How many times has an article popped up on your computer screen promising a better balance between work and family? Or, five ways to destress and manage your time? Balance, efficiency, more focus on leisure or work, none of these will help you achieve peace and tranquility in life. The answer is putting your idols in the proper place. If all your energy and worship is going towards your idols you'll be wiped out spiritually, emotionally, and physically. As we will see today, God must be the center of our balance.
Redemption - Smashing Idols, Part 2
An idol has its place in your life because it's at the front of the line, always at the forefront of your mind and requiring you to spend more time and energy on it than anything else including your relationship with the Father. You could say that an idol is like a parasite but one we think we can't live without. As we’ll hear in today's message, as those idols are sucking the life out of us they keep us from experiencing what God has for our lives, bigger and better than anything we're clinging to instead of Him.
Redemption - Smashing Idols, Part 1
Although our first thought when we hear the word “idol” may be a little statue or huge monument, idols are much more insidious than that. An idol is anything that we place as a priority over God and they don't always loom large and in our faces. Whether it's socializing, or a relationship, or a job, idols are difficult to get rid of even when we recognize them in our lives. In today's teaching, Pastor Ricky is going to look at why the Israelites clung to their Idols so fiercely and why we cling to ours.
Redemption - Bad News, Good News, Better News, Part 2
As followers of Jesus Christ, we have a God who was willing to leave His throne, to come to earth and die for all mankind who chose to believe in Him and His sacrifice. The creation groans under the weight of sin and Jesus came to restore His creation and His people. Pastor Ricky will show us today that the world's solutions to your problems will not work and he asks the question, “What do you think the biggest problem is in the world and in your life today?”
Redemption - Bad News, Good News, Better News, Part 1
Believers in Jesus Christ may look at the world and think how it is enslaved to sin but they may not realize that they could be enslaved to their own sin. In today's study, Pastor Ricky speaks on the issue of the perception of sin and how many people in the world have the wrong perception of God. We’ll also see how the Passover in Exodus is a picture of the blood of Jesus Christ covering the sins of His people. He is the true Passover Lamb who takes away the sins of the world.
Redemption - The Return of the King, Part 2
What or who are you serving and who are you living for? We all have to serve somebody and there is a steep price for which we will pay in order to enjoy the pleasures of this world. Today we’ll see that being a slave to Christ is actually freedom and our devotion to God will only bring good to our lives. It's crucial that we not let the cares of this world dim the vision of eternity with our Lord.
Redemption - The Return of the King, Part 1
In today’s study of God’s Word, Pastor Ricky teaches on how true freedom is only found in our true king. We’ll also see that there is a slavery which looks like freedom but really is a snare from the devil. Our King is returning and it's essential that we don't place anything in our lives ahead of the king and ruler of the universe. Today we will learn of the true way to freedom and how to obtain peace in our lives. Jesus came into this world to set the captives free but we must allow Him to rule in our lives.
Redemption - Holiness, Part 2
In Exodus, we see the separation between God and man. The Jews experienced the power and holiness of God on Mount Sinai. Pastor Ricky will show us in today's teaching that at times, some Christians may not have the correct reference towards God. Do you lack a holy reverence and fear in your relationship with God? You'll see that God has not changed His standard since giving Moses the Law. However, as Christians, Jesus is our mediator who can approach God's holiness with our petitions.
Redemption - Holiness, Part 1
As followers of Jesus Christ, we have a God who was willing to leave His throne, to come to earth and die for all mankind who chose to believe in Him and His sacrifice. The creation groans under the weight of sin and Jesus came to restore His creation and His people. Pastor Ricky will show us today that the world's solutions to your problems will not work. And he asks the question, “What do you think the biggest problem is in the world and in your life today?”
Redemption - Sin Lies, God Provides #2, Part 3
Pastor Ricky asks the question, “Are you a restful person day to day?” Even as a Christian you may often find yourself stressed throughout the day. We’ll see that if you continually find yourself stressed and uptight there must be something wrong in your walk with the Lord. Pastor Ricky will also show that trusting God is the foundation for your obedience. As we go through the book of Exodus, we'll see how the Jews’ lack of obedience influenced their relationship with God and made for a rough journey.
Redemption - Sin Lies, God Provides #2, Part 2
God knows our needs better than we know ourselves. What we consider a need may really be a hindrance in our relationship with Him. In today's study, Pastor Ricky will show how only God can provide for our eternal hunger. Not only will He provide for our physical needs but more importantly, our spiritual needs. Mankind can only find true fulfillment in Jesus Christ. We'll see how Jesus was torn apart by the wrath of God on the cross for us so that we could be eternally fed.
Redemption - Sin Lies, God Provides #2, Part 1
Have you ever noticed the desire to return to some of the old habits which you gave up when you became a Christian? Pastor Ricky will show us in today's study how we could be much like the Jews after they were delivered from slavery in Egypt. Believers in Christ can also begin to grumble about not having the freedom of following their desires. However, the freedom that the world offers is actually slavery to sin. Sometimes we may be guilty of serving our desires and not God.
Redemption - Sin Lies, God Provides #1, Part 3
God's purpose for us is always good. It’s our sin that lies to us and we question whether He is present when things are going badly. But as people rebelled against Him in the desert, God promises to be with them and provide for their needs. They’re blaming God for their condition, for not taking care of them, and instead of turning away, He brings water from a rock. When we needed a savior He brought us his Son, The Rock, who gives us living water. No matter our misunderstanding of Him, He does provide.
Redemption - Sin Lies, God Provides #1, Part 2
In the most horrible times of your life, you may have wondered where is God? He couldn't possibly be watching us go through misery and be okay with it, right? Not like ourselves, His commitment never wavers. We will go through turmoil but He promises to be with us. With that kind of hope, we can go on. As we’ll hear in today’s teaching, God's commitment to His people is steadfast. They can't see beyond their current circumstances but God knows the plans He has for them and He will be there.
Redemption - Sin Lies, God Provides #1, Part 1
Giving your life to Jesus doesn't immediately make all your problems disappear. In fact, you may face new ones. Fully breaking away from our old lives is not an easy transition. As we’ll hear today from Exodus, God’s people were so fixated on the uncertainty of being in the desert that they started to look back on their lives in slavery as being better. When we begin to look back on our days without the Lord as having been easier, we need to remember the end game of that path and focus on renewed life in Him.
Redemption - Stand Still, Go Forth, Part 2
Throughout our lives, we’ll experience battles great and small but none are so vital as the one for our souls. For the unbeliever, God is fighting every moment to draw you near, for the believer that hard-fought struggle has been won. As Pastor Ricky will remind us in this study in Exodus that our bondage to sin has been broken just as the children of Israel were free from slavery in Egypt. The effects of sin still remain though but none as blinding and oppressive as those chains that bind unbelievers.
Redemption - Stand Still, Go Forth, Part 1
Our God is a fighter. We don't often think of Him that way but He's in a battle for us constantly. We have the greatest warrior on our side yet we still like to try and control the many universes we've created around ourselves. In today's teaching we’ll discover a better way. We can be still while God blazes forward on our behalf. When God's people were let out of Israel they sought to know what was coming next. They saw their enemies and wanted to take action to protect themselves but all the while God went before them.
Redemption - Remember What He's Done, Part 3
When you gather to celebrate a person's birthday, it's a special time to acknowledge their place in everyone’s heart. But just because you have a party one day a year doesn't mean you forget them the other 364 days. Gathering together to worship and honor God on a regular basis is one way that we can remember God's place in our lives. Sometimes we may struggle and having fellow believers to give you a boost and remind you of all He’s done can help you to regain your focus on what matters.
Redemption - Remember What He's Done, Part 2
After delivering His people out of the hands of Egypt, the Lord gave them a directive to honor the Passover on a regular basis in order to remember what He did for them. As believers living today we aren't exempt from this command to remember. The commemorations observed by God's people in Exodus radiated throughout their lives, throughout the year. Likewise, the Word should permeate our lives. The birth, death, and resurrection of Jesus shouldn't be remembered once a year but be ever-present.
Redemption - Remember What He's Done, Part 1
No matter how good we think we are, we are all spotted with sin. We’ve burdened ourselves with it, with every wrong choice we’ve made. Sin destroys the things we love, our hearts, and our lives. Yet the God who created us wants us in spite of it. So much so that He willingly gave His most precious Son to unburden us of that sin. Today, as we hear about God's provision to His people as the firstborns of Egypt, we’ll begin to understand the magnitude of this gift and just how valuable it is.