Category Archives: Spiritual life

Build an Altar: Worshiping Well

We cannot thrive when we do not worship God, but when we do, other things start falling into place. Decisions we once agonized over almost make themselves. Trials become easier to endure with faith. Relationships are set in order. We are nearer, or more continually near, to joy than ever before.

But when we are not worshiping God, decisions paralyze us, trials defeat us, relationships get crazy, and discouragement dogs our every step. Continue reading

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You Are Perfectly Positioned (for what God wants you to do next)

This message explores the reasons why a Christ-follower might miss the fact that God has something for them to do, why they can believe that is true, and what to do about it.

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The Secret of Gratitude: Receiving Life as a Gift

G. K. Chesterton wrote, half in jest: “The worst moment for an atheist is when he is really thankful and has no one to thank.” Never having been an atheist, I cannot know whether this is true, but I find it doubtful. I do know, however, that it is a bad moment when a believer who does have someone to thank is not thankful. Continue reading

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Wide Angle: You Don’t Get to Know God in an Easy Chair

…nowhere in the Bible do we find God calling people by saying, “I have a no-hassle life-plan for self-fulfillment, and it has your name on it.  All I ask is that you do me the honor of signing up.”   God’s call stretches people.  Continue reading

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Consider Yourself a Disciple of Jesus? Don’t Make This Mistake

If you spend five minutes a day with your Bible, spend less than five minutes with news media. If you spend an hour a day with your Bible, spend less than that – half of that – with news media. Mind your mind and the information you take into it. Otherwise, you will never “have this mind in you which was also in Christ Jesus” (Phil. 2:5). Continue reading

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Is the Bible Relevant to Your Life? Maybe Not

…many people use the Bible like the box top to a jig saw puzzle. They look at it, then try to order the pieces of their lives according to what they see. The trouble is that the pieces they are working with came from a different box. They try to use those pieces to construct the picture of peace and joy as it is presented in sermons, but no matter what they do, they cannot make the pieces go together. Continue reading

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Proof of … Faith (1 Peter 1:6-7)

I don’t know what you think about proof of vaccine (and I hope you won’t feel the need to tell me), but the Bible reveals that God also has a “proof of” requirement—and no one is going to pass legislation … Continue reading

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The Restorer of Lost Things

“The Restorer of Lost Things” explores 2 Samuel 13-19, looking at the ways in which God restored King David after his sin and repentance. Continue reading

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Pray About Everything

A sermon on Philippians 4:6-7 by Kevin Looper.

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Self-Deception: Following Your Own Echo

Years ago, I jumped in my Olds Delta 88, turned on the radio, and took off for town. There was a preacher on the radio who, before I got around to changing the station, said something that caught my attention. … Continue reading

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