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  • Now Is The Day

    Now Is The Day
    2025/06/22
    In John 4, Jesus meets the woman at the well. She talks about her past and looks forward to a future when the Messiah comes, but she is reluctant to discuss her present. For many of us, right now is chaotic, and we are just trying to survive and make it to the bright future we are imagining. This woman had a past. She was looking forward to a better future, but her present was a mess. As she looked to the future of seeing the Messiah, she missed that He was standing right in front of her. She had no idea that day would change her entire life. No one knows what the day will bring. Today is special, because it is the day the Lord has made. Anything is possible today. Tomorrow is not promised, so seize the opportunity the Lord provides today. The promises of the Lord are renewed every day. Now is the day to take hold of that promise.
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    59 分
  • Walk Like Dad

    Walk Like Dad
    2025/06/15
    Our text says a Just man walks in his integrity. There is a distinction between a "Just Man" and "Just a Man." Our world tends to define being a man in a negative light. To them, men are abusers, manipulators, inept, or dumb. While some men may exhibit some of these traits, most do not. Most men provide for their families and try to be a good example to their children. Bro. Long exhorts us to "Don't stop acting like men". Be a good man and set a good example for those who are coming up to follow. The bible says there arose a generation that did not know the Lord. As the elders died, the next generation did not learn to follow after God. It is easy to play the blame game with the generations of God's people after Moses and David. Did the elders not teach the young, or did the young not listen to the message? We must not fall into that same pattern. Our young people need more than war stores from times gone by. They need to see us living the life we profess to believe in, and doing that consistently, at church, at home, and on the job. Children mimic their fathers. The world tries to downplay a man's role in the family, but statistics and research overwhelmingly prove that view to be wrong. If dad is a good man, there is a high probability that his children will be good too. It is critically important for fathers to live a life that inspires their children to follow in their footsteps.
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    57 分
  • Determined To Leave With Something

    Determined To Leave With Something
    2025/06/08
    The day of Pentecost was spectacular. But it was not a one-time event. The bible tells us that God added to the church daily. It was the beginning, and the church experienced steady growth. We often have good church, but that too is not a one-time event. What kind of church do we want to be? More importantly, what kind of church does God want us to be? The great commission was to preach the gospel to the world. We cannot do that if we are a hidden gem that no one knows about. We must be a city on a hill, shining our light for all to see. This cannot happen if we do not prepare. Those in the upper room that day didn't just show up when things started happening. The bible says they were all of one accord and were focused on prayer. They were determined to stay in that upper room until God poured out His blessing on them. The wind blowing in the upper room that day was not for them to experience a feeling; it was to fill them with God's spirit. We want what they had, but are we willing to do what they did to receive it? In our text, Jacob wrestles with the Angel of the Lord. After wrestling all night, Jacob refused to let him go until he received a blessing. The mindset of those in the upper room and Jacob is the same. They would do whatever it took to receive a blessing from God. They were determined to leave with something.
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    59 分
  • The Devil's Blind Spot

    The Devil's Blind Spot
    2025/06/01
    The Bible has many descriptions of the nature of God. He is a just God, He is a Holy God. He judges sin and purges evil. Satan knew all of this. When he rebelled and attempted to place himself on par with God, his punishment was swift and divine. Such was Satan's perception and experience when he approached Adam and Eve in the garden. Satan had devised a plan to entice these humans into sinning, which would result in swift punishment. He was plotting murder from the beginning by spinning a web of lies. However, there was something Satan did not anticipate because he did not know the whole nature of God. Instead of judgment, God gave humanity a path to salvation through His mercy. Before He executes judgment, God will extend mercy to cover the sin. Not learning from his failure in the garden, Satan tries to kill Jesus to thwart God's plan. Again, he failed because he didn't know the nature of God. Satan's blind spot is that he cannot stop the mercy of God. No matter how broken we are, God's mercy will cover it all. His mercy puts us in the devil's blind spot.
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    1 時間 2 分
  • It's God's Turn

    It's God's Turn
    2025/05/25
    When we encounter a problem in life, we often try to deal with it ourselves. We struggle with that until we turn it over to God. The truth is, God should be our first option, not our last. How much trouble would we save ourselves if we went to Him first rather than later? Stop turning to doctors, friends, and YouTube for help with our problems; let God be God. We cannot stop the enemy from taking his turn. We cannot stop the weapon from being formed, but the fight is over once God has His turn. The bible has many stories where God moves in to confuse the enemy and turn them against themselves, or wins the battle before it begins. The people of God could not have won the battle despite all their energy and effort, but God was more than enough to prevail. Time and time again, God will do what we cannot do. When we think we are at our end, God is just getting started. Surrendering to God is not weakness. He will not look at us in shame for turning to Him. In our text, the woman with the issue of blood had spent many frustrating years, exhausted her savings, but still suffered. Then she heard about Jesus. In a moment, her years of suffering were over. The bible says she knew in that moment that God had healed her. When you've tried everything you can do, let God have His turn.
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    51 分
  • A Missing Sound

    A Missing Sound
    2025/05/18
    Sympathetic resonance is an acoustic phenomenon in which the vibrations in one object produce vibrations in another. For instance, if a chord is played on a piano, the harmonic vibrations can be transferred to another piano nearby. For this to occur, both pianos must be tuned correctly so that the resonant frequency of one matches the resonant frequency of the other. In a spiritual sense, when the word of God is spoken, it should resonate through the church and touch each of us. Similar to the physical phenomenon, for this to occur, we must be in tune with God for His word to resonate with us. How do we get out of tune with God? One way is just life. Life has a way of pilfering little things from us. Over time, these little things add up to be a significant loss. The disappointments and disillusionments rob us of our happiness and joy. We become content with just getting by or making do with what we have left. Life has stolen things from us. We must say, "Give it back!" Let us be in tune with God so that every cord struck will resonate with us.
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    59 分
  • An Heirloom That Covers

    An Heirloom That Covers
    2025/05/11
    An heirloom is a cherished possession passed down through generations, often holding sentimental value rather than monetary worth. Its significance lies in the memories it evokes and the meaning attributed to it by the recipient. In today's Mother's Day message, Sis. Sarah uses a red sweater and a quilt, both steeped in history, to illustrate the enduring power of prayers from generations past.
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    56 分
  • The Unexpected Place of Blessing

    The Unexpected Place of Blessing
    2025/05/05
    We like to live in the overflow of life, enjoying God's blessings and favor. However, there are times when we experience the opposite, and life seems to be pulling us under. In those times of unexpected setbacks, we put on our best smiles and try to lift our hands in praise. Job was a blessed man. He had wealth and standing in his community. He was at the pinnacle, and life was going well for him until the bottom fell out. Bad news followed more bad news until he had lost everything. Job's friends assumed he had done something to deserve God's punishment. Maybe he wasn't praying enough. Perhaps he was hiding sins that were the cause of his misfortune. The book of Job shows us how to face the questions, accusations, and sideways glances and not be destroyed by them. It is a manual for living by faith. Job's life teaches us that the rain falls on the just and the unjust. No one is exempt from troubles and pain. The book of Job also teaches us that God works even when we cannot see or feel it. Life's unexpected experiences can reveal unexpected views of God working on our behalf. Job learned that God was there in the awkward places of life. God is just as real and just as close in times of trouble as he is in good times.
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    51 分