Sermon

Leaving God out of our decision making is dangerous and leads to difficulties that could have been avoided. 

Are you at your wits end? Do you find it hard to go on one more day? God knows what we need better than we know what we need. When we’re in charge of our own prayer requests we may be scripting our demise. Things go really bad when God lets us be god to our self. God answers like a father, not a Genie. Most of our prayer requests are telling god how we want Him to answer us, since God is our Father He does what’s right and best for us.

Many Christians allow their failures to dash their God-given hopes and dreams. The chasm between our reality and God's promises seems insurmountable. Pastor Gary Wilkerson exhorts us to combat discouragement through knowing the “why” behind the “what” to which God has called us. Our past hurts and failures don’t have to derail us from what God wants for us today.

Today, many Christians are living lives they don't enjoy. Their passion has dwindled and they've become complacent, believing their problems will never change. Pastor Gary Wilkerson shares that if we ignore the need's we have, we will never get better. But God is good! He has a purpose and plan for our lives that is above all that we can ask or think. Through God's strength, we can face life head on and live an abundant life that overflows for the benefit of others.

C.S. Lewis once said, “forgiveness is a lovely idea until you have to forgive someone.” When we choose to forgive we are not changing the past, we are changing the future.

In the Scriptures, God reveals his nature to us through his names. In Genesis, God reveals himself as Elohim, the transcendent Creator worthy to receive worship. In Isaiah, He reveals himself as Emmanuel: God with us—showing his great love for us by stooping down and meeting us. Our needs and brokenness aren’t hidden from him. He wants to create beautiful things out of the dead areas of our life. When we see that nothing can be hidden from him, a faith in his goodness and fear of his holiness is produced, leading to a shout of praise!