Last week we read that Peter asked Jesus, “How many times do we forgive someone who has hurt us, 7 times?” Jesus said, “No, 70 times 7.” We said that basically means you forgive the person as long as they are in your life. However, if you do the math, that’s 490 times. At the end of the service last week, a couple came to me and jokingly said, “Ken, we have been married a long time. We . . . Read More »
How to be good at Marriage
When I prepare a couple to be married, I want them to think through what it means to be married. To do this, I ask them a simple question. Think about all the marriages you know, how many of those marriages do you think are awesome? Maybe the kind of marriage you want to become. They normally sit back and think about the question. The normal answer, they can think of three to four marriages that are awesome. . . . Read More »
How To Be Good at Dating
We started last week by saying, if you want to be good at marriage, you need to be good at dating. And if you want to be good at dating, you need to be good at being single. So really, a good marriage starts when you are single. To understand what the bible says about being single, we looked at 1 Corinthians 7. Paul in his letter to the church in Corinth basically said, I wish everyone was . . . Read More »
The Reality Test
So last week we finished up our first series here in the Fire Hall on joy, which was a lot of fun if you ask me. We spent a lot of time looking at what joy is and what joy isn’t. We looked at where joy is found and where it is not found. We had a lot of fun looking at the Christmas story maybe from a brand new perspective where we saw that this God story . . . Read More »
How to be Good at Being Single: The Test
Welcome to a new year. Hopefully you have made some resolutions and hopefully you are able to push through and make them a habit. At the gym I go to, I see a lot of new faces and they are messing up my routine. I can selfishly say, I hope they give up and don’t come back. That’s wrong to say – right! LOL. We are jumping into a marriage series. To talk about how to make a . . . Read More »
Don’t Be That Guy, You Won’t Find Joy
This December we talked about joy. We said joy is different than happiness. Happiness is what happens to us. It’s temporary, it’s external. Joy is a decision we make that says, ‘God is in control and I can relax in that.’ That means I can have an awful day but it can’t steal my joy in the reality that God loves me and has freed me. We walked through the Christmas story and talked about the things that . . . Read More »
I’m Depressed About the Future
The Christmas story is a remarkable story. It’s a story about the God of the universe who enters earth in the form of Jesus to accomplish one thing. To invite people into a changed life. Jesus told us: “Who needs a doctor: the healthy or the sick? I’m here inviting outsiders, not insiders – an invitation to a changed life, changed inside and out.” MSG Luke 5:31-32 That’s what Christmas is all about. God entering into our mess . . . Read More »
Nothing is Happening the Way I Expected, God Must Not be With Me
We are in a series about joy. We are talking about the real things of life that steal our joy. Things like; stress and anxiety. Things like; resentment and anger. The point of this series is to look at the decisions we must make to reclaim joy in our lives. Before we jump into today, I want to share three points to build my talk. First, I want to make clear that there is a difference between joy . . . Read More »
How to get over Hurt, Anger and Resentment
We are in a series about joy. We explained that joy is different than happiness. Happiness is what happens to us. When I get new car, I am happy. When my favorite football team wins, I am happy. When I have a date for the dance, I am happy. Happiness is temporary. As fast as it comes, it can go. Joy if different. It is a decision we make. Joy is about character. We explained that joy is . . . Read More »
How to Get Past Anxiety
Welcome to the Christmas season! It’s December 1 and that means you have 24 days to buy me a present. I believe, you buying me a present, would bring you joy. Just kidding. We are talking about joy this December. The idea of joy is everywhere. Joy is in our Christmas songs like, ‘Joy to the world.’ Joy is in every commercial and store you visit. They are trying to make you believe that when you buy something . . . Read More »