Churches in Norfolk

“But if you'll take your place in your seat in that heavenly place and reckon yourself alive in God, then everything changes. You begin to pray with authority. You begin to worship with freedom. To church this morning, don't allow the accuser to speak any louder than the blood of the lamb. Don't let your performance speak louder than the finished work of the cross.”

“The bible says that you are currently seated with Jesus in heavenly places. And in the scripture, sitting is a posture of finished work. The work of redemption is finished once and for all and because you are in Christ, you are seated there with him as well. Amen? You're not an outsider who's trying to earn your way into the family.”

“When a performance mindset becomes the pattern of the heart, the Christian life is driven by pressure rather than by grace. Prayer becomes a difficult task because you wonder if you've done enough to be worthy of an audience with the king. Our worship becomes restrained and hollowed because shame convinces the heart to hold back from the Lord. Obedience becomes an exhausting chore because it is fueled by fear rather than the power of love.”

“And by holding the keys of Hades and death, Jesus, he declares that the enemy no longer has the final word over your future. Amen? So the enemy he made threaten you, but he doesn't hold the key to the room. He may accuse you day and night, but he cannot lock the door which Christ has already opened.”

“This is the beauty and the depth of the gospel. The wrath of God was satisfied by the perfect sacrifice of Jesus Christ demonstrating both his justice and his love. Somebody get excited. At the cross, holiness and mercy meet, and justice is fulfilled without compromising grace. To truly understand God, we cannot divorce his love from his wrath. His love seeks to save. His wrath exists to confront sin, and together they reveal a God who is both holy and merciful and both just and compassionate. And even as we wrestle with his holiness and his wrath, we must embrace God's love not as sentimentality, but as redemptive power rooted in truth.”

“``Here, God's love is neither sentimental nor permissive and it does not ignore or excuse sin. In the death of Christ on the cross, God's love was displayed as Christ bore the penalty we deserved. He paid the price satisfying justice and opening the way for mercy. This is love in action. Love that was costly, holy, and perfectly redemptive.”

“"Jesus left the comforts of glory for the dusty roads of Galilee. He was born in an obscure Judean village with animals as the only witnesses besides his parents to his birth. Jesus, he gave up his crown for a cradle. He lived among his creation and ultimately, he took up his cross so that we might be counted as children of God. Hallelujah. It is this Jesus that the angel spoke of. It is this Jesus who willingly paid the price for our sinfulness. And it is this Jesus to whom the angel spoke of. We owe so much and yet give so little. It is this Jesus who gave his life for us. And it is this Jesus who continues to forgive us when we sin against him. So what do we owe to Jesus? Church, we owe him everything. And he deserves no less than our total commitment and sacrifice. He deserves our complete devotion and praise but most of all he deserves and desires our love after all he has promised that his love for us will never end and that church is the message that needs to be told this Christmas amen let us pray"”

“"Then Joseph, being aroused from sleep, did as the angel of the Lord commanded him, and took to him his wife, and did not know her till she had brought forth her firstborn son, and he called his name Jesus. So when Joseph awakes from his dream, he carried out the instructions that were given to him by the angel Gabriel. Mary and Joseph were married, but had no intimate relations until after the child was born. And when he was born, they named their son Jesus. And Jesus is the Greek form of the Hebrew name Joshua, which means Jehovah saves. Amen? Therefore his name revealed his purpose in coming to earth. Amen. Amen. And we will be saved because Jesus himself came to seek and save those who are lost. and all of mankind was lost. Amen?"”

“"And so we see that Mary gave in at once. Her commitment was total. She presented her body to be a living sacrifice. Holy and acceptable unto God for this great work. This great work of bringing His one and only Son into the world. And yet Mary was well within her rights to have some concerns. See, Mary would have to face the wagging tongues of her neighbors, as well as the outrage of her family. She was taking a real risk since there was no way that she could explain this pregnancy to other people. Then what about Joseph? What would he think? What would he do? And we know that Gabriel took care of Joseph. And that's visit number three. But Mary didn't have that assurance or knowledge at this point in the story. There were the local rabbis and the other religious leaders. And to have this child out of wedlock in those days was a serious matter. Mary could have and should have, by the law, taken out and stoned to death. Do we consider that aspect of this story as we celebrate this time of year? But in spite of all of these issues, she still said yes to God. Amen?"”

“"and then we see gabriel backed up his message with more proof gabriel told mary that her cousin elizabeth was six months pregnant which in of itself it was a miraculous thing given her great age and lifelong barrenness so if god could make a barren womb spring to life he could certainly make a virgin womb spring to life there was no difference to god who conceived the whole wonderful process of conception and birth then comes one of the most powerful statements in the bible when he says with god nothing shall be impossible in church that still applies today amen come on somebody get excited come on there we go that promise should make us excited that with god nothing is impossible"”