Category: influence

• Guarding Our Thoughts

  What do you like to read? What do you like to watch? To listen to? These are things I have been working hard at paying attention to. Why? Because I know how my my mind can be, and is, influenced by what my eyes see and my ears hear. I know how dark my thoughts […]

  Ryan Stratton

  10/18/2022

  belief, believe, Christian Life, Christianity, Communication, disciples, heart, holy life, holy living, Holy Spirit, influence, invitation, Jesus, Jesus Christ, John Wesley, leadership, Life, mercy, methodism, methodist, ministry, revival, spiritual growth, spiritual transformation, transformation, Truth, uncategoried, words, worship, writing, youth ministry

  guarding your thoughts, live differently, living a holy life, Philippians 4, think better thoughts, what do you think about, you are what you think

• Making An Eternal Impact

  

  READ SCRIPTURE: Luke 12:13-21 13 Someone in the crowd said to him, “Teacher, tell my brother to divide the inheritance with me.” 14 Jesus replied, “Man, who appointed me a judge or an arbiter between you?” 15 Then he said to them, “Watch out! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; life does not consist in an abundance of […]

  Ryan Stratton

  09/07/2018

  awakening, belief, believe, bible, bible stories, bible study, challenge, character, charity, Christian Life, Christianity, church, devotionals, disciples, eternal life, evangelism, example, facing challenges, Failure, faith, faithful, giving thanks, glory, glory to God, God, God’s grace, God’s promises, good news, gospel, grace, heaven, holy life, holy living, Holy Spirit, influence, inheritance, investigative, invitation, Jesus, Jesus Christ, John Wesley, judgement, judging, kindness, leadership, Life, mercy, methodism, methodist, ministry, miracles, mission, motivations, Motives, pastor, Prayer, prayer life, preach, preaching, priorities, proclaiming Christ, relationships, Savior, spiritual disciplines, thankful, transformation, trust, Truth, uncategoried, Worry, Worship, writing, youth ministry

  assurance of eternal life, eternal life, is tithing important, Jesus changes everything, John Wesley On the Use of Money, living a generous life, Luke 12:13-21, relationship with Christ, relationship with God, relationship with stuff, stewardship sermon series, storage unit industry, storing up too much, the generous life, tithing and Christian life, Wesley’s rules for use of money

• What’s Holding You Back?

  

  “Why do people get uncomfortable talking about stewardship?” This was a question we talked about last week. Last week we started a 3-week series on stewardship. We talked about not worrying about what we don’t have, or controlling our resources because everything we have is because of God and really is God’s anyway. Here is […]

  Ryan Stratton

  08/31/2018

  anxiety, belief, believe, bible, Blessings, body of Christ, challenge, character, charity, Christian Life, Christianity, church, compassion, control, conversion, disciples, eternal life, evangelism, example, Failure, faith, faithful, fear, gift, gifts, glory to God, God, God’s grace, good news, gospel, grace, holy life, holy living, Holy Spirit, influence, invitation, Jesus, Jesus Christ, John Wesley, leadership, Life, lifestyle, live, mercy, methodism, methodist, ministry, miracles, mission, new life, pastor, poor, possibilities, power, praise, Prayer, prayer life, preach, preaching, relationships, religion, renewal, repent, revival, serving, sharing our faith, Spirit, Spirit led, transformation, trials, trust, Truth, uncategoried, works, Worry, Worship, writing, youth ministry

  control in our lives, getting eternal life, getting into heaven, giving to the church, Jesus changes everything, kingdom of God is here, Mark 10:17-31; Gospel of mark, rich man and Jesus, Stewardship, stewardship sermon series

• Loving to Life Pt 1

  

  You’re in a new organization, work, church, community. You have studied the demographics and have learned about the history of the area. You are excited about the possibilities. Maybe you move to an area that you are not as keen on living in. You see a bleak future, or maybe one that seeks to keep […]

  Ryan Stratton

  06/29/2018

  answers, Apostle Paul, beauty, belief, believe, Bible, Blessings, career, challenge, Christian Life, Christianity, church, conversion, dying, eternal life, example, faith, faithful, God, God’s grace, God’s promises, good news, gospel, Holy Spirit, humanity, influence, invitation, Jesus, leadership, legacy, Life, methodism, methodist, ministry, mission, new life, pastor, praise, pray, Prayer, prayer life, prepare, resurrection, revival, series, transformation, trust, Truth, uncategoried, Work, Worship, writing, youth ministry

  blessing work, changing jobs, choosing life, Hebrews 3:15, John 10:10, joining God in his work, life to the fullest, listen to God, love to life, moving to a new area, new life in Christ, prayer is first, voice of God

• Taking a Stand

  

  Click here to read Acts 13:13-52. What is something you feel people need to hear? When we have something to say, do we always speak up? Or do we shy away? Sometimes we take the chances and sometimes we don’t. Paul and Barnabas were travelling and entered into the synagogue. The leader was reading from […]

  Ryan Stratton

  08/01/2017

  Apostle Paul, bible, Christian Life, Christianity, church, conflict, confrontation, devotionals, disciples, evangelism, faith, glory to God, God, God’s grace, God’s promises, good news, gospel, grace, Holy Spirit, influence, Jesus, Jesus Christ, leadership, mercy, methodism, methodist, ministry, mission, new life, Prayer, preach, preaching, prepare, proclaiming Christ, trust, Truth, uncategoried, worship, writing, youth ministry

  book of Acts, building people up, evangelism today, experience the Holy Spirit, God’s grace, learning the Old Testament, responding to grace, sharing our faith, stand up and speak, taking opportunities to speak, talking about grace

• People Can Change

  

  Read Acts 9:21:31 here. We all, I’m sure, have known people who say they are going to change. And then they relapse into whatever they needed to stop. It breaks our heart and we lose trust. We begin to learn that the person “cannot” change. The reality is people change when the desire for Christ […]

  Ryan Stratton

  07/11/2017

  Apostle Paul, apostles, attitudes, awakening, belief, Christian Life, Christianity, church, devotionals, disciples, faith, forgiven, Forgiveness, God, God’s grace, God’s promises, good news, gospel, grace, healing, Holy Spirit, influence, Jesus, Jesus Christ, mercy, methodism, methodist, ministry, mission, motivations, Prayer, reconciliation, redeemed, relationships, renewal, repent, revival, save, Savior, Spirit, spiritual transformation, transformation, trust, Truth, uncategoried, worship, writing, youth ministry

  Apostle Paul changed his heart, gift of God is eternal life, God is working, healing takes time, hitting rock bottom, love your neighbor as yourself, on a mision, people do change, pray for others, real encounter with Jesus Christ, transformation in Christ, wages of sin is death

• Praying as Community

  

  Click here to read the scripture for today: Acts 4:23-37. Peter and John have just been interrogated for their faith and belief in Jesus as the Christ, the Messiah, the Son of God. They could have easily went back and began a tirade of bashing the religious leaders; but they did something different. Instead of […]

  Ryan Stratton

  05/18/2017

  Apostle Peter, attitudes, awakening, belief, believe, belonging, Bible, calling, Christian Life, Christianity, church, devotionals, disciples, faith, God, God’s grace, God’s promises, good news, gospel, grace, holy life, Holy Spirit, influence, invitation, Jesus, Jesus Christ, kindness, Life, Lord, Love, mercy, methodism, methodist, ministry, mission, pastor, pray, Prayer, prayer life, priorities, reconciliation, relationships, religion, renewal, repent, revival, transformation, trust, Truth, uncategoried, Worship, writing, youth ministry

  awakening the Spirit within, benefitting others, book of Acts, change a person’s world, changing our hearts, changing the world, community of believers, God is present in our life, God’s work in the world, knowing God’s grace, loving others, make a difference in the world, praying together, sharing God’s grace

• Stand Firm in Grace

  

  Click here to read today’s scripture Acts 4:1-22. Peter and John have been on the move proclaiming the gospel truth of Jesus Christ. There have been many lives who have accepted the message and many more that were infuriated with the message they proclaimed. Is this something you can relate to? How would you do […]

  Ryan Stratton

  05/16/2017

  Apostle Peter, apostles, beauty, belief, believe, bible stories, bible study, character, Christian Life, Christianity, church, Communication, conflict, controversy, devotionals, evangelism, faith, fear, Forgiveness, freedom in Christ, gift, God, God’s grace, God’s promises, good news, gospel, grace, Holy Spirit, influence, invitation, Jesus, Jesus Christ, joy, judgement, judging, leadership, Love, maturity, mercy, methodism, methodist, mission, new life, preaching, prepare, renewal, repent, repentance, sharing our faith, transformation, trust, Truth, uncategoried, witness, world, writing, youth ministry

  being confident in the gospel, being questioned, book of Acts, Holy Spirit is leading, knowing Christ, leaning on God, praying to God, relationship with Christ, sharing our faith, standing firm in our witness, trusting God

• Motives

  As we take this time to journey through the book of Philippians, we can see Paul’s joy even though he’s been locked up. I’m sure there are people that are mocking him and saying all kinds of things about him; even possibly saying that others are better preachers than him just trying to get him […]

  Ryan Stratton

  03/17/2015

  Apostle Paul, believe, Bible, bible study, body of Christ, Challenges, character, Christian Life, Christianity, church, Communication, devotionals, evangelism, faith, faithful, faithfulness, glory of God, God, God’s grace, good news, gospel, grace, Holy Spirit, humanity, influence, Jesus, Jesus Christ, joy, judgement, Life, Love, mercy, methodism, methodist, Motives, new creation, new life, patience, Philippians, Prayer, proclaiming Christ, relationships, sharing our faith, Spirit, spiritual growth, Spirituality, transformation, witnessing, youth ministry

  Apostle Paul, book of Philippians, fruit of the spirit, glory of God, God, Good News of Jesus Christ, gospel of Jesus Christ, Holy Spirit, Jesus Chrust, live by faith, live differently, motivated by love, prioclaiming Christ, sharing our faith, trust Christ

• Influence

  Galatians 4:12-20 12 I beg you to be like me, brothers and sisters, because I have become like you! You haven’t wronged me. 13 You know that I first preached the gospel to you because of an illness. 14 Though my poor health burdened you, you didn’t look down on me or reject me, but you welcomed me as […]

  Ryan Stratton

  01/20/2015

  Apostle Paul, bible, bible study, Christian Life, Christianity, church, freedom, Galatians, God, good news, gospel, Holy Spirit, influence, Jesus Christ, Life, Love, proclaiming Christ, revival, spiritual growth, Spirituality

  Apostle Paul, book of Galatians, freedom in Christ, God, Good News of Jesus Christ, gospel of Jesus Christ, Jesus Christ, live by faith, live differently, live free, people of influence, person of influence, right motives, Trust God, Trust Jesus