Sad Tears or Happy Tears? Maybe both!
Could These Sad Tears Also Be Happy Tears? Sometimes tears are from sadness. Other times they are from joy. But our God knows how to take sad tears and turn them into tears of joy.
Looking at the spirit of Christmas - past, present and future. A Christmas Day message from Pastor Krause
Do you feel like something is missing in your Christmas celebrations? What so we really need this year?
Nothing Will Be The Same!
Everything will be different!
THIS affects everything.
THIS gives you hope for the future.
THIS empowers you today.
THIS is what we're focusing on for our final "New Beginnings" Advent message. What is this? Find out while viewing this video and study Revelation 21:1-5.
I forget...
The older I get (and yes, I am getting old) the more I seem to struggle to remember things. While forgetting things can sometimes be a problem, what if forgetting could be a good thing? What if there was something God actually told us we should forget? Our third Advent lesson “I'm forgetting something" teaches us about good forgetting as we study Isaiah 43:18-19.
I'm Not Crying, You're Crying!
Either Way, Hope Is Here!
No one likes to admit their tears. We don't want to show our struggle. But not only can we be honest about our dark nights, we are empowered to say "It's A Beautiful Mourning." Let's study Lamentations 3:22-24 together this weekend and find out how.
Unkillable...
Have you ever had a tree or plant that you tried to get rid of but it just kept coming back? No matter what you used: a saw, poison, digging up the roots - it just could not kill it. I know, it is a weird analogy, but that's how God's promises are - unkillable. No matter how many times we doubt them, reject them, or walk away from them, God's promises are always there. This week we begin the new church year and the Advent season. We start our series "New Beginnings" with a lesson from Jeremiah 33:1-16 with the theme: "Let's begin - Again".
What Happened To You?
You've Changed!
When we go through a battle we come out changed. This weekend as we conclude our "I Quit! (spiritual warfare on a personal level)" series as we study Genesis 32:24-28 and celebrate how we've been "Transformed."
You missed the point!
How many times have you heard a sermon on the feeding of the 5,000? Really, that many times - well get ready for one more. What if I told you that we have been missing the point of this miracle? While this miracle shows us God can provide everything we need, the truth it is about so much more than that. We will focus in on verses 16-18 of Matthew 14 with this thought in mind: "Expect More".
Just Give Up Already!
This Doesn't Make Any Sense!
Sometimes it's not just that life is really tough, but we actually hear voices saying we should give up on God. This weekend we have a challenging section of God's Word, Job 2:7-10, where you get the surprising encouragement to just go right ahead and "give up on YOUR god."
("Job" Video courtesy of The Bible Project and can be downloaded for free at www.thebibleproject.com.)
So Close! But So Far Away......
Ever start getting excited because you think you're close to your destination, maybe you can even see where you want to be, only to find out that the road to get there is closed? The let-down that comes after getting your hopes up can bring an extra dose of discouragement and frustration. This weekend's lesson gives us some much needed perspective, hope & encouragement for the journey as Genesis 40:14-15 & 23 teaches us the "Principle of the Path."
You're being lied to!
Not sure if you caught that, but every day you are hearing a lie. No, I'm not talking about that political ad you just saw on TV, or the story your kid just handed you about how they didn't do what you just saw them do.
I'm talking about your life. Every day we hear two stories - one heavenly and one earthly, and one of them has to be a lie. Which one is the subject of our 20th spiritual battle lesson and it just so happens to also fall on the observance of the Protestant Reformation. We will study 2 Timothy 4:10 and our theme is "The Problem with Jesus".
I'M ANGRY! I [Pastor Krause] was trying to find a good way to describe what we will be studying this weekend so I googled "anger" and the results kind of made me angry. Seems there is no perfect way to reference anger - I found one list identifying 4 kinds of anger, one says 7, one says 10 and another says 12 different kinds. Argh!
So I'm going to skip Google and go right to the expert, the man of our spiritual warfare lesson this week - Jonah. We will be studying chapter 4:9-10 with the theme "Anger Mismanagement".
Church, You’ve Got Mail!
God Wants You to Know….
If God were to send a letter to the Church, what do you think it would say? Would it be a happy message? Would it be a challenging message? Would it be a message that changes your life? This weekend we hear a special message God brings to us by studying Genesis 16:7-10 with the message "Dear Church,".
DEFENSE!
I [Pastor Krause] think it is a pretty safe guess that you all know I am a huge Packer fan. I am excited the Pack is off to good start this season. But I am a bit concerned how our defense has been playing, especially with Sunday's upcoming game against Dallas.
I hope the Packers prepare for the game with a philosophy this weekend's lesson teaches us about spiritual warfare. We are going to study another prophet who was at the point of wanting to quit. And so God taught Jeremiah to "Bend, but not Break".
How strong are you? Strength can be measured in any number of ways: the amount of weight that can be lifted, the ability to stay focused in difficult circumstances, and even good old fashioned horsepower. As important as it is to be strong while fighting our spiritual battles, the real question is how much strength do we really have? Our next "I Quit" lesson shows us a man who thought he was weak but in reality he was really just afraid. We study Judges 6:11-16 and hear God tell Gideon, and us, "You are stronger than you know!"
Fear or Faith – Which Wins?
It’s the Matchup of a Lifetime! Fear may be powerful. But is it really any match for faith? This weekend we step out boldly with a study of Matthew 14:29-31 to see that in Jesus, the result is always “Faith Over Fear.”
You're All Set!
Welcome to the Trip! God has given us a new life and incredible calling. But do we sometimes hold ourselves back? This weekend we study Judges 4:8-10 where we hear God say "This Is Your Permission Slip."
You're Weird! So I just called you weird. How do you feel about it? Before you answer, listen again to the message of Jesus with this weekend's lesson, "Weird (Because Normal Isn't Working)" from John 6:66-69.
What If?
Experience the Freedom of Opportunity! Today there are tasks, challenges and battles in front of you. You have to do them. Or do you? What "IF" you had a choice? What "IF" you said no to what's in front of you? What "IF" you said yes? This weekend we study Esther 4:12-14 as we embrace the freedom of having the opportunity to fight the battle in front us.
Is Your Worst Enemy Looking At You In the Mirror?
There's Victory Over the Battle Within!
It's easy to point fingers at others or the world around us. But sometimes the biggest attacks come from within. This weekend we studied Acts 2:37-38 to see how God gives us an eternity changing, life giving "Intervention."
The best time to win a spiritual battle is before it starts. Guard your heart! Our lesson comes from 2 Samuel 11:1. Let's strategize so we don't give up!
Words mean things. I am not a fan of people misusing words. Brain Anderson, one of the Brewer's TV announcers, often misuses the term "anxious" when the word he really should use is "eager" - “ i.e. so and so is eager to get another at-bat.
Many people also confuse the words "alone" and "lonely". Alone means being by one's self while lonely is that feeling of being unwanted by others, maybe even feeling unloved. Our next "I Quit" lesson is another look at the prophet Elijah and his spiritual battle with loneliness. Our lesson is 1 Kings 19:14 and our theme is "Alone or Lonely?
Mixed messages--
Ever been in a conversation where a person's words do not match their facial expression, that is, they are hiding what they are really thinking and feeling?
Ever try to have one of those conversations with God where we put on a brave face outwardly, but inwardly we are "dying". Our next "I Quit" lesson takes us to another Old Testament great - Elijah. But, like us, Elijah had his bad days too. This weekend we studied 1 Kings 19:4 and our theme is "Worth Less".
The Weather...
There is one universal topic you can discuss with just about anybody - the weather. Either it is too hot, too cold, too dry, to wet, etc. Everybody has an opinion about the weather. But the real hot topic is storms. How much rain did we get? Is it going to snow? Did you hear that thunder last night? Storms always get peoples' attention, especially the big ones. But what about spiritual storms? How many of us discuss the spiritual storms we need to weather? This week we have that discussion with our next "I Quit" lesson: Mark 4:38 “When the storm isn't really the problem!"
When all you see is trouble....
You've been there. You know the feeling - when it seems like everywhere you look there's another challenge, failure or threat - when the enemy is attacking from every direction. Now, we can lay our fears down through a study of 2 Kings 6:15-17 as God opens our eyes to see that He has chosen to "Surround" us.
EVIL - How do you know for sure if a person is evil? And looks can be deceiving since we are unable to look into the hearts of others to examine if their motives match their words and actions. Often it seems we are unable to recognize true evil until it is too late, or so we may think. As we prepare for the next battle in our spiritual warfare on a personal level Jesus gives us a view of evil we might not ever considered. Our lesson comes from Matthew 13:24-30. And our study will be all about "Necessary Evil".
Problem Solving - Wouldn't it be nice if everything in life was simple, easy and fun? (That's the way it was supposed to be). But much like a muscle, without exercise, our faith would atrophy if everything were easy. And so God wisely allows challenges for our faith. Our next lesson in the "I Quit" series displays a challenge for the man whom this series is patterned from - Moses. Moses faced a big challenge and unfortunately he thought he had to face it alone - that became the real problem, the real spiritual battle Moses was fighting. Our lesson is specifically on Numbers 11:13-15 - but I'm adding verses 10-12 for a fuller understanding of the question on Moses' mind, "Why Me?"
I Dare You! Take Hold of God's Calling! Jesus has given us a life of eternal significance and limitless potential. What's holding us back from living that way? This weekend we study Exodus 3:11-14 and learn why we can boldly say "Challenge Accepted."
What Is Controlling You? You're free to leave it behind! What if you're giving over control to something that has no business having power over you? This weekend step forward into the 2nd week of our "I Quit! (spiritual warfare on a personal level)" series with a study of Luke 22:3-4. It's time to recognize that you are "Not A Hostage."