When the concept of hope is used in mainstream society it is usually the expressed desire for a better future. We hope for better health, more money and relationships that will build our self esteem. But the way we use the word hope has no real evidence or support that the desired outcome will actually happen. It’s really more a “hope so.” Scripture uses the word hope differently. In Romans 5 the Apostle Paul uses the word Hope to describe the better future for the follower of Christ; Christian Hope. It’s a hope founded on the redeeming work of Christ that culminates in spending eternity in heaven with him. And Christian Hope is not just a hope so, it is a hope that we have every assurance that a better future is really waiting for us. How can we be so confident in that hope? The evidence and support for this assurance is unconventional but isn’t most everything about the spiritual life. Join me this Sunday and see how you can have more than a “hope so” by having Christian Hope.
Mental health is a major issue in our society. I could reference multiple sources that would substantiate the large number of people dealing with depression and other kinds of mental health issues. If we don’t know anyone closely dealing with a mental health issue it is commonly referenced in the media in an attempt to explain the behavior of people. You have heard me reference the Surgeon General’s report on the effects of isolation and loneliness in America. In that report, depression and mental health issues are listed as some of the major outcomes of isolation. Our society is struggling with how to deal with our emotions in a healthy way. People need to be in community with the people in their communities.
Our theme for October is “Hope Happens Here” as a signal to call people back to church and ultimately back to God as the place where Hope is found. Hope that will alleviate the pressures resulting in depression. In Psalm 42 (our text for Sunday) we read the phrase “Deep calls to deep . . .” At times, the trials that lead to emotional distress seem to be like a tidal wave that is more than we can handle. Psalm 42 tells us that it is in those moments when we are feeling overwhelmed, that if we seek God we will hear Him and see Him in a deeper way. Only God can speak deeply to the deep issues of our life.
Three times in Psalm 42-43 we will see the phrase “put your hope in God.” God calls us to put our hope in Him while the devil would have us put our hope in anything other than God. The result of not placing our hope in God is the effects of isolation only grow greater. Join me this Sunday as we look to God’s word for help with depression and answers to mental health issues.
It’s our One Church Service. Everyone is invited to our 8:30 am worship service at the KB Pavilion. TBH, this is my favorite Sunday of the year because we are all worshiping together in one place and time.
We are expecting many first-time guests at church this week because you have invited your friends and family to join us. Let’s all be especially aware of our guests to make them feel welcome and valued.
Its Coats for the City Collection Day! Bring your new or gently used winter coats to service and we will get them to NYC in time for winter.
The new principal of Carolina Beach Elementary School, Mrs. Angel will be joining us Sunday and I have asked her to share a few words of greetings with our congregation. We value our local school and the partnership we share with them in our community.
The new Music Teacher at CBES is a gifted soloist and she will be sharing a special piece during the service.
We will end the service with the celebration of communion as a recognition of the One Body of Christ.
After service, stick around for a donut, something to drink and some fellowship.
My message this Sunday will be simply titled “Hope Happens Here!” This is the start to a month-long emphasis of the same title. Many people deal with despair in life because they feel lonely and isolated. The message of the Gospel is God loves them so much He sent Jesus to meet their deepest needs for time and eternity. That Is the greatest hope anyone can have. And that Hope Happens Here – God has placed His church in the culture to be a beacon of Hope for a lost and dying world. You can be a messenger of Hope by inviting someone with you to church this Sunday. Plan to join us this Sunday and invite your neighbors to come with you.
It’s Fall Y’All – 4:00 pm – 6:30 pm at our church campus. Come meet your neighbors and enjoy your community.
In the ancient world most cities had walls. Walls set the boundaries of the city as well as provided protection from any threat that would want to cause harm to the city. Together with the walls of the city would be gates in strategic locations around the wall. The gates allowed people to move in and out of the city, to interact with people outside of the city as well as the exchange of goods and services into and out of the city. The walls and gates of an ancient city provided the structure for a society to exist and even flourish.
By the time the book of Nehemiah takes place, two efforts have been made to reinstate a Jewish society in the city of Jerusalem; one to rebuild the walls and another to rebuild the temple so worship could take place. In the first chapter, Nehemiah receives the bad news that the walls and gates have not been fully repaired and as a result the people were under constant threats from enemies. Threats from outside the city and threats from within by their own people. Furthermore, worship was not happening at the temple because all their energy had to be spent on just survival. Nehemiah wept and grieved when he heard this news.
In the United States we don’t live in walled cities but there are definite boundaries to society that are necessary for our communities for people to thrive and flourish. It is undeniable that our society is facing serious threats to our flourishing. External threats from other nations and ideologies around our globe as well as internal threats from the abandonment of God’s Word as the foundation for our rule of law. The fact that our nation is facing a health crisis due to loneliness and isolation is a serious indicator that our society is in trouble. The walls and gates of our society are broken and in bad need of repair.
God called Nehemiah to rebuild the walls and rehang the gates of Jerusalem. Under God’s guidance and provision, Nehemiah led the people of Jerusalem to rebuild the city walls in just 52 days. God is calling His church to rebuild the walls of our communities with the relevant application of God’s Word. We live lives to glorify God and serve other people. My message is titled “Building Community” from the first few chapters of Nehemiah. The strength of a society is not found in the chambers of our elected officials, but instead, strength comes when we love God and love our neighbors we share a community with. Nehemiah is an inspiration of how God can change a society when His people obey Him. It will be interesting to see what God will do in our community as we express our love for God by loving our neighbors. Join us on this last Sunday before “Hope Happens Here” kicks off and be inspired to be used by God to love and bless your neighbors.
The Tims and I are back on US soil after an amazing 10 days of ministry with our partners abroad. This Sunday we will share a brief report about our time away and have a time later this month where we will share in greater detail.
This Sunday we continue to prepare for our October Campaign – Hope Happens Here! We live in a time and in a place where people are struggling with the effects of loneliness and isolation. I believe the Church has the best answer to the problem: the Gospel of Jesus Christ! Each Sunday during the month of October I intend to preach messages of HOPE that will point people to Jesus as the object of our hope. A hope they can embrace to find the cure for our sin problem which is what lies at the root of society’s loneliness problem. This is where you come in!
Two Sundays ago I preached a message on various ways you can share your faith with unsaved and unchurched people. I made a card available for you to start praying for people you have regular contact with so you can first be a neighbor to them, then invite them to something at our church during October. This Sunday I am preaching a message titled “Operation Andrew.” This is not the title of a covert operation I am leading. I am not the Andrew: it is the Apostle Andrew in the New Testament. The Apostle Andrew is known as the disciple that brought people to meet Jesus. Will you be like Andrew and bring people to meet Jesus? It might be someone who will fully surrender to Christ and allow God to do amazing things through them. Sunday we will provide you with cards you can use to invite the people you have been praying for to help make it easier for you to invite them to meet Jesus at our Church. I will also be sharing the story of how God changed my family forever in 1947 when my father was invited to a revival service. Join me this Sunday as we look at how a simple invitation can have world changing results for the kingdom of God.
In Acts 1:8 we are told to be “witnesses” of the validity of Jesus Christ and his claims. There have been a lot of unrealistic expectations placed on people to witness to the unsaved. The church has tried to put all Christians in the same box and said all Christians should witness in a certain way. But we need to understand that there is Diversity in the Body of Christ which means that we don’t all do everything the same way, including how we witness.
Back when Sue and I were in Bible school over 30 years ago we were required to take an evangelism class that involved door to door witnessing. Twice a semester we would all load onto buses to travel to the closest city, going door to door to people’s homes and try to witness to them. I would have a knot in my stomach for days before we would leave; what do I do, what do I say, what if somebody pulls a gun on me. To be honest, I never felt comfortable with that method of sharing my faith. I found it impersonal, ineffective and very nerve wracking. At times I thought of myself as a bad Christian if I was unable to witness in the way other spiritual leaders told me I needed to.
But then as I studied the Bible more I began to see that God used different people with different witnessing styles to reach different kinds of people in the New Testament. Furthermore, as I matured in my relationship with God and in my ministry as a pastor I discovered I could be a witness for Christ in many different ways – some of them amazingly felt very natural and people were actually being saved because of my witness. This Sunday we will consider 6 biblical styles of witnessing. Join us this Sunday and you might just find a witnessing style that works for you.
When I was a young college student in my first preaching class I remember the professor describing the various kinds of messages. Among the many styles of messages, he listed the simple, personal testimony as a legitimate message. This Sunday my wife Sue and I will share our personal testimonies of how God saved us and directed our lives over the last 5 decades. I often share parts of my faith journey in my messages from week to week, but I hope to share my faith journey in a very clear and concise way this Sunday. You will be especially blessed as you hear from Sue about her faith journey – most of which I’m sure will be new for you. I suspect that some of you will relate to Sue’s story in ways that you are not expecting. You will find as we share on Sunday that Sue and I came from extremely different backgrounds and because of that we are wired very differently. As our two stories merge together into the life we have shared the last 35 years you will see that it is through those differences that God has used us to help each other become more of what God wants us to be. I am very pleased to share this Sunday’s message with Sue and I pray God will make our stories of God’s Grace a blessing for you.
ALSO – We are baptizing 3 people in the Ocean after our Beach Church service. Please plan to stay for 10 minutes after the service to witness these baptisms.
The concept of “seeing” has many facets to it. There is the obvious seeing with our eyes whatever our eyes can see. Then there is seeing in the sense of understanding: “Oh, I see now!” There is also the challenge to see when there are other details vying for our attention: “can’t see the forest for the trees.” John 9 is all about seeing on many levels. The chapter begins with Jesus healing a man on the Sabbath that was born blind. What’s interesting is Jesus meets this man’s physical need of seeing before the man ever declares any faith in Christ as the Messiah. It was only after the healing that he declared his faith in Christ. There is an important lesson for the church in this account.
In contrast to the man born blind are the Pharisees that Jesus identifies as spiritually blind. They could see in the natural world just fine, but were blind when it came to spiritual things. In spite of Jesus’ attempts to draw them into spiritual sight, they stayed in their darkness. What was the difference between the Pharisees and the man born blind? The blind man knew he had a physical need that was beyond human help, but he also had been told his whole life he was in that situation because of his sin. When Jesus met the felt need in his life by giving him sight, he was open to seeing Jesus on another level; seeing Jesus in the spiritual realm as the messiah and his savior. The Pharisees stayed in darkness because they refused to recognize any deficiency in their lives. Because they were proud in their righteousness they never saw they had a need of any kind. That pride kept them from seeing Jesus for who He is and the blessings He alone could provide for them. Join us this Sunday as we look into John 9 for a fresh, new way of “Seeing Jesus.”
“… The truth will set you free” is a widely used phrase in society to establish the importance of truth. Caltech and Johns Hopkins University use it for their mottos and Johnny Depp quoted this after he was victorious in the trial with Amber Heard. It gets used so freely many people don’t know it’s a quotation of Jesus in the Bible, and if they knew it’s in the Bible, I would guess they don’t know the context of the statement. That famous quotation is in this Sunday’s text where Jesus is emphasizing the path to real truth . . . truth that is liberating.
While Johnny Depp and the above mentioned Universities use that statement to defend truth, and with it preserve freedom, that is not how it was originally used by Jesus. Because Jesus is the truth itself, there is no need to defend it. However, because we live in a world that is ravished by sin and ruled by the father of lies, the devil himself, truth needs to be discovered. And in that discovery comes true and lasting freedom. Considering the current assault on truth in our media driven world, this is a fascinating look at the timelessness and unchanging nature of truth. Join me this Sunday as we look at truth in an age of deception: You can know the truth and that truth will give you ultimate freedom.
I know I’m dating myself when I ask this question – do you remember the TV game show “To Tell the Truth”? A group of 3 people would all pretend to be the same person, of which one was actually that person. A celebrity panel would ask questions to determine who was the real person, making a guess at the conclusion of the show. The big reveal came after the host would say “Would the real ____ please stand up!” In these middle chapters of John there is a little bit of “To Tell the Truth” going on here.
We know that during the time of Jesus there were other men making claims to be the promised messiah and many of the religious leaders were trying to determine who was the real messiah: will the real messiah please stand up! In our text this Sunday we see a group of Pharisees peppering Jesus with questions and getting answers they were not happy with. In verse 25 they come to a point of exasperation and blurt out “Who are you?” And that is a very good question. A question that is still asked today regarding Jesus. In John 8 Jesus provides the verification of who he is – the promised messiah, and those points of verification still provide the proof that Jesus is the messiah. The passage concludes in vs 30 by recording that many people put their faith in Jesus as a result. The verification of Jesus as messiah still has that effect on people today as Jesus calls us to put our faith in Him to meet every need for time and eternity.
andymatt723 