Hebrews 11:39 All these people [the great Old Testament heroes of faith] earned a good reputation because of their faith, yet none of them received all that God had promised. 40 For God had something better in mind for us, so that they would not reach perfection without us.

A lot of Christians give their lives to Christ and they ask God for help. The thing that many don’t understand is that when you ask God to help you, he does. He prepares you and puts you on the starting line. God doesn’t leave you where he found you. When you decide to follow Jesus, you are beginning your race. Your race is different from everyone else around you. Don’t look at another person’s race - you have your own race to run and God has a specific plan for your life. Don’t try to compare your pace to others. Don’t be distracted by how others around you are running their race. What God is asking you to do concerning a certain area (any area in which you want to move forward in God) is not what God has your neighbor doing. Your race is unique.
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 Pastor Dean Sweetman - August 3, 2008: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Philippians 3:17 Dear brothers and sisters, pattern your lives after mine, and learn from those who follow our example. 18 For I have told you often before, and I say it again with tears in my eyes, that there are many whose conduct shows they are really enemies of the cross of Christ.

The foundation of discipleship is that we are connected like family. Being a believer has a different meaning than being a disciple. Being a disciple means instilling certain patterns of behavior in your life. Believers are born; disciples are made. Our act of faith gives us a re-birth, and we become a believer. But Jesus says in Mark 16 to go into the world and make disciples. You aren’t born with all of the things you need to be a fruitful person. You get those things from being nurtured, fed, cared for, taught and instructed. You need to learn by following those instructions. The process of growing a Christian (little Christ - one that can emulate Christ) is like raising a child. Once you become a mature believer, you can start to nurture and instruct others. We work hard to maintain a healthy environment so that when people are born into God’s family in this church, they can be healthy and grow.
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 Pastor Dean Sweetman - July 30, 2008: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

I Corinthians 11:23 - Communion represents a meal that is actually 4000 years of old. People have been doing this for thousands of years. This meal didn’t just begin when Jesus had the Last Supper. This meal started when God had had enough of his people being enslaved in Egypt, and wanted to bring them into freedom and into the Promised Land that he has for them. God was showing mercy to his people, who had become slaves based on their own sin and unwillingness to follow God. God sent the Angel of Death to kill the first born in every household without lamb’s blood over their door. The blood was a signal for the angel to pass over that house - a sign of deliverance. The blood from the lamb painted across the land was a sign that the sacrifice would cover that house and that death couldn’t touch that house. This began the process of God delivering his people. Communion and the meal it represents dates back to this event - the beginning of the Passover feast. The Last Supper, the night before Jesus went to the Cross, also occurred at the beginning of the Passover festival. God ordained it to happen that way. The timing of God is always perfect. He always arranges things according to a perfect plan.
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 Pastor Dean Sweetman - Sunday, July 27, 2008: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download