Simple Church

Wednesday, June 14, 2017 -Faith

"In our lives, we presume to know the path for our lives because we know the end result. Our path is never what we expect it to be and it is always harder than we expect. Like Abraham walking up the mountian with Isaac. It was not easy but he was trusting in something supernatural (God) to be able to do that." -Kenny Nix

Abraham had extreme trust in the faithfulness of God and the task He had set before him. Each time God called out to Abraham, his response was, "Yes. Here I am." To be able to follow Christ fully, we must learn to lean into the Holy Spirit and trust the journey He is calling us to. Nothing on the front side of  surrender will be easy or feel natural. In the exchange of our way for His, the freedom that we receive is unlike anything this world can offer.

Even when we would not choose the path God places before us, we can trust it because God is trustworthy. The mountains are difficult. There are times circumstances feel insurmountable. The best news about our difficulty is God sees us where we are, knows us intimately, loves us deeply and walks right beside us on our pathway. 

 

Hebrews 11:17-19; Genesis 22:1-19

Dawn Hedgepeth

Sunday June 11, 2017 "A Colossians 3 Church"

In part three of our series, "A Colossians 3 Church", Paul focuses heavily on being set apart. As followers of Christ, we naturally begin to develop and exemplifiy the characteristcs of one who is different. This, of course, is not to say we will not fail or fight against our desires to be the way we were before we surrendered our hearts to Jesus. The more we seek after God and who He is, the more we will recognize His design for us to be a light in a dark world. The hope we have in Christ is the answer to what ails all of humankind.

Jesus is enough and love is more powerful than anything else we could ever offer.

Colossians 3:12-16, 1 Corinthians 13

Kenny Nix, Pastor

Wednesday, June 7, 2017 -Faith

The writer of Hebrews continues in our "Faith" series by reiterating what we have already walked through with the faithful ones thus far. He emphasizes that none of these people received what God had promised them during thier lifetime, but he chooses to highlight the fact that they died still believing in God's faithfulness over their lives. The hope and the focus for these saints was not to gain anything this world could give them, but to pursue the life God had planned for them. They knew this world was not their true home. 

If our hope is in Christ, that is what fuels us to share our faith with those who are hopeless. Jesus sent the Holy Spirit so we can walk in confidence and be sure of our hope. We come to life when we place our unrestrained heart in the hands of God, who loves us with a love so great we are completely incapable of understanding even a fraction of it. God is indeed great, yet so personal and intimate. 

"We are only alive when we pursue a life after Christ."

Where is your hope?

 

Hebrews 11:13-16

Keith Wilson, Youth Pastor

 

 

Sunday June 4, 2017 "A Colossians 3 Church"

In our second message of our Colossians series, we see the passion Paul had for the people of Colossae. He knows that they had heard the truth of Christ, but they had begun to mix Jesus in with other gods and traditions. They needed to be reminded of the supremacy of Christ and the freedom they had in Him.

It is easy for you and I to do the same thing in our own lives. While we are proclaiming that we are followers of Christ, we are steadily allowing other things to become more important to us. We need the same reminder that this church did so long ago. We have to put to death the things that threaten to become idols in our lives and make us lose focus on our savior. Jesus came for our freedom so we could live unbound from the things that kill us spiritually. 

The voices and things of this world will dim the Light we carry and our sin will destroy us spiritually if we do not first kill them.

Jesus is enough.

 

Colossians 3:5-11

Kenny Nix, Pastor

Wednesday, May 31, 2017 -Faith

Throughout Abraham and Sarah's journey with God, we learn that in times where God seems silent or disengaged from us, His timing is always perfect and His ways are higher than anything we can comprehend. In desperation, like Sarah's, we often try to manipulate the plan or the calling that we know is placed on our life to fit a mold we have in our minds of the way it should be.

Unlike you and I, God is faithful. Every time. What He has planned will come to pass. His Word is true and He is completely trustworthy. We are challenged, as Sarah was, to ask ourselves a poignant but important question, "do I fully trust God?"

 

Hebrews 11:11-12, Genesis 11:27,30

Genesis 12:1-4

Connie Champion

Sunday, May 28, 2017

A new life is realizing you have to connect to the true source of life, Jesus. Following Him completely is not about a check list of do's and don'ts, rules to memorize or a half-hearted commitment to ease the conviction you feel from time to time. Following Christ is knowing you were dead before you met Jesus and experiencing new life being breathed into you by the renewing of your heart and mind. 

Jesus is the only one worthy of living or dying for. Everything else falls short of the absolute holiness of Christ and the supreme honor He is given by God for His obedience. God, in His great love for you and I, sent Jesus to rescue the world from our sinful nature so that we could share in His glory and experience true freedom from our rebel hearts.

The only thing in our lives that truly matters is Jesus. Will you embrace Him? Will you allow Christ to give you new life that aims to proclaim the preeminence of Christ?

 

Colossians 3:1-4

Keith Wilson, Youth Pastor

Wednesday, May 24, 2017 -Faith

As the journey through our "Faith" series continues, we see one common theme in the scriptures. A seeking heart pursuing the righteousness of God. The verses that describe those with great faith who have gone before us bring to light that, although imperfect, the life of a true follower of God is one of obedience and dependence on Him.

Abraham obeyed God's call even though he did not know exactly where God would take him or what the outcome would be. You and I have the choice to follow God when He leads us in a direction. God calls ordinary people to do things we do not understand that will bring glory to Himself. Like Abraham, we oftentimes feel like we are foreigners here, like we do not belong. We were once bound by the things of this life: struggles, temptations, stress, worry, on and on and on. We can celebrate our freedom in Christ by fully depending on God in every aspect of our journey. Not only will this bring comfort to a weary heart, it will bring purpose and joy to a void in our life that only One can fill.

 

Hebrews 11:8-10, Genesis 12:1-9

Keith Wilson, Youth Pastor

Sunday, May 21, 2017 -The Psalms

In the fifth message in our series "The Psalms", we continue to see a prayer of honesty before God. The Psalmist continually praises God for all that He has promised while begging God to sustain him. Our relentless learning of God's Word, His promises and His soverignty only draw us closer to Him. In the same way, our openness, our honesty and our vulnerability in our prayer and praise will sustain us in times of great need. As we confess who Jesus is, not only in our own lives but who He is in all of Creation, our very faith is strengthened.

As we are taken through the last seven stanzas in the chapter, we see an earnest heart seeking life through God's protection and forgiving power. "Let me live so I can praise you..." 

 

Psalm 119:121-176

Kenny Nix, Pastor

Wednesday, May 17, 2017 -Faith

In the fifth message of our series "Faith", we learn from Matthew's gospel that our faith is stretched and grown over time. In this passage, Jesus explains the Kingdom of Heaven is like a mustard seed. Our faith, in the same way, grows over time. The more closely we walk with Christ, the clearer it becomes how much more we need Him in our daily lives. The goal of our prayers of dependence and requests made to God is not the actual fruition of the prayers being answered in the way we ask; the goal is for our faith to be stengthened regardless of the outcome. 

Do not give up. The seeming silence while waiting for God to answer your prayer is actually the time He could be using to deepen your dependence on Him so that your faith will be stronger than before.

 

Matthew 17:14-21; 13:31

Kenny Nix, Pastor

Sunday, May 14, 2017 -The Psalms

In part four of "The Psalms", we can see that a life in pursuit of God will cause relationship changes. As we depend more on Jesus and less on ourselves, many people will leave our lives that do not share the same desire to seek after the things of God. The same unexplainable, incomprehensible Creator of the universe sees and cares deeply for each one of us. He fills in the gaps left by those who abandon us because we are following after Christ.

The Psalmist opens his heart in both prayer and praise in the stanzas we look into. He declares that God knows our hearts and His Word is life. In these scriptures, we hear one overarching word. "HOPE." 

Psalm 119:114 says, "You are my refuge and my shield; your word is my source of hope."

Take heart in your aim, continue in the path of righteousness and know that God sees and loves you. We have hope because while we were still sinners, He sent Jesus to die for us. That is worth fully entrusting our hope in. 

 

Psalm 119:57-120

Pastor Kenny Nix