Good News Church – Yukon, OK

In October 2019, I wrote a journal entry where I recorded how I had asked the Lord what life adjustment I could make to have a greater impact on his kingdom. During the night, I felt God deal with me about the importance of meditating the word. I knew that God was saying if I would meditate God's word regularly, I would be more effective to him. I saw a comparison between a strong engine and the heart that is strengthened by meditation, in that they are both tuned to do what they are intended for. The Bible emphasizes the importance of this habit, and I hope to bring some light to it from scripture to you.

One of the greatest blessings God gave me in this world was an older brother. He in some ways was like a father to me and is someone I truly look up to. Family is a dear thing that God has given us on earth, and nothing is more crushing than the death of a family member. Grief can shadow all of the joy in your life and cause you to temporarily forget the blessings God has given you. Even more hope can be found in knowing that if the family member was a follower of God, they are now communing with him in eternity. A family in our church congregation recently experienced the loss of someone who was a brother, son, and grandson. I hope that my message given from the Word can offer some comfort for them and for others who may experience this difficulty of life.

Each year I attempt to come at the resurrection of Christ from a new angle, and this year I would like to focus on the biblical concept of humility before honor. God rewards humility and a self-awareness in a world that is all about "me". Christ gave the ultimate example of humility in the Passion week - he was whipped, scorned, spit upon, and beaten. And yet three days later, he had risen as the king of kings and lord of lords. The believer may undergo a similar transformation in God's eyes. Although we began as unclean sinners, God has brought us to honor in his sight through the cleansing of the blood.

When I first began reading the Bible as a high schooler, I realized so many of the passages warned about money and greed. Indeed, there are many people who fell astray in the Bible due to the unyielding influence of money on their decision making. And yet we must recognize that the Bible does not say money is evil, only that the love of it is. God wants to provide our needs and allow us to live in this world which requires money. There are many Bible passages that speak of God's blessing on believers in relation to money that we should not overlook due to fear of greed.

Often there is a question of what happened between the death of Jesus and his resurrection. We are given a glimpse into that interval in the passage Ephesians 4, where it is said that Jesus descended down into the earth before ascending up into the heavens. One sentence stands out in particular: "When he ascended on high he led a host of captives, and he gave gifts to men." What are these gifts he gave? Jesus gave us his spirit and its many gifts. These gifts empower us and enable us to carry out the Great Commission.

What does the Bible have to say about God's plan for us being blessed in life? There can often be some opposition to stating the belief that God wants to bless us in ways other than just non-financial. The simple truth is that Satan does not want you to be blessed, but God wants to provide for you and meet your needs. The prosperity God wishes to bring you is whole -- meeting your physical, spiritual, and, yes, financial needs. God truly is our God of plenty.

We live in a day where there are a lot of distractions and ways to get sidetracked off the main thing. Of course, the main thing in Christianity is to love the Lord our God and to love our neighbor. The main thing is to go into all the world and make disciples of all nations. It is obvious from these statements that we are called to run with purpose. God has not called us to haphazardly pursue his purpose for us but instead to move intentionally and with focus. When thinking about the word "run," the dictionary speaks that it is "when both the feet are in air." This speaks to our calling to wholly trust God and be fully involve, with both feet.

The Bible talks about blessings for you, but not only spiritual ones. There is a biblical basis for God blessing his people with material blessings. While we won't have any need for physical possessions in eternity, the fact is that to live in this world money is a requirement. My hope is that we can go through several scriptures that demonstrate this biblical truth and bring you enlightenment. While there is a view of money that is unbiblical, that of greed, this should not cause us to discard all of the truths spoken of in the Bible about money.

I believe that despite the darkness of our times, God is going to do a great work and manifest his glory. Psalms 75:7 says, "But God is the judge: he putteth down one, and setteth up another." We can feel powerless in a world seemingly ruled by enemies of God, but it must be remembered that God is sovereign and fully in control of the situation. There is no ruler who has arisen that God was surprised by. He will bring about his master plan of the ages, and we must hold strong to our faith in him and his might.

I grew up in a good church, but if you had asked me at the time to tell you what the Bible says about money, I would have only had negative things to say from the Bible. Certainly, the Bible does warn against greed and the dangerous pursuit of money. However, I was not fully exposed to the other side of the Bible's relationship to money, its promise that God will provide our needs and bless us. We see an example of this in the earliest forefathers of Israel, in God's blessing toward Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. If they were so blessed, how much more us!

Are you living God's good life he has planned for every believer? The Bible describes a very specific life that God would desire his children live. It is important to not stumble in your Christian life and become caught up in anger, jealousy, or disunity. Therefore, it is crucial that the believer exercise thankfulness, avoid bitterness, and possess longevity. If you can get these three areas right, many other parts of your life will comes together in holy unity.

God has a financial plan for everyone. Just as he has a plan that relates to your health, marriage, or family, he also has a plan for and cares about your finances. The simple fact is that to live on this earth, money is required, and God is well aware of his. Throughout the Bible, God states that he will provide for his people and take care of us. In the book of Genesis, we see that Israel's earliest ancestors were greatly blessed by God, to help fulfill his plan he had for the Hebrews. God will give us the financial provision to live our lives and complete what he has tasked us with.

Do you know how old Moses was when he died? The Bible says he was 120 years old, and yet his body was still in excellent condition: "His eye was not dim, nor his natural force abated." The Bible describes that for those who possess faith and do God's will, God extends a supernatural strength toward them to help them fulfill their mission. For Moses, it was leading the children of Israel into the promised land. While we are not all tasked with freeing a nation, the purpose for which God has placed us on this earth can be more greatly fulfilled with the supernatural strength offered by God. As someone born again, this healing and supernatural ability is available to us, if we only exercise faith to receive it.

Who are you in Christ? What belongs to you in Christ? I am not referring to things that require much prayer and fasting to obtain from God. These are things we have inherited as part of our rebirth in Christ. Colossians 2:10 states that we are "complete in Him." The Bible speaks in both a past and present tense about God's work in us. We have been redeemed, but are also a continual work of bringing about holiness. While the Bible speaks of contentment, it does not speak of complacency. We must strive to live in our empowerment obtained through the new birth while desiring further growth.

I would like to talk to you about the resurrection of Jesus Christ and its implication on our lives today that it holds. I don't want to come across like I am telling you something you don't know already -- I am talking about something very fundamental to our faith. This belief is losing ground in younger American generations according to polls, and thus it is essential to hold onto our greatest assurance of faith, the knowledge that on the third day Jesus was raised from the dead. Here I hope to inform you of some arguments based in apologetics that will give you a hasty answer to questions and doubts of the resurrection of Christ.

I want to speak to you about the completeness of the believer when they are in Christ. As a transformed individual through the saving power of the blood of Jesus, we have access to a completeness of that comes through faith. This completeness comes about because of Christ's triumph in death and resurrection. As Colossians 2:15 states, "He disarmed the rulers and authorities and put them to open shame, by triumphing over them in him." The believer has access to this same empowerment, if they will exercise faith.

At some point in all of our lives, something is going to happen that rubs us the wrong way or hurts our feelings. It can feel like life isn't fair -- but as someone wise once told me, the fair only comes to town once a year. The Bible lays out a model for how to handle offenses in a way that glorifies God, especially in the story of John the Baptist. John was the forerunner to Jesus the Messiah, but he found himself in prison due to speaking out against Herod. When he sent his disciples to Jesus, he was given some inspired advice for how to overcome an offense.

Some members of our church and myself had a great meeting at the Oklahoma Capitol recently. I had been asked to speak there that night and felt that God had impressed upon me a special message that I would like to share to you all. I think anytime there is a new year there can be a question of if God has any words or messages to say about the upcoming year. I believe that an understanding of God's promises in the Bible is a basis for believing great things in this new year. If you raise your expectations of what God will do through you in this year of 2024, you will be amazed at the results.

My message is simple: no strife. Zero. None. Strife divides us. It has a way of creating open doors for the devil to come in and fulfill his mission of killing, stealing, and destroying. There can be a mindset of immaturity that invades us and tries to get us to pin all our problems on another person. But often, it is us who is in need of prayer. When you get into strife, you get out of love, joy, and peace. It is essential that you learn to avoid strife as described in the Bible.

I would like to follow up on my last message tonight with a discussion of a Christian's role of generosity in relation to their treasures - specifically, I would like to talk about a biblical basis for tithing. I have gathered five lessons on tithing to share with you that I hope will bring you much insight. Tithing is not fundraising, it is instead God's way of raising Christians to grow in character and trust. It is his way to teach us stewardship over what he has given us. After his ultimate expression of generosity through the sacrifice of his son, all he asks in return is to give our first fruits back to him.