Northridge Free Will Baptist

We cannot properly understand God, without understanding His love for humanity. God's love for us is important to understand because it is not uncommon for people to wonder if God truly loves them. There are some who have lived lives filled with sin and wonder if God can love them despite their sin. Does God love sinners or does He only love the morally upright? At the same time, there are those w...

The idea of an abundant life is an interesting one. Different translations try to capture the idea Jesus was expressing here. "… My purpose is to give them a rich and satisfying life." John 10:10 (NLT) "… I came that they may have and enjoy life, and have it in abundance (to the full, till it overflows)." John 10:10 (AMP) "…I came so they can have real and eternal life, more and better life than t...

According to Jesus the main priority in our lives should be the Kingdom of God and we should seek it first. There is a lot that goes into the meaning of the Kingdom of God. The most basic understanding of the Kingdom of God is the place of God’s rule. It is the place where God’s will is always done. It’s always done the way He wants it done and when He wants it done. So our first priority as follo...

Jesus tells the disciples what is about to happen to Him. He is being very honest and very blunt about what is coming. Then in v26, He tells them—and us—that serving Him means following Him. In my mind, this is where the rubber meets the road. Jesus is telling us that following Him means going where He goes, living as He lived, and experiencing what He experience. In other words, it means followin...

At the start of Jesus' earthly ministry, He begins to call those that would be His disciples. At this point they had a choice to make. They could stay where they were, as they were, or they could follow Jesus. They couldn't stay AND follow Jesus at the same time. They also couldn't accidentally follow Jesus. They had to intentionally, and decisively answer when Jesus called. What was true for them...

Jesus starts this part of the Sermon On The Mount off in a most disturbing way. He says that not everyone who expects to go to Heaven will. Given that roughly 80% of Americans believe there is a heaven and that the majority of them believe they will go to Heaven, this is no surprise. What is a surprise is the way these people address Jesus. They call Him “Lord, Lord”. We have to see from this that...

The mighty swelling Jordan stood between the people of God and the promises of God. Yet God had promised to do wonders among them. Surely whatever wonders God was going to do included doing something to enable them to cross the river. Indeed it did. However, God was only going to do wonders among them as they obeyed Him. The wonders described in verses 14-17 would not happen without the faith fill...

Everyone we know will have different responses to the Gospel. Despite this, the one main mission of the church is to lead people to follow Jesus. That is one of the main reasons Jesus established the church and it is the main reason Jesus sent His Spirit to empower the church. This can sound like an overwhelming task for us to accomplish on our own. The good news I have for you today is that we ar...

The word survivor means, “To remain alive or in existence.” Of course we all realize that its better to survive than to die. But are those really our only two choices? I don’t think so. In fact I know that is not that case. Did you know that the Bible never says that believers will “survive”? Instead, the words the Bible uses to describe the life believers are supposed to live are overcome, and vi...

In the first few verses of 1 Corinthians 15 Paul plainly and clearly explains the Gospel itself. Paul starts with the Gospel because Paul knows that the Gospel is of primary importance. If they got the Gospel wrong then it wouldn't matter what else they may get right. The Gospel is and must be the primary message of the church. The central truth we need to understand today is: The Gospel must alwa...

If I love right I'll live right. That may sound like an awfully big statement so let me take just a second and prove that this is true all throughout Scripture. What is the first and great commandment? It is to LOVE the Lord our God with all our heart, soul, mind and strength. What is the second greatest commandment? It is to LOVE others as we love our selves. Jesus said that everything else writt...

You and I share a common problem. There is no one in here this morning that is free from this problem. Our common problem is temptation. While we are probably not all tempted by the same things, we are all tempted by something. Scripture equips me to tame my temptations

Do you not know that those who run in a race all run, but one receives the prize? Run in such a way that you may obtain it. 1 Corinthians 9:24 (NKJV)

The immorality of Corinth had seeped into the church. Some of the Christians in Corinth had either reverted to the way they lived before they were saved, or some had not been saved at all. Paul's words here were meant to be a wakeup call for them. His goal is to remind them of what Jesus had done in their lives so they would turn back to Jesus. Despite saying that the unrighteous won't inherit the...

As believers in Jesus Christ, we are supposed to be imitating Jesus Christ. We should imitate His actions, reactions, priorities, attitudes, and values. This is what the world around us expects to happen. They expect that if Jesus really is God who came to earth, lived a sinless life, died on the cross for the sins of the world, and rose again, then those who believe that will live like Jesus live...

Paul reminds the Corinthians of their individual accountability to God. He reminds them that what they do in this life carries over into the next. He’s reminding them of these things because he wants them to “take heed” to what they do and focus now on doing those things that prepare them for eternity. He explains that they prepare for eternity by choosing the right materials to build with. The ma...

Reading these verses you immediately notice that Paul makes a distinction between three types of people. In v2:14 he talks about the natural man. In v2:15-16 he talks about the spiritual man. Then in v3:1-4 he talks about the carnal man. What we see in these verses are different spiritual stages that a human beings can go through. All people start off as natural. Those who trust in Christ as their...

Sharing the Gospel is important and urgent. It's important because Jesus commanded His disciples to do it. Anything Jesus has commanded us to do IS important. It's urgent because heaven and hell are determined by our connection to Jesus. Everything about our eternal destination rises and falls on our connection with Jesus. This message gives us practical ways to live out this important and urgent...

God doesn’t pick His team the way humans do. When we pick our teams we pick those who have the greatest abilities that will be the greatest asset in getting our team to victory. God on the other hand didn’t pick His team like this. As the old saying says, God doesn’t call the qualified, He qualifies the called. God's greatness isn't limited or hindered because we aren't great. So the central truth...

The division in Corinth was severe so Paul calls them back to what is of primary importance. Paul deals with the division by pointing the people to Jesus and calls them to unify around the Gospel. This leads to Paul’s exposition on the power of the Gospel. One of the things to note as you read this passage is Paul’s comparison of the world and God. Paul explains that God’s wisdom and power is grea...

One of the things I’m convinced about is that we lose ground bit by bit. Personally I’m not content to let the enemy keep what he's taken from me. I’m not content to give the enemy ground in my life. I want to take it back. We cannot be the light of Christ in a spiritually darkened culture while letting the enemy keep the ground he's taken in our lives. We must do what we can to take it back. This...

Despite all the problems the church has, Paul is still thankful for the church. Paul is still committed to helping this church. Paul understood that the perfect church was a myth and chose to be thankful and committed to the church while working to improve the church. When you look through this passage and see all that Paul is thankful for in this church, you can't help but notice a repeated theme...

Corinth was a wicked place bound in deep spiritual darkness. The deep spiritual darkness in this city could not stop the power of the Gospel and the light of Christ. The main idea I want us to know today is: Spiritual darkness is no match for the light of Christ. From this passage I'm going to give you three ways to engage our spiritually darkened culture with the light of Christ

As Paul began to preach the Gospel of Jesus Christ to the people of Corinth he experience opposition. Opposition was nothing new to Paul. He faced opposition to Gospel preaching everywhere he went. Paul knew something that we must know and that is Satan doesn't give up ground without a fight. Scripture teaches that Satan has influence and power over those who are bound in spiritual darkness

Acts 18 gives us a summary of Paul's work in Corinth. As I studied this passage I was really encouraged about the power of the Gospel to save souls and change lives. The deep spiritual darkness in this city could not stop the power of the Gospel and the light of Christ. The main idea I want us to know today is: Spiritual darkness is no match for the light of Christ. From this passage I'm going to...