Posts by Michael Nelson (Page 3)

Weekly Update – May 30th, 2024 In his book titled, Don’t Waste Your Life, John Piper says, “God created us to live with a single passion:  to joyfully display his supreme excellence in all the spheres of life.”  In other words, we live life to marvel at the grace of God and to display his greatness.  And we do this in every realm and in every function of our life.  So if we think about all spheres of life, we…

Weekly Update – May 23rd, 2024 One of my desires is that the preaching ministry of our church would cover the full range of scripture.  The reason for that is because we are not just New Testament Christians, but whole Bible Christians.  What that means is that not only should you find yourself reading Bible stories that you like, or only reciting popular verses, but you should seek to study everything from Genesis to Revelation.  That means that as an…

Weekly Update – May 16th, 2024 Over the last year, we have been slowly walking through our newly adopted statement on Biblical Sexuality.  There are nine points to this statement.  This week we will look at point eight.  Point one can before found HERE.  Point two, HERE.  Point three, HERE.  Point four, HERE.  Point five, HERE. Point six, HERE. Point seven, HERE.  Point eight is as follows: The grace of God in Christ gives both merciful pardon and transforming power. This pardon and power enable a…

Weekly Update – May 9th, 2024 As Christians, I doubt that any of us would say that we feel satisfied in how often we pray or in how committed we are to other spiritual disciplines.  We should always find ourselves striving to know the Lord better and seeking to deny ourselves and to serve other people.  But in the goal setting and striving for more, we ought not to find ourselves seeking to change everything.  Yes we want to follow…

Weekly Update – May 2nd, 2024 At our members’ meeting last Sunday (4/28), the elders announced a new segment under our section on membership.  It is called “ the care list.”  The purpose of this list is to give the members of the church an opportunity to provide extra care for other certain members.  It is our attempt at presenting a loving way for the church to pursue those who might be straying, as well as others who might be…

Weekly Update – April 25th, 2024 In James chapter 4, our writer begins by asking the question, “what causes quarrels and what causes fights among you?”  James is not asking because he doesn’t know the answer here though.  He is asking because he knows the answer and he is trying to make a point with his readers.  The reason for their fighting and quarreling is because their “passions are at war” inside of them. (Jas. 4:1).  What makes this worse…

Weekly Update – April 18th, 2024 Money is not an easy topic to bring up with anyone.  Nobody wants to think about a debt they owe, just as no one likes to come face to face with how much or how little money they have.  Yet in our world, we have accountants, financial planners, and the IRS that all tell us what we should do with our money.  No matter what our thoughts are here, the question we should ask…

Weekly Update – April 11th, 2024 In Luke 10:25-37, we find the popular account of what has traditionally been called, The Parable of the Good Samaritan. As the parable begins, there is a lawyer who comes up to Jesus and asks him what he needs to do to ensure that he has eternal life.  Jesus masterfully turns the question around and asks lawyer what the Scriptures say.  This lawyer replies in Luke 10:27, “You shall love the Lord your God…

Weekly Update – April 4th, 2024 “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.”  That verse from Genesis 1:1 is probably very familiar to you.  In fact, behind John 3:16, that is likely one of the first verses you may have memorized from the Bible.  But lets try to look a little bit deeper into what is going on when God created everything.  How did God create?  God created everything by speaking it into existence.  Before God spoke…

Weekly Update – March 28th, 2024 This Sunday we approach our annual celebration of the resurrection of Jesus Christ.  In reality, we should celebrate the resurrection every time we gather, as it is only by the resurrection that we have purpose given to our lives as believers.  Nevertheless, we gather this Sunday to sing, pray, read and listen as we consider our risen savior.  Despite our gathering though, does the resurrection have any more barring upon our lives?  What I…

Weekly Update – March 21st, 2024 Everything we do when we gather as a church goes back to the word of God.  We believe that “faith comes by hearing” (Rom. 10:17) this word and that the gospel message spoken by the word of God is the very power of God for salvation (Rom. 1:16).  The word of God is sharper than any two-edged sword (Heb. 4:12) and it is profitable for our reproof, correction and training in righteousness (2 Tim.…

Weekly Update – March 14th, 2024 In just a few weeks, we as Christians celebrate the cornerstone of our faith.  As the apostle Paul says in 1 Corinthians 15:14, “if Christ has not been raised, then our faith is in vain.”  What this means is that the resurrection does matter.  We can’t simply resort to saying that Christianity is about doing good for others or living a morally pure life.  If Christ has not been raised, then he is just…