God's Reward System

"He who receives you receives Me, and he who receives Me receives Him who sent Me. He who receives a prophet in the name of a prophet shall receive a prophet's reward. And he who receives a righteous man in the name of a righteous man shall receive a righteous man's reward. And whoever gives one of these little ones only a cup of cold water in the name of a disciple, assuredly, I say to you, he shall by no means lose his reward." Matt 10:40-42 NKJV

Do you ever worry that you will miss out on something?

Maybe you tried playing the lottery, and you didn't win anything. Perhaps you invested in some real estate, and now you are underwater. Maybe you feel you boss doesn't appreciate your efforts, and you may never make the salary you feel you deserve.

This life has it's ups and downs. We can have seasons where we are receiving, being blessed, and all is good! There are other times when we feel undervalued, unappreciated, and unrecognized!

Jesus is encouraging us to look beyond the rewards of this world, and instead focus on the rewards of His Kingdom!

Join us Sunday as we explore God's Reward System!

In His Service,

Pastor Clay

Sent Out

This Sunday we’ll move into a new time in Jesus ministry, He sends out the twelve to preach the gospel. It must have been an exciting time for the disciples. Having been personally taught by Christ, He now empowers them and sends them out to put into action the things He had taught them. As well, they were probably a little unsure of themselves. How would it go? Would people receive them? Would they be able to handle the situations?

In a similar way, it’s an exciting time for our church. Our society is in a time of trial and stress. People are searching for answers, and nervous about their future. And we, the disciples of Christ, have been entrusted and empowered to go out into this environment to preach the good news of the gospel! We bring a message of hope, of peace, and of promise! Like the disciples, we might feel a little unsure of ourselves. But like the disciples, we have the power of Jesus Christ, the empowerment of His Spirit. Let’s do like the disciples and step out in faith and obedience, and watch God work marvelous things!

Pastor Clay

R U Wise?

Today we had a really cool service, being July 4th weekend, we had some good tie-in with "Freedom", even rolling in several songs in that theme, including "I Am Free", one of me personal favorite U2 type worship songs! To wrap up the worship segment, I spoke about the biblical foundation of our country's government, and then my daughter Chelsea sang the Star Spangled Banner. She totally rocked. People cried. It was awesome!

In the service we looked at Matthew 2 where the "wise men" seek out Jesus, and worship Him. There is a really interesting comparison with the three characters in the situation: Herod, the scribes, and the wise men.

In Herod, we find a man who came against Jesus in a pretty big way, even killing all the male children in the Bethlehem area in an effort to snuff out the Savior. The comparison is the person who is against anything that has to do with God or Jesus - the "antagonist."

Then there were the scribes and Pharisee's. These guys should have known who Jesus was, but they just didn't care. Like the person who "knows about God", or even "believes in God", but is not really interested in a relationship with Jesus - this person is ambivalent towards the Lord.

Then there were the wise men. These guys were not even Jewish. They could n't even worship at the temple, yet the read the scriptures, and they believed! They put their belief into action, making a 500 mile road trip to go and see the Lord Jesus! And when they found Him, they "fell down and worshiped Him!"

These guys understood something - that there is a God, and He sent His Son Jesus Christ to this world to die - for me and you - so that we might live with Him forever. Have you made Him your King?

If you missed the message, click here for the audio.