Balancing Ministry N' Work

Scripture Reading: Isaiah 7:14 “ 14  Therefore, the Lord himself will give you a sign: See, the virgin will conceive, have a son, and name him Immanuel.” Isaiah 9:6-7 “ 6  For a child will be born for us, a son will be given to us, and the government will be on his shoulders. He will be named Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Eternal Father, Prince of Peace. 7  The dominion will be vast, and its prosperity will never end. He will reign on the throne of David and over his kingdom, to establish and sustain it with justice and righteousness from now on and forever. The zeal of the Lord of Armies will accomplish this.” 100’s of years before the birth of the King of Kings, Isaiah prophesied about the coming of the little baby Jesus and how He was going to accomplish so much more than anyone could ever imagine. The King of Kings, the Lord of Lords, the Prince of Peace, Our Messiah, the Savior of all human kind was going to be born as a simple child. Hymn #76 – O...

When someone asks us if we are ready for Christmas, most of us start thinking about the food we are going to make, the cards that need to be mailed, gifts that need to be bought, and that list that needs to be checked so that no one is forgot. Can’t forget about those Christmas programs at school or your secret Santa at work. While all those things are part of what we do to celebrate Christmas, they are only a small part of what it means to be ready for Christmas. When we talk about being ready for Christmas in the context of being a Bible believing child of God, what does it mean? Isaiah 7:14 “Therefore, the Lord himself will give you a sign: See, the virgin will conceive, have a son, and name him Immanuel.” A child will be born, and He will be named Immanuel, which means ‘God with us.’ The first part of knowing if we are ready for Christmas, would be to answer the question, ‘is God with us?’ My hope is everyone here knows that God is with them without a shadow of doubt. I...

This is the last message of the series we started on December 9, 2018. We have spent most of the Sundays since then talking about the birth, life, ministry, and teachings of our Lord Jesus. As we head into Christmas we will continue to keep that focus. Over the last two months or so we have been looking at Jesus’ teachings in Matthew 24 and 25 about His second coming. While these teachings are directed to those living in the Tribulation, the messages should have a direct impact on our lives today. The Parable of the Ten Virgins reminded us that we need to be prepared. We cannot depend on book knowledge about Jesus or half-hearted attempts at repentance. We need to be all in and cultivate a relationship with Jesus. The Parable of the Talents reminded us to be Faithful. Jesus is not measuring us by the actions we complete or how many people come to Him through our words, He is looking for us to be faithful. That will look different for each one of us, but it starts by talking to Him, r...

When we last looked at Matthew 25 and the Parable of the Ten Virgins we were reminded that we need to be prepared. Knowing about Jesus, who He is, will not be enough. If we are going to be prepared, we need to KNOW Jesus. We know we need to be prepared, as we continue in Matthew 25 we will see what else Jesus is trying to teach us and those who will be living through the Tribulation. Matthew 25:14-18 “ 14  “For it is just like a man about to go on a journey. He called his own servants and entrusted his possessions to them. 15  To one he gave five talents, to another two talents, and to another one talent, depending on each one’s ability. Then he went on a journey. Immediately 16  the man who had received five talents went, put them to work, and earned five more. 17  In the same way the man with two earned two more. 18  But the man who had received one talent went off, dug a hole in the ground, and hid his master’s money.” Jesus is using a Par...