Long before His miraculous birth on earth, Jesus was involved in the creation of all that we see on earth and what we cannot see in the universe and the expanse beyond. He was with the Father in the beginning and Hebrews 1:1,2 tells us that “God, after He spoke long ago to the fathers in the prophets in many portions and many ways, in these last days has spoken to us in His Son, Whom He appointed heir of all things, through Whom also He made the world.”

John wrote about His beginning. “What was from the beginning, what we have heard, what we have seen with our eyes, what we beheld and our hands handled, concerning the word of Life–” (I John 1:1)

The Ancient of Days, the Alpha and Omega, the First and the Last, Jesus Himself declared to a group of self-righteous Jews, “Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was born, I am.” (John 8:58)

How marvelous and gracious that our heavenly Father had a plan from the beginning, through Jesus, to redeem those who confess Him as Lord and Savior.

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Personal Testimonies: Prior to the morning's message, Pastor Mark opens the floor to life testimonies. It is great encouragement to hear how the Lord is working in each of our lives. Click the forward button below to play the personal testimonies of Pastor Mark and others and/or download mp3 file.)

Approximately 700 years before the birth of Christ, Isaiah declared, “The people who walk in darkness will see a great light; those who live in a dark land, the light will shine on them.” (Isaiah 9:2) In verse 6 he continued, “For a child will be born to us, a son will be given to us; and the government will rest on His shoulders; and His name will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Eternal Father, Prince of Peace.”

Every soul on earth not walking with Jesus, walks in darkness, without life, and without hope, for Jesus told us, “I am the light of the world; he who follows me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life.” (John 8:12)

Zacharias (father of John the Baptist), filled with the Holy Spirit, prophesied about Jesus and said, “Through the tender mercy of our God; whereby the Dayspring from on high hath visited us, to give light to them that sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace.” (Luke 1:78, 79) Dayspring means rising of the sun; the dawn.

What illuminates your life–the world with its darkness or the light of the Dayspring?

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Personal Testimonies: We had a wonderful blessing at the end of our service today. One of our young members walked in as Pastor Mark was finishing the morning’s message. Seaman Josh Turner, United States Coast Guard, just finished his basic training in New Jersey and returned home for a week before his new assignment in Seattle begins on the USCG Cutter Mellon. Listen as he tells how God is blessing his life. Pastor Linda Pugsley and Ted Marshall commend Josh on his service to God and country. (Click the forward button below to play the personal testimonies and/or download mp3 file.)

Humility, true humility, would admit that we also could have been one of the worse dredges of the earth! When we stop and think of the twists and turns in life, we soon realize that short of a few different variables, we, too, could be that drug addict, bank robber, unfaithful spouse, brutal dictator, etc. “There, but for the grace of God, go I.”

The great preacher Charles Spurgeon had a few comments regarding true humility that helps set the stage for our sermon tonight. He said, “It is not humility to underrate yourself. Humility is to think of yourself as God thinks of you. It is to feel that if we have talents, God has given them to us. And let it be seen that, like freight in a vessel, they tend to sink us low. The more we have, the lower we ought to lie.”

Humility doesn’t mean that you hang your head down and walk meekly on the earth being a doormat for everyone that comes along. No, no—that is not what God intended. Humility just means you know your gifts, but you know they didn’t come from you, they came from God. Humility is a protection against pride. Pride will get you all self-righteous when you see someone in sin; someone who has failed to reach the level of God’s directions.

Rather, if you are “heavy” with God’s nature, you are lowly in heart and humble. You realize that all you have and all you are, have come from God and anything else ruling in you would make you one of the “dredges of the earth.”

Scripture References: James 4:6, Matthew 11:29, Matthew 23:12, Colossians 3:12-13, 1 Peter 5:5b-6, Proverbs 15:31-32, Proverbs 15:33b, Proverbs 16:18-19, Proverbs 16:5

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I am always blessed (and sometimes amazed) at the wisdom I see coming from Akarion as she raises her little 2 1/2 year old Adelyn (Addy). Addy doesn’t have the “feeding yourself” thing down pat yet! Akarion is patient with her and teaches her how, but Addy often tips the spoon, misses her mouth, or drags her arm across the plate. A lot of things end up on her hands, elbows, nose, neck, the table, her shirt, etc.

Akarion doesn’t throw little Addy away because she doesn’t have the art of eating mastered yet!  Rather, Akarion gives Addy all the support she needs…the love, the teaching, the training, the encouragement and THE BIB! That is, the protection, the “covering” she needs until she masters the task.

God does the same for us. His love, His redemption, His mercy, His directions…they are all there for those who will endure the process of learning, AND He provides the BIB—the help needed so we won’t destroy ourselves and all the others on the planet! Be humble and use your bib.

Scripture References: Psalm 28:7, Psalm 40:17, Isaiah 41:10, Isaiah 50:9, Isaiah 42:16; Hebrews 13:6

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In God’s vast and unfathomable love, He has given to mankind a means to inherit eternal life through the birth, death, and resurrection of His only begotten Son, Jesus Christ.  It is important and encouraging for us to reflect not only on the magnificent and miraculous advent of Christ’s birth, but on God’s ancient and graceful plan to redeem mankind ever since the beginning of days.

We can read about Christ before Christmas in several passages. In John 17:5, “And now, glorify Thou Me together with Thyself, Father, with the glory which I had with Thee before the world was.”  Also in John 1:1 and 2, “In the beginning was the word, and the word was with God, and the word was God.  He was in the beginning with God.”  In Hebrews, we are told that Jesus laid the foundation of the earth and that the heavens are the work of His hands. (Hebrews 1:2, 10)

May you be blessed and enriched with hope to see God’s plan revealed and fulfilled through Jesus—before, during, and after His birth—for His years will not come to an end. (See Hebrews 1:12 and Revelation 1:17, 18)

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Personal Testimonies: Prior to the morning's message, Pastor Mark opens the floor to life testimonies. It is great encouragement to hear how the Lord is working in each of our lives. Click the forward button below to play the personal testimonies of Pastor Mark and others and/or download mp3 file.)

“Hi, My Name is (put your name here), and I am a Recovering Sinner.” Just like in Alcoholics Anonymous meetings, we, too, must admit that we have a problem. Without admitting that we are sinners, we can never have the type of sorrow for our wrongdoing that leads to repentance!

That is a hard pill to swallow. But if you have been following along with my sermons, there is a thread in there about the “Adam nature”. That is the nature we inherited from what Adam did, NOT from what God did. That Adam nature is low level, base, rough and enmity (antagonism, hostility and hatred) to God. Oh, but that’s not me…oh, yes it is.

• If you lie, you are a liar (cheating on tests, lying on your income tax, as well as all of what we think of as lies)
• If you steal, you are a thief (taking items from your workplace, using supplies of others without permission)
• If you hate, you are a murderer (gossip, slander, dissentions, factions, anger)
• If you lust, you are an adulterer (adultery, fornication, pornography, sensualities)
• Etc.!

Read: Galatians 5:19-21. Wow! That is pretty serious.

Also read: 2 Corinthians 7:9-10

Listen to the audio of the entire sermon and be blessed.

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The disobedience of Adam and Eve meant that they and all of us were plunged into sin and corruption…far from the delight of the Garden of Eden. Among other things, innocence was lost, pain endured in childbirth was increased, and the ground was cursed making it harder to make a living–the ultimate loss was the separation from God.

This separation means corruption entered into the human existence. It is like a computer virus–it corrupts everything. The only remedy is to clean it out and run a new program. That new program is Jesus. Death came with Adam, but life with Jesus Christ. (1 Corinthians 15:22)

(All of Genesis 3; Genesis 6:5, 11-12; Romans 1:29-32)

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We are finishing up the series on doing good works not just talking about them. We covered two areas: (1) why good works are important and (2) the sequence to follow to make sure the good works are God’s good works and not just our own, which are the good works that will burn.

In finishing the sequence to follow to assure the good works are a work of the Spirit of God, we came to understand that:

• You must be saved
• You must be willing
• You must start serving
• You must let God frame how to serve
• You will reap the rewards of a life well lived

Listen to the accompanying audio for the scriptures shared and the revelation given in the teaching. God is just so good!

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In the previous posting of the message More Flappin' and Less Yappin', Pastor Pugsley referenced the video The Man In The Hole. Unfortunately, the sound did not translate properly in the audio, so we are posting it for your viewing below. To view the video full screen, click on the last icon to the right on the bottom of the video.

Tonight’s title says something to us. When a butterfly comes out of the cocoon, it doesn’t sit around and complain that it can’t fly or that no one told him how to fly. And he doesn’t ask “what do you expect of a caterpillar?” He just starts flapping his wings and flies.

When we come to know the Lord, we can’t just talk about a life in Christ (the yappin’ part)—you have to live a life in Christ (the flappin’ part). Get up and DO IT!

“Even so faith, if it has no works, is dead, being by itself.” (James 2:17)

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