Serious Joy

We are not to be passive about our pursuit of peace with others. This is a defining characteristic of those who are children of God. God's children ARE peacemakers.

Seeing God is the blessing of a pure heart. That's not just a future hope for a future glory, but it is solid joys now.

A pure heart is an undivided heart, singular in its pursuit of God.

Mercy is more than forgiveness. We are called to a life of mercy, not just acts of kindness and forgiveness here and there, but a whole life.

Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness...an ancient and divine invitation, refreshed and renewed in Christ.

Meekness is often overlooked in the list of Christian character traits, but it should define us because it is the very heart of God.

It is a time of mourning for us as a church as we deal with the loss of our beloved founder and senior pastor, Terry Rogers. But we do not weep as those who do not have hope. Christ is risen, and that is our assurance and our hope also. Let us weep. Let us mourn, but let us not be dismayed, for our hope is secured in the completed work of our risen Lord.

There is comfort in our suffering and grief when we realize that God is ultimately and decisively in control...the same God who is your Father, who loves you beyond measure, and works all things for your good.

We know that we are feeling Godly sorrow that leads to repentance and not worldly guilt when our affections toward God are exposed, when we are convicted to push further into righteousness, and when we are moved to declare salvation to others.

Christian mourning is blessed because it moves us with compassion for the lost to proclaim the kingdom of God, and we are comforted seeing the new life that is given by Christ to all who come to Him. Mourning over the sins of the world is at the heart of the Great Commission.

Jesus began the Sermon on the Mount by saying "Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven." He starts there, because that is where we must start...poor in spirit. In this message, we explore some of what that means.

Jesus came to show us The Way. The Way is humble and authentic. The Way is passionate for the glory of God in all things to the joy of all people. The Way is hard. The Way is sure. The way is Jesus. Today we begin a series through the Sermon on the Mount. We will take our time discovering and re-discovering Jesus' teachings of The Way.

It may seem like Jesus is asking too much, or like the mission is too big...to make disciples of all nations. It may seem overwhelming to teach "all that he has commanded", but be encouraged that He had all of that in mind when He gave us that impossible mission.

Woe to us if we do not share the great gift of Christ with the world. He has given us the Keys of the Kingdom so that we can swing wide the gates of Heaven to a lost and dying world.

When life comes at you hard, we have our marching orders. Better yet, we have an assured victory. Press on, faithful soldier. Press on.

Sorry there is no video. We had some problems with the camera. Today's message is Paul's plea to Timothy, and all of us to live on purpose, intentional, for the mission. I pray you are blessed.

In Hebrews, we are told that we must hold fast to our confession of hope, and we are told how. You and I are instruments of hope for one another. Let us not forget that. Let us not neglect that.

Why We Suffer Our suffering is not in vain. It is never for nothing.

Why would the world want anything we have to offer if it looked just like what they've already got?

The antidote to our blindness toward those who are lost is found in compassion that is enabled and fueled by serious joy.

We fail to really see the lost around us, and thus we fail to be moved with compassion to do what we can to bring them to Christ.

Jesus put all of his authority behind the great commission. He is passionate about our call to make disciples.

Jesus said "I will build my church." Then, in the Great Commission, he essentially told us to go and do what He just said He would do. How does that even work?

Gary Youngblood ministers on how we are all Anointed to do the ministry of Jesus Christ in the world, and without that anointing, we are powerless to help anyone.

Gary Yougblood ministers on Encouragement. We all need to be lifting one another up in the love of the Lord. Thank you, brother Gary for this word of encouragement!