the way. After the new wears off and the grind sets in is where the real challe...

Yesterday was the end of something. It ended a year, but it can end much more than that. Today is the beginning of something new. We stand this morning at the threshold of something new. New Years is a time for resolutions. Often New Year's resolutions are just wishful thoughts. However, a resolution can change a life. A resolution is more than a wish, it is a decision and a determination. This ca...

As we come to the end of another year, we tend to look both back and ahead. For some the past year has not been the best. Of all of God’s creation, only humans are conscious of time. Our lives are controlled by time and we are conscious that time has a meaning and a purpose. Every day that comes to the cow or the bird is just like the one before. But you and I know about time and are usually looki...

Daniel tells the story of some young men who found themselves captive in a hostile culture, but who managed to find their way and stand strong to their beliefs and convictions. What we believe is at the bottom of everything that we face. In what do we place the confidence on our life? These men were taken from their home. Their names and clothes were changed. Some changes, these young men went alo...

One of the aspects of Christmas that we all enjoy are gifts. The question that is often heard this time of year is: Are you ready for Christmas? Most of the time, ready means is the tree up, the presents bought and the meal prepared? But a more important part of being ready is the spirit in which we celebrate. We are so busy this time of year doing the things about Christmas that we miss the most...

Bro James Hughes speaks to men about their role as priests of their family.

We do not know who wrote the Psalm that is our text tonight. It is believed that it was written as Israel returned from Babylonian captivity. The Psalmist felt like he had already gone past the point of no return. The mercy of God held him up and did not let him slip. Even his thoughts were troubling. He said his anxious thoughts multiplied. Here is a man who was disturbed, distressed and overwhel...

We live in a fast paced world. We cannot slow down for fear of being run over. Because we are moving at such a rapid pace in life we miss things. The immediate and pressing things are all that get our attention while we forget the essential and necessary things. In our text, they were not in one place very long before they moved on. They got off of one boat and quickly got onto another boat. In th...

When Abraham was an 75 years old, God told him to pick up and go. He didn’t disclose where, He did not offer any more plans other than just go. Abraham did not hesitate, he went. God made Abraham and Sarah a promise that he would be the father of many nations and that all of the people of the earth would be blessed. So Abraham left believing in the destiny that God had for him. As he entered the l...

Our text is a familiar one. Much has been preached about this woman with the alabaster box. Her name was Mary. She was Martha and Lazarus’ sister and some believe that she was a grievous sinner. She brought the alabaster box filled with precious perfume, broke it and poured it over Jesus’ head. Her motive in doing it is lost on all who observed except Jesus. We will never know what compelled her t...

The word opportunity comes from a latin words for a sea faring practice. In those times, seaports were not always deep enough to accept larger ship into the docks. Ships would have to wait until the high tide before they could enter. The term literally means to wait until they could enter. In 1260, Marco Polo’s father and uncle ventured into what is modern day China. As they were preparing to leav...

Our message tonight is for all who have suffered the pain of rejection, anxiety or grief. People are being affected by things that happened in their yesterdays. We can be past it, but not over it. Ernest Hemingway said all are broken by life, but some are strong in those broken places. It is not possible to live life without experiencing failure or brokenness. Things will not always work out the w...

When the bible describes a crooked and perverse nation, it is easy to apply that description to our own time. Out text describes how to live in such a corrupt environment. Socially and politically we live in a world where it is hard to be shocked or surprised. Statistically, we know that church attendance is on the decline. People are turning away from God and seeking their answers in another plac...

Ministry is a 24 hour a day job. A pastor is always there when he is needed. Vacation and family plans are often changed to accommodate the needs of the flock. The bible often compares a pastor to a shepherd. Like a shepherd, a pastor watches over his flock and goes out of his way to make sure they are cared for. They watch for dangers and trouble that the flock cannot even see. The pastor, like a...

Our text references the Kingdom of God. The kingdom of God is not some group of people who have adopted a common belief system. It is a reference to the realm in which God reigns; It is that place that God rules. In our text Mark mentions the kingdom of God in two different settings. In both cases he talk about a seed. A seed is a remarkable thing. It contains all of the things required to regener...

In our text, Herod had just killed James. When he saw how the crowd responded, he took Peter prisoner too. Herod knew the God that Peter served so he kept Peter in prison under heavy guard until the date of his execution. The church was praying. They prayed that God would intervene. Peter was bound in chains, but Herod could not bind the church. He did not know that they were praying on Peter’s be...

There is a period of time between God’s promise and the fulfillment of that promise. How we live during that time determines much about the fruition of that promise in our life. Most times, that time increment is a very frustrating time of life. It is easy for the flesh to convince us that God’s promise was not what we thought it to be. Often we will have to wrestle with our situation for much lon...

In the course of life, we will all find ourselves going through difficult places. Jacob was a man with great potential. He struggled for a long time with things that could have destroyed the plans that God had for him. He was sneak, a cheat and a liar. Our text is from a portion of life when Jacob was running because of those things. He was a fugitive from his own family and he was in a difficult...

The words in our text were spoken to a people who had experienced great loss. They had been overrun by another culture because of the failure of their faith and their sin. Isaiah was a prophet sent to these people. The first 50 chapters of Isaiah are God communicating his unhappiness with them. But by the time of our text, God begins to outline the plan of the Messiah coming to the world. He outli...

This was not the best of times for Israel. Their lives and relationship with God were deplorable. They had forsaken God and turned their back on Him. The bible says that they had prostituted themselves to other gods. God sent Hosea as a messenger to His people. Hosea married Gomer and, she returns to the streets as an actual prostitute. He would bring her home, but she would slip away into that si...

Out text says that they missed something. It is frightening to think that there exists the possibility that we could be close to something that God has for us, but somehow miss out on that opportunity. None of us want to miss what God has planned for our life. We don’t know if they missed it because of inattention, distraction or misinterpretation. No matter how they missed it, we do not want to m...

Labels are a classifying phrase or name. Benjamin grew up to be a great leader and many prominent figures came out of his lineage. When he was born, his mother called him a Benoni: Son of my sorrows. Jacob knew, perhaps better than anyone, what a hinderance such a label could be. God knows how powerful labels can be and decided to change his name to Benjamin: Son of my strength. We place labels on...

There is something inside every person searching for a place of peace. It is not always obvious by looking at the outside, where someone might be in that search. Even in the finest, wealthiest neighborhoods there are people looking for something more; they are searching for peace. The bible says that peace and security will be lacking in the end times. If there was ever a time for the church to st...

Peter is one of the great contradictions in the bible. In one moment he can make great statements of faith, and in the next moment be a failure. He could be bold, and then be cowardly. He was a man who had struggles and failures, but also had faith and victories. Our text is a pre-cursor to one of the most embarrassing failures of his life. His failure at this moment was something that shook him t...