2/27/2011

Pastor Phil Perry

Spiritual Disciplines

Saying "No" to Self and the World

As we wrap up our series on spiritual Disciplines, we have by no means exhausted the study. We are prone to wander from God and live meaningless lives. Practicing disciplines in our lives reminds us that we are on a mission, our lives have a purpose; we are bought to serve not to be served. Let us conclude our study today thinking about why we need to discipline ourselves and remind ourselves that this world is illusionary at best…

2/20/2011

Pastor Greg Olson

Romans 12

Spiritual Disciplines

Church Attendance

Anyone can sit in a building and warm a chair, but how many of us will actually discipline ourselves to attend church? This takes humble and active participation in the Body of Christ putting others before ourselves and preparing the Gospel to go out into the world.

2/13/2011

Pastor Phil Perry

Spiritual Disciplines

Giving: The Gospel, Time, Talent & Money

Tomorrow is Valentine’s day, a day dedicated to giving love to one another in some tangible form. It may be a card, a kind word, dinner and flowers or some other act of showing your valentine your love. God showed His love for us in many tangible actions. He is a kind and generous giver who expects us to give as well. Giving is an essential character of His, and it should be of us as well…

2/6/2011

Pastor Phil Perry

Spiritual Disciplines

Prayer and Fasting

Continuing in our study of basic spiritual disciplines, we come to prayer and fasting. For many of us, we recognize the need to pray, we just struggle with praying more. For most of us, the thought of fasting (other than some crazy diet fad) is foreign and archaic. Both of these disciplines though can be a means of drawing us closer to God and more in-tune with understanding His will for our lives...

1/30/2011

Pastor Phil Perry

Spiritual Disciplines

Memorization of God's Word

When it comes to memorizing God's Word, some of us are better at it than others. For some, memory work began early in either Sunday School or AWANA or school assignments. We grumbled and complained. We were rewarded and sometimes shamed into repeating words that didn't always make sense. For others, the thought of memorizing something still instills fear and trepidation. What is the value in it, should we be practicing this discipline today in an age of rapid information?

1/23/2011

Pastor Phil Perry

Spiritual Disciplines

Personal Daily Study of God's Word

What is so important about the Bible? Should I read it every day? Why? It is hard to understand and at times it feels outdated and irrelevant; so does God still expect me to study it? Is it really that important? I hope that these questions and more will be answered today...

1/16/2011

Missionary Family Josh & Heidi Ausfahl

Genesis 12-25

Missionaries

Addressing Everyday Questions to Deepen Your Faith

1/9/2011

Pastor Phil Perry

1Corinthians 9

Spiritual Disciplines

Spiritual Disciplines: What are they and why do they matter?

We will spend the next couple of weeks thinking about spiritual disciplines. At the beginning of a new year, we like to take an inventory of our lives. Where have we been, where are we going, what needs to be kept, what needs to be discarded. We often neglect the most important part of that inventory process- who am I before God? Let us challenge each other to becoming closer to Him in 2011 through saying 'NO!' to self and 'YES!' to God.

1/2/2011

Pastor Phil Perry

Communion

Communion Service

God's Plan of Salvation

12/26/2010

Pastor Phil Perry

Studies About Jesus

Fully Obedient

What was the day after Jesus birth like?

12/19/2010

Pastor Phil Perry

Studies About Jesus

Fully God, Fully man

What is the meaning of the Christmas story? Why is this holiday such a big deal in Christianity? Why celebrate it; we are not commanded to remember His birth, just His death and resurrection? Well, it is a reminder to us that not olny is He God, but He is also a man. We remember the greatest gift ever given to humanity, and it came from God and it is God...

12/12/2010

Pastor Phil Perry

Studies About Jesus

Touched With Our Infirmities

Maybe you are like me and have a hard time seeing Jesus in His humanity. He seems like so much more than a man like you and I, and of course He is in some ways. But in reality he was very much human and subject to the same limitations and struggles we are, yet He did so without sinning. Maybe as we examine His life, we can learn some truths that will help us live our lives.

12/5/2010

Pastor Phil Perry

Studies About Jesus

The God Bearer

As we think about the birth of Jesus we come to a critical doctrine- the Virgin Birth of Christ. In fact, this is one of the fundamentals of being a fundamentalist. The Bible clearly teaches the special nature of Jesus' birth, so what does it all mean?

11/28/2010

Pastor Phil Perry

Studies About Jesus

Fully God, Fully Obedient

One of the more difficult things to understand is Jesus being fully God, with all of His rights, authority and responsibility, yet we see Him yielding to the Father's will. Why does Jesus say in the garden, 'Not my will, but yours be done?' What can we learn about God's love for us and our need for submissive obedience to Him? How does this affect our relationships here on Earth with one another?

11/21/2010

Pastor Phil Perry

Studies About Jesus

Preincarnate Creator

We are going to turn our attention to thinking about who Jesus is over the next 6 weeks. He is what holds us together as a church, the very source of our unity. If we want to be the kind of church God intends for us to be, we must have an accurate understanding of who Jesus is. We will begin by considering what He did before coming to Earth as a baby.

11/14/2010

Pastor Phil Perry

The 5 Purposes of the Church

Fellowship

The 5th foundation block for the purpose of the church is fellowship. We usually think of fellowship and food; but it is much more than simply sharing a meal together. Fellowship of course is in our name, and it has been one of our greatest strengths. As we have grown through, our sense of oneness has taken hits at times. Our culture too pulls us apart from one another; even though we are commanded to find union in each other.

11/7/2010

Pastor Phil Perry

The 5 Purposes of the Church

Discipleship

10/31/2010

Pastor Phil Perry

The 5 Purposes of the Church

Evangelism

As we continue to look at the purposes of the church, evangelism is today's foundation block. Evangelism is a topic that either excites us or scares us to death. Many feel uncomfortable sharing their faith from either fear of rejection or lack of skill. This is an important topic though as it is a command straight from Jesus to us. Do you evangelize?

10/24/2010

Pastor Greg Olson

The 5 Purposes of the Church

Ministry

In our 5 week discussion of the 5 purposes of the Church we come to purpose #2; ministry. Pastor Greg reminds us that it's all about Jesus and His radical life, the life we are called to follow.

10/17/2010

Pastor Phil Perry

The 5 Purposes of the Church

Worship

We are going to look at the 5 purposes of the church over the next 5 weeks. I think this is of paramount importance because Christianity is at a pivotal point. What does God want of us? What is church all about? We have so many denominations, what helps us to understand how to select the right church? Are we the kind of church that God wants us to be?