Our world today seems hopeless. The news and media seem to only spew out darkness and division. We hear of someone we know dying every day. In our society, how can we find hope today? Join Rev. Kenny Yates as he brings hope to our seemingly hopeless world with his powerful message Finding Hope in a Hopeless World Pt. 1: The Problem.
Luke 24:13–35 Isaiah 55:9 2 Peter 3:9 Acts 5:40–42 2 Corinthians 4:17–18 1 Thessalonians 5:9–11 Acts 7:58–60 Romans 8:35
The Problem Finding Hope in a Hopeless World
What we focus on and what we look for, will be what find and what we see. And what we find and see, will be what we become.
22 The eye is the lamp of the body. So, if your eye is healthy, your whole body will be full of light, 23 but if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light in you is darkness, how great is the darkness!
Matthew 6:22-23
When we focus on darkness and grief and pain, with no light, we become dark, depressed, and hopeless. No matter how dark a situation may look, God always shines His light in the darkness for His people to have hope.
4 Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me. 5 You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; you anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows. 6 Surely goodness and mercyshall follow me all the days of my life, and I shall dwellin the house of the Lord forever.
Psalms 23:4-6
1 Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, 2 looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.
2,000 years ago, Jesus came riding into Jerusalem on a donkey. He didn’t come riding in on a White Horse with a sword ready to take on the Roman Empire. He didn’t come riding in on solid gold. Jesus came riding in on a donkey as the people threw down palm branches for the donkey to trot on. But why? Does it even matter? Join Reverend Kenny Yates as he explains the Triumphal entry in his eye-opening Palm Sunday message, ‘A Donkey and A King.’
John 12:12–19 Zechariah 9:9 Leviticus 23:40 Matthew 2:3 John 12:19 John 11:49–52 Psalms 118:22–29
A Donkey and a King Verses
The Triumphal Entry
The Prophecy
9 Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion! Shout aloud, O daughter of Jerusalem! Behold, your king is coming to you; righteous and having salvation is He, humble and mounted on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey.
Zechariah 9:9
The Fulfillment
12 The next day the large crowd that had come to the feast heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem. 13 So they took branches of palm trees and went out to meet Him, crying out, “Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord, even the King of Israel!” 14 And Jesus found a young donkey and sat on it, just as it is written, 15 “Fear not, daughter of Zion; behold, your king is coming, sitting on a donkey’s colt!” 16 His disciples did not understand these things at first, but when Jesus was glorified, then they remembered that these things had been written about Him and had been done to Him.
John 12:12-16
Our king didn’t abandon us, he has come riding on a donkey. He didn’t come riding in on an elegant pure white horse. He came humbly on a donkey. Because He lowered Himself, He was raised higher than all. He is seated at the right hand of the Father of Lights with the name above all names. Our savior has come, and He lives.
From the very beginning, mankind has always given in to carnal desires. We’re willing to trade everything God has given us for a moment of pleasure. We’re no better than Esau, who sold His birthright for a morsel of lentil stew. Join Reverend Kenny Yates as he shares exactly what we’re exchanging our soul for in his fiery message, The Great Exchange Pt. 4: Sell Me Your Birthright.
Many people don’t believe that we can sell our soul, but Jesus asks what would mankind be willing to exchange for our soul. Today, we exchange our souls for fame, fortune, power, etc. What are you willing to sell in exchange for your soul? What is worth your soul?
16 And He told them a parable, saying, “The land of a rich man produced plentifully, 17 and he thought to himself, ‘What shall I do, for I have nowhere to store my crops?’ 18 And he said, ‘I will do this: I will tear down my barns and build larger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods. 19 And I will say to my soul, “Soul, you have ample goods laid up for many years; relax, eat, drink, be merry.”’ 20 But God said to him, ‘Fool! This night your soul is required of you, and the things you have prepared, whose will they be?’ 21 So is the one who lays up treasure for himself and is not rich toward God.”
Luke 12:16-21
15 See to it that no one fails to obtain the grace of God; that no “root of bitterness” springs up and causes trouble, and by it many become defiled; 16 that no one is sexually immoral or unholy like Esau, who sold his birthright for a single meal. 17 For you know that afterward, when he desired to inherit the blessing, he was rejected, for he found no chance to repent, though he sought it with tears.
Hebrews 12:15-17
Reclaiming Our Soul
If we sell our soul is it possible to get it back? Is there anything we can do to get our soul back, or are we doomed for all eternity?
13 He has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of His beloved Son, 14 in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.
Colossians 1:13-14
13 And you, who were dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made alive together with him, having forgiven us all our trespasses, 14 by canceling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands. This He set aside, nailing it to the cross. 15 He disarmed the rulers and authorities and put them to open shame, by triumphing over them in Him.
Colossians 2:13-15
There is nothing we can do to get our soul back except turning to God in repentance. We have to humble ourselves before God because only He can take our soul back. Only God can blot out our sins and pay our debt.
We are made up of body, soul, and spirit. We are spiritual beings placed in a physical body. In our previous message, The Great Exchange Pt. 2: The Body, we answered the question, ‘What is the body?’ Yet, we still have our two main questions to answer:
1. What died the day Adam & Eve ate the fruit? 2. Are we able to get it back?
Join Reverend Kenny Yates as he preaches part three, The Soul and Spirit, of his eye-opening message series, The Great Exchange.
1 Thessalonians 5:23 Mark 15:37 Matthew 27:50 Matthew 8:16 Mark 6:7 Mark 6:13 Luke 4:41 Luke 11:20 Acts 19:13–16 Matthew 12:43–45 Isaiah 5:20 John 3:5–8 1 Corinthians 2:14 Romans 8:6 Ephesians 1:17 Romans 8:16 Psalms 51:10 Ezekiel 11:19b Galatians 5:22–24 1 Corinthians 6:19 1 Corinthians 2:11–13 1 Corinthians 2:14 Romans 8:6 Ephesians 1:17 Romans 8:16 James 2:26 Genesis 5:3
Soul and Spirit Verses
The Soul
28 And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather fear Him who can destroy both soul and body in Hell.
Matthew 10:28
26 For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul? Or what shall a man give in return for his soul?
Matthew 16:26
37 And He said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.”
Matthew 22:37
19 My brothers, if anyone among you wanders from the truth and someone brings him back, 20 let him know that whoever brings back a sinner from his wandering will save his soul from death and will cover a multitude of sins.
James 5:19-20
8 Though you have not seen Him, you love Him. Though you do not now see Him, you believe in Him and rejoice with joy that is inexpressible and filled with glory, 9 obtaining the outcome of your faith, the salvation of your souls.
1 Peter 1:8-9
27 For you will not abandon my soul to Hades, or let your Holy One see corruption.
Acts 2:27
The Spirit
40 And He came to the disciples and found them sleeping. And He said to Peter, “So, could you not watch with me one hour? 41 Watch and pray that you may not enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.” 42 Again, for the second time, He went away and prayed, “My Father, if this cannot pass unless I drink it, your will be done.”
Matthew 26:40-42
24 God is spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.
John 4:24
9 For God is my witness, whom I serve with my spirit in the gospel of his Son, that without ceasing I mention you 10 always in my prayers, asking that somehow by God’s will I may now at last succeed in coming to you.
Romans 1:9-10
15 For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry, “Abba! Father!” 16 The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, 17 and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with Him in order that we may also be glorified with Him.
Romans 8:15-17
Spirit vs. Soul
18 Behold, my servant whom I have chosen, my beloved with whom my soul is well pleased. I will put my Spirit upon Him, and He will proclaim justice to the Gentiles.
Matthew 12:18
23 Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you completely, and may your whole spirit and soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.
1 Thessalonians 5:23
12 For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart.
Hebrews 4:12
46 And Mary said, “My soul magnifies the Lord, 47 and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior, 48 for He has looked on the humble estate of His servant. For behold, from now on all generations will call me blessed;”
Luke 1:46-48
The soul and the spirit are two different parts that makeup who we are. We are spiritual beings with a soul, a spirit, and a body. Our soul is who we are; it is what is judged on Judgment Day. Our spirit is our connection to the spiritual realm around us. This is where we get our spiritual gifts, how we communicate with God and other spiritual beings, etc. Then we have the body, which holds both our spirit and our soul. This is what is perishable which is why we are given a new imperishable body when Jesus comes back.
Our bodies were made from the dust; they are a temporary holding cell, if you will, for our inner person. One day our bodies will die, but our souls will continue to live somewhere. Since we were made from the dust, our bodies will return to the dust when we die. But what does that mean? Is that why we need a new body? Join Reverend Kenny Yates as he answers all of these questions and more in his fiery message, The Great Exchange Pt. 2: The Body.
1 Thessalonians 5:23 Genesis 2:7a John 6:63 John 3:6 John 6:28-29 James 2:26 Ezekiel 37:3 Matthew 27:50 Galatians 5:16–18 Galatians 5:19–21 1 Corinthians 6:18 Psalm 51:10 Psalms 23:3 1 Corinthians 15:51-57 Philippians 3:20-21 Psalms 103:14 Numbers 35:33 2 Corinthians 4:7
The Great Exchange of Our Body
16 And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, “You may surely eat of every tree of the garden, 17 but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.”
Genesis 2:16-17
22 Then the Lord God said, “Behold, the man has become like one of us in knowing good and evil. Now, lest he reach out his hand and take also of the tree of life and eat, and live forever—” 23 therefore the Lord God sent him out from the garden of Eden to work the ground from which he was taken. 24 He drove out the man, and at the east of the garden of Eden he placed the cherubim and a flaming sword that turned every way to guard the way to the tree of life.
Genesis 3:22-24
When Adam and Eve ate of the fruit, they didn’t immediately drop dead and stop breathing. So, what died the day they ate the fruit? What was the great exchange of our body?
God has given each of us a call on our lives. He has bestowed purpose upon our hearts. He set out a plan and a path for us to take, yet many of us feel purposeless. We feel useless, and the road ahead of us feels overwhelming and too difficult to maneuver. Why? In today’s world, we are constantly bombarded with rubble. We’re hit from all sides with problems, obstacles, persecution, hatred, and all that the enemy can throw at us. Does that mean we won’t be able to fulfill our call? Join Reverend Kenny Yates as he teaches us how to deal with our lives when there is ‘Too Much Rubble.’
Nehemiah 1:3 Nehemiah 4:10 Nehemiah 2:2 Nehemiah 1:3b Nehemiah 2:3b Matthew 6:33 1 John 4:18a Palms 103:2 Psalm 77:12
In today’s society, our children are raised in church, but their beliefs quickly change as soon as they go to university. But why? Were their foundations not strong enough? Were they not taught the knowledge of the Scripture so that they might be able to defend their faith? More and more Christians are pushing the Progressive-Christianity movement because they buy into one of two lies:
The Bible is outdated and can no longer be used for every circumstance in our culture today
Jesus loves everybody and just wants us to be happy
When ‘Christians’ push ‘progressive’ ideology, the one thing they never do is back up their beliefs with Scripture. How can we try to change the entire Church and what the Church stands for without knowing what Scripture actually says? We have taken away the most important aspect of our faith, the power of knowledge.
As we are compelled to put away Scripture more and more by the media and those in government, it has become more imperative than ever to actually know Scripture. Do you know your Bible? If someone questions your faith, can you defend it? If someone shows you another way of thinking, do you know the Scripture to determine whether they are right or wrong? Join Reverend Kenny Yates as he goes into great detail on The Power of Knowledge.
2 May grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord. 3 His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and Godliness, through the knowledge of Him who called us to His own glory and excellence, 4 by which He has granted to us His precious and very great promises, so that through them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped from the corruption that is in the world because of sinful desire.
2 Peter 1:2-4
Peter says that we have been granted all things that pertain to life and Godliness by the knowledge of God. We have to know God, His attributes, feelings, and goals in order to grow closer to Him so that we might become more like Him and grow in Godliness. There is power in knowledge.
4 Have they no knowledge, all the evildoers who eat up my people as they eat bread and do not call upon the Lord?
Psalms 14:4
David equates the lack of knowledge to evildoers. Why? Because it is impossible to please God without knowledge. Why? Because it is impossible to please God without faith. And faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God. Faith comes through the power of knowledge.
All over the world, Christmas will be celebrated this December 25th. We open our presents under our decorated Christmas Trees. We spend time with family and friends as we celebrate this festive holiday. But as we celebrate and partake in this joyous season, do we truly know what we are celebrating? Do we truly know and understand the real meaning of Christmas? Join Reverend Kenny Yates as he brings his eye-opening Christmas message, Christmas Tidings: The Real Christmas Story.
Luke 2:1–20 Romans 3:23 Hebrews 4:15b Galatians 2:20 John 14:26 Ephesians 4:31 John 3:16 John 7:37b–38 Revelation 22:17
The Real Christmas Story
The Birth of Jesus Christ
1 In those days a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be registered. 2 This was the first registration when Quirinius was governor of Syria. 3 And all went to be registered, each to his own town. 4 And Joseph also went up from Galilee, from the town of Nazareth, to Judea, to the city of David, which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and lineage of David, 5 to be registered with Mary, his betrothed, who was with child. 6 And while they were there, the time came for her to give birth. 7 And she gave birth to her firstborn son and wrapped Him in swaddling cloths and laid Him in a manger, because there was no place for them in the inn.
Luke 2:1-7
The Shepherds and the Angels
8 And in the same region there were shepherds out in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. 9 And an angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were filled with great fear. 10 And the angel said to them, “Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. 11 For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. 12 And this will be a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger.”
13 And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying, 14 “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among those with whom He is pleased!” 15 When the angels went away from them into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let us go over to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has made known to us.” 16 And they went with haste and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby lying in a manger. 17 And when they saw it, they made known the saying that had been told them concerning this child. 18 And all who heard it wondered at what the shepherds told them. 19 But Mary treasured up all these things, pondering them in her heart. 20 And the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen, as it had been told them.
Luke 2:8-20
What’s the real meaning of Christmas?
The real meaning of Christmas isn’t about Santa, presents, or even spending time with your family. The real meaning of Christmas, the true Christmas story, is the story of God setting aside His Godliness to become man so that He could save anyone who would humble themselves before Him.
Christmas is a time of hope and joy, but it seems almost hopeless in a world filled with pain, sorrow, grief, starvation, and death. Sometimes it feels as if the very joy is being sucked out of our bodies. What is the joy and hope of Christmas? And how do we receive that joy? Join Reverend Kenny Yates as he preaches part one, Joy to the World, of his five-part series Christmas Tidings.
10 And the angel said to them, “Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. 11 For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.”
Luke 2:10-11
In other words, “Joy to the world, the LORD is come.” Are you overjoyed to hear the good news? It doesn’t just bring happiness because happiness depends on circumstances, and when circumstances change, our happiness changes. Are circumstances changing your level of happiness? Do you get sad, or upset, or even angry when a situation or circumstance arises that you have no control over? Have you given someone else other than God the power to dictate your level of happiness? Then you need to ramp up the joy of the LORD.
Elijah was a regular man. He wasn’t secretly Superman. He wasn’t secretly Spiderman. He was a regular human being like you and me. The only difference between Elijah and us was the way that he prayed. Join Reverend Kenny Yates as he shares this fiery message on the powerful prayers of Elijah in the third part, The Power of Proclamation Pt. 2, of our three-part series on Effectual Fervent Prayers.
1 Kings 16:34 James 5:17-18 John 12:49 Job 22:28 2 Timothy 2:15 KJV 2 Corinthians 6:15 1 Kings 17:1 1 Kings 18:1 1 Samuel 17:47–49 2 Chronicles 20:13–17 1 Kings 18:41–42 James 4:2b-3 1 Thessalonians 5:17 John 6:11 Hebrews 4:12 Psalms 2:7–9
The Power of Proclamation
19 And [the Lord] said, “I will make all my goodness pass before you and will proclaim before you my name ‘The Lord.’ And I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will show mercy on whom I will show mercy.”
Exodus 33:19
16 Confess your faults one to another, and pray one for another, that ye may be healed. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much. 17 Elijah was a man subject to like passions as we are. And he prayed earnestly that it might not rain, and it rained not on the earth for the space of three years and six months. 18 And he prayed again, and the heaven gave rain and the earth brought forth her fruit.
James 5:16
8 But what does it say? “The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart” (that is, the word of faith that we proclaim); 9 because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. 10 For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved.
