Sermons from James

Engaging a World that is Hostile to Your Faith

Date: June 18, 2017 | Speaker: Gary Mendelsohn

Every now and then, you will come across someone who feels the freedom to be confrontational when they find out that you are a Christian. They may ask you a loaded question or raise an objection that challenges your beliefs. This message is designed to encourage you with some key reminders about the awesome God you worship and the solid foundation on which your faith rests. It will also help you to be more thoughtful before responding in those highly charged encounters. Lastly, it will remind you that our Lord Jesus was also confronted by a hostile culture, and we can look to His example of how to respond with humble, quiet confidence.

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Growing Up in Our Salvation

Date: February 26, 2017 | Speaker: Phil Pike

It has been said that everyone ages, but not everyone matures; everyone grows older, but not everyone grows up. The same is true spiritually. But God’s desire is for us to grow up spiritually; to mature in our walk with Him. Are you pursuing God with an intentional, passionate hunger that will feed you spiritually and cause you to grow and mature in your faith?

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Dying to Encounter Jesus

Date: August 14, 2016 | Speaker: Phil Pike

Two criminals were crucified beside Jesus; one on His right and one on His left. One of them cursed Jesus and was plunged into hell, but the other one cried out for mercy and was given eternal life in heaven. All of mankind is pictured in those two criminals. We will all die on one side of Jesus or the other; either rejecting Him or receiving Him. Which one are you? Are you ready to face eternity?

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Where is Your Love Taking You?

Date: February 28, 2016 | Speaker: Phil Pike

John says we have to make a choice: either we can love the world or we can love God, but it is impossible to love both. We cannot love the sinful ways of the world and have God’s love in us at the same time. It’s one or the other. He also warns that our lives will end very differently based on what we choose to love. So where is your love taking you? Are you living for the here and now, or are you living for eternity?

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The Cure for Our Greatest Problem

Date: January 31, 2016 | Speaker: Phil Pike

The world has tried every imaginable way to end war and crime and hatred and violence, yet despite all their best efforts to bring lasting peace to mankind through education, politics and money, nothing has changed. And nothing ever will change until we recognize and admit that our greatest problem is sin, and our greatest need is a Savior.

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Our Highest Goal for the New Year

Date: January 3, 2016 | Speaker: Phil Pike

What would you do differently if you knew you only had one year to live? This is not a hypothetical question. What if you really knew your life would end one year from today? What plans would you change, what relationships would you mend, what values would you embrace? Now, imagine the kind of difference your life could make if you started living that way today!

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What If We Understood the Power of Prayer?

Date: September 27, 2015 | Speaker: Phil Pike

Throughout history, the great moves of God have always been preceded by earnest prayer. Immediately after the early church had spent ten days in prayer, they shook Jerusalem to its knees. D.L. Moody said that behind every move of God you will always find some kneeling form. Could it be that the reason we’re not seeing that kind of power in our churches in America today is because we’re not praying? What might God do through us if we understood the power of prayer?

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What If We Really Believed the Bible?

Date: September 13, 2015 | Speaker: Phil Pike

Ask the average churchgoing Christian if they believe the Bible and they will quickly respond, “Of course I believe the Bible… I’m a Christian!” But the proof is not in what we say, it is in what we do. Are there commands in Scripture that we know, yet we are not actively obeying? Is there any visible evidence in our lives that our faith is real? Imagine what God could do through us if we really believed the Bible and put it into action!

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Are You a Friend of Sinners?

Date: May 31, 2015 | Speaker: Phil Pike

Jesus has been given many wonderful titles that display His power and majesty, but the title that shows His deep love for mankind most clearly is: Jesus, Friend of Sinners. During His ministry, He was sharply criticized for spending time with notoriously sinful men and women. But Jesus reminded His critics that those very people were the ones He came into the world to save. Now that we have been sent to carry on His mission, could it be said of us that we, too, are a friend of sinners?

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Why Aren’t We Excited About Jesus?

Date: April 26, 2015 | Speaker: Phil Pike

Why do Christians have no trouble talking with great excitement about sports, movies, vacations, sales at the mall… but those same people never talk about Jesus? Lots of excuses can be given, but it’s time to stop pretending and admit that we are just not excited enough about Jesus to share Him with anyone. The church doesn’t have a missions problem, it has a heart problem, and until we get serious and ask God to break our hearts, we will never fulfill our part in the Great Commission.

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Giving Our Time to God

Date: January 18, 2015 | Speaker: Phil Pike

What a tragedy it would be to reach the end of your life and still not know the purpose of it all; to live for 70 or 80 years and have nothing of eternal value to show for it! For the most part, we spend our lives pursuing temporary achievements and storing up temporary things, never realizing that one day they will all slip through our fingers like sand. We get so preoccupied with the present that we lose sight of eternity. We must pray that God will reveal to us the brevity of life and the seriousness of eternity, so that we will learn how to live a life of purpose.

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Trading Your Past for God’s Future

Date: May 18, 2014 | Speaker: Phil Pike

“If God has forgiven me, why don’t I feel forgiven?” Have you ever asked that question? As Christians, we know that God has forgiven all our sin and He has promised to never remember it again. Why, then, do we so often still feel haunted and condemned by things in our past? If you’ve ever wrestled with this issue, today’s sermon will help you understand why that happens and how you can move beyond your past into the future God has for you! (Audio problems at the beginning will clear up within the first few minutes)

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