Fall Creek Christian Church

"And don't sin by letting anger gain control over you. Don't let the sun go down while you are still angry, for anger gives a mighty foothold to the Devil." Ephesians 4:26-27 "Dear friends, be quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to get angry. Your anger can never make things right in God's sight." James 1:19-20 After 28 years of marriage, my wife and I know each other's hot buttons. If we choose to push one, anger is sure to erupt. It would be great for us to never push those buttons. It would be even better to not have any of those buttons to push. Sadly, most of us trudge along through life carrying massive amounts of anger. Even more sad is that we don't realize we don't have to be carrying it at all. Paul and James provide a powerful 1-2 punch to dealing with anger. Paul tells us to chase it out the door. If we sit with it, we invite our enemy's influence into our life. James tells us that our ears and not our mouths will pr

"But we who live by the Spirit eagerly wait to receive everything promised to us who are right with God through faith. For when we place our faith in Christ Jesus, it makes no difference to God whether we are circumcised or not circumcised. What is important is faith expressing itself through love." Galatians 5:5-6 The last time I took one of our cars to get its oil changed, the dipstick wasn't showing any oil on it at all. One of the crazy things about old cars is they burn oil. The oil change guy gave me a look that said, "They put these dipsticks in the engines so you can check and make sure your car isn't running low on oil ... dipstick." A low manhood moment to be sure.  In writing this letter to the Galatians, Paul wanted to make sure they were properly equipped to assess the condition of their faith. There were some false and misleading measurements being heralded among them and he needed to set the record straight. It wasn't rule keeping. It wasn

"The Lord Almighty has sworn this oath: 'It will all happen as I have planned. It will come about according to my purposes. I will break the Assyrians when they are in Israel; I will trample them on my mountains. My people will no longer be their slaves. I have a plan for the whole earth, for my mighty power reaches throughout the world. The Lord Almighty has spoken -- who can change his plans? When his hand moves, who can stop him?'" Isaiah 14:24-27 I had every intention of following through. The weather was great. The lawn was long. The mowers were ready to roll. Nothing but green lights. It was go time! However, after some lengthy conversations, after meetings I had failed to take into account and after the setting of the sun, go time came and went. My plan was blown up. My checklist item that read, "Mow the yard," was still on the list. Have you ever been there? In our verses for the day, God reveals that this breakdown between plan and reality is one h

"I don't need the bulls you sacrifice; I don't need the blood of goats. What I want instead is your thanks to God; I want you to fulfill your vows to the Most High. Trust me in times of trouble, and I will rescue you, and you will give me glory ... But giving thanks is a sacrifice that truly honors me. If you keep to my path, I will reveal to you the salvation of our God." Psalm 50:13-15, 23 On many occasions, I would even say most, my kids go out of their way to thank their mother and I when we do something for them or give them something. It's truly amazing. No matter how often we hear it, we genuinely appreciate it. Most often, I think to myself, "Wow, their mom did a great job raising them!" Gratitude is a really really big deal. God, through Asaph the singer, poet and prophet, clearly addressed a significant problem in the hearts of his people. They had replaced worship with religion. Motions with no internal substance. Rituals devoid of meaning.