One thing we all agree on is, “in the beginning,” after this phrase, we begin to go our separate ways. Some believe that God created Heaven and Earth. Some believe that there was an ancient war that destroyed and corrupted the earth before God created light. While others believe that God created nothing and we evolved from apes. Now, even though each of these realms of thought is different, they have one thing in common: they all believe in a beginning. Therefore, there has to be something special about the beginning that not even the Devil can erase. Join Reverend Kenny Yates as he opens our eyes to the original model God had for our lives in his message, In The Beginning.
New Year’s is a time of moving forward and starting over. It’s a time of self-evaluation and creating New Year’s Resolutions, but is this Biblical? Do these New Year’s Resolutions spiritually affect us when we fail to follow through on them? Join Reverend Kenny Yates as he opens our eyes to the importance of the vows you make in his New Year’s Eve message, The Axe Is Laid At The Root.
John 14:15 Matthew 3:7-10 Matthew 3:5-6 Matthew 3:7b Mark 1:1 Acts 1:21-22 Hebrews 10:29 Hebrews 10:31 Hebrews 12:15 Ecclesiastes 5:5 John 15:4-8 Matthew 3:12
The Axe Is Laid At The “Root
4 Now John wore a garment of camel’s hair and a leather belt around his waist, and his food was locusts and wild honey. 5 Then Jerusalem and all Judea and all the region about the Jordan were going out to him, 6 and they were baptized by him in the river Jordan, confessing their sins. 7 But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to his baptism, he said to them, “You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? 8 Bear fruit in keeping with repentance. 9 And do not presume to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father,’ for I tell you, God is able from these stones to raise up children for Abraham. 10 Even now the axe is laid to the root of the trees. Every tree therefore that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.
Matthew 3:4-10
31 When the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the angels with Him, then He will sit on His glorious throne. 32 Before Him will be gathered all the nations, and He will separate people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. 33 And He will place the sheep on His right, but the goats on the left. 34 Then the King will say to those on His right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. 35 For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, 36 I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to me.’ 37 Then the righteous will answer Him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you drink? 38 And when did we see you a stranger and welcome you, or naked and clothe you? 39 And when did we see you sick or in prison and visit you?’ 40 And the King will answer them, ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me.’ 41 Then He will say to those on His left, ‘Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. 42 For I was hungry and you gave me no food, I was thirsty and you gave me no drink, 43 I was a stranger and you did not welcome me, naked and you did not clothe me, sick and in prison and you did not visit me.’ 44 Then they also will answer, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not minister to you?’ 45 Then He will answer them, saying, ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to me.’ 46 And these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.
They say if your dreams don’t scare you, then you aren’t dreaming big enough. Our God-given dreams don’t always seem possible. They’ll tell you that it’s impossible. They’ll tell you that you aren’t enough, but what they don’t understand is that if God is for you, then who can be against you? Join Reverend Kenny Yates as he opens our eyes to the importance of pursuing our God-given dreams regardless of whether others believe it’s possible or not in his New Year’s Day message, Against All Odds.
2 Samuel 23:8-17 (CEV) Ezekiel 22:30-31
Against All Odds
31 When the words that David spoke were heard, they repeated them before Saul, and he sent for him. 32 And David said to Saul, “Let no man’s heart fail because of him. Your servant will go and fight with this Philistine.” 33 And Saul said to David, “You are not able to go against this Philistine to fight with him, for you are but a youth, and he has been a man of war from his youth.” 34 But David said to Saul, “Your servant used to keep sheep for his father. And when there came a lion, or a bear, and took a lamb from the flock, 35 I went after him and struck him and delivered it out of his mouth. And if he arose against me, I caught him by his beard and struck him and killed him. 36 Your servant has struck down both lions and bears, and this uncircumcised Philistine shall be like one of them, for he has defied the armies of the living God.” 37 And David said, “The Lord who delivered me from the paw of the lion and from the paw of the bear will deliver me from the hand of this Philistine.” And Saul said to David, “Go, and the Lord be with you!”
38 Then Saul clothed David with his armor. He put a helmet of bronze on his head and clothed him with a coat of mail, 39 and David strapped his sword over his armor. And he tried in vain to go, for he had not tested them. Then David said to Saul, “I cannot go with these, for I have not tested them.” So David put them off. 40 Then he took his staff in his hand and chose five smooth stones from the brook and put them in his shepherd’s pouch. His sling was in his hand, and he approached the Philistine.
41 And the Philistine moved forward and came near to David, with his shield-bearer in front of him. 42 And when the Philistine looked and saw David, he disdained him, for he was but a youth, ruddy and handsome in appearance. 43 And the Philistine said to David, “Am I a dog, that you come to me with sticks?” And the Philistine cursed David by his gods. 44 The Philistine said to David, “Come to me, and I will give your flesh to the birds of the air and to the beasts of the field.” 45 Then David said to the Philistine, “You come to me with a sword and with a spear and with a javelin, but I come to you in the name of the Lord of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied. 46 This day the Lord will deliver you into my hand, and I will strike you down and cut off your head. And I will give the dead bodies of the host of the Philistines this day to the birds of the air and to the wild beasts of the earth, that all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel, 47 and that all this assembly may know that the Lord saves not with sword and spear. For the battle is the Lord’s, and he will give you into our hand.”
48 When the Philistine arose and came and drew near to meet David, David ran quickly toward the battle line to meet the Philistine. 49 And David put his hand in his bag and took out a stone and slung it and struck the Philistine on his forehead. The stone sank into his forehead, and he fell on his face to the ground. 50 So David prevailed over the Philistine with a sling and with a stone, and struck the Philistine and killed him. There was no sword in the hand of David.
1 Samuel 17:31-50
37 For nothing will be impossible with God.
Luke 1:37
26 But Jesus looked at them and said, “With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.”
Throughout Scripture, the second coming of Jesus is prophesied. From the prophets of old to the apostles to Jesus Himself, there are prophecies after prophecies of the second coming of Jesus. We get closer and closer to His return with every generation, yet the Messiah hasn’t returned yet. So, is the return of Jesus Christ something to worry about; will it happen in our lifetime? or is the return of Jesus Christ something far off that won’t happen in our lifetime? Is Jesus even coming back? Join Reverend Kenny Yates as he opens our eyes to the promises of Jesus in his message, Hold Fast.
Revelation 3:11 1 Thessalonians 2:19-20 Philippians 4:1 Luke 16:16 Revelation 4:4 Revelation 4:9-10 Revelation 22:7 Matthew 22:37-40 (KJV) John 13:34-35 Revelation 22:12 Revelation 22:20 2 Peter 3:9-10 Revelation 22:17
Hold Fast
The Second Coming of Jesus Christ
What are the prophecies of Jesus’ second coming?
29 Immediately after the tribulation of those days the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light, and the stars will fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken. 30 Then will appear in heaven the sign of the Son of Man, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. 31 And He will send out His angels with a loud trumpet call, and they will gather His elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.
Matthew 24:29-31
The Great Tribulation is initiated during the time of the Man of Lawlessness, which Paul confirms in the verse below. This is one of the biggest and most important signs of the second coming of Jesus Christ.
1 Now concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our being gathered together to Him, we ask you, brothers, 2 not to be quickly shaken in mind or alarmed, either by a spirit or a spoken word, or a letter seeming to be from us, to the effect that the day of the Lord has come. 3 Let no one deceive you in any way. For that day will not come, unless the rebellion comes first, and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the son of destruction,
2 Thessalonians 2:1-3
According to both Paul and Jesus Himself, the second coming of Jesus Christ will not come until after the Great Tribulation. This is one of the great signs that Jesus, the apostles, and the prophets of old have given us.
8 We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not driven to despair; 9persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed; ~ 2 Corinthians 4:8-9
2020 has seen the promulgation of fear across the nations. 2020 has seen us banned from gathering to worship our God. It has seen us banned from gathering in our own homes for fellowship. It has gone as far as to try to ban us from singing to our God in our homes. It has seen us banned from visiting our loved ones, especially our elderly family. 2020 has come with multiple attacks on our liberties and freedoms bestowed upon us by God through the Founding Fathers.
We have been afflicted in many ways, but we are not crushed. We have been persecuted, but God has not abandoned us. The Church has been deemed non-essential by many men and women in our government, but God deems the Church and our assembling essential. 2020 feels as if it is ending on a negative note, but that doesn’t mean that it has to actually end negatively. Make today count. Make the last day of 2020 be filled with joy, hope, faith, and love.
May you be thankful for all of the many blessings God has bestowed on you. May you be filled with the joy of the LORD, for that is our strength. May you be consumed with the overwhelming, never-ending, reckless love of God. May you live in the eternal hope accompanied with the faith that this life is temporary for Jesus will be coming back for His bride.
We are the Bride of Christ, so let us begin to act like we are the Bride of Christ. Let us end 2020 better than we started it. Let’s make this final day of 2020 count, help someone, give someone hope, pray for your enemy. Don’t let 2020 end discouraging; let 2020 end in hope. For we have eternal hope in Jesus Christ. Don’t go into 2021 filled with fear and anxiety, 7 for God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control (2 Timothy 1:7).
“8 It is the Lord who goes before you. He will be with you; He will not leave you or
forsake you. Do not fear or be dismayed.” ~ Deuteronomy 31:8
As 2019 comes to a close, let us end the year strong. Let us end the year with God leading us into 2020, that we may start 2020 off right. That we may know what to do. Where to go. And every step in-between.
Allow God to lead you out of 2019 and into a prosperous and blessed 2020. Let’s let go of every tear, pain, heartbreak, offensive, and disappointment that kept us down in 2019. Let’s thrive in 2020.
