This week we will learn how to remain disciplined and avoid cutting corners so that we can achieve the goal of finishing the race.

This week we will learn how to endure suffering by eliminating distractions and remaining focused on the Father.

Jesus called John the Baptist the “greatest man ever born.” Ever wonder why? Why would Jesus brag so much about his cousin John? Perhaps it has something to do with the fact that John preached about the need to repent of our sins, and Jesus died to forgive them. Their messages played off each other. We’ll take a look at that in this message.

Imagine a nation, about 200 years old, prosperous, powerful, respected…but a nation that has lost its way; a nation God is displeased with, a nation on the cusp of his judgment. No, it’s not the United States, it’s the nation of Israel, eight centuries before Christ. God raised up a prophet to warn them of judgment to come, because God is a God of justice. Beware.

Hosea had an unfaithful wife named Gomer. Despite her continuously disappointing him, he refused to stop loving her. He wrote the brief book that bears his name to show us that God is still faithful to us, even when, especially when, we continuously disappoint Him. Hosea’s short book screams the word “Grace” to all who have disappointed themselves and God.

Daniel was a young man who had come from a noble and godly family but was taken as a prisoner of war to Babylon, a godless, wicked, and immoral land. He could’ve compromised his integrity and morality, but instead chose to stand out as an example of holiness and trust in God. We can learn much from his uncompromising life.

Suffering finds us everywhere, at all ages and seasons of life. Just thinking about it can take our breath away. Whether one person (or a whole nation), suffering introduces us to ourselves; it also introduces us to God in ways we could never anticipate. Lamentations was essentially a book of funeral sermons that ultimately speak of survival and hope; essentials we all must learn.

We’re often amazed when predictions come true, especially years after they were made. Hundreds of years before Jesus came to save us, Isaiah predicted that He would do just that. In this message, we’ll look at how the God who created us never gives up on us. In fact, He gave his only Son to win us back.

We all come from different environments that have impacted our hearts for better or worse, but no matter what the condition of our hearts’ “soil” is, God can transform it so that fruit is able to grow and thrive. However, there must also be people willing to sow these seeds, especially for our children and students. We as a church don’t want to wait until they’re older—we want to invest in what God is doing in their lives right now.

The topic of fathers and their impact in the home, the office, the community, and the world is covered. When fathers step up and represent the Father that is their example, the world will be impacted. The idea of regardless of the father you were given, the Father is available to all, and is the best Father.

Sometimes it seems that all the odds are stacked against us because of where we’ve come from or what we’ve done. In John 4 Jesus engages in conversation with a Samaritan woman whom most people would’ve considered an outcast beyond fixing. In this message we’ll see how God can redeem even the worst about ourselves and give us a new beginning.

Paul candidly discusses his inability to overcome his sinful nature in Romans 7; then in Romans 8, he lays out a plan for success. It’s a plan that all of us need to understand and implement in our lives. In this message, we’ll talk about how to emerge from the “law of sin” and embrace the “law of life” and the victory that is ours in Christ.