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Christmas is filled with lights. But Jesus is the true light, the original light from which all light has its source. In John’s Gospel, you find a conflict between light (which represents God, His goodness, and eternal life) and darkness (which represents Satan, sinfulness, and eternal death). However, it is Jesus who shines in great brilliance, full strength and power and is the perfect expression of all God wants man to be. He is the Light that give us life. Do you really want to have a merry Christmas? Let’s make it about Jesus, the one who gives life.

When militants from the self-proclaimed Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) moved into northern Iraq, they begin identifying Christian-owned property. Families would find the Arabic letter “nun” (noon) or letter “n” painted on their homes, churches and businesses. The single letter conveyed the powerful accusation that occupants and owners were “Nazarenes”; they were people who followed Jesus of Nazareth rather than Islam. They were Christians.

That provokes a question, “R-U-N ?” Is there enough evidence in your life to label yourself a Christian? “R-U-N ?” What does being labeled “n” in our context look like? “R-U-N ?” Why would anyone put their life on the line like that anyway?

Don’t run from God, but run to Him chasing life in Christ

The church has been delivered from serving the flesh and has been raised up as the children of God to walk in victory. But how many times have you served God for a while and then turned your back on Him to do evil in His sight? How many times have you come to your senses, repented and cried out for deliverance from the bondage of sin? How many times has God restored you to a life of blessing just for you to repeat the same bitter cycle?

The flesh reigns when God’s people choose to do evil in the sight of the Lord. The flesh reigns when God’s people choose to sin. Doesn’t that frustrate you? Don’t you want to live in victory? Don’t you want to defeat the enemy? Don’t you want to triumph over the sin of the flesh? The Gospel is the catalyst needed for you to be the difference.

"What in the world, what is with all this Jesus stuff?" How many times has someone you have known express that kind of sentiment. So how does one make that journey from being a skeptic, a cynic or someone that just doesn’t understand what faith in Christ is all about to one who not only recognizes the value of what we do but fully embraces what we do and become a part of God's family? How does one make the transition from looking curiously from outside the church to celebrating authentically inside the church? What is in the world makes the difference? It's all about the gospel; for God so loved!

Living in our broken world can be hard. Instead of the perfection of Eden, our world is wild and full of struggle. But because of Christ, life can also be joyful and full of hope! Walking through Genesis 3, Dan DeWitt shows us how we can look at this world realistically but without despairing, as we wait for God to keep his wonderful promise to bring us out of the wild and into his perfect creation. The opening sermon is presented by Dan DeWitt who was celebrating his new book release with our ministry. The following messages will expound the early chapters of Genesis and build upon those themes as we seek to navigate our life in the wild holding on to the hope of the Gospel of Christ.

Life is full of decisions, yet sometimes we get tired of making decisions. We come home determined not to make another decision the rest of the evening. However, some decisions are of such importance and so urgent that we simply cannot put them off. It is a matter of life or death. We cannot afford to put off the decision to believe in Christ. Jesus is calling and He is with us! Will you simply make the decision to believe in Christ, and experience real life! Life at its fullest. Life as God intended us to experience.

No matter what others may say or do, put your faith in Jesus! Let no one keep you from knowing Jesus. Let nothing keep you from loving Jesus. This is who we are. This is what we do. This is God’s will for our lives. We give our life to know, love and follow Jesus Christ!

When you think about it, it’s simple. The more you know, love and follow this gospel of Jesus, the more you encounter life altering power that changes everything from the inside out. When you know, love and follow it produces a conviction. It challenges sin and it instills a confidence full and complete in Christ.

I am not sure where you are at in your journey of self-discovery. Maybe you are on the front end trying to figure out who you are. Maybe you are on the back end trying to remember who you were meant to be. Or maybe you are somewhere in between trying to close that gap between who you are and who you want to be. No matter where you find yourself, I want you to experience the joy of discovering who you are and the freedom of discovering who you are not.

It won’t be easy. There are no shortcuts, but God has not given up on you. So, don’t give up on yourself either. It’s never too late to be who you might have been if you focus or refocus upon Him.

There is a divide that exist between knowing about God and His word and obeying God and His word. This series is about bridging the gap that exist between where we are and where God wants us to be. We want to ride that divide. We want our life to bridge that gap in order to make a measurable and meaningful difference in life. We don’t really know truth until we start obeying truth. And perhaps there is no better example to consider how that plays out practically than what is laid out in the Gospel of Luke.

The Collective, the Student Ministry of FWBC, went to summer camp and were challenged to wake up to the message of Jesus Christ. They learned within community of other students to go all in for Jesus; to focus on the freedom of a bright future as provided by the gospel. Below are 2 messages. One from the camp speaker, John Decker, that was shared the week the students returned with our entire congregation. The other is from our student pastor, Ben Hays, the week following in an effort to get woke and stay woke together.

So many look without truly seeing. They are half awake, half aware or even half alive. Going through the motions of life, yet lacking vitality in life. And as a result, they see less, experience less, enjoy less. We are in such a hurry that we don’t fully appreciate the beauty that is right before our eyes. So, it is within our relationship with God. It’s possible that we give God a passing glance instead of hallowing His name. It’s possible that we have settled for a god that fits in the constraints of our mind instead of the God who is able to do immeasurably more than all we can even imagine. It’s possible that we rush by with a casually and really miss worshipping the God of wonders authentically. Jesus is greater than all else. Don't miss Him!

Let’s face it, there is a lot of pressure upon us all during this season. The question becomes, why? Why do we do all this? There are many things we will do and experience this time of year, but shouldn’t this season provoke greater expectations than the cultural conundrum that leaves us with a holiday hangover ?

We know the right answer. Christmas is about the birth of Christ. We do this to celebrate Jesus. Jesus is the reason for the season. We are all too familiar with the Christmas story and what we are expected to say. Christmas is the gift of Jesus. Christmas is that gift which promotes perpetual joy, peace on earth and good will toward man. However, just like the first Christmas, we struggle (within all the busyness) to find room for Christ.

This season should be filled with great expectations, but it starts by hearing from Heaven the real sounds of Christmas.

There is so much negative in our world these days.

We have seen it so many times before. Words or actions inflame deeply rooted hostilities and then chaos ensues. These images create overwhelming anxiety and fuels even greater unrest. Every night, the headlines are cluttered with violence, insult and corruption. We are inundated with liberal bias, conservative rants and bleak outlooks which forecast things getting worse before they ever get better. As a result, we tend to fixate on the disturbing conduct and dysfunctional lifestyle of the few while overlooking or even ignoring the reasonable efforts of the many that seek real peace, liberty and justice for all.

What should be the response of the church? It is easy to be frustrated by all that we see. No one likes to see what is happening all around us. However, the trouble in our world is more than repulsive and repugnant. The state of our nation is disheartening and terribly sad. It breaks my heart to see all that I see.

Therefore, the church needs a better response than merely wagging a finger in disapproval at a culture that seems content to wallow in the muck and mire of the world. Instead, we should be on the front line engaging our culture with the truth of the gospel in the power of His Spirit boldly proclaiming that hope is alive while demonstrating that love works.

It is time for the church to do something about all of this crazy. Sometimes we are caught up waiting for the movement of God to do something special. What if we could change our perspective and realized that as “the body of Christ” we are that special movement God. What would happen in your family, this community and this nation if we properly understood that God has saved us and raised us up for such a time as this?