King David - Man After God's Own Heart

This week we wrap up our series - Choices: Where is Life Leading You?  Life is tough!  And all of us have made some pretty rotten decisions along the way.  The sad truth is that the more bad decisions we make, the easier it becomes to justify our bad decisions and add more to them.  That's what makes King David's story so valuable.  David's story teaches us to live to please God, to repent and turn back to God when we loose our way, and to "brace ourselves" for the consequences of our own poor choices.

Most of us remember David from the story of David and Goliath.  But David wasn't immune from sinful choices.  Although David was a mighty warrior and a spiritual poet, He was far from perfect.  And his failures weren't small ones.  When David messed up, he messed up royally.

But something stands out about David; it was his heart.  David's heart was always turning towards God.  Unlike King Saul, David was more concerned about pleasing God than pleasing people.  He was more concerned about God's will, than his own will.  Psalm 51 reveals the sadness of David's heart as he deals with his own grievous sins and repentance.  David wasn't perfect, but his heart was perfect toward the Lord.  That's the only reason that the Kingdom was taken from Saul and given to David.  David was a man after God's own heart.  Join us Sunday as we look deeper at the life of David and determine to live to please God.  See you @ the ARC (10:15 AM).

Saul - The Consequences of Pride

DL Moody once penned, "Be humble or you will stumble."  Most of you have heard the story of Saul.  He was the first king of Israel . . . and he was "tall, dark, and handsome."  What most don't know is that Saul started out as a humble "tall, dark, and handsome" kind-a-guy.  He was so humble that he hid from sight on the day of his announcement as king.  But, his insecurities and over-confidence led to the sin of pride.

Saul's great sin wasn't murder or adultery, it was pride.  And pride led to disobedience.  Saul's disobedience led God to reject him as the king of Israel.  So how important is obedience?  

Jesus told a story about two houses with two very different foundations.  Take a look in Luke 6.  Obedience is the difference between building a house that can stand the storms of life and one that will certainly fail.  Saul's house fell, not because his sins were lessor or greater than yours or mine, but because he refused to obey God and cared more for the praises of people, than the favor of God.  

Obedience to God's principles of truth is important.  It's the difference between success and failure.  See you Sunday as we take a deeper look into the Life of King Saul.  Pastor Tom

The Story of Joseph and Choices

"Do, or do not. There is no 'try.'" Jedi Master Yoda 

Choices are very important; call it intuition, wisdom, or character.  But successful people make decisions quickly and then are slow to change them.  I call that consistency or longevity.  Think about the story of Joseph.  God had a plan and Joseph had a dream.  But the path to the destination was through the pains of hatred, slavery, and prison.  And don't kid yourself, Joseph didn't find any of this easy.  In the final chapters of his story we learn of his grief and great emotion at the re-appearance of his brothers.  Joseph's journey through troubled waters was difficulty, but he weathered the storm with his trust in God and his attitude of faithfulness.  

So what about you?  Are you willing to trust God regardless of your circumstances?  Join us Sunday as we consider Joseph's story and how it applies to our lives today.

Choices:Where is Life Leading You?

When I say Adam and Eve, what do you think of?  Paradise, the garden of Eden, the fall, original sin?  The first story in the Bible teaches us many things about God and humanity.    Here's a short list - God is good and we are created in his image.  God desires to bless us and he has given us rule over the earth and the opportunity to be fruitful.  One thing we shouldn't miss in the original story about Adam and Eve is that God has given us free will.  We choose and our choices matter.  Decisions determine our destiny.

For the more philosophical among us, man's moral free agency and God's sovereign choosing seem like opposing forces, but in reality they are more like two sides to the same coin.  Remember, we are reflections of God himself.  Just as God chooses, so too do we have the opportunity to choose our direction in life.  We may never know exactly how God's sovereignty and our choosing work together.  What we do know is that life is full of choices that have eternal importance.

When Adam and Eve chose, we all felt the shockwaves.  When they fell, we were tripped up as well.  This reality highlights just one aspect of "choice": Our choices have a ripple effect on the lives of others.  The choices you and I make will surely impact our future and possibly even alter the future of our children, grandchildren, friends, or neighbors.  Remember the movie, "It's a Wonderful Life."  that's the message of the movie.  Your life; your choices, impact the lives of others.

I wonder if we can learn from the mistakes of others and make better choices than Adam and Eve?  I wonder?

Choices:Where is Life Leading You?

Can't wait for August!  Sunday, August 1st we kick off a new series called "Choices".  It has been said that the gates of history turns on small hinges, and so do people's lives.  The choices we make determine our destiny.  Throughout the series we will take a look at various Bible characters who made good choices and bad and hopefully we will experience personal spiritual growth as we learn about the importance of our decisions.   Can't wait!  Tell and friend and choose to be present!

Decisions determine destiny.  Pastor Tom