God Hates Us All

 

It was a depressing photo. An Army outpost in the middle of a barren middle eastern wasteland. There were sandbags piled up, a barbed wire fence and a small, hand painted sign: “God Hates Us All”. The message was clear, some in that camp had witnessed so much violence, pain and loss they could no longer bring themselves to believe that God had even an ounce of goodwill towards humanity. Tragically, those soldiers are joined by millions throughout the world who feel the same way – God hates us all!

Is it true? Are all the stories we’ve heard about a loving God just legends we were told as children? Or is the idea that God hates us all another one of those urban legends which has taken hold as a result of our increasing denial of the supernatural? If you are struggling with the questions, “Does God care? Why doesn’t He want me to have any fun? Can I ever please God?”, then join us for one of our weekend services. To deny the enormity of human suffering would be naïve, but to place the blame on God would not only be foolish, it would create total hopelessness.

Have you thought that maybe the suffering we experience in our lives is not because God hates us, but in a distorted, broken way, we hate ourselves? Regardless of where you are in your relationship with God, join us for one of our services. Together, let’s do some fact checking on what God is really like.

 Worship service times: Saturday: 6:00 pm, Sunday: 9:00 am & 10:30 am.

Debunking Urban Legends

 

People say things that catch on, even if what they said isn’t true. These are what are called Urban Legends – untruths which are believed by many simply because they haven’t taken the time to check them out.

Christianity has been a frequent target of the Urban Legend movement with stunning success. Caught up in an overload of information which often makes meaningful study obsolete, individuals rely on 30-word tweets and 30 second videos to determine the important truths which govern their lives. Two urban legends regarding Christianity which have taken hold are: faith does not have any fact to support it and most people are Christians because they are afraid of a vicious, vengeful God. Both propositions could not be farther from the truth, however, it does take some serious thought and a little time to understand why.

If you have the uncomfortable feeling that casually dismissing the claims of Christ as an outdated psychological crutch for past generations isn’t a wise decision, join us for one of our worship services this week. You’ll find that going beyond emotional impressions and digging deep for what is actually true is not only refreshing, but also life changing.

Worship service times: Saturday: 6:00 pm, Sunday: 9:00 am & 10:30 am.

What Is God Doing?

 

Reading or watching the news can quickly become a depressing experience. One writer, describing an international conflict which seems permanently unsolvable, wrote of the wisdom of pessimism – to not expect that things will get better between the two hostile factions.     

Human beings realize we have so much potential to make life better, and yet so often we seem incapable of harnessing that capacity to accomplish anything meaningful. In our frustration, we begin to attack God.

“If God really cared, he would do something about the injustice, violence and greed which dominate our existence.”

“Is God just a casual observer? Doesn’t he care about what is going on?”

“Maybe he really can’t do anything to make a difference after all.”

One thing we don’t have to worry about is that God is not doing anything. What should concern us very much is that we don’t recognize what he is doing. There is a lesser known holiday of the Christian Church called Pentecost. Even some Christians aren’t really sure of why it is significant. But if you are sincerely interested in what God is doing in our world in the year 2021, you’d do well to give some time to understanding what happened on that day and what it means to us at the present.

What it really comes down to is priorities. What we think is important clashes with what matters most to God.

If you want to know what God is doing today, why it is important, and what it means to you, join us for one of our worship services. It might rub you the wrong way at first, but if you let it sink in, the benefits will never end.    

Worship service times: Saturday: 6:00 pm, Sunday: 9:00 am & 10:30 am.

The Last Piece of the Puzzle

Poets have written that the days of our lives are like pieces of a puzzle which all fit together to form the mosaic of human life. For many of us, that emerging mosaic can often seem downright confusing. And we struggle with God over this issue. We say that we believe that he is ordering everything according to his good and perfect plan but so much of what happens in our lives is certainly not what we would call good or beneficial or even productive. Then we look at human history and the whole scene becomes mind boggling in its complexities.

The problem may be two-fold. First, it very well could be that we are imposing our view of what should happen in our lives and world history on God. And that just isn’t going to happen. He knows a whole lot more than we do. It is much better that, as the old song goes, “He’s got the whole world in his hands,” than us having the whole world in our hands! The second point worth considering is that God’s ways are usually much more simple than ours. We tend to complicate things, pretty much because we are so compromised in our outlook.

Before Jesus ascended into heaven he gave his disciples the last piece of the Divine Puzzle for humanity. The incredible thing is, he gives us an opportunity to be a part of putting that piece into its place. If you want to be part of something which is going to last a very long time, join us for one of our weekend worship services!

 Worship service times: Saturday: 6:00 pm, Sunday: 9:00 am & 10:30 am.