Relate Church

Why is this world full of so much struggle?
Why are our communities filled with pain and upheaval?
Why is the color of skin so divisive?
Why is life this way? 
Because what we see isn’t all there is.

How can you receive His favor?
You need to know that Jesus cares. You need to KNOW He wants to help. Whether it is for your manic moment, or someone else’s, God wants to help. 
In this sermon, we reexamine the principles Jesus established for receiving His favor.

God can do anything and everything. He has free will. God was not created, and certainly is not programmed to only be and only do good. Good is His will.
Because God is love, everything He does and doesn’t do is good.
But it isn’t that God doesn’t have free will to do anything, it’s that God knows everything, and in His infinite knowledge of all things, He can see that love is the only way to live and ultimately enjoy who He is and what He does.

Guest Speaker Dr. Dan Rainey talks about the importance of loving your pastor...

What does God have in mind for His Kingdom? God’s plan from the very beginning was to dwell among His people, to live with His people, and for His people to be His imagers to all the world. 
Showing the world His goodness, His greatness, His creativity, His love, His grace, His mercy, His blessings—all the good things God!
People who come to the living God change their lives for Him—to become His imagers to the world. Our mission is to make disciples—imagers of God.

With all the struggles of life comes a need that must be met and is in great demand today: The need for Good Fathers. Fathers, your responsibility to your children, no matter how old or young they are, is that you image their heavenly father.

God created humans to image His glory, His care for them, His love for them, and His relationship with them.
When God made all things as we know them, He singled out humans from all of Creation and said, “Let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness…” (Gen. 1:26 NIV).
What does that really mean?

God is a relational God. God created this place, Earth, us, and all that is in it, not just as His own domain, but because He desires to live among His people. 
Yahweh, God, the Almighty God, desires a kingdom full of people who weren’t made to serve Him, made to worship Him, but chose to love Him with all their heart, soul, mind and strength.
God delights in creating people who represent Him, people who show the image of Him, people who represent Him, who carry out His wishes because they love Him.

When you look around the room, everyone here has different clothes that match their personalities on. We are all communicating different things about ourselves with what we are wearing.
The question we need to answer today is, how have I clothed my soul?
Is your soul stuck in the identity of your flesh? Are you believing that the story of your flesh is the only story of your life? 

What have you set your heart on?
What your heart is set on determines where you go, not just in this life, but in the next to come.
The real story of your life is going to be found in the room where you store your treasures. 
When God takes you to the place you have stored up an eternal inheritance, the story of your life, the real story will be told.