Just as Good Friday demolishes the mistaken belief that this life is supposed to be fair, Easter Sunday reminds us with breathtaking power that injustice, cruelty and death do not have the final word-God does. Life does. Even more, the good news of Jesus Christ is that He is able to use the worst of life circumstances for our good, right now on earth.
   We may be familiar with those gospel themes in the New Testament but what about the Old? Does the Old Testament provide any glimpses that God uses suffering for our good and His glory? Sure it does and in Exodus 1 we read of God’s people, the children of Israel, experiencing a profound hardship that God not only allowed but used for the greater advancement of His glory on earth.

Exodus 1

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The Bible is more than just a book - it’s God’s Word to us. Though the Bible is primarily about God, not us, it was written for us. It was written for our instruction and participation. The Bible was written to be learned and lived, examined and experienced.  To know the Bible without experiencing God is to fall short of God's original design for the Christian's life. Just as God manifested Himself in the affairs of men and women, boys and girls in "Bible days", He desires the same today. With that truth before us, begin a new series today by looking at how God made Himself real and personal to the sons of Israel living in Egypt as recorded in Exodus.

Exodus 1

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The Bible does not call us to stay in a safe place. We are instead called to go into the world and proclaim the Gospel. Our associate pastor - Jeff Winters - reminds us that as Christians, we are meant to sojourn - to only stay in a place temporarily. God calls us to come to Him, and then to go . . .

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Today we heard from two ladies on how their lives were changed by God; Gabriya Snell, Hali McDonald, and Cori Carnley. Through trials and triumphs they learned of God's great love for them, of freedom from enslavement, and how He loves us even when we think we're worthless.

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We can’t read the Bible without reading of conflict among Christians. A jet tour through the New Testament will reveal Christians continually fighting one another long after Christ's prayer for unity recorded in John 17. What are we to make of the conflict between blood bought, spirit filled, born again, baptized believers? For one, the Christian life is not a bed of roses; it’s hard; it’s difficult; it’s messy. Secondly, conflict can be a good thing when it deepens our dependency upon Jesus and motivates us to turn to Him for guidance. One such example is recorded for us in Acts 6.

John 17; Acts 6:1-7

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There is no aspect of church life that unity doesn’t affect. But the most important result of unity is seeing people dead in sin come to life in Christ. By far, the greatest and most significant aspect of unity is its impact upon our lost world. We resume our study of John 17 today by examining how church unity affects a church's testimony.

John 17:20-23

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In today's message, our youth pastor - Charles Cutrera - teaches us about the parable of the prodigal son. But he doesn't just stop with the sins of the younger brother like many do in this tale. The older brother - though obedient to his father - is also prideful and selfish. Whether we're the younger outwardly-sinful brother or the older inwardly-sinful brother, we still need to repent and ask the Father to do what He always does - run to us and bring us back into the family.

Luke 15:24

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Having established the source of Christian unity, a personal relationship with Jesus Christ, we must now ask practical questions about the shape of church unity. How do Christians who agree on the most important stuff in church life move forward when they disagree on the important stuff? Is it possible for Christians to live and worship in harmony when they disagree on issues of money, music and missions? Yes, and in John 17, Jesus gives us two very important ways to handle those disagreements.

John 17:11-17

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Far greater than the oneness husbands and wives experience in sexual intimacy or the camaraderie uniting soldiers on the field of battle is the unity Christians can experience when they get their identity and life from their Savior. Sharing the same nature of God, Whom we now call our Father, far exceeds any other common denominator two people can have on earth. As we pick up our study in John 17, Jesus reveals how Christians can walk in oneness of heart and mind, regardless of disagreements.

John 17:6-12

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If you are a Christian, then you are a member of God’s forever family, which makes you unlike any other person on the planet. You are a disciple of Jesus and that sets you apart from the world. In John 17, Jesus prays for His disciples and in this prayer, we are given insight on what it means to be a disciple of Jesus in the 21st Century.

John 17:6-11

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We began a new series last week looking at the issue of Christian unity from John’s gospel, chapter 17. In that passage, Jesus prays that His immediate disciples and all others who believe through their word will be united. More than united; they will be perfected in unity. As we pick up our study in verses 1-5, we read how that kind of unity can only be accomplished by constant communion with God, Whom we now know as our Father.

John 17:1-5

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In John 17, Jesus pulls back the veil of His innermost thoughts and reveals His love for God the Father and His disciples. It is a sacred moment forever captured in print as we, like John, are able to eavesdrop upon one of the most important prayers ever prayed. It is within this context - the intimate relationship between God the Father and God the Son - that we are exposed to the foundation of Christian unity. Whatever else we may say about Christian unity, it does not exist apart from knowing God as our Father and other believers as our brothers and sisters.

John 17

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Acts 15 describes a critically important chapter in the 1st century church as conflict threatened to divide believers and cripple their evangelistic witness. The turmoil revolved around whether Gentiles could be saved and if so, what must they do to obtain eternal life. One of the ways God gave clarity and restored unity came through the telling of personal testimonies. As Peter, Paul and Barnabas shared real life experiences of God's work upon Gentile hearts, church leaders saw more clearly the broader scope of God's mercy. In a sense, personal testimonies saved the day!

   What God did through testimonies in the 1st Century, He does today in the 21st. For that reason, we have set aside every Lord's Supper Sunday to hear the testimonies of three of our members who have encountered God's grace in very real and personal ways. Following our testimonies, Pastor Jeff leads us in observing the Lord's Supper.

You will probably never meet a Christian who openly boasts in being greedy, but we have all been guilty of getting our life from our possessions. Until Jesus comes back, Christians will wrestle with the temptation to get their security from their physical resources. The grip of greed is a temptation we all face, no matter how long we have been a Christian. And that is why Paul places emphasis on the dangers associated with money as he concludes his letter to Timothy. He reminds Timothy that the most important riches are the ones we send ahead.

1 Timothy 6:17-21

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I recently heard from a young mother whose Christian husband works for a construction company. She was lamenting the fact that he works in a very godless environment, constantly exposed to profanity and off-colored jokes. God is definitely not the center of his work environment and the young man comes home exhausted- physically, emotionally and spiritually. What do you do when you get weary in well doing? How does one overcome feelings of fatigue and discouragement? Fighting the fight of faith is hard work and requires perseverance. How then does one persevere when the going gets tough? Paul reminded Timothy of 4 realities that helped him overcome battle fatigue.

1 Timothy 6:12-16

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Preachers have often been criticized for preaching about money. Sometimes we hear people say “all the church ever talks about is money or the church just wants my money.” What many fail to recognize is that the only reason the church talks about money is because God's Word talks about money. But the reason the Bible speaks so much about money has nothing to do with money. It has to do with our heart. The temptation for believers is never between worshiping God or worshiping Satan; its usually about worshiping God or worshiping stuff. In the closing verses of 1 Timothy 6, Paul addressed universal struggles related to materialism. Materialism or greed has a gravitational pull that requires great energy and struggle. Paul calls it a fight.

1 Timothy 6:9-12

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One of our Pastoral Interns from last year - John Tegart - reminds us that the only way to know who you are in Christ is to know the Gospel - fully. In a world where the Gospel is watered-down, changeable, and sometimes just presented wrong, how do you know that what you're hearing is authentic? Luckily, God gives us plenty of ways to tell. Listen as John describes how.

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  Several years ago, Burger King introducing a new product – "Satisfries". With 40% less fat and 30% less calories than their competition's fries, satisfries were sure to fill us up with no unhealthy side effects. According to the fast food chain, if we ate their new french fries, our weight would drop, our skin would clear up, our energy level would increase. In short, we would be truly satisfried. It was an advertising scheme built off the premise that we are all looking for satisfaction in life-why not find it in French Fries? BK, like thousands of other businesses, were looking to profit from our culinary desires by pitching the impossible. It was and is an empty promise but it doesn't stop advertisers from bombarding us with similar messages every day. We live in a culture driven by discontentment in search of one more thing to satisfy our souls (or stomachs), emphasis on "one more thing". We are not the first to deal with discontentment and the thirst for "more". In 1 Timothy 6, Paul exhorts his young ministry assistant to be on guard for the presence of greed among his fellow believers in Ephesus.

                                                                 1 Timothy 6:6-10

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Every conscientious follower of Christ eventually comes upon a passage of Scripture that raises a red flag. It stops us in our tracks and threatens to undermine our faith. One such passage is 1 Timothy 6:1-2. In past centuries, those profiting from slavery used these verses to support human trafficking. Ironically, non-believers also use these verses to dismiss Christianity for, how can you follow a God that advocates human slavery. Because the slave trade of Colonial America has left a deep scar upon our Nations' history and because human trafficking is a very real problem in our world today, it’s important that we study the Bible wisely and think carefully about this subject. In today's message, we consider the question: Does God Approve of Slavery?

1 Timothy 6:1-2

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The essence of Christianity is a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. A Christian is someone learning how to abandon trust in their efforts to earn God's love and instead fully rely on Christ's finished work at the cross and empty grave on their behalf. In today's service several members explain how they came to faith in Christ. Their testimonies remind us that the true power of a church is not found in its finances or facilities but its individual member's faith in Christ.

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What a wonderful gift are our hands! Hands, one could argue, are the most important of our 2000 body parts. For example, our opposable thumbs make it possible to grip and maneuver tools with more precision and skill than any animal. Hands are in some ways more expressive than our tongues, stronger than our legs and more insightful than our eyes. God has chosen the human hand as one of the most important instruments through which His creativity can be expressed. Of the many purposes for which God created hands, none stand taller than the purpose Paul describes in 1 Timothy 5. Writing to his ministry assistant, Paul cautions Timothy from using his hands in a way that might bring harm to the Ephesian church. By drawing attention to the act of laying on hands, he reminds us of the important calling God has placed upon each of our lives to be disciples of Jesus.

1 Timothy 5:21-25

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In today's message, special guest speaker, Dr. Bill Lighty, reminds us that being an ambassador for Jesus Christ involves being present in the lives of those around us who don't know Jesus as their Savior. God doesn't need us to have "all of the answers" to use us, just a willingness to be present and available for those He is bringing to new life in Christ.

2 Corinthians 5:15-20

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One of the most well known passages in the Bible is found in the last chapter of Matthew where Jesus reveals His long term vision for the church on earth. We know it as the Great Commission. Most Christians are familiar with the Great Commission; what we may not know however is the context. Doubt and hesitation, uncertainty and risk are coupled with euphoric joy and praise. This is the context of the Great Commission and serves as a reminder that we don’t have to have perfect faith to follow a perfect Savior.

Matthew 28:9-20

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Easter is often referred to as the Super Bowl of Sunday's among Christians. Its importance cannot be over emphasized. Without that first Resurrection Sunday, all of our worship practices today are in vain. Though we may not encounter angels or earthquakes on the Sundays we gather, we can and should expect the Risen Christ to meet with us. As we consider the truth of an empty tomb this Easter Sunday, we take special notice of an angel sitting on the stone used to seal Christ's tomb. In today's message, pastor Darrell asks why the angel sat on the stone and what it means for us.

Matthew 28:1-8

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