What's in a name? Every name has a meaning behind it. When the Angel appeared before Mary, and shared with her the role God had in store for her, he said that she was to give her child the name "Jesus". The name Jesus means salvation. Even Jesus changed the name of Simon to Peter. Why is that? Because he wanted to change Peter's purpose. In this message, Pastor Troy Billow shares the significance of the name Jesus, and also shares what his name means as well.
A celebration of the birth of Jesus in Word and Song.
When light is shown, darkness cannot overcome it. Jesus not only dispels spiritual darkness, but He dispels fears as well. Christ is a supernatural light that works on your heart, life, and soul. Jesus wants to come into your heart and life to change you, and the only way that He can change you is if you are born of God. In this message, Pastor Troy Billow not only explains how Jesus is the light of the world (John 8:2), but how that light gets brighter the longer you walk with Him.
In the final part of Paul's letter to the Galatians, Paul addresses addresses religious people who do good works to put on a show.There is a difference between putting on a show and doing what Christ enables people to do. Paul says the only thing worthy of boasting about is the cross of the Lord Jesus Christ, which we are justified by (if we put our faith in Him). In response, our "good works" become an expression of genuine gratitude and thankfulness. That thankfulness translates into loyalty, and out of that loyalty, we are motivated to serve.
Continuing on the battle between the spirit and the flesh, Paul challenges people to acknowledge that "God is not mocked." In other words, He can't just be "blown off". What you sow, you will also reap. If you sow to the Spirit you will reap the fruits of the Spirit. If you sow to the flesh, you will reap corruption. In this message, Pastor Troy Billow challenges you to ask yourself where you are in light of this dynamic. What are you planting in your own field?
What does it mean to "practice" sin? Throughout our struggle between the flesh and the Spirit, this struggle brings about burdens that we as believers face every day in some way. In Romans 7, Paul is empathizing to those he is preaching to by sharing his experience with that struggle, so he shares a way to have grace towards people who are on the mend, and are being restored in their walk with the Lord. In this message, which is a follow-up to the previous one, Pastor Troy expounds on what it means to bear one another's burdens while dealing with your own struggles as you are a work in being on the mend yourself.
The mindset of the disciples, after Christ left them to be at the right hand of the Father, was "you're leaving us with this scary commission to do what you did? What will become of us?" Before Jesus left, He told them that he was going to send a "helper, the Spirit of Truth who Comes from the Father" (John 15:26-27). That Spirit will help the disciples do what they cannot do in the flesh, and the same goes for us believers today. This will be a struggle as common pursuits within human nature like sexual immorality, hardness of heart, and initiating conflict with others who get in our way, are ways of the flesh, and ways of the Spirit restrain the other, in pursuit of radiating love, peace, patience, gentleness, and an abundance of other things that make us more like Christ in action. By walking in the Spirit, we are no longer under the Law, but are walking in "Agape" love, a love that is self sacrificing, serving, and gracious to other people, as Paul and Pastor Troy Billow expound on in this message.
This week we commemorate the International Day of Prayer for the Persecuted Church with a video, and a message about Stephen, the first known Christian martyr. Stephen was one of the first leaders of the church. Filled with the Holy Spirit, he was convicted to bring people the message of salvation through Jesus Christ. Steven condemns his stiff-necked, Jewish brothers for being so flesh-filled in their hearts and ears, and for resisting the Holy Spirit. The flesh filled heart is "cut away" when you allow the Word of God to inform you and change you. They were so flesh filled and resistant to the Spirit, that they stoned Stephen and in the process of stoning him, as his body was failing, he saw Jesus standing at the right hand of God, and remained joyful beyond the point where his body failed. What does that mean to us today? Resistance remains, however our life and our overall purpose is about getting ready to meet Jesus Christ.
Throughout his letter to Galatia, Paul has been hammering hard on the anvil of truth. He has been explaining that the theological paradigm has changed due to what Christ did for us. If we receive Him and trust Him, you are saved by faith, not by any merit we can generate on our own. If you believe in Jesus Christ, you are GUILT FREE. In other words, because we are no longer bound by the Law, we have Liberty. However the one thing Christ asks of us is to serve one another and love people, and although that is either extremely easy or extremely hard for some people, the level of trust you put in Christ on this matter will determine your motivation on following this command through.
Full Title: "A Little Leaven Leavens The Whole Lump" (Galatians 5:7-12)
Paul challenges new Christians by asking them "who hindered you from the truth?" Paul goes on to say that they were doing so well, but something happened. What happened? Judaizers derailed the gospel message in these believers by pushing Mosaic Law and circumcision on them. Paul then uses the baking process of bread (unleavened- see Exodus 12 vs. leavened) to illustrate how in light of the power of the Gospel, a little leaven (false doctrine) leavens the whole lump (corrupts the congregation/family in Christ). After explaining this, Paul then gets bolder and says to those Christians, that those Judaizers who want these Christians to mutilate themselves through circumcision, should just go all the way and completely emasculate themselves. In this theologically heavy message, Pastor Troy Billow fully explains the meaning behind what Paul is saying.