Greater Life Church

Life comes with troubles. In the midst of these troubles, it is all too easy to not be able to see anything but the immediate situation. In these times, we must remember that what we see right then is not the end state. God has other plans. God can change our perspective. This change in perspective can change our perception of our future. Getting to see this new perception releases us to praise. The Psalmist encourages us to lift our hands in the sanctuary. To do this, we must let go of all the negative things we are carrying and open our hands to praise. The sanctuary is a place God gives us to come and leave our problems, our hurts, and our disappointments. Let God change our perspective and open the bridge to our possibilities.

Our God is a giving God. While He gives, He also takes away. We read many accounts in the Bible where God took something away. However, we also read that after taking away, He eventually gives again, often much better than before. God will not leave us with nothingness. After the storm, God restores the sunshine. God also removes hardships. We like it when he does that. Is it unreasonable to expect that if God gives, He may also take away? Job's wife wrestled with this concept. She enjoyed the increase God provided, but when all was removed, she urged Job to curse God and die. Hearing this, Job rebuked his wife and reminded her that the Lord giveth and the Lord taketh away. Takeaway is also an expression we use to describe a lesson learned from something. We might ask someone for their takeaway from a lesson or lecture, but this principle also applies to situations in life. If we are not careful, we can focus on what we have lost (what has been taken away) and not the lesson learned from the

Sometimes we find ourselves needing something from God. Sometimes he responds quickly, and other times he is silent. We struggle with those times when we do not hear from Him. In these quiet times, it is easy to miss the blessings that God has provided as we long for the answer to our need. He does the big things, but He also does the small things that sustain us. God can work immediately, or it may take 20 years to get the answer we want. For Abraham and Sarah, it was 100 years before they saw their miracle. No matter the timing, God is always on time. But when God speaks, things happen. When He speaks, worlds come into existence, people rise from the dead, or the Red Sea parts. The first chapter of Genesis has "God said…and it was so" ten times. Sometimes God speaks to us, other times he speaks through things around us, like a burning bush or a donkey. In Mark 4, Jesus is asleep in the rear of the ship during a great storm. The disciples woke Him in a panic. Jesus did not speak to them a

Construction projects all begin with some destruction and messiness. Before there can be any reconstruction, some demolition must occur. Before there can be healing, there must be sickness. Before restoration, there must be some loss. Miracles can be messy. Lazarus came out of the tomb still wrapped in the burial clothes and smelling like death. Your messy situation may look bad now, but it is part of a miracle in the making. God will restore what the enemy tried to destroy. Jesus raised Lazarus after four days of being dead. God is not constrained by time. Be it four days or forty years, God will move when His timing is right. God is not finished. If you are still breathing, there is still hope. The mess does not repel God; it attracts him. It is not over. He is not done. We are in the middle of a miracle.

It is easy to draw a crowd when you are giving away free food. Jesus routinely had a multitude of people following Him. Most of them were focused on what He would do for them. When He was giving out healing or providing loaves and fish, people clamored to see Him. But when He began to require hard choices or sacrifice from people who followed, many fell away, unwilling to pay the price. The rich young ruler, who didn't want to sell all he had, went away sad. Our text describes another encounter with someone who wanted to follow Jesus, but first asked to bury his recently deceased father. Jesus responds with: "Let the dead bury the dead." Brother Kelley unpacks this curious, seemingly uncompassionate statement and its deeper meaning that has application to our lives today.

Nothing God does is by accident. Nothing catches God off guard. He had it all planned from the beginning. We often think of the New Testament as modern and the Old Testament as the former. In some respects, that is true; however, today, Brother Kelley shows us that the Old Testament is a collection of pointers, types, and shadows of the prophecies fulfilled in the New Testament. God has had a plan from the beginning. We are not stumbling through life; we are on a journey of faith.

What are we pursuing? What are we after? Would your answer to this question match the answer of your spouse or your children? The world prioritizes wealth, power, and fame. The Declaration of Independence states that all men are created equal and are entitled to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. Often, we twist that last part to mean that we can do what makes us happy. To the founding fathers who penned those words, happiness was family, opportunity, and freedom to govern themselves in a way that had not been known under colonial rule. If we pursue happiness in the way the world defines it, we are governed by emotions that will eventually disappoint and leave us wanting. The things the world defines as happiness are temporal. We award trophies for accomplishments. Sports, The Art, cook-offs, and many other activities present awards, certificates, plaques, and trophies for being the best or coming in first in a competition. Awards are fine, and the temporary recognition for an accomplis

God will equip us to face the challenges in life. He may not eliminate these challenges, but he will provide us with what we need to overcome them. He told the disciples to tarry in Jerusalem until they received power from on high. That work power has an impact on us. When we hear power, we think of strength, energy, and the ability to overcome what we are facing. It is important to remember that his power is not of human origin; it comes from God. We are not talking about a slight boost of energy. It is a great, overwhelming force. In the United States, we recently celebrated Independence Day. This is traditionally done with fireworks. Whether it's a string of firecrackers or a multimedia aerial display, Americans enjoy celebrating with fireworks. As much as we ooh and aah about these celebrations, they are not life-changing. The next day, life is back to normal. Fireworks are a pretty flash and a bit of noise, but then it is over. That is not the power God has given us. The power He provi

In John 4, Jesus meets the woman at the well. She talks about her past and looks forward to a future when the Messiah comes, but she is reluctant to discuss her present. For many of us, right now is chaotic, and we are just trying to survive and make it to the bright future we are imagining. This woman had a past. She was looking forward to a better future, but her present was a mess. As she looked to the future of seeing the Messiah, she missed that He was standing right in front of her. She had no idea that day would change her entire life. No one knows what the day will bring. Today is special, because it is the day the Lord has made. Anything is possible today. Tomorrow is not promised, so seize the opportunity the Lord provides today. The promises of the Lord are renewed every day. Now is the day to take hold of that promise.

Our text says a Just man walks in his integrity. There is a distinction between a "Just Man" and "Just a Man." Our world tends to define being a man in a negative light. To them, men are abusers, manipulators, inept, or dumb. While some men may exhibit some of these traits, most do not. Most men provide for their families and try to be a good example to their children. Bro. Long exhorts us to "Don't stop acting like men". Be a good man and set a good example for those who are coming up to follow. The bible says there arose a generation that did not know the Lord. As the elders died, the next generation did not learn to follow after God. It is easy to play the blame game with the generations of God's people after Moses and David. Did the elders not teach the young, or did the young not listen to the message? We must not fall into that same pattern. Our young people need more than war stores from times gone by. They need to see us living the life we profess to believe in, and doing that consiste

The day of Pentecost was spectacular. But it was not a one-time event. The bible tells us that God added to the church daily. It was the beginning, and the church experienced steady growth. We often have good church, but that too is not a one-time event. What kind of church do we want to be? More importantly, what kind of church does God want us to be? The great commission was to preach the gospel to the world. We cannot do that if we are a hidden gem that no one knows about. We must be a city on a hill, shining our light for all to see. This cannot happen if we do not prepare. Those in the upper room that day didn't just show up when things started happening. The bible says they were all of one accord and were focused on prayer. They were determined to stay in that upper room until God poured out His blessing on them. The wind blowing in the upper room that day was not for them to experience a feeling; it was to fill them with God's spirit. We want what they had, but are we willing to do what

The Bible has many descriptions of the nature of God. He is a just God, He is a Holy God. He judges sin and purges evil. Satan knew all of this. When he rebelled and attempted to place himself on par with God, his punishment was swift and divine. Such was Satan's perception and experience when he approached Adam and Eve in the garden. Satan had devised a plan to entice these humans into sinning, which would result in swift punishment. He was plotting murder from the beginning by spinning a web of lies. However, there was something Satan did not anticipate because he did not know the whole nature of God. Instead of judgment, God gave humanity a path to salvation through His mercy. Before He executes judgment, God will extend mercy to cover the sin. Not learning from his failure in the garden, Satan tries to kill Jesus to thwart God's plan. Again, he failed because he didn't know the nature of God. Satan's blind spot is that he cannot stop the mercy of God. No matter how broken we are, God's mercy

When we encounter a problem in life, we often try to deal with it ourselves. We struggle with that until we turn it over to God. The truth is, God should be our first option, not our last. How much trouble would we save ourselves if we went to Him first rather than later? Stop turning to doctors, friends, and YouTube for help with our problems; let God be God. We cannot stop the enemy from taking his turn. We cannot stop the weapon from being formed, but the fight is over once God has His turn. The bible has many stories where God moves in to confuse the enemy and turn them against themselves, or wins the battle before it begins. The people of God could not have won the battle despite all their energy and effort, but God was more than enough to prevail. Time and time again, God will do what we cannot do. When we think we are at our end, God is just getting started. Surrendering to God is not weakness. He will not look at us in shame for turning to Him. In our text, the woman with the issue of blo

Sympathetic resonance is an acoustic phenomenon in which the vibrations in one object produce vibrations in another. For instance, if a chord is played on a piano, the harmonic vibrations can be transferred to another piano nearby. For this to occur, both pianos must be tuned correctly so that the resonant frequency of one matches the resonant frequency of the other. In a spiritual sense, when the word of God is spoken, it should resonate through the church and touch each of us. Similar to the physical phenomenon, for this to occur, we must be in tune with God for His word to resonate with us. How do we get out of tune with God? One way is just life. Life has a way of pilfering little things from us. Over time, these little things add up to be a significant loss. The disappointments and disillusionments rob us of our happiness and joy. We become content with just getting by or making do with what we have left. Life has stolen things from us. We must say, "Give it back!" Let us be in tune with G

An heirloom is a cherished possession passed down through generations, often holding sentimental value rather than monetary worth. Its significance lies in the memories it evokes and the meaning attributed to it by the recipient. In today's Mother's Day message, Sis. Sarah uses a red sweater and a quilt, both steeped in history, to illustrate the enduring power of prayers from generations past.

We like to live in the overflow of life, enjoying God's blessings and favor. However, there are times when we experience the opposite, and life seems to be pulling us under. In those times of unexpected setbacks, we put on our best smiles and try to lift our hands in praise. Job was a blessed man. He had wealth and standing in his community. He was at the pinnacle, and life was going well for him until the bottom fell out. Bad news followed more bad news until he had lost everything. Job's friends assumed he had done something to deserve God's punishment. Maybe he wasn't praying enough. Perhaps he was hiding sins that were the cause of his misfortune. The book of Job shows us how to face the questions, accusations, and sideways glances and not be destroyed by them. It is a manual for living by faith. Job's life teaches us that the rain falls on the just and the unjust. No one is exempt from troubles and pain. The book of Job also teaches us that God works even when we cannot see or feel it. Li

We have all described ourselves as being out of breath. It is a common figure of speech to describe the feeling after physical exertion, perhaps due to strong fumes or smoke. The truth is that saying we are out of breath is an exaggeration because if we were truly unable to breathe, we would quickly die from lack of oxygen. In Genesis, God formed man from dust and breathed life into him. Man was the only of God's creations to have life breathed into them. All the others were spoken into existence. By doing this, God imparted Himself into his creation. In our text, Ezekiel has a vision of being taken into a valley of death. There, God asks him if the dead bones could live again. He describes the bones as dry, meaning they had been dead for a long time. God tells Ezekiel to prophesy over the bones, and he does. There was noise and a shaking, and the bones began to move and reconnect. The bones appeared like a body when it was over, but there was still no life. There are a lot of places in life with

The parable of the prodigal son is one of three found in Luke 15. These parables are not an indictment of those who fall short, but an illustration of God's great love for his creation. Each parable ends with a celebration when what was lost is found. The message for us is that no matter if we are the lost sheep, the lost coin, or the wayward son, there is a path back to God's love and forgiveness. Too often, we forget that we were once lost. At some point, we were all that lost sheep, lost coin, or child who left home and got into trouble. Just as the Father received us back, we must also welcome those who have become lost. When someone comes to our service, we should welcome them just as the father welcomed home his lost son. The Bible says the prodigal son came to himself and realized the servants in his father's house were better off than he. Recognition without action is just information. He would not have improved his situation if he had not gotten up and acted. The son overcame his pride and

Some people are planners who are intentional about mapping out all the details. Others are dreamers, with an idea about the outcome, but who will deal with details as they come to pass. Others are worriers, who stress about all the things that might happen. Matthew 6:34 says, "Take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. This passage speaks to all three groups of people. Jesus sometimes gave vague directions to the disciples: I must needs go through Samaria, or Let's us go to the other side. Other times He was very specific: "Go your way into the village over against you: and soon as ye be entered into it, ye shall find a colt tied, whereon never man sat; loose him, and bring him. It came to pass in all of these situations just as Jesus had said it would. He already knew and had the problem worked out. Jesus had told the disciples many times, both abstractly and bluntly, that he would die on the cross and then arise three days later. Even with

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