A few weeks ago I preached a sermon about what Jesus did in Worship and how we ought to apply His model to our Worship today.  This morning I was reading one of my daily devotionals and the subject was how our daily personal worship affects our lives and our relationships with others, particularly our spouses.  The devotional correctly pointed out that, “Personal worship is an absolute necessity for a strong marriage. It comes down to this: If I stop receiving from God, I start demanding from others. Instead of appreciating and loving and serving others, I become disappointed in them. Instead of cherishing my wife, I become aware of her shortcomings. I take out my frustrations with a less-than-perfect life and somehow blame her for my lack of fulfillment.”

As we talked about this past Sunday, anytime we tie our happiness to the actions (or inactions) of another human being, we are going to  be disappointed because ALL human beings have faults. When I consider all the times I have been irritated with a friend or family member because I don’t think they have treated me the way I would like, I recognize that I was merely transferring my displeasure with my own Spiritual relationship with God on to a convenient scapegoat.  If I am living in a proper state of Worship with God, the undesirable actions of others toward me won’t cause me to lash out at them, but rather to show them the love that God is showing me.  As the author of the devotional stated, “when my heart gets filled by God’s love and acceptance, I’m set free to love instead of worrying about being loved. I’m motivated to serve instead of becoming obsessed about whether I’m being served. I’m moved to cherish instead of feeling unappreciated…. That’s why worship sets me free. It meets my most basic need— to rest in the fact that I am known and loved, that I have a purpose, and that my eternal destiny and delight are secure.”

I encourage you to incorporate a worshipful spirit into your life and see what a difference it will make in all of your relationships.  Our Mid-week Prayer and Worship service is Wednesday at 7 p.m.  Come, let us Worship! 

-Pastor Dave Jones

Last week we discussed the importance of the FACT that Jesus is The ONE and ONLY Son of God.  This week, we learned why one of Jesus’ other titles, the Son of Man, was so important.  It all centers around one word – Redemption.  To “redeem” something means to “buy it back.”  In the case of The Son  of Man, Jesus came to earth to live and die as a mortal man so that He  could “buy back” eternal life for mankind.  Ever since Adam and Eve sinned in the Garden, Sin has been inherent in all human beings – we are born in a state of sin and, of our own accord, can do nothing about that.  Since God is Holy (perfect and sinless) He cannot allow anything unholy into Heaven.  This fact keeps mankind separated from God.  

Under the law, in the Old Testament, God allowed animal sacrifices to “cover” the sins of His people.  The animals had to be perfect specimens in order to  be accepted by the priest as atonement for the people’s sins.  However, under the new covenant (New Testament) Jesus became the perfect sacrifice for all sin for all time.  Since He was both Divine (God) and Mortal (man) He could perfectly redeem the sin of all mankind forever by dying in our place.  Some people want to see Jesus as a “great man,” a “gifted teacher,” a “highly moral man,” or even a “prophet.”  Yes, He was all those things, but more importantly He was and is The Savior of the World who came to defeat Satan and death forever by dying for our sins and then being Resurrected to ascend to Heaven as The Lord of Lords and The King of Kings.

As we get closer to Christmas and think more about the birth of Baby Jesus, let us remember WHY He came and what He did for us.

-Pastor Dave Jones

Most of us can’t get through a single week without referring to someone by their “title.”  In many cases it is tied to their “rank” within an  organization (e.g., a military “Captain” or “Sergeant”), in other cases an elected office such as “Senator” or “Councilman.”  Titles are also used to denote those with  special qualifications in their particular vocation such as “Doctor” or “Pastor.”  While these titles span a wide range of purposes, they all have one  thing in common – they are granted and used as a sign of authority and respect.

This past Sunday we started considering some of the titles given to Jesus in The Bible.  The first title we examined for Jesus stems from Matthew 16 when Jesus asked His Disciples, “Who do you say that I am?”  Peter replied emphatically, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.”  Peter nailed that one!  While Jesus has at least 256 names/titles in Scripture, this was the one which Jesus was looking for from His Disciples.  How do we know this?  Because in  the next verse, Jesus tells Peter, “Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, for this was not revealed to you by man, but by My Father in Heaven.”  Jesus is telling Peter that he did not come  up with this title on his own or from hearing it from another man, but that this title was revealed to Peter by God Himself.  

With at least 255 other titles to His credit, why does Jesus make such a big deal about this one?  Because of the fact that Jesus is THE Christ and THE Son of The Living God.  No other individual in all of Scripture shares this title with Jesus. And John 3:18 declares: “Whoever believes in Him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because he has not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son.” Jesus is God’s ONE AND ONLY Son… there are no others. Why is this  so important?  Because our entire salvation rests on it!  Jesus HAD TO BE the one and only Son of God in order to be the perfect sacrifice to redeem us from our sins. 

As we prepare to observe the Lord’s Supper this coming Sunday, I challenge you to reflect on the FACT that Jesus is God’s One and Only Son.  I believe that when we fully realize all that title means it will drive us to obedience and worship of our only Lord and Savior.

-Pastor Dave Jones

To the vast majority of Americans, one of the most offensive words  in the English vocabulary does NOT have four letters, only three.  This tiny little monosyllabic word has kept more people out of church and created more heated arguments than racism, bigotry, and gender inequality combined.  What is this devastatingly divisive word? SIN.  What gives this small word so much power to induce argument?  Human Nature.  You see, our human nature, the sin nature we all inherited from Adam, makes us naturally inclined to pride and pride tells us that we should get to behave any way we see fit and that others have no right to regulate our behavior.  Simply put, we want to be in  control and decide for ourselves right and wrong.

I  believe that one of  the greatest misconceptions people harbor about sin is that there is a “list of do’s and don’ts” which constitute sin.  Most people would tell you that violating the Ten Commandments is what followers of Jesus define as sin.  In truth, many Christians share that definition.  However, the real truth is that sin is anything which separates a person from God.  God has a perfect plan for each person’s life and when we allow anything to prevent us from doing God’s will, it is sin to us.  What that means is that sin is not one size fits all.  You may enjoy an activity in your life, such as following professional football, which is not in and of itself immoral or harmful to others.  However, if you allow your love for football to become more important than your  love for  God, it is sin to you.  If you allow football to  keep you from attending Worship services or Bible studies, it is likely that you have a new god in the form of pigskin.  If you are truly a follower of Christ, He has become your Lord and Master and serving Him will be the top priority in your life.  Does that mean that you can’t watch football?  Of course not!  It simply means that our faith will be shown by our actions.  As one wise preacher put it, “Show me your checkbook and your calendar and I’ll show you who you worship.”

We should never believe that we can simply “not sin.”  Romans 3:23 is very clear that “All have sinned and fall short of the Glory of God.”  The Greek word from which we derive the word sin came from the world of archery and meant “missing the bullseye.”  The bullseye in this case is God’s perfect righteousness and NONE of us are going to hit that in this lifetime.  Nevertheless, that is the standard to which God holds us accountable.  Before you throw up your hands in despair and say, “why even try if I can’t succeed,” allow me to share some good news with you.  God already KNOWS we can’t succeed on our own and, in His abundant mercy and grace, provided The Way for us to achieve righteousness – through the perfect sacrifice of Jesus Christ on the Cross.  Paul tells us in Ephesians 2:1 that we were “dead in our trespasses,” then goes on to say that, “God made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved.”  John 3:16 tells us that God loved us so much He sent Jesus to die for us as our substitute to pay the penalty of our sins and that all we need to do is believe in and follow Him and we will be declared righteous and all our sins forgiven forever.  

If you are tired of always missing the mark and feeling like your future is out of control, now is the time to take action.  Release yourself from the bondage of sin and know the joy of eternal righteousness and eternal life with God.  He is pursuing you right now – all you need do is turn around and run to His loving arms.  That is, indeed, the Good News! 

-Pastor Dave Jones

For the past several weeks we have been studying how lies we believe affect the way we think, view the world, and behave.  Lies we believe about ourselves are particularly dangerous since they are most likely to influence our actions.  The truth is that the way we behave is largely based on what we believe about ourselves, God, and others.  In other words our behavior shows the world what we believe…or, at least, it should.  Christians should be easy to identify in a crowd since Scripture tells us that we will “be known by our fruits” (Matt. 7:16) and that we will not act like the world since we are “no longer slaves to our sin nature” (Rom. 6:6).  

The world may lead you to believe that you are “worth-less” than others by judging you on the wildly-subjective and constantly changing standard of sinful man.  God tells you that you are “priceless” and that He sacrificed His only Son just so you could live.  Who are you going to believe?

The world may lead you to believe that you’re a “good person” in and of yourself so you don’t need Christ to help you.  God tells us our default position is “totally depraved” (Jer. 17:9) and “dead in our sins” (not dying, not sick, DEAD) (Eph. 2:1) and ONLY through His Grace and our acceptance and submission to the Lordship of Jesus Christ can we cross over from death to life (John 3:3; 5:24).  Scripture tells us we cannot “fix” our sin problem , but the world wants us to believe that we can if we just work hard enough.  Who are you going to believe?

The World may lead you to believe that God is all judgment and that your sins are too great to be overcome so you might as well just enjoy the life you have here.  God tells us that He loved us so much that He sent His only Son to redeem us (John 3:16) and that Christians are now a new creation in Christ and God now views us through the righteousness of Christ, our atoning sacrifice (2 Cor. 5:17, 21).  Who are you going to believe?

Given God’s track record for keeping His promises and comparing them to the inconsistencies and lies of  the World, there is ONLY One logical choice.  Choose life, Choose Christ, and let your belief in Him be shown in everything you do.  Go on, be daring, let your belief show!

-Pastor Dave Jones

We live in a society which likes to blame everyone, or everything, else for our foibles, faults, and failures.  We feel like we could succeed if only all these unfortunate circumstances didn’t keep popping up in our path.  “My shortcomings are not really my fault – I could be different if my circumstances were different!”  There is a name for this type of thinking – Victim Mentality.  You see, if we are victims of our circumstances then we are neither responsible nor accountable for our actions – we just can’t help being the way we are.  The victim  mentality is a very convenient excuse which allows us to rationalize our mistakes and justify them without damaging our self-esteem.  We don’t want to damage our egos by believing that we are not capable in some area of our lives because that would cause us pain and suffering. 

Our culture abhors pain and suffering of any type and will do almost anything to avoid any degree of discomfort or unpleasantness.  It makes sense that none of us enjoy pain or suffering, but does that mean we should never experience it?  Ask one of the Olympic athletes who just came home from Rio if they ever endured pain and unpleasantness while training to win the gold medal they are wearing around their neck.  Difficult circumstances are part of life.  They build character and teach us valuable lessons about life.  Moreover, God PERMITS us (His Children) to go through pain and suffering as part of our transformation to become more like Christ.  Just as gold is purified (refined) by fire, Christians become more like Christ when we endure hardships and difficult times.  God permits us to suffer so that we will learn dependence on Him and not ourselves.  Just as Paul learned to be content in all circumstances, we need to learn to strengthen our faith and dependence on God to weather the trials and tribulations of this world. God’s singular purpose is to reproduce the character of Christ in you, to glorify Himself through your life.  Every problem is a character building opportunity for God’s hands in your life.

If you want to experience peace and contentment in this world, you must stop living as the Center of the Universe and worship the One Who is.  Our God is an AWESOME God who has a master plan for your life.  The question you must answer is, “Am I willing to stay focused on God’s plan and not my pain or problem?”  Your focus will determine your actions.  As Corrie Ten Boom, who suffered the loss of her family and was imprisoned in a Nazi Concentration Camp said, “If you look at the world, you will be distressed. If you look within you will be depressed. But if you look at Christ, you will be at rest.”

I pray that you will learn to be at rest.

-Pastor Dave Jones

Yesterday we discussed the origin of the family and the fact that God ordained the marriage relationship to provide a loving and safe home for children to be produced, and reared.  Scripture reveals to us that children are a blessing from God and not a burden as the world would have us to believe.  One of the purposes of the marriage union is to produce GODLY CHILDREN!  At the heart of marriage is the calling to produce children, biological or adopted, who fear and revere the Lord.  Raising Godly children is one of the highest callings a Christian can have.  If God places such high importance on the value of raising Godly children and provides us the structure (family unit) in which to do it, why does our culture diminish the worth of the family and promote “self-fulfillment” in other ways?  

The world would have you believe that the “traditional” family is outdated and that adults will only find fulfillment through their jobs and the collection of  material wealth and “stuff.”  We have sought something called “personal fulfillment” in place of what God has called us to.  In societies where materialism has become the new god, the importance of children has become lessened and birth rates have plummeted.  Why?  Because we seek our happiness in stuff instead of self-giving.

We seek fulfillment in so many ways but refuse to experience the fulfillment God has for us. The question we must ask ourselves is, “Who do we want to please?” 

As we love our children, remember to pray  for them!

-Pastor Dave Jones

This week we examined the most common misconceptions about marriage by looking at the biblical definition of marriage and comparing it to the world’s view of marriage today.  This examination unveiled four of the most common lies we believe about  marriage:

1.     Lie 1.  “Marriage can be between ANY two people in love.”  Our society has attempted to redefine marriage to allow marriage between people of the same gender.  Jesus defined marriage for us in Matthew 19 as ”a permanent relationship between a man and a woman.”  There is NO ambiguity nor interpretation challenges with the biblical definition of marriage. Marriage is, if you believe in the authority of Scripture, exclusively reserved as an institution ordained by God between ONE Man and ONE Woman.  Any other definition of marriage is simply not biblical.

2.     Lie 2.  “Divorce is better than a bad marriage.”  Spouses in a troubled marriage want to blame each other for all the problems and want to treat marriage as a negotiable arrangement.  Jesus called marriage a permanent relationship.  The only biblically-stated exception for divorce was sexual immorality.  Marriage is HARD work and we must do  everything we can to maintain our relationship with our spouse.  The key is for both of you to put God in the center of your marriage.

3.     Lie 3.  “I can Change my Spouse.”  Many people enter into a marriage knowing that their partner has “flaws” which they believe they can  “fix” once they are married.  The truth is that the only person you can change is yourself.  If you are aware of “flaws” in your intended partner before you get married, work them out before you tie the knot or accept that you have signed up for living with  them as they are.

4.     Lie 4. “I have to be married to be happy.”  If you aren’t happy before you are married, you won’t be happy afterwards.  NO OTHER PERSON can make YOU happy!  Happiness comes from within – not from other people. 

A BIG part of unhappy marriages stems from the fact that most of us do not understand the purpose of marriage.  Marriage was not designed to make you happy!  Marriage exists to glorify and reflect God in the most difficult and intimate of all human relationships.  It’s NOT about YOU!  It’s about glorifying God through the institution of Marriage.  This is why it is CRITICAL that we keep God in the center of our marriages.  If HE is the focal point of the marriage in the eyes of both you and your spouse, your marriage will be blessed.  Ephesians 5 tells us that husbands are to love their wives as Christ loves the church.  Can you imagine how happy your marriage could be if we loved our spouse like Christ loves us.  That is the real definition of “Wedded Bliss.”  🙂

-Pastor Dave Jones