At the base of our brain stem there is a cluster of nerve cells called the reticular activating system (RAS for short). In short, the RAS determines what gets noticed and what goes unnoticed. Think of it like a mental security system telling you what is a priority and what you can overlook today. Last year I focused on the word: generosity. All year long I noticed acts of generosity, generous people, and books to focus on being generous. In 2 Corinthians 9, the Apostle Paul wrote to the church in Corinth about being a generous group of people. Listen in as we talk about what it means to steward our money and not possess it.
In today's message, guest speaker, Mike Encoe, teaches on prayer from the perspective of how the Lord prays for us. God gives good gifts to His children, and His good gifts are better than our best prayers. We'll learn that the best way to lean in to prayer is to just do it!
Have you seen the Bible transform a person’s life? Have you seen its pages become alive to the reader and guide the life of a person? I remember giving my life to Jesus but having no clue where or what to read in Scripture. One day someone gave me some guidance on where to read in the Bible; it was life changing! I began to consume God’s word. I began reading parts of the Bible that I have never understood, I didn’t completely understand them but I was not afraid of them anymore. The Bible gives us life! Listen in as Pastor Neal Benson teaches from Psalm 19 and encourages us to lean in to Scripture. For five weeks we are going to lean in to different aspects of the Christian faith. We’re going to start off by leaning in to Scripture. If today is your first time with Coastline we want to personally welcome you. Our church is all about helping people find and follow Jesus. Coastline is a safe place to learn about the truth of God.
Today our elders taught on Coastline's seven core values! No matter if you've been attending Coastline for two weeks, two months, two years, or two decades, this is a great message for everyone!
Quite often when we see a stump we think the tree is dead. But that isn’t always the case. Many times there is still life in the roots and the stump will sprout a shoot that will take off. Isaiah 11 is a passage that brought hope to Israel because they thought their legacy was finished. Isaiah teaches Israel about the coming of the Messiah through three illustrations: agriculture, judicial, and creation. Listen in as Pastor Neal teaches us how Jesus came to restore our brokenness and give us hope in this time.
One of my favorite Christmas movies is the classic Home Alone. Kevin, played by McCaulay Culkin, is left at home by his family while they travel to France. Kevin’s mother is distraught about the situation. It reminds me of what is taking place 2700 years earlier in Israel. In Isaiah 9 we read that God’s people were in distress and looking for hope. Isaiah teaches us about the character and nature of Jesus Christ. Listen in as Pastor Neal Benson teaches us how in our distress the eternal king brings us peace.
In the Christmas season it seems everyone is searching for something. Around 700 BC the people of Israel were searching for hope in a desperate situation. The King of Assyria was planning to attack the region of Israel. King Ahaz had allied himself with two local kings to increase his odds of survival. At this point the prophet Isaiah approaches Ahaz and encourages him with a word from the Lord. He spoke truth to the young king to help him thrive in his role in leading God’s people. Unfortunately, the king didn’t heed the wisdom of the Lord and led God’s people astray. Keep in mind that the words of Isaiah were spoken about 700 years before Jesus was born. Grab your Bible and open it to Isaiah 7 as Pastor Neal Benson preaches on finding hope for the hopeless.
Guest speaker, Bert Alcorn, kicks off our Christmas series, Searching for Christmas, with a message about hope. As we look at several Scriptures on hope, we'll see that Jesus is the hope of the world. The call of Christmas is for us to look back on God's faithfulness in sending Jesus, and to look forward to our hope of glory where God will liberate humanity and the entire universe from evil. Jesus has come and is coming again!
The conclusion of the book of Judges is one of the most gruesome chapters in all of Scripture. We read about a woman who treated as an object and lost her life. Her marriage to her husband should be shocking to us in the fact that he was a Levite. Her death led to a civil war in Israel which lead to more sin. It is interesting that such horrific events are what caused Israel to work in unity for the first time since Judges 3. The story reads like Israel was trying to solve their sin problem with a sin problem. The conclusion of Judges is like being stuck in a dark tunnel and feeling very hopeless. The story is meant to leave us longing for a hero without flaws. The book of Judges is intended to push our eyes, and heart, to the New Testament to find Jesus. We need a better leader than what has been presented. We need an eternal King! Listen in as Pastor Neal Benson teaches on finding hope in our darkest times.
The final five chapters of Judges are different from the first sixteen chapters. We are no longer looking at any particular judge or leader. The literary style remains a historical narrative but from a different perspective. Instead of getting the 30,000 foot view as we experienced with judges like Deborah, Gideon, and Samson, we're going to shift to a ground level perspective and see what was really happening in Israel. Today we read about Micah, a wayward Levite, and Dan, an unfaithful tribe. Together they will all teach us that believing in God is not the same as knowing God. Listen in as Pastor Neal Benson teaches from Judges 17-18.