Walking In Truth

It’s easy to be afraid when you don’t know what the outcome will be. If you don’t know the end of a story, you’re on the edge of your seat, wondering what’s going to happen and if it will end the way you hope it will, with good overcoming evil and the enemy being beaten. But what Pastor Johnny talks about today is the idea of being faithful in the middle of the story, before the ending concludes and everything gets made right. Are you able to get past your fear and live in the present with hope and confidence?

There’s a job you’ve been given to do, but it requires multiple roles within your job description. Maybe you even feel unable to meet the expectations that are ahead of you, or you feel unworthy of filling the shoes of the one who held your position before. Well here’s a newsflash. You’re not alone. Today, Pastor Johnny talks about a man named Joshua who wore many hats and had much responsibility. Did he waste that opportunity or did he make the most of it? Listen today to find out!

Wouldn’t it be nice to have something these days that was contagious in a good way? What if you could give something that everyone would catch and be better for it? Well in today’s teaching, Pastor Johnny talks about courage as something that spreads to others. When it’s seen, people quickly want to get on-board with it and do the same because courage is something that’s attractive, even if you’re facing near-death experiences. So next time you’re tempted to cave in, build up that courage!

If you’ve ever been in an earthquake, it feels like you were picked up, shaken, and put back down. You try to get your bearings and look at what’s been disrupted in your home or city. Your faith can be affected in this way too. Sometimes, God allows things to come into your life that feel like an earthquake…messing everything up and causing disorder in what was once predictable and in-place. But today, Pastor Johnny wants you to see your faith strengthened, even in the chaos.

It’s like in Indiana Jones, where he has to step out before the bridge appears. This is a classic example of what faith looks like in the life of anyone who’s truly seeking God. Today, Pastor Johnny introduces this series in Joshua, touching on the ways that you can grow in your faith, so that you can be strong and courageous in a way that can only come from God. Having faith is something that’s certainly not easy, but the more you do it, you’re building that faith muscle that will be stronger for it!

When you’re young, in can be easy to think that you’re not respected or that you haven’t lived enough life for others to appreciate what you have to say. Although there are great things to learn from those who have gone before you, that doesn’t discount the validity that you have as a young person. In today’s teaching, Pastor Johnny shows how there are plenty of ways that you, as a young person or leader can make a difference in the lives of those who are older or younger than you!

Why do people go to the gym? It’s not just to hang out or to admire yourself in the mirror. The whole point of going to the gym is to get in shape, to become stronger and more fit than you might be right now. Part of being healthy is taking good care of your body and as you do this, there’s a level of satisfaction, confidence, and capability that comes along with it. So why should your spiritual life be any different. Pastor Johnny exhorts you today to put the spiritual junk food down and pick up the Bible!

The whole point of marinating food is so that the liquid seasoning fully soaks into the meat and the two can’t be separated. The longer you marinate something, the more ingrained those ingredients become in the food prepared. Well think of God’s Word as something to soak in. The more you fill your mind with the things of God, the further implanted they become in your heart. Today, Pastor Johnny encourages you to saturate your life with the things God wants you to be flavored with.

Being disciplined isn’t always a bad thing. Being disciplined in what you eat means that you’re taking note of what you’re consuming and determining whether it’s healthy for your body. You can be disciplined in your workout regimen by being consistent so that you will end up being stronger than you were before. In today’s message, Pastor Johnny talks about being a disciple of Jesus and what that looks like on a daily basis. Once you learn how to do this, you’re better able to help others too!

The rings of a tree show its age. When a tree is young, it’s just a shoot and its trunk is weak and thin. But as the tree grows, it gets stronger, its roots get deeper, and the tree grows into a huge tree that can tower above buildings and the roads below. Today, Pastor Johnny says that when you decide to become a follower of Christ, there should be evidence of growth in your faith and your relationship with God. As you grow, you become stronger and you have roots that are planted deep in the Word of God.

You have a boss at work that you take orders from and carry out those duties. In the military, there’s a commander in charge who gives marching orders and you better believe those soldiers are going to follow those commands. So why would it be any different when it comes to God and the commands that He’s given you? Today, Pastor Johnny provides some very clear reasons as to why it’s important to hear, believe, and then share with others what you know about God to be true. So go!

Everyone wants others to think well of them. You work hard to present yourself as someone who’s likeable, funny, and relatable. What most people don’t see is the side of you that you show at home to those who love you most. Those people see your selfishness and the ugliness that creeps into your heart. So what if everyone on the outside world saw that version of you too? In today’s teaching, Pastor Johnny emphasizes that the inside-you and the outside-you need to be consistent in leadership.

So many times, people are more than willing to share all the things they don’t like about a situation or a version of something, due to their personal preference. But instead of jumping in and affecting change, they stand on the sidelines, nit-picking everything they think is wrong. Pastor Johnny mentions today that this happens all-too-often in the church because some are unwilling to step up into leadership and be part of the change, with a servant’s heart. Are you part of the peanut gallery?

Being disciplined isn’t always a bad thing. Being disciplined in what you eat means that you’re taking note of what you’re consuming and determining whether it’s healthy for your body. You can be disciplined in your workout regimen by being consistent so that you will end up being stronger than you were before. In today’s message, Pastor Johnny talks about being a disciple of Jesus and what that looks like on a daily basis. Once you learn how to do this, you’re better able to help others too!

The rings of a tree show its age. When a tree is young, it’s just a shoot and its trunk is weak and thin. But as the tree grows, it gets stronger, its roots get deeper, and the tree grows into a huge tree that can tower above buildings and the roads below. Today, Pastor Johnny says that when you decide to become a follower of Christ, there should be evidence of growth in your faith and your relationship with God. As you grow, you become stronger and you have roots that are planted deep in the Word of God.

You have the news blaring with the latest update of political upheaval. Then you hear the noise pollution from the busy highway near your house. On top of that, someone is blasting music so loud that all you can hear is the bass. There’s no room for quietness. Is silence something you long for or avoid at all-costs? It’s in the space where there’s a lack of noise that you hear from God, but sometimes the absence of distraction makes people uncomfortable. Today, Pastor Johnny encourages quiet time.

For those of you familiar with the Tasmanian Devil cartoon, you know that he’s plenty bulky and broad-shouldered on top, but that his legs are thin and spindly. His body is out of proportion. People might underestimate the value or importance of having strong legs, but it’s your legs that provide support and strength for the rest of your body. Today, Pastor Johnny talks about prayer being one of the legs of the church and that it’s a central component of what helps the church body be in great shape!

Oh how easy it is to make an excuse so that you don’t have to do something. Are you too busy to be available? Are you too unreliable to be faithful? Are you too proud to do something that’s unseen? Are you too injured to step up? These are things that Pastor Johnny wants you to consider today, as he teaches on being part of a bigger body of people who work together to make things happen. Don’t be that unused muscle that ends up being useless because of lack of exercise. Be a crucial part!!

When you have multiple pieces of a puzzle, it’s obvious that no two pieces are the same, but they’re all needed to complete the picture. There’s nothing more frustrating than getting to the end of a puzzle and realizing that there’s a piece missing. The project feels incomplete without that one important part. Today, Pastor Johnny wants you to keep in mind that you might be that one missing piece. You have an important role to play and without your unique gifting, others around you might miss out.

Cancer’s one of the greatest foes today. It claims so many lives and yet its cause seems to remain a mystery. When cancer isn’t addressed, it ends up spreading to all parts of the body and kills what’s healthy in the body. Well today, Pastor Johnny gives you a better idea of what it looks like in a church body to have people working together in a healthy way. When that isn’t the case, then the church becomes diseased and riddled with a spiritual type of cancer that eats away at the body and causes it to die.