Life Mission Church

Praying the Psalms (Luke 11.1-7, Psalm 1) Jobey McGinty The disciples asked Jesus to teach them how to pray. Prayer is not natural for us. At least not real, biblical prayer. Complaints and wish lists and pouring our hearts out is natural, but is that all prayer is? God gave us not only instruction on how to pray, but even gave us an entire book of prayer in the Psalms. In this sermon, we explore...

What is suffering?  Why does God permit it to exist?  How should it be perceived and responded to?  We'll plumb the depths of God's heart revealed in His written Word, along with real life experiences from the personal life of Pastor Jeff Jackson and many others he has ministered to, as we seek to discover the answers to these life-altering questions.

Viewing Life Through the Right Lens - Ecclesiastes 12.12-14 Jobey McGinty There are many philosophies, opinions, and purported "truths" in our world. There are also many so-called "Christian" philosophies out there that go beyond the fixed Gospel truths of God's Word. In an increasingly post-Christian world we are living in, it is more and more important for us to fear God, rather than man, and ke...

Wisdom Cries Aloud - 2 Timothy 4:7 Eric Price Paul urges Timothy to “Fight the good fight of faith” and we are called to do the same as we “take hold of the eternal life to which you were called.” Elsewhere in his letters, Paul talks about the Christian life being a race that takes training and discipline.  So how do we fight and race well?  And what do we do when we’ve gotten discourage...

Viewing Life Through the Right Lens - Ecclesiastes 12.9-11 Jobey McGinty True things can change: sports records, what you are wearing today, or what you have done in the past. But these things should only describe us, rather than define us, because they can change. Truth, however, is unchanging, and we ought to learn how to have the truth define us. How does truth trump what is 100% true in your l...

Viewing Life Through the Right Lens - Ecclesiastes 11.7-12.8 Jobey McGinty It is never too late to get back on track. Whether 50 or 15, it is vital for us to know how to chart a course and stay on course. We are either like a raft, a speed boat, or a sailboat. We either drift like a raft, being pushed along by circumstances or emotions or convenience, or we charge through challenges like a speed b...

Viewing Life Through the Right Lens - Ecclesiastes 11.1-6 Jobey McGinty Throwing time, money, and things of value down the drain is wasteful, but Solomon actually encourages us to do so! We ought to be the kind of people who don't spend our live how we want, but rather have Jesus invest our lives how He wants. But being a "blank check" for Christ looks wasteful, and even foolish: spending time, mo...

Viewing Life Through the Right Lens - Ecclesiastes 10.5-18 Jobey McGinty In our desire to have quick, instant, results, we often work with a dull blade. We don't want to do the right preparatory work, so we foolishly grind away. We eventually get exhausted, and we start to drift, losing our way from God. How can we do the right work ahead of time so that we can keep our blade sharpened, preserve o...

Viewing Life Through the Right Lens - Ecclesiastes 9.11-18, 10.1-14 Jobey McGinty  Sometimes we feel surrounded and under attack. People, circumstances, or our own thoughts and feelings besiege our minds and hearts. We feel lost, wandering and unable to find God. We want a quick way out, and we can't find it, and we know we also can't avoid the many tragedies that come upon us. So what can we...

Viewing Life Through the Right Lens - Ecclesiastes 9.1-10 Jobey McGinty  There's a lot of pressure to live a life filled with meaning and purpose. We have the desire to live a radical life of excitement, and we fear living a life that is mundane and ordinary. But what if we are supposed to live ordinary lives? But what if we are meant to be okay living those ordinary lives WITH a particular p...

Viewing Life Through the Right Lens - Ecclesiastes 8.10-17 Jobey McGinty It's tempting to take shady shortcuts in life, especially when they work. God gives us many things to enjoy, and the purpose of them is to "clear a path" so to speak and cut through the fog of life so we can make our way to God, rather than take shortcuts. 

Viewing Life Through the Right Lens - Ecclesiastes 8.1-9 Jobey McGinty Navigating difficult relationships is like walking through a minefield: should I step here, or there? Shady bosses, bitter spouses, destructive family members...when do we speak up, and when do we not? And when we do, how do we do it? We wish there was a 1-2-3 step process for every situation, but each relationship and dynamic...

Viewing Life Through the Right Lens - Ecclesiastes 7.25-29 Jobey McGinty We all have areas of life that lure us. The enemy knows how to set a trap, how to bait us into making bad decisions, and he starts often by tricking us into just taking a little bit. We want just a taste, and find ways to justify it. Like the Sirens in Homer's Odyssey, we want to find ways to get as close as we can to hear th...

Viewing Life Through the Right Lens - Ecclesiastes 7.19-24 Eric Price The first step on the path of wisdom is to realize that we are part of the problem, not part of the solution. In our own self-righteousness, we often think that we have already arrived, and that others need to catch up with us. But true wisdom comes from humbly admitting our weakness and submitting ourselves to God. 

Viewing Life Through the Right Lens - Ecclesiastes 7.13-18 Jobey McGinty A common way for us to live life is to try to walk a tight rope walk of not being "too bad," but we also don't want the inconvenience of being "too good."  But is this the way we ought to live? The result is a constant battle of trying to find some mythical middle ground, it we will destroy ourselves, and others, in the...

Viewing Life Through the Right Lens: Ecclesiastes 6.10-7.13 Jobey McGinty It's a tragedy when we aren't satisfied. God has given us so much, yet we always want a little more, or something different. How do we find true satisfaction when life is filled with many injustices, and when we don't quite get what we want or work hard for? What hope do we have when we know that life is short and that there...

Viewing Life Through the Right Lens: Ecclesiastes 5.8-6.9 Jobey McGinty It's a tragedy when we aren't satisfied. God has given us so much, yet we always want a little more, or something different. How do we find true satisfaction when life is filled with many injustices, and when we don't quite get what we want or work hard for? What hope do we have when we know that life is short and that there a...

Viewing Life Through the Right Lens: Ecclesiastes 5.1-7 Jobey McGinty We tend to "put on our best" when we "go to the house of God." We look sharp, use the right language, and put on our biggest smiles. But we ought to "guard our steps," as the Preacher says, not AS we go to the house of God, but BECAUSE we are the house of God; we are the temple of the living God, built on the Cornerstone of Chri...

Viewing Life Through the Right Lens: Ecclesiastes 4.7-16 Jobey McGinty "Two are better than one." "It is not good for man to be alone." Just two of many verses in God's Word that talk about our need for relationships. We are designed to be part of community, having the love and insight of others poured into our own lives. Without it, we are left not functioning how we should, lacking wisdom, and l...

Viewing Life Through the Right Lens: Ecclesiastes 3.16-4.6, 5.8, 9 Jobey McGinty Life isn't fair. From large scale oppression, to small scale injustices at work, school, and in family life, there are many things that just shouldn't be. Though we can rest assured that justice will be served, we ought also remember that we ourselves have committed injustices against others. Thankfully (but often to...

Viewing Life Through the Right Lens - Ecclesiastes 3.1-15 Jobey McGinty There's a time for everything, both good and bad. But time holds us captive, and there is often nothing we can do about the seasons we are in. So how should we respond to seasons of difficulty? And why is it important to respond the right way? 

Viewing Life Through the Right Lens - Ecclesiastes 2.1-26 Jobey McGinty Are you trying to use money, relationships, and your job for purposes they were not made for? We want jobs that fulfill us, relationships to satisfy us, and experiences that mesmerize us. When we pursue these things to gain something, they fail. But when we receive them as gifts, we enjoy a life of thanksgiving and the joy of...

Viewing Life Through the Right Lens - Ecclesiastes 1.1-18 Jobey McGinty ABOUT THIS SERIES: If life sometimes seems empty and meaningless, you aren't alone. One Preacher in the bible even agrees. He surveys his life's great accomplishments and successes, and sees that ultimately, it's all in vain. So what is the point of living? He concludes that in the end, when we live our lives not simply "under...

Easter 2019, Hope For You and Me Jobey McGinty Most of us growing up had a pretty similar view of God and how to "make Him happy" or "get into heaven."  It usually consisted of doing enough good, being moral enough, or staying above some arbitrary line (the upper 50% of morality, the 10 Commandments, or something like that).  But that would actually be very bad news if we had to earn for...

Fear Not: Palm Sunday - John 12.15 Jobey McGinty Countless times throughout Jesus' ministry (and before His ministry in the Old Testament), God's Word tells us to "fear not." We can starve our fear, specifically, because our King has come to bring peace, and He will come again in glory to establish His Kingdom and make all things new.   What you fear will be your god. If you fear financi...