By Valparaiso First Assembly of God

By Valparaiso First Assembly of God

By Valparaiso First Assembly of God

By Valparaiso First Assembly of God

By Valparaiso First Assembly of God

By Valparaiso First Assembly of God

By Valparaiso First Assembly of God

There are people in your life who may have launched your love for Christ, but they are not able to sustain it; that is up to you! If we are going to continue in His love we have to understand it, know it, but also experience it. There are so many forces trying to pull us from His love, so what is the formula to remain in that love?…

Many times our biggest battles outside of us are caused by what is inside of us. We may think our heart is in the right place, or someone has a good heart, but the Bible disagrees. It says the heart is deceitful above all things. Simply stated: what the heart does best is what is worst. Paul says the only way to remedy what is at the center of who …

Many times, we fail to remember our most powerful weapon which God has equipped us with is prayer. Jesus said that we do not have because we do not ask. How true! You can think of what you need, hope to have what you need, and even have dreams about it, but none of that will help you possess it. Beyond that, there is more to prayer than just what I…

We've all tasted the bitter pill of defeat and failure. We tried and failed, and all we can do is focus on the part where we failed. When we expect perfection of ourselves, when we are not perfect, we will focus heavily on failure to remind ourselves how incapable we are. What we forget is how capable our God is with the little we have to offer Him…

Everything you've ever learned eventually needs to be tested in the real world. Many times, we find what we were taught doesn't automatically translate directly into real world circumstances. Many times, we need to learn how to apply our knowledge in a not-so-perfect scenario and adapt to our knowledge to our situation. As believers, we can become …

Forgiveness is a gift. It knows something wrong has been committed, but forgiveness chooses to no longer hold it against the one who committed it. Forgiveness is powerful as it has the ability to wipe the slate clean and start fresh with no hindrances and without a catch. For those who don't know Jesus, they have never experienced the forgiving fre…

Deep within every believer is what every person needs to possess: hope. Until we begin to view the unsaved around us as lost, confused and barren of the Truth, we will never relate to them the message they desperately need to hear. The only person who can make an eternal difference in people is Jesus, but many times we seem more content to blend in…

There are some things in life which spark your interest. You may probe, poke around, and do some light application of something you have an interest in, but interest may never become more than that. There are other things you're passionate about. It's those issues or people you are earnest about because they are your priorities. As believers, we ha…

Often we think of freedom as no holds barred. It's up to us to determine the boundaries, what is allowed or prohibited, and we think freedom allows us to make up our own rules. What we may have overlooked but freedom is defined by the one who grants it. It isn't something we enjoy as we desire, but as it is designed. Christ has freed us but to what…

Sometimes it's easier for us to hear someone than listen because listening takes effort. Hearing is acknowledgment but listening is understanding. This becomes an issue when we're not listening to what we really need to hear. Possibly the hardest time to listen to someone is when they're words go against what we want to do. It's in these times that…

Often we say how much we believe in the power of prayer, yet we refuse to give anyone the opportunity to pray for us. We shelter our true needs with an unspoken request because we are ashamed, want to avoid criticism, or excuse ourselves as a private person. In the book of James, we're told to confess our sins to one another, so a righteous person …

It's easy to say, "I love you." Three simple words which flow from our lips so easily, but what do we have to back it up? Saying it is easy, but showing it is necessary. It's not easy to question the love of God because He proved it when He sent His only Son. We can look at what Jesus has done and know that God has loved us because He showed it. We…

We all make and regret bad decisions. When we do wrong, we want to make it right because we feel guilty, but guilt has a way of wearing off and then you're prone to make that same bad decision again. To make right the wrong we seem to consistently commit, we can't think right actions clear us when it's really about becoming different within. Don't …

One area of our lives which can keep us from the overcoming life are our own words. What comes out of your mouth is an overflow of your heart, and hearing what you say about yourself can further the poison within you. If the heart is overflowing from your mouth, your heart is being filled by wherever you're drinking from. The way to correct your he…

The nation of Israel has found out there are consequences for their sin. Maybe they expected God to look the other way, or Moses would meet with God and smooth things over. They thought wrong, and now they will not be entering into the Promised Land. If we want to experience the promises of God in our own lives, we can't let anything get in our way…

It's not difficult to understand why the Israelites could never have faith in God - they never listened to Him. They were too concerned with how they saw themselves and what others said about them. Not much has changed today; we hear so much negativity and lack of belief about ourselves, it's hard for us to grasp how we can be overcomers even when …

If you feel like you're lacking in faith, maybe you're staring at the wrong things. We are so quick to testify how good God is, how able He is, and how capable, but when something comes against us, it's all we can see. We can't get beyond the obstacle which stands in our way and suddenly, it has become more powerful and able than God....it's all we…

If you've ever watched a TV police show, you have seen someone cited for driving under the influence. It's a major issue because something has influenced their ability to operate their vehicle in a safe manner. In life, all of us is under the influence of something which either hampers or enhances our ability to influence our family as we ought to.…

Your family is important to you, so who do you turn to when you need help? You probably have plenty of people around you who will do whatever you want, but is that what you really need? No matter the crises, we should be turning to Jesus first. For whatever reason, we seem to go to Him as a last resort or when we think all hope is lost. Then, we ne…

Our family is our greatest asset and probably the greatest blessing we have. Unfortunately, when life hasn't gone as planned or people seem to change, we find it easier to ditch a situation rather than repair it. If you need some things to turn around, how do you do it? When life seems so be stumped with writer's block, is it possible to get life, …

There's no better feeling than to get to the other side of a struggle. You've made it! Have you ever thought of this, though?....It matters how you seemingly got to the other side. Sometimes the "other side" was just us jumping ship, or finding a shortcut. If we could grasp how God is working in us through the difficulties, we may view them differe…

We always view emptiness as something negative. When we're empty, maybe we've lost something special or important to us. While that may be true, it may be exactly what we need to do, so we can have and experience more of Jesus in our lives. Listen in, as we discover how God works best in our lives when we empty ourselves to be filled with His prese…

We value relationships because we know we need them. You can stand alone in life for so long, but it is much easier to face life's various challenges when you're surrounded by those who are encouraging you to press on. Often, we look to relationships to establish in our life what we cannot establish on our own. We need others to establish we are lo…

It's a terrible feeling to be misunderstood. It's frustrating, sometimes embarrassing, and can even be humbling. There will always be those people who question you, but don't let them question your commitment to what matters most - Jesus. Jesus found Himself questioned while He was doing His Father's Will, and you will too...but that's okay. Whatev…

Sometimes we have problems we don't have the answers to solve. We know what the issue is, but we may not have any idea how to handle it. There's even times when there might be something wrong with us but we view it as normal because we were told this is how people are or you should expect nothing less from life. There's nothing worse when there's s…

Who do you love? Your answer will probably focus on those you get along with and see as valuable. That's easy love, and it is the way most of us love. God doesn't love like that. He loves people when they are at their worst - when we would determine they are unlovable. If God loves like this, how should this impact the way I love others?…

Have you ever listened to a song from when you were younger, and you immediately felt transported back to that time of your life? Many people do, and it is pretty common. Hearing a song can distinguish a time in my life which I've forgotten but will immediately remember because of it. As believers, there should be some distinguishing marks on our l…

Family is a safe place: you can be who you are, and they will keep loving you. Family is security, and no one knows you like your family.....at least you hope. There are so many things which could be wrong with you and your family is the first to spare no expense to get you the help you need. Yet, if you are saved and your family is not, they're no…

Good friends are hard to find. How do you know who to trust? Sometimes we merely think someone being present in our lives is what is most important, but people who are close to us are the ones who influence us the most. That means we have to choose our friends wisely. If we want to have a healthy relationships, we have to find those who are spiritu…

If you've ever dated, you've experienced the, "It's not you, it's me," line. You may have used it or even been subject to it, but whoever said it was not satisfied with the other person even though the decision to break it off was because of themselves. There is a lot of truth to that statement. We take issue with people even though they are not th…

Most of us don't feel victorious or even the slightest bit courageous. Yet, God's Word describes us in a way we may not be comfortable with or identify with. That doesn't mean God is wrong to say it, just that we lack faith to realize it. It may seem like the battles in life are endless and even standing for Christ causes us trouble, but God's Word…

Paul says that nothing can separate us from the love of Christ, but we may feel otherwise. You may even fear being separated from Him, but should you? Separation can be a scary word because we associate it with detachment, and Jesus is someone we cannot live without. We each need some reassurance sometimes that what is happening to us or in our liv…

Many times in our lives, especially when facing something difficult, we focus on only one part of our reality. That is usually the most painful aspect. As Christians, we are prone to overly focus what is seen and live at the hands of our circumstances. We forget about another reality - it's the one where God is for us. Our problem: we don't see how…

2019 is here, and most people look forward to the new year with expectation and hope, but it can't be different than any year prior if you approach it the same way you have in the past. As a church, God is calling us out - to live and be above and beyond whatever we think we've accomplished before. This isn't about good intentions or being able eno…

Sometimes, even the best laid plans fail. There was something you didn't account for, overlooked, or neglected and your plan crashed and burned. If we fail enough, we stop planning and our life easily becomes mediocre. We may even begin to take God's plans for us for granted because plans fail. Yet, God's plans never fail. Don't let the experience …

When something doesn't make sense, we usually dismiss, ignore, or assume it isn't worth knowing. Problem is, we do this with God's plan for our lives. It may not make sense, at first, but rather than shut Him out, we need to ask Him to tell us more. The plan of God for Mary's life doesn't make any sense since she's a virgin and the angel says she w…

If you're like any normal human being, you've been critical of someone at some time. We easily rush to judgments about people or situations we really know little about even though we may have witnessed an event or think we know the person. Mary thought she knew her life and what she wanted for it; she had a very simple plan for her simple life. Yet…

Stories can be powerful. Through the inspiration of your imagination, they can transport you to a different time, place and even personality. They can challenge you to become what you presently are not, or even inspire you to what you could do. You may not look at your life as a living story, but your life is still being written. Who is writing on …

Some moments in life change your course. We refer to such events as shaping a new normal for our life. Graduating High School, getting married, having children, or even losing a loved one can bring about these types of moments. We seem to focus on what negatively shapes our lives and miss one incredible event which has eternally change us. Let's ca…

Some things in life are just better together with something else. Most people would agree chocolate chip cookies are better with milk, and tortilla chips are better with salsa. We get the point! There's a characteristic which would cause your living to be better together and that's thankfulness. Now, often misunderstand thankfulness as having a rea…

We've all been taught that bad choices have consequences. What happens when you do what is right and have to face consequences? Do you stop doing what is right? If you want to live your life according to God's Word, you will face opposition for doing what is right. The way to stand against opposition is not to fight, or run away, but to rejoice. Wh…

We may think people either a leader or a follower, but the truth is this: all of us are both. We are all leading someone and following someone. We have a responsibility to lead well, and the responsibility to find the right person to follow. Who you follow will shape who you are and how you lead! In this message, we discover who to follow and how t…

Have you ever noticed how uptight people can be about their appearance? They have to be color coordinated and their clothes even must be season coordinated, and don't even think about touching their hair! Appearances do matter, but they can be so superficial when we lack substance. Time and time again, we see Paul displaying for us a person most of…