Bryan Thomas’ Post

In Sunday’s sermon, Pastor Bill inspired us to reflect on how we can create a better world, emphasizing the importance of faith, but even more so, hope. Drawing his message from Psalms 37, Matthew 13, and 1 Corinthians 1, he challenged us with these words from David Chilton's Paradise Restored: "For too long, Christians have been characterized by despair, defeat, and retreat. For too long, Christians have heeded the false doctrine which teaches that we are doomed to failure, that Christians cannot win—the notion that, until Jesus returns, Christians will steadily lose ground to the enemy." Reflecting on Matthew 13, he reminded us: "The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed, which a man took and sowed in his field, which indeed is the least of all the seeds; but when it is grown, it is greater than the herbs and becomes a tree so that the birds of the air come and nest in its branches." He also reminded us: "If we don't have good news for the world, then they have every right to seek a savior elsewhere." ✨ Hope is essential for our lives, families, community, country, and the church. Pastor Bill asked us a great question to think about this week: What is your expectation for the future of America? For the future of the world? Let's cultivate faith and hope, working together to build a brighter, more loving world. #LSCC #SundayReflection #Faith #LibertyHill #Texas #Bertram #Burnet #PastorsMessage #KingdomMinded #PastorBill #HowToCreateABetterWorld #LiveTheGospel #Hope #Love #BetterWorld

This May our intercessors are praying for emerging and affiliating congregations and their leaders in the Christian Church Disciples of Christ of Greater Kansas City, Kansas region, and Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) of Mid-America. Learn how to join them, submit a prayer request and more below! #ccdoc

Do you think regular church attendance means maturity in Christ? What exactly is maturity, and how do we help believers move from passive participation to active disciple-making? Today, Dave Patty of Josiah Venture discusses growth demonstrating mature faith. https://ow.ly/ObZk50SZiZi

If we considered Jesus’ definition of a disciple, we would likely conclude the percentage of professing Christians today who are true disciples to be less than 10%. There are biblical criteria for judging false teachers, false shepherds, false prophets, and false brethren. I was shown “false brethren” create the most damage to the body of Christ, since few know how to discern them. Such people do damage by “stealing the children’s bread.” They are so high maintenance that they consume all the leaders’ and ministries’ time and energy, so little is left for God’s true children. We find people like this in virtually every fellowship. They’re the ones constantly demanding the leaders’ and groups’ attention without ever changing. Of course, this doesn’t mean everyone who requires a great deal of ministry is a false believer. There are people who have deep needs, but they should not remain that way. Looking at the church overall today, there are far too many high-maintenance, low-impact Christians. Every maturing Christian should require less maintenance and become more high impact. Rick Joyner

If we considered Jesus’ definition of a disciple, we would likely conclude the percentage of professing Christians today who are true disciples to be less than 10%. There are biblical criteria for judging false teachers, false shepherds, false prophets, and false brethren. I was shown “false brethren” create the most damage to the body of Christ, since few know how to discern them. Such people do damage by “stealing the children’s bread.” They are so high maintenance that they consume all the leaders’ and ministries’ time and energy, so little is left for God’s true children. We find people like this in virtually every fellowship. They’re the ones constantly demanding the leaders’ and groups’ attention without ever changing. Of course, this doesn’t mean everyone who requires a great deal of ministry is a false believer. There are people who have deep needs, but they should not remain that way. Looking at the church overall today, there are far too many high-maintenance, low-impact Christians. Every maturing Christian should require less maintenance and become more high impact. Rick Joyner

About New Century Ministries – Post 6 three core values New Century Ministries plans to release a study guide for ministry team members later this year or early next year. New Century Ministries wants all Christians to understand that God has critical reasons for the three core values of Christianity, and this study guide will provide in-depth study of those three values as well as suggestions for forming and implementing a ministry team. The three core values of Christianity come straight from Jesus. The first two are faith in God that’s faithful to God and caring, compassionate love for others. Jesus said that God’s first and greatest commandment was “You shall care for Jehovah your God with your whole heart, with all your soul, with your entire mind, and with every bit of the strength you have.” That’s a good description of faith that’s faithful to God, and it is and must be the first core value of Christianity. Jesus also said that God’s second greatest commandment is “You shall care for your neighbor as you care for yourself,” and he defined this kind of care with a story about a hated Samaritan who rescued a dying Jew. As Jesus said another time, this kind of compassionate care should apply for our enemies as well as our friends. The third core value is a confident expectation of a heaven that’s worth living for, worth suffering for, and even worth dying for. This life is short, but eternity lasts forever. God is promising an eternity that’s busy, exciting, fun, and filled with joy, love, and beauty. But to fit in, people must learn to trust God as the boss and to care about each other. Visit www.NCM-21.com for more information.

About New Century Ministries – Post 6 three core values New Century Ministries plans to release a study guide for ministry team members later this year or early next year. New Century Ministries wants all Christians to understand that God has critical reasons for the three core values of Christianity, and this study guide will provide in-depth study of those three values as well as suggestions for forming and implementing a ministry team. The three core values of Christianity come straight from Jesus. The first two are faith in God that’s faithful to God and caring, compassionate love for others. Jesus said that God’s first and greatest commandment was “You shall care for Jehovah your God with your whole heart, with all your soul, with your entire mind, and with every bit of the strength you have.” That’s a good description of faith that’s faithful to God, and it is and must be the first core value of Christianity. Jesus also said that God’s second greatest commandment is “You shall care for your neighbor as you care for yourself,” and he defined this kind of care with a story about a hated Samaritan who rescued a dying Jew. As Jesus said another time, this kind of compassionate care should apply for our enemies as well as our friends. The third core value is a confident expectation of a heaven that’s worth living for, worth suffering for, and even worth dying for. This life is short, but eternity lasts forever. God is promising an eternity that’s busy, exciting, fun, and filled with joy, love, and beauty. But to fit in, people must learn to trust God as the boss and to care about each other. Visit www.NCM-21.com for more information.

I love the local church. Is the church perfect? No, but it’s the hope of the world and the center of God’s plan. In this message on the Apostles’ Creed, we talk about the four marks of the church: It is one, holy, catholic, apostolic church. If we grasp even a tiny part of what God wants to do through the church, we will be cured forever of small vision, parochial thinking, and selfish churchianity. I love the church. How about you? https://lnkd.in/gm3GpFKu

Did you know you can become a personal member of the Evangelical Alliance? Uniting around our shared basis of faith, the Evangelical Alliance is made up of thousands of individuals, churches and organisations. We make the following commitments to our members: 👉 We promise to introduce you to like-minded Christians from across the UK. 👉 We promise to share the wealth of resources, expertise and idea of our members with our members. 👉 We promise to champion the freedoms we have in the UK to have a public faith in Jesus and share that faith with others. 👉 We promise to represent the needs and interests of the church in politics, the media and civil society. Becoming a member of the Evangelical Alliance is easy: for £3 a month, or more if you can, you become part of a body of people who passionately believe that together we can make Jesus known across the UK. buff.ly/3PAg7UI (Shout out to Phil Knox holding our logo 📸)