BIG IDEA When you were a kid, and you got caught doing something you weren't supposed to be doing, did you ever use the phrase, "The Devil made me do it?" This phrase became a way of passing the buck when caught in a lie. If it was the Devil that caused the action, who are we to stand against...
Continue ReadingBIG IDEA Satan knows how to exploit our weaknesses. He knows the pressure points for each one of us that will lead us to compromise. He will often put obstacles and temptations in our way when we are tired, emotionally spent, or broken to try and lead us away from God. We often forget that...
Continue ReadingBIG IDEA You might have heard the quote, "The greatest trick the Devil ever pulled was convincing the world he didn't exist." While we might remember this quote from pop culture or movies, we have seen that its origin is much earlier. Some French writers referred to this idea in the 1800s. Even...
Continue ReadingBIG IDEA Road trips are always busy! From the stops along the way, wrong turns, and warring children, you may even need a couple of weeks to recover from your vacation. Equally, most people in our community would generally describe their lives as busy. When you ask people, "How are you?", one...
Continue ReadingBIG IDEA Where do you turn for strength when you are going into battle? Some find confidence in their training, their equipment, or in the person standing right beside them. These external things give them composure when the pressure is on. Others might find an extra dose of power internally...
Continue ReadingBIG IDEA God does His best work when we are in the desert. It is the moments where we are at our breaking point that God wants to lead and direct our journey. We find this clearly in the Bible when God took the Israelites on a journey from Egypt to Canaan that could have taken a few weeks, and...
Continue ReadingBIG IDEA When John D. Rockefeller was at the height of his financial wealth, he was asked the question: "How much money is enough?" He responded to the question with the statement: "One more dollar!" He already had more possessions than money could buy, as a result of the oil industry, yet he...
Continue ReadingBIG IDEA If you start your day off with worrying, think about where that will lead. You will be stressed out all day long, both fearful of the future and locked up in scenarios that might happen. When worrying becomes excessive, it may lead you to feelings of high anxiety and could even cause...
Continue ReadingBIG IDEA Do you ever wonder how to pray? Maybe you feel inadequate or unskilled to pray to God. Maybe, you are simply out of practice. There is good news for you! Jesus' disciples already asked the question of how we should pray. Because they asked, we have an example. What follows the...
Continue ReadingBIG IDEA Have you ever seen someone do something so special that you said, "They have a gift"? It could have been a concert that you went to where the musician was excellent. It might have been at a church service where the preacher hit a home run. It may have happened in a doctor's office when...
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