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A Life of Harvest

Ephesians 2:4-10  We started this year with the theme of “Harvest”. Today we are going to revisit some of those thoughts and not conclude the theme as we often do but in some ways redefine it and I pray become reinvigorated to make harvest a permanent lifestyle rather than a temporary theme. As a group...

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Philippians Series: Bridges of Joy: Conclusion “For or From?”

We have spent four months studying Paul’s letter to the Philippians, today we will conclude this series by going back over several of Paul’s most famous statements from the letter and seeing that they all have a very common thread. From the beginning we called this series “Bridges of Joy”, the letter is filled with...

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Philippians Series: Bridges of Joy: “The Joy of Giving”

Philippians 4:14-25  Last week we saw that as Paul closes out his letter to the Philippians that he reveals to us that the reason for writing the letter was a gift that they had sent to him. The gift gave Paul the opportunity to write and share the heart of God with them. In the first...

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Philippians Series: Bridges of Joy: “From Contentment to Martyrdom”

Philippians 4:10-13 Today we will get back to the book of Philippians and our “Bridges of Joy” series. In chapter 4 of the letter Paul makes a statement that has probably been quoted more than anything else Paul ever wrote, “I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength.” Many of the often...

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“Voting and the Heart of God”

Acts 13:20-22 Today I’m supposed to be talking about voting, and I’m going to, but probably not in the way that you are expecting because it is certainly not in the way I had originally planned. One of the things about election season is that you learn a lot, at least I do. You learn...

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“Government and the Gospel”

I Peter 2:11-17  It is often said that if you want to keep friends that you should never talk about religion or politics. One of my neighbors just recently told me that this was the rule in his house, that the only way to keep the peace is simply to avoid those two topics. The...

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Philippians Series: Bridges of Joy: “Conflict Resolution”

Philippians 4:2-9  Sin is the cause of a lot of what goes on in our lives. Recently we talked about the fact that all suffering is caused by sin. It might not be specific sin that causes specific suffering, but our lives were not created for suffering, we were not created to die, hell was...

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Philippians Series: Bridges of Joy: Taken Hold Of

Philippians 3:12-16 Last week we discussed Paul’s famous statement in Philippians 3, “what things were gain to me, these I have counted loss for Christ.” There is an exchange that is essential for transformation; those things that were important, that made up my identity, my pride, my hope and strength, those things must become unimportant...

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Philippians Series: Bridges of Joy: A New Exchange

In II Corinthians 5 Paul wrote “if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.” In I Corinthians 13 Paul wrote, “When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I...