Larger Than Life

Many aspects of the spiritual realm are beyond what we can perceive with our physical eyes, yet they are essential to our spiritual journey with God. Faith provides the confidence regarding these unseen realities. Today, Pastor Ron emphasizes that even when we do not fully understand all that God has said, we can trust in His ways. Faith involves believing without direct evidence. Although an invi...

How can we discern whether our faith is placed in the right object? In today’s message, Pastor Ron contrasts individuals who are humanists and place their faith in themselves with those who trust in God. He states that the strength of one’s faith is determined by the reliability of its object. The object of trust must possess substance that provides a foundation for genuine confidence. Trust in Go...

When you notice someone facing a tough situation, how often do you step in and lend your support? For those who believe in Jesus, facing persecution is just part of the journey, as the Word of God reminds you. So, when you see your Christian friend facing bullying because of his beliefs, how often do you step in to support him? Today, Pastor Ron invites you, as a believer, to confidently stand str...

I've noticed some folks at church, really diving into worship and pouring their hearts out in prayer. But over time, they start to drift away from God, eventually stepping away from the church and letting go of their faith, choosing instead to embrace a more worldly lifestyle. I’ve always found it a bit puzzling how that could even happen. Today, Pastor Ron is diving into the topic of what it mean...

Because of sin, we found ourselves distanced from God, but He made the move to draw closer to us. Isn't it incredible how God crafted this amazing plan? Through Jesus, that barrier that kept you from stepping into God's presence has been broken! God really took on all the hard work. So, what’s your story? How often do you make an effort to connect with God and have some quality time in His presenc...

Back in the days of the Old Testament, folks would bring forth sacrifices as a way to seek forgiveness for their missteps. Over time, it turned into a bit of a ritual for the folks, as they found themselves constantly stumbling into sin and then making their way to offer sacrifices. This left them feeling as if their sin was never truly washed away. But you know what? God had an amazing plan lined...

Do you ever wonder why God doesn’t just brush aside sin and offer forgiveness without a second thought? It’s an interesting question, isn’t it? If God were to stop judging sin, we would lose both accountability and justice. The main point here is that if God allowed sin to exist in the world, it would challenge the very essence of who He is as God. That would diminish His holiness and credibility....

For Jesus to carry the weight of the world's sins, He had to be perfect in every possible way. If He had even the tiniest flaw, He simply wouldn't have been fit to conquer sin and death. Today, Pastor Ron shares why Jesus stands out as the only one truly worthy of saving you from your sins. Though He came into the world as a human, He walked through life without a trace of sin. That positioned Him...

Back in the days of the Old Testament, people couldn’t just reach out and be in God’s presence like we might imagine today. A massive veil hung in the temple, creating a distinct separation. It was a special privilege, reserved for only the most sacred of priests, and even then, just once a year! Well, did you know that Jesus shattered the barriers that separated you from God? In today’s message,...

So, there we were, cruising along the road with my family, when out of nowhere, we found ourselves stuck in a massive traffic jam! As I was waiting, I thought it would be fun to explore Google Maps for a different route. I was totally taken aback—there were absolutely none! In the end, I just had to hang tight until the way was free and clear. People often believe there are multiple paths to Salva...

Some believers would rather just ignore the Old Testament. It’s just rules and regulations, and we don’t need any of it now that we have Jesus, right? As Pastor Ron will clarify in today’s message, while the details of the Old Covenant God held with man pale in comparison to the New Covenant in Christ, it still has a valuable place. It’s a necessary reflection of our brokenness and religion's inab...

What a beautiful representation of the significance of what Jesus did on the cross. In light of that, His Words as He took His final breath have so much deeper meaning. “It is finished.” As Pastor Ron will clarify, this wasn’t referring to His ministry or life. The need for continual sacrifice and work in a religious system that could never actually bring salvation was finished. All of those symbo...

We never lived through the Levitical system of priests and sacrifices representing various heart postures towards God. It was complicated, messy, and a never-ending cycle. The priests couldn’t take away sin; their sacrifices only offered a symbol of atonement, demonstrating repentant, obedient hearts. As Pastor Ron will explain in today’s message, with Jesus, His sacrifice on the cross was once an...

The Levitical priesthood had no permanence. What does that mean? One priest would come along, carry out his rituals, over and over, and then he would die and need to be replaced by a new priest, who would go on to carry out the same rituals, over and over. It was a never-ending cycle of symbolic sacrifice after symbolic sacrifice. As Pastor Ron will explain in today’s message, Jesus brought a perm...

Most of us don’t know what it’s like to deal with slaughtering animals. We enjoy the ease of picking up a package of meat at the grocery store and never having to kill the animal or deal with the mess that comes with that process. The sacrificial system of the Old Testament would not have been as shocking in its time, but it was deeply meaningful. As Pastor Ron will point out in today’s message, w...

As Pastor Ron continues our study in Hebrews today, we’ll encounter guidance given to the early Church concerning their relationship with their old religious ways in light of Christ’s sacrifice. They knew that the old covenant had been given by God, and they’d grown up and developed spiritually under its precepts. It felt wrong to just let it go. Those old laws and rituals had meaning and value, b...

The Hebraic system of priesthood and sacrifice was imperfect. It was symbolic of the relationship between God and His people. It was messy and ongoing, offering no real rest. But, as Pastor Ron explores the priesthood of Melchizedek and how it connects to the priesthood of Christ, we’ll be reminded that Jesus’ sacrifice was eternal. Instead of needing another sacrifice almost immediately because w...

Who was Melchizedek, and why does he matter? There’s a lot of mystery around this man. He was both a priest and king of an order that would only be shared with one other person: Jesus. As Pastor Ron continues our study in the book of Hebrews today, we’ll encounter a passage that reveals this connection and offers some insight into why we need to understand it. As followers of Jesus, we long to kno...

Security is a huge issue in our world. Whether in banking, jewelry sales, prisons, school safety, or even at church, we see security in some form. Some of these contexts are about keeping people in, others are about keeping people out. But none of these will ever be more secure than being in God’s hands! Pastor Ron reminds us of God’s assurance to us of our security in Him. He will never forsake u...

My grandpa was a firm believer in handshakes. If you gave your word on something, followed up by a handshake, that was, in his eyes, as good as (or better than) any legal agreement written on paper! Unfortunately, many of us today don’t have that level of trust in a handshake deal. In fact, many times we are caught in broken promises ourselves! But Pastor Ron reminds us that God’s promises have al...

When you accept Jesus as your Savior, you don’t get a card in the mail certifying you as a member of the Christian religion. You won’t get a monthly email from God reminding you to pay your dues, say your prayers, and follow the rules to stay in good standing. No, He puts His mark on you. Not a physical mark, but He marks your heart as His. You enter a relationship with Him and your Heavenly Fathe...

With the glory of His resurrection, we sometimes overlook the couple of days between Jesus’ death and when He rose again. Churches have Good Friday services to help remind us of this, but it’s still hard to put yourself in the place of the disciples in that moment. As Pastor Ron will point out in today’s message, in this moment, the disciples were reeling in response to losing their friend and tea...

When you focus your attention on the world around you, hope can feel hard to find. There seems to be a new big controversy every day. Protests in our streets, wars around the world, and we can’t be sure who to trust as we listen to the loudest voices in our society. It feels very dark and hopeless. But, as Pastor Ron will encourage us in today’s message, Jesus is the light of the world. He brings...

In John 10:10, Jesus tells us that He’s come so that we can have life and have it more abundantly. But wait a second, aren’t Christians supposed to be fun-hating, somber, anti-everything types? Living more abundantly sounds like it might contradict that. Does it mean we should have more stuff? Or that we should party all the time? … Well, that’s not it either. In today’s message, Pastor Ron will e...

Most of us are familiar with the tobacco industry and its demise. This industry was massive and extremely wealthy. But its central product was shown to be causing serious health issues and even death. For many in that industry, the cost of accepting those facts was too great. As Pastor Ron will point out in today’s message, some people responded in a similar way to Jesus. Even when He clearly demo...