PASTOR STEVE'S BLOG

Genesis 12 In the book of Genesis, chapter 11, the main characteristic of people of the world was that they wanted to make a name for themselves. God, however, was looking for a man who would trust Him, so He chose Abram from Ur of the Chaldees in Mesopotamia. He would later call this man "Abraham", the father of our faith. First, however, Abram must become a child of faith and learn to walk and live by faith. Abraham's faith had to have a beginning! The Bible tells us that his family used to be idolaters on the other side of the river. When God appeared to Abram, he became obedient to God and began to move forward by faith. In Genesis 12 it is recorded, "Now the LORD had said to Abram..." He was to get out of his country, from his family and his father's house. He was going to a destination unknown to him. Then God promised him, "I will make you", "I will bless you", and "You shall be a blessing." So Abraham departed as the LOR...

Galatians 4:21-31 It is written that Abraham had two sons; one born of the flesh and one born of the Spirit. The one represents the natural man who is a slave to sin, and the other represents the spiritual man, born of the Spirit and set free from sin. When Sarai was in unbelief, she encouraged Abram, her husband, to have a child with her handmaid Hagar. God has given a promise to Abram that he would have a son, but Sarai was in unbelif. She tried to accomplish God's promise through the flesh. Ishmael was the son born to Abram through his ill-advised union with Hagar. In Genesis 17:15, Sarai was given a new name, "Sarah", which reflected the genuine faith she grew to possess. In Genesis 18:9-15, two angels and the Lord Himself showed up at Abraham's tent. Sarah heard them speaking of how God would bless her with a child in her old age. "Is anything too difficult for the Lord?" This was Sarah's moment of faith. Within one year, the Lord did for Sarah as H...

Luke 19:10 As Jesus passed through Jericho, there was a rich tax-collector named Zaccheus who was trying to see Jesus. The crowd blocked his view, because he was not very tall. But his faith enabled him to rise above the difficulty; Zaccheus ran and climbed up a tree in order to see Jesus.  Jesus made eye contact with him and said, “Zaccheus, make haste and come down, for today I must stay at your house.”  So he received the Lord with joy. When he stood before Jesus, Zaccheus began to confess his wrongdoing and repent from it.  He even offered restitution to anyone whom he had wronged.  “I’ll give back, I’ll restore, even what I am falsely accused of." Jesus declared of this man, “Today salvation has come to this house, because he also is a son of Abraham.”   When we find Jesus, we must not allow the crowd to distract our attention from Him. If, like Zaccheus, we confess our sins and repent, we too become true sons and daughters of Abrah...

Luke 5:4-11 A multitude pressed in and around Jesus to hear the word of God. There were two boats close by, so He got into one of the boats and continued to teach the people. When he finished speaking, He addressed Simon Peter, the fisherman, who probably owned one of the boats. Jesus said, “Launch out into the deep and let down your nets for a catch." The Lord wants to bring in a "catch," a harvest greater than we can imagine!  There will be times when He will tell us also to "launch out into the deep," to trust Him at His word, to do things that may seem to be a bit risky. Simon answered with natural thinking, “We have worked hard all night, laboring out of necessity. We are expert fishermen, yet we caught nothing last night. But You are a great Bible Teacher and out of respect for You, we will let down the nets, even though You probably don't know how to fish.”  When they had done what Jesus said, they caught a quantity of fish so lar...