Larger Than Life

By faith, the elders placed their trust in God and His promise of salvation. The author of Hebrews commends them for their confidence in realities that were not visible. In today’s message, Pastor Ron encourages us to exercise even greater faith than these elders, as we live after the fulfillment of the gospel. We have witnessed the life, death, and resurrection of Christ, and possess the complete scripture for guidance. Furthermore, the Holy Spirit dwells within us, leading us into all understanding.

Many aspects of the spiritual realm are beyond what we can perceive with our physical eyes, yet they are essential to our spiritual journey with God. Faith provides the confidence regarding these unseen realities. Today, Pastor Ron emphasizes that even when we do not fully understand all that God has said, we can trust in His ways. Faith involves believing without direct evidence. Although an invisible spiritual battle may be occurring, we can trust God to be victorious when we rely on His promises.

How can we discern whether our faith is placed in the right object? In today’s message, Pastor Ron contrasts individuals who are humanists and place their faith in themselves with those who trust in God. He states that the strength of one’s faith is determined by the reliability of its object. The object of trust must possess substance that provides a foundation for genuine confidence. Trust in God is not merely wishful thinking but represents absolute certainty in the promises God has made.

When you notice someone facing a tough situation, how often do you step in and lend your support? For those who believe in Jesus, facing persecution is just part of the journey, as the Word of God reminds you. So, when you see your Christian friend facing bullying because of his beliefs, how often do you step in to support him? Today, Pastor Ron invites you, as a believer, to confidently stand strong against persecution. Don't worry, God will give you the strength you need in times of difficulty!

I've noticed some folks at church, really diving into worship and pouring their hearts out in prayer. But over time, they start to drift away from God, eventually stepping away from the church and letting go of their faith, choosing instead to embrace a more worldly lifestyle. I’ve always found it a bit puzzling how that could even happen. Today, Pastor Ron is diving into the topic of what it means to be an apostate. These are individuals who turn away from Jesus and refuse to open their hearts to the love of God. 

Because of sin, we found ourselves distanced from God, but He made the move to draw closer to us. Isn't it incredible how God crafted this amazing plan? Through Jesus, that barrier that kept you from stepping into God's presence has been broken! God really took on all the hard work. So, what’s your story? How often do you make an effort to connect with God and have some quality time in His presence? Today, Pastor Ron is here to inspire you to invest greater effort into your relationship with Jesus!

Back in the days of the Old Testament, folks would bring forth sacrifices as a way to seek forgiveness for their missteps. Over time, it turned into a bit of a ritual for the folks, as they found themselves constantly stumbling into sin and then making their way to offer sacrifices. This left them feeling as if their sin was never truly washed away. But you know what? God had an amazing plan lined up. Today, Pastor Ron shares how Jesus has paved the way for your sins to be completely wiped away from your life.

Do you ever wonder why God doesn’t just brush aside sin and offer forgiveness without a second thought? It’s an interesting question, isn’t it? If God were to stop judging sin, we would lose both accountability and justice. The main point here is that if God allowed sin to exist in the world, it would challenge the very essence of who He is as God. That would diminish His holiness and credibility. In today’s message, Pastor Ron dives into the importance of Salvation and the journey of repentance!

For Jesus to carry the weight of the world's sins, He had to be perfect in every possible way. If He had even the tiniest flaw, He simply wouldn't have been fit to conquer sin and death. Today, Pastor Ron shares why Jesus stands out as the only one truly worthy of saving you from your sins. Though He came into the world as a human, He walked through life without a trace of sin. That positioned Him as the perfect candidate to conquer sin and death. Thanks to Jesus, you now have the gift of eternal life!

Back in the days of the Old Testament, people couldn’t just reach out and be in God’s presence like we might imagine today. A massive veil hung in the temple, creating a distinct separation. It was a special privilege, reserved for only the most sacred of priests, and even then, just once a year! Well, did you know that Jesus shattered the barriers that separated you from God? In today’s message, Pastor Ron shares how Jesus opened the door for you to be in the presence of your heavenly Father!

So, there we were, cruising along the road with my family, when out of nowhere, we found ourselves stuck in a massive traffic jam! As I was waiting, I thought it would be fun to explore Google Maps for a different route. I was totally taken aback—there were absolutely none! In the end, I just had to hang tight until the way was free and clear. People often believe there are multiple paths to Salvation. But is that really the case? Today, Pastor Ron is excited to share that Jesus is the one and only way to heaven! 

Some believers would rather just ignore the Old Testament. It’s just rules and regulations, and we don’t need any of it now that we have Jesus, right? As Pastor Ron will clarify in today’s message, while the details of the Old Covenant God held with man pale in comparison to the New Covenant in Christ, it still has a valuable place. It’s a necessary reflection of our brokenness and religion's inability to save us, and it makes the light and hope of Christ shine even brighter.

What a beautiful representation of the significance of what Jesus did on the cross. In light of that, His Words as He took His final breath have so much deeper meaning. “It is finished.” As Pastor Ron will clarify, this wasn’t referring to His ministry or life. The need for continual sacrifice and work in a religious system that could never actually bring salvation was finished. All of those symbolic sacrifices could end. All of the work of mediation was no longer needed because Jesus’s sacrifice brought salvation.  

We never lived through the Levitical system of priests and sacrifices representing various heart postures towards God. It was complicated, messy, and a never-ending cycle. The priests couldn’t take away sin; their sacrifices only offered a symbol of atonement, demonstrating repentant, obedient hearts. As Pastor Ron will explain in today’s message, with Jesus, His sacrifice on the cross was once and for all. It was the last sacrifice we will ever need, and all we need to do is trust in Him for salvation.

The Levitical priesthood had no permanence. What does that mean? One priest would come along, carry out his rituals, over and over, and then he would die and need to be replaced by a new priest, who would go on to carry out the same rituals, over and over. It was a never-ending cycle of symbolic sacrifice after symbolic sacrifice. As Pastor Ron will explain in today’s message, Jesus brought a permanent resolution and was not just symbolic – He brought real atonement for sin, once and for all. 

Most of us don’t know what it’s like to deal with slaughtering animals. We enjoy the ease of picking up a package of meat at the grocery store and never having to kill the animal or deal with the mess that comes with that process. The sacrificial system of the Old Testament would not have been as shocking in its time, but it was deeply meaningful. As Pastor Ron will point out in today’s message, we can learn much from the rituals they practiced while enjoying the rest we have in Christ’s sacrifice.

As Pastor Ron continues our study in Hebrews today, we’ll encounter guidance given to the early Church concerning their relationship with their old religious ways in light of Christ’s sacrifice. They knew that the old covenant had been given by God, and they’d grown up and developed spiritually under its precepts. It felt wrong to just let it go. Those old laws and rituals had meaning and value, but as we’ll learn through this book, Jesus didn’t cancel out that old system; he fulfilled it completely.

The Hebraic system of priesthood and sacrifice was imperfect. It was symbolic of the relationship between God and His people. It was messy and ongoing, offering no real rest. But, as Pastor Ron explores the priesthood of Melchizedek and how it connects to the priesthood of Christ, we’ll be reminded that Jesus’ sacrifice was eternal. Instead of needing another sacrifice almost immediately because we’ve once again sinned, we can rest forever in the atonement He brings through the cross.

Who was Melchizedek, and why does he matter? There’s a lot of mystery around this man. He was both a priest and king of an order that would only be shared with one other person: Jesus. As Pastor Ron continues our study in the book of Hebrews today, we’ll encounter a passage that reveals this connection and offers some insight into why we need to understand it. As followers of Jesus, we long to know Him more intimately, and Melchizedek offers us a chance to do just that.    

Security is a huge issue in our world. Whether in banking, jewelry sales, prisons, school safety, or even at church, we see security in some form. Some of these contexts are about keeping people in, others are about keeping people out. But none of these will ever be more secure than being in God’s hands! Pastor Ron reminds us of God’s assurance to us of our security in Him. He will never forsake us, leave us, or send us out from His presence. We can rest in Him, knowing that He will always hold onto us.

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My grandpa was a firm believer in handshakes. If you gave your word on something, followed up by a handshake, that was, in his eyes, as good as (or better than) any legal agreement written on paper! Unfortunately, many of us today don’t have that level of trust in a handshake deal. In fact, many times we are caught in broken promises ourselves! But Pastor Ron reminds us that God’s promises have always been a sure guarantee. He has never gone back on His Word, and we can trust that He never will!

When you accept Jesus as your Savior, you don’t get a card in the mail certifying you as a member of the Christian religion. You won’t get a monthly email from God reminding you to pay your dues, say your prayers, and follow the rules to stay in good standing. No, He puts His mark on you. Not a physical mark, but He marks your heart as His. You enter a relationship with Him and your Heavenly Father. As Pastor Ron will clarify in today’s message, this is about who you are in Christ, not what you do...

With the glory of His resurrection, we sometimes overlook the couple of days between Jesus’ death and when He rose again. Churches have Good Friday services to help remind us of this, but it’s still hard to put yourself in the place of the disciples in that moment. As Pastor Ron will point out in today’s message, in this moment, the disciples were reeling in response to losing their friend and teacher, who they believed was the embodiment of hope, maybe even the long-awaited Messiah. 

When you focus your attention on the world around you, hope can feel hard to find. There seems to be a new big controversy every day. Protests in our streets, wars around the world, and we can’t be sure who to trust as we listen to the loudest voices in our society. It feels very dark and hopeless. But, as Pastor Ron will encourage us in today’s message, Jesus is the light of the world. He brings eternal hope. When you simply trust in Him, He brings life and freedom and the promise of eternal rest in Him...

In John 10:10, Jesus tells us that He’s come so that we can have life and have it more abundantly. But wait a second, aren’t Christians supposed to be fun-hating, somber, anti-everything types? Living more abundantly sounds like it might contradict that. Does it mean we should have more stuff? Or that we should party all the time? … Well, that’s not it either. In today’s message, Pastor Ron will examine this verse and help us understand what it means to “live more abundantly” in light of the cross.

Most of us are familiar with the tobacco industry and its demise. This industry was massive and extremely wealthy. But its central product was shown to be causing serious health issues and even death. For many in that industry, the cost of accepting those facts was too great. As Pastor Ron will point out in today’s message, some people responded in a similar way to Jesus. Even when He clearly demonstrated who He was, they denied Him because of what they knew it would cost them.

When you follow Jesus, life still happens all around you. That’s going to include hardship, struggle, oppression, and temptations. That stuff doesn’t stop as long as you walk in this broken world. In fact, there’s an argument to be made that they only increase and intensify when you genuinely live out your faith. But, as Pastor Ron will encourage us in today’s message, because of Easter – because of what Jesus did on the cross – our hope outshines this dark world, and we can walk in joy. 

People seem to forget or overlook the little things that we do. We forget about the small moments and tend to recall only the big things, whether good or bad! Isn’t it comforting to know that God always remembers the things we do in service of Him, no matter how small or insignificant they may seem? These “good works” are not anything that grants us greater value or a better standing before God. Pastor Ron reminds us that these things are evidence of the changes that God is making in our hearts and our minds.

“I know they’re around here somewhere!” The number of times I have said this about my car keys is infuriating, and somehow, I never seem to learn my lesson! It’s comforting to know that God will never lose or misplace us! We can be comforted in today’s teaching from Pastor Ron, knowing that there is no mistake big enough, no sin grave enough, to remove us from the hand of God! Take comfort in knowing that if you trust Jesus with your life, there is nothing that you can do to be removed from Him!

 If you’ve ever gotten goosebumps while watching an excellent film or listening to a particularly riveting piece of music, then you know that feeling that says, “something is different here.” Not just different in what is seen or heard, but in what is felt. Many of us, at some point in our lives, experience this “change in the air” when we are worshiping the Lord. Today, Pastor Ron teaches how this feeling is a natural reaction to the Holy Spirit’s presence in a place, and how that impacts both believers and non-believers.

The 2004 movie “Spider-Man 2” features a scene of Spider-Man stopping a runaway train filled with passengers. We like to envision ourselves as the hero of the story, being brave and saving everyone. But we are really one of the passengers who has no control over the situation, no way of saving ourselves. Pastor Ron explains how we must rely on Christ to save us from our sin and brokenness. Without Christ, we truly are hopelessly on a runaway train to hell. Do you rely on Christ to be the hero of your life?

The pull of the flesh is always present, to some degree, on this side of Heaven. While we know that Jesus has won the war, we still must engage the enemy in battle day-to-day. The spur to pursue practical righteousness is encouraged by the Spirit and hindered by our flesh. We are called, therefore, to put to death the flesh, to pick up our cross daily and follow Jesus! Listen in today as Pastor Ron teaches from this text on how we can better allow the Holy Spirit to renew both our minds and our hearts.

When I was a child, I couldn’t wait to be old enough to join the Boy Scouts. Then I couldn’t wait to start driving. Pretty soon, I was chomping at the bit to move out on my own. I had a desire to grow up and embrace the things that come with age and experience. When I embraced my personal relationship with Jesus, I had a similar experience – I was excited to grow closer to God! Today, Pastor Ron teaches on the excitement of the new believer, and how we can (and should) fight to keep that flame...

Isn't that incredible and encouraging? Jesus could have just left us in our disgusting sins and brokenness, but instead, He chose to face the same temptations and challenges we do. Only He never sinned! As you’ll hear today from Pastor Ron, whatever you're going through right now, Jesus is right there with you in the fire, and He understands exactly what you're feeling, because He's faced that too. You have a Great High Priest who knows you better than you know yourself! Consider that an incredible gift!

Have you ever met people who said they were all about something but didn't act out what they believed? Maybe they claimed that family always comes first, but you know, they hit the bars every weekend. Maybe they said they would never talk behind someone's back, but you heard them gossiping as you passed them at work. Today, Pastor Ron is going to show you that your fruit – what grows up out of your life – is what tells the real story of who you are.  It’s what God looks at when choosing people to lead.

The next time you're struggling to imagine how there could possibly be somebody who understands what you’re going through, look to Jesus. Jesus endured more than you could ever imagine. He can connect with you and understand your struggles in ways that nobody else ever could. Today, Pastor Ron shares with you the incredible ways Jesus humbled Himself to be able to truly understand what you come against, and help you through the hardships you struggle with in your everyday life.    

In difficult times, it is important to hold fast in Christ. When things begin to feel unbearable, and you feel like giving in and reverting to the things that have kept you comfortable in the past, remember to stand firm in your faith and hold fast! The Lord promises that He will never give more than you can handle. Today, Pastor Ron teaches you to stand firm in your beliefs and hold fast to the hope of God's promises. True believers in God know that He is faithful. Believe and receive your promises.    

Don't harden your heart towards Jesus. He didn't come to judge you. He didn't come to scold you. He came to die as a sacrifice in your place so you could be forgiven of your sins. In today's message, Pastor Ron wants you to hear what the Bible says about Jesus and apply it to your life. Give your life to Jesus. Live as Jesus did. Don't just listen to the Word and not let it start to change your life. Let the joy and love of Christ fill you and overflow into the lives of the people around...

Every Word about Christ is true. Everything He did that's recorded in the Bible actually happened. He came to earth to be born of a virgin and to live a perfect and sinless life as the human Son of God. He died for you as a sacrifice for your sins so that you could be made holy before God. In today's message, Pastor Ron is going to remind you of the importance of accepting Jesus into your heart and to guard your heart against attacks of the enemy when they come. Find rest in Jesus.

Don't let your knowledge of the Bible and attendance in church keep you from pursuing a real relationship with Christ. It can feel nice to do the “Christian things” and feel good about yourself, but it's not enough if you ignore Jesus. As Pastor Ron will reveal in today's message, your focus should be on Jesus. If you haven't given your life to Him, then now is the time. Start a real relationship with Him. If you have, then live as Jesus did in your day-to-day life, and tell everyone you can about His grace!