And He came down to Capernaum, a city of Galilee, and He was teaching them on the Sabbath; and they were amazed at His teaching, for His message was with authority. Luke 4:31-32 I have heard Christians say that they are not concerned about doctrine or theology when looking for a church. The conversation goes something like this, "I want to find a church that loves people and Jesus. Nothing else matters." You might even be thinking, what's the big deal? Why are doctrine and

If you abide in My word, then you are truly My disciples; and you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free. John 8:31-32 What is the difference between a true believer and a false believer? There will always be a mixture of the two in every true Church. Even the 12 apostles', the first disciples, had a false believer, Judas Iscariot, in their midst. So how can you be sure that you truly belong to Him? Jesus gives us the answer, "If you abide in My word, then you

While they are saying, "Peace and safety!" then destruction will come upon them suddenly like labor pains upon a woman who is pregnant, and they will never escape . 1 Thessalonians 5:3 Every Christian, including the early church, has wondered if the end is near. Will Christ return while you're alive? There has never been a shortage of people claiming to know when Christ will return. A Baptist preacher by the name of William Miller predicted the second coming of Jesus Christ w

Since you have in obedience to the truth purified your souls for a love of the brothers without hypocrisy, fervently love one another from the heart, 1 Peter 1:22 In the movie, The Princess Bride, Vizzini, Fezzik and Inigo Montoya have kidnapped the princess bride. They are on the ship and the hero, Westley, is in pursuit. Over and over, Vizzini keeps using the word inconceivable to describe that he cannot believe the hero is gaining on them. Inigo's rebuttal to Vizzini's con

For I am the least of the apostles, and not worthy to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God . 1 Corinthians 15:9 When God called you to be His laborers, He called you for a purpose. Can you imagine what was going through the mind of Saul when God called him on the road to Damascus? He was a Pharisee, a son of Pharisees. He was zealous in his persecution of Christians before he got saved. Yet God used him to author more letters in the New Testament than

If the world hates you, know that it has hated Me before it hated you . John 15:18 How would you answer the question, "Are you hated"? I think most of us would respond, "I don't think so." For the most part, people want to get along with everyone. The vast majority of people try to avoid conflict in their lives. I, for one, find it very unpleasant when I have conflict with another person. In the letter to the Romans, Paul urges all believers to avoid conflicts, "if possible,

This Sunday through Tuesday, we are blessed to have Justin Peters preach and teach at our church. Justin was last here in September of 2014. I first became aware of his ministry when I listed to the Strange Fire Conference at John MacArthur's church, Grace Community, in November of 2013. His website describes his ministry as follows, "Justin Peters Ministries is a worldwide expository preaching and teaching ministry. We focus on teaching the sufficiency of God's word and expo

Preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort, with great patience and teaching. For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine, but wanting to have their ears tickled, they will accumulate for themselves teachers in accordance to their own desires, and will turn away their ears from the truth and will turn aside to myths . 2 Timothy 4:2-4 Today I am deviating from the sermon series in Matthew to answer the call from Pastor Jo

Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ . Romans 5:1 What do you think of when you hear the word justified? Webster defines justified as “having or shown to have a just, right, or reasonable basis.” We use the term in case of justifiable homicide. The taking of another life in self-defense or trying to save the life of another would be ruled a justifiable homicide. You might be justified in a civil proceeding wher