Greater Life Church

The key to life is not praying the loudest, but relying on God when things are tough. Life has a way of bringing things that challenge us. Bro. Hughes refers to these problems or painful situations as the givens of life. We can pray for things to be different, but they won't. It does not matter how much we pray, there are some things that will just not move. Learning how to live when things are no...

The Costa Concordia had made her voyage in the Mediterranean Sea many times, but on this particular occasion, she ran aground due to an unauthorized course change made in the navigational system. She ran aground in familiar waters, because she deviated from the approved coarse. All indications were that the captain changed the ship’s course to bring it closer into the coast in order to show of his...

The book of Ephesians is a continual flow of wisdom. Paul alludes in his writing that life is a journey. Life requires a certain carefulness in navigating this journey. In our text, he admonishes us to walk circumspectly. That means that we must be careful where and how we step. There are dangers that can soil life. Paul writing to the first century church reveals that the problems that we face to...

There exists in the power of the mind to either receive and recognize or fail to recognize the many things that God provides for us on a daily basis. Attitude is everything. We can never affect a positive outcome, with a negative attitude. The way in which we choose to think determines the outcome in any situation. If we take the time to consider and observe; we will find that over and over God ha...

Falling is enviable. it will happen. No one goes through life without falling. In our familiar parable, the farmer sows the seed. Some fell on the path; some fell on rocky ground; some fell into thorns and some fell on good ground. Not all seed falls on the same type of ground. Some seed fails to reach it's potential. The point of the parable is not the seed, rather it was about where the seed fel...

"In Love's Service Only Wounded Soldiers Can Serve." This quote from Thornton Wilders play "The Angel That Troubled the Waters" is a painful one, most of us don't "sign up" to be wounded soldiers. In this play, based on the story of the troubled waters front he bible, an angel stops the man from entering the pool explaining that in the service of love, only the wounded need apply. The message is t...

It is said that perception is reality. That is not true. In our text, the Moabites perceived that there was blood in the valley, but it was not blood. In advertising, products are presented in such a way as to make us want them. When we receive the burger, it will not appear as perfect as the one in the picture. In our text, they were without water and had been for some time. Elijah instructs the...

In Paul's writing, he is trying to make us aware of the life that we are endeavoring to live. All the "stuff" that goes on in life is not lost to God. Paul speaks of things. The "things" in life are the events of the day; trials, tasks, duties, and pressures that come with the everyday living of life. Paul cautions us to be careful of things because "things' have a way of working against us. They...

On his last trip to Jerusalem, Jesus traveled through the town of Bethany where he stopped to have a meal at his friend's home. In this familiar story, Mary anoints Jesus with ointment from the alabaster box. The disciples were outraged because of the cost of her sacrifice. If anyone should have appreciated what was being done, it should have been the disciples. But instead of applauding what she...

Our text is one of the most used passages in the bible. It is often used in hospital rooms, on death beds at funerals and in times of trouble and strife. In some point in everyone's life, the 23rd Psalm has meant something special. Every time it is read, something else reveals it self that speaks to our situation and life. When we read the 23 Psalm we are reminded that when we are in the fellowshi...

Some people make life difficult. Some are of the opinion that if we try hard enough we can change and overcome anything. The truth is that some things cannot be changed. It is not a matter of not trying hard enough, but some things simply cannot be done. God did not intend life to be difficult and hard. God created man in an environment that if he had cooperated, he would lacked for nothing. God p...

For too many people, life is but one celebration after another. There is no thought in the world of judgment, eternity or Heaven and Hell. The world has gone mad with pleasure. Life on this world is temporary. One day we will all have to give an account to God for our actions here. Not many in the world will admit that there is an hour of divine reckoning. There is a record that is being kept, and...

If there is a message our world needs to hear today, it is the message of Jesus. This world needs Jesus. Too often we use Him as a second option or last resort. The Bible is full of stories of people who made Jesus their first option and received their healing. It does not matter how long it has taken to make Jesus the first option, He is ready to make a difference in life. There is an advertising...

The journey of live involves many ups and downs. Some roads we travel are chosen, but most are chosen for us. Life as we know it is full of changes. There will be valleys along the way. Our text begins with great anticipation: He is on his way to the house of God to worship. Our text highlights a place, a valley, that our traveler must go through to reach the house of God. Historians are not able...

The real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new lands but in seeing with new eyes. Our vision can be impaired my many things. It may be impaired because of problems with health. Eyes get older and it is more difficult to see. But more often than not what affects our vision is familiarity. We can become so accustomed to our surroundings taht we miss the small details. We can easily thing t...

We live in challenging times. Troubles and difficulties are in all of our lives. Some are more severe than others, but we all face them. Life's most difficult task is to try to understand and make sense of the whys of life. There are, however, some questions for which there are not answers. There are some things for which there are no reasonable explanation. They must be lived through in order to...

This Psalm is written by Asaph. It is an individual complaint in absence of an answer from God. Some times prayers turn into moaning and complaint. As he expresses in the opening verse, he was sure that God heard his cry. He had faith. If he did not have faith, there would have been no reason for him to continue praying. He also had memories of times when God had answered prayers. He knew that God...

The word converted is spoken may times in scripture. Jesus, Matthew and Paul all speak of being converted. The word conversion means a change of attitude, emotion or viewpoint from a position of indifference or disbelief. It is a change on the inside that causes a change to also take place on the outside. When one is converted, there is a change in mind, body and spirit. When someone comes to God...

Faith without works is dead. It is not enough to hear the word of God, we must DO something with it. James is very clear. If all we do is come to church and hear the word, and then leave without doing anything, we are failing in our obligation. James uses an analogy of a mirror. When we come to the house of God and hear the word, we are forced to look into a mirror at ourselves. When we look at th...

Our text is written from the perspective of having been there and come out. Asaph has come through a great battle and difficult waters. He has navigated some treacherous things and survived. He overcame and in overcoming he learned somethings about life's journey. Asaph was one of David's three chief musicians. He was a man who was gifted and spiritual. In spite of his gifts and spiritual understa...

During the time that our text was written there were some 60,000 slaves in the Roman empire. Our text is a letter written by Paul to his friend Philemon about one of his slaves who had escaped and was captured. Paul met the runaway slave while in prision, and his letter to Philemon is one that asks that Onisimus be accepted back not as a slave, but as a converted child of God. Paul could have, bec...

What God have us does not protect us from battle, but serves to protect us IN battle. Living for God does not exempt us from battles, but He has given us the tools that are sufficient to bear every attack that the enemy may bring. When we equip our selves in the whole armor of God we are unbeatable. Over the past several Wednesdays, we have talked about the various pieces of armor that God has pro...

Storms come into every life. You do not have to be a bad person to endure storms. The level of stress reises and the sense of worry and fear in a storm can be shattering. The winds of the storm rock us in ways that we do not like. On the gulf coast, we liive with the threat of hurricanes. These hurricanes often churn up things from the past that were thought to be long gone. Unlike storms in the n...

Paul concludes his letter to the Epheisnas with a warning: Satin is working against us. Many of the things that we experience in life are a direct result of the Devil's efforts. he will attach and oppose us at every turn. God has equpied us with an armor that is sufficient: truth, righteousness, peace, faith the spirit, salvation and prayer. The most overlooked and most important part of our readi...

God showed Ezekiel a vision of a flow of water that builds in intensity as it flows from the temple and out throughout the city. The flow that started in the temple grows with force and power until it reached the dead sea. It speaks of the abundance of God; of His power and resources. God's power is not a trickle. It is a torrent. Like water over a water fall, God's spirit has no end and flows con...