If your heart isn’t right with God, the church can sometimes feel like drudgery, an activity to check off, full of people you don’t quite click with. Yet, as Pastor Cody will teach you today, the church is so much more than a gathering each Sunday in a building. It’s a gathering of family. And everyone in this group of believers is made in the image of God. They’re your family. Ask God to soften your heart to those hard to love. Ask God to open your eyes to the blessing of this family. Enjoy the gift God has given you in the church!
There are some believers who’re fully convinced that to worship God well, you need an elaborate church or a large and boisterous congregation. Yet, as Pastor Cody explains today, what makes a church a church is the presence of the Lord. God is present in a slum church and in the fancy chapel in the suburbs. He’s there with the underground churches around the world and in the mega-church in the city. Seek the Lord where you’re at. Worship Him with your whole heart. He’s there with His people.
There are some believers who’re just going through the motions, just existing, waiting to really live in Heaven. Yet, as Pastor Cody explains today, God has so much more for you in this life! He’s given you abundant life and people to live it with! Living life is always better with someone else! Especially the Christian life. You’re stronger and happier with other believers around you! You’re meant for fellowship. It’s a family that is full of love and encouragement.
There should be a major change happening in your life when you come to salvation. Your life should be different as you let God work through you and transform you into who He wants you to be. Today, you’ll get to be reminded by Pastor Cody that sin has no place in your life anymore when you come to Christ. People should be able to see the difference and tell that you’re a Christian. If there’s no evidence that the Scriptures are changing you as you learn Them more and more, do you really believe it?
God’s Word is the source of perfect truth about salvation. Pastor Cody is going to show you how Paul went to the very basics of God’s grace and forgiveness in the book of Romans. Everyone is born in sin, and that sin separates us from God. Jesus came to earth to live like a man and suffer and die for your sin so you can be saved, if you believe in Him and confess your sins. When you stray, being reminded of the truths of God’s Word like Paul did for the Roman church can help you get back in His will.
There can be a division that rises between Christians that are mature in their faith and Christians that are weaker in their faith. But, where there's been division, there should be unity. Pastor Cody is going to explain today how the hope and faith of a mature believer are for encouragement and an example to the weaker believer. And all believers should be encouraging each other to look to God and grow closer to Him. If that's not what you see around you, how can you point others to God through your life?
One of the greatest things you can receive from God is hope. Hope for eternity, hope for a future with God and for a life with Him at your side here on earth, and hope for good coming out of every seemingly bad thing that happens to you. Today, Pastor Cody is going to show you how it's not a thing to keep to yourself. Everyone needs hope. Fellow believers can be encouraged with the hope you have, and be encouraged themselves, and the lost need the hope you have for eternity in Christ.
The choice is yours to be gracious in telling less mature believers about Christ, or judging them for not being as far along in their faith as you. Today, as you look at what should be done, Pastor Cody is going to remind you that you're to live like Jesus on this earth. That means treating people with compassion and loving your fellow believers. If they're not as far along in their faith as you, it's an opportunity to help them grow in their faith out of love, being an example of how Jesus would live today.
The best way to teach someone less mature in their faith is to teach and lead by example out of love. The immature believer needs to grow in what they know about Jesus and to grow closer to Him. The mature believer needs to be patient in teaching God's ways to the less mature believer, and show them how to live. It sounds a little complicated, but Pastor Cody is going to take you to Romans today to show you how simple it really is, this relationship between mature and immature believers.
Do you see the growth in your life from when you came to Jesus to now? Have you matured in your walk with God since you became a believer and gotten closer to Him? Today, Pastor Cody is going to remind you that your walk with God is never finished. Every day is another opportunity to know more about Him and be closer to Him. God will move in your life more and more, and your joy in Him will grow. But, it takes an effort on your part. God wants you to seek Him, and to take the time to be with Him daily.
There are going to be topics you disagree with other believers on as you mature in your faith. But, oftentimes it's not always even a spiritual issue. Colors of carpets, pews vs chairs, how big of a worship team is, and whether or not to have coffee at church are all things that have been argued, about and still are. Today, Pastor Cody's going to remind you to remember to treat others with grace and show the love of God that's in you when there's disagreement. Christians are meant to build each other up and encourage each other.
When you're saved, there's a celebration in Heaven that you have an eternal home with Jesus! But too often, that's where people stop growing in their relationship with God. As Pastor Cody's going to show you today, there's a whole world of lost people out there that need the same hope you do. As you mature in your faith, more responsibility is placed on you, and one of those is telling others about Jesus as you keep growing in Him yourself. It's not news meant to be kept to yourself; it's to be spread to everyone!
Responsibilities get more and more abundant as you get older and more mature. As you get older, more is expected of you. Today, Pastor Cody is going to draw the parallels between the responsibilities of growing up in life to the responsibilities of growing in your spiritual life. It's not enough to come to Jesus and never keep growing. That kind of faith is dead faith. God wants you to always be drawing closer to Him, and as you mature in your faith, more is expected of you, just like in life in general.
Have you submitted to the Lordship of Christ... It's a question everyone has a personal responsibility to answer. Today, Pastor Cody is going to show you how it's so much more important for anyone in any kind of leadership role to answer that question for themselves. It's for their own good, and for the sake of being able to lead all of the people under them rightly according to God's Word, too. And no matter what position you're in, it's always your responsibility to pray for others to do the same.
Pastors and other spiritual leaders are consistently held to living out God's Word more strictly than others. And anyone in leadership must live according to God's Word to properly lead anyone under their authority. But, when you look at government leadership today, do you see humility in following God's Word? As you'll see today with Pastor Cody, just as much as leaders are to live how God wants them to, everyone under them should also be praying for those leaders so they CAN lead adequately.
What does it mean to be “good?” Biblically, it means to be pleasing to God. So then, how do we be good? In today’s message, Pastor Cody talks about how we need to know what pleases God. So that we can try to be pleasing to God. What we shouldn't, though, try and reshape what “good” actually means so that we can claim we are. God has spoken as to what is good and what is not. If we try to reshape those definitions, we defy the words of God himself!
Pastor Cody speaks about the different types of love in today's message. The most difficult to understand is “agape.” It means to love unconditionally. The only one who can truly love unconditionally is God himself! But we should try to live that way too! We should extend; to everyone the same love that Christ showed us! We might not always be able to do that. But that doesn’t mean it’s a worthless effort, and it doesn’t mean we should try to change what agape means!
Have you ever found yourself misusing your gifts and talents? What does that mean exactly? Pastor Cody gives an example of a church setting in today's message. Someone misusing their gifts in the Church can cause a lot of undue stress and confusion. And outright refusing to use their gifts can cause unnecessary complications and delays. And that doesn’t mean that a person isn’t contributing to their church; it just means they aren’t using the gifts God gave them!
Have you noticed the ‘quote unquote’ recent trend of people trying to make themselves look as good as humanly or even as inhumanly as possible? It’s become awful with the rise of social media and the ability to gain attention by any means necessary. It always traces back to the secular idea that one’s self is the most critical aspect of life! In today’s message, Pastor Cody speaks about using our God-given gifts to help others instead of allowing ourselves or making ourselves look better!
How many things are demanding your attention – even right now?! So often, we come short of finding God's will in our lives because we allow our days to be occupied by other things. Even as you listen, you probably have an ongoing list of a multitude of arrangements that need your sole attention. Today, Pastor Cody reminds us that when we submit to God's will, our priorities align with the one that already has life figured out and He's ready to de-clutter the piles of junk in your life.
