I want to talk about what it's like to be like Jesus with people who are far from God. Here are some characteristics of Christ reaching out to others, using different parts of the body. We can ask ourselves each of these questions to see if our lives are aligned with Jesus. Does my heart CARE ABOUT what God's heart cares about? I believe the most important problem whe...

John 17:4 (NLT) "I brought glory to you here on earth by doing everything you told me to do." I want you to be able to say that when you get to heaven. You completed the work that God gave you to do. Jesus was faithful in fulfilling His service. He didn't give up. He didn't give in. He was persistent. You may retire from your job someday, but you're never retiring from...

Yesterday we talked about serving like Jesus. And to serve like Jesus, you have to be available. To serve like Jesus also means being grateful. To serve like Jesus, we have to serve gratefully, grateful that we get the opportunity to serve. The Bible tells us a story in John Chapter 11 of Jesus serving in an incredible way. His friend Lazarus had died, and He went there,...

Matthew 20:28 (NLT) "For even I, the Son of Man, came here not to be served but to serve others." A lot of people spend so much of their time searching for self-esteem, for self-worth, and significance. They want to feel good about themselves. But they're looking in all the wrong places! You don't get your self-worth from success, because there's always somebody else w...

If you've been married longer than a day you know that every single marriage has conflict. There are just some things you're never going to see eye to eye about. You're never going to agree on everything. A big reason God has given us a spouse is so we would look through a different set of lenses. Sometimes it's because of our background, sometimes it's just because of o...

Life is about choices. Choices are about prioritization. Putting God first means giving God priority in my life. So how do I do it? What does it mean to put God first? I took the acrostic F-I-R-S-T and I'm going to give you five ways to put God first in your life. F I Put God First In My FINANCES Put God first in our finances. Prov. 3:9-10 Honor the Lord with your weal...

Romans 12:2 "Don't copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think." God wants to change the way we think. A renewed mind. God's changed the way we think, so we can see things as He sees them. That's having a renewed mind. The more I can see something as God sees it the more it changes the way I think...

It takes three to make a marriage stand. Not two three. You, your spouse and Christ. God never meant for you to go through your marriage just with the two of you working on it. Marriage is a three-legged stool. It takes three legs for stability. If all you've got in your marriage is each other, it isn't enough. You need you, your spouse and God. So, ask yourself: is Go...

We can't get over our hurt until we admit that we were hurt in the first place. It's that simple. We can't forgive what we don't want to own up to. You might be thinking, okay, but what's a practical way to "admit my hurt?" What does that look like? Try this: sometime this week get out a piece of paper and write down all the people that have hurt you. (Sounds fun right?)...

Whatever you focus on is what you move toward. Phil 4:8 "Fix your thoughts on what is true, and good, and right. Think about things that are pure. Think about all you can praise God for and be glad about." Focus on good things, not bad things. Whatever you focus on is what dominates your life. If you focus on the bad it will keep dominating your life. If you focus on...