On Sunday mornings Pastor Dirk and other guest speakers take the Bible and provide inspiring, encouraging, and often challenging messages to help you grow spiritually and discover good news from Jesus for your life.
If you are going to participate online, you can get the sermon notes and bulletins for each week below. Also there are links to the specific sermons, and an audio player for most Sunday messages.
When you see the news it is easy to see the brutality of the world. But the causes of this brutality are not anything new. They are as old as humanity, but as current and close as each of our hearts. When Jesus was born, it was the time of a brutal leader who wanted to hold onto power at all costs.
Click on the link below to listen to an imporant message from Matthew Chapter 2. Sermon Notes & Encounter Group guide
God does the impossible with the unlikely!
What can God do with your life? Is God really working in the world today? Is there a reason for hope? When we look at the first 17 verses in the book of Matthew we can be confused by a strange list of names, or inspired by what God can do and is doing. There is more than you might imagine in the strange beginning to a great book in the Bible. Listen and learn more about Jesus.
Matthew 1:1 A record of the genealogy of Jesus Christ the son of David, the son of Abraham:
AUDIO FILE: Matthew 1:1-17 A Strange Beginning - 9/13
The Bible is the most complete source of information on Jesus. Who did he claim to be, what did he do, and how did people respond to him? It is common to form an oppinion about him, or even claim to be a Christian, without ever really knowing who Jesus is. As a church we are embarking on a study through the book of Matthew in the Bible. This video is a great introduction to a powerful journey into the New Testament.
Watch the video on YouTube (https://youtu.be/iriW0zX492c )
It is part of a cool project to introduce every book of the Bible: www.thebibleproject.com
It is often the small things that no one sees that result in the big things that everyone wants.
Pastor Craig Groeschel
What do you want most in life? Have you even stopped to ask that question? And if you have, what do you need to do to achieve it? When we see a destination far in the distance, we can forget that it is the small step to begin the journey which is most necessary. As we head into a new season, what do you want most in life, and what small steps will move you in the right direction?
Daniel 1:1-17
How do you go from a doubting unbeliever to the head of the largest Christian relief and development agency in the world? It is an act of God! Be inspired by this message shared by one of our elders, Rhonda Van de Wal, as she looks at some of the most important words of Jesus to those who desire to follow him. They changed the life of a business executive, and can change yours too. We each need to have a whole understanding of God's call on our lives, not a hole in our lives....
Matthew 28:16-18 Then the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain where Jesus had told them to go. Then Jesus came to them and said...
If Jesus is so good, why doesn't everyone believe? Even when Jesus was walking, talking, healing and caring here on earth, there were people who heard his message and did not believe. Some walked away from Jesus, and others walked with Jesus for the rest of their lives. It is the same today.
Transformation through Jesus is not all about our past or our future, it is about today. And one of the ways which God transforms our todays is through our relationships with other people on the same faith journey. Listen to this message as you hear Jesus' call to follow him.
John 6:63-69
Live longer, have more joy, experience better health - these things and more come with great relationships. The cool thing is that relationships, healthy and helping relationships, are at the heart of Christianity. There is a very special word in the Bible for these life giving relationships - koinonia. It is koinonia which we are to have with God, with Jesus, and with others who are seeking God with us. Listen to this week's message about relationships built on the right foundation.
1 John 1:3 We proclaim to you what we have seen and heard, so that you also may have fellowship with us. And our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ.
Around many churches there is talk of "small groups." Why is this and what do they do? Small groups have so many possitive benefits, listen to this message by Linda Baker to hear about this time tested way to grow in your God given potential.
Sometimes we avoid what matters most, and in the end, we are no better off. How do we grow in the lasting things of joy, hope, peace and love? Listen to this message inspired by the people of Berea.
Acts 17:2-10
Jesus brings freedom; but do you ever stop to think about what he frees us from, and why?
Galatians 5:1 It is for freedom that Christ has set us free.
On Sunday our high school students shared a combined statement of faith. It is the culmination of this message - to read what these six students said - Click HERE. The message speaks to a combined faith build upon those before us, with Jesus as the anchor.
[You are] fellow citizens with God's people and members of God's household, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the chief cornerstone. Ephesians 2:19-20
The genders are different. When this truth is accepted, we can seek to understand the differences - to the benefit of everyone. The biggest impact is within marriage; where the Bible calls us to live as equals, but related in ways which work. How do you get what you want? A big part is giving the other person what they want.
Listen to learn more.
Ephesians 5:33 Each one of you also must love his wife as he loves himself, and the wife must respect her husband.
Before he wrote the hymn Amazing Grace, John Newton lived out the story of the prodigal son. He wasted opportunities, he destroyed his life, he spit in the face of God - but neither his earthly father nor his heavenly Father ever gave up on him. Hear this encouraging story of grace.
Luke 15:24 For this son of mine was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.' So they began to celebrate.
Kent Busman, RCA minister and director of Camp Folwer, considers a messier picture of the church. Jesus welcomes the skeptic, but the Holy Spirit changes the followers' lives forever. After the fire of Pentecost, there was no going back. For each of us, God is always moving us forward. Listen to this inspiring message.
If you want the Kingdom of God, you need all of God. This message is about the trinity, and the gift of the Holy Spirit. The earliest disciples had to wait for the baptism of the Holy Spirit after Jesus had left their presense. What about us, here and now, how do we wait for the Spirit?
Looking at the days before Pentecost, we can learn more about God's plan for our lives and this world.
Acts 1:1-14 (4) On one occasion, while Jesus was eating with them, he gave them this command: "Do not leave Jerusalem, but wait for the gift my Father promised, which you have heard me speak about."
(Note: Holy Spirit was sung live, but not recorded, a recorded portion of Bryan & Ketie Torwalt's version has been inserted into this message instead)
I didn't count it out myself, but I have read that the most common command of God throughout the Bible is "Do not be afraid." Why is that and how do we overcome fear? Life can be scary at times, but that doesn't mean we need to be controlled by fear. Listen to this week's sermon for more on this important part of your life.
Deuteronomy 1:19-32 (29) Then I said to you, "Do not be terrified; do not be afraid of them. The LORD your God, who is going before you, will fight for you...
It is all about you - or at least it starts there. By God's mercy, our selfishness isn't the end of the story. God awakens, builds and uses your faith, however, in this process God's plan is for you to drop the "y" in your, and expand "your" to "our." Our faith together as followers of Jesus who seek to serve God is much richer, dramatically more beautiful, and a bolder witness to the world. Let us all together seek the Lord.
Listen to this message to hear about the ya'll of the Bible.
1 Thessalonians 1:3 We continually remember before our God and Father your work produced by faith, your labor prompted by love, and your endurance inspired by hope in our Lord Jesus Christ.
The future is in God's hands - but the decisions we make today have a huge impact on our future. How do you build your future? You focus on today, following the example of people who lived lives which are worthy of immitation. There are some great examples of people who lived by faith, and established an amazing future, in the Bible. Invest some time today by listening to this message about Abraham - the legacy of faith.
Hebrews 11:8 By faith Abraham, when called to go to a place he would later receive as his inheritance, obeyed and went, even though he did not know where he was going.
The Bible says that without faith it is impossible to please God.
If God is all powerful, and if God is good, then it makes good sense to seek God and try and please Him. All of this is a matter of living out your faith. But how do we do it? In the book of Hebrews we find not only the definition of faith, but also some startling examples for us to consider as we live our faith in the day to day.
Ancient stories can impact your life more than you can imagine... if you listen.
Find out what is mean when the Bible says, "By faith Abel offered God a better sacrifice than Cain did... And by faith he still speaks, even though he is dead." Hebrews 11:4
Living our faith causes us to have "skin in the game." When our faith moves beyond simple sayings and polite behavior, and into the realm of active participation in what God is doing in the world, then we can encounter Jesus in profound ways. Jesus is the ultimate example of having "skin in the game." I encourage you to listen to this message from Pastor James Brumm from Blooming Grove Reformed Church.
James 2:15-17 If a brother or sister is naked and lacks daily food, and one of you says to them, "Go in peace; keep warm and eat your fill," and yet you do not supply their bodily needs, what is the good of that? So faith by itself, if it has no works, is dead.