God's Promise to Abraham

Paul Alexander
Genesis 22:17-18

Much of Biblical history stems from God's covenant with Abraham, wherein He promises: 1) a land for him; 2) to make a nation out of his family; 3) to bless him; 4) and to use his descendants to bless the world. Over the course of history, God has kept all of His promises. Abraham's choice to have faith in God made him right with God. In light of this, our response should also be to trust God.

Walking on Water

Scott Risley
Matthew 14:22-33

When the disciples saw Jesus walking on water toward their boat, Peter called out to Jesus, who invited him to come out of the boat and join Him on the water. But Peter took his eyes off Jesus and onto the waves and storm around him and began to sink into the waves. When we have a horizontal focus, we only see the danger but when we have a vertical focus, our problems seem more like challenges. As Peter began to sink, he called out to Jesus who reached out and rescued him. Be like Peter, get out of the boat, focus on Jesus, not the dangers, and call out to Jesus.

Noah and the Flood: Crucial Questions

Jeff Gordon
Genesis 6:5-7:24

The flood story can be controversial for both scientific and theological reasons. Both of these issues with God's judgment can be resolved. Ultimately, God must judge our evil choices but those who choose to trust Him will be saved.

Cain and Abel

Ryan Lowery
Genesis 4:1-16

After mankind first chose to sin, things rapidly got worse. Four lessons can be learned from the story of Cain and Abel: 1) God stays involved even when you rebel; 2) God has regard for faith and not hollow religious service; 3) we must do what is right even when our emotional state says otherwise; and 4) don't harden your heart to God's truth.

The Disciples' First Mission

Scott Risley
Matthew 9:35-38

When Jesus sent out the disciples on their first mission journey, he was teaching them important ministry principles that apply to us today as well. First, we go in the authority of Jesus. it is not under our own power that we are able to serve supernaturally. Jesus calls us to work together in teams not autonomously. We focus our effort where there is responsiveness. We must learn to trust God for our provision. And finally, our mission is very important.

Jesus on Life Motivation

Dennis McCallum
Matthew 6:19-34

Jesus teaches on what really motivates us in this life. There are two masters that people can serve, God or money. Jesus specifically speaks to living our lives for eternal things, rather than the temporary material things of this world. With a lifestyle of materialism comes heart-level issues between us and God and anxiety. Conversely, Jesus offers instruction to his audience to put God as the first priority to seek after and trust Him entirely, as His values and His guidance will give our lives true meaning and purpose that will carry on to eternity.

Why God's Word Matters

Jim Leffel
Isaiah 46:9-10

If God has not spoken, our life experience is void of meaning, a sad reality that is increasingly present in our age today. Our culture is quick to confuse facts and truth with matters of taste and opinion. Without God's Word, there is a divide between meaning and evaluative truth, cognitive meaningless (or matters of opinion), the physical word, and science. Values become feeling states, and convictions become preferences. There exists a thirst for reality, for substance, and for purpose, all of which are found in God's powerful Word. God's Word is so powerful that it has spoken creation into existence, proven itself in history, and personally created us.

Becoming Spiritual Adults (Part 3)

Jim Leffel
1 Corinthians 4:1-16

What does it look like to be a spiritually mature believer in Christ? In this third and final part of the series on spiritual maturity, principles of maturity are discussed. Topics include: trustworthiness, integrity, gratitude, sacrifice, and humility.\r\n

The Great Secret

Dennis McCallum
Philippians 4:10-20

A life of contentment consists of daily choices to trust God to meet our needs and responding to God in faith. This life is in direct opposition to a life of covetousness in which one can never be satisfied and constantly demands more from others and this world. Paul's confident assertion in Philippians that he has learned the secret of contentment is not an impossible goal for Christians, but rather a perspective that is available to anyone who knows God personally.