We’re starting a series today called Good Good Father, and we are talking about my favorite metaphor of God. God is our Father, our perfect Heavenly Father. And we’re not just asking is God our Father? We’re asking is God a good Father?

The question the world is asking about God is: Is God good?

In order for God to be good He has to be perfectly just and perfectly loving. Being just or being loving isn’t enough. You have to be both. But most people are asking from a very emotional place. So they really need to know.

In Romans 5:8 Paul says:
God showed his great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners.

That’s how good He is. The reality is, calling God good is a massive understatement. God isn’t just good. He’s perfectly good. God is the definition of good. Why? Because

God is Perfectly Loving.

There’s a love story of a couple in a nursing home, and the old man is telling the old lady the story of their lives. The problem is the old lady has dementia, and she doesn’t realize the story he’s telling her is their story.

Their story starts one summer when the girl’s family is vacationing in the hometown of the young guy. When this girl who is from a rich family falls in love with this boy who is from a poor family, the parents of the girl do not approve of the relationship so they decide to end the summer vacation early.

But as they are leaving town the boy says to the girl… “I’ll write to you every day.” And he does, but the girl’s mom throws the letters away every day. Eventually, the couple does get together, and live happily ever after, and that’s why they’re in the nursing home together.

At that moment, the old lady has a flash of cognition. When she realized what had happened she said, “How long do we have?” He says last time it was only five minutes, so for five minutes they enjoyed each other‘s company. But as quickly as the cognition came, the dimension came back, and she found herself in the arms of a stranger, and she screamed in terror. Who’s story is that?

No, it is not the Notebook. It is our story

Okay, it is the Notebook, but it is also our story.

God loves us perfectly, but we forget His love so I pray that you have a moment of clarity, a moment of cognition from within your dementia, and see God’s perfect love for you.

I John 4:16-18
We know how much God loves us, and we have put our trust in his love. God is love, and all who live in love live in God, and God lives in them. And as we live in God, our love grows more perfect. So we will not be afraid on the day of judgment, but we can face him with confidence because we live like Jesus here in this world. Such love has no fear, because perfect love expels all fear. 18 If we are afraid, it is for fear of punishment, and this shows that we have not fully experienced his perfect love.

God’s love makes us less dependent on the approval of others for happiness.

Did you like this message, Good Good Father – Week 1? Check out more of our Sunday teachings here.

  

1 John – Week 2

Love is a theme that runs throughout the book.  John talks about what we shouldn’t love, how we are loved, how we know what love is, and how we should act accordingly.

And as John jumps into this theme in the early part of the book…he makes it clear that this is NOT something new. 

⁷ Dear friends, I am not writing a new commandment for you; rather it is an old one you have had from the very beginning. This old commandment—to love one another—is the same message you heard before.

1 John 2:7-8

As we jump down a few verses, John wants us to know that the blessings of carrying out this commandment can be hindered.  There are things that can distract it from happening.  There are things that can keep it from being part of our lives.  And it has to do with love too.

Jumping to verse 15 John says

¹⁵ Do not love this world nor the things it offers you, for when you love the world, you do not have the love of the Father in you.  ¹⁶ For the world offers only a craving for physical pleasure, a craving for everything we see, and pride in our achievements and possessions. These are not from the Father, but are from this world. ¹⁷ And this world is fading away, along with everything that people crave.

1 John 2:15-17

Where should this love, this real love come from?  Where does it originate?  How do we grow this in our lives?

As we jump into 1 John 3, John helps us to see that.

See how very much our Father loves us, for he calls us his children, and that is what we are! But the people who belong to this world don’t recognize that we are God’s children because they don’t know him.

1 John 3:1

Love originates with the Father.  Mike talked about this last week.  It starts as we receive His love.  As we recognize our worth and purpose come from the Father’s love.

If you are part of the family…this is what we do.  We love one another.  As we look more and more like the Father, we love.  It’s a trait of the family.

What does it look like?  Real love?  Jump down to verse 16….

¹⁶ We know what real love is because Jesus gave up his life for us. So we also ought to give up our lives for our brothers and sisters.

1 John 3:16

Did you like this message, 1 John – Week 2? Check out more of our Sunday teachings here.

In this teaching, we hear Pastor Mike talk about Submission competitions and how it makes relationships better for everyone. If we both give sacrificially, we give what we couldn’t get on our own. My wife can give me what I couldn’t get by myself…obviously. So we need healthy competition.

It’s all about helping everyone unlock their individual potential so they can make the team better. When the team gets better, everyone on the team wins. Submission is a competition, but it’s healthy competition.

So why should we submit to one another out of reverence for Christ? Ultimately, we’re on God’s team and it is worshiping God.

Fresh Start Week 2 Teaching Text

Ephesians 5:21

Spirit-Guided Relationships: Wives and Husbands

²¹ And further, submit to one another out of reverence for Christ.

Did you like this message, Fresh Start Week 2? Check out more of our Sunday teachings here.

In this teaching, we hear Pastor Mike talk about how the New Testament is a balancing act. It’s constantly telling us that goodness can’t save us. The law can’t save us, BUT we should be good because we’ve been saved and what does goodness look like? Well, that’s simple: Extravagant Love The entire law of Scripture can be summed up in one word: love. If you want to know if an action is right or wrong, ask yourself, Is it loving?

No Shave November Week 4 Teaching Text

Galatians 6:11-17

Paul’s Final Advice

¹¹ Notice what large letters i use as i write these closing words in my own handwriting.

¹² Those who are trying to force you to be circumcised want to look good to others. They don’t want to be persecuted for teaching that the cross of Christ alone can save. ¹³ And even those who advocate circumcision don’t keep the whole law themselves. They only want you to be circumcised so they can boast about it and claim you as their disciples.

¹⁴ As for me, may I never boast about anything except the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ. Because of that cross,^[a] my interest in this world has been crucified, and the world’s interest in me has also died. ¹⁵ It doesn’t matter whether we have been circumcised or not. What counts is whether we have been transformed into a new creation. ¹⁶ May God’s peace and mercy be upon all who live by this principle; they are the new people of God.^[b]

¹⁷ From now on, don’t let anyone trouble me with these things. For I bear on my body the scars that show I belong to Jesus.

Did you like this message, No Shave November Week 4? Check out more of our Sunday teachings here.

In this teaching, hear Pastor Mike give a message on why would a loving God allow bad things to happen?

Wilderness life Week 2 Teaching Texts

Hebrews 4:15-16

¹⁵ This High Priest of ours understands our weaknesses, for he faced all of the same testings we do, yet he did not sin. ¹⁶ So let us come boldly to the throne of our gracious God. There we will receive his mercy, and we will find grace to help us when we need it most.

Did you like this message, Wilderness Life Week 2? Check out more of our Sunday teachings here.

In this teaching, Pastor Mike talks about Daniel Chapter 2 and how we can and should reach the next generation.

Teaching Text

Daniel 2:1-48

Nebuchadnezzar’s Dream

2 One night during the second year of his reign,^[a] Nebuchadnezzar had such disturbing dreams that he couldn’t sleep. ² He called in his magicians, enchanters, sorcerers, and astrologers,^[b] and he demanded that they tell him what he had dreamed. As they stood before the king, ³ he said, “I have had a dream that deeply troubles me, and I must know what it means.”

⁴ Then the astrologers answered the king in Aramaic,^[c] “Long live the king! Tell us the dream, and we will tell you what it means.”

⁵ But the king said to the astrologers, “I am serious about this. If you don’t tell me what my dream was and what it means, you will be torn limb from limb, and your houses will be turned into heaps of rubble! ⁶ But if you tell me what I dreamed and what the dream means, I will give you many wonderful gifts and honors. Just tell me the dream and what it means!”

⁷ They said again, “Please, Your Majesty. Tell us the dream, and we will tell you what it means.”

⁸ The king replied, “I know what you are doing! You’re stalling for time because you know I am serious when I say, ⁹ ‘If you don’t tell me the dream, you are doomed.’ So you have conspired to tell me lies, hoping I will change my mind. But tell me the dream, and then I’ll know that you can tell me what it means.”

¹⁰ The astrologers replied to the king, “No one on earth can tell the king his dream! And no king, however great and powerful, has ever asked such a thing of any magician, enchanter, or astrologer! ¹¹ The king’s demand is impossible. No one except the gods can tell you your dream, and they do not live here among people.”

¹² The king was furious when he heard this, and he ordered that all the wise men of Babylon be executed. ¹³ And because of the king’s decree, men were sent to find and kill Daniel and his friends.

¹⁴ When Arioch, the commander of the king’s guard, came to kill them, Daniel handled the situation with wisdom and discretion. ¹⁵ He asked Arioch, “Why has the king issued such a harsh decree?” So Arioch told him all that had happened. ¹⁶ Daniel went at once to see the king and requested more time to tell the king what the dream meant.

¹⁷ Then Daniel went home and told his friends Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah what had happened. ¹⁸ He urged them to ask the God of heaven to show them his mercy by telling them the secret, so they would not be executed along with the other wise men of Babylon. ¹⁹ That night the secret was revealed to Daniel in a vision. Then Daniel praised the God of heaven. ²⁰ He said,

“Praise the name of God forever and ever,
    for he has all wisdom and power.
²¹ He controls the course of world events;
    he removes kings and sets up other kings.
He gives wisdom to the wise
    and knowledge to the scholars.
²² He reveals deep and mysterious things
    and knows what lies hidden in darkness,
    though he is surrounded by light.
²³ I thank and praise you, God of my ancestors,
    for you have given me wisdom and strength.
You have told me what we asked of you
    and revealed to us what the king demanded.”

Daniel Interprets the Dream

²⁴ Then Daniel went in to see Arioch, whom the king had ordered to execute the wise men of Babylon. Daniel said to him, “Don’t kill the wise men. Take me to the king, and I will tell him the meaning of his dream.”

²⁵ Arioch quickly took Daniel to the king and said, “I have found one of the captives from Judah who will tell the king the meaning of his dream!”

²⁶ The king said to Daniel (also known as Belteshazzar), “Is this true? Can you tell me what my dream was and what it means?”

²⁷ Daniel replied, “There are no wise men, enchanters, magicians, or fortune-tellers who can reveal the king’s secret. ²⁸ But there is a God in heaven who reveals secrets, and he has shown King Nebuchadnezzar what will happen in the future. Now I will tell you your dream and the visions you saw as you lay on your bed.

²⁹ “While Your Majesty was sleeping, you dreamed about coming events. He who reveals secrets has shown you what is going to happen. ³⁰ And it is not because I am wiser than anyone else that I know the secret of your dream, but because God wants you to understand what was in your heart.

³¹ “In your vision, Your Majesty, you saw standing before you a huge, shining statue of a man. It was a frightening sight. ³² The head of the statue was made of fine gold. Its chest and arms were silver, its belly and thighs were bronze, ³³ its legs were iron, and its feet were a combination of iron and baked clay. ³⁴ As you watched, a rock was cut from a mountain,^[d] but not by human hands. It struck the feet of iron and clay, smashing them to bits. ³⁵ The whole statue was crushed into small pieces of iron, clay, bronze, silver, and gold. Then the wind blew them away without a trace, like chaff on a threshing floor. But the rock that knocked the statue down became a great mountain that covered the whole earth.

³⁶ “That was the dream. Now we will tell the king what it means. ³⁷ Your Majesty, you are the greatest of kings. The God of heaven has given you sovereignty, power, strength, and honor. ³⁸ He has made you the ruler over all the inhabited world and has put even the wild animals and birds under your control. You are the head of gold.

³⁹ “But after your kingdom comes to an end, another kingdom, inferior to yours, will rise to take your place. After that kingdom has fallen, yet a third kingdom, represented by bronze, will rise to rule the world. ⁴⁰ Following that kingdom, there will be a fourth one, as strong as iron. That kingdom will smash and crush all previous empires, just as iron smashes and crushes everything it strikes. ⁴¹ The feet and toes you saw were a combination of iron and baked clay, showing that this kingdom will be divided. Like iron mixed with clay, it will have some of the strength of iron. ⁴² But while some parts of it will be as strong as iron, other parts will be as weak as clay. ⁴³ This mixture of iron and clay also shows that these kingdoms will try to strengthen themselves by forming alliances with each other through intermarriage. But they will not hold together, just as iron and clay do not mix.

⁴⁴ “During the reigns of those kings, the God of heaven will set up a kingdom that will never be destroyed or conquered. It will crush all these kingdoms into nothingness, and it will stand forever. ⁴⁵ That is the meaning of the rock cut from the mountain, though not by human hands, that crushed to pieces the statue of iron, bronze, clay, silver, and gold. The great God was showing the king what will happen in the future. The dream is true, and its meaning is certain.”

Nebuchadnezzar Rewards Daniel

⁴⁶ Then King Nebuchadnezzar threw himself down before Daniel and worshiped him, and he commanded his people to offer sacrifices and burn sweet incense before him. ⁴⁷ The king said to Daniel, “Truly, your God is the greatest of gods, the Lord over kings, a revealer of mysteries, for you have been able to reveal this secret.”

⁴⁸ Then the king appointed Daniel to a high position and gave him many valuable gifts. He made Daniel ruler over the whole province of Babylon, as well as chief over all his wise men.

Check out more of our Sunday teachings here.

In week 2 of Messianic Math, Pastor Mike Wilson talks about how important it is to be known for what we are for, what we add to the world rather than what we’re against, what we want to take away from the world.

Teaching Text

Acts 15:1-2

While Paul and Barnabas were at Antioch of Syria, some men from Judea arrived and began to teach the believers^[a]: “Unless you are circumcised as required by the law of Moses, you cannot be saved.” ² Paul and Barnabas disagreed with them, arguing vehemently. Finally, the church decided to send Paul and Barnabas to Jerusalem, accompanied by some local believers, to talk to the apostles and elders about this question.

Acts 16:19

“And so my judgment is that we should not make it difficult for the Gentiles who are turning to God.

Check out more of our Sunday teachings here.

This week Pastor Mike uses movie clips from Let Him Go.

Teaching Text

John 5:1-9

13Then someone called from the crowd, “Teacher, please tell my brother to divide our

Afterward Jesus returned to Jerusalem for one of the Jewish holy days. ² Inside the city, near the Sheep Gate, was the pool of Bethesda,^[a] with five covered porches. ³ Crowds of sick people—blind, lame, or paralyzed—lay on the porches.^[b] 5 One of the men lying there had been sick for thirty-eight years. ⁶ When Jesus saw him and knew he had been ill for a long time, he asked him, “Would you like to get well?”

⁷ “I can’t, sir,” the sick man said, “for I have no one to put me into the pool when the water bubbles up. Someone else always gets there ahead of me.”

⁸ Jesus told him, “Stand up, pick up your mat, and walk!”

⁹ Instantly, the man was healed! He rolled up his sleeping mat and began walking! But this miracle happened on the Sabbath,

Learn more about At The Movies 2021 teaching series HERE.

Be sure to drop your kids off at New Life Kids so they can experience a kid-friendly At The Movies 2021 where Pastor Darci will base her teachings on a theme from famous kid-friendly movies.

Did you know you can see what your child will be learning each week during New Life Kid’s At The Movies 2021 by going here?