Though we may be surrounded by darkness and trying circumstances, we can find hope in the 'belly of the whale'. Join Pastor Alan as he brings a good news message from the Book of Jonah.

Take in the promise of God to Joshua before his conquest of Canaan: “I will not leave you or forsake you. Be strong and courageous, for you shall cause this people to inherit the land that I swore to their fathers to give them” (Joshua 1: 6).

What if you could live 'from now on'? Not looking back, but embracing the future. It is possible.

What if you could live 'from now on'? Not looking back, but embracing the future. It is possible.

Grace is the atmosphere in which human beings grow and blessing is the strategy for human productivity.

While there may be some sinful patterns passed down from your forebears, there is something much greater that has been passed down to you – the generational blessing!

While there may be some sinful patterns passed down from your forebears, there is something much greater that has been passed down to you – the generational blessing!

This is a term that defines a certain kind of blessing – one which flows from one generation to the next.

Jeremiah prophesied: “Every man is stupid and without knowledge; every goldsmith is put to shame by his idols, for his images are false, and there is no breath in them” (Jeremiah 10:14, ESV).

All of those things – the value of a devotional life, the knowledge that I belonged to God, the importance of a moral life – are important and good.

Christ didn’t come to give us a modified Old Covenant – He ushered in a New Covenant! It is utterly new and altogether better than the Old.

If the message of the Gospel is in any way clouded by a message of shame, then people will avoid church at all costs. If, however, there is a church that proclaims eternal truth and mystery in the context of utter love and acceptance, that church will find the world at its door.

Religious shame comes in the form of “you ought to.” You ought to go to church more. You ought to pray more. You ought to read your Bible more. You ought to do more for the poor. You ought to have more faith. You ought to, you ought to, you ought to – it’s enough to give you what my friend Dudley Hall calls “the hardening of the oughteries”!

You can’t control people and you can’t make them change, but you can be used by God to help them grow.

It’s not wrong to want someone to change. If you love someone, you want him/her to grow. To grow means to change.

Have you ever reached a mountaintop, and, the next day, felt lower than ever?

God has a journey for you still to take. Even if you’ve reached a great pinnacle, He has more in the future for you.

Jesus isn’t only the Lamb who takes away the sin of the world; He’s also the scapegoat who has born our shame.

No matter what family brokenness you’ve experienced on earth, you’re no orphan in Christ. You’re an heir.

True, godly conviction is a sweet gift of liberty guiding you back to the Father.

There’s a huge difference between shame and godly conviction.

The more that you trust Jesus to cover your shame, the less energy you have to spend trying to cover it yourself.

We change when the pain of staying the same is worse than the pain of changing!

If you have experienced dishonor and shame, you can forgive and you can be healed. Every wound can be healed.

Sometimes, when your offender hasn’t apologized, it’s healing to receive a confession from another person. No matter your wounds, it’s possible to forgive and move on

The love of God sets you free. Ask God to expose the traps of shame that keep surfacing in your mind, then look upon Jesus’ smiling face. Listen to your Savior’s voice. “Where are your accusers? Has no one condemned you? Neither do I condemn you; go and from now on sin no more.”

Until the gospel of grace uproots the lies of shame, our souls are tortured with angst. For some, it leads to a life of perfectionism. For others, it leads to a life of rebellion. Either way, the soul knows no real rest.

If you want your prayer life to be a joy rather than a chore, all you have to do is get in touch with the love of God in your heart.

The love of God is the power of God. So, when you have God’s love, you have God’s power.

The love of God is the power of God. So, when you have God’s love, you have God’s power.

God wants to grant you the desires of your heart. All you have to do is get in touch with your heart’s desires and bring them to God!

By God’s grace, your desires can become what God already desires!

If Christ intercedes for you and He lives in you, then you have an ongoing prayer partner in Jesus!

When we listen to God, we know what He wants and, when we know what He wants, our prayers become exceedingly powerful.

Prayer isn’t just about you talking to God – it’s about God talking to you!

One of the simplest, most powerful ways to “pray in the Spirit” is to pray God’s Word.

Powerful prayer is always “in the Spirit.” And, one of the surest ways to “pray in the Spirit” is to pray God’s Word.

Praying in the power of the Spirit isn’t a privilege for a few, extra-mature Christians; praying in the Spirit is for every Christian.

The power of your prayer life isn’t rooted in your eloquence or even your determination; the power of your prayer life is in the Holy Spirit.

Peace is more than the absence of conflict—it is the presence of well-being in the midst of conflict.

Live in harmony with one another. Do not be haughty, but associate with the lowly. Never be wise in your own sight. Repay no one evil for evil, but give thought to do what is honorable in the sight of all. If possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all. - Romans 12:16-18

Harmony is as refreshing as the dew from Mount Hermon that falls on the mountains of Zion. And there the Lord has pronounced his blessing, even life everlasting. (Ps 133:3 NLT)

Tell them not to speak evil of anyone but to live in peace with others. They should be gentle and polite to everyone. (Titus 3:2)

Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God. -Matthew 5:9

What are you really focused on? Overcoming worry is more about changing your vision and focus than it is changing your circumstances.

Like Daniel who emerged triumphant from the lions’ den by God’s grace, you’re certain to emerge from your trials because God still shuts the mouth of the roaring lion.

As God shut the mouths of the lions in the den with Daniel, He silences the roar of the lion, the Accuser, who seeks to devour you with condemnation.

When the Babylonian tyrant threw Daniel’s friends into the fiery furnace, they not only emerged unharmed – they didn’t even smell of smoke!

When you have to say no to the idols of this world, God can deliver you from whatever persecution may arise.

King Nebuchadnezzar’s plan of making the fire hotter and hotter only served to kill his own minions. His plan backfired on him—literally.

Do not despair. Grieve, pray, work hard, speak out, do as the Lord leads you to do good in this world, but do not despair. Instead, rejoice in the Lord always!

The Kingdom of God is invisible but invincible. It is unnoticed by masses but is unshakable for eternity.

Open your heart to the Revealer of Mysteries. Open your heart to the only one who truly knows you, to the one who knows all things.

Every single Christian can hear from God and be led by the Spirit. Wisdom from God is yours for the asking.

When Daniel was exiled to Babylon, King Nebuchadnezzar assigned a new, pagan name to the erudite man of God. But Daniel never accepted the label.

It’s frustrating, unwise and dangerous when we call something by the wrong name. If someone is called by the wrong name and believes it, destiny is disrupted.

The enemy of your soul wants to name you. Hell wants to label you. But only God can call you by the right name. You’re His child.

The book of Daniel is a great place to look for answers to Christ and culture questions.

If you ever feel like the culture has changed so much that you’re like an alien – take heart. God has a way of showing favor to people like Daniel, and you.

The world has changed so much that it might seem sometimes like you are a foreigner in your own culture. But take heart. The hand of the Lord is upon you. He can show you favor in a foreign land.

Jesus is the new gardener who took up where Adam failed. We were all born in the first gardener, Adam.

As we near the end of our weeks studying the lives of scripture’s unheralded women, it is fitting to pause at the centerpiece of the whole story of the Bible – the cross.

You have the sign of crimson over your life in Christ and, thus, God is moved on your behalf.

God’s commitment to His covenantal promises perseveres amidst the chaos of life and trumps any of your record of sin.

Naaman couldn’t be like a child outwardly until he was like a child inwardly. In God’s design, the little children are the greatest because they don’t miss the simplicity of the Gospel.

Healing and salvation are free. Everything good from God comes to us only by simple, childlike faith.

The battle belongs to the Lord. He will give you the grace. So you can hearken unto His command: UP! And that’s the Gospel!

If you find your mind confused by the barrage of information amidst the pandemic and racial unrest, be assured, God wants to show you the way.

We’re never transformed by conquering our fleshly appetites with self-will; we’re transformed when our attention is directed by beauty and wisdom to a better way.

God came in Jesus Christ to save fools who didn’t grasp their own folly!

The ancient serpent, called the Accuser, sought to destroy the “seed of the woman,” but he couldn’t. Christ, by His own obedience, laid down His life for your salvation and mine and, in so doing, crushed the headship of evil.

These unheralded women bravely defied Pharaoh’s command to kill all the Hebrew male children.

You don’t need to labor for love. God’s love is free. Utterly. Completely. Free.

There is a revelation of love in Christ that overwhelms any lack of love in this world.

Though once you were a spiritual orphan, in Christ you are a spiritual heir. And your inheritance is vast.

When they apportioned the Promised Land, only fathers and sons received an inheritance – until the daughters of Zelophehad stepped forward...

You and I don’t deserve to even get near God and yet, through Jesus’ gift, we have been positioned in the Heavenlies with Christ Himself. Now that’s ironic!

Contrary to the stereotypes of today’s culture, God loves freedom.

Freedom isn’t found by always having more choices; freedom is found when all choices narrow down to one eternal choice.

Your deepest, truest identity is not rooted in what you do or how you love others—it’s rooted in what Christ has done and how He loves you. You are God’s beloved.

There’s a word that describes you better than any other word.

There is a deep serenity that the heart can experience in ways that the mind cannot comprehend.

There is an inseparable connection between gratitude and a worry-free life.

The reason that Paul refused to quit wasn’t personal will power. He was convinced of the victory of Christ.

If you’re feeling lazy and looking for energy to move forward, don’t look to your own strength or righteousness. Look to Jesus.

The abundant life of the Christian in no way depends upon the believer’s own righteousness or religiosity; it depends, in every way, on the righteousness of Jesus Christ.

You aren’t made to live by your efforts at righteousness but by the assurance of Christ’s righteousness given to you the day you were saved.

Problems – you aren’t called to promote them; it doesn’t help to pretend they aren’t there; and you can’t prevent them. Instead, you praise God in the midst of them.

You can’t prevent all the problems of life, but you can praise God in the midst of them.

Does the message of grace conflict with Paul’s exhortation to work out our salvation?

You never need to work for your salvation, but you can work out your salvation.

Humility isn’t seeing yourself as less; it’s seeing God as more.

Christian humility isn’t self-disparagement; it is self-forgetfulness.

God doesn’t author evil or needless suffering, but He uses both for your good and His glory.

If Paul’s imprisonment could serve a beautiful purpose, so can the adversity of a global pandemic.

God’s love for you isn’t merely intellectual. God loves you with deep affection.

God doesn’t just love you theoretically; He loves you personally. Christ has affection for you.

Seeing Disappointment through Jesus' Eyes

You can’t control people and you can’t make them change.