August 6, 2023 - Discovering Your Purpose in Life and How to Get There - Pastor Paul Vallee

08/08/23 • 48 min

Luke 6:37-48

In Luke’s retelling of the greatest sermon ever preached, known as the Sermon on the Mount from Matthew’s gospel, Luke’s rendition, known as the Sermon on the Plain, gives us an insight into the value of the message. Luke slips in a simple statement not found in Matthew’s gospel but gives us something of the nature of the end product of a disciple of Jesus.

A student is not above his teacher, but everyone fully trained will be like his teacher. (Luke 6:40)

What is Luke telling us? He is giving us a picture of what discipleship is about. A disciple is someone who is becoming like Christ. In other words, to be a true follower of Jesus, we must be in the process of becoming like Him. The idea is that if the student or learner is fully trained or completed his training, they will be like their teacher. That is what this life is all about. We are being trained in the school of Christ. God, the Father, uses our life experiences to fashion us into Christlikeness. The apostle Paul describes the process this way in Romans 8:28-29: And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.

For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the likeness of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters.

The obvious question then is, what is Jesus Christ like? What about Jesus is God fashioning us into? Our Father in Heaven is fashioning the character of Christ within us. But what about Christ’s character is the Father working in us? In Luke 6:37-48, we get three quick snapshots of the heart of Christ. If we imitate or pursue these elements of Jesus’ heart, we will be well on our way toward becoming fully trained disciples.

Luke 6:37-48

A student is not above his teacher, but everyone fully trained will be like his teacher. (Luke 6:40)

For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the likeness of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters.

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July 30, 2023 - The Road to God's Dream

Genesis 37-50

Martin Luther King Jr. had a dream. He worked towards seeing that dream become a reality and was killed in pursuing that dream. What dream do you have today? Maybe your dream is buried beneath the heartache and heartbreak of life. Perhaps the barriers and obstacles to your God-given dream have robbed you of the joy of seeing it become a reality. Your strength may be waning. Oh, for an infusion of joy to sustain you on the journey. May you reclaim the joy from the confidence that God has given the dream and see it become a reality. How will we handle the challenges we face on the road to God’s dream? It is a road filled with impediments and obstacles, which are the very things that God uses to make us into the right kind of people who can fully appreciate what the dream is all about. It is an appreciation that realizes God’s dream comes only through His grace.

The Bible tells the story of a young person with a dream from God who walked that road from promise to fulfillment. It is a road less travelled because it is not an easy road. It is a road filled with twists and turns that would baffle the heart of the wisest and cause even the stoutest heart to wane and faint. The young person was a seventeen-year-old by the name of Joseph. Joseph had a God-given dream. In the book of Genesis, we find the road to the dream’s fulfillment hidden from the eyes of youthful enthusiasm. Joseph had no idea how God would fulfill the dream. He had no idea how difficult the journey to the dream would be. The more glorious the dream, the greater the obstacles and difficulties we can expect. In Joseph’s case, three scenes depict the challenges or obstacles on the road to God’s dream for us being fulfilled. We will examine three challenges on the road to fulfilling a God-given dream.

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August 13, 2023 - People Who Give Affirmation Empower Those They Influence - Pastor Paul Vallee

Luke 3:21 - 4:30

There is something inside each man and woman that wants to please and be accepted by their father. It's something that God builds into each of our lives. Some struggle with this issue. Maybe they don't feel they can ever do enough to please their father and become exasperated trying. Sometimes the start of rebellion in children's hearts is an expression of a child trying to get the father's attention.

Right now, I must add this caution; not all rebellious kids result from a neglectful or thoughtless father. Remember, Adam and Eve in the garden had everything going for them, with the perfect parent and failure and sin occurred. Yet, there remains in the heart of every child a desire to be loved, accepted, and affirmed by their father just for who they are. This longing and desire does not end when the child grows up. Some middle-aged people here today are still seeking that affirmation from their fathers. There are elderly people here today who have longed to hear their fathers affirm them. This ache in the heart doesn't go away. Many people have driven themselves in various fields of life desperately trying to receive this affirmation that never came.

Today, I want to return to the very beginnings of Jesus' ministry. Just before Jesus faced some of the greatest tests of his early ministry: the temptation in the wilderness and the rejection of his ministry by his friends, family, and associates in his hometown, something powerful happened that gave Jesus precisely what he needed to face those situations. Too often, we have assumed that it's all about us, but you may not know that something deep within us needs affirmation and approval by a significant person in our lives.

Here, we come to understand the value of the Father's affirmation, how it empowered Jesus through his first great testing in the wilderness, and the following challenge in Nazareth. We will be able to respond to the Father's blessing and affirmation. So let us look at three events in Jesus' life in chronological order and discover the secret of Jesus' ability to overcome temptation and discouragement.