Search results for: next step

Next Step

16 Tuesday Feb 2021

Posted by in grow

≈ 2 Comments

One of my goals as a pastor is to help you take your NEXT step of faith. Everyone’s got a “next step.” Whether you’re new or have been in the faith for a long time, we believe it’s important to never feel like we have “arrived.” We don’t want to coast in our relationship with the Lord. Whenever we’re coasting, we’re always going downhill. What’s your next step of faith? Everyone’s next step is different and we want to help you with yours, whatever that may be.

Remember, it’s never about perfection, we say it all the time at our church, no perfect people allowed. Even when we take two steps forward and one step back, that’s okay! We’re looking for progress. In a world that is full of discouragement and condemnation, you need a place where you don’t have to pretend you have it all together. We want to encourage you…seven days a week.

Remember this, YOU matter! Your story matters to God and it matters to us!
Recently, in order to spread the message so many people need today, I started sharing the encouragement you hear at Skyline each week on K-Praise radio.

I actually remember a time, about 25 years ago, when I was traveling with the St.Louis Cardinals baseball team. It was a lonely time in my life. I remember using this radio at my bedside, and of all the voices that came through the speaker, thousands of miles from my home, was my hometown pastor! David Jeremiah was the very first pastor I had in my life and hearing his voice while out of town and on the road, really helped me get the encouragement I needed at that time. I never forgot how powerful that moment was for me. And now here we are, years later and I’m honored to be able to do the same to K-Praise listeners who are looking for an encouraging message that they can apply to their lives. I can only hope it encourages others as much as those messages by Dr. Jeremiah encouraged me.

Sharing God’s Word weeknights over the radio is just one more way we can help people stay in the Word of God. We also have a short daily devotional called Today Matters that you can tune into on our Skyline Church YouTube Channel or download the Skyline Church App and get it there. Today Matters also airs throughout the day on K-Praise.

When it comes to next steps, it’s easy to say, “Hey you need to take your next step.” The hard part for so many people is knowing what that next step is for them. Because of that,  I’ve created a next steps program for our church members called Seven Steps. These are classes that take you step by step through topics like Christian Habits, Spiritual Gifts, Oikos, Doctrine, and more. If there’s any way we can give people the resources they need to dig deeper into their faith with confidence, we want to make it happen.

For a lot of people, the Bible can be very intimidating. But we want to break it down into bite-size, digestible chunks to give you the resources you need to grow in your faith. We’re a bunch of imperfect people trying to figure out how to walk a life of faith together. This is about a relationship with Jesus Christ, not a religion. It’s something we want to do, not have to do.

Our purpose at Skyline Church is to help people find and follow Jesus seven days a week. So often, we see people make faith a part of their lives one day a week … Sunday, and that’s a good start. The problem is this type of faith becomes compartmentalized. What I mean by that is, we walk the talk on Sunday, but don’t apply what we learned on Monday (or the rest of the week for that matter). We don’t want you to become stagnate in your faith. Because the reality is, we’re either growing, or we’re coasting. We want to help your faith grow into an everyday kind of faith. I’m always looking for practical ways we can apply the Bible to our everyday life. After all, isn’t that the point? To live a changed life because of the grace of Jesus Christ. Because of His grace, we are changed and able to grow step by step!

Welcome Drifter

21 Thursday May 2020

Posted by in comfort, Uncategorized

≈ 2 Comments

One of the questions I get most often is, How do I get close to God? And/or … how do I stay close to God? 

Today I want to talk about “drifting.” In order to have a relationship with Jesus Christ, you actually have to swim against the cultural current. 

In one sense, we’re all drifters. No one lives a perfect faith journey. You’ve heard me say it many times, “No perfect people allowed here.” It’s never about perfection, it’s about progress.

So in other words … Welcome Drifter! 

Like any other relationship, your relationship with God must be maintained.  It’s a fact, relationships change.Those of you who are married know that your marriage has changed over time. Our bodies change. Our waist lines change. Even our hair line changes. Ha, it’s natural. When it comes to relationships, they’re either getting better or getting worse. 

2 Corinthians 5:17 says, “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!” This verse is all about a fresh start. That is what being made new means! I don’t know about you, but I sure am glad God doesn’t stop at one fresh start, He offers them as much as we need them….and sometimes that’s daily!

God gives us the option of digging in and being disciplined or just “going with the flow” and drifting and living for ourselves.  The problem and the reality is that not living God’s way has a lot more consequences. Some of us have chosen to believe in Christ but are coasting in the Christian life. So here’s my question for you … where are you on the drifter to disciplined continuum? Drifter being 1 and disciplined being 10 … ask yourself where you land. 

Many Christians live their life in such a way that it requires no faith at all. Your heart is either growing warmer or colder with someone. It is the same when it comes to our relationship with Jesus.There are times we just don’t feel as close. But we must be intentional if we’re going to keep any relationship strong, especially a relationship with Christ. And, while we don’t like this word “discipline” the reality is it takes discipline to be a disciple.

Drifting away from God is a big deal. Instead of growing, somehow we started drifting. It’s okay if you don’t have an outlined plan for your growth just yet. But, you’ll need one to accelerate your growth. At our church, we have a plan and we call it Seven Steps. Without a plan, we get into a mode of just drifting with our Christianity and not letting our faith get stretched like God wants to stretch it. The first step is simple … tune in to our “Today Matters” daily devotional on our Skyline YouTube channel or check out our messages on our app or website. You’ll get practical tools to help you take that next step of faith to ensure you’re growing in your relationship with Jesus.

It’s no coincidence that the root word of discipline is disciple! Ask God today what needs to happen in your life to grow in faith. What is God saying is your next step of faith? 

Beat Anxiety, Depression and Omicron

02 Thursday Dec 2021

Posted by in Uncategorized

≈ 1 Comment

How do you beat anxiety, depression, coronavirus variants (omicron…really? come on!) and the negative news we get every day from the lamestream media?

The attitude of gratitude is a powerful pill against viruses of all kinds.

Give Thanks

Thanksgiving is more than a one-time holiday during the year. Biblically, we’re to give thanks consistently to the Lord. One verse that I repeatedly come back to is Psalm 107:1. “Oh give thanks to the Lord, for He is good, for His faithful love endures forever!” You cannot go very far in Scripture without being reminded of the importance of being appreciative. Being grateful is seeing things from a heavenly perspective. And as we approach the Christmas season, I want to encourage you to keep the heart of gratitude going strong into next year no matter how many variants or negative news viruses attack us next year.

During Thanksgiving, you likely gave thanks for what you have or what God has done for you throughout 2021. But today, I want to encourage you to give thanks for what God is doing right now that you may not be aware of. The ultimate form of faith is thanking God in advance for what you’re asking Him to do in the future. If you wait until after it happens, that’s not faith––that’s gratitude. While it is necessary and appropriate to thank God for what He has done, faith is thanking God in advance, trusting that He’s working right now as you wait for the answer to your prayer.

Expect God To Move

In Romans 4:20-21 it says, “Yet Abraham did not waver through unbelief regarding the promise of God, but was strengthened in his faith and gave glory to God, being fully persuaded that God had power to do what He had promised.” Abraham thanked God before it happened!

Let me ask you, in the situation that you are in right now, what are you expecting God to do? We’re all in a situation of some kind. Some of us aren’t expecting God to do anything. The Bible says, “According to your faith let it be done for you” (Matthew 9:29). Maybe God gave you a dream and when you went after it, you experienced delays and difficulties. That’s to be expected. But now you’re at a dead-end and you’re discouraged. 

Keep The Faith

Your next step is to keep the faith … expect God to move because being grateful displays our trust in the Lord. He may have a different answer than the one you are expecting. Hebrews 11:39-40 tells us that, “…yet none of them received all that God had promised. For God had something better in mind for us… sometimes the answer we thought we needed does not come because God has something better in mind.

Remember what God can do because He can do ANYTHING (Ephesians 3:20). Rely on Scripture. Memorize it! Here is one I’ve spent a considerable amount of time meditating on, 
“… but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”

With a grateful heart, make your requests known to God and you can have a peace like no other that He WILL move. It’s a peace that cannot be explained, only experienced once you’ve stepped into that faith.

I have some God-sized dreams when I think of the future of Skyline Church. What is your God-sized dream? Dream big! And when you hit that dead-end, keep the faith and expect God to move mountains. 

You Can Still Respond

26 Tuesday Apr 2022

Posted by in Baptism, Decisions For Christ, Holiday

≈ 1 Comment

You can still respond to God’s call. If you were at church on Easter Sunday and felt a nudge on your heart, but you ignored it … don’t keep ignoring it! Hebrews 3:8 warns us against hardening our hearts towards Christ. It was a very special Easter Sunday as 148 people went public with their faith in Christ and were baptized! If something resonated with you, lean into it. Maybe you didn’t feel ready to get baptized just yet, but you left church with questions. That’s a great place to start! After all, Easter is about a relationship, not a religion. 

Baptism Response Story
Every Story Matters To God

After Jesus rose from the dead He went around Jerusalem and Galilee and traveled around other areas and was seen by thousands … at one time 500 people saw him and they had to be saying, “He’s baaaaccck!” My point is you may have missed that opportunity to respond on Easter Sunday, but He’s still ready to receive you today. Just like Jesus gave Doubting Thomas the evidence he needed after the resurrection, He will give you what you need if you ask.

Easter

Everything about Christianity hinges on what we celebrated on Easter Sunday. Christ died so that my relationship, and your relationship with God could be restored. What you believe about God is the most important thing in life. Your belief determines how you deal with your past, where you’ll go in the future, and how you live today. 

Respond

Once upon a time, I stood up in front of a group of people and said “I do” to my wife. Those two words have changed the trajectory of my life. I’ve been working out the implications of what “I do” means for 24 years!  I didn’t know everything about marriage when I said those words and it’s the same thing with Christ. You don’t have to know everything right now. Maybe you’re still processing, wrestling, doubting, wondering, and questioning if this whole “Jesus thing” is for you. Just because you didn’t respond immediately doesn’t mean Christianity isn’t for you. Take it one step at a time. But just know, you can come with your questions, your doubts, your discouragements and everything else. Over time, those questions will be answered, your doubts will be dealt with and your discouragements will be gone. 

Get Rooted

To be rooted in Christ, we must understand that Christ wants a relationship with us, not a religion. Every one of us (including the person who invited you to church) has rejected that relationship at some point. We all, in our own way, reject Christ from time to time. We’ve all opted to do our own thing, our own way and too often decide to be the god of our own life. Unfortunately, just like when we break man’s laws, we pay man’s penalties … when you break God’s laws, you pay God’s penalties. Either you have to pay for it or someone else does. Thank God Jesus said He would pay the penalty for you and me. Not only is that worth celebrating, that’s worth a response!! That’s at least worth investigating. It’s worth another visit to Skyline Church next Sunday.

See, I am absolutely convinced that if someone is presented the opportunity to know the real Jesus, what He offers, not the Jesus we’ve been presented in the media or the Jesus we learned about from a misinformed friend or relative, but the actual Jesus, NOBODY WOULD TURN HIM DOWN. The free gift He offers is just too good to pass up.

Here’s a quick synopsis of the deal you get when you accept Jesus’ free gift: Every sin past, present, and future paid for, my future home in Heaven secured, and purpose and energy to live today! 

Next Step

Our goal at Skyline Church is to help people find and follow Jesus seven days a week. We don’t do it perfectly but we take it one step at a time. As a matter of fact we’re starting a brand new series this Sunday, May 1 where we will be digging in and understanding the 9 characteristics God wants to see in our lives. Those characteristics don’t all happen at once. As a matter of fact, it’s all about progress not perfection. I hope you’ll lean into God this week and join us for church on Sunday. I want to encourage you, don’t ignore His nudge on your heart. My prayer for you is from Ephesians 3:18-19. “May you be able to feel and understand … how long, how wide, how deep, and how high (God’s) love really is; and to experience this for yourselves.”

Three Kings Follow A Star

05 Tuesday Jan 2021

Posted by in vision

≈ 2 Comments

Have you taken down your Christmas lights yet? Me either! For many, the holiday season runs through January 6th, the 12th day of Christmas. If you’ve never celebrated Three King’s Day, this might be the year to start a new tradition! What I love about this holiday is the story behind it. This Bible story can be found in Matthew 1, where a group of incredibly intelligent men (aka kings) follow a star that leads them to Jesus Christ, the Ultimate King!

At Skyline Church, we also follow a star. We call it our North Star, and we’re constantly realigning ourselves to make sure we’re headed in the right direction. A North Star keeps you on track when things may seem dark and dim. When you feel like you’ve lost your way, your North Star affirms that you’re right where God wants you to be. When doubt creeps in, you can rest assured knowing you’re headed in the right direction. 

A North Star is an important aspect of church alignment. Can you imagine the wise men arguing over which star they ought to follow? That wouldn’t be very wise at all. Thus, we too must rally together and align ourselves to the same purpose. If everyone is doing their own thing, you can be sure that we won’t get very far. But, if we’re all working toward the same goal, focused on the same North Star, great things can be accomplished for God’s Kingdom!
You may be wondering, what is Skyline Church’s North Star? While you may not hear us call it the North Star every day, you’ve probably heard us say … we exist to help people find and follow Jesus seven days a week. THAT is our North Star!  

We emphasize three words in this phrase. Find. Follow. And Seven. 

We emphasize FIND because Jesus did.
In Luke 19:10, Jesus said, “I have come to seek and save the lost.” And in Luke 15:7 He states, “I tell you that in the same way there will be more rejoicing in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who do not need to repent.” Jesus always emphasized reaching the lost. 

We also emphasize FOLLOW. 
Once people are found, we’re committed to teaching them the relevance of scripture to today’s generation. We find and follow, we reach and teach. Everyone needs a next step in their spiritual walk. It’s the only way to keep moving forward. We have an intentional process of discipleship we take people through to help them reach their potential in following Jesus.

Lastly, we emphasize SEVEN. 
We believe walking with Jesus is something we do seven days a week, not just on Sunday. God’s mercies are new every morning and He is always doing something new. His teachings are applicable to all aspects of our life and we hope to walk through it with you every day.  

As Three Kings day approaches, I’m reminded of our North Star. Just as the North Star led the wise men to the birthplace of Jesus, our North Star serves as a compass, leading us where God wants us to go. It’s a powerful tool to get us through our darkest nights. If you don’t have a North Star, we’d love for you to join us on the journey of helping people find a follow Jesus seven days a week.