In Psalm 139, King David, who is intimitely connected with God, and knows that He is with him, revels in the soothing truth that he is fearfully and wonderfully made. David is moved by the love, the meticulous detail, the effort, and the want by God to have a relationship with everyone he creates. David goes on to reflect in how God knit him together in his mother's womb. This truth is still true and is as relevant today as long as human beings continue to be knit together and allowed to live. In this special message on life, birth, and relational love, Pastor Troy Billow counters the culture today which tells lies and makes billions of dollars trying to justify terminating what God is working to knit together to have a relationship with Him.
Paul does not want the newly converted Christians to return to the practices required by the Law. With Christ, the practices of the Law are what Paul now sees as "religious bondage". While there are benefits of obeying out of duty and fear, God wants a relationship out of love. Paul speaks on the consequences of trying to go back to the Law and earn righteous merit with God, especially since we are unable to do it. The Law is REQUIRED to be done perfectly and completely. Jesus Christ fulfilled the Law perfectly and completely, and out of love, provides that righteousness to you, if you choose to receive it. All that is required through Christ is that you accept, receive, and trust Him by faith. The Holy Spirit, if you yield to him, does the rest.
Our special guest speaker, Pastor Emeritus John Billow, brings a rich and thorough message on Psalm 23. When Israel's first King lost his anointing because he disobeyed God, David was given that anointing instead. This ignited jealousy and adversity that David had to endure, but he could only endure it by the strength and wisdom of God. David's strength is what God had done in his heart, and it is your strength too. But when you get that strength, how do you nourish it? By God's Word and submitting your thoughts around it. Discover how David utilized this power in His life, kingdom, and example which we are still exploring to this day.
As religious Jewish forces work to "undo" Christianity in this time period, Paul (a man who was once one of them), who encountered the risen Christ personally, now understands Christ's role in God's plan until the end of the age without contradicting the Law and Old Testament, and is guided by the Holy Spirit, now zeroes in on the theology that the Jews are using to justify their perceived "merit" with God as a people. Here Paul tries to set up a template to explain the Law and explain God's grace through the most commonly accepted account of the Hebrew Bible; the promise given by Abraham. Here, Paul illustrates how Abraham and Sarah's lack of faith bore Ishmael and how faith bore Isaac. That said, Paul uses that scenario to illustrate how believing in one's own religiosity is like going the route of Ishmael, but believing in Jesus is like believing in Isaac. In this theologically heavy message, Pastor Troy Billow explains in an easy to understand way, how Paul is trying to use Abraham and Sarah's situation to birth children of the promise to explain how Christ will carry that promise through in full as everyone who receives Him through faith are included as children of that promise first given to Abraham.
In historical context, Jewish religious forces are trying to "undo" the newfound faith of the early Christians, and Paul, a former member of that religious force due to his personal experience with Jesus, is receiving blowback anger, and outright hostility from them as he evangelizes to those who haven't heard, and inspires those who are believers into keeping their new foundation firm. Here, Paul states "Here I become your enemy, because I tell you the truth?" (vs.16) In this message, Pastor Troy expounds on the great lengths that Paul went through and endured to tell people the truth. These intense efforts to simply bring the truth speaks volumes to the truth itself.
In the previous message, we learned about the meaning of Baptism. In this message, we will learn why Baptism is so significant.What does it mean to be baptized with Christ? Once your body is submerged in water, how does that symbolize death? And when you're raised back up, how does that serve as a precursor to being raised from the dead and being alive in Christ? All of these concepts will be explained by Pastor Troy Billow, as four congregants answer the call, and prepare to be baptized immediately following the service.
An Ethiopian eunuch, reading the prophet Isaiah stops his chariot and asks Philip to reveal the man they are speaking of in Isaiah 53. Philip tells the eunuch that the man spoken of in that prophecy is Jesus. Upon discussing Christ further, the Ethiopian eunuch shows interest in being baptized, and so Philip baptizes him. Baptism was commanded by Jesus to serve as a symbol to show (and thus profess by action) that you believe that He died, was buried, and rose from the dead. In one of two messages on the subject of baptism, Pastor Troy Billow explains why it is important for believers to be baptized, as Living Faith Church prepares for Baptism Sunday, in which congregants who want to be baptized, will.
"How Should the Church Respond to the Changing Culture...?" Kingdom Warriors Night of Truth Event By Pastor Bryan Revor
It's very common for Christians to hate the culture that we are now living in. After all, scripture states that as we move further and further into the last days, people will grow from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived (II Timothy 3:13). However, regardless of where the culture moves, God still loves people with a love so great, so deep, and so wide, that we cannot comprehend it. And God wants people to come to Him, so He can change people from within. God is a people person, and He is more concerned with changing people's hearts individually than He is about changing the culture. In this message, Pastor Bryan Revor teaches on how to engage the culture (including some of the more controversial segments of it) with grace, by looking at the model Jesus set for the seven Churches in the Book of Revelation.
Kingdom Warriors Night of Truth Event "Do Not Lose Heart" By Special Guest Pastor Joel Gilbert
Are you experiencing a crisis of faith? Are you finding it more difficult to pursue and maintain victory over the world, the flesh, and the Devil? In this message, Pastor Joel Gilbert from Redeemer Church in DeMotte Indiana exhorts you not to "lose heart" and explains how we can trust Jesus during trials, times of testing, & persecution in these increasingly dark, heavy, and prophetic times.
Paul takes the theology of being incorporated into the family of God further by explaining that we are adopted as Christ's sons. What does this mean? One day, EVERYONE will bow down before the throne and acknowledge Jesus for who He is. It doesn't matter who you are, how educated or uneducated you are, what your stature is on this earth, none of that will matter. How you respond to Christ's invitation to you will be the main thing that you will be judged by. If you reject that invitation, or push it to the side and you die, you will be judged by the Law of Moses. If you accept that invitation, and you die, you will continue your life in the presence of God. Why is that? Upon trusting Jesus, you are no longer a slave to sin, darkness, depression, death, and hell, but a son. Pastor Troy explains how we were bought from a "slave market" and made heirs to His Kingdom. That said, we have been incorporated into God's family of Faith.