Sr. Pastor Mark Stafford Becoming Vital at Church |Philippians 1:3-14, 2 Timothy 2:1-3, 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18, Philippians 2:3-8, 1 Corinthians 8:1-4, Hebrews 13:17 Church isn’t something you go to, it’s something you belong to. Going to church is not supposed to be like going to the movies. A church service is [...]
Prayer prompts God to do things in the lives of His people that He may not have otherwise done. The whole of Scripture tells us that God hears and answers the cries of his people. The Bible stresses the great importance of asking Him what we need both in this life and for eternity. [...]
Prayer affects God. It prompts God to move in ways that he may not have otherwise moved. The whole of Scripture tells us that he hears and answers the cries of his people. One of the purposes of the Bible is to stress the great importance of asking God for both the physical needs [...]
God created prayer for our benefit, not as a burden. God appointed parents to pray because it is a privilege and a blessing to lift up the needs of our families before a God who is infinitely able to meet those needs. Prayer was given by God to be a means by which we [...]
When I was a kid, I had a friend who had an obnoxious little brother. When he didn’t get his way, he started to scream. When I say scream, it wasn’t your typical little kid throwing a fit, but he would scream so loud and so hard that he would literally [...]
It always seems strange to me that we are so dependent on air to live. Our physical bodies are remarkably strong in some ways, but absolutely totally fragile in others. Without air, that little kid was out cold in about a minute. It is sobering to think that, for most of us, just a [...]
Monday night, November 7th (6pm), a group will be gathering at Pastor Mark's office for a special time of intercessory prayer for our country. You are invited to join us! The Bible says in 2 Chronicles 7:14, "If my people who are called by my name humble themselves, and pray and seek my face and [...]
Luke 18:9-14. This is a parable for all people who trust in themselves and their own good behavior to get them to heaven instead of putting their trust in Jesus and His perfect, imputed righteousness. In this parable, Jesus compares two figures: a Pharisee (who was considered the ultimate law-abiding citizen) a tax-collector (who was considered [...]
Fifteen years ago today, I was living in Phoenix and I had just shown up to LA Fitness for my daily workout. Most people don’t talk much when they work out in a big city gym. They all have their headphones in and are transfixed by the television monitors in front of them. That [...]
School is just starting in our area this week. Let’s take a few minutes and pray for our teachers and students as they represent Jesus in the classroom. Here are some ideas of how you can be praying for our campuses: Pray for the Christian teachers to start strong Pray that students would see [...]
