2013-10-13: The Great Adventure – Sail Into The Unknown

Sermon: The Great Adventure – Sail Into The Unknown
Speaker: Pastor Val Watkins
Scripture Text: Jonah 1:1-17
Duration: 25:36
Size: 11.7 MB

The Great Adventure
Sail Into The Unknown
Jonah 1:1-17

I believe that God intends the Christian life to be fun, exciting, sometimes surprising and always challenging!

Jonah 1:1-2

His orders are straightforward enough: “Go to Nineveh!”, God says.

Jonah 1:3

When God called Jonah to go, he went all right, right off in the opposite direction! He ran away from God!

The problem for Jonah is that, with God, you can run, but you cannot hide!

Jonah 1:4-17

It was a “course corrective” put there by God to get Jonah back on the right track!

Jonah 3:1-6,10

Jonah is one of those. He’s proof positive that God can use anybody to accomplish his will!

Jonah 4:1-2,11

God saw 120,000 precious souls who didn’t know him, but desperately needed to! That illustrates the difference in the way we look at the world and the way God sees it.

You see, Paul, like Jonah was trying to do it his way, instead of God’s way, and that will always get you into trouble!

Sometimes it’s only later looking back that you realize what God was doing by allowing you to go through what you were going through.

God calls us into this life to follow in the steps of his Son and to take his good news message of salvation into all the world (Beyond these Walls).

2013-10-06: The Great Adventure – Sound The Battle Cry

Sermon: The Great Adventure – Sound The Battle Cry
Speaker: Pastor Val Watkins
Scripture Text: Joshua 1:1-17
Duration: 23:03
Size: 10.5 MB

The Great Adventure
Sound The Battle Cry
Joshua 1:1-17

Joshua just sort of pops onto the scene suddenly in Exodus 17 with little introduction, almost as if he’s been there all along.

But that would be Joshua’s calling, that would be his great adventure!

Joshua 1:1-11

Notice how, over and over there, God tells Joshua, “Be Strong and Courageous, do not be afraid!” followed by the constant reassurance “I will be with you.”

So, what God was calling Joshua to was much more than simply leading a nation or serving as some kind of figurehead.

Joshua 5:13-15
Joshua 6:1-5

This wasn’t just a dispute over land, this was God’s Army, these were God’s People, and this was God’s Purpose! And so, Joshua was going to fight it God’s Way!

Joshua 6:20-21,24

Joshua serves to remind us (even today) that there is a time when God calls his people to battle; to “Sound the Battle Cry!”, that there is a time for war!

Ecclesiastes 3:1-8
Ephesians 6:10-18

Christians, we are called to war; not with the people of the world, but with the spiritual forces of evil which seek to control our world, led by the devil himself!

I want to make sure that before we leave here today that you’re in the Lord’s Army! God is calling on you to suit up!

2013-09-29: The Great Adventure – Step Up To The Plate

Sermon: The Great Adventure – Step Up To The Plate
Speaker: Pastor Val Watkins
Scripture Text: Exodus 3:1-4:20
Duration: 29:57
Size: 13.7 MB

The Great Adventure
Step Up To The Plate
Exodus 3:1-4:20

Think about all that Moses could’ve accomplished with what he had been given?

He probably expected to live out the rest of his days out in the desert…watching sheep…a far cry from where his life could’ve taken him.

Exodus 3:1-10

He may have thought he was done, but God was just getting started… he had big things for Moses to do!

Despite all that God had done to prepare Moses, when it came down to it…Moses didn’t want to go.

Exodus 3:11-15
Exodus 4:1-16

Have you ever not wanted to do what you knew God wanted you to do?

Exodus 4:19-20

Discovering who you are and what God has given you to do in the Kingdom is the fun and exciting thing about being a Christian!

Do you need to step up and be the child of God that He calls you to be?

2013-09-22: The Great Adventure – Stand Against The Tide

Sermon: The Great Adventure – Stand Against The Tide
Speaker: Pastor Val Watkins
Scripture Text: Genesis 6:5-9
Duration: 26:10
Size: 11.9 MB

The Great Adventure
Stand Against The Tide
Genesis 6:5-9

Ever felt pressure to go along with the crowd…to give in to the tide?

Noah was different! We see in verse 8 that Noah finds favor with God, precisely because he is different!

Think about what this means…Noah did just what God told him to…even when it went against conventional wisdom…it went against the norm…went against what everybody else was doing!

When the whole world was full of evil…Noah stood against the tide and was God’s man!

But, like Noah, God still calls his people to stand against the tide! And that’s not always an easy thing to do…

There can be tremendous pressure to conform…to “fit in”…to be just like everybody else.

It takes a lot to stand against the tide…especially when the forces of that tide can be so strong.

1. He “walked with God.” (6:9)

In order to have a relationship with God…we’ve got to put in the time to make that relationship strong and that means more than just church on Sundays!

2. Noah trusted God’s Word (6:22)

We’ve got God’s Word on it…its just a matter of us choosing who we’re going to listen to…the wise, scholars, philosophers of this age? Or God?

2013-09-15: The Great Adventure – Saddle Up Your Horses

Sermon: The Great Adventure – Saddle Up Your Horses
Speaker: Pastor Val Watkins
Scripture Text: Hebrews 11:8-12
Duration: 24:12
Size: 11.0 MB

The Great Adventure
Saddle Up Your Horses
Hebrews 11:8-12

There is a disturbing trend that many church observers are noticing and beginning to talk about.

This morning for us…I want us to see that if church is boring…it isn’t God’s fault! It isn’t Jesus’ fault!

The call to follow Christ is an invitation to a radically new life full of challenge, excitement, surprise and opportunity!

Hebrews 11:8-10

I know some folks who are…and change is not something that usually comes very easily at that age. For some folks…at any age!

When you answer God’s call…no telling where you might end up!

How many times have you completely put yourself in God’s hands and said, “God, I’m really committed to this and I know there’s no going back!”

Hebrews 11:11-12

Doesn’t he still call his people to adventure?

That is because “we are here to be Jesus to those out there!” That starts in our own communities…neighborhoods & households…and what an adventure!

Is it time you asked him what adventure he’s got in store for you?