September 17. 2017: Raising a banner

This week was Rally Sunday, and Pastor Hodge's sermon was about to Whom we rally for and to Whom we raise our banner: the one of Jesus Christ, Him Crucified, and Risen on the third day for our sins, for those who believe. Listen how we can do that in his sermon.

We also had Mike from the Gideons speak on what they do. Yes, they put Bibles in hotels, but they are so much more than that. Learn about this history, and what God is doing through them today.

We also had the kids do their song from the day before, "Big Steps, Little Feet" and "Hippopotamus". We hope you enjoy these recordings.

You can hear these recordings here:

https://archive.org/details/Raisingabanner

And we pray you have a great week in Christ Jesus!

September 10, 2017: The good news of the wisdom from above

This week, Pastor Hodge continues his series in the book of James; this week, he expounds on James 3:13-18. This week, he looks at the wisdom of God, versus our wisdom. First, we must be on a quest for true wisdom: that which only comes from God. Those that do are exemplified by Godly behavior and deeds of gentleness. Earthly wisdom, on the other hand, from people, frequently contains nothing but bad advice and "wisdom". Ultimately, it produces disorder and evil.

Spiritual wisdom, wisdom from God, on the other hand, is pure, gentle, full of mercy, even to those we strongly disagree with, and much more. Listen to his sermon today on how we can get this wisdom, and how to apply it in our lives.

We also had the Seldals do our special music, and Diane Lizer talked about blocks. We pray these are a blessing to you as well.

You can hear these service elements here:

https://archive.org/details/04PastorMichaelHodgeThegoodnewsofthewisdomfromabove

And we pray you have a great week in Christ Jesus!

September 3, 2017: The challenge of the tongue

This week, Pastor Hodge expounded on James 3:1-12. First, it issues a challenge to Bible teachers, and then issues a personal challenge to each of us. But first, some bad news: we can tame the wildest of animals, but we cannot tame our own tongues (James 3:5-6). But, we can by the power of God! And Pastor Hodge teaches us that God calls us to be consistent in the ways of God. You can listen to his sermon here:

https://archive.org/details/02PastorMichaelHodgetamingthetongue

And we hope you have a great week in Christ Jesus!

August 27, 2017: True faith proved by good works

This week, Pastor Michael Hodge expounded on James 2:14-26. We must be very careful here to note that good works are the result of faith, and NOT the other way around. Works cannot lead to faith; that is not the Gospel. But, there is a close connection between faith and works. People can say they have faith, and they can say that they do good works. But, true saving faith RESULTS in good works. Even demons believe in God! So, as believers, we are motivated to good works because of what Christ has done for us, loving us when we deserve no love.

Regrettably, a CD recording failed this morning due to a bad CD, which didn't give us a warning about it until after about 95% of the service was done. Hopefully, we encountered the last batch of bad CD's.

And we hope you have a great week in Christ Jesus!

August 20, 2017: Fulfilling the royal law of impartiality by loving our neighbors as ourselves

This week, Pastor Michael Hodge expounded on James 2:5-13. First, there are no social distinctions for salvation. Rich or poor, and no matter who you are. However, God has chosen the poor to be rich in faith, and you also have to be wary of what the rich can do to you and how they can blaspheme God if they are not careful. It is sinful to practice spiritual partiality. All of this is dealt with, and a challenge for all of us is given in today's sermon. We hope you are blessed by it.

We also had Mark Fagerstrom have an announcement about our air conditioning upgrade, and .he also did our children's sermon. Finally, Emma, Josiah and Karen did our special music. You can find all of these recordings here:

https://archive.org/details/05PastorMichaelHodgeImpartialityLoveyourneighborasyourself

And we pray you have a great week in Christ Jesus!

August 13, 2017: God shows no favoritism, and neither must we

This sermon comes less than 24 hours after an incident occurred in Charlottesville, VA where one woman died and 26 people were injured after a car plowed into a crowd of counter-protestors. They were protesting a white nationalist/supremacist rally at a University there. This week, Pastor Hodge was going to do a sermon on James 2:1-4, not knowing all of this was going to happen, so this was not intended to be topical. In these verses, Christians are commanded to have an impartial faith, showing full faith in our glorious Lord, and that does not hold to favoritism or partiality. What are the three outcomes of partiality? Listen to his sermon and find out!

We also had Dale and Karen do our special music today. You can listen to both of these recordings by cutting and pasting this link into your browser:

https://archive.org/details/03PastorMichaelHodgeFavoritism

And we pray you have a great week in Christ Jesus!

August 6, 2017: Mark 1:1-4 by Jim Mistry

This week, while Pastor Hodge is on vacation, we had Jim Mistry expound on Mark 1:1-4 this week. Here we see that authority is established, by God, through John...proclaiming that the Messiah is here to save our sins.

We also had Amy Taylor play the flute for "Here I am to worship". We hope you will be blessed by it.

Both of these service elements can be found here, and can be accessed by cutting and pasting this link into your browser:

https://archive.org/details/02JimMistryMark114

And we pray you have a great week in Christ Jesus!