Category: beauty

• Mighty Acts of God

  Acts 2:1-21 The scene.  120 of Jesus’ followers were gathered in the Upper Room. What were they doing? Exactly what Jesus told them to do. Wait. But this was not a sit still, do nothing, kind of waiting. No. They were actively praising and worshipping God through Jesus Christ. Why? Because they knew the power of […]

  Ryan Stratton

  05/25/2021

  awakening, beauty, belief, believe, belonging, Bible, born again, character, Christian Life, Christianity, church, disciples, eternal life, faith, God’s grace, God’s promises, good news, gospel, holy, holy life, holy living, Holy Spirit, John Wesley, kindness, leadership, legacy, methodism, methodist, mission, power, praise, preach, resurrection, revival, Spirit, Spirit led, transformation, trust, Truth, uncategoried, Worship, writing, youth ministry

  acts 2:1-21, day of Pentecost, evangelism strategy, Good News of Jesus Christ, Holy Spirit, love jesus, power of God, power of the Holy Spirit, Trust God, wait for the spirit

• The Danger of Riches

  In 1780, John Wesley wrote a sermon called “The Danger of Riches.” This is a message to help us keep our priorities straight when it comes to material goods. Based on the scripture 1 Timothy 6:9, “They that will be rich fall into temptation and a snare, and into many foolish and hurtful desires which […]

  Ryan Stratton

  04/15/2021

  anxiety, beauty, belief, believe, Bible, Christian Life, Christianity, church, control, disciples, eternal life, faith, God, God’s grace, good news, gospel, holy, holy life, holy living, Holy Spirit, invitation, Jesus, Jesus Christ, Life, Love, mercy, methodism, methodist, ministry, mission, pastor, preach, preaching, reconciliation, relationships, repent, repentance, sin, Truth, uncategoried, witness, writing

  advancing the kingdom of God, Christian way of life, gospel of Jesus Christ, materialism, trusting God with money, what does money do to me

• Asking the Right Question

  We have all been at crossroads and have to figure out which path to take that will be the best for your life. Some of the questions we ask are, “Which way does God want me to go?”, “How do I know if I make the right choice?”, “What is the best option for me […]

  Ryan Stratton

  11/06/2020

  ambition, anxiety, beauty, belief, believe, belonging, Bible, challenge, Challenges, character, Christian Life, Christianity, church, disciples, faith, faithful, God, God’s grace, God’s promises, good news, Holy Spirit, journaling, journey, mercy, methodism, methodist, ministry, miracles, mission, motivations, pain, passion, patience, peace, possibilities, Prayer, prayer life, questions, repentance, resurrection, revival, temptations, testimony, thankful, transformation, trials, trust, Truth, uncategoried, Worry, Worship, writing, youth ministry

  Asking the right questions, Christian life, Christian living, faith in Christ, God has a plan, God is already there. trust God, God is with us, God is with you, God loves you, Jesus changes everything, journey of life, know God, live by faith, power of the Holy Spirit, way of life

• Esther: “Wrong” Place, Right Time

  We have been in this series where we have been looking into the lives of biblical characters to see how we can still see ourselves on the pages of scripture. As we said last week, our way of life, and society may have changed, but human nature really hasn’t changed. We still fall prey to […]

  Ryan Stratton

  07/28/2020

  anger, awakening, beauty, belief, believe, belonging, bible, bible study, calling, Challenges, character, Christian Life, Christianity, church, controversy, disciples, example, facing challenges, Failure, faith, faithful, glory to God, God, God’s grace, God’s promises, good news, gospel, grace, holy life, holy living, Holy Spirit, invitation, Jesus, Jesus Christ, John Wesley, judgement, Life, Lifes Journey, mercy, methodism, methodist, mindset, ministry, mission, pastor, revival, transformation, trials, trust, Truth, uncategoried, Uncategorized, worship, writing, youth ministry

  book of esther, called by God, Esther, for such a time as this, God is always working, greater purpose in life, Happy with your life, Life mission, mission of God, new life in Christ, no coincidences with God, People like us, personal mission, trusting God, whats in the bible

• No Perfect People Allowed

  Note: This was the sermon preached on Sunday, July 5, 2020. Today, we move into a series to see how God uses people no one else would expect to carry on his mission in the world. We‘ll take a few examples of people from the Bible so we can know God better through his people. […]

  Ryan Stratton

  07/07/2020

  beauty, belief, believe, Bible, Christian Life, Christianity, church, disciples, Ephesians, eternal life, evangelism, Failure, faith, faithful, Forgiveness, freedom, glory, glory to God, God, God’s grace, God’s promises, good news, gospel, harevsting, holy, holy life, holy living, Holy Spirit, Jesus, Jesus Christ, leadership, methodism, methodist, ministry, miracles, mission, pastor, power, preaching, renewal, spiritual growth, spiritual transformation, trust, Truth, uncategoried, Uncategorized, Worship, writing, youth ministry

  Church growth, church mission, created for a purpose, decline of Christianity, knowing God, knowing your purpose, missio dei, mission of God, mission of the church, reaching people for Jesus, state of the church message, who is my neighbor

• I Don’t Want to Return to “Normal”

  Last Sunday, I preached on the leadership qualities found in 1 Peter 5. During the course of the sermon, I mentioned how people are desiring to return back to “normal.” Here is what I said: “What I hear people say they are ready for things to get back to “normal”, what they are saying is […]

  Ryan Stratton

  05/22/2020

  ambition, beauty, belief, belonging, bible, Christian Life, Christianity, church, disciples, faith, God, God’s grace, good news, gospel, holy life, Jesus, Jesus Christ, leadership, Life, Love, mercy, methodism, methodist, ministry, mission, possibilities, renewal, writing, youth ministry

  compassionate life, hindsight is 2020, Jesus, living new normal, normal Christian life, normal life, the great realization, way of life, what is God doing?, work of God

• God’s Love Prevails

  While I was sitting in the airport recently, I observed the people around. Some were in the hustle and bustle of their day. Some were very irate when their flight was missed or delayed. Some were very worried about not making connecting flights. The tension in airports is very high. The airport is also one […]

  Ryan Stratton

  02/21/2020

  answers, beauty, belief, believe, Bible, Christian Life, Christianity, church, compassion, faith, faithful, glory to God, God, God’s grace, God’s promises, good news, gospel, Holy Spirit, Jesus, Jesus Christ, Life, Love, mercy, methodism, methodist, ministry, miracles, mission, new life, Prayer, prayer life, preach, preaching, Relationships, repent, sin, Sinners, Spirit, trials, trust, Truth, uncategoried, worship, writing, youth ministry

  Christian life, Christians and suffering, God is love, God is with us, God’s love, Good News of Jesus Christ, gospel of Jesus Christ, Jesus Christ, née life in Christ, new life, Trust God, Trust Jesus, trusting God, why do bas things happen

• The Problem of Evil

  A perfectly good God exists, and evil exists. This is a challenging enigma to contemplate and understand. After all, a good God would stop all evil and suffering from happening, so we would not have to experience it, right? This is where we need to pause and consider some of the characteristics of God and […]

  Ryan Stratton

  01/24/2020

  beauty, belief, believe, bible, challenge, Christian Life, Christianity, church, devotionals, disciples, Failure, failures, faith, God, God’s grace, God’s promises, good news, gospel, grace, holy living, Holy Spirit, Jesus, Jesus Christ, leadership, learn, Life, pastor, power, Prayer, preaching, purpose, reconciliation, Relationships, religion, Sin, sin, Sinners, trust, Truth, worldview, Worry, worship, writing, youth ministry

  children of God, Christian life, evil in the world, freedom in Christ, God, God is with us, God with us, Good News of Jesus Christ, Gospel changes us, gospel of Jesus Christ, Jesus Christ, Kingdom of God, live differently, new life, transform the world, Trust God, Trust Jesus

• Discovering God through the Book of Jonah (Part 4)

  

  Do we see the world, people, as God wants us to see them? This post shows us some things we can learn about God in Jonah 4.

  Ryan Stratton

  11/01/2019

  beauty, belief, believe, bible, bible stories, bible study, Christian Life, Christianity, church, devotionals, disciples, eternal life, evangelism, Failure, faith, forgiven, Forgiveness, glory of God, God, God’s grace, God’s promises, good news, gospel, holy life, Holy Spirit, Jesus, Jesus Christ, kindness, leadership, Life, Love, methodism, methodist, mindset, ministry, miracles, mission, new life, pastor, patience, possibilities, power, praise, preach, preaching, proclaiming Christ, revival, Spirit, travel, trust, Truth, uncategoried, understanding, Worship, writing, youth ministry

  God is good, gospel of Jesus Christ, Jonah 4, learning about God, live in peace with each other, purpose of the book of Jonah, repent and believe the gospel, saving the world, the bigger picture, the prophet Jonah, what does God want?

• Discovering God through the Book of Jonah (Part 3)

  

  God reveals himself and his mission in a huge way in the book of Jonah. What does Jonah 3 teach us about who God is? Check out this blog post.

  Ryan Stratton

  10/25/2019

  apostles, awakening, beauty, belief, believe, belonging, bible, bible stories, bible study, Christian Life, Christianity, church, confrontation, conversion, devotionals, divorce, eternal life, evangelism, example, faith, faithful, Forgiveness, glory to God, God, God’s grace, God’s promises, good news, gospel, grace, Holy Spirit, humility, hypocricy, Identity, invitation, Jesus, Jesus Christ, John Wesley, judgement, leadership, learn, lost and found, mercy, methodism, methodist, ministry, mission, pastor, preach, preaching, proclaiming Christ, revival, trust, Truth, uncategoried, Uncategorized, Worry, worship, writing, youth ministry

  bible study on Jonah, book of Jonah, called by God, God brings salvation, God’s Grace saves, Jesus’ call for our lives, Jonah Bible study, listening to God, mission from God, Relentless pursuit of God, sent into the world, trusting God’s call