Pastor Mike Impact Ministries

WhenPaul wrote the letter of 1 Corinthians, he told them, "Because you arecarnal, acting like babies, there is strife and division among you.” Someof you are saying you're of Paul. Others are saying, 'I'm of Peter.' Others  claimed to be in the Apollos crowd, while somewere saying, 'We're more spiritual than the rest because we're ofChrist.'" Because of th...

Todaywe're looking at Ephesians 4:1-3. The first 16 verses of this chapter is aboutthe unity, the unity of the body of Christ, the church. Having unity in thechurch that shows forth to the world that we are one in Christ. We love oneanother. Jesus had told His disciples, "By this shall all men know thatyou are my disciples because of your love for one another" (John13:35). To truly l...

Todaywe're moving on to a new chapter, Ephesians 4. As we look at this chapter, weactually are beginning a new section of the book of Ephesians. The first threechapters of Ephesians dealt with doctrine, with knowledge, primarily our positionin Christ. The key word was the wealth that we have already in Jesus Christ.   Ithink it's interesting that in the Old Testament, God would say to the...

Todaywe're looking at the last two verses in Ephesians chapter 3. Along withPhilippians 4:13, “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me”, theseare two of the most quoted verses in the Bible that we hear when people finishtheir prayer. “Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above allthat we ask or think, according to the power that works in us, to Him be gloryin the c...

Todaywe're continuing to look at the prayer, the petition that the Apostle Paul madefor the church at Ephesus here in Ephesians 3:14-19. It's very important thatwe remember that as Paul prayed this prayer, these four petitions have to dowith Christian growth, Christian maturity. Paul was concerned that every mancould be made perfect, mature in Jesus Christ. That was his goal. Not just towi...

Todaywe're continuing to look at the prayer, the petition, that the Apostle Paulprayed for the saints there at the church of Ephesus. The first thing he prayedfor in verse 16 is that they would “be strengthened with might through HisSpirit in the inner man”. They'd have spiritual energy to live for the LordJesus Christ and to do the will of God. Secondly, Paul prayed, “that Christmay dwell...

Todaywe're specifically looking at Ephesians 3:16. Two things we're going to talkabout and that's, “the riches of His glory” and “in the inner man”. As we look at this passage of scripture, we realize that the power of the HolySpirit is given to us “according to the riches of His glory” . Christreturned to glory. But remember He said, "If I don't go away, I can'tsend the H...

Welcometo Pastor's Chat. Today we're looking at Ephesians 3:14-19. These are powerfulverses reminding us of the Apostle Paul’s prayer for the church at Ephesus. Inthis prayer, there are four request, but they're not to be looked at asinsulated individual petitions because these four requests are like four partsto a telescope. One request leads into the next one and so on. He prays that...

Ephesians 3:14-15 Forthis reason I bow my knees to the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, from whomthe whole family in heaven and earth is named.   Todaywe're looking at Ephesians 3.  It is interestingto note that this chapter begins with these words; “For this reason” (v.1). Paul is basically saying, “For this reason…”, I'm writingthese things concerning the mystery of the church in the fir...

Todaywe're looking at Ephesians 3:14-15. In the last verses of this chapter, we willbe looking at the prayer  that Paul givesus that could even for you and me today be a model prayer. Paul is teaching us another lesson on prayer.   Thisprayer in verses 14-21 is the second of two prayers that are recorded inEphesians. The first one is in Ephesians 1:15-23. In the first prayer, theemphasis was o...

Todayin Ephesians 3, we're talking about the mystery of the church. The word mysteryis used at least six times in the New Testament to refer to the church that wasborn on the day of Pentecost. In the Old Testament, the Holy Spirit would comeupon people and anoint them to do special deeds, great works such as Samsondid. But in the New Testament, something new takes place. Something that washidd...

The last verse in Romans 12 speaks ofdealing with the issue of evil in this world.   Today'sVeterans Day and I want to take time to thank our veterans. I hope that youhave someone you know that is a veteran and you can give them a personal thankyou for their service to our country. I'm convinced that the Bible teachesthere are four world empires beginning with the Babylonian Empire, then o...

Todaywe're looking at Ephesians 3:8-13. Early in my ministry at Shenandoah Valley BaptistChurch, on Sunday mornings, I was impressed by the Holy Spirit to prayer walk aroundthe church facilities at least seven times. I continued to do this at all thechurches I was privileged to pastor. The verses we are studying today are reallyspecial to me because for the last 15 or so years, every Sunday mo...

People talk about the dead church. My friend, the church is not dead. Thechurch is the body of Christ. Christ would have to die for the church to die. But Christ will not die. He is resurrected. The church is alive and well. Theproblem is a bunch of us believers who do not know what our position and power isin Jesus Christ, and we're living as though we are dead. Oh my God, help us towake up t...

Whenyou read the Old Testament, it mainly is about the covenant promises and thework of God amongst the Jewish nation. The Jewish nation was called of God, setapart for Him and by Him for a specific purpose. That purpose was to make knownto the world that you can know God, the true and the living God, the creatorGod, the only God. And the only way you can know and experience Him is byfaith. That&#...

Todaywe're going to be looking at “the sacred secret” in Ephesians 3. It is what theScripture calls the mystery. The mystery of the church. A plan that God had inages past that was hidden in the Old Testament but is now being revealed in theNew Testament. How that Gentiles can be a part of the family of God. How thatthe church can have unity with both Jews, Gentiles, and anyone and everyone wh...

Todaywe will begin our study in Ephesians 3 and learn more about who Jesus is, whatJesus has done for us, the mystery of the church, and how we serve Him out oflove. We minister to a lost world, to people around us that maybe hate us, thatmistreat us, but we can love them anyway because Jesus loves us.   Aswe've looked at this book so far, chapter 1 has taught us that we need toknow Jesus . Pa...

Todaywe are continuing to look at Ephesians 2:18-22. In these verses, we find thatGod's purpose for the church, God's purpose for Jew and Gentile. God's purposefor every human being is to know that you are of tremendous value to God. Itdoesn't matter whether you're a Jew, whether you're a Palestinian, whetheryou're called a Christian, whether you're called a Muslim,...

Today,as we are looking at the last verses of Ephesians 2, we need to remember thatPaul has been talking about separation beginning in verses 11-12. TheJews were separated from the Gentiles, the Gentiles from the Jews. They bothwere separated from God because of sin. Next, we see reconciliation inverses 13-18. How now through the blood of Jesus Christ, we've been reconciledto God. We can be re...

Ifthere's one thing everyone needs, is looking for, and desires, it is to havepeace. To have peace within themselves, peace with God, and peace with thosearound them. But it often appears that many people today are bent on havingwar, at enmity with others, with hatred, malice, anger and violence in their heartsand lives. There is no peace in their lives, and they live to destroy any peacein th...

First,I want to thank you for your prayers for traveling mercies for my wife and Iyesterday as we left our home in Sneads Ferry NC around 3am to drive 6 hours upto Roanoke, Virginia for the ribbon cutting ceremony and the grand opening ofthe Go Center. Aroundnoon, we were got in the car to go to Charlottesville to visit my brother Mark atthe UVA Medical Center. We called to make sure it would be o...

In these verses, we see that Paul isspeaking to the Gentiles, specifically telling them how by the blood of Christ thatthey have now been able to make peace not only with God, but with the Jewishbelievers also in the church. They have been brought together to be one. Veryimportant. God wants His church to be one. One in Christ. Despite our culturaland religious and other backgrounds that could cau...

Ialso wanted to remind you of the grand opening tomorrow of the GO Center therein Bonsack, Virginia, right outside Roanoke, Virginia at 9:30am. You're morethan welcome to attend this grand ribbon cutting ceremony opening up the GOCenter. You can read more about this in my Pastor's Chat. Again, thank you somuch for your prayers and being a part of this ministry with us at Pastor MikeImpact...

Paul talks about some definite things that have brought these twogroups together who usually were at odds with one another. In the first versesof this chapter Paul is addressing both the Jews and the Gentiles. Paul tells bothJews and Gentiles that God has made alive those who were dead in trespasses andsins. Remember that a Gentile is anyone who is not born of Jewish descent.   Paulreminds them an...

Yesterday, I promised I'd give an update on my brotherMark and his triple bypass surgery at the UVA hospital in Charlottesville,Virginia. The surgery went extremely well, according to the report of thesurgeon to his family after he came out of surgery. But last night we heardthat Mark was in excruciating pain from the surgery.  Also, we were told that Mark will be inintensive care for at about...