Search Results for: one time for all time

Posted: 07 Oct, 2018 | Author: Steve Nelson

It is better to go to a house of mourning than to go to a house of feasting, for death is the destiny of everyone; the living should take this to heart. NIV11 You may have seen the famous poem “The Dash,” by Linda Ellis. It talks about how someday our tombstones will have two […]

Posted: 30 Sep, 2018 | Author: Dove Cranson

Genesis 3:8-9  Then the man and his wife heard the sound of the Lord God as he was walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and they hid from the Lord God among the trees of the garden.  But the Lord God called to the man, “Where are you?” Jesus invites us […]

Posted: 09 Sep, 2018 | Author: Steve Nelson

Romans 12:1-2 Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship. Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be […]

Posted: 26 Aug, 2018 | Author: Steve Nelson

1 Peter 4:1-2 Therefore, since Christ suffered in his body, arm yourselves also with the same attitude, because whoever suffers in the body is done with sin. 2 As a result, they do not live the rest of their earthly lives for evil human desires, but rather for the will of God. NIV11 Sometimes suffering is […]

Posted: 29 Jul, 2018 | Author: Mike Kimball

We all have our own beliefs about God, and those beliefs don’t line up exactly with everyone (or maybe anyone) else. How do we view doctrine such that our beliefs about God unite us instead of tear us apart? Download PowerPoint Images

Posted: 22 Jul, 2018 | Author: Dove Cranson

At times, it seems like the solution to the pain of life and the path to find happiness is to change our circumstances, our bodies, our habits, our relationships, our jobs, our pastimes, or at least change something.  This message shows the potential to thrive wherever we are at in life—enjoying thankfulness for the little […]

Posted: 15 Jul, 2018 | Author: Steve Nelson

One of the difficulties in discerning God’s will is that our own will causes interference that makes it challenging to be impartial in decision making. By identifying some of the ways we misidentify God’s will, we can avoid making bad decision that favors our will instead of His. Download Handout: With blanks / Without blanks

Posted: 01 Jul, 2018 | Author: Steve Nelson

Love is complicated. Sometimes people can be so rude, mean, or insensitive! Yet understanding people’s back stories, helps make sense of why they do what they do. When grasp our own shortcomings, it helps us be sympathetic, because our struggles are not really all that different. Download Handout: With blanks / Without blanks Video from message: Chick-fil-A: Every […]

Posted: 17 Jun, 2018 | Author: Steve Nelson

Relational conflict is normal, and God gives lots of helpful instruction on how to develop deeper and closer relationships as we work through conflict. Download Handout: With blanks/Without blanks

Posted: 20 May, 2018 | Author: Dove Cranson

The nature of relationships is that to keep moving forward we have to overcome the past.  In this message Dove explains how all regret from the past can be overcome by forgiveness.  God is a gracious God of forgiveness.  When we feel God’s voice (not the voice of condemnation) kindly leading us into a place […]

Posted: 06 May, 2018 | Author: Steve Nelson

CT Studd, missionary to Africa, found a tract which was reportedly written by an atheist. It read as follows: Did I firmly believe, as millions say they do, that the knowledge and practice of religion in this life influences destiny in another, religion would mean to me everything. I would cast away earthly enjoyments as […]

Posted: 22 Apr, 2018 | Author: Dove Cranson

Just as El Paso brings blinding dust storms, we all walk through trials and “spiritual storms” in our lives.  How can we stay anchored to God through those times? Download Handout

Posted: 01 Apr, 2018 | Author: Dove Cranson

Jesus came into this world to restore our connection to God: A connection one day in a restored world and a connection now through His life in us.  Christ died and was resurrected, to overcome death that we might live forever, and that we might experience his life now.  There is more beyond just this […]

Posted: 01 Apr, 2018 | Author: Steve Nelson

1 Corinthians 5:7b For Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed. NIV The Passover is a celebration commemorating the last of the Egyptian plagues, when the judgement of God “passed over” the homes that had lamb’s blood on the door frames. In a similar way, Jesus, the Lamb of God, shed his blood so that […]

Posted: 25 Mar, 2018 | Author: Steve Nelson

Romans 8:22 For we know that the whole creation has been groaning together in the pains of childbirth until now. ESV Sometimes in the midst of difficulty we can feel like something must be wrong. We aren’t naive. We know life is hard; but we don’t expect it to be this hard. When we try to make […]

Posted: 18 Feb, 2018 | Author: Dove Cranson

After a short introduction reviewing our goals, Dove talks about a part of what makes us human, emotions.  The conclusions he comes to are that emotions are an important part of being human, made in the image of God.  We can learn to use our emotions in healthy ways, not be used by them.  One […]

Posted: 28 Jan, 2018 | Author: Steve Nelson

Jesus’ heart is that all the world would hear His message of hope and grace. Our call is to spread this message. We don’t need to feel guilty about how we’ve failed at this in the past, but it would be good to think about how we can take steps down this path so that […]

Posted: 14 Jan, 2018 | Author: Steve Nelson

We are all good about praying when we are desperate. Can we bring that desperation back into everyday life? When we don’t know what to do, God is there for us! Download Handout: With blanks / Without blanks For further study: Prayer reference sheet  

Posted: 26 Nov, 2017 | Author: Steve Nelson

What does it look like to follow Jesus? In this message, Steve uses the story of Ruth to illustrate the devotion of a follower of Jesus. Ruth's heart was to follow Naomi into a completely new life. When we become Christians, we do the same. Baptism is simply our first step at following Jesus lead […]

Posted: 29 Oct, 2017 | Author: Steve Nelson

God has given each of us amazing stories of how He has worked in our lives. Fear can keep us from telling people about these incredible events, and as a result, they miss out on learning from us and being encourage by what God has done in our lives. However, through him, we can be […]

Posted: 15 Oct, 2017 | Author: Steve Nelson

Christians are not just messengers of God’s plan of mercy and forgiveness, but we are witnesses of how He has worked in our lives! Each of us has a story of how God saved, healed, or met us in some critical life event. In fact, if we stop to think about it, we likely have […]

Posted: 24 Sep, 2017 | Author: Dove Cranson

As followers of Christ, we have been given a mission to bring the good news of Jesus to all of El Paso and beyond.  This message addresses why anyone would want to be a part of that mission and how they could be. Download Handout

Posted: 03 Sep, 2017 | Author: Steve Nelson

We all find plenty to complain about, whether it is genuine hardships like sickness, suffering, and death, or it is the little stuff like having to eat the same thing for dinner that we had for lunch. As we see in the example of the Israelites (Numbers 11:1-6), complaining leads to misery, even in times […]

Posted: 13 Aug, 2017 | Author: Dove Cranson

This message continues on the theme from two weeks ago that life, perfection, righteousness is found in Christ’s life in us.  A full life, perfection, and righteousness are not achieved from our own power to change ourselves, or even from good circumstances, but from the gift of God.  Today we look at how giving thanks […]

Posted: 14 May, 2017 | Author: Dove Cranson

What would it be like to host Jesus and some of his friends for dinner? What preparations would you make?  During dinner would you be busy doing things or would you just sit there and listen to Jesus?  This is the situation of Martha and Mary who hosted Jesus many years ago.  Mary “sat at […]

Posted: 07 May, 2017 | Author: Steve Nelson

The religious leaders tried to trap Jesus by bringing before him a woman who had been caught in the act of adultery. Would he withhold mercy and have her put to death, or would he show mercy and ignore the law? One response would put Jesus in a horrible light with the people, and the […]

Posted: 23 Apr, 2017 | Author: Steve Nelson

In the account of the paralyzed man who was brought to Jesus, we learn that Jesus wants us to come to Him for forgiveness—spiritual healing! This is one of the amazing ways we experience life from God. When we ask for and receive forgiveness, we are no longer defined by our loserness! We are freed […]

Posted: 26 Mar, 2017 | Author: Steve Nelson

A fundamental way to fix our eyes on the unseen is to be continually aware that God is with us. It is a great comfort to us in times of grief and loss when we are aware of God’s loving presence. It also gives us confidence to do things that are greater than ourselves when […]

Posted: 26 Mar, 2017 | Author: Dove Cranson

Dove shares his conviction that the greatest aspiration in all of life is to know God.  God has sent his Son into the world to pay a price for us so that we can be with God.  Anyone who desires to come to God is welcomed into His family, through Christ.  In this relationship with […]

Posted: 19 Feb, 2017 | Author: Dove Cranson

Dove shares about the opportunity to develop an ongoing, growing relationship with the living God.  He unpacks Jesus’ call in the beginning of Matthew chapter 6, to pray, give, and fast in secret—not for the approval of others but for God only.  When done with a desire to discover the heart of God, not just […]