Churches in Butler

“And that's why he can rejoice in his sufferings. And that's why I can talk to you the way I talk to you every Sunday. Often I talk to you like I'm some kind of football coach just motivating you to go out there and do great things for God. It's not because I believe in your ability. I'm sorry, but I don't. I know you. I'm like you. I make mistakes. I'm fallen. I'm not all that gifted. Here's why I can challenge you, because I know God. And God is in the business of doing amazing things through average folks. And if you look around, that's all that's here right now. It's a bunch of average Joes who serve a mighty God, and that mighty God lives in you. And therefore, you're not just average, but when you allow God to work through you, you're supernatural, powerful”

“Similarly here for us today or watching online, if you are filled with anger or if you are an impatient person or you you just have this unshakable feeling that you don't belong anywhere and that nobody loves you, guess what? You're not gonna be able to love other people because you've got to learn how much God loves you first. You've got to experience that yourself and let the love of God heal your heart so that his love can renew you and restore you and make it possible for his love to flow through you to other people. Amen. Because you can't give to others what you've not received yourself.”

“There are people who are also experiencing similar things, similar limitations, similar hurts, similar pains. And if you were able to find hope in the midst of that pain, guess what? Other people need to find a way out too. Other people need to know, how do you have hope even with that weakness, even with that struggle, even with that pain? And you're saying, well, I'm just a blind man that knows the one who heals. I'm I'm just a beggar that knows the bread of life. I I know where I can point you. It's not in me. It's in Christ, and I know Christ. I can show you Christ. That's what it means to be a minister of hope.”

“You cannot give away what you yourself have never received. So in order to give hope away, you've got to be someone who has received hope and receives hope on a daily basis. And so this morning, wanna expose you to hope. I hope I do that every Sunday. And I wanna show you what it means to engage in this ministry. You and I have a ministry. It's called the ministry of hope.”

“Have you ever wondered why after creating us and after saving us, god doesn't just, like, beam me up, Scotty, to heaven? Have you ever wondered why? Yes. Why is it that God allows us to spend so much time in this fallen, broken world where there is sin and sorrow and stress and sadness and pain. Well, friends, he allows us to stay in this broken world so that we can learn how to love like he loves. Did you hear me? He allows us to stay in this broken world so we can learn how to love like he loves because life is all about learning how to love like God loves.”

“Love god with everything you are. Yes. And learn to love others like god loves them. This is why we are alive and on this planet. Life is not about achievements and accomplishments and acquisitions. It's not about fame or fortune. Can god take those things and sanctify them and use them for his glory? Absolutely, he can. But the truth is, apart from a saving and sanctifying relationship with Jesus Christ, none of that matters. Not a single bit.”

“way of thinking we see in many places of life. I learned in in university study about the enlightenment period and, a French philosopher named René Descartes, and Descartes thought this way. He coined the phrase, I think, therefore, I am. This quote may be confusing, but Descartes is plainly saying, the very act of thinking is why we exist. Descartes tried to doubt everything around him to find a solid truth. Descartes' way of thinking makes humans essentially just brains on sticks. alone, we are thinking things and we can reason our way to change and we can reason our way to holiness. But we cannot strictly reason our way to holiness. We have to love our way to holiness. And that's the component that Descartes was missing. Yes. Is we need to we need to love first, and then we need to think.”

“Church, when Jesus asks you, what do you love? What will you say? Will you say, yeah, Jesus. I love you. I do. I do. I'm not asking about that. I'm asking what will your heart say? Is there something other than God that is taking your attention in life and causing you to live that every day, the same cycle, the same bad habits?”

“See, these practices plus many more can recalibrate our hearts back to god towards when he asks us what we want. We can say to him that we desire to have him in our hearts, our minds, and our entire being. We can do all of this, but we must rely on the Lord for guidance and help. We cannot think our way to loving God. We cannot think our way to being holy. We cannot think our way out of habits.”

“And so Paul is writing in broad general categories here about how the supremacy of Christ play plays itself out in every area of our life. He will get more specific later. In his letter to the Colossians, he will write about specific lifestyles. He'll write about specific relationships like marriage and parenthood, work relationships, and more. But it's kinda like Google Earth here. You'll see this flow of thought in verses 15 through 23 where he begins on a very broad level at the cosmic level, the universal, the created order. He starts there in verses 15 through 17 with the creation. But then he gets narrower down this funnel, he goes down to the universal church. And he begins to talk about all of the redeemed all throughout human history there in verses 18 through 19. So Jesus has authority over the creation. He has authority over the church. And then he gets even more narrow, and he talks about you. He talks about the redeemed individual in verses 21 through 23. Jesus has authority over the creation, over the church, and over the Christian. There is no area in life where Jesus isn't Lord, where Jesus isn't supreme.”