As we approach a new year and a new decade, it may be with excitement or trepidation. What will happen in 2020? Will things get better or worse? What is in store for my future?
Through Jesus, God has promised all those who trust in Him that they will ultimately experience the greatest future. We will explore "3 don'ts" and "3 dos" for a prosperous future.
God is our Way Maker, Promise Keeper and Light in the midst of darkness.
Have you ever made a promise only to break it? Were you ever promised anything by a loved one only to be disappointed? Our society functions on the basis of promises exchanged between people and institutions.
The Christmas story is actually part of God’s greatest promise that He has made towards humanity. It is important to connect the dots to understand how the birth of Jesus is the fulfillment of a promise God made to deal with humanity’s greatest threat. Join us as we explore God’s Word and find comfort and confidence in God’s promises to deal with the challenges we face.
What is the purpose of the church? What is the church to do and be?
According to one survey, when asked “Why does the church exist?”, 89% of church-goers said, “The church’s purpose is to take care of my family’s and my needs.” Is this a healthy view of the church’s purpose? We must ask ourselves, "why do I attend church?"
There are three questions to consider when understanding the role of the church: Who is the church? How should the church function? What should the church do?
The answers to these questions are found in three vital words: identity, community and cause.
We often think that worship is essentially singing or playing music to glorify God. This is just one aspect of worship. There are two sides to worship, first, the inner essence, and second, the external expression. Jesus rebuked the people who only worship God with their lips and not with their hearts (Matthew 15:8-9). Performing many external expressions of worship or doing many good works without movement in our hearts toward God is not worship.
Worship begins with the right mental understanding of his nature. This understanding moves our heart to value God supremely. Worship is designed to put the supreme worth of God on display. Once we grasp the true nature of God and value his worth, this becomes visible in the world through the acts of our mouth through praise and acts of love with the body.
Read MoreScience and Faith have concluded that unhealthy thinking patterns generally contribute to mental health conditions. Negative thought patterns can play a significant role in causing and worsening depression and anxiety. It is estimated that we think 10 thoughts per second and average around 50,000 to 70,000 thoughts per day. That is a lot of thoughts!
Most of these thoughts are about what went wrong, what is wrong and what may possibly go wrong in the future. Our minds are consistently filled with negativity. These negative thought patterns form in our minds as strongholds and they become hard to break.
God promises that his truth is stronger than any lie. In order to destroy these negative thought patterns we are to first find them, free ourselves from them, focus on what is true and then continually feed ourselves with more truth.
