This is part 4 of our study about the Sabbath. One way to practice the Sabbath is to serve others! https://pastorryanrogers.com/sabbathworthkeeping/

At all times there are at least three voices trying to get our attention. When you hear the voice of Satan, reject it. When you hear your own voice, be skeptical. When you hear the voice of God, trust it.

As when a hungry man dreams, and behold, he is eating, and awakes with his hunger not satisfied, or as when a thirsty man dreams, and behold, he is drinking, and awakes faint, with his thirst not quenched, so shall the multitude of all the nations be that fight against Mount Zion. Isaiah 29:8

Sabbath is the original holiday. On it we celebrate our God. He is worthy of worship continually, but one day a week there is a special occasion for worship. A Sabbath worth keeping is a call to worship. https://pastorryanrogers.com/sabbathworthkeeping/

When we don’t trust we have a hard time relaxing. A Sabbath worth keeping is an invitation to trust! https://pastorryanrogers.com/sabbathworthkeeping/

Why is it that we get tired of doing the right thing? Galatians 6 points us to three reasons that are all to relatable. 

We get it all messed up. We try to open what God has shut and shut what God has opened. There is one door for you to open. It is the door to your heart. Stop messing with God's doors! He has them under control. Pay attention to your door! He is waiting to come in.

God So Loves Ukraine: 5 ways God loves people in the most difficult of circumstances

Sabbath Practice #1: Rest Sabbath Worth Keeping is a 5-week journey that pursues a fresh view of the value of Sabbath. Take the journey! See where God takes you! https://pastorryanrogers.com/sabbathworthkeeping/

If God has opened a door of opportunity, nothing can shut it. We can only choose to not walk through it. If God has closed a door opportunity, nothing can open it. We can only choose to slam our heads against it. Our great pursue is not to tell God what to open and close but to learn from God what he has opened and closed and walk in that path.

What should we do when we look like we are ok, but we're not?  Jesus has clear and helpful answers. He calls us to wake up and strengthen what remains. 

What lies do you tolerate? Maybe they aren’t big bad things. But are there impure or untrue things that you allow to hang around and influence what messages go into your brain? God really cares about that. As we grow in our intolerance of Satan’s lies, we are better able to hear what God has to say to us!

Have you ever felt like God is fighting against you? God is for us! He is fighting against sin. He loves us enough to not stop fighting against sin when that sin is in our lives. Let’s be careful to not misinterpret God’s discipline as rejection.   

Have you ever noticed that the Bible can say the scariest of things, and then tell us to not be afraid about it? Well, there are good reasons why we don’t need to fear the scariest of things. We don’t have to fear death when the one who is telling us to not be afraid has conquered the grave.  We don’t have to fear death when we have the promise that the second death will not hurt us. We don’t have to fear death when we have the promise that on the other side we receive the crown of...

Our light to the world dims as our love for God fades. Don't let Satan blow it out! It is a danger to shine something other than love in the name of Christ. If the world sees that light and desires it they will be drawn to a loveless experience of God. It would be better to not shine.

The day Jesus comes back will change every day after it, for eternity. It has the potential to do more than this. It could change every day we live on this earth, starting now. 2 Peter 3:11-12 Since all these things are thus to be dissolved, what sort of people ought you to be in lives of holiness and godliness, waiting for and hastening the coming of the day of God. How will you let that day change the way you live this day?

This is Part 3 of the Neighboring Well sermon Series. There are more resources for this sermon at https://pastorryanrogers.com/who-is-my-neighbor/ The lawyer in Luke 10 asked Jesus a dangerous question, “Who is my neighbor?”. It is not a bad question, it’s just dangerous when it is asked with the intention of disassociating ourselves from the people God has called us to love. The question seeks minimal neighboring. The response calls us to maximal neighboring.

We have a problem of making things into rocks. We make employment into a rock of stability. We turn our entertainment into a rock of pleasure. We lean on people around us as our rocks of support. We imagine that our health, our intelligence, and our ability are rock solid. God reminds us that there is no other rock. God is not just a better foundation; God is the only true foundation. When we hold to these other things we hold to an illusion of security. Stop making things into rocks. God is...

What are we called to do to our neighbor? Love them! How much? As ourselves! This is the second in our Neighboring Well study series. You can find the message in video, audio, and written form at https://pastorryanrogers.com/love-your-neighbor-as-yourself/  

What do you need saved from? Where are you looking for salvation?   Isaiah 43:11 I am the Lord, and besides me there is no savior.

What is the relationship between our view of justification and our practice of justice? It is worth exploring because it impacts Neighboring Well in a big way! This is the first message in a series called Neighboring Well. You can find the audio and written resources for this message at https://pastorryanrogers.com/2193-2/

There is no other God. So, there is nothing else worthy of worship.  When we give our best affection to anything else, that thing is stealing from God the praise that belongs to him alone. It is also stealing from us the gracious privilege of connecting with the only God in worship.  Worship is not limited to liturgical activity such as song and prayer. Worship is any response to God that treasures his sovereignty. We respond to his sovereignty with adoration, surrender, repentance,...

Deuteronomy 4:39 Acknowledge and take to heart this day that the Lord is God in heaven above and on the earth below. There is no other. This is an incredible truth!  

Many Biblical miracles and symbols have to do with water. It is not about the axe head floating or the waters of the Jordan having some healing power. It was just water. But the power of God made that water do something really special.  What’s in the water? Jesus is! In this new year God will use all kinds of stuff to do great things. Let’s remember it is not about the stuff. It is about Jesus.

Jesus didn't need Peter to build shelters. He didn't need Peter to do anything for him. He wanted him to experience his presence. When God brings us to a holy moment in his presence, we don't need to produce stuff for God. We need to experience him! It is good for us to be there!