Fathers are needed and wanted for much more than financial help. While 1 Thessalonians 2:10-12 is primarily directed toward church leaders, Paul talks about how their role is similar to a father’s. He states: “You know how we exhorted, and comforted, and charged every one of you, as a father does his own children.”...How thankful we can be for fathers who help their children “walk worthy of God” (v.12).  Good fathers reflect the heavenly Father.

Celebrities tend to misbehave in tiresome and predictable ways--tantrums, affairs, addictions--and we tend to think they’re spoiled. But one psychiatrist, Cornell’s Robert B. Millman, says they’re not spoiled, they’re sick. The affliction is Acquired Situational Narcissism...

As we “fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross” (Heb 12:2), we are inspired to follow His example of giving joyfully that others may also come to know and appreciate the love of God.

Lots of us in this church have tents. There are big and little ones, some very basic, some a bit more elaborate. Most of us enjoy our time spent in our tents...

The Wonder, the Glory and the Power - The greatest, most significant event in the history of the universe has been the death of Jesus Christ on the cross! 

The power of the Holy Spirit is not just for salvation, but transformation, a process that might be slow and gradual. The difference might look like this...

Ephesians 1:18-19 'I pray also that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, and his incomparably great power for us who believe.'

My Child, 
You may not know me, but I know everything about you. (Ps 139:1)  I know when you sit down and when you rise up. (Ps 139:2)  I am familiar with all your ways. (Ps 139:3)  Even the very hairs on your head are numbered. (Matt 10:29-31)  For you were made in my image. (Gen 1:27)  In me you live and move and have your being. For you are my offspring. (Acts 17:28)...Love your Dad, Almighty God

“For no matter how many promises God has made, they are "Yes" in Christ. And so through him the "Amen" is spoken by us to the glory of God.  Now it is God who makes both us and you stand firm in Christ. He anointed us, set his seal of ownership on us, and put his Spirit in our hearts as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come.” (2 Cor 1:20-22)

Have you ever thought any deep thoughts about rubber bands?  A rubber band is made for only one purpose.  That purpose is to be stretched so it can hold something together.  Now, if it is not stretched, it is not fulfilling its purpose at all, is it?

“The moral conformist says: “The immoral people--the people who ‘do their own thing’--are the problem with the world, and the moral people are the solution.” The advocates of self-discovery say: “The bigoted people--the people who say, ‘We have the Truth’--are the problem with the world, and progressive people are the solution. Each side says: “Our way is the way our world will be put right, and if you’re not with us, you are against us.”  Tim Keller - The Prodigal God

DL Moody said, “A man can no more take in a supply of grace for the future than he can eat enough for the next six months, or take sufficient air into his lungs at one time to sustain life for a week.  We must draw upon God’s boundless store of grace from day to day as we need it.”

“For if you live according to the sinful nature, you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the misdeeds of the body, you will live, because those who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God.” (Rom 8:13-14)

The best way to live in the world is to live above it.

...The kids vote them off the island, based on performance. The last man wins only if he has enough energy to be intimate with his spouse at a moment’s notice. If the last man does win, he can play the game over and over again for the next 18-25 years eventually earning the right to be called "Mother." (Rickey Bennett)

Our God-given conscience gives us warning signals, and we can heed those signals or ignore them.  If we ignore them often enough, we may eventually fail to recognize them as signals at all. (J Douglas Burford)

Our spiritual freedom also came at a high price – one Man died for us all. Let’s remember and continually give thanks.

Jim had his priorities right. He walked the narrow, hard road. He saw the world and its people as God sees them. He loved them enough to die for them.