It has been said that discouragement is a disease unique to human beings, and it's universal -- eventually everyone gets it, including those in church ministry. I have no doubt you've experienced discouragement at times, maybe many times. You might even be discouraged at this very moment. Today we see Jeremiah in the space of deep discouragement for this very reason. And so we get a chance to learn from his interaction with God how we can take heart, when the godless thrive.
Mar 05, 2017•47 min
Today we take another step in our series in the book of Jeremiah. We will discover as we read chapter seven that this is a message to those coming to worship God about worship and the heart one should have when worshipping.
Feb 26, 2017•47 min
This week we see God lamenting over his people because despite his openhearted invitations to restore the relationship and giving them multiple opportunities to return in sincere confession and honest repentance, they refuse! This stubborn refusal requires God to make the unnecessary pain of discipline, necessary for them.
Feb 19, 2017•42 min
God begins to present his case by having a heart to heart with the people. Their rejection of him has wounded his heart. But he tries to help them see that jilting him in the relationship doesn’t just wound him…in the end they will be the most wounded. They will be alone, helpless, and hopeless. God starts with reminiscing of good times when he and Israel were intimately connected together.
Feb 12, 2017•40 min
Today we begin a new series examining the writings of the great prophet Jeremiah. We are going to journey with Jeremiah as he calls God’s people to responsibility and realignment with God’s will and plan for their lives. Because of his great love for them, God uses the prophet Jeremiah to firmly and passionately call them to responsibility in their relationships with him. God gives Jeremiah some tough, tough warnings to deliver to the people, sternly notifying them of the pain they invite into t...
Feb 05, 2017•39 min
The reason God cares about your money is because he is our sufficient, almighty, fully capable God and he longs for your full devotion. I want to direct your attention to the Apostle Paul’s perspective on the topic of money. Paul is coaching the young pastor Timothy about how to teach on stewardship in his church. Some say you shouldn’t talk about money in church, but Paul coaches Timothy to do exactly that. In fact, he tells pastor Tim to command the people on this.
Jan 29, 2017•33 min
Today I want to talk about how godly stewardship can free you to live more fully than perhaps you ever have before. Some of you know exactly what I’m saying and, hopefully, this will encourage you as you continue to manage and wisely use all that God has given to you.
Jan 15, 2017•35 min
Our New Year series: Money: The Reasons God cares about yours. In this series we’re going to explore the fundamental reasons God cares about your money. Today I want to examine with you a few cash conversations Jesus has with different people. These money talks Jesus has reveal, beyond a shadow of a doubt, why God cares about how we manage our money.
Jan 08, 2017•47 min
Please enjoy hearing about what God is doing in the lives of people in our family :)
Jan 01, 2017•41 min
At our office Christmas party last week we played a game where we had to write a word associated with Christmas next to every letter of the alphabet. So, for example, let’s try a few. For the letter A: angel. Letter B: bells. Letter C: carols. D: Dasher. See how it works? Let’s skip the letter N. What would you put there? Now, today when we get to the letter N; I want to teach you a new Christmas word! It’s a very important Christmas word. I want you to add this word to your Christmas terminolog...
Dec 24, 2016•30 min
Peace... 5 Letter word that seems to be the goal of everyone…. You watch the miss America Pageant… it seems the most common answer on those shows is “World Peace.” You talk to your neighbor and ask “Would you like to have peace in your life? Or in in the world?’ I guarantee you their answer is going to be yes. Yet where is the peace? Everyone wants peace but where is it?
Dec 18, 2016•42 min
Have you ever thought that God delights in you? Let me ask it this way: Do you think God likes you? Notice I did not say: Do you think God loves you? That’s too easy. Most of you will give the “spiritually correct” answer. But I said, “Do you think God likes you?” In verse 17 the text says, “He will take great delight in you.”
Dec 11, 2016•42 min
Malachi affirms the truth that there will come a day when God will say enough is enough. There will be better days where evil is non-existent. Where injustice will not take place. Where sex trafficking will come to an end. Where Terrorism will be destroyed. Where those who institute evil and abuse their power and neighbor will be held accountable. In a nutshell the Christmas promise is one that reminds us of Jesus our King who came and will come again to open a can.
Dec 04, 2016•48 min
In practical terms, this is a season for preparing our hearts, our souls, our minds, and even our schedules. It’s a season where I remind you to be intentional about your time, your plans, and your gift giving. Now is the time to be sitting down with your spouse or family and intentionally planning what you will take off the calendar in order to open up mental, emotional, and physical band-width to truly enjoy, celebrate and reflect appropriately on the stunning reality that at Christmas heaven ...
Nov 27, 2016•43 min
This is Thanksgiving week, and all of this that we are celebrating and planning today gives us lots to be thankful for as a church. And I hope that it sets the tone and spirit of your Thanksgiving week in your families, because despite the disappointments and challenges in life, there are always things we can reflect on to be thankful for. And being thankful is what God desires for us. Being thankful is God’s will.
Nov 20, 2016•41 min
The truth I want us to focus on today is a steady, reliable bearing that keeps us heading in the right direction regardless of the uncertainty in the circumstances ahead of us.
Nov 13, 2016
Today I want to offer you an overview of the central scriptures that speak to this issue. And since the election is just two days away, I want to leave time at the end of this message for us to pray together for God’s will to be done on earth as it is in heaven.
Nov 06, 2016•37 min
As you are probably aware, healthy, balanced, effective immigration policy is a complex, multifaceted issue for our nation. This is why it has been so elusive for our leaders in Washington. While the Bible does not provide specific directives regarding a biblical immigration policy, we can discover what you could call “definitive broad borders” for reasonable immigration policy. That’s why I’m calling this message: Biblical Borders on Immigration.
Oct 30, 2016•49 min
What is the mission of the Church in the USA? What is the foundation of the Christian and Missionary Alliance and how can we as Christians live out our calling?
Oct 23, 2016•32 min
Today I want to consider the important issue of Supreme Court Justice appointments. A President will be gone in eight years or less, but his judges may remain on the bench for decades afterwards, and their influence is far greater than his. Therefore, many believe a President should be selected first and foremost on the type of judges he will nominate.
Oct 16, 2016•37 min
My goal this morning is to help bring clarity to the discussion of morality. In an effort to accomplish that goal I want to answer two questions: First what is the morality of God? And second how does God reveal it to us? I believe that if we can answer these two questions we are then better equipped as Christ’s representatives to reflect Christ’s morality at the polls.
Oct 09, 2016•44 min
In previous election years I have always encouraged each of you to vote you Biblical values, but we have never talked directly about what that actually looks like. And for years, I have quietly wondered what would a Biblically based political candidate or party platform really look like? This series was born out of those two ideas.
Oct 02, 2016•34 min
I want to talk about what this calling means for each of us as we are out and about in the orbits of our lives as home, at work, at school, on the sports field and on the sidelines of field, in our neighborhoods, and when we’re out and about in our community.
Sep 25, 2016•40 min
Now, we know from the example Jesus set in his life and ministry and from other writings in the New Testament that making other “Jesus followers” or “making disciples” involves three key components: Letting people know they can be on good terms with God by connecting to Jesus, Helping people grow to know and love God, Equipping people to serve God.
Sep 18, 2016•41 min
If you lose sight of what God has called us to and why we’re doing what we’re doing then it won’t be long until your fires of motivation to use your time, talent, and treasure in that effort will begin to smolder. When that happens you start to lose some heat in your motivation on why you should be a part of church at all. Today I’m asking the question: Why church? What’s the point? Why was it started? What is the primary purpose of church? How would you answer that question? Take a moment and t...
Sep 11, 2016•41 min
This morning we will explore why Christians should excel in work by looking at a variety of texts that address the subject. By excel I mean productive, not being better than everyone else, but doing good work according to one’s skill set. Why be productive? A Christian seeks to be productive as a means of bringing honor and glory to God, not just to bring home a paycheck.
Sep 04, 2016•36 min
This Sunday is outreach Sunday which means we look to see what COTF and the Christian & Missionary Alliance are doing throughout the world in Jesus name. This week we have Aaron Steinert from the Arab American Learning Center in Sacramento as well as Jenny Williamson Founder/CEO of Courage Worldwide. Come to be encouraged challenged and excited to hear what God is doing in Sacramento and what you can do to join!
Aug 28, 2016•38 min
this morning we are going to be talking about Prayer and what James has to say about prayer in our daily lives. As Christ followers, prayer is one of the primary tools that we have in our tool belt. So, here is my working definition of prayer. This is not comprehensive by any means: Prayer is the exercise of communicating directly with the one true God. Through prayer, we worship God, we acknowledge his attributes, we confess our sins, we align our attitudes with God’s will, and we present our r...
Aug 21, 2016•37 min
Reflecting Jesus is not easy. Therefore, it is important to keep in mind friends that we can try as hard as we want in all these areas to control our tongue to clothe ourselves with humility but the reality is we can’t do it through our own effort and our own ability. In fact reflecting Jesus has nothing to do with us but has everything to do with the Holy Spirit (which we possess as believers in Christ) working through us. Remember, reflecting Christ in all of life’s challenges is only done thr...
Aug 14, 2016•43 min
This morning we are going to jump back into James at the beginning of Chapter 5, our last chapter in the Crosscurrent Living series. In this passage James is going to specifically address people who abused their power in order to gain wealth at the expense of others.
Aug 07, 2016•38 min
