Discerning God's Calling in Challenging Times, Part 3

On Sunday, May 3, 2020, Pastor Stuart Nice hosted a conversation on YouTube Live with Pastor Kim Nowlin and Grant Teagarden. They discuss the importance of laying down things that we hold up as idols and instead build up an altar to the Lord.

And Gideon built an altar to the Lord there and named it Yahweh-Shalom (which means “the Lord is peace”). The altar remains in Ophrah in the land of the clan of Abiezer to this day. That night the Lord said to Gideon, “Take the second bull from your father’s herd, the one that is seven years old. Pull down your father’s altar to Baal, and cut down the Asherah pole standing beside it. Then build an altar to the Lord your God here on this hilltop sanctuary, laying the stones carefully. Sacrifice the bull as a burnt offering on the altar, using as fuel the wood of the Asherah pole you cut down.” So Gideon took ten of his servants and did as the Lord had commanded. But he did it at night because he was afraid of the other members of his father’s household and the people of the town.
Judges 6:24-27, NLT

Discerning God's Calling in Challenging Times, Part 2

On Sunday, April 26, 2020, Pastor Stuart Nice hosted a conversation on YouTube Live with Pastor Kim Nowlin and Grant Teagarden. They share with us how to hear from the Lord and encourage us to step out in faith according to what we have heard from the Lord.

When the angel of the Lord appeared to Gideon, he said, “The Lord is with you, mighty warrior.”
“Pardon me, my lord,” Gideon replied, “but if the Lord is with us, why has all this happened to us? Where are all his wonders that our ancestors told us about when they said, ‘Did not the Lord bring us up out of Egypt?’ But now the Lord has abandoned us and given us into the hand of Midian.”
The Lord turned to him and said, “Go in the strength you have and save Israel out of Midian’s hand. Am I not sending you?”
“Pardon me, my lord,” Gideon replied, “but how can I save Israel? My clan is the weakest in Manasseh, and I am the least in my family.”
The Lord answered, “I will be with you , and you will strike down all the Midianites, leaving none alive.”
Gideon replied, “If now I have found favor in your eyes, give me a sign that it is really you talking to me. Please do not go away until I come back and bring my offering and set it before you.”
And the Lord said, “I will wait until you return.”
Judges 6:12-18 (NIV)

Discerning God's Calling in Challenging Times

On Sunday, April 19, 2020, Pastor Stuart Nice hosted a conversation on YouTube Live with Pastor Kim Nowlin and Grant Teagarden. They encouraged us to recall how God has called and empowered us to walk in that calling.

The angel of the Lord came and sat down under the oak in Ophrah that belonged to Joash the Abiezrite, where his son Gideon was threshing wheat in a winepress to keep it from the Midianites. When the angel of the Lord appeared to Gideon, he said, “The Lord is with you, mighty warrior. ” “Pardon me, my lord,” Gideon replied, “but if the Lord is with us, why has all this happened to us? Where are all his wonders that our ancestors told us about when they said, ‘Did not the Lord bring us up out of Egypt?’ But now the Lord has abandoned us and given us into the hand of Midian.” The Lord turned to him and said, “Go in the strength you have and save Israel out of Midian’s hand. Am I not sending you?”
Judges 6:11-14 (NIV)

Following Jesus Through the Darkness

On Easter Sunday, April 12, 2020, Pastor Stuart Nice hosted a conversation on YouTube Live with Pastor Kim Nowlin and Grant Teagarden. They shared an encouragement to continue to seek Jesus, even while it’s still dark.

On the first day of the week, very early in the morning, the women took the spices they had prepared and went to the tomb. They found the stone rolled away from the tomb, but when they entered, they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus. While they were wondering about this, suddenly two men in clothes that gleamed like lightning stood beside them. In their fright the women bowed down with their faces to the ground, but the men said to them, “Why do you look for the living among the dead? He is not here; he has risen! Remember how he told you, while he was still with you in Galilee: ‘The Son of Man must be delivered over to the hands of sinners, be crucified and on the third day be raised again.’” Then they remembered his words.
Luke 24:1-8 (NIV)

Real Peace Now

On Sunday, April 5, 2020, Pastor Stuart Nice hosted a conversation on YouTube Live with Pastor Kim Nowlin and Grant Teagarden. They shared the encouragement to remember that the Lord is near and that in God’s presence there is peace.

The Lord is near. Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
Philippians 4:5b-7 (NIV)

Defeating the Spirit of Oppression

On Sunday, March 29, 2020, Pastor Stuart Nice hosted a conversation on YouTube Live with Pastor Kim Nowlin and Grant Teagarden. They shared encouragements about defeating the spirit of oppression.

Delight yourselves in God, yes, find your joy in him at all times. Have a reputation for gentleness, and never forget the nearness of your Lord. Don’t worry over anything whatever; tell God every detail of your needs in earnest and thankful prayer, and the peace of God which transcends human understanding, will keep constant guard over your hearts and minds as they rest in Christ Jesus. Here is a last piece of advice. If you believe in goodness and if you value the approval of God, fix your minds on the things which are holy and right and pure and beautiful and good.
Philippians 4:4-9 (PHILLIPS)

Allowing Crisis to Shape Us and Promote Growth

On Sunday, March 22, 2020, Pastor Stuart Nice hosted a conversation on YouTube Live with Pastor Kim Nowlin and Grant Teagarden. They discussed how difficult times can shape us and help us grow.

What Should Christians Do in a Crisis.

On Sunday, March 15, 2020, Pastor Stuart Nice hosted a conversation on YouTube Live with Pastor Kim Nowlin and Grant Teagarden. They discussed what Christians should do in a crisis.

How God Uses Relationships to Form Spiritual Maturity

In the message for Sunday, February 9, 2020, Pastor Stuart Nice shares with us some principles on how we can grow in our spiritual maturity by emulating the example Jesus who showed us of His complete love through trust, service and communion with one another.

No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us.
1 John 4:12 (NIV)

Making Room for Jesus

In the message for Sunday, February 2, 2020, Pastor Stuart Nice shares with us some principles to help maintain and prioritize our focus on Jesus above all things. He is calling to us to simply sit at His feet and listen.

She had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord’s feet listening to what he said. But Martha was distracted by all the preparations that had to be made. She came to him and asked, “Lord, don’t you care that my sister has left me to do the work by myself? Tell her to help me!”  “Martha, Martha,” the Lord answered, “you are worried and upset about many things, but few things are needed—or indeed only one. Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her.

Luke 10:39-42 (NIV)

Living Joyfully in an Anxious World

In the message for Sunday, January 19, 2019, Pastor Stuart Nice shares with us some principles to discovering peacefulness and joyfulness when faced with anxiety. To know Jesus is to know joy and by bringing God intimately into our lives, we will find peace.

Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done. Then you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus.And now, dear brothers and sisters, one final thing. Fix your thoughts on what is true, and honorable, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise.

Philippians 4:6-8 (NLT)

How to Stay Anxiety Free in 2020

In the message for Sunday, January 12, 2020 Pastor Stuart Nice shares with us some principles on living an anxiety free life. When we run to God and put our trust in Him, our worries and anxieties suddenly seem insignificant. Our Heavenly Father cares for each one of us and asks us to cast our worries onto Him. 

Give all your worries and cares to God, for he cares about you. Stay alert! Watch out for your great enemy, the devil. He prowls around like a roaring lion, looking for someone to devour. Stand firm against him, and be strong in your faith. Remember that your family of believers all over the world is going through the same kind of suffering you are. In his kindness God called you to share in his eternal glory by means of Christ Jesus. So after you have suffered a little while, he will restore, support, and strengthen you, and he will place you on a firm foundation.

1 Peter 5:7-10 (NLT)

Practicing "the" Priority

In the message for Sunday, January 5, 2020 Pastor Stuart Nice shares with us the importance of putting Jesus first and prioritizing His kingdom over our own. Instead of worrying over complicated futures and possibilities, Jesus offers a simple solution to living in the present.

So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the unbelievers run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.
Matthew 6:31-34 (NIV)

The Joy of Christmas

In the message for Sunday, December 22, 2019 Pastor Stuart Nice shares with us about the true joy of Christmas. The people had been expecting their Messiah but were not expecting His arrival would be so… ordinary. But that is the message of the Gospel, that God became man and lived a perfect life and sacrificed His life to save our sins. There is nothing we can do to earn this, it is a gift we freely receive.

And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord. This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.”

Luke 2:8-12 (NIV)

God With Us: Where?

In the message for Sunday, December 8, 2019 Pastor Stuart Nice shares with us on the meaning of the name Immanuel and why God is always with us, even when we doubt. Even through the darkness, through the battles and through the grief, Jesus entered into this world to save us and will always be with us.

All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet: “The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel”(which means “God with us”)

Matthew 1:22-23 (NIV)

The Key to the Full Life: Gratefulness

In the message for Sunday, November 24, 2019 Pastor Stuart Nice shares with us some principles on how we can enjoy the fullness of life by choosing to encourage gratefulness through Jesus rather than giving into the ungrateful sin nature.

Enter his gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise; give thanks to him and praise his name.

Psalms 100:4 (NIV)

How to Pursue Peace in Every Relationship: Part 2

In the message for Sunday, November 10, 2019, Pastor Stuart Nice shares with us some principles to living peaceably with those closest to us by taking a posture of humility for the purpose of restoration, reconciliation, and forgiveness.

Make every effort to live in peace with everyone and to be holy; without holiness no one will see the Lord. See to it that no one falls short of the grace of God and that no bitter root grows up to cause trouble and defile many.
Hebrews 12:14-15 (NIV)

How to Pursue Peace in Every Relationship: Part 1

In the message for Sunday, November 3, 2019, Pastor Stuart Nice shares with us some principles to living peaceably with those closest to us.

Make every effort to live in peace with everyone and to be holy; without holiness no one will see the Lord. See to it that no one falls short of the grace of God and that no bitter root grows up to cause trouble and defile many.
Hebrews 12:14-15 (NIV)

Rejoice in the Lord … Always!

In the message for Sunday, October 27, 2019, Pastor Jodi Van Rhee, from The Adventure Church in Salt Lake City, encourages us to rejoice in the Lord always by sharing her story of loss and grief and how the Lord brought her to a place where she could find joy through every circumstance.

Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
Philippians 4:4-7 (NIV)

The Anxiety Cure

In the conversation for Sunday, May 12, 2019, Pastor Stuart Nice encourages us to consider all that God, our Father, does for us and knows concerning us and to let that knowledge settle our hearts.

Then Jesus said to his disciples: “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat; or about your body, what you will wear. For life is more than food, and the body more than clothes. Consider the ravens: They do not sow or reap, they have no storeroom or barn; yet God feeds them. And how much more valuable you are than birds! Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to your life? Since you cannot do this very little thing, why do you worry about the rest?”
“Consider how the wild flowers grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you, not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today, and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, how much more will he clothe you—you of little faith! And do not set your heart on what you will eat or drink; do not worry about it. For the pagan world runs after all such things, and your Father knows that you need them. But seek his kingdom, and these things will be given to you as well."
Luke 12:22-31 (NIV)