When you have some kind of sickness it can be easier to treat the symptoms but not rid yourself of the disease. It's frustrating because even though you're curing some of the immediate discomforts, you know that there's a deeper issue at the root of it all. This is how it is with the world around you too. There are many grievous hurts and struggles amongst the people that you're around but today Pastor Ricky mentions how important it is to have a heart for people and their deeper need for Jesus. Jesus is the cure.
Vision - Strength in Weakness, Part 2
How many self-help books or programs are out there seeking to have you buy into what they're selling? It's not wrong to want to believe in yourself or to have a more positive view of yourself but what Pastor Ricky gets at today is that the greatest treasure to find is when you come to the end of yourself. This is so countercultural to today's way of thinking but it's actually what makes you stand out in contrast to the world around you. When you're acknowledging God's power in you, you're strong.
Vision - Strength in Weakness, Part 1
Wouldn't it be odd if someone made their platform about something they were weak and incapable in? This would be the opposite of anything that's successful in the world's mindset. What are some of your greatest weaknesses? Would you be willing to brag about those weaknesses to the world at large? As preposterous as this sounds, Pastor Ricky explains today that this was the mindset that Paul had when approaching ministry because he knew his tendency of being proud in his abilities.
Who Cares? - Encourage the Fainthearted, Part 2
It can be really difficult to encourage someone who has cancer, or someone who's just lost a loved one. Those are difficult situations to navigate but you are called to encourage those who are faint-hearted. Today Pastor Ricky is going to give you some practical ways that you can encourage people around you who are feeling a bit discouraged. He's going to remind us that Jesus should always be the starting point of those conversations, remembering always to point people to Him and not to ourselves.
Who Cares? - Encourage the Fainthearted, Part 1
Are you feeling discouraged today? Being discouraged isn't a sin but discouragement is a result of the sin in our world. You might feel like there isn't any hope left in the world, that there isn't any hope left in your own life but there is hope. That hope comes through Jesus. He wants to encourage you. He wants to remind you that our life here on earth is only temporary and that we have an eternal hope in Him. Today Pastor Ricky is going to remind us that our discouragement can be turned to joy.
Who Cares? - Admonish the Idle, Part 2
Our culture generally doesn't align with what the Bible teaches us. Many people in our current culture believe that supporting those around us means supporting every choice that somebody makes, whether it's a good one or a bad one. But the Bible tells us that we should call each other out as brothers and sisters in Christ. When you see your friends doing sinful or harmful things you should lovingly help them get out of that sin. Today Pastor Ricky is going to encourage you to keep your friends accountable.
Who Cares? - Admonish the Idle, Part 1
Are you sitting idle in your walk with God? The Bible's definition of idle might not be as obvious as it seems. Being idle in God's view doesn't mean sitting still and doing nothing. It also isn't a competition to see who can be the busiest or the best at what they do. You can be distracting yourself with social media, video games, or anything else. What you’re involved in should reflect what God has put in your heart. Today Pastor Ricky is going to teach us what it means to be idle in the view of God.
Who Cares? - Who Cares, Part 2
Are you using the church as a convenience store? Maybe you walk into church and you go through the motions every week. You raise your hands in worship, you go through an offering and you listen to a sermon then you go throughout your week and repeat every Sunday. There's so much more to be involved in. God wants you to be close to one another so that you can care for one another. Today Pastor Ricky will give us some practical ways that we can care for one another as brothers and sisters in Christ.
Who Cares? - Who Cares, Part 1
Have you ever felt lonely, like there's nobody that can understand the pain that you've been through? Or the hardships that you've endured, the sin that you felt burdened by for so long? Well, Jesus cares about you. He cares so much that He died on the cross so that you could be set free from sin and so that you could have an eternal relationship with Him. Today Pastor Ricky is going to encourage you that Jesus cares about you. He cared for His people throughout the Bible and He cares about you now.
Why Religion is Not The Gospel - Response, Part 2
Do you have the tendency to want to do things in your own power? In today’s teaching, Pastor Ricky encourages you to check your motives. We often get caught up in trying to do the right things like developing a system of things to do that keep us “churchy”. Being sure to go on dates with our spouse, or read books on dating, or attending every service that is available can become what drives us. It can become religion. Check your motives today as you listen in and let the Gospel be the answer.
Why Religion is Not The Gospel - Response, Part 1
In today's teaching, Pastor Ricky walks us through people's tendency to use works to earn their salvation. You may be one of those people who doesn't feel close to God unless you're serving in a certain capacity, reading the right books, etc…You're sure to have the boxes checked on your list of things to do to be a good Christian. The reality is you don't need to do anything. Faith is it. While having the desire and serving the Lord isn’t wrong, making it about works is.
A Meal with Jesus - A Meal with a Friend Turned Traitor, Part 3
There are a couple of guarantees that people jokingly make, death and taxes. And while that's true, Pastor Ricky will remind us of another guarantee in relation to reconciliation in this message. You see, just when you think that all the conflicts in your life have been resolved and everything is going well, the next hurdle magically appears before you. You see, we can be sure that we will sin again and the people around us will sin again and thus we will have conflict and the need for reconciliation throughout our lives.
A Meal with Jesus - A Meal with a Friend Turned Traitor, Part 2
It's so easy to lose focus on what God has done in our lives. It’s easy to forget just where we’ve come from, especially when it comes to conflict in the body of Christ. The pain that comes from being betrayed by a close friend, or the discovery of infidelity by a church leader, reconciliation can be the farthest thing from our minds. Today Pastor Ricky will remind us to always keep our own cleansing front and center in the midst of conflict. When we remember what Jesus forgave us of, it becomes much easier to forgive and be reconciled to others.
A Meal with Jesus - A Meal with a Friend Turned Traitor, Part 1
Reconciliation is a term that we are all familiar with it yet each of us probably has our own definition of what that means. Today Pastor Ricky will delve into this subject of being reconciled. We’ll learn the sinful tendencies that so many of us fall into when it comes to being reconciled with ourselves, or allowing someone who sinned against us to be reconciled to us. Pastor Ricky will focus on the most important reconciliation of all, being reconciled to God through Jesus Christ.
A Meal with Jesus - A Meal with Flesh & Blood, Part 3
Many churches across America today are filled each week with committed Christians seeking to hear from God and to worship God. As we’ll hear from Pastor Ricky, this is wonderful but should the church only be filled with Christians? We’ll learn today that a healthy church will have people in it that don't know God but are seeking Him. The communion table is a powerful way to show those around us that our God is real and that He gave His one and only son for their lives as well.
A Meal with Jesus - A Meal with Flesh & Blood, Part 2
We’re told in the Bible that when we come together and partake of the communion table we are to “remember”. But remember what? For many, the communion table is simply a religious ritual that has become a monotonous duty. We learned last time that the communion table is so much more than that. Today Pastor Ricky will focus on some of the important elements of the communion table and why it's vitally important for the health of the body of Christ.
A Meal with Jesus - A Meal with Flesh & Blood, Part 1
Every year we have annual dates set on our calendar that remind us of important events in our lives. For many of us, we remember the day that we were joined with our spouse in marriage. As parents, we remember the wonderful day that God gave each of our children to us. But today Pastor Ricky will remind us of another appointment that is even more important in our lives, it’s the communion table. When we come together as a body of believers and partake, we remember what it took to save us.
A Meal with Jesus - A Meal with Social Rejects, Part 3
Pastor Ricky has been sharing with us just how we exist in our own personal comforts, and how we generally don't give a second thought for that person that may not get invited to many dinner parties or other social events. We tend to only think about ourselves and what makes us happy. Jesus was and is so different than us. He spent time with anyone. Today Pastor Ricky will exhort us to follow our Savior's example and step out of our own personal comfort zone so that we might be used by God for His glory.
A Meal with Jesus - A Meal with Social Rejects, Part 2
Today Pastor Ricky will show us a few characteristics of the divine economy and wow, it's very different from this kingdom's “get all that you can get” economy. You’ll learn that because we all battle with our sinful nature on a moment-by-moment basis, we need to be purposeful in combating the tendency to exist where it's comfortable and to only spend time with those that we enjoy spending time with. Consider spending time with someone that isn't inside your circle of friends and watch what God will do.
A Meal with Jesus - A Meal with Social Rejects, Part 1
You all know that person at the office or perhaps in your small group, that sort of awkward one who seems to say the most uncomfortable things at the wrong times, is that the person that you had over to play cards or watch the game this past week? Today Pastor Ricky will challenge our personal space and comfort by asking the questions, who did Jesus eat with, and who am I eating with? The answers to these questions will reveal a great deal about our spiritual maturity in Christ.