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45,000 We live in a world that is divided Spiritually. Then even within the divisions there is divisions. Tonight we are going to look at overcoming, scripturally speaking divisions. Study ending in Feb 2021 shows over 45,000 religions in the world. (Insert PowerPoint Religious Divisions) Oh wait, I…

Scripture Reading: Introduction: Is religion good or bad? “We don’t have a religion, we have a relationship.” But genuine believers all over the world are involved in religion. Transition: What is religion? Religion - noun - used 4 times, 2 here, also Ac 26:5 , Col 2:18 They have known for a long time,…

Religious Rebuke. (v. 23-24) A. The Narrative. 1. Jesus and His disciple are walking through someones grainfield. The Disciples begin to pluck the heads of grain. B. The Religious Reaction. (v. 24) 1. The pharisees accused the Disciples of Jesus of doing what is “ unlawful ”. a. This was in no way a…

How to dodge the pitfalls of poisonous piety built on a foundation of pride filled religion

Intro Last week in our 4 part series on “Bad Religion” Week one Amos God doesn’t want our performance Rather he wants our hearts, all of us Week Two - Jeremiah THe hypocrisy of the Court Prophets who just told the people what they wanted to hear Week Three - Jesus in Luke The Pharisees and the Scribes…

Bumper sticker Christian ( insert Bumper Sticker Christian Picture) Insert illustration woman with stickers on car . . . Actions speak louder than words. People notice our actions so we need to be careful that our actions line up with our words and our words with our actions. Prove yourself to be doers…

Jesus comes to the temple and puts a spanner in the works - so the religious leaders are out to get him. Buy why is Jesus so upset about what's going on at the temple? Because Jesus hates (fake) religion.

Run free in the grace of Christ

Last week we started a series called bridge builders. We learned that it takes the right blueprints to build a bridge and that bridge be successful. Today we want to look at the next process and that is having the right tools for the project. During the American Revolution, a man in civilian clothes…

Joel 3:9-10 Proclaim this among the nations: Consecrate for war; stir up the mighty men. Let all the men of war draw near; let them come up. Thesis: Critics falsely attempt to lay the blood of mankind at Christianity’s feet. Introduction: Today, the term “religion” gets separated from political, social,…

Two crowds met on Palm Sunday and the week following: the provincial followers of Jesus who shouted Hosanna, lined his way with their garments, and recognised him as king; and the sophisticated, religious leaders of Jerusalem, confident in their religious system and the righteousness they were sure it yielded, who recognised no authority above theirs. This encounter was destined to end in bloodshed, and Jesus did nothing to prevent that, rather he worked to provoke the self-righteous Jerusalem crowd. Which crowd do you run with? Whose authority do you recognise? Palm Sunday is a chance to figure that out.

John (5:16–29) A. The tirade against Jesus (5:16–18): The godless Pharisees condemn Jesus on two counts. 1. He heals on the Sabbath (5:16) 2. He makes himself equal with God (5:17–18) Healing on the Sabbath Free from the Bondage of Cultural/Religious expectations Culture & Religion Defined 1cul•ture…

Let’s Pray... Intro: As we’ve been studying 1 Samuel, we’ve been diving in pretty deep and looking at some of the details of the text, this morning what I want to do is actually give us more of a 30,000 foot perspective. We’re going to be covering a lot of 1 Samuel this morning, in fact we’ll be covering…

Introduction Two Groups Jesus, the new order: Represents trouble Pharisees: the current order, representing the status quo, fighting to maintain their current status and religious system Jesus worked two miracles: Healing of the blind man and the Raising of Lazarus from the Dead. You would think that…

Introduction Good morning and welcome to First Community Church where we worship God in Spirit and in Truth, one verse at a time. Praise God for that message of music and y’all sounded great! I am confident that the Lord was pleased. Let us pray in and dive in the Word of God with expectation. Did you…

Welcome Good morning and welcome to First Community Church, where we worship in Spirit and in Truth, one verse at a time. Thank you for your faithfulness and for all you do for the Kingdom of God. The times we are living in, changes on a daily and sometimes even hourly basis. Peter write the Word of…

In a few short hours I’ll be leaving and making my way, 12 hours up north, to Ontario, CA. I’m headed up there for our annual FFM trip, we have been going now for the last several years. You might wonder why I do it. Why, Pastor, do you drive all that way, spend the money, the time, and the energy, to…

In Jesus' kingdom, we are called to show the things we're tempted to hide, and hide the things we're tempted to show. This is all so that our Father in heaven gets the glory. Jesus shows how this works in the area of religious practice.

When we lose our satisfaction in what we have in Jesus, other things creep in to fill the space. Religious rules are one of those things, where can begin to expect the rules of legalism, or the rules of 'advanced spirituality', to only what Jesus can do in us. While religious rule-keeping can look good on the outside, the fundamental place where it falls down is its inability to affect real change in our hearts.

Introduction Acts 13:13-52 13 Paul and his companions set sail from Paphos and came to Perga in Pamphylia, but John left them and went back to Jerusalem. 14 They continued their journey from Perga and reached Pisidian Antioch. On the Sabbath day they went into the synagogue and sat down. 15 After the…

The Exodus gives us a vivid picture of how Jesus saves us, how he redeems us. Each step toward redemption in someone’s life is often met with greater affliction. It was for Israel in Egypt, and it is for us today. Religion/Oppression says, “It’s not enough! Work harder!” – implying that somehow if you do enough you will earn God’s love and favor. This week we see the Israelites forced to work harder to try and please their taskmasters. Jesus’ Gospel says, “You can never do enough… let me do it for you.” God’s favor isn’t earned, but it is a gift of his grace through Jesus. When you face affliction in the midst of following Jesus, remember that God can and will turn your troubles into triumph. Trust Jesus, and keep moving forward.