Episodes
Tuesday Feb 25, 2014
God's Covenant, Our Commitment
Tuesday Feb 25, 2014
Tuesday Feb 25, 2014
Series: An Awesome Church
2/23/14
Jacob had an incredible experience with God alone in the wilderness, and it not only changes his life, but it changed the place where he was.
A place with a crooked and perverse reputation becomes known as Bethel, the House of God.
A place separated from God by sin, becomes a place of connection with God, a gateway to heaven.
S. Florida currently has a reputation for crime and sensuality, but I believe God wants to transform this place that it might become a place known for God’s presence, a place where people meet God and they are saved, healed, delivered and restored. And I believe this passage reveals to us two essential elements required for this place to become an awesome place, an awesome church.
Tuesday Feb 18, 2014
A Transformational Church
Tuesday Feb 18, 2014
Tuesday Feb 18, 2014
Series: An Awesome Church
2/16/14
At this nondescript place in the desert a powerful transformation takes place. It is a place where Jacob would begin a journey of personal transformation, and a place where eventually, in Gen. 32, he would be changed from Jacob, the deceiver, to Israel, one who has power with God. It is a place of community transformation, where a crooked and perverse city called Luz, was transformed to Bethel, the House of God. A place of separation, became a place of connection with God, a gateway to heaven.
That is exactly what God wants to do in Pembroke Pines, Florida in 2014. He wants to transform your life and mine, that we might become people who have power with God. And he wants to transform this city, a crooked and perverse place, and there couldn’t be a more apt description of South Florida: a place that has a reputation of being dominated by fleshly lust, sinful pursuits, and godlessness; and a place where 95% of the population is unsaved. But God wants to transform this city into a Bethel.
Several important truths speak to us from the story of Jacob, that are essential to transform lives and cities for the glory of God.
Tuesday Feb 11, 2014
What Makes a Church Awesome?
Tuesday Feb 11, 2014
Tuesday Feb 11, 2014
Series: An Awesome Church
2/9/14
On the run, in a barren wilderness, alone, and tired, Jacob stopped for the night. The place is described as a certain place, because it could be anywhere really. What is important is not its geographical location, but what happened in that place. Jacob encountered God in a real and powerful way. In V17, Jacob declared, “How awesome is this place! This is none other than the house of God; this is the gate of heaven.”
When I read the words it grasped my heart, and I began to think about what makes a church more than just a building, just a location on a map. What makes a church, an awesome church, the house of God. How did a certain place become an awesome place? How did Luz, become Bethel (God’s house, v.19)? How was a pagan town transform into a gateway to God? What will it take to transform the place where God has called us into a gateway to heaven?
Several truths stood out to me from the story of Jacob, that I believe are the characteristics of an awesome church, the House of God.