HOPE DEALER In Amishland

Last year I closed 2008 with a message called, "Miracles." Within the message I shared a few observations from the story that I thought would be great for everyone to live out all year long. Below are just a few thoughts that I believe will transform the way that you live if you put them into practice. I know that they have made a huge difference in my life! 1. Be A Person That BELIEVES The Best In Others. We all have a tendency to look for and believe the worst in others. Read any news story, gossip magazine and they are full of snap judgements that we read and take as gospel. What would happen if we refused to judge the motives of others and simply believed the best? It's not easy, but it's worth a try. 2. Be A Person of HUMILITY & HONOR. Do you honor the authority that God has placed in your life? Do you humble yourself in order to serve others. You may serve, but if you don't do so without an honorable and humble spirit, you won't get the

This year out theme was, "chasing the lion!" It has been all about taking risks and pursuing the dreams that God has given each of us. One of our dreams is to create an environment that connects with our community locally and to help others do that globally. Our goal is to help plant 25 churches over 5 years. As of today, we have reached our goal for $100,000 for this year!!!!! To date we have assisted planting 5 churches and we will be sending $7,000 towards our 6th church plant that will be established in India. Thank each of you who have given over this last year in tithes & offerings! It takes mo’ money for mo’ ministry and your investment has been absolutely amazing! This past year our church has grown in every aspect even in the midst of a recession! 215 people have made decisions to follow Jesus, 66 people have been water baptized and well over 600 people have made Freedom Life their church home! The numbers don’t tell all of the stories though. Marriages have

Wow! Thanks to each and every one of you for your generous spirit! Individually we can make a small difference, but together we can do so much more! As of today we have collected $90,779.53 toward our $100,000 Chase the Lion goal!!! That is absolutely fantastic and means we only have $9,121.47 to go this week! For those of you who have given already, thank you so much!! Together we have begun much needed upgrades to portions of our aging facility, sent missionaries around the world and have helped plant 5 churches! If you haven’t yet given to this important work or would still like to make a year-end donation, you can give online by c licking here . The last $7,000 will go toward our 6th church plant to be located in the nation of India. Also, please don’t give what you don’t have, by this I mean, DON’T go into debt to give! Give sacrificially or out of your abundance and God will provide for your needs. All giving needs to be done by by 11:59 p.m. on December 31st to be counted towa

This year we decided to go big & have 3 services for our Christmas Eve Celebration! The day started out great as I broke in my brand new wedding/funeral suit with a... wedding. After running around like crazy leading up to the services, I was feeling a little stressed to be quite honest. I got pumped when I walked through the doors and witnessed all of our leaders (people that serve) stepp'in it up big time. So many people took time out of their day to either prepare the table (the local church) or bring people to it! Almost 700 people filled our 3 services with 4 people making decisions to follow Christ! So thankful for a great team and a great church family that is passionate about doing whatever it takes to help people hear the good news of Jesus Christ! In all honesty, I'm pretty tired from this year, it's been full of a variety of challenges. It's been full because of another precious baby in our family! Even though I'm pretty tired, I'm also fee

"…"For unto us a child is born, unto us a Son is given; and the government will be upon His shoulder, and He will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace" (Isaiah 9:6) Lists seem to be synonymous with Christmas these days. In fact, I've been asking my kids about their Christmas wish lists for the last few months in preparation for the big day. They want so many different gifts that it's hard to keep up. The onslaught of advertising is a big reason that the lists continue to grow & grow & grow. T.V., Internet, Billboards & Radio reminding us all about the latest & greatest. Most of us are in full shopping mode attempting to get everything that we 'need ' for this special holiday. For the record, I have no problem buying gifts & sharing them with loved ones. In fact, I would like for you to think about buying me one today... teasing! Seriously though, consider your list today and ask your

Hey Everyone, The roads surrounding the church and our glorious parking lot will not be cleared enough to be considered safe for you and your family tonight, so we are canceling our attempt at a 4 pm service! I can barely get out of the parking lot right now & the sun hasn’t even gone down to cause it to freeze again yet. It’s a bummer but the wisest thing to do for our church family. We will have this weeks experience next week, complete with our kids singing, so don’t miss it! Also, plan on coming to one or more of our 3 Christmas Eve services @ 4 pm, 5:15 pm & 6:30 pm this week! You can still give your tithes & offerings by going online to our website at www.freedomlife.tv. We have collected over $73,000 towards our Chase The Lion goal & we are believing that we will reach our goal! Pray about what you can do to help us spread the good news! Thanks for your generous Spirit & faithful giving that enables us to reach around the corner & around the World! Hav

Hey everyone, I hope that you’re enjoying some serious snow fall! Wow! Here’s the deal. We are canceling our morning services, BUT we are going to do something that we’ve never done before. We are going to have one service at 4 p.m. , unless we still can’t get out of our driveways! :) We purposely chose 4 p.m. so that it would be late enough for the roads to clear, the kids to nap (& the eagles to lose… or win :) & early enough so that you can still keep all of your evening plans. Our guest saxophonist will be in the house, the children will still be singing & the worship team will be leading us. Also, I will be sharing part 2 of our series, "The purpose of Christmas!" We need all of our workers & children to arrive by 3:30 p.m. We will be spending some serious time & money making sure that our parking lot is ready so here’s how you can help… 1. Email everyone you know & encourage them to come out & experience God with us rather than shopping at

Today I read a great devotional from Joel Osteen Ministries that I thought would be an encouragement to you. To often we settle for mediocrity & second best in our lives. Many times I trust God for so little when He really wants to bless me big! I want to challenge you today to remember that God can do more in & through your life than what your currently believing for! Take a step & believe big today! TODAY'S SCRIPTURE "Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us, to Him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever" (Ephesians 3:20-21, NKJ) TODAY'S WORD from Joel and Victoria God wants to do exceedingly abundantly above all you can ever ask, think, or imagine. In another place, it says that no person has ever seen, heard, or even imagined the wonderful things that God has in store for those who love the Lord. But notice that it's according

This past weekend I shared the final part in our latest series, "The House Rules." Below are the notes that go along with the podcast which is available via iTunes. (search Freedom Life Christian Center) Build Your House On God’s Wisdom! (wisdom knowing what God wants you to do & choosing to do it) “By wisdom a house is built, and through understanding it is established...” Proverbs 24:3 Make a decision to build your house on agreement with God’s Word! “If a house is divided against itself, that house cannot stand.” Mark 3:25 "Again, I tell you that if two of you on earth agree about anything you ask for, it will be done for you by my Father in heaven. Matt. 18:19 1. You TEACH what you know, but you REPRODUCE who you are. 4 Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one. [a] 5 Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. 6 These commandments that I give you today are to be upon your hearts. 2. Keep it REAL.

Here is a great devotional from Joel Osteen ministries that I believe will encourage you. The antidote to the whine flu in our lives is to live lives of praise to God. Gratitude and thankfulness need to rule in our hearts as we acknowledge God's goodness to each of us. So go ahead and offer God your praise continually! Offer Praise Continually TODAY'S SCRIPTURE "Therefore, let us offer through Jesus a continual sacrifice of praise to God, proclaiming our allegiance to his name" (Hebrews 13:15, NLT) TODAY'S WORD from Joel and Victoria Praise is a powerful weapon. Many times in the Old Testament when God's people would go into battle, they would send the worshipers out first. That's because praise precedes the victory. When you live a life that offers Him continual praise, you are setting yourself up to see continual victory. Praise is more than just singing songs in church on Sunday. In fact, praise isn't even about singing songs. Praise is a heart a