The Town

Am I a Christian if I am struggling with sin? What if I want victory but can't seem to make it happen? What does the Gospel have to say about me if I am struggling in sin? John is very clear that those who are bearing fruit are truly Christians. However, those who claim to be a Christian but do not desire the things that God desires make God and themselves out to be a liar - and only one of these...

In a fast-changing culture, the church must be united under one truth - that Jesus Christ is Lord. The church must speak the truth with clarity, in love, in humility, and with loving kindness to a world that is broken and hurting. Too often we have ignored the truth, run from the truth, devised a new truth or keep the truth silent. But the Gospel demands that every human being reckon and respond t...

John wrote his letter to a fractured church. And to deal with the fracture John taught about the quality and proof of God's love for his people. God's love is our model for how we ought to love one another. God's love is the reason we have salvation. God's love is everlasting and has secured eternal life for the believer. If we have been loved by God and if we have loved God, we will love others i...

Christian's often talk about having a joy that surpasses all understanding. This is a joy that Christian's possess no matter what life might bring their way. But how is this kind of joy possible? It is in the blessings of justification that we can discover the means of joy. Justification is the foundation of our joy in that no matter what happens we know that we have peace with God, stand in grace...

Christian's often talk about having a joy that surpasses all understanding. This is a joy that Christian's possess no matter what life might bring their way. But how is this kind of joy possible? It is in the blessings of justification that we can discover the means of joy. Justification is the foundation of our joy in that no matter what happens we know that we have peace with God, stand in grace...

Pastor Dan Betters shares his life verse, 2 Corinthians 5:21.

Pastoral Intern Steve Hart shares his life verse, Acts 1:8.

Pastor Tom Harr from Faith Presbyterian shares his life verse, Ephesians 2:8-10.

Parents dream of a home where children obey them. But obedience is more than adherence to the rules. Obedience is born from the desire to honor authority. Parents that wish to cultivate a culture of honor and obedience will make it their goal to honor others in their relationships. The Scriptures give us very clear instruction on how we are to honor everyone and their position in relationship to u...

There is no question that parenting is incredibly difficult and incredibly rewarding. As parents, we can freely admit that much of the time we are making things up as we go along. We need grace and we need to give our children grace. When God matters most to us parents will look for moments to inject the Gospel story into redemptive moments. In Ephesians, Paul has a few but very specific instructi...

What is the secret to a great marriage? It is a constant pursuit of something greater than ourselves? Husbands and wives that pursue Jesus in their marriage will always be pursuing greatness. In Ephesians, Paul says that the relationship that Jesus has with the church is an illustration of a great marriage. Husbands and wives are to treat each other with the same self-sacrificing love that Jesus l...

When all is said and done what will you have left the ones that you love on this earth? How will their lives be different because of the investment that you made in them? The older we get the more we think about what our legacy might be. The history books will not remember most of our names but the mark we leave will be felt for generations even by those who have long forgotten we ever existed. Ho...

In Ephesians Paul has some detailed instruction for how families ought to function. But these instructions are found deep into his letter to the church and only come after Paul has revealed the mystery of the Gospel. How we live our lives in the context of family is heavily dependent upon what we believe about God and the implications the Gospel have on our lives and relationships. We matter to Go...

There is a tension in which we all live. With each passing minute we know that we are closer to the end of this life. With each battle in life we wonder if there will be a positive outcome. Even when we experience a positive outcome we wonder where the next hammer might fall. We can either succumb to the tension of being a part of the human race or we can trust that God has not only relieved the t...

When Jesus arrived in Jerusalem he did not come as a conquering king but rather as a suffering servant. He came to die for the very race that put him to death. But before Jesus would die on a cross the crowd had to decide what they believed about Jesus. Some ignored him. Some rejected him. Some sought to kill him. Others wanted to wait and see. And others believed he was the King. Each of us must...

God's work in our life does not stop when He saves us by giving us faith in Jesus. His work in us continues until we take our last breath as He makes us more like Jesus. The disciple who is maturing in their faith will desire to participate fully in the plan and mission of God. They will grow in humility and worship. They will be prepared for the moments when life takes a turn. In Habakkuk we see...

Change is something every human being desires. We want to be better. We want to make a difference. We want to stop being ruled by that which brings us down. Idols are the good things that we have made ultimate things that when put in the place of God they bring us down and rule us. In order to bring about real change we must be able to discern what our idols are, uproot and replace our idols and u...

It feels really good to be the king—to rule and reign over everything in your life. To have people serve you, and love you. But we have some problems with living like this. First, we are no kings at all. Jesus is the true King. Secondly, Jesus is passionate about ridding our life of the sin where we insert ourselves onto the throne of our own lives. When we live for the glory of our own kingdom, w...

We all want to know if we matter. We want to matter to the world, in the workplace, in our community, to our family and to our friends. We often judge a person based on how valuable they are to us or to our objectives. Many of us find all of our value in all of the wrong places. We base our value on our job, our skills or our success. We make the good things and opportunities God has given us into...

There is an idol from which all other idols come. This idol is responsible for bringing sin into the world. The idol of self has caused every problem in the world that we face today and yet we continually try to build up the self into the Savior it is can never be. Self-Esteem cannot help us to a better life. Self-esteem can only judge us on what we have done lately. A life built on self-esteem is...

Jesus transforms greedy people into generous people. We are born with greedy hearts. Human nature is constantly moving to make good things the main things. When good things become the main things they become coveted things. Coveted things become idols and idols destroy us. They steal our time and money and ultimately our materialism will impede the flow of the Gospel. But Jesus has changed the hea...

There are many ways that humanity has tried to use to get right with God. Religion. Tradition. Morality. But it isn't until we have come to the end of our effort and ideas that we can see were it not for Gods grace there would be no way to get right with God. God has declared the a righteous person is the person who walks and lives by faith in Him. We have to come to the end of ourselves and becom...

Have you ever asked God to resolve a situation for you and He answered in such a way that you did not expect or even want? That is what happened to Habakkuk. He had asked God to change the ways of Judah and once he heard God's response he only had more questions. The wrath, love and action of God can often leave us wondering and confused. When this happens there are steps that we can take to under...

Habakkuk prayed with expectancy. He was honest with God and God responded. God still works the same way today. God listens to us and He responds to us. Many Christians do not pray with expectancy and live in a practical atheism. But if God really is who the Bible says He is than prayer is a powerful way to be intimate with the Creator of the Universe.

There are times in our lives when we decide it is time to get right with God. It might be a new year, a new job, a new trial or a new direction. But it is during those times when we realize our need to be right with God. If we want to get right with God we have to get real with God first. We have to get real about our struggles, our questions, our sin, our worship and our view of who God is if we...