From chapter 12 on in the Gospel of John, John records the last week of Jesus’s life. In that week, Jesus prepares His disciples for His homegoing, yet preaches and teaches His resurrection. In this message, Pastor John Billow teaches how Christ’s resurrection is His glory, and He teaches His disciples, using agriculture, that if you’re unwilling to give yourself up to embrace and accept the Savior, then you’re going to lose your life (the way it is, and the direction that it is going). As you hate the life that you had, it better equips you to serve with eternal life as the driving force, and God honors that. God honors and equips His servants, and uses all of these things to show His glory and to draw people to him.
After the darkness comes light, joy, and restoration of life as we celebrate the resurrection of Jesus Christ, and how a relationship with Him, because He rose from the grave, changes hearts, minds, and attitudes of those who let Him in their hearts. In this message, Pastor John Billow discusses the effective impact that trusting in a risen Christ has on those who have truly trusted Jesus, and how the reality of the resurrection can give us hope for today in any situation.
Join us in a special service for Good Friday, as Rob W. Case and Living Faith's music group "As One" take you down a narrative journey of the final moments of Jesus Christ up to the moment of His death.
Pastor Troy Billow brings a special message for Palm Sunday. Because humankind was hopefully lost in sin, God created a master plan, involving His son to die as a sacrifice for us. But this task wasn't easy. People, including Jesus's disciples, had great expectations for Jesus, as they yearned and longed for a King who would crush their oppressors (in this case, the Roman Empire) and rule with a rod of iron. In fact waving palms around in celebration is what people would do towards a conquering King, even putting a crown made of palms on his head. But when they saw that His Kingdom was not of this world, they were disappointed. But what God has initiated, through His master plan is a Kingdom in which he shows us His love, His power, and His grace, and uses people like us to give Him glory,. And what has God used all of this for? For the salvation and restoration of our souls.
When Paul preached in Ephesus, craftsmen who carved out shrines to the "great goddess Artemis" feared that preaching Christ would discredit the Ephesians' worship of her and put those who profited business wise from the worship of her out of business. This led to a riot. Today, this type of zeal is incorporated into many other areas like sports games. For example, people get all excited, sacrifice, and make time to gather en masse to see their favorite teams play. And there are people who exploit that excitement and profit from it as well. What would happen if this type of zeal was directed towards the one true God, and the things that he has done, and can do in you and for you? For one thing, many people's emptiness would be overturned. In this message, Pastor Troy Billow will challenge you to think about the power of zeal, and what could happen if it is focused towards God.
Spiritual warfare is very real, but it can be handled in the right way. Those who belong to the Kingdom of God are in conflict with the Kingdom of darkness, and we are involved in it on a regular basis, whether we acknowledge it or not. The Sons of Sceva in Acts chapter 19 set out to cast out evil spirits in their day, but on one occasion it backfired when the demon asked them “Jesus I know, and Paul I know about, but who are you?” Paul had success in casting out demons because he had Christ, and through Christ he had authority. We believe in Christ, His name, His blood, and His power as well. In this message, Pastor Troy Billow teaches us how real faith, real confession, real repentance, can strengthen your authority through Christ.
Pastor John Billow brings a message showing the distinct transformational power of the Holy Spirit and what he instills in every believer who receives Jesus Christ as his Savior. While the world tells us to "love" and to "trust the science", it is unable to change people's hearts and minds on those merits, and thus unable to change the downward direction that it's heading. The Holy Spirit is the only one who can fill people's hearts and minds with truth, love, and change a person from within....as well as his life and the world around him.
When you believe in Jesus Christ, you become "born of the spirit", which means that you receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. It is critical for one to know if he has the Holy Spirit or not. Paul made clear that to be born of the spirit one must resign one's self to the cross, be moved towards repentance, and a change will take place. People wanted to be good, right, etc. but they din't know the Holy Spirit. Pastor Troy explains how only the Holy Spirit living in you can these things be possible.
In his ministry, Paul has reached a point where he is worn out. He has been through a lot. He has been through two missionary journeys, and he's about to begin his third. This time though, he's tired and he's a little scared. Yet when he receives a word from the Lord directly to not stop and keep right on speaking, he sticks it out and continues. What does that tell us today? Find out what we can learn and apply today through this encounter.
Superheroes are really cool fictional characters that had extra special abilities and powers that the average person does not have. And these superheroes work to save, protect, and help people in need. If you think about it, Jesus Christ is the ultimate superhero, but he is, in fact, real. The extra special abilities & talents that He instills within us helps us be like superheroes out in the world. What power could God's people, His Superheroes have, when they band together? Such is the subject of today's message.