Category: joy

• Discovering God through the book of Jonah (Part 2)

  

  The Book of Jonah teaches us A LOT about who God is. Chapter 2 forces us to focus and evaluate what we pray and believing God answers prayers.

  Ryan Stratton

  10/18/2019

  belief, believe, belonging, bible, Bible, bible stories, bible study, calling, character, Christian Life, Christianity, church, conflict, devotionals, disciples, eternal life, faith, faithful, family of God, glory to God, God, God’s grace, God’s promises, gospel, grace, Image of God, John Wesley, journaling, journey, joy, judgement, Life, mercy, methodism, methodist, power, praise, pray, Prayer, prayer life, preaching, priorities, priority, proclaiming Christ, renewal, repent, revival, transformation, trust, Truth, uncategoried, witnessing, worldview, worship, writing, youth ministry

  believing God, bible study on Jonah, God answers prayers, hear our prayer, how to pray, Jonah 2, Lord, power of prayer, power of the Holy Spirit, Who is God, who is Jesus?

• 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

• SENT OUT: to Make Disciples

  

  I invite you to click on this link to read our scripture for this week: Matthew 4:12-23. In our church we have been going through a 5 week sermon series called “SENT OUT.” Jesus invites his followers to go into the world on mission to help people experience the Kingdom of God here and now […]

  Ryan Stratton

  01/24/2017

  belief, believe, belonging, Bible, Christian Life, Christianity, church, confessing, confession, devotionals, disciples, eternal life, evangelism, faithful, gift, gifts, giving thanks, glory, glory to God, God, God’s grace, God’s promises, good news, gospel, grace, Holy Spirit, Identity, Image of God, invitation, Jesus, Jesus Christ, John Wesley, joy, leadership, learn, Life, Love, maturity, mercy, methodism, methodist, ministry, new creation, new life, pastor, peace, praise, Prayer, prayer life, preach, reconciliation, Relationships, religion, renewal, sharing our faith, Spirit led, spiritual gifts, spiritual growth, trust, Truth, uncategoried, worship, writing, youth ministry

  change the world, developing relationships, evangelizing in daily life, go into the world, gospel of Matthew, Great Commission, make disciples for Jesus Christ, redeeming the world, sharing our faith, Steve Jobs and Apple

• Finding Joy

  

  ADVENT WEEK 3: Joy How have you been taking the time to prepare to truly and fully celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ this year and prepare yourself for his return? What does this look like in your day to day life? Everything in our lives will not go as planned, and people will frustrate […]

  Ryan Stratton

  12/13/2016

  Advent, advent devotional, belief, believe, Bible, Blessings, Christian Life, Christianity, Christmas, Christmas story, church, conflict, controversy, devotionals, disciples, facing challenges, faith, fruit of the spirit, gift, glory to God, God, God’s grace, God’s promises, good news, gospel, grace, Holy Spirit, Jesus, Jesus Christ, joy, leadership, Life, Lord, Love, mercy, methodism, methodist, new creation, pastor, praise, Prayer, renewal, Spirit, spiritual gifts, trials, trust, Truth, uncategoried, writing, youth ministry

  advent devotional, experiencing joy, Gospel of Luke, Jesus gives joy, living a life for God, loving God, loving life, Mary’s song, new creations in Jesus Christ, seek him first, what God has done

• Putting Out Fires

  

  We are all busy people. There is just too much to do, too much to handle, too much to fix. It never fails that we cannot get ahead in our schedules. Why does this happen? A few weeks ago, I wrote about having too many “irons in the fire.” Today, let’s focus on why we […]

  Ryan Stratton

  12/01/2016

  Advent, Apostle Paul, career, Challenges, character, Christian Life, Christianity, Christmas, church, conflict, confrontation, control, faith, fear, God, God’s grace, good news, gospel, grace, Holy Spirit, Jesus, joy, leadership, mercy, methodism, methodist, mindset, ministry, pastor, priorities, priority, relationships, renewal, repent, revival, Savior, spiritual gifts, Spirituality, Temptation, trust, Truth, uncategoried, words, Work, world, Worship, writing, youth ministry

  body of Christ, each person has gifts, focus on the task at hand, Kingdom of God, place your trust in God, prioritize tasks at hand, putting out fires, reducing stress, the body of Christ, too many irons in the fire, too much stress, we are not lone rangers, we’re in this together, work with the Holy Spirit

• I Believe in the Victory of God

  

  Ancient Creed, Living Faith Blog Series Part 3 I invite you to take time to read the scriptures today. 1 Corinthians 15:1-28 Brothers and sisters, I want to call your attention to the good news that I preached to you, which you also received and in which you stand. You are being saved through it […]

  Ryan Stratton

  11/01/2016

  Apostle Paul, apostles, apostles creed, belief, believe, Bible, Christian Life, Christianity, church, confessing, control, disciples, eternal life, faith, forgiven, Forgiveness, gifts, glory, God, God’s grace, good news, gospel, grace, Holy Spirit, humanity, Jesus, Jesus Christ, joy, judgement, judging, Life, Love, methodism, methodist, ministry, new creation, passion, Philippians, preaching, proclaiming Christ, reconciliation, resurrection, righteous, Savior, series, transformation, trust, Truth, Uncategorized, witness, Wonder, Work, worldview, Worship, writing, youth ministry

  apostles creed, describe your life, Jesus ascended into heaven, Jesus Christ is alive, Jesus is the reigning King, Jesus is the righteous Judge, Jesus is the risen Lord, judge the living and the dead, live a victorious life, live joyfully, Philippians 4:13, power of God, resurrection people, right hand of God Almighty, third day he rose again, victory of God, victory of Jesus Christ

• Life Lived for Christ

  Max Lucado says, “think what you think about.” One of the things I appreciate about this is that is forces us to think about why we do the things that we do. Our life is supposed to show our love of God and love of people. Jesus said in John 13, “everyone will know you […]

  Ryan Stratton

  12/17/2015

  Advent, advent devotional, belief, bible, bible study, Christian Life, Christianity, Christmas, Christmas story, church, daily devotionals, devotionals, disciples, eternal life, faith, faithful, forgiven, Forgiveness, glory, glory of Christ, glory of God, glory to God, God, God’s grace, God’s promises, good news, gospel, Gospel of Luke, grace, Holy Spirit, Jesus, Jesus Christ, Jesus’birth, joy, Life, Lord, mercy, methodism, methodist, new creation, new life, pastor, praise, Prayer, preach, preaching, reconciliation, relationships, renewal, repent, Spirit, spiritual growth, spiritual transformation, Spirituality, transformation, trust, Truth, Uncategorized, worship, writing, youth ministry

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• Prayer Walk (Mark 10:46-52)

  Jesus and his disciples are walking from Jericho. Sometime today, tomorrow and the next day, I invite you to take a walk. Place yourself within this passage. It may be helpful to have a time limit, if you’re not used to doing an exercise like this. I used to not enjoy reading when I was […]

  Ryan Stratton

  10/28/2015

  beauty, belief, bible, bible study, Christian Life, Christianity, church, Creation, daily devotionals, devotionals, disciples, faith, God, good news, gospel, Gospel of Mark, Holy Spirit, hope, Jesus, Jesus Christ, joy, Life, Love, methodism, methodist, new creation, new life, Prayer, prayer life, renewal, revival, Spirit, spiritual growth, spiritual transformation, Spirituality, transformation

  bible, bible study, caring for our neighbor, Christian life, daily devotionals, devotionals, finding God in life, God, God changes us, Good News of Jesus Christ, gospel of Jesus Christ, Gospel of Mark, Holy Spirit, Jesus, Jesus Christ, Jesus healing Bartimaeus, making scripture come alive, new creation in Christ, new life, new life in Christ, pray without ceasing, prayer, prayer changes everything, prayer life, prayer walk, transform the world, transformation in Christ

• “Becoming Great”

  Mark 10:41-43  Now when the other ten disciples heard about this, they became angry with James and John. Jesus called them over and said, “You know that the ones who are considered the rulers by the Gentiles show off their authority over them and their high-ranking officials order them around. But that’s not the way it […]

  Ryan Stratton

  10/22/2015

  anger, belief, bible, bible study, Christian Life, Christianity, church, daily devotionals, devotionals, disciples, faith, glory of God, God, good news, gospel, Gospel of Mark, grace, Holy Spirit, hope, humility, Jesus, Jesus Christ, joy, Life, Love, methodism, methodist, new creation, new life, relationships, renewal, revival, serving, Spirit, spiritual growth, spiritual transformation, Spirituality, transformation, trust

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• Setting the Stage

  Mark 10:32-34 “Jesus and his disciples were on the road, going up to Jerusalem, with Jesus in the lead. The disciples were amazed while the others following behind were afraid. Taking the Twelve aside again, he told them what was about to happen to him. “Look!” he said. “We’re going up to Jerusalem. The Son […]

  Ryan Stratton

  10/19/2015

  belief, bible, bible study, Christian Life, Christianity, church, daily devotionals, devotionals, disciples, fear, God, good news, gospel, Gospel of Mark, grace, Holy Spirit, Jesus, Jesus Christ, joy, Life, methodism, methodist, new creation, new life, peace, planning, relationships, renewal, revival, Spirit, spiritual growth, spiritual transformation, Spirituality

  being afraid, Christian life, daily devotionals, devotionals, following Jesus, God, Good News of Jesus Christ, gospel of Jesus Christ, Gospel of Mark, Holy Spirit, Jesus Christ, Jesus predicts his death, life’s journeys, living our faith, new creation in Christ, new life, new life in Christ, setting the stage, transform the world, transformation in Christ, trust, Trust God, Trust Jesus