Sermons

by Emily Wooten

Zacharias and Elisabeth were faithful in the ministry. Scripture tells us they walked blamelessly. They were doing what they had done for years, as was expected of people who loved and obeyed God. It was an ordinary day in Zacharias’ life, but things were about to change.
As he attended to his duties, an angel appeared to Zacharias. Scripture says that Zacharias was troubled. It was unsettling to him.
Luke 1:13-15 But the angel said unto him, Fear not, Zacharias: for thy prayer is heard; and thy wife Elisabeth shall bear thee a son, and thou shalt call his name John. And thou shalt have joy and gladness; and many shall rejoice at his birth. For he shall be great in the sight of the Lord, and shall drink neither wine nor strong drink; and he shall be filled with the Holy Ghost, even from his mother’s womb.
Zacharias and Elisabeth were not strangers to the things of God, but this news was beyond anything they had experienced. Standard operating procedure had not been working in Elisabeth’s body. God chose to do a new thing.
Luke 1:18 And Zacharias said unto the angel, Whereby shall I know this? For I am an old man, and my wife is well stricken in years.
He was looking at their circumstance and judging their reality by the familiar.
John was conceived and born with purpose. His ministry was unique and brief but powerful.
Luke 1:26-28 And in the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God unto a city of Galilee, named Nazareth, to a virgin espoused to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David; and the virgin’s name was Mary. And the angel came in unto her, and said, Hail, thou that art highly favored, the Lord is with thee: blessed art thou among women.
God was doing something miraculous for these two families that would affect the world. If God was planning to do something miraculous in our lives, could we overlook the fears to receive all he has for us? There was only one John the Baptist. But there is only one you. The body of Christ needs to continue to be expecting God to do something miraculous.

by Emily Wooten

It is normal for a person to look for purpose. Without it we roam aimlessly through life without direction. God offers insight into his plan. He invites us to join him in his purpose.
Proverbs 19:20-21 Hear counsel, and receive instruction, that thou mayest be wise in thy latter end. There are many devices in a man’s heart; nevertheless the counsel of the Lord, that shall stand.
Romans 8: 26-28 Likewise the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities: for we know not what we should pray for as we ought: but the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered. And he that searcheth the hearts knoweth what is the mind of the Spirit, because he maketh intercession for the saints according to the will of God. And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.
The scriptures provide a picture of the devil pacing back and forth searching for a way to tangle us up.
John 10:10 The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.
God wants to show us how to successfully navigate through this life, his way.
2 Chronicles 16:9 For the eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to shew himself strong in the behalf of them whose heart is perfect toward him.
The scripture continues to say, “You chose foolishly, therfore you will have war.’ Peace is better. God’s way is better.
We have the example of the father of our faith, Abraham.
Romans 4:20-21 He staggered not at the promise of God through unbelief; but was strong in faith, giving glory to God; And being fully persuaded that, what he had promised, he was able also to perform.
Matthew 6:33 But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.
Proverbs 3:5-6 Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths. God has a purpose for each of us. Ask God to reveal his plan for you and obey what he shows you.

by Emily Wooten

There is a difference in being thankful and giving thanks. Being thankful is the internal feeling or emotion of gratitude, while giving thanks is the external action of expressing that gratitude. Being thankful is the feeling itself, whereas giving thanks is the act of voicing it through words, actions, or praise. It isn’t enough to be grateful we are called to give thanks.
Paul left us this encouragement.
1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 Rejoice evermore. Pray without ceasing. In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.
Philippians 4:6 Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God.
Colossians 3:17And whatsoever ye do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God and the Father by him.
We can learn from David’s example of praise in
1 Chronicles 29:11-13 Thine, O Lord is the greatness, and the power, and the glory, and the victory, and the majesty: for all that is in the heaven and in the earth is thine; thine is the kingdom, O Lord, and thou art exalted as head above all. Both riches and honour come of thee, and thou reignest over all; and in thine hand is power and might; and in thine hand it is to make great, and to give strength unto all. Now therefore, our God, we thank thee, and praise thy glorious name.
In Jesus’ example when he was raising Lazarus from the dead he said, in John 11:41, ” Then they took away the stone from the place where the dead was laid. And Jesus lifted up his eyes, and said, Father, I thank thee that thou hast heard me.”
That is three witnesses who showed us by example, we need too show our thanksgiving by expressing it out loud.
Don’t know how to start? Try this from Psalms 100:1-2, “Make a joyful noise unto the Lord, all ye lands. Serve the Lord with gladness: come before his presence with singing.
Psalm 95:1-2 O come, let us sing unto the Lord: let us make a joyful noise to the rock of our salvation. Let us come before his presence with thanksgiving, and make a joyful noise unto him with psalms.

by Emily Wooten

God is moved by our acknowledgment that we need him.
Matthew 21:44 And whosoever shall fall on this stone shall be broken: but on whomsoever it shall fall, it will grind him to powder.
We are warned that God is a force to be reckoned with.
In verse 42 Jesus saith unto them, Did ye never read in the scriptures, The stone which the builders rejected, the same is become the head of the corner: this is the Lord’s doing, and it is marvelous in our eyes?
The Pharisees of Jesus’ day tried to dismiss him and disregard his sayings. There is no room to disregard, ignore or dismiss Jesus. It is through Jesus that we obtain eternal life. Our God desires a people who will honor him. He wants his people to come to him with the smallest of concerns to the largest. We are his people and God want us to recognize how much we need him. He looks for ways to show himself big for us.
Who is it that gets the ear of God? Scripture tells us to seek and we will find. We are to knock and the door will be opened. He said to ask anything in Jesus name and it would be done of our Father which is in heaven.
Have we taken the time to acknowledge God in our family, our work, and our home? Every aspect of what effects our family is of interest to God. He is certainly worthy of our time, our praise and our thanksgiving. Have we given God our time, allowed him to speak to us and looked for ways to please him?
God is moved by the individual who will humble themselves before God and ask for his help. Unfortunately we get complacent and forget to set aside time for an intimate relationship with God. Yes he is almighty, who is and was and is to come. But he is also our Father. He wants us to recognize how much we need him and want his help.
James 4:10: Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and he shall lift you up.
2 Chronicles 7:14 If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.

by Emily Wooten
Romans 12:10 Be kindly affectionate one to another with brotherly love; in honour preferring one another;
John 15:13 Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.
Men and women from every walk of life have devoted their lives to protecting others. Today we take the opportunity to say
Thank You For Your Service!
Jesus, our Lord and Savior gave the ultimate sacrifice, laying aside his deity in order to come to earth and take on himself our sins.
Philippians 2:5-8 Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus: Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God: But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men: And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.
Colossians 2:15 And having spoiled principalities and powers, he made a shew of them openly, triumphing over them in it.
Because of Jesus’ sacrifice and victorious resurrection from the dead, we have been bought with a price, redeemed to new life in Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior.
1 John 1:9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
Now we are his very own. He invites anyone who will believe in the son of God to join the war on sin.
Romans 6:11-14 Likewise reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord. Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, that ye should obey it in the lusts thereof. Neither yield ye your members as instruments of unrighteousness unto sin: but yield yourselves unto God, as those that are alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness unto God. For sin shall not have dominion over you: for ye are not under the law, but under grace.

by Emily Wooten
John 3:16-17 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved.
John 5:24: Very truly I tell you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and will not be judged but has crossed over from death to life.
John 6:47 Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me hath everlasting life.
John 10:10 The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly. I am the good shepherd: the good shepherd giveth his life for the sheep.
John 10:28-29 And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand. My Father, which gave them me, is greater than all; and no man is able to pluck them out of my Father’s hand.
John 17:3 And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent.
In the book of John, if you had never read any other book of the bible, it is evident–God sent his son to provide for us eternal life beyond this world and abundant life now in this life.
1 John 4:8-9 He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love. In this was manifested the love of God toward us, because that God sent his only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through him. 10 Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins.
John knew God loved humans. He knew God sent his son to save anyone who would ask.
Paul wrote in Romans 5:8: But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
and in Galatians 4:4-5: But when the set time had fully come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those under the law, that we might receive adoption to sonship.
Ask Jesus to be your savior and tell someone Jesus is your Lord.

by Emily Wooten

Ephesians 5:17-19 Wherefore be ye not unwise, but understanding what the will of the Lord is. And be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess; but be filled with the Spirit; Speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord;
Colossians 3:16 Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom; teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord.
Psalms 150: 1-6 Praise ye the Lord. Praise God in his sanctuary: praise him in the firmament of his power. Praise him for his mighty acts: praise him according to his excellent greatness. Praise him with the sound of the trumpet: praise him with the psaltery and harp. Praise him with the timbrel and dance: praise him with stringed instruments and organs. Praise him upon the loud cymbals: praise him upon the high sounding cymbals. Let every thing that hath breath praise the Lord. Praise ye the Lord.
Psalms 22:3 says God inhabits the praises of his saints. That’s us!
Hebrews 13:15 Therefore by Him let us continually offer the sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of our lips, giving thanks to His name.
We see in 2 Chronicles 20:21 And when he had consulted with the people, he appointed singers unto the Lord, and that should praise the beauty of holiness, as they went out before the army, and to say, Praise the Lord; for his mercy endureth for ever.
When they lifted up their praise, God sent ambushes against the enemy.
Praise is a powerful weapon. In addition to giving God the attention he is due, praise allows us to profess before the angels of God and all who can hear that God is our refuge and strength. We are also reminded that God is faithful in our situations to help us.
Joshua 6:5 And it shall come to pass, that when they make a long blast with the ram’s horn, and when ye hear the sound of the trumpet, all the people shall shout with a great shout; and the wall of the city shall fall down flat, and the people shall ascend up every man straight before him.
We can shout for joy, our God goes before us to keep us in his way.

by Emily Wooten
John 3:16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.
Romans 5:8 But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.
1 John 4:9-10 In this was manifested the love of God toward us, because that God sent his only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through him. Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins.
Romans 5:5 And hope maketh not ashamed; because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us.
1 Corinthians 2:9 But as it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him.
God, the eternal self existing creator loves us. He loves us so much that he gave of himself: He gave us his son Jesus who took our place; He sent Holy Spirit to live in us, providing his wisdom, insight and grace. He has given us his love when we accept Jesus as Lord and Savior.
Matthew 22:37-39 Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.
God not only loves us, he has given us his love in our hearts so we can share love, compassion, and help others.
Ephesians 2:10 For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.
1 John 4: 12 No man hath seen God at any time. If we love one another, God dwelleth in us, and his love is perfected in us.
1 John 4: 20-21 If a man say, I love God, and hateth his brother, he is a liar: for he that loveth not his brother whom he hath seen, how can he love God whom he hath not seen? And this commandment have we from him, that he who loveth God love his brother also.
Christ died and was raised again so we can love like God.

by Emily Wooten
Psalm 62:1 Truly my soul waits upon God: from him comes my salvation.
Isaiah 40:28-31 Have you not known? Have you not heard that the everlasting God, the Lord, the Creator of the ends of the earth, faints not, neither is weary? There is no searching of his understanding. He gives power to the faint; and to them that have no might he increases strength. Even the youths shall faint and be weary, and the young men shall utterly fall: But they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint.
These words encourage us to remember, God is our strength and our refuge. In a world filled with chaos and confusion, there remains a stable force of peace and comfort.
Hebrews 4:9-11 There remains therefore a rest to the people of God. For he that is entered into his rest, he also hath ceased from his own works, as God did from his. Let us labor therefore to enter into that rest, lest any man fall after the same example of unbelief.
Eagles are masters of soaring. They spread their wide wings and ride air currents, especially rising warm air called thermals. Without flapping their wings, lift from the air keeps them up — like surfing the sky. Lift is the invisible force that pushes up against gravity.
God is that force that causes the Christian to, despite circumstances, keep their faith and rise above the problem to succeed.
Just like an eagle soars high above the earth, Christians are called to rise above life’s struggles, pain, and challenges. The force you can’t always see — but is always there: is God. Sometimes, the wind is rough, the skies are dark, and storms roll in. But those same conditions can create a stronger lift — and the eagle uses them to rise even higher.
Some may think that waiting is doing nothing. On the contrary, wait is a verb. In the original Hebrew, the word translated as “wait” is qavah, which carries several layers of meaning:
To Hope or Expect: It means hoping in God with confident expectation — like waiting for the sunrise after a dark night, knowing it will come. It is to trust in or depend on.
When a hurricane of circumstances threatens your peace, remember how Jesus spoke to the winds and waves.
Mark 4:39 And he arose, and rebuked the wind, and said unto the sea, Peace, be still. And the wind ceased, and there was a great calm.
Jesus said in John 14:27 Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world gives, give I unto you. Do not let your heart be troubled, don’t let it be afraid.

by Emily Wooten

All giving is an act of love and appreciation. We are grateful for God’s blessing on our life and recognize he is our provider.
Colossians 3:23-24 And whatsoever ye do, do it heartily, as to the Lord, and not unto men; Knowing that of the Lord ye shall receive the reward of the inheritance: for ye serve the Lord Christ.
The word “tithe” comes from a Hebrew word meaning “tenth”.
In ancient times, tithing was a tenth of the harvest or produce. Tithing is understood to be a demonstration of faith and a biblical mandate from Old Testament accounts with Abraham and in the Mosaic Law.
Malachi 3:10-11 Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be meat in mine house, and prove me now herewith, saith the Lord of hosts, if I will not open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it. And I will rebuke the devourer for your sakes, and he shall not destroy the fruits of your ground; neither shall your vine cast her fruit before the time in the field, saith the Lord of hosts.
Leviticus 27:30 And all the tithe of the land, whether of the seed of the land, or of the fruit of the tree, is the Lord’s: it is holy unto the Lord.
The New Testament emphasizes that giving is a voluntary expression of gratitude, teaching that the tithe…is the Lord’s.
2 Corinthians 9:6-7 But this I say, He which soweth sparingly shall reap also sparingly; and he which soweth bountifully shall reap also bountifully. Every man according as he purposeth in his heart, so let him give; not grudgingly, or of necessity: for God loveth a cheerful giver.
Mark 12:41-44 And Jesus sat over against the treasury, and beheld how the people cast money into the treasury: and many that were rich cast in much. And there came a certain poor widow, and she threw in two mites, which make a farthing. And he called unto him his disciples, and saith unto them, Verily I say unto you, That this poor widow hath cast more in, than all they which have cast into the treasury: For all they did cast in of their abundance; but she of her want did cast in all that she had, even all her living.
Luke 6:38 Give, and it shall be given unto you; good measure, pressed down, and shaken together, and running over, shall men give into your bosom. For with the same measure that ye mete withal it shall be measured to you again.