Messages

Pastor’s Message

March Madness is here again!  If you are a fan of NCAA basketball as I am, then you understand why I love this time of year.  I want to share a couple of spiritual lessons we can learn from this tournament:  First, life is unpredictable – I remember hearing last year that the NCAA said there has never been a verified perfect March Madness bracket.  Likewise, no one can predict what will happen in our own lives. The Bible reminds us of that truth in James 4:13-15 “Now listen, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go to this or that city, spend a year there, carry on business and make money. Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes. Instead, you ought to say, “If it is the Lord’s will, we will live and do this or that.”  You and I may not know what the future holds, but we know Who holds the future.  

Second, there is hope when life seems hopeless – Nearly every year, the NCAA tournament features some dramatic upsets when a Cinderella team with little chance of winning a game can rise to the challenge and defeat a stronger, more prominent team.  God’s Word is filled with account after account of underdogs emerging victorious with God’s help:  David defeating the giant Goliath & Gideon and his 300 unarmed men defeating an army of thousands of well-fortified Midianite soldiers, are two that come to mind.  But the greatest account in God’s Word of a time when things looked hopeless was when Jesus was crucified on the cross.  It was from that cross that He spoke His final word, “It is finished” and then He died.  His body was taken off the cross and buried.  Satan thought he had won the victory, but three days later, on that first glorious Easter Sunday, the Son of God stepped out of the tomb.  Death was conquered!  Satan was defeated!  Jesus is alive!  The greatest comeback in history!  In fact, in the November 12, 2001 edition of Sports Illustrated, they ran an article entitled, “Bouncing Back Big-Time”, listing Jesus Christ’s resurrection from the dead as number 1 on their list of the top 10 biggest comebacks of all time.

Paul said it perfectly concerning our comeback, “O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory?

The sting of death is sin; and the strength of sin is the law.  But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. (1 Corinthians 15:55-57)

You see, Christ’s comeback is our comeback, and His power is our power! Our hope is alive because our hope is alive in Christ!  So share your comeback story with someone this week!

I hope to see you in church this coming Sunday.  Don’t forget – let your light shine for Jesus!

Pastor Rick

Message From Andy (Student Minister)

“But one of the elders said to me, ‘Do not weep. Behold, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has prevailed to open the scroll and to lose its seven seals.’”
Revelation 5:5

Have you ever heard the expression, “If March comes in like a lion, it’ll go out like a lamb?” or “If March comes in like a lamb, it’ll go out like a lion?”  It refers to the pattern of weather where, if the weather is pleasant at the beginning of March, it won’t be at the end of March, and vice versa. 

There is a controversy regarding the origin of this expression.  Some say it has to do with the transition from winter to spring that occurs in March.  Others say it’s related to the constellations.  My favorite theory is the one that calls for a Biblical origin for this saying:  Jesus came into the world as the sacrificial lamb to pay our sin debt once and for all through His blood shed on Calvary, and He is coming back in victory as The Lion of Judah!

As we prepare to celebrate Easter at the end of March, I’m reminded of these lyrics from “LION” by Elevation Worship:

“Pride of Zion, prophets spoke,
Our Messiah flesh and bone.
You alone are worthy to open up the scroll,
Like a lamb, You suffered, but the Lion has arose!”

“Hail, hail Lion of Judah
Let the Lion roar!”

Our Savior, Jesus Christ, lived a perfect sinless life while teaching us what life is all about, died a horrible death on the cross and shed His blood for our sins, arose in victory from the grave conquering death, is seated today at the right hand of The Father, and HE IS COMING AGAIN!

Hail, hail Lion of Judah … let the Lion ROAR!

Church family, I’m excited to celebrate our RISEN SAVIOR this month with you as we Glorify, Grow, Give, and Go, all for HIM!

Andy