It can be pretty unnerving entering into a new year not knowing what is to come. You can plan, be purposeful, and even set goals…and those are good things. At the same time, God also wants us to know that He wants to be a part of our everyday activities because He thinks the world of us and has promises to go it all. 

We were created to produce a kind of "light" that builds others up and reflects who God is. It's easy to snuff out our own influence and impact because we tend to look at our flaws, mistakes, and lack of influence rather than how God made us. We were made to shine. 

We don’t live by absolute proof, we live by evidence. Faith is not blind; it follows the evidence God has placed in creation, in our conscience, in our very existence, and ultimately in Jesus. 

Picture God, who do you see? The Creator? The Savior? The Healer?  Maybe you’re not sure. Maybe you even wonder if He is real. We need to remember that just because He doesn’t answer our prayers exactly how we want; when we want, it doesn’t mean He’s not here with us.

As we entered into the Holiday season, we began with Thanksgiving. God Himself tells us to enter into His gates with thanksgiving and into His courts with praise. Why is gratitude a prerequisite for entering into His gates and praise necessary to step into His courtyard? 

We're going to explore how Israel escapes Egypt as God parts the Red Sea, showing His power to deliver. When trapped between the sea and Pharaoh’s army, God tells them: stay calm, move forward, and trust Him. He fights for them, makes a way where none exists, and proves His faithfulness—calling us to face our own “deep waters” with calm, action, and confidence in His power because He is able. 

Celebrating 2025 and looking forward to what God will do in 2026!

There are so many different ways of suffering, making the best choice out of the most difficult situations. We say things like "choose your battles," "pick your poison," and "choose the lesser of two evils." You could even say "choose your suffering." What does God say about making choices that wind us up in the win column?

As we follow the life of Jesus, we see His miracles and we also see how He loved others. All because He obeyed God, His Father. How can we as His children do better at loving Him and others?

What are expectations? The dictionary definitions expectations as "the degree of probability that something will occur." I've also heard it put this way, "Expectations are premeditated disappointments." In other words, when we have expectations, we set ourselves up for disappointment. We're going to learn how to manage the expectations we have on others, as well as ourselves. 

We all worry about the things we care about. Worrying can have negative effects on our health, spiritually, physically, emotionally, mentally, and socially. We can become paralyzed to living a life God made for us by worrying. Today, we'll be walking through why worrying is not healthy for us and how to respond to worry when it comes.

We all live different lives and have different stories of where life has taken us. Some of our stories are painful and some of them are spectacular. It's devastating when we go through something traumatic because it has the potential to scar us for the rest of our lives. God shows us how we can be victorious over being a victim. Victim means I allow the situation to keep me imprisoned and down for the rest of my life, hindering me from reaching my full potential. Victorious means I rise above the situations in my life that caused deep hurt or pain. 

We could be afraid of disappointing Him and get so down on ourselves. We could also be disappointed by God and how we may feel that He didn’t answer our prayers. Let’s look at the dangers of this sneaky and quiet emotion and how the Lord is still for us even when we don’t feel like He is.

Feel like you’re drowning? Feel like the flames of oppression are consuming you? Don’t feel alone because we all have been in those situations. Isaiah 43:2 addresses this common occurrence among men: 

“When you go through deep waters, I will be with you. When you go through rivers of difficulty, you will not drown. When you walk through the fire of oppression, you will not be burned up; the flames will not consume you.” 

So what’s the single truth we must hold onto when we are going through the water and fire? What’s the point that we need to remember? Let’s open our hearts to Holy Spirit to answer this question. 

There is a saying that goes like this: “If you keep doing the same thing over and over expecting different results, that’s called insanity.” Jesus challenged the religious people to do something with what they knew. And if they did, they would be blessed.

I can’t tell how many times I’ve had my foot in my mouth because of something I said. Controlling my tongue has always been a struggle. What can I do? Well, instead of seeing a podiatrist and dentist to remove the foot from my mouth, James 3 gives us the answer. Join me tonight as we seek true Godly wisdom and hopefully, prevent us from further “foot in mouth” disease!!!