Amherst Wesleyan Church

Family is so important to many of us. We want good things for our family and we want our family members to be good people. Yet, it seems like we are always on the edge of our families falling apart. So we hold on tighter, and it still doesn't change. If you want to take your family back from teh brink, Christ needs to be in charge of you and your family. Matthew 10:37-39 & Joshua 24:14-28 If Christ isn't leading you AND your family, they will get lost.

When was the last time you felt like you had freedom in your life? I'm guessing you spend a lot of time feeling like someone else is manipulating or controlling your life. You just react to whatever someone else is doing, or have to chase whatever desire or craving you have. You feel trapped and like someone else is just dragging you around. And the crazy part is that the more you try to take your life back, the more enslaved you become. There is a way to change that though. Matthew 16:25 The only way to get your life back is to give it to Jesus.

Whether you are already a Christian, are looking for answers or really don't think this Jesus stuff is for you, it is hard to argue with the changed lives of those who get baptized. It shows us, or reminds us, just how good God is and how much He wants to do in and through us. Ephesians 2:1-10 Death doesn't need to be your way of Life.

Just work harder! Push through the pain. Don't give up. Keep trying. We hear those things and we say those things and we still fail at the most important things. When you're broken, it's not about trying harder, it's about getting healed. Romans 6:15-18 Romans 7:6-7, 13 Romans 8:3, 26-39 Submission, not struggle, is the path to success.

As much as sin ruins our lives and leads us deeper and deeper into destruction, God doesn't require us to change before He loves us. He takes the first step. He loves you, and those around you, even though we are sinners. Yet, we have a hard time loving others, especially those who sin against us. The only way we can love sinners like God loves sinners is to have His heart in us! Romans 5:8 God loves sinners.

When we feel like we have gone down a path so far that it startles us, we sometimes turn around and think, "how did I even get here?" It's hard to nail down where we even started down those paths and it seemed so natural to continue following it. That's what sin does. When we read the letter Paul wrote to the church in Rome we see that he lays out the path sin takes us on, and he pinpoints what starts it all. Sin always pushes the boundaries Romans 1:21-32

Do you need to check your brain at the door when you start to consider faith in God? I don't think so. Actually, the more you use your brain the more God makes sense! Romans 1:20 When you let science speak, it tells us there is a God.

12 Lessons from 12 Years of Marriage

Sexuality and gender are two of the most debated, emotionally charged, and politically manipulated topics of this present age. There is confusion, frustration, fear, hurt, and desperation involved in all of these conversations. What does God say about these things, and what are we as followers of Jesus supposed to do with that? Galatians 2:16, Isaiah 56:3-5 Jesus, not moral reform, is the solution.

When you do a google search for references to slavery in the Bible you will find a bunch of passages about it, and a lot of them talk about it as allowed. What are we supposed to do with that? How are we supposed to make sense of that? Does that mean God was for the European slave trade? Does that mean God thinks racism is okay? If not, where does it say that? It's a hard subject to tackle, but I think when we are able to understand what God says about slavery we will see a much different picture. Slavery may have been allowed in the ancient world, but you were only ever meant to belong to God. 1 Cor 6:19-20

As people who follow Jesus, what are we supposed to do with the Old Testament, especially the Old Testament Law? Sometimes we talk about it as if we still need to follow it, and other times we completely ignore the rules it outlines. How do we know what to follow and what not to? Do we need to follow any of the rules? This is a topic that was debated even when the church was first coming together after Jesus resurrection. So, what are we supposed to do? You don't need to follow the Old Testament law, but you do need to fulfill it. Matthew 5:17, Romans 8:3-4, Galatians 5:13-26

When you get older you get caught thinking about the past glory days. When you are a kid you are consumed with dream about your future. This puts our families in a problematic scenario because we end up looking away from each other! God speaks very clearly about His desire for how generations are supposed to interact with each other, and it isn't ignoring one of the other! We need to look to each other, not away from each other. 1 Peter 5:1-5, Malachi 4:6 & Heb 13:7

There are no shortages of threats to your family. Whether it is a schedule that is simply too busy, online content that leads to cheating and affairs, peer pressure at school, overstimulation, the pursuit of money, gossip, and even sports. How are you supposed to know what to allow in your family and what you should get rid of? And are those things really worth getting rid of? Well, I think we need to be more ruthless in our protection of our family, because these things aren't just distractions, they can actually be attacks! If something opposes love, honour, respect or patience in your family, it's actually attaching your family. 1 Tim 3:5, 5:8, Eph 5-6, Matt 5:30

It isn't always the case, but each member of your family needs something particular from the other members of their family and doesn't get it. Parents need honour from their kids. Wives need love from their husbands. Husbands need respect from their wives. Kids need patience from their parents. Well, we all need all those things, but those are the things that we often lack but desperately need. Everyone in your family needs love, honour, respect and patience. Ephesians 5:33-6:4

Parents are not always easy to get along with and sometimes they are not the kind of people who are even honorable. Yet, God tells us that we are supposed to honour them. How does that make sense? Are we supposed to do whatever they tell us, even if it is wrong or stupid? Is this something we are supposed to still hold to? This is a hard question, but when you realize the difference between respect and honour and the clear directive of God, it becomes something we can only do with Jesus. Eph 6:1-3 Treat your parents as if they are more important than you think they are.

We all want what's best for our kids but sometimes our pursuit for what's best can miss the BEST God has for them. Hannah understood this which is why she gave Samuel to God. We can trust God with the outcome and destiny of our children's lives.

We go through life with hopes, dreams, and goals of accomplishment. Sometimes though, those don't materialize and we're left thinking, why should I even bother? In the book of 1 & 2 Samuel, we discover that Jonathan; Saul's son, was faithful to God in spite of the fact that he recieved no earthly rewards and when all was said and done, Jonathan dies in battle. Later on, Jonathan's son Methpiboseth, is rewarded by David because of Jonathan's faithfulness. When we follow Jesus, we might not recieve earthly blessings, but our faithfulness may lead to blessings for others after us.

We all have problems of many kinds and the temptation we feel when we face problems is to blame someone else or something else. The Bible doesn't allow us to blame others and get away with our problems and blaming never helped solve any of our problems. King Saul failed to learn this lesson and lost everything. We need to take responsibility for our actions, apologize to those we've hurt by blaming them, and make changes to ourselves. Then we will see a difference and our problems begin to go away.

We all know the feeling of being lost, and for most people it feels like we are all on our own trying to figure out what we should be doing next. We assume that God doesn't actually speak to people, or that we aren't good enough for Him to speak to us. Maybe He is too busy to talk to us. So we feel even more lost and alone. I don't think that's how it actually works though! 1 Samuel 3 You don't need to make God speak, you just need to recognize Him when He does.

When we try to follow God we face opposition. We get hit with obstacles, problems, attacks and lies. The problem is that we often listen to the lies the enemy tells us when facing those things. For some reason we even start to assume that he is looking out for us... which doesn't make any sense at all! The enemy isn't talking to us to help us defeat him! He is talking to us so that he can defeat us! Maybe we should stop listening to what he has to say... Like David did when facing Goliath. 1 Samuel 17 When the enemy talks to you, he isn't trying to help you.