Jan 21, 2024
Built by Jesus; Built for Jesus
What goes into the construction of a church? Is it only dollars and cents or is there something deeper? In this message, Pastor Rich discusses that and determines the most critical aspects are spiritual and attitudinal. He emphasizes the importance of experiencing the fullness of joy that God has for born-again Christians, despite the challenges and difficulties of life. He looks at the parable from Matthew 21:33 - 44, and focuses on the importance of obedience, availability, and faith in God. We must prioritize getting closer to God through Jesus Christ and yielding to His Presence in our everyday life. Our goal must be being connected to Jesus and living a life aligned with God's will.
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  • Jan 21, 2024Built by Jesus; Built for Jesus
    Jan 21, 2024
    Built by Jesus; Built for Jesus
    What goes into the construction of a church? Is it only dollars and cents or is there something deeper? In this message, Pastor Rich discusses that and determines the most critical aspects are spiritual and attitudinal. He emphasizes the importance of experiencing the fullness of joy that God has for born-again Christians, despite the challenges and difficulties of life. He looks at the parable from Matthew 21:33 - 44, and focuses on the importance of obedience, availability, and faith in God. We must prioritize getting closer to God through Jesus Christ and yielding to His Presence in our everyday life. Our goal must be being connected to Jesus and living a life aligned with God's will.
  • Jan 14, 2024Return to the Lord
    Jan 14, 2024
    Return to the Lord
    As beneficial as attending church is, it can never replace a real relationship with God. In this message, Pastor Rich highlights the need to rekindle a strong, personal relationship with God, citing that our actions should reflect our devotion to Him. He also points out the significance of repentance and the need for a revival in the church. Pastor Rich looks at 2 Chronicles 29:1 - 7 to illustrate the story of Hezekiah and his efforts to restore worship in the nation, emphasizing the role of prayer, sanctification, and purification. He exhorts us to empty ourselves and seek the empowerment of the Holy Spirit in order to walk in genuine faith and righteousness.
  • Jan 7, 2024Communion: With God / With Each Other
    Jan 7, 2024
    Communion: With God / With Each Other
    What hinders a church's growth? In short--communion. Our communion with God and communion with each other determines our growth. In this message, Pastor Rich looks at several passages, including 1 Corinthians 10:16, 17, 1 Corinthians 11:23 - 26, and Psalms 106:8 - 15. He emphasizes our need to die to self in order to see God's best. He also points out what we can learn from the Israelites time in the wilderness and the pitfalls we must avoid in order to move on into all that God has for us.
  • Dec 31, 2023Off the Beaten Path
    Dec 31, 2023
    Off the Beaten Path
    As a true Christian, we will experience being in places that we have never been and maybe do not want to be in, and we will do things that we have never done before. In this message, Pastor Rich walks through the account of Jesus' very intentional trip through Samaria with His disciples, found in John 4:1 - 42. Pastor Rich highlights three points we need to learn as believers: 1) our spiritual world becomes our physical world; 2) our human nature is to avoid change; and 3) if we want to see the works of Jesus, we must change.
  • Dec 17, 2023Lessons From a Manger
    Dec 17, 2023
    Lessons From a Manger
    In one night, centuries of prophecies were fulfilled in the birth of the Savior, Jesus. Do we, the twenty-first century Church, have anything to learn from the responses of the different people and people groups to that event? In this message, Pastor Rich looks at the nativity account as recorded in Luke 2:8 - 17 and Matthew 2:1 - 18. From those accounts, he answers three questions that are critical to our Christian walk: 1) Do I respond or take action when I hear the Word of God?; 2) Do I defend myself when I hear the Word of God?; and 3) Do I do nothing when I hear the Word of God?
  • Dec 10, 2023Meet at the Altar
    Dec 10, 2023
    Meet at the Altar
    When things seem impossible, we need to ask ourselves three questions: 1) Did we give up?; 2) Did we settle for less?; and 3) Are we living in condemnation? In this message, Pastor Rich looks at Luke 1:5 - 14 and Hebrews 13:8 - 15 and points out that the answers to these three questions can only be found in one place--the altar. He reminds us that, as children of God, we all have a ministry, something we are to be doing for His Kingdom; but, it is beyond our ability without God. So, we have a vital need to press in to God at the altar--to find His strength, His joy, His direction for our lives.
  • Dec 3, 2023Frustrated Faith
    Dec 3, 2023
    Frustrated Faith
    We are each accountable for what we do with the measure of faith we have been given. And what we do with that faith determines where we ultimately end up. In this message, Pastor Rich looks at several passages, including Habakkuk 1:2 - 4, 2:4, John 6:53 - 64, and Matthew 26:40 - 41. He highlights the misguided illusion that everything will be easy with God; but, as we see in the garden of Gethsemane, it was not easy for Jesus to lay down His life. As He did, we must keep our eyes on the Father, follow Him and be obedient to His Word.
  • Nov 26, 2023Jesus
    Nov 26, 2023
    Jesus
    Would we recognize Jesus if He were walking around today? The truth is, we often do not see God working in our lives because we do not think about Him as a real person or being in our midst. In this message, Pastor Rich compares our similarities with the lame man at the pool of Bethesda in John 5:1 - 23. As the lame man did, we often focus our worship on a place or event rather than the person of Jesus. In the many religions of the world, Jesus is the difference. If He's not in it, it is just a time filler.
  • Nov 12, 2023Looking for Jesus
    Nov 12, 2023
    Looking for Jesus
    God is unchanging; and as we walk with Him, we change to be more like Him. In this message, Pastor Rich looks at two people, from Luke 18:31 - 19:10, who were desperately looking for Jesus while in the midst of people who had become apathetic to Him. Pastor Rich reminds us that when we are not actively looking for Christ, we become ashamed when He shows up because we have allowed things in our lives that are not holy.
  • Oct 29, 2023Being An Empty Vessel
    Oct 29, 2023
    Being An Empty Vessel
    Going to church does not equate going to heaven. Our lives need to be changed from the inside out. For that change to happen, we must make ourselves open, empty vessels in which God can continually pour His Spirit. In this message, Pastor Rich looks at the account of the prophet's wife in 2 Kings 4:1 - 7, whose obedience led to her and her family's breakthrough. In the same way, our obedience will determine what we receive from God. And our willingness to empty ourselves out of what is not from God will determine our effectiveness in this world for the Kingdom of God.
  • Oct 22, 2023Dead In Christ
    Oct 22, 2023
    Dead In Christ
    What does "being dead" really mean? In this message, Pastor Rich expounds on Colossians 3:3 and highlights what life looks like when we are fully dead to self and hid in Christ. He reminds us that we do not get out of this world alive and, unlike in video games, we only get this one life. We must determine that we are dead in Christ, but He is alive in us, so that we are no longer limited by the things of our flesh. We have to become passionate about the things that Jesus wants.
  • Oct 15, 2023Make Room
    Oct 15, 2023
    Make Room
    Who is the first person we pursue in difficult times? Are we willing to be inconvenienced and change the way we live at home so that we can experience God as never before? In this message, Pastor Rich looks at those questions, referencing the Shunammite woman's behavior in 2 Kings 4:8 - 37. As she did, we must allow God to come into our homes, into the nitty-gritty of our lives and dwell with us. Going to church is good; but until we make room for God in our home, He'll always just be passing by. To impact our world for God's kingdom, we must start at home.
  • Oct 8, 2023Built Up & Walking in the Fear of the Lord
    Oct 8, 2023
    Built Up & Walking in the Fear of the Lord
    God will complete the work He began in us and in His Church. But, do we understand what it is going to take to complete what He's called us to? In this message, Pastor Rich looks at the early church and Peter in Acts 9:31 - 43 to see what they were doing that "turned the world upside down". We must realize that, to reach the world with the Gospel, we will be inconvenienced and put in uncomfortable spots. But it is all for the magnification and glory of God.
  • Oct 1, 2023Putting Legs to Our Prayers
    Oct 1, 2023
    Putting Legs to Our Prayers
    When we get saved, that is just the beginning; it is when we finally start running in the right direction, running with purpose. And, along the way, we have Jesus as our "coach". We cannot stop short of completing what God has called us to. We must put legs to our prayers. In this message, Pastor Rich looks at the account of the paralytic's friends who did just that. They understood what we must understand, the Church is a team and we all must work together to move along in what we are called to accomplish for God. We have a responsibility to follow through on what God has placed on our hearts.
  • Sep 24, 2023On the Outside Looking In
    Sep 24, 2023
    On the Outside Looking In
    In the three years that the disciples, including Peter, physically walked with Jesus, He told them many things about His death, burial and resurrection. But, because they had other ideas for how God's Kingdom should be established, they weren't listening. So they found themselves hopeless during the three days that Jesus was in the tomb. In this message, Pastor Rich begins with Mark 16:7 to walk through how Peter ended up in such despair and turmoil following the crucifixion. He points out that without the testing of our faith, we will always have a superficial, in-word-only faith, which leaves us open to be easily derailed when God does things differently than we think they should be done.
  • Sep 17, 2023Religion or Relationship
    Sep 17, 2023
    Religion or Relationship
    The church during Jesus' ministry on earth, the Pharisees, was not thrilled to see Jesus and did not want to accept His claim as Son of God. His ministry was encroaching on their popularity, their corner of the "religious market". In this message, Pastor Rich looks at the woman's anointing of Jesus in Luke 7:36 - 50 and points out that Jesus was emphasizing the true purpose of worship, the true purpose of the sacrifices and living as a child of God. That purpose was and is RELATIONSHIP. Jesus' desire has always been relationship over rote rituals and religion.
  • Sep 10, 2023Get Out of the Way
    Sep 10, 2023
    Get Out of the Way
    In our Christian walk, we sometimes think about ourselves, our objectives, what we want to accomplish, and people seem to get in the way. This is opposite to Jesus' way of thinking. We should be about people. In this message, Pastor Rich looks at the account of Naaman in 2 Kings 5:1 - 14. As Naaman had to, we must lay aside our preconceived ideas of how God will work, and just be obedient. Pastor Rich lays out six things that had to happen before Naaman could be healed. As the Church, we need to adopt these attitudes to allow God to minister through us to the people around us. Instead of telling others to "get out of the way" so we can do our thing, we must tell ourselves to "get out of the way" so God can move in and through us to the people for which He gave His life.
  • Sep 3, 2023Roundabout Christianity
    Sep 3, 2023
    Roundabout Christianity
    God is more interested in our faith rather than our comfort. In this message, Pastor Rich looks at Jesus' miracle and teaching in Luke 11:14 - 23. Pastor Rich points out that signs and wonders should follow those who believe, but, as believers, we should be looking for Jesus Himself and not the signs. We must avoid the trap of getting comfortable in our walk with Christ and getting stuck in a roundabout, going in circles, just marking time in one place until Jesus returns. We must make the decision to move forward, no matter how difficult it may seem, to get where God wants us.
  • Aug 27, 2023Believe Enough to Share the Truth
    Aug 27, 2023
    Believe Enough to Share the Truth
    God wants to do things more than we want Him to do things. And sometimes, our prayers become more us praying our agenda instead of seeking God's agenda. In this message, Pastor Rich looks at how a person behaves who has encountered Jesus and is actually desperate for more of Him, in the account of Mary Magdalene at the tomb, in Mark 16:9 - 20. When we get that point of desperation and expectation, Jesus will reveal Himself to us, so that we will believe enough to share the Truth.
  • Aug 20, 2023Actions Speak Louder Than Words
    Aug 20, 2023
    Actions Speak Louder Than Words
    "He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose." -Jim Elliot, missionary to Ecuador
    Our actions determine what we really have in our hearts. Are we willing to set aside our to-do list, our agenda, to be obedient to God? In this message, Pastor Rich delves into what true faith looks like in a person's life. Beginning with the parable in Matthew 21:28 - 32, he takes us on a journey through the Bible, following a person who was willing to be obedient, even though it could mean death for her and her family--Rahab. Pastor Rich highlights that faith and action cannot be separated.
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