Video

From Bondage to Freedom (Joshua 2:1-21)

Bible, God, Message, Video / By /

Our current message series is called “The Bible Series.” In this series, we are looking at stories that have been portrayed in The Bible miniseries recently broadcast on The History channel. Some may ask, what relevance do stories of what people have done thousands of years ago have to us today? Fair question.

First of all, these are not just any stories, these are stories that have been preserved for us in The Bible. The Bible is an incredible book, the best-selling book in history and the self-proclaimed Word of God.

Romans 15:4 (NIV) For everything that was written in the past was written to teach us, so that through endurance and the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope.

This verse from the New Testament tells us that the things that were written in the past, which would be the Old Testament were written down so that we could learn from them. The Bible was written to encourage us and to give us hope. Who needs encouragement and hope these days? I think we all could use some more of that. So the stories in the Bible are not random, unrelated stories. The stories in the Bible have been selected by the Holy Spirit for the principles they teach and for the encouragement they bring.

Today, the title of our message is “From Bondage to Freedom.” Many people think that Christianity puts a person in bondage and restricts their freedom. However, the exact opposite is true. Jesus came to set people free from bondage to sin to live in the freedom that only comes from God.

John 8:34, 36 (NIV) Jesus replied, “I tell you the truth, everyone who sins is a slave to sin. … So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.”

When someone becomes a believer, Jesus, the Son, sets them free from sin. However, even for a believer, there is a process of spiritual growth that results in greater freedom in our lives. So, whatever your spiritual maturity this morning, God wants you to grow in freedom.

Let’s look at the background of the story that we’re going to look at in detail this morning. The nation of Israel had been in bondage as slaves in the land of Egypt. God had set them free from slavery and they were now on a journey to reach the Promised Land. They had reached the border of Palestine, but a fortress city called Jericho stood in their way. God had instructed the Israelite leader, Joshua, to totally destroy Jericho for it’s generations of decadent sin. Yet, out of Jericho, one woman and her family would be rescued. One woman of faith would make the journey from bondage to freedom. Her name was Rahab and her story is also our story in many ways. Rahab is mentioned multiple times in the New Testament as a woman of faith.

Hebrews 11:31 (NIV) By faith the prostitute Rahab, because she welcomed the spies, was not killed with those who were disobedient.

So, let’s look at the story of Rahab in Joshua 2 and sees how it applies to our lives today.

Run the Race (1 Corinthians 9)

Message, Video / By /

Romans 10:9 (NIV)  That if you confess with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.

Lord in the Greek is kurios, which means the master of a slave. To be saved, you must confess that Jesus is your master. Secondly, you must believe in your heart the miracle of the resurrection. For if Jesus was not raised from the dead, then He’s still dead and unable to save anyone. But if you confess Jesus as the living Lord, raised from the dead, you will be saved.

Today, we’re going to look at another metaphor for how a bondservant of Jesus lives. My message today is called “Run the Race.” This metaphor is used repeatedly throughout Scripture, both Old and New Testaments. The life of a believer is like running in a race. It’s something that just about everyone can relate to. You’ve either run in some races yourself at some point in your life or you’ve watched others run races.

…

Run the Race (1 Corinthians 9)Read More »

Strong Marriages

Message, Video / By /

This morning my message is entitled “Strong Marriages.” If you want to raise children who are followers of Jesus, you need a strong godly marriage as the foundation of the home. So, let’s begin this morning by looking at what Jesus had to say about marriage.

Matthew 19:4-6 (ESV)  He answered, “Have you not read that he who created them from the beginning made them male and female,  and said, ‘Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh’?  So they are no longer two but one flesh. What therefore God has joined together, let not man separate.”

In the beginning God created two and only two kinds of people, male and female. The same remains true today, there are only two genders, male and female. Everyone is either one or the other. Marriage is when a man and a women make a life-long commitment to one another and become one flesh through the consummation of the marriage. God is involved in joining the man and the woman together in marriage and the marriage bond should not be broken. …

Strong MarriagesRead More »

God’s View of Children

Message, Video / By /

Today we begin a new message series which I’ve entitled “Biblical Parenting.” God has three primary purposes of this important series. The first purpose is to help parents with children at home raise their children by biblical principles. However, there are two other purposes that aren’t as obvious from the title. The second purpose is to impact families with children that you know. You can advance this purpose by inviting families with children to attend church. You can talk about the principles you learn to those families or direct them to watch the online videos. Some of you have children and grandchildren who would benefit from this series. Pray for opportunities to invite them.

The third purpose of this series is to learn how to parent spiritual children with the principles we learn about parenting physical children. So, this series has great biblical truths that will benefit every person. Let’s talk some more about what it means to parent spiritual children.

Matthew 28:19-20a (ESV)  Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,  teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you.

These verses, called the Great Commission, are a command from Jesus to every believer to make more disciples of Jesus. Disciples are made by people being saved, baptized and taught to obey God’s Word. …

God’s View of ChildrenRead More »

Develop Family Kindness

Message, Video / By /

Today, our message series is called “Growing a Godly Family.” The family is the foundation of society. A society where families are growing in godliness will be blessed and prosperous. Of course, the opposite is true as well. Even when godly families are the minority in society, they will be blessed as they follow God.

So, today, we’re going to talk about how to “Develop Family Kindness.” In this message, we’re going to look at three areas in which God desires us to grow in kindness. First, we’ll look at our immediate physical families. Then we’ll look at the church family and finally, we’ll look at growing in kindness to everyone else.

So, in order to talk about kindness, we need to define what kindness is. Defining kindness isn’t the easiest thing in the world. When we get past the dictionary definition of kindness as the quality of being kind, we find quite a few definitions. The definition that I believe captures the essence of what the Bible means by kindness is as follows. Kindness is the quality of being gentle, caring and helpful.

Let’s briefly look at this three descriptions of kindness. Being caring is the attitude of having compassion for the needs of others. Being helpful is taking action to help meet the needs of others. Finally, being gentle is the manner in which a kind person takes action. So, let’s begin to look at what the Bible, God’s Word has to say about kindness.

Proverbs 11:17 (ESV)  A man who is kind benefits himself, but a cruel man hurts himself.

…

Develop Family KindnessRead More »

Train Your Children

Message, Video / By /

Today, our message series is called “Growing a Godly Family.” In this series, we’re talking about how parents and children can grow together in knowing and serving God. In order for that to happen, every family must make God their priority. When God is a priority in every family member’s life, than the family will be blessed. When the family is its own top priority, then God’s blessing will not be upon that family. We must put God first in our families with child training.

Today, my message is entitled “Train Your Children.” Our recent Mega Sports Camp VBS was a great experience for all the children who attended, their parents and all the workers from our church family. I believe that each child grew in learning about sports, but more importantly in learning more about God’s plan for their lives.

Today, we’re going to be looking at what God’s Word says about child training. Now, my message will focus on the training of children in your family, but the principles also apply to spiritual children. Each believer should be discipling or training others as spiritual children. So, let’s begin by looking at the key verses in the Bible with regard to training or discipling others. These verses are often referred to as the Great Commission. They are commands for every believer from Jesus Christ.

Matthew 28:18-20 (ESV)  And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.  Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,  teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

…

Train Your ChildrenRead More »

Scroll to Top