Faith

Global Impact Sunday // Global Impact // Tim Lovell // September 28, 2025

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Pillars and Practices // Celebrating and Remembering // Tim Lovell // September 21, 2025

Pillars and Practices // Celebrating and Remembering  Romans 12:15 (ESV)“Rejoice with those who rejoice and weep with those who weep.”  To Do this Requires a Willingness to Enter Intimacy and Connectedness.  Philippians 4:12-13 (NIV)“I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. I can do all this through him who gives me strength.”  1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 (NIV)“Rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.”  Celebrating and Remembering Go Hand in Hand  Psalm 103:1-18, 22 (NLT) A Psalm of DavidLet all that I am praise the Lord;with my whole heart, I will praise his holy name. Let all that I am praise the Lord;may I never forget the good things he does for me. He forgives all my sinsand heals all my diseases. He redeems me from deathand crowns me with love and tender mercies. He fills my life with good things.My youth is renewed like the eagle’s! The Lord gives righteousnessand justice to all who are treated unfairly. He revealed his character to Mosesand his deeds to the people of Israel. The Lord is compassionate and merciful,slow to get angry and filled with unfailing love. He will not constantly accuse us,nor remain angry forever. He does not punish us for all our sins;he does not deal harshly with us, as we deserve. For his unfailing love toward those who fear himis as great as the height of the heavens above the earth. He has removed our sins as far from usas the east is from the west. The Lord is like a father to his children,tender and compassionate to those who fear him. For he knows how weak we are;he remembers we are only dust. Our days on earth are like grass;like wildflowers, we bloom and die. The wind blows, and we are gone—as though we had never been here. But the love of the Lord remains foreverwith those who fear him.
His salvation extends to the children’s children of those who are faithful to his covenant,of those who obey his commandments! Praise the Lord, everything he has created,everything in all his kingdom.Let all that I am praise the Lord.

Pillars and Practices // Connect and Engage // Tim Lovell // September 14, 2025

Pillars and Practices // Connect and Engage  Here are two simple reasons to stop and think about our own connectedness within the church family: 1.     Connecting to the Community Puts Us in a Place to Love and be Loved1 Corinthians 12:31 (CSB)“And I will show you an even better way.” 1 Corinthians 13:13 (CSB)“Now these three remain: faith, hope, and love—but the greatest of these is love.” Colossians 3:12-14 (NIV)“Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. 14 And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity.”  2.     Connecting to the Body of Christ is Essential to Living. Scripture Reveals to Us that We are Better Together than if We Stay Disconnected.  1 Corinthians 12:12-18 (NLT) “The human body has many parts, but the many parts make up one whole body. So it is withthe body of Christ. Some of us are Jews, some are Gentiles, some are slaves, and some are free. But we have all been baptized into one body by one Spirit, and we all share the same Spirit. Yes, the body has many different parts, not just one part. If the foot says, “I am not a part of the body because I am not a hand,” that does not make it any less a part of the body. And if the ear says, “I am not part of the body because I am not an eye,” would that make it any less a part of the body? If the whole body were an eye, how would you hear? Or if your whole body were an ear, how would you smell anything? But our bodies have many parts, and God has put each part just where he wants it. All of you together are Christ’s body, and each of you is a part of it.”  Steps to ConnectingBe PleasantBe ApproachableFind Common InterestsBe Willing to LearnBe Quick to Listen, Slow to Speak and Slow to Become AngryPractice Being Loving  Enemies of ConnectingPrideInsecurityFearCriticismDivisivenessOur Own Echo Chambers of Agreement that Pit Us Against Others Who Think Differently.  Jesus is Still Our Hope.

Pillars and Practices // Give and Serve // Tim Lovell // September 07, 2025

Pillars and Practices // Give and Serve  GIVING IS ABOUT AUTHORITY Deuteronomy 8:18 (ESV)“You shall remember the Lord your God, for it is he who gives you power to get wealth, that he may confirm his covenant that he swore to your fathers, as it is this day.” Proverbs 3:9-10 (ESV)“Honor the Lord with your wealth and with the first fruits of all your produce; then your barns will be filled with plenty, and your vats will be bursting with wine.”  GIVING IS ABOUT OBEDIENCE Luke 6:38 (NIV)“Give and it will be given to you.” 2 Corinthians 9:6-11 (NIV)“Remember this: Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows generously will also reap generously. Each of you should give what you have decided in your heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. And God is able to bless you abundantly, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work. As it is written: “They have freely scattered their gifts to the poor; their righteousness endures forever.” Now he who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will also supply and increase your store of seed and will enlarge the harvest of your righteousness. You will be enriched in every way so that you can be generous on every occasion, and through us your generosity will result in thanksgiving to God.”  GIVING IS ABOUT PRIORITIES Proverbs 11:24–25 (NIV)“One man gives freely, yet gains even more; another withholds unduly, but comes to poverty. A generous man will prosper; he who refreshes others will himself be refreshed.” 2 Corinthians 9:6–8 (ESV)“The point is this: whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows bountifully will also reap bountifully. Each one must give as he has decided in his heart, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that having all sufficiency in all things at all times, you may abound in every good work.”   GIVING IS A VALUES ISSUE Malachi 3:8–12 (NLT)“Should people cheat God? Yet you have cheated me! “But you ask, ‘What do you mean? When did we ever cheat you?’ “You have cheated me of the tithes and offerings due to me. You are under a curse, for your whole nation has been cheating me. Bring all the tithes into the storehouse so there will be enough food in my Temple. If you do,” says the LORD of Heaven’s Armies, “I will open the windows of heaven for you. I will pour out a blessing so great you won’t have enough room to take it in! Try it! Put me to the test! Your crops will be abundant, for I will guard them from insects and disease. Your grapes will not fall from the vine before they are ripe,” says the LORD of Heaven’s Armies. “Then all nations will call you blessed, for your land will be such a delight,” says the LORD of Heaven’s Armies.” Matthew 6:19–21 (ESV)“Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust[a] destroy and where thieves break in and steal, but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”  Our heart motive matters more than money. The story of The Widow’s Offering (Mark 12:41-44) illustrates God’s hope for our motivation toward generosity.  GIVING IS A TRUST ISSUE Matthew 6:26-33 (ESV)“Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? And which of you, by being anxious, can add a single hour to his span of life? And why are you anxious about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin, yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is alive and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? Therefore, do not be anxious, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the Gentiles seek after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.” Luke 6:38 (TLB)“If you give, you will get! Your gift will return to you in full and overflowing measure, pressed down, shaken together to make room for more, and running over. Whatever measure you use to give–large or small–will be used to measure what is given back to you.”  GIVING IS ABOUT GOD’S KINGDOM ADVANCING 1 Corinthians 16:2 (ESV)“On the first day of every week, each of you is to put something aside and store it up, as he may prosper, so that there will be no collecting when I come.”  SERVING IS THE SAME IN MANY WAYS - Generosity with our Time and Talents As we give of ourselves, we get our eyes off ourselves. We become less aware of our own needs as we serve others.  Finding Personal Fulfillment in Giving You are never more like Jesus than when you serve and give. Matthew 20:28 says, “The Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”  Will We Allow God to Have Authority?

Pillars and Practices // Praise, Worship, and Prayer // Tim Lovell // August 31, 2025

Pillars and Practices // Praise, Worship, and Prayer  Both Praise and Worship are in Part:Reverence (Awe)Recognition (Awareness)Revelation (Awakening)Response (Action) Hebrew WordsYadahPsalm 44:8 (NIV)“In God we make our boast all day long, and we will praise (yâdâh) your name forever.” Towdah Psalm 56:11-12 (NKJV)“In God I have put my trust; I will not be afraid. What can man do to me?...I will render praises (tôwdâh) to you.” Zamar - To make music. To celebrate in song and music. To touch the strings.Psalm 144:9 (NKJV)“I will sing a new song to You, O God; On a harp of ten strings, I will sing praises (zâmar) to You.”Psalm 21:13 (KJV)“Be exalted O Lord, in Thine own strength, so will we sing and praise (zâmar) thy power.” Barak - To kneel. To bow down. To salute. To thank.Psalm 103:1 (NIV)“Praise (bârak) the Lord, my soul; all my inmost being praise his holy name.” Shabach - To address in a loud tone. To shout. To commend, glory, and triumph.Psalm 145:4 (NKJV)“One generation shall praise (shâbach) your works to another.”1 Samuel 4:5 (NLT)“When all the Israelites saw the Ark of the Covenant of the Lord coming into the camp, their shout of joy praise (shâbach) was so loud it made the ground shake! Tehillah - Derived from the word halal and means "the singing of halals, to sing or to laud; perceived to involve music, especially singing; hymns of the Spirit or praise.Psalm 22:3 (NASB)“Yet you are holy, and you are enthroned upon the praises (tehillah) of Israel.”Isaiah 61:3 (NASB)“To grant to those who mourn in Zion, Giving them a garland instead of ashes, The oil of gladness instead of mourning, The garment of praise (tehillah) instead of the spirit of heaviness, So they shall be called oaks of righteousness, The planting of the Lord, that He may be glorified.” Halal - Means "to be clear, to praise, to shine, to boast, show, to rave, celebrate, to be clamorously foolish."Psalm 113:1-3 (NKJV)“Praise (hallal) the Lord, praise (hallal) all you servants of the Lord, praise (hallal) the name of the Lord.”Psalm 150:1 (AMP)“Praise (hallal) the Lord! Praise (hallal) God in His sanctuary; Praise (hallal) Him in His mighty heavens.”Psalm 149:3 (NKJV)“Let them praise (hallal) His name in the dance: let them sing praises with the timbrel and harp.” The Hebrew word most often translated as worship is Shachah - to bow down or to be prostrate; it’s used over 170 times in the Old Testament.Exodus 34:8 (NIV)“Moses bowed down and worshipped.” The Greek word most often translated as worship is ProskuneoMatthew 28:9 (NKJV)“And as they went to tell his disciples, behold, Jesus met them, saying, “Rejoice!” So they came and held him by the feet and worshiped him.”John 4:24 (NKJV)“God is Spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.”Revelation 5:14 (NKJV)“Then the four living creatures said, “Amen!” And the twenty-four elders fell down and worshiped him who lives forever and ever.” These are Biblical, not just cultural or denominational, and they all have their place and time. As much as a people of Praise and Worship, we need to be a People of Prayer. Prayer as an Expression of Worship:An Expression of WorthOf ReverenceOf GratitudeOf DependenceOf Expectation Lord Teaches Us How to Pray:Our Father in heavenHallowed be thy nameYour kingdom comeYour will be doneOn earth as it is in heavenGive us what we need for today (our daily bread)Forgive us as we also forgive others (submission to God’s work in me and through me)Lead us not into temptation/testing (lead us from temptation)But deliver us from the evil oneAdorationConfessionThanksgivingSupplication Types of Prayer:In the moment - Nehemiah 2:4-5Extended - Daniel 10 - 21 daysPrayer with fasting - focus and prioritizingWhat about tongues?? Read 1 Cor 14:1-19 Prayer is Both Individual and Communal or Interpersonal:When you pray, go into Private SpacePray for One Another, Bear One Another’s Burdens This Tuesday Night and every first Tuesday, Prayer Night - Cards Available