Sermons about Influence

The Power of Friendship

Date: October 24, 2010 | Speaker: Phil Pike

Even though people have more ways to connect and communicate than at any other time in history, studies show that people feel less connected by real relationships than ever before. Loneliness has been called the new American epidemic. How many true friends do you have who will stick with you and point you to God in the tough times? Are you being that kind of friend to anyone else? Today’s message shows us the importance of friendship in helping us live a faithful and effective Christian life.

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Refusing to Conform

Date: October 10, 2010 | Speaker: Phil Pike

There was a time in our nation’s history when Christians were respected by the general public, but now Christians are are portrayed either as extremists or as complete idiots by the media, with no real “respect” at all. Is it perhaps because we have lost our Godly influence by conforming to the world’s standards instead of truly standing out and making a difference? God’s Word calls us to transform our culture rather than being conformed by it. Are you a conformer or a transformer?

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Will Our Lives Count for Eternity?

Date: June 20, 2010 | Speaker: Phil Pike

Hours before His death, Jesus challenged His disciples to make sure their lives bore fruit… fruit that would LAST. When our lives come to an end, will what we’ve done be gone like fireworks exploding and then fading away, or will our lives bear fruit that will last for eternity?

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Pointing Others to the Light

Date: March 28, 2010 | Speaker: Phil Pike

God could have chosen any number of miraculous ways to announce the coming of the Light into the world, but instead, He chose a man named John the Baptist to spread the news. To this day, God continues to use ordinary people like us to spread His light into dark places. Are our lives touching others with the light of Christ?

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Share Our Grace Story

Date: February 14, 2010 | Speaker: Phil Pike

In Matthew 5:13-16, Jesus says we are salt and light and calls us to be living, breathing expressions of His gospel wherever we are and to whomever we’re with. Through everyday, ordinary folks like us, God puts the gospel on the road. Rather than waiting for others to come to us, we’re told to go to them and to share our grace story of how God has worked in our lives.

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Steward Our Lives

Date: February 7, 2010 | Speaker: Phil Pike

God never intended for us to keep 100% of what He gives us, but rather to invest some of it back into His mission on this earth. As you think about your time, talents, treasures, truth, and relationships, which area of your life are you managing well? Which area is God pinpointing that needs to be managed better? Is there anything you are holding onto that God wants you to release for His use?

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Engage Our Spirit-Giftedness

Date: January 24, 2010 | Speaker: Phil Pike

God never meant for you to be an “ornamental” Christian (remember the plastic couch?) Rather He wants to use you and has called you to a life of serving Him and others. The Scriptures are clear: You are gifted… You are a vital part of the Body of Christ… and You have a work to do in this world. His call to action involves using You to accomplish His purposes in the lives of those both inside and outside the body of Christ.

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Dealing With Your Past

Date: October 25, 2009 | Speaker: Phil Pike

Far too many people who get married and have children, try to build their family on the shaky, cracked foundations of their past. But just as no building can stand tall and strong if built on a broken foundation, so no marriage will ever stand strong if problems from your past are not first dealt with. The Bible says if we hide our sins we will not prosper, but if we confess and forsake them, we will find mercy. Are there any areas of “rust” in your past that you have chosen to just paint over instead of dealing with? Rust will always eventually show through the paint! God calls us to deal with our past so that we can build a strong family on a clean, solid foundation.

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A Dislocated Heart

Date: August 30, 2009 | Speaker: Phil Pike

The Bible says that the heart of man, if left to its own devices, is deceitful and desperately wicked. For the most part, we live the vast majority of our life with our heart focused on our own needs, instead of being concerned about the needs of others. That’s why God wants us to have a “dislocated” heart — a heart that is more concerned with God’s agenda than with our own agenda. Have you left your comfort zone recently to meet someone else’s need and share the love of Christ with them? Do the things that break God’s heart break yours, too, even if they are outside your own personal world? If not, maybe you need to ask God to give you a dislocated heart!

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Unstoppable!

Date: June 7, 2009 | Speaker: Phil Pike

What is it that you get the most excited to talk about… your team winning the ballgame last night? Your new car? That exciting vacation? The believers in the early church were so excited about Jesus, that even when they were threatened and warned to stop speaking in His name, they replied, “We cannot help speaking about Jesus.” Basically, they were saying, “Beat us, torture us, even kill us… it doesn’t matter because we cannot stop talking about our Lord!” They were literally unstoppable! No wonder they were a church on fire!

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What are You Devoted To?

Date: May 31, 2009 | Speaker: Phil Pike

It’s easy to devote ourselves to something, whether it’s to our marriage, our family, or to the Lord, but then realize over time that our devotion has faded. The believers in Acts 2 not only devoted themselves to the Lord’s work, but they were “continually devoting” themselves to it. What area of your life were you once devoted to, but now you’re miles off course because you have not been “continually devoting” yourself to it?

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You are Part of the Mission of Jesus!

Date: May 10, 2009 | Speaker: Phil Pike

An estimated 97% of the entire world has heard of Coca-Cola. That means roughly only 3% of the earth’s population has never heard of Coke. Yet, the sad news is that more than 25% of the people on earth have never heard the name of Jesus. The last words Jesus spoke before He ascended to heaven (Acts 1:8) were for His followers to go and spread the Good News about Him to the ends of the earth. There is still a great harvest to bring in. Are we doing our part?

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