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2013-03-03: Is It Still…The Church

Sermon Audio: Is It Still…The Church
Speaker: Pastor John Pettigrew
Scripture Text: James 2:14-24
Duration: 24:08
Size: 11.0 MB

When does something change so fundamentally from what it was originally that it is no longer what it originally was, even if it still has the same name?

Is what we call “the Church” today in 2013 still the Church?

D. S. Warner’s answer to “is it still the church” was “no.” The church had become tied to its institutions. Its theology. Its own teaching. Warner claimed that those denominations taught that the way to God was through their denomination-their organization, and not through Christ.

The theologians take the simple and make it complicated-so that the complicated can be explained simply.

The theologians taught me that the Church as we know it didn’t start until Pentecost.

What isn’t the church

  • Pastor
  • Building
  • Staff
  • Music
  • Tradition
  • Ministries

All good, but if you take them away, the church still exists.

So, What is the Church?

The church is the believers-or followers of Christ.

A believer is somebody who has chosen to follow Christ and live by his teachings.

When what you say, what you sing, how you dress, how you think, how you vote becomes more important than how you can shine your light into the world, you are no longer the church.

When on Sunday the church building is full, but the rest of the week, the church cannot be seen, you are no longer the church.

When the church becomes the judge, taking on the role of God, you are no longer the church.

When the church stops sharing the faith, and instead shares a lifestyle, you are no longer the church.

When the purpose, plan and mission are gone, the church is gone.

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2013-02-24: True Hope for Your Future

Sermon Audio: True Hope for Your Future
Speaker: Pastor Val Watkins
Scripture Text: Habakkuk 3:16-19
Duration: 25:49
Size: 11.8 MB

True Hope for Your Future
Habakkuk 3:16-19

I want you to see that the key to Habakkuk’s experience of joy in the face of adversity was his faith!

I. True Faith Often Includes an Element of Fear (3:16a)

But even so, he was still very afraid about the Babylonian invasion that God had told him was coming.

God’s greatest men and women of faith have often been those who at their most intense times of testing found themselves racked with fear.

Shouldn’t our faith become easier, not harder, as we grow up into greater spiritual maturity?

The primary message of Habakkuk, is that you are to live by faith in this life.

II. True Faith Knows How to Rejoice in God in Spite of Difficult Circumstances (3:16b-19)

No matter what he may face, he was confident that he would remain standing because he trusted in the Sovereign Lord as his strength!

Habakkuk learned that history is not an end itself but a transition time, a parenthesis between Eden and heaven.

Whatever heaven is, it will banish all of the discomfort of this life and usher in new, unimaginable pleasures.

In one sense there is no ultimate solution to the problem of pain until Jesus returns.

Conclusion

Whatever your circumstances, whatever calamity or adversity comes your way, the prophet Habakkuk calls you to rejoice and to live by faith in a mighty and sovereign God.

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2013-02-10: Sharpening the Focus of Your Faith

Sermon Audio: Sharpening the Focus of Your Faith
Speaker: Pastor Val Watkins
Scripture Text: Habakkuk 3:1-15
Duration: 27:36
Size: 12.6 MB

Sharpening the Focus of Your Faith
Habakkuk 3:1-15

Although instant everything might be at our fingertips when it comes to our food, it’s not usually like that when it comes to our spiritual growth.

The question we are forced to ask is this: “Since Habakkuk’s circumstances have not changed, why the dramatic change in his heart-from complaining to singing?”

I. Shift Your Focus from Your Fears to the Faithfulness of God (3:2a,3-15)

In order to overcome his fears of the coming invasion, Habakkuk purposefully reminded himself of what he knew.

The thing that sustained Habakkuk in the midst of the fear and perplexity that gripped him was the shifting of his focus away from his fears to the proven faithfulness of God.

Today I want you to realize that no matter what you may be facing and no matter how many people may have failed you in the past-God will never fail you.

Take your eyes off all your future fears and look back and reflect upon the faithfulness of God to you in the past.

II. Shift Your Focus from Your Purposes to the Purposes of God (3:2b)

What he wanted now, more than anything else, was for God’s plan to succeed.

There is a lot of confusion today about the purpose of the Christian life.

God’s purposes are to build internal character into your life, to give you a deep peace, to provide you with things money just cannot buy.

Shift your focus from your fears to the faithfulness of God.

And shift your focus from your purposes to the purposes of God.