Category: freedom

• God Calls

  Click Here to Read 1 Samuel 3:1-10 I don’t know about you, but I LOVE the Old Testament. Yeah, there are many things I still don’t understand, but I do know this, what we call the Old Testament takes up 66% of our Bible, so taking the time to understand the storyline is vital for […]

  Ryan Stratton

  06/01/2021

  belief, bible study, Christian Life, Christianity, church, conflict, conversion, devotionals, disciples, freedom, freedom in Christ, glory of God, glory to God, God, God’s grace, God’s promises, good news, gospel, holy, holy life, holy living, Holy Spirit, Jesus, Jesus Christ, John Wesley, methodism, methodist, ministry, mission, preach, preaching, speech, Spirit, uncategoried, Worship, writing, youth ministry

  1 Samuel 3:1-10, bible study, Christian life, God calls, hearing God’s voice, knowing God’s voice, knowing Jesus, live differently, love the Old Testament, new life in Christ, responding to God, sermon on 1 Samuel 3, trusting God

• 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

• Gift of Salvation

  The date was July 17, 2001. Up until this date, I had always thought I was a person who followed Jesus Christ. This day, something changed my life, for the better. Six to eight months beforehand, I had been having lunch with a friend of mine and his pastor. This lunch turned into a weekly […]

  Ryan Stratton

  05/24/2019

  belief, believe, Bible, born again, Christian Life, Christianity, disciples, eternal life, evangelism, example, faith, faithf, forgiven, Forgiveness, freedom, freedom in Christ, gift, glory of God, glory to God, God, God’s grace, God’s promises, good news, gospel, Holy Spirit, Jesus, Jesus Christ, John Wesley, leadership, Life, methodism, methodist, ministry, miracles, mission, Prayer, revival, sharing our faith, sin, transformation, trust, Truth, Worship, writing, youth ministry

  Christ paid the price, Ephesians 2:8-10, Gift of salvation, movement of the Holy Spirit, new life in Christ, order of salvation, saved by grace, what does it mean to be saved?, what is grace

• NEW BOOK: “Jesus Is…”

  Kindle & Paperback Editions “Who do you say Jesus is? Some say he was just a good person. Some say he was a prophet. Others say he didn’t exist. CS Lewis says, “A man who was merely a man and said the sort of things Jesus said wouldn’t be a great moral teacher. He’d be […]

  Ryan Stratton

  04/09/2019

  belief, believe, belonging, bible, Bible, bible stories, bible study, body of Christ, born again, Christian Life, Christianity, Christmas, Christmas story, church, confession, confrontation, controversy, conversion, Creation, Creativity, disciples, Easter, eternal life, evangelism, example, faith, faithful, forgiven, Forgiveness, freedom, freedom in Christ, glory, glory to God, God, God’s grace, God’s promises, good news, gospel, Gospel of Luke, grace, holy, holy life, holy living, Holy Spirit, invitation, Jesus, Jesus Christ, Jesus’birth, leadership, learn, Life, Lord, Love, mercy, methodism, methodist, mindset, ministry, miracles, mission, new creation, new life, power, Prayer, preaching, proclaiming Christ, relationships, renewal, repent, repentance, resurrection, sin, Spiritual transformation, trials, Truth, uncategoried, worldview, worship, writing, youth ministry

  following Christ, following Jesus, Gospel of Luke, Jesus ascended into heaven, Jesus is with us, Jesus is with you, Jesus makes all things new, kindle book, life of Jesus, life of Jesus Christ, power of God, power of the Holy Spirit, resurrection of Jesus Christ, who is Jesus Christ

• Victory Over Goliath

  

  We all have “giants” in our life that attempt to hold us back from the life God has designed for us. Some of our giants include fear, anger, rejection, comfort, addiction. Join us for this 7-week sermon series as we understand some of the “giants” in our lives and how they can be overcome because […]

  Ryan Stratton

  03/05/2019

  anxiety, arrogance, attitudes, belief, believe, belonging, bible, bible stories, bible study, Challenges, character, Christian Life, Christianity, church, conflict, confrontation, control, disciples, faith, faithful, faithfulness, family of God, Forgiveness, freedom, freedom in Christ, glory to God, God, God’s grace, God’s promises, good news, gospel, grace, holy life, holy living, Holy Spirit, humanity, judgement, leadership, Life, mercy, methodism, methodist, ministry, miracles, mission, power, praise, pray, preach, preaching, proclaiming Christ, redeemed, relationships, sin, Sinners, struggles, success, suffering, Truth, uncategoried, worship, writing, youth ministry

  all powerful God, apple podcast sermons, Christus Victor, David & Goliath, David & Goliath sermons, David and Goliath, facing giants, facing opposition, Jesus has won, living in freedom, preaching freedom, preaching grace, preaching the gospel, United Methodist Church, victory over Goliath, victory over sin

• Experience the Power of the Holy Spirit

  Do you have your copy of the daily devotional on the Book of Acts? Get your copy here. Paperback version. Kindle version. The Book of Acts tells the historical events that shaped the early church through the powerful, dynamic movement of the Holy Spirit. This power is still available and working today all over the […]

  Ryan Stratton

  11/30/2018

  Apostle Paul, Apostle Peter, belief, believe, belonging, bible, Bible, Christian Life, Christianity, church, daily devotionals, devotionals, disciples, eternal life, evangelism, example, facing challenges, Failure, faith, fear, forgiven, Forgiveness, freedom, freedom in Christ, fruit, glory, glory of Christ, glory of God, glory to God, God, God’s grace, God’s promises, good news, holy life, Holy Spirit, hope, humanity, humility, invitation, Jesus, Jesus Christ, John Wesley, journaling, kindness, leadership, memory, mercy, methodism, methodist, mindset, ministry, miracles, mission, Prayer, prayer life, preach, preaching, proclaiming Christ, renewal, repent, Rest, revival, serving, sharing, sharing our faith, Sin, Spirit, Spirit led, trust, Truth, uncategoried, Worship, writing, youth ministry

  Acts 1:8, book of Acts, daily devotionals, donating to charity, experience the Holy Spirit, giving to the church, Great Commission, Holy Spirit in us, Holy Spirit is real, miracles of the Holy Spirit, must read book, power of God, power of the Holy Spirit, renewal, taking the Gospel to the ends of the earth

• Risen & Lives Forever

  

  Where are you in your faith in Jesus Christ? Do you believe all of this stuff you have read so far these past 6 weeks? How would you complete the statement, “Jesus is __________.”? These are questions I invite you to ponder now because if there is anything that is challenging about anything we have […]

  Ryan Stratton

  10/26/2018

  belief, believe, bible, bible stories, bible study, character, Christian Life, Christianity, church, eternal life, faith, Forgiveness, freedom, freedom in Christ, gift, glory, glory to God, God, God’s grace, God’s promises, good news, gospel, Gospel of John, Gospel of Luke, Holy Spirit, humanity, invitation, Jesus, Jesus Christ, leadership, Life, Love, mercy, methodism, methodist, ministry, mission, power, praise, Prayer, prayer life, preach, proclaiming Christ, repent, resurrection, Sacrifice, Savior, transformation, trust, Truth, uncategoried, Worship, writing, youth ministry

  believe the gospel, Christ is risen, death has been defeated, do we believe the gospel, easter story, historical accounts of Jesus, Jesus brings new life, Jesus lives, Jesus’ teachings, life of victory, resurrection, where is Jesus, writings of Josephus

• Betrayed, Denied, Tried, Crucified

  

  In the 1924 book by Richard Connell, The Most Dangerous Game is a story of big game hunter Sanger Rainsford and his friend Whitney ending up on an island owned by General Zaroff. The General talks about how he is bored with “traditional” hunting and has moved into hunting the most dangerous, the most cunning […]

  Ryan Stratton

  10/19/2018

  Apostle Peter, belief, belonging, bible, bible stories, character, Christian Life, Christianity, church, comfort, compassion, confession, controversy, disciples, eternal life, example, facing challenges, faithful, Forgiveness, freedom, freedom in Christ, God, God’s grace, God’s promises, good news, gospel, healing, heart, holy living, Holy Spirit, humanity, hypocricy, invitation, Jesus, Jesus Christ, John Wesley, leadership, Life, Lord, Love, mercy, methodism, methodist, ministry, mission, pastor, priority, purpose, reconciled, reconciliation, sin, Spirit, transformation, trials, trust, Truth, uncategoried, Worship, writing, youth ministry

  betraying Jesus, change your hearts and lives, denying Jesus, depths of humanity, God always has the last word, God offers forgiveness and mercy, Good News of Jesus Christ, gospel of Jesus Christ, Gospel of Luke, Jesus is crucified, Jesus’ mission on earth, Judas betryas Jesus, Luke 23, Luke 23:1-3, Peter betrays Jesus, trials of Jesus

• Free From the Power of Temptations

  

  Knowing who Jesus Christ is, this is the core of who we are becoming. A couple of weeks ago, we began a series on the life of Christ. We started with the question, “Who do you say I am?” Why would we start with that? How we answer that question determines how we view the […]

  Ryan Stratton

  09/28/2018

  belief, believe, belonging, bible, Christian Life, Christianity, church, disciples, eternal life, evangelism, example, failures, faith, faithful, family of God, freedom, gift, glory to God, God, God’s grace, God’s promises, good news, gospel, grace, healing, holy life, holy living, Holy Spirit, invitation, Jesus, Jesus Christ, judgement, kindness, leadership, mercy, methodism, methodist, ministry, pastor, perfection, power, pray, Prayer, preach, preaching, proclaiming Christ, revival, Sin, Spirit, Spirit led, transformation, trials, trust, Truth, uncategoried, Worship, writing, youth ministry

  approaching God, baptism of Jesus, family of God, free from sin, free from temptations, go and sin no more, Hebrews 4:15, Hebrews 4:16, Jesus knows what we go through, Jesus tempted, lifs is difficult, living in God’s grace, loving God, Luke 4:1-12, mission of God, word of God

• Loving to Life Pt 2

  

  MEETING PEOPLE WHERE THEY ARE Last week we began a series to help us love people to life. When we go to a new place, it it easy to assume we know what people need to do. In many cases, we may be right. The best thing to do is to pray, and listen, to […]

  Ryan Stratton

  07/06/2018

  belief, believe, bible, calling, career, challenge, Christian Life, Christianity, church, Creativity, devotionals, disciples, evangelism, example, faith, faithful, forgiven, Forgiveness, freedom, glory, glory to God, God, God’s grace, God’s promises, Golden rule, good news, gospel, holy life, holy living, Holy Spirit, Jesus, Jesus Christ, judgement, judging, leadership, learning, Life, lifestyle, Love, mercy, methodism, methodist, ministry, mission, preparation, prepare, priorities, proclaiming Christ, redeemed, service, spiritual growth, spiritual transformation, Temptation, transformation, trust, Truth, uncategoried, Worship, writing, youth ministry

  blog series, bringing life, calling of the disciples, grand visions from God, learning patience, loving people, loving people to life, making progress, new life in Christ, taking time in changing things, transformation begins with relationships, transforming a community, work of the Holy Spirit