From the Pastor's Desk

Pleasing to God [Gen 5:24; Heb 11:5-6]

[Gen 5:24] Enoch walked with God; and he was not, for God took him.

God took him? Where and why? Enoch was the great-great-great-great grandson of Adam. He was also the father of Methuselah, the oldest man who ever lived (according to Scripture). The New Testament book of Hebrews gives us more insight into the character of this man, Enoch.

[Heb 11:5] By faith Enoch was taken up so that he would not see death; and he was not found because

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A Modern-day Parable of the Pharisee and Tax Collector [Lk 18:9-14]

And He also told this parable to some people who trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and viewed others with contempt. [Lk 18:9] 

The two go together – self-righteousness and judging with contempt. A Pharisee (according to his own reality) convinced himself that he did all the ‘right’ things. He was quick to judge the sin of others but slow to judge his own. He was quite comfy enough to magnify th

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Do Not Judge?

Mt 7:1-5; 12

Judge: to discern, distinguish or form an opinion of someone, especially after thought or consideration

This definition of ‘judge’ reveals that when we say someone is a "good person," we are judging just as much as when we say someone is a “bad person.”

Judging is a way of life. It is something we do every day. We ‘judge’ when it comes to looking for a ‘good’ mechanic or doctor or babysitter or tutor or therapist or pastor or spouse. So, what is Jesu

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Breakthrough

Recently, I read – “One Word – That Will Change Your Life” by Jon Gordon, Dan Britton, and Jimmy Page. As I read, I realized that these past few years I had been doing what the authors of this book encouraged all their readers to do – allow The Spirit of God to reveal just one word to meditate on this coming year. Last year my word was – breakthrough. In being a compound word, this was actually three words in one. Last May, I first began praying by asking The S

From the Pastor's Desk

What Does God Mean?

I’ve been asked a number of times…through the years – What is your view on the authority of Scripture?

My view of Scripture and its authority is that God’s view is best. What HE says about Himself and His creation – I choose to believe it…all of it. I believe Scripture to be the only writing ever ‘created’ that is infallible and inerrant. Last week’s message dealt with the inspiration of Scripture and the Greek word that Paul used in order to explain this

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Taking God at His Word [2Tim 3:16-17] 

This coming Sunday, we will journey again with Paul as together we explore the book of Philemon, his shortest letter recorded in Scripture. Sidenote - Are we to call them books or letters? The answer is both. Each book that Paul (and the other NT writers) wrote was originally written as a letter to a group of churches, a specific church, or a certain individual. Did Paul write knowing that his letters (books) would one day be considere

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Peace on Earth?

 You’ve seen it written on cards, on shirts, framed pictures, bumper stickers, Facebook. You’ve heard about it in Christmas songs. Peace on earth. Uh…when can we expect this to happen? First of all, we need to establish that this phrase comes directly from Scripture -- 

And suddenly there appeared with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying, “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among people with whom He is pleased.” [Lu

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Small White Envelope

 I came across this story almost 20 years ago. There is more joy in giving…than there is in receiving. 

 It's just a small white envelope stuck among the branches of our Christmas tree. No name, no identification. No inscription. It has peeked through the branches of our tree for the past ten years.

 It all began because my husband Mike said he hated Christmas -- oh, not the true meaning of Christmas, but the commercial aspects of it - the overspending, t

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A Grateful Heart [Lk 17:1-6] …has an attitude of unending gratitude towards its Master. 

 In the beginning of chapter 17 of his Gospel, Luke shares the following statement made by Jesus – It is inevitable that stumbling blocks come, but woe to him through whom they come. This was another teaching time that Jesus had with those closest to Him. There were many of those and there would be many more. Jesus was always trying to teach those whom HE had called to follow Him. This

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A Final Farewell to Hear [Php 4:20-23]  

 If we are in Christ, His grace is in us.

 I grew up a Star Trek fan. My brother and I watched every episode…multiple times. As I repeat the title of this article in my mind, I can hear the words – A Final Frontier. That’s how the beginning of each Star Trek episode starts. And this is how the very end of Paul’s letter to the Philippians ends. For Paul, it would be a final frontier…at least according to this definition -- 

 The extreme

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The Shepherd or the Thief [John 10:10]  

 The thief comes only to steal, kill and destroy. I have come that you may have life – abundantly!

 The thief has a threefold attack plan when it comes to us – 1) Steal…2) Kill…3) Destroy. 

Our Good Shepherd has just one plan when it comes to us – give us Life...abundantly!

 What does the thief try to steal from us? 

The context is mostly about how he tries to steal sheep out of the Shepherds' pin. But individually, we can look at it lik

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In Php 4:14-20, Paul moves from having A Mindset of Contentment to having A Heart Set on Contentment. In verse 19, Paul states again his overall manifesto, but this time it’s personal. He says – “my” God will supply all your needs. Does that preach to you? It does to me. Paul is telling us – I’ve learned to fully trust Christ to supply all that I need in order to live this life which He has given to me so that I may accomplish all that He has purposed me to. Here’s how one

From the Pastor's Desk

We spent the past two Sundays discussing the Keys to Living a Life of Contentment. Paul wants to make sure that we put feet to our faith and learn how to be and remain content in this life. Contentment is something that we can and must learn ourselves. It’s personal. Paul explains how contentment is first borne in our minds. We must proactively choose to give God credit for all that is good. While we may accomplish a number of things on this earth, it is our Creator who em

From the Pastor's Desk

What do you want the most out of this life...here on earth? What do you want the most from your relationships…your job…your retirement? What do you want the most from God? This was the beginning of this Sunday’s sermon. But I have to be honest – What happened over the weekend really does change things a bit. Parts of northern and western NC were hit with one of the worst hurricanes on record. This morning I looked at a few videos of before and after Hurricane Helene brough

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Maintaining Harmony [Php 4:2-3]

 In this we have come to know what love is: that He (Jesus) laid down His life for us. And we ourselves ought to lay down our lives for the brethren. [1Jn 3:16]

 A good friend helped me to adopt a better understanding of what love is…according to God. He explained to me how Jesus proved His love by allowing those spikes to be driven through His wrists and His ankles. And as he was passionately explaining even more, 1Jn 3:16 came to my mind. Wh