In this message, we hear from guest ministers Wade and Connie Urban of Restoration Ministries. Teaching from Mark 10:46 - 52, Wade looks at the encounter Bartimaeus had with Jesus. Bartimaeus knew the covenant promises but they were not operating in his life and he lost hope, until he began hearing about Jesus. Just as Bartimaeus' eyes were opened, ours need to be opened to what we have in the here and now, through Jesus Christ. We do not have to wait for the "sweet by and by" to walk in all that Jesus accomplished for us through the cross and His resurrection.

The New Testament contains more than 300 prophecies regarding the second coming of Jesus Christ. That means 1 out of every 25 verses reassures us of His return. In those prophecies, much is shrouded in mystery and sealed up for the very end. But there is one clear fact: Jesus IS going to return visibly, literally and victoriously! In this timely message, Pastor Chris encourages us from 1 Thessalonians 4:14 - 5:11 regarding the rapture of the Church. Whether or not we agree on the timeline of events, we can agree on the surety of Christ's return and we need to recapture the understanding, as the early Church had, that Jesus could return at any moment and we need to be ready and hold on to this "blessed hope".

God tells us what is coming, not so we will worry and fret about the future, but so we will put our trust in Him and not lose our peace as we see things come to pass. We see one such alert in 2 Timothy 3:1 - 5. As Pastor Anthony points out, the Church needs to not assume this is talking about the world. We need to examine ourselves to see if we have made areas gray that God has made black and white. We need to come back to God's Word. Period.

We really only have control over two things in our life--our attitude and our effort. Although we are saved by grace, true salvation is evidenced in our works. In this message, Pastor Chris continues the journey through James with James 2:14 - 26 and discusses how the ideas of "saved by grace" and "faith without works is dead" are not contradictory, but rather, complimentary.

"You can call a tail a leg if you want to. But a dog will still only have four legs." -Abraham Lincoln. We are living in a time when people are trying to redefine right and wrong. In this message, Pastor Chris comes to James 1:26 - 27 in his walk through the book of James. He reminds us that it is not just what we believe that makes the difference; but how that belief affects our behavior, our living. He highlights three points from the passage that will enable us to live out "pure and undefiled religion".

As people of the Word, we are to pursue holiness. In fact, without it we cannot see God (Hebrews 12:14). So, biblically, what does holiness look like? Is it a list of do's and don'ts, a particular dress code, a prohibition of where or with whom we can hang out? In this message, Pastor Chris lays out what a holy life looks likes, according to James 1:19 - 21, and exhorts us to live our lives by Holy Spirit and not by flesh.

Evangelist R. G. Lee once said, "Sin will always take your farther than you want to go; it will always cost you more that you want to pay; and it will always keep you longer than you want to stay." No one is exempt from temptation and being tempted is not sinning. Acting on the the temptation is where the sin lies. In this message, Pastor Chris teaches from James 1:12 - 15, laying out the deathly progression: lust → sin → death. He reminds us though, that enduring through the crucible of temptation brings the crown of reward.