Christian Life
Why Waiting for the Right Moment May be Wrong
Sometimes we hesitate, but God demands we keep moving.Be honest with yourself for a moment—has there been a time when you knew what you were supposed to do, but you stalled? Perhaps it was something God was calling you to do, but you didn’t want to do it. Maybe it was something you needed to do for your marriage,...
If You Have No Sin, Go Ahead and Point Out Everyone Else’s
I bet you’ve heard this phrase before: “The pot calling the kettle black.” This idiom was coined when pots and kettles hung over wood-burning stoves. The longer they hung over the fire, the blacker they became. So a pot and a kettle used over the same stove would be equally as black. For a pot to call a kettle black would be to...
The Secret to Knowing Who You Are
We live in a day-and-age where making our personal identity known is of great importance to us. Consider social media; we post all sorts of things as if it validates our mere existence, but all the while we struggle in the quietness of our hearts to identify who we are. At some point, all of us ask the age-old question,...
Don’t be Gross Like the Olympic Pools
Did you see that some of the pools at the Olympic games are green? The once-blue water is now full of algae because they ran out of chemicals to process the water. Green water wouldn’t stop me from going for gold, but I do think those pools make a great illustration for life. Just as water that is left untreated...
It is Gone Before We Know It
I can’t believe summer break is almost over. School supplies, in the stores, remind me that our weekly routines are about to return. Yellow buses, driving in the morning, remind me just how brief the summer is. Life is short, and the seasons come so fast. Years feel like months, and months feel like days. James was right when he...
What the Shooting in Dallas Reminds us of About Life
All life matters to God. Black lives. White lives. Asian lives. Middle Eastern lives. All life matters because all life is from God. Once again social media has been ablaze with people saying, “Black lives matter” in the wake of two prominent police killings of two black men. But then last night happened in Dallas. A dozen Dallas police officers shot, five of them killed, all because...
The Confidence Faith Furnishes [Sermon]
Sermon on 1 John 5:13-21 A good letter always has a strong ending. Not only does John summarize his message, he emboldens us to live a life of confidence and conviction that Christ is supreme and the only means by which we can have true life. Sermon Outline: Faith equips us with certainty (v. 13) Be confident in Christ and courageous in your living. Faith empowers our...
Can God Really Forgive My Mistakes? [podcast]
God’s mercy is relentless. He does not expect us to be perfect. He expects us to make mistakes – and learn from those mistakes to improve ourselves, to become more like Him. When we talk about His mercy, what exactly does that mean? Many people in the church believe that we have to be perfect in every way in order...
The Art of Being Godly [Sermon]
Following Christ is not easy—it demands your life! If we don’t have a plan for keeping our life on track, we will quickly fall into patterns of laziness or desires that are less than Godly. In this message Josh give five specific ways to ensure we walk in God’s best plan for us each day. Outline 6 ways to know you’re...
Why confusion about God’s call is good for you
Why would God call me to something and then make it so hard? Does He give us a call and then abandon us? Maybe you have: Taken a job that ends up being so different than you thought. Married your knight in shining armor, only to have him end up being a nightmare. Went on a mission trip that was one of your...
Making Sense of Orlando’s Loss and Being Afraid
After being close to three major shootings—Columbine, the Aurora theatre, and New Life—I'm sadly getting familiar with these feelings of lives being taken by mad, selfish killers. how do we make sense of all this? Mark Elfstand and I had a good conversation about the shooting in Orlando this week. While there are many questions left on the table, here...
The Essential Elements of a Transformed Life [Sermon]
1 John 5:1-12 So far John has spoken a lot about love and obedience, but now he is going to combine the idea of faith and its necessity in our life. In chapter 5 we learn that the road to love is paved with faith in Christ. Sermon Outline: The essential elements of a transformed life: 1. New Faith (vv. 1a, 6-10) Have an insatiable...