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2024-07-07: Thinking Outside the Walls — Walls Come Tumbling Down

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 18:38 — 11.3MB)

Speaker: Pastor Val Watkins
Scripture Text: Acts 2:36-41

Thinking Outside the Walls
Walls Come Tumbling Down
Acts 2:36-41

So, Jesus was going to build His church, and the purpose of the church was to attack the gates of hell.

We should all be looking for ways to reach beyond the walls!

Peter had said something that made them question their relationship with God.

Now what that suggests to me is that you can tear down the walls of people’s indifference to Jesus by just asking them a few questions.

Now there’s all kinds of questions you can ask people, but one last question might be: “If you died today…what would happen to you?”

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2024-06-30: God’s Holy Spirit — The Spirit’s Personality

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 24:59 — 14.2MB)

Speaker: Pastor Val Watkins
Scripture Text: John 16:3-13

God’s Holy Spirit
The Spirit’s Personality
John 16:3-13

The Holy Spirit is a divine person that works in conjunction with God and Christ.

When our minds are in tune with the Spirit’s mind, we can better understand the deeper matters of God’s will for us.

Bitterness not only grieves the Holy Spirit, but also Christ and God the Father.

There is also an eternal nature to the Holy Spirit, just as there is with God and Christ.

Each one is a divine living being capable of speaking, acting, influencing, blessing, reconciling, transforming, loving, and glorifying.

And today, we have God’s Holy Spirit directing and guiding us in ways that we cannot totally perceive.

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2024-06-23: God’s Holy Spirit — A Distinction Between God’s Word and God’s Holy Spirit

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 26:00 — 15.1MB)

Speaker: Pastor Val Watkins
Scripture Text: John 3:5-8

God’s Holy Spirit
A Distinction Between God’s Word and God’s Holy Spirit
John 3:5-8

God’s Spirit and God’s Word are not always apparent in the lives of believers.

God’s Spirit guides and leads us through God’s Word.

It is through Scripture inspired by God’s Spirit that the Christian is taught, reproved, corrected, and instructed in the way of righteousness.

We experience comfort and encouragement from the Holy Spirit through the application of Biblical doctrine that is assimilated into our lives through the aid of God’s Spirit.

There are many other passages that could be cited, but the significance of God’s Holy Word and His Holy Spirit cannot be understated.

People who are seeking God and things spiritual want to see something in Christ-followers that is real and makes a difference in daily living.

How do we get there…it is not by personal works, not by religious ritual, not by seeking some spectacular supernatural manifestation, not by some deep emotional experience.

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2024-06-09: God’s Holy Spirit — The Holy Spirit in the New Testament

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 26:45 — 14.9MB)

Speaker: Pastor Val Watkins
Scripture Text: I Corinthians 12:4-11

God’s Holy Spirit
The Holy Spirit in the New Testament
I Corinthians 12:4-11

For those who do not embrace God’s gift of salvation, they will be swept up like chaff on the threshing floor and burned in fire.

The Old Testament validated that God’s Word is true and sure and that is why we must rely on God’s inspired Word as the ultimate source of truth.

In the early church, God gave various miraculous powers referred to by Paul as gifts of the Holy Spirit.

The washing, rebirth, and renewal, emphasis clearly falls on the Holy Spirit as the source of the new life God has made available to believers.

God’s Word can open hearts and minds to the things of God but it is the Holy Spirit that moves one to conversion and a life consecrated to Christ.

I think it is obvious that there is a disconnect between the church of today and the church of 2,000 years ago.

In most cases we have not allowed God’s Spirit to work in us or among us.

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2024-06-02: God’s Holy Spirit — The Holy Spirit in the Life of a Christian

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 27:40 — 16.5MB)

Speaker: Pastor Val Watkins
Scripture Text: Romans 8:5-10

God’s Holy Spirit
The Holy Spirit in the Life of a Christian
Romans 8:5-10

American independence has taught us to “do it yourself” and then if you encounter problems ask for help. But that is not God’s plan nor preference.

These “come-outers” held no formal church membership, had no governing church officials, and recognized no ministerial credentials.

The Bible does teach us that the Holy Spirit is active in a believer’s life.

We are sanctified by the Holy Spirit…that is we are set apart from our old life of sin to serve God and live a life of holiness.

In Christ, there is a new beginning–and that new beginning is aided by the power and presence of God’s Holy Spirit.

God’s Word and God’s Spirit work in tandem guide us toward sanctification to move us to holiness of character that readies us for life to come.

So, we must ask ourselves, am I growing in Christ and what are the indicators of my growth?

There is a stark difference between ’emotionalism’ and emotions that stem from a true heart of worship.

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2024-05-26: Waiting, Receiving, Being

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 30:48 — 17.2MB)

Speaker: Pastor Val Watkins
Scripture Text: Acts 2:1-13

Waiting, Receiving, Being
Acts 2:1-13

Ten days after Christ had left, they found themselves in a room in Jerusalem doing just what Christ had commanded them to do, they were waiting.

When most of us think of Pentecost we think of Christianity, but as is the case with most of Christianity the true beginnings of Pentecost are rooted in Judaism.

But right there in that one little phrase is the secret to a church that is going to succeed and that is they were moving in one direction.

They were promised power, and that power is what they were waiting for.

Now I don’t know what was going on in that room before the wind and fire arrived, but I would suspect that God had their undivided attention after the fact.

You see what happens is that too many of us are guilty of putting God in a theological box; we say this is our position so get in there.

The miracle here was not the language that they spoke in but that they had the courage to speak in any language

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2024-05-12: A Mother’s Love

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 19:19 — 11.1MB)

Speaker: Pastor Val Watkins
Scripture Text: Matthew 20:20-23

A Mother’s Love
Matthew 20:20-23

And mothers are a link to God, a child’s first impression of God’s love.

Mrs. Zebedee was aware of the teachings of Jesus about His kingdom.

But since today is Mother’s Day, maybe we ought to think for a few moments about some positive things concerning Mrs. Zebedee.

Being a parent is not easy. Sometimes you’re filled with joy and sometimes with sadness. Sometimes your children make you so proud you want to pop your buttons. At other times you can’t find enough handkerchiefs to dry your tears.

It begins at home with parents setting the example and praying that their sons and daughters might be involved in the work of the kingdom?

I suppose that is why today is special? because we recognize that mother’s love is probably the closest example we have to God’s love.

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2024-05-05: Surrender — Surrender Your Thoughts

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 26:06 — 15.2MB)

Speaker: Pastor Val Watkins
Scripture Text: Philippians 4:4-9

Surrender
Surrender Your Thoughts
Philippians 4:4-9

But when that is our philosophy, it means that we really haven’t embraced Jesus as Lord, we’re simply using him as a fire escape from Hell.

We take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ. That is an interesting concept. Taking our thoughts captive, so they will be obedient to Christ.

What Jesus was warning us about in the Sermon on the Mount wasn’t the actions but the beginning of the actions. The thought or thoughts behind the action.

Willie Nelson said,
“Once you replace negative thoughts with positive ones, you’ll start having positive results.”

You see the warning isn’t simply that negative thoughts will make us negative, the warning is that letting your sinful nature control your mind leads to death.

So, Paul goes on to say, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think.

So, to say, in order to control your thought life, you just need to stop thinking about the things we shouldn’t be thinking about. That’s simple but it’s not easy.

It starts with you, and it depends on God, but ultimately God does His part and expects us to do our part.

Are you willing to make that decision? The decision to surrender your thoughts to God? The decision to focus on the things of God?

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2024-04-28: Surrender — Surrender Your Bitterness

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 34:13 — 18.8MB)

Speaker: Pastor Val Watkins
Scripture Text: Ephesians 4:31-32

Surrender
Surrender Your Bitterness
Ephesians 4:31-32

However, the reality is that we will all get angry. As long as we are people and we live with people anger is inevitable.

But the question has to be: How do we deal with our anger? How do we keep our anger from making us bitter?

When you claim your anger as your emotion then you own it, and you are in control.
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We Need to Deal With It
Take the time to process it, cool down, and start by talking to the person.

If you can’t do anything about it, perhaps you need to accept it and turn it over to God rather than letting it destroy you.

You commit the situation and person to God for His judgment and in so doing are refusing to let it eat away at your own well-being.

It was Groucho Marx who said, “Speak when you’re angry and you’ll make the best speech you’ll ever regret.”

Then if he or she won’t accept the church’s decision, treat that person as a pagan or a corrupt tax collector; Love Them.

I would say that start from the top and work your way down. Name it, claim it, identify it, and deal with it. And in dealing with it you need to learn to forgive yourself.

Take your anger to God. It won’t hurt his feelings, it won’t even surprise him, he knows how you are feeling.