North Hills Church of God

Only 30% of people make resolutions yet 80% of of people quit by February.  Are you motivated to have a year of growth?  John Maxwell said "change is inevitable, growth is optional."  You need to choose to have spiritual growth - to seek God and His Kingdom.  As Paul says in Philippians 3 , everything else is rubbish compared to finding Christ and becoming like him so that...

It's not enough to know about God. We need to KNOW Him through relationship and to seek Him as in Psalm 42 .

Jesus is the Son of God, our Messiah, King, and Savior.  He is also the Light of the World and John 8:12 says that whoever follows Jesus "will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life."  It's our job to follow His example and be a light to others in this world.

Mankind has needed saving ever since sin entered the world.   1 John 4:14 tells us that God sent Jesus to be our Savior.  Jesus paid our debt once and for all according to Hebrews 7  so that if we put our belief in Jesus, we WILL be saved and have eternal life! ( John 3:16-18 , John 17:3 ) This whole season is meaningless without the birth of our Savior.

Matthew 2 tells the story of wise men coming to worship Jesus as king of the Jews.  In fact, Jesus is THE King.  Paul makes it clear in 1 Corinthians 15:20-28 that God has given all authority to Jesus to reign over all people.  

Christ is not a last name, but a title.  Jesus is the messiah and the promise of his arrival goes all the way back to Genesis 3:15 .  There have been many people to claim they're the messiah but Jesus' resurrection proves he is our true messiah! ( 1 Peter 1:17-21 and 2 Corinthians 5:16-21 ) 

Jesus is the messiah, the Son of God.  He, therefore, is deserving of our praise.  But, how do we find a balance of giving praise, glory, and honor to God and to Jesus?  Giving glory and honor to Jesus glorifies the Father ( John 13:32 and Philippians 2:9-11 ).

It's difficult to be thankful in bad times.  But, we can always find something to be thankful for.  Having a thankful heart, especially during most difficult times, leads to victory.  Give thanks in ALL circumstances! ( 1 Thessalonians 5:18 )

Everything we need as Christians is is right in the Bible.  Scripture is infallible and ALL of it is useful.  Take some time in God's word so you can be complete and equipped to do the ministry of the church.  ( 2 Timothy 3:16 )

Think about your role in the church. Are you doing these three things? 1. Worship ( Malachi 1:6-14 ): We're called to worship together for His glory and need to treat worship time with respect. 2. Edification: Love one another, build each other up, and meet each other's needs. 3. Evangelism: Point others to Christ.

With all of our busy schedules, we're missing out on alone time with God.  As busy as Jesus was, he always made alone time in prayer with God a priority.  Here are six occasions Jesus chose to be alone in prayer: • To prepare for a major task ( Luke 4:1-2 ) • To recharge after hard work ( Mark 6:30-32 ) • Before making an important decision ( Luke 6:12-13...

Christians are called to love others.  However, we must hate evil, including the evil works of people ( Psalm 97:10 , Amos 5:14-15 ).  Put simply...love the people, hate the sin.

We're saved by grace and we accept that free gift through faith.  But, we must also have actions that back up our faith - we can't receive the gift with a dead faith!  ( Ephesians 2:8-10 ,  James 2:14-24 )

Because we're justified by grace, salvation is a free gift to us and we can receive this gift through faith. ( Romans 3:21-31 )  This is described many times in the Bible.  Here are two examples: Romans 10:9-13 Acts 16:25-31

Justice would dictate that we all die for our sins. ( Romans 3:23 ) However, we are all saved by God's grace. ( Romans 6:23 ,  Ephesians 2:8 )  Surely, there is no greater gift than this!  Are you willing to accept it?

Noah would have seemed foolish to those around him when he started building the ark ( Genesis 6:11-22 ).  The Israelites would have seemed foolish to other nations when they marched around the city of Jericho ( Joshua 6:1-5 ).  There are many examples like this in the Bible, but the stories don't end there.  Don't let your fear of looking foolish keep you from living out your f...

Back to school often means back together with friends. Are your relationships ones that are influencing you to grow closer to God?

Matthew 4:4 shows us how important God's Word is in our lives.  Here are four simple steps you can take to create a habit of reading God's Word in your life. Make an appointment Find a special place Create an atmosphere Follow a plan

Back to school season often means competing priorities.  In  Haggai 1 , we read about the Israelites placing their own priorities above God's.  This should serve as a reminder to us to prioritize God first in our lives! 

This message kicks off a four week back to school series and emphasizes the importance and benefits of attending Sunday School at church.

We are no longer bound by commandment to give one-tenth of everything back to God.  However, we all need to decide in our hearts what we will give back to God and stick with it. ( 2 Corinthians 9:6-7 )

There are forces in this world that would love to hinder us, to slow us down.  How do we persevere?  Continue to serve and worship together and pray continually.

King Josiah demonstrates in  2 Kings 23 how we need to deal with sin in our own lives.  Identify, eliminate, replace!

Esther used her position for the good of God's people. We, likewise, should be using our positions to serve God and His people.

No matter how much bigger or stronger Goliath was, David had faith that God would deliver him.  No Israelite warriors were willing to face Goliath, but we see in 1 Samuel 17 that David's faith convicted him to act.  This is an important lesson for Christians - let your faith convict you to act differently.