Thinking Out Loud

Trusting God When Things Get Tough Emotionally

2011-09-08T13:58:00.000-07:00

This message preached at Foothills Community Church on September 4, 2011 was part four of the series, "Trusting God When Things Get Tough,"

Hear the message here.

Download the accompanying outline here.

When It Doesn't Make Sense

2011-06-01T10:20:00.000-07:00

This message preached at Foothills Community Church on May 28 and 29, 2011 was part three of the series, "Defining Moments: Living At The Intersection of Fear and Faith."

Whether we know it or not, we all live by faith. At times it’s easy. Other times it is difficult. We have no trouble having faith in that which we understand. It’s in the moments of life that just don’t make sense that it can be difficult. Our default is often fear. God desires faith. A God sized faith!

Hear the message here.

Download the accompanying outline here.

When Faith Hits A Wall

2011-05-24T10:07:00.000-07:00

This message, preached at Foothills Community Church on May 21 and 22, 2011 was part two of the series, "Defining Moments: Living At The Intersection of Fear and Faith."

We have all found ourselves in those defining moments in which we feel we are up against a wall. Those impossible situations in which we can either give into fear or allow our faith in God to lead us. The choices we make in those times will often determine the very outcome of our lives. The story of Joshua gives us an amazing picture of one who chose faith over fear.

Hear the message here.

Download the accompanying outline here.

Praying To Change The World

2011-03-09T11:13:00.000-08:00

This message was preached at Foothills Community Church on March 5 and 6, 2011.

God’s heart for people is that all would come to know Him. His method of choice in accomplishing this is us. He has set the Church on mission to draw people into relationship with himself. As we engage with God’s heart through prayer, we will see the world change.

Hear the message here.
Download accompanying outline here.

From Ordinary to Extraordinary

2010-11-16T16:10:00.000-08:00

This message was preached at Foothills Community Church on November 13 and 14, 2010. The text used was Exodus 3:11-14; 4:1-17.

The video referenced at the beginning of the message may be viewed here:

Hear the message here.

Are You Listening?

2010-09-07T22:32:00.000-07:00

This message was preached at Rock Harbor Church on August 8, 2010.

The text used was 1 Samuel 3.

For The Love of The Father

2010-06-25T09:00:00.000-07:00

This message was preached on Father's Day, June 20, 2010, at Rock Harbor Church. It's a look at Matthew 6:9-13, The Lord's Prayer. In the message we take a close look at the the love of our heavenly Father and how that should change the way we live our lives, including how we parent our children.

I opened the message with this video.

Hear the message here.

How Well Does The World See Jesus?

2010-04-02T15:07:00.000-07:00

This message was preached at Rock Harbor Church on March 28, 2010.

Hear the message here.

Conspiracy of Grace

2009-11-18T13:20:00.000-08:00

This message was preached at Rock Harbor Church on November 15, 2009.

The text used was John 4:4-42.

Hear the message here.

Download follow up questions here.

When Faith Hits The Wall

2009-08-19T15:45:00.000-07:00

This message preached on August 2, 2009 at Rock Harbor Church was part of a series entitled, "From Ordinary to Extraordinary" a series based on Hebrews 11.

This particular message in the series is on the faith of Joshua and is drawn from and Joshua 1:1-9 6:1-20.

We all face times in which our faith seems to hit a wall, those times in which it seems God is asking the impossible of us. It is in those times that God calls us to be strong, courageous, and to fully trust in Him.

Hear the message here.

From Ordinary to Extraordinary

2008-06-23T13:24:00.000-07:00

This message preached on June 23, 2008, was part of a series of messages entitled, "Surprised by God." In this message we discover that God chooses to use ordinary people like you and I, for extraordinary purposes.

The text used was Exodus 3:11-14; 4:1-17. In it we see God calling Moses to the extraordinary task of rescuing His people from the hand of the Egyptians. Like we do so often, Moses had a number of excuses as to why he was not right for the job. From the text we learn Four Truths to Serve By.

Hear the message here.
Download the accompanying outline here.

Understanding and Parenting Your Teen Pt. 2

2008-05-14T11:45:00.001-07:00

This is the conclusion of our Understanding and Parenting Your Teen workshop. Aaron Geist did a great job of guiding parents through the often confusing and foreign world of the internet.

In our previous session we spoke about "The World Beneath" the world that our teens retreat to due to the overwhelming since of abandonment they feel from the adult world. A major part of that world is the world of the internet.

In this session we discussed how the internet is the hangout of choice for today's adolescents, and helped parents understand why, and how they can best respond to the potenital dangers and needs that this presents.

Hear the message here.
Download the notes here. (.pdf format)
Download the Powerpoint presentation here. (.pdf format)

Understanding and Parenting Your Teen

2008-05-07T16:18:00.000-07:00

This is part 1 of a two part series. This session deals with adolescent culture, how it came to be, what it looks like today, and how we as adults can best care for and lead students through the journey of adolescence.

Unfortunately the beginning is a little goofy due to my Powerpoint remote malfunctioning.

Hear the message here.
Download the notes here. (.pdf format)
Download Powerpoint presentation here. (.pdf format)

Message is also available on my Podcast.

What Do You Want For Christmas?

2007-12-10T13:06:00.000-08:00

In this message preached on December 9, we took a look at what it would look like if we focused our giving more toward Jesus this Christmas and made it less about ourselves.

One of the texts that we looked at was Matthew 2:1-12. It is the story of the Magi coming to see the newborn Jesus. They came to worship Him, and they worshiped Him through their giving to Him. My two main points were, The greatest gift we can give is our worship, and the greatest form of our worship is our giving.

Hear the message here.
Download the accompanying outline here.

May we remember, we are never more like Jesus, than when we give.

Is Jesus Christ Lord...of Your Hardships?

2007-04-02T09:59:00.000-07:00

This message was preached on April 1, 2007 and was part of a series Pastor Steve McCracken has been preaching on Jesus being Lord of each area of our lives. You will find the other messages in this series here.

The text I used was Ecclesiates 7:1-14. In it we enter into Sololmon's journey of discovering that there is much more to gain in the hardships of life than in the easy going, good times in life.

Hope you enjoy my introduction. It was an April Fools joke that I pulled on everyone and served as a great opener and illustration for my message.

To hear message click here.

To hear the service in podcast form click here.

Don't Waste Your Life...Do Something

2007-02-26T19:47:00.000-08:00

On Sunday, February 25, we spent the morning debriefing the REAL.LIFE Exhibit that many from our body went through just the day before. We also debriefed the 30 Hour Famine that many of our students participated in that weekend.

The service served to both allow us to share with one another the things God had shown us, as well as look at ways that we as a community of people can respond to the great needs of our world.

We have combined the sharing from both services on this recording. You will hear from myself, as well as Pastor Steve McCracken and Pastor Jon Knapp.

To read more about the 30 Hour Famine see this.

To hear the service click here.

To hear the service in podcast form click here.

Prepare The Way

2006-12-07T10:13:00.000-08:00

This message preached on December 3, 2006, is a message on preparing the way for Jesus to come and have His way in our lives.

In this, the season of advent, we prepare for the celebration of the birth of Christ. Over 2000 years ago John the Baptist called on people to prepare the way for the coming of Jesus. Today we must also be preparing the way for Jesus. We must be preparing ourselves for Him to have His way in our lives. It is His desire that the world see His glory through us. This will only be accomplished as we allow Him to have full control of our lives.

This message is more devotional in nature as it was a communion Sunday. At the end of the message, and before we shared in communion, we spent several minutes in silence listening to God and preparing our hearts for Him. Projected on the screen during this time was 1 Peter 1:13-23. We used it to allow God to guide our time of silence.

The recording of this message ends at the beginning of this time of silence. At it's conclusion spend some time reading the 1 Peter passage and allow God to further speak to you.

To listen to the message click here.
To listen to this message as a Podcast in iTunes click here.

To view the accompanying powerpoint click here.

How Well Does The World See Jesus?

2006-05-30T10:11:00.000-07:00

This message preached on May 28, 2006, is a message on the Body of Christ living in such a way that Jesus is clearly seen in the world around us.

If we have God's Spirit living within us, then He should be very visible to the world around us. If we, the Church, are the representation of Christ on earth today, we must continually be asking ourselves...How well does the world see Jesus?

To hear the message click here.
To listen to this message as a Podcast in iTunes click here.

There is also an accompanying outline and powerpoint to go along with it. Feel free to download them as well.

Podcast

2006-01-10T11:14:00.000-08:00

My messages are now available as Podcasts on iTunes. To launch iTunes and be taken to my Podcast just click here. You can then either subscribe to my Podcast or just download the message you want and put it on the ol' iPod.

Happy Listening!

Life As Worship

2006-01-03T10:13:00.000-08:00

This message preached on January 1, 2006 is a message on how God calls us to live lives of worship.

Unfortunately the church today has in many ways reduced worship to a service or to music. God says it is so much more.

Click here to listen.

Conspiracy of Grace

2006-01-02T12:10:00.000-08:00

Preached on June 11, 2004
Text: John 4

Click here to listen.

Finding Your Fit

2006-01-01T12:50:00.000-08:00

Preached on September 7, 2003.

Click here to listen.

Complete Contentment

2006-01-01T12:13:00.000-08:00

Preached on August 3, 2003.

Click here to listen.

The Real Deal

2005-12-31T09:40:00.000-08:00

Preached on August 22, 2002
Text: Matthew 10

Click here to listen.