Miami Shores Baptist Church

If we're honest, there are times when we really don't feel like God is with us. We've prayed, but the answer seems so slow in coming. Or the outcome is disappointing. How do we even give thanks then? 2 Cor. 2:14 says, "Now thanks be unto God, which always causeth us to triumph in Christ, and maketh manifest the savour of his knowledge by us in every place." IN Christ, there is hope. IN Christ, there is the promise that one day there will be no more suffering. IN Christ, there is the knowledge that He IS working all things together for good. So Father, please help us to give thanks to you in all seasons. Help us to trust you and praise you.

It is so easy to get side-tracked from a goal. Like when you want to shed a few pounds, but then someone brings in a box of candy. Or you want to do better at work, but then you get a snarky remark from your boss. Christ's goal for people is simple: be reconciled to God and then join His work in reconciling others to Him (2 Corinthians 5:17-21). When we come together in love and unity, God is able to use us for His kingdom. But here, too, we may get side-tracked. How far are you willing to go to join Christ and His church on mission?

We live in a time of angst and division. Throughout history there has always been turmoil, with people wondering what the future holds. We know "God is on the throne" but do we mean it? What would He say?

Our God is a god who is capable of BIG things. Far above what we can even think. The question is will we look to Him and call out to Him in prayer?

The gospel. The idea, the truth that Jesus-God in the flesh-came for us. While we were yet sinners, while our hearts were in rebellion, He came. He is the ever persistent groom who relentlessly pursues the stubborn woman He loves. He wants to win her. This is the story of Christ who has come for the people He loves. And He calls us to join Him in that mission.

In Christ we're no longer primarily Latino, Asian, Black, White or "Other." Christ has put to death the sin that separates us from God, and the sin that separates us from each other. Sin was crucified and in Him we are a new creation. The question is will we live up to His calling?

A Christian's job is to make other Christians. That was Jesus' primary focus when He was here--to seek and save the lost and redeem them back to Himself. Let's choose to enter into His labors with Him.

In Christ, there is rest. Instead of working, working, working to be the person we think God wants us to be, God offers a better, abundant way--the Spirit of Christ. When we abide in Christ, He does things in and through our lives that we can't even do ourselves.

God has a plan for His people. He wants us to be holy and blameless before Him in love. Pastor Chris gives encouraging words as we dive into the beginning of Ephesians.

Pastor Chris finishes this character study on the life of Joseph. God's heart and mind have a far-reaching vision. In the end, God ended up blessing Joseph, but not for Joseph's sake alone. God was thinking about the multitudes of people that He would be able to save through Joseph.

There are dark times we go through when we feel like God has forgotten us. The promise is that He will work things out together for good--but knowing that and resting in that truth are two different things. God prepared Joseph for a service that Joseph probably could not have imagined. And when Joseph was finally exalted, he knew who received the real credit. It was the God of heaven who had preserved him and raised him up to be a blessing.

Joseph was sold by his brothers and worked as a servant for years. Yet God was WITH him. This is huge. Joseph remained faithful to God even in this painful and humbling situation. God prospered him so that Joseph became a tremendous asset to his master. And then temptation came. But what did Joseph do? Indulge it? No. He ran from temptation because his desire was to be faithful before his God.

Joseph is one of the most beloved people in the bible. His life was epic with all of the dealings of a novel. Betrayal. Servitude. Prison. Power. Redemption. God worked in Joseph's life through all of the hurt and turmoil he endured--and did something in Joseph far greater than he could have imagined.

Jesus didn't call us to a four-walled building. His mission was to seek and save the lost. How engaged are we in reaching others through and for Him? Are the things that are important to Him important to us? Pastor Chris challenges us here to be on mission.

This is THE question. Jesus came so that we might know that we have eternal life. Do you know?

Following Jesus means we learn to walk like Him and do the things He did. Jesus came to serve people, and if we are going to follow Him, service is going to be a big part of what we do. Pastor Chris encourages us in this crucial step of the Christian life.

Walking with Jesus is a journey. It's not just a one-time prayer and then we do life however we please. We walk with Him and join with His people. Listen as Pastor Chris shows us the next step in our walk with God.

It's not enough to simply say "we believe in Jesus." Real faith will produce good works. Pastor Mark Vasconcellos challenges us to examine ... do we really believe?

We are very thankful for the freedoms that were purchased by our forefathers' blood. We live in a great nation-even with all of the problems. But there is a better, eternal freedom that is offered through a Person.