The Apostle Paul had a message for the church of Ephesus that continues to this day. The Gospel of Christ was built to last. That said, we as followers of Christ are built up in the Word of Grace, which means that we are built up in knowledge, built up spiritually, built up in encouragement, peace, and joy, and have an internal inheritance waiting for us the moment we pass on from this life. Paul knew the vital importance of these things when he spread the message of the gospel throughout the world. Paul took the message of the gospel so seriously, that he didn't want to be responsible for the eternal death of anybody. That said, Paul sacrificed his prestige, power, position, and taste for nice things (which he had) to bring the plain truth of this message to the world. When you think of the benefits of the gospel of Christ, you will see that the rewards you reap are due to the very Spirit, drive, conviction, and motivation that led Paul to act, and because of that, we now have an array of Christ led provision, benefits, & a relationship that was established to build us up and last forever.
As the darkness surrounds us daily, with the intent to disrupt and discourage our lives, the vitality of effective leadership is most critical in offering people a way to transcend its subjective pull. What does that mean? The Apostle Paul reveals to us that preaching the Kingdom of God is serious business, especially when you consider that our access to it was purchased with the blood of Christ to free us from every form of darkness. And yet, the power of conveying these realities relies heavy on how serious we take the scriptures, and communicating its truth (regardless of what people may think) in order to truly free people from the thoughts, actions, burdens, and griefs that the enemy bombards us with every day.
The world we live in these days is deep in chaos, confusion, turmoil, and death. Despite these things, it does not want anything to do with Christ. Cancel culture attacks anything and everything that does not toe the line to the forces that control it. Persecution is on the rise. Sound doctrine is even being rejected by some Christians. And that's not all. Despite these forces and influences, God wants to give His people guidance and motivation to preach the Gospel, especially in these last days. The Holy Spirit has our direction and our destiny set, like a GPS, and He is the one who compels people to serve Him. The question is; do we have our "Spiritual GPS" on, and are we following it to the direction that the Spirit has set for us? In this message, we see how Paul allowed himself to be led by the Holy Spirit, and why it is so important for followers of Christ to do the same today.
A Gallup Poll released in March of 2021 stated that church membership has fallen below the majority for the first time ever, since they started taking score in 1937. Today 47% of adults in the U.S. currently belong to a church, a synagogue, or a mosque. This has created a situation where our own backyard has now become a mission field where a broad number of Americans do not know Christ. In this message, Pastor Troy Billow takes Paul's example of addressing this matter. Paul had passion and was stirred up to preach the gospel, and God uses people like that. In other words, then, like today, God enables and empowers people who are in ACTION.
Pastor John Billow elaborates on the metaphor Jesus gave on "the vine and the branches" in John chapter 1. How important is it for a believer to remain in Christ? What does it mean to "bear fruit?" What does it mean to "prune" the branches? What does Jesus mean when He says "If you do not remain in me, you are like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned," and proclaim eternal security? Join us as we delve deep into the meanings behind this analogy.
What do we see all around us? What do we see all over the news? Death. Death hits all types of people at all ages, and has a deep and emotional impact on all our lives. In this message, we see how a young man named Eutychus, who was sitting at a window, listening to Paul speak, fell asleep and dropped three stories down to his death. Paul threw himself on Eutychus's broken body, wrapped his arms around Eutychus, and he came back to life again. Despite the power that death has over us, God wants us to know that He is not going to let death have the final word, especially when He gets involved.
On the surface, Acts 20:1-6 appears to be a set of minut details concerning Paul's ministry and some of the men that helped Him on His mission. But there is much more to that. When you look deeper into the text, it becomes a lesson in logistics. In this message, Pastor Troy Billow shows us how Paul, who had a lot going on, with many moving pieces, was, with God's help, able to address disruptions, ministry needs, relationship challenges, garnering cooperation from others, and more, to move the Gospel message forward. From this, we see how we need God's divine help to help us with the logistics in our life.
From chapter 12 on in the Gospel of John, John records the last week of Jesus’s life. In that week, Jesus prepares His disciples for His homegoing, yet preaches and teaches His resurrection. In this message, Pastor John Billow teaches how Christ’s resurrection is His glory, and He teaches His disciples, using agriculture, that if you’re unwilling to give yourself up to embrace and accept the Savior, then you’re going to lose your life (the way it is, and the direction that it is going). As you hate the life that you had, it better equips you to serve with eternal life as the driving force, and God honors that. God honors and equips His servants, and uses all of these things to show His glory and to draw people to him.
After the darkness comes light, joy, and restoration of life as we celebrate the resurrection of Jesus Christ, and how a relationship with Him, because He rose from the grave, changes hearts, minds, and attitudes of those who let Him in their hearts. In this message, Pastor John Billow discusses the effective impact that trusting in a risen Christ has on those who have truly trusted Jesus, and how the reality of the resurrection can give us hope for today in any situation.
Join us in a special service for Good Friday, as Rob W. Case and Living Faith's music group "As One" take you down a narrative journey of the final moments of Jesus Christ up to the moment of His death.