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The Salt of the Earth

Series: A City Set on a Hill 2/10/13 Jesus’ vision for His Church, is to be a people of infectious influence in the world.  Jesus uses two metaphors to describe the Church in this passage: Salt and Light, both of which have strong influential properties. You do not come into contact with either without being affected. Jesus holds a very high view of the importance of our influence in the world. One preacher stated: “That earthly community and society has within it the bacteria of decay and corruption due to the sinfulness that is present within the hearts of people. Followers of Jesus, by their very presence in these societies and cultures, together, as a body (not just individually) are the salt that will prevent the human community from utter chaos and decay. For true followers of Jesus have within them the redeeming presence of Jesus himself and the empowering influence of God’s Holy Spirit.” Salt must be applied to be of any benefit, it must get out of the salt shaker, and come in contact with the world, with the unsaved. This message considers the implications of being the salt of the earth, and what that means for us today.

His Vision, Our Vision

A CITY SET ON A HILL - 1/27/13 This is Jesus’ vision for His church. As one author commented, we could just as easily paraphrase Jesus as saying to His church “You are to be an infectious influence in the world.” When Jesus spoke of a city set on a hill, no doubt his hearers thought of Jerusalem. It is indeed a city on a hill, and on its central high spot sat the Temple. Its roof reflected the sun by day; its lights radiated in the darkness of night. It could not be missed for miles around, either by day or night. Jesus intends this image of a city set on a hill to reveal to us as that the church must be prominent in the world if we are to influence the world. The word “prominent” comes from a Latin word which means to jut out or to stand out. Just as a hill STANDS OUT against the landscape, so the church is to STAND OUT in the world. So how does the church stand out in the world? We must stand out in truth, in hope, and in love.

The Power of Corporate Prayer

SERIES: THE DIFFERENCE PRAYER MAKES 1/20/13 This passage begins with Peter in prison. The Jews pressed these attacks against the early church because they hated the Gospel they preached. Herod persecuted the early church because it gave him a boost in the political polls. And you can be certain the devil was behind all of it because he wanted to stop the church. Paul reminds us that our battle is not with flesh and blood, but with the spiritual forces of darkness in operation behind these entities that oppose God, His people and His purpose. (Eph 6:12). The church realized that this was a critical situation. If Peter it would have a damaging impact on the church. Their response was not to circulate a petition, calling for a stop to the executions of Christians, or to organize a protest outside of Herod’s palace. No...they called a prayer meeting. The enemy's sole purpose in every age is to stop the work Christ, but God's answer is always His mighty working in response to prayer. Acts 12 is a powerful and clear example of the fact that when the church prays TOGETHER, it can and does make a difference.

Conquering Depression

Series: Sing Your Way to Victory 12/2/12 There are physiological and psychological causes of depression, but Dr. Martin Lloyd Jones also identified something called “Spiritual Depression,” which was frequently dealt with both in the Old and New Testaments, which indicates that it commonly afflicts God’s people. Spiritual depression, has been called the dark night of the soul. a malady that even the greatest of Christians have suffered from. Spiritual depression is real and can be severe. We may be tempted to polish our “supersaint” halo and ask  how a person of faith could experience such spiritual lows, but whatever the event or experience that provokes it, it does not take away from its reality. Our faith is not static, it is living. It is in constant motion. It is moving from faith to faith. And in between, we sometimes experience things in our life that produce periods of doubt, when we cry, "Lord, I believe, help Thou my unbelief." This is the paradox of faith that the Psalmist expresses here, and by his example, shows us how to overcome.

Being Delighted With Life (Psalm 16)

Series: Sing Your Way to Victory 11/11/12 Happiness has been described to be as necessary as health, more elusive than success, and harder to define than love. Happiness comes from a root word which literally means “chance” -so it speaks of trusting to luck that something good will happen. That is why happiness is so elusive, people chase it but rarely find, and when they do it is fleeting at best, because something happens and that feeling is lost. So is true and lasting happiness really possible? And how is found? David answers that question in Psalm 16. Psalm 16 is called a Psalm of delight. David uses the words "delight," "pleasant," "glad," and "joy" repeatedly. It is obvious that David had come to place of delighting in His life.  What was his secret? As we look closely at David’s words in this Psalm, they reveal to us the secret of being delighted with life.

From Breaking Point to Breakthrough (Psalm 6)

Series: Sing Your Way to Victory 11/4/12 Rubber bands are fascinating-they have incredible elasticity that enables them to stretch far beyond their original size when pressure is applied, and when released they have the capacity to instantly return to their initial size and shape. But even a rubber band can break, when it is stretched beyond its limit. Everything has a breaking point, no matter how flexible or resilient it maybe. And even humans have breaking points, when the pressures of life intensify, there are times that it seems to stretch us to our limits, to our breaking point. Psalm 6 describes a time in David’s life where he felt as though he had come to his breaking point. But though this Psalm may have started in the depths of despair, that is not where it ends. At his breaking point, David cried out to God, and by the time he is finished, He had great confidence that God had heard his cry and that the victory was imminent. As we look at David’s prayer, may it help us learn how to move from breaking point to breakthrough.

Getting Out of a Tight Spot

Series: Sing Your Way to Victory 10/14/12 I love what David says in v 1 “You have relieved me in my distress,” because in the time of distress we are all looking for relief. The Heb. for distress here means a “tight spot,” and the word “relieve” is also translated as “enlarged.” David deliberately places two extremes side by side to demonstrate the profound difference that God’s power makes in our lives when we call out to Him for mercy.  It doesn’t matter what causes your stress. There’s nothing you can do to stop those situations – all you can do is turn to the One who can do something! David recognized an important part of his trials when he said, “God, you have enlarged me when I was in distress.” David recognized that whatever it was that was causing him distress was simply an instrument in God’s hand to grow him, to strengthen and mold him into what God wanted him to be. “You have relieved/enlarged me in my distress.” We are all looking for relief from the distress of our life. We often feel caught in a tight spot, pressed on every side, and we need God to open up the way, to make room for us. This Psalm helps us to know how to respond when we are in a tight spot.

Hope in the Midst of Trial

Series: Sing Your Way to Victory 10/7/12 Life is filled with problems and worries. Things that perplex us, overwhelm us, and are beyond our power to change or solve. And it presses us to our limit, and causes us to ask "is there any hope?" If you have ever felt that way, or if you are feeling that way right now, Psalm 3 is for you. David wrote this Psalm at one of the most desperate times of his life.  His own son, Absalom, had begun to work subversively, to turn the hearts of the people against David, and to win their support for himself. Then he led an uprising to kill his father and seize the thrown (2 Sam 15:13-14). Betrayed by his son, David flees for his life. It is one of most devastating and desperate hours of David’s life, and in the midst of it all David writes Psalm 3. This Psalm reveals to us 5 critical elements of prayer to give us hope in the midst of our darkest  hours.

The Keys to a Blessed Life

Series: Sing Your Way to Victory 9/30/12 As a door to the rest of the Psalms, Psalm 1 declares in just a few words some of the most basic but profound truths of the Bible. Basically, God says there are two ways of life available: one means blessing, happiness, and fruitfulness, but  the other leads to curses, unhappiness, and judgment. Blessedness is a choice. There are conditions that must be obeyed by faith, if we are to live in the blessings of God. The Word “blessed” in Hebrew can be translated happy,  but it is not a happiness based on circumstances.  It is a happiness that comes from a deep settled sense of well being knowing our life is in God’s hands.  This Psalm gives us the keys to a blessed life.

Rediscovering God in Dark Seasons

9/18/12 Pastor Jose Pagan Its no mystery that we are living in dark times, and in this season many of Gods people are facing tumultuous trials that have affected them in various area of their lives. Despite seasons of uncertainty, what I love about the word season, is that there is hope that it will not last forever. The reality is that often the source of our greatest frustration is our inability to conclude when and how seasons will end. This inability often leads to an obscure view of God, thrusting Gods people into positions of depression, anxiety, temptations, and the list can go on. This morning we will discover that despite not knowing “the when” and “the how” it is possible to still remain closely connected to God in dark seasons. When our understanding and view of God becomes obscure, God has ways of revealing Himself  to those who are facing dark times. Yes believer, you can rediscover God.