It’s all too easy to forget to praise God, especially when time and circumstance leads us to focus on other things in this life. Today’s big idea is simply that God is worthy of praise, so we should praise Him. In particular, He should be praised for His might and His majesty, for His ability and His authority.
"Our Living Hope" (Easter 2023)
Because Jesus lives, we can live hopefully. Biblically speaking, hope isn’t mere wishful thinking; it’s a firm conviction about the future. Today’s passage is 1 Peter 1:3-5. It’s part of Peter’s introduction to a letter sent to suffering saints. In it, the apostle encourages his fellow Christ-followers to stand firm in the hope of Christ, which is solid and secure.
"The Triumph Of Christ" (Palm Sunday 2023)
God is gracious, and He knows that when we fail to see our suffering in the light of the Gospel, we will be susceptible to doubt and despair and the Devil’s deceptive influence. Today’s big idea is simple: The Gospel is the good news of God’s triumph over sin and suffering.
Daniel 3:19-30 - "Rescued From The Fiery Furnace"
God is sovereign, and He is with before, during and after every trial in this life.
Daniel 3:1-18 - "Christian Non-Conformity"
Christ is the ultimate non-conformist, so Christ-followers must resist being conformed to the world. Only then will we be able to understand our true value and uniqueness as human beings. But today’s passage reminds us that the world works against us by pushing worldly conformity and by punishing non-conformity.
Daniel 2:24-49 - "God Alone Holds The Future In His Hands"
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Uncertainty in our lives can lead us to lose sight of the goodness and faithfulness of God, and to become consumed by our own fears and doubts about the future. But Christians can take comfort in knowing that our sovereign God alone holds the future in his hands and HIS kingdom is secure and unshakeable.
Daniel 2:1-23 - "The Lord Knows"
Today’s big idea is that the Lord knows all, so we should all be turning to Him for wisdom and understanding. In our passage, the story of King Nebuchadnezzar reminds us that we all need divine wisdom, and it teaches us that such wisdom is available to us if we’ll just turn to God in faith.
Daniel 1:8-21 - "Seeking To Serve"
Today’s passage reminds us that we must seek the Lord in order to serve the Lord. That’s today’s big idea and we’re going to look at both seeking and serving.
Daniel 1:3-7 - "Teens Under Attack"
Our teens are being targeted and transformed by the world, so we must fight for them. Today’s passage is a great example of how worldly forces target and attempt to transform our young people. The teens of Daniel’s day weren’t so different than today’s teens. And the world certainly hasn’t changed much since then.
Daniel 1:1-2 - "Sovereignty"
Our Good God is sovereign over all things, so we can trust Him at all times. In today’s passage, we are taught to trust the goodness of sovereignty of God in two difficult situations: 1. When we see God’s people suffering; and 2. When we see God’s enemies succeeding.
Daniel - Overview
The Book of Daniel teaches us to trust God’s goodness when life is hard. He will meet us in our difficulties and despair to help us understand our past, present, and future in the light of His character and promises.
Proverbs 16 - "Planning and Providence"
We must entrust our lives to the Lord. This truth is well illustrated in Proverbs 16. Here we see that we can entrust our words, our works, and our ways to the Lord.
2023 Vision Message
1 Thessalonians 4 - "Grieving With Hope"
Acts 28:11-31 - "The Example Of Paul"
Whether we’re reading about the Acts of the Apostles or participating in Christian ministry in the 21st century, we’re participants and we can identify with the ministry of Paul. As we close out Acts, today’s big idea is that we are witnesses, just like Paul, so we can be just as purposeful and passionate as he was.
Acts 28:1-10 - "Holy Hands"
Today’s passage uses references to the hands of Paul to remind us that, like Paul, Christ is working through all Christians to accomplish God’s will. As the saying goes, we are the hands and feet of Christ. Our big idea is that we are indeed the holy hands of Christ, so we should expect His protection and power.
Acts 27:1-44 - "Hope Along The Way"
Often failure is what turns us from such false hopes to faith in God. Today’s big idea is that God allows failure for the sake of faith. Our passage emphasizes three related aspects of God’s dealings with people: 1. He allows the failure of false hopes; 2. He gives true hope to the hopeless; and 3. He gives help to those who look to Him for hope.
Acts 25:13-26:32 - "Interest & Intentionality"
Today’s big idea is that sharing Christ is about being intentional with the interest of others. Our passage begins with several people who are curious about a Christian man who is speaking of a risen Christ. However, the most important part of our passage reveals how that Christian man responds to their interest by intentionally speaking the truth about Jesus and telling of how He changed his life.
Acts 24:1-27 - "Pleasing God, Not Man"
In today’s passage, we see multiple opponents of Paul attacking his character and trying to have him taken out. They are seeking to please man, not God. And we do this too. But pleasing man leads to doubt and fear, and pleasing God leads to peace and boldness.
Acts 25:1-12 - "Political Protection"
Today’s passage reminds us that God works through even the worst political leaders. God is sovereign over government, so we can trust Him no matter who’s in office. He works through all political leaders, even the oppressive, oblivious, and opportunistic ones.
