Pastor Roger and Melodee Tickle

Through it all

 Trials; I would like to say I wish we didn’t have to face them but the truth is they are necessary for our growth as followers of Jesus. They teach us and they temper us, or we let them make us hard, untrusting and bitter.Andrae Crouch wrote a song years ago that expresses the truth about trials in a simple way. I’ve had many tears and sorrows; I have questions for tomorrow;
There have been times I didn’t know right from wrong.
But in every situation God gave blessed consolation;
That my trials came to only make me strong. 

Through it all, through it all;
I’ve learned to trust in Jesus, I’ve learned to trust in God;
Through it all, through it all;
I’ve learned to depend upon his word I thank God for the mountains, I think him for the valleys,
I thank him for the storms He’s brought me through;
For if I’d never had a problem I’d never know that God could solve them;
I’d never know what faith in his word could do. Through it all… If you are reading this you have faced some tears and sorrows and you have probably had some questions about tomorrow. Paul was no stranger to trials. II Cor.11:23-28 gives us a look into Paul’s life as a believer:  … in labors more abundant, in stripes above measure, in prisons more frequent, in deaths oft. Of the Jews five times received I forty stripes save one. Thrice was I beaten with rods, once was I stoned, thrice I suffered shipwreck, a night and a day I have been in the deep; In journeying often, in perils of waters, in perils of robbers, in perils by mine own countrymen, in perils by the heathen, in perils in the city, in perils in the wilderness, in perils in the sea, in perils among false brethren; In weariness and painfulness, in watching often, in hunger and thirst, in fasting often, in cold and nakedness. Beside those things that are without, that which cometh upon me daily, the care of all the churches.  Paul knew hardship. He knew what it was like on the mountain top and he knew the valley real well. He knew what it felt like to prosper and he knew what it meant to pay a high price for his faith. Yet ‘through it all’, (I should say because of it all), he learned to trust in Jesus and to depend upon his word. He learned that his trials only strengthened his resolve to follow Jesus.  In Phil.4:11-13Paul writes with confidence: …I have learned, in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content. I know both how to be abased, and I know how to abound: everywhere and in all things I am instructed both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need. I can do all things through Christ which strengthens me.  After he talks about all the persecution he has endured in II Cor.11; in chapter 12 he writes: And he (Jesus) said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in necessities, in persecutions, in distresses for Christ's sake: for when I am weak, then am I strong. He writes to Pastor Timothy in his second and final letter to him just before being executed on Nero’s chopping block: I also suffer these things: nevertheless I am not ashamed: for I know whom I have believed, and am persuaded that he is able to keep that which I have committed unto him against that day.  My commitment to Jesus cannot be determined by how I feel or how well life seems to be treating me, or if I have failed in some way. My commitment to Jesus is determined by the fact that I have confessed him as Lord, I know he is alive today, and he will not let me go for all eternity, no matter what happens! Phil.1:6 Being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ. How about you? You are probably no stranger to tears and sorrow. Have your trials embittered you or empowered you? Through it all are you learning to trust in Jesus, are you learning to depend upon his word? It is just as real and powerful for us as it was for Paul. Believe it and stand on it! Pastor Roger

WHAT IF…

 What if your life were to end today? Are you 100% sure you would go to heaven?

If you are not certain about the answer to that question, then please listen to what God says in His word.

The Bible teaches that you need to understand and believe four things in order to have a home in heaven:

1. You have sinned against God.