Redemption for all

There is something wonderful about the message of Jesus Christ. Forgiveness comes to all who ask. Not just one singular time, but when we genuinely ask, time and time again. This Sunday we will look at scripture and see that we can even guard ourselves and walk holy.

We may not think we can, we may not think we could, but it's true for God's word is powerful and life changing. We can guard our actions and glorify God in the process. This is true living. Forgiven, not perfect, but striving and conscious to be the Church that God has called us to be. The key to all of this is seeking God...the bible states it in James 4 "Draw near to me, I will draw near to you."

God is not hard to get...It's us in our mind that is filled with doubt, fear,and guilt that keeps us from overcoming. Hide His word in your heart. Draw near to Him. Abide with Christ and watch how life changes ...even for the person who has followed Christ for awhile.

Blessings and I sincerely cannot wait for Sunday...Because the message of redemption is for everyone...What we tear up, God will build back.

Pastor Jay

Words are powerful

I heard some years ago about a study done by psychologists. They took a look at the power of words and how an insult or put down affects a person's well being. They found that for every negative word; it took seven positive words to heal it. They discovered a truth. They discovered a biblical truth..."Life and death are in the power of the tongue" - manifested in our words.

Consider the truth of God's all powerful word. Prov 18:21 (NASB) “Death and life are in the power of the tongue, And those who love it will eat its fruit.” Now don't dismiss this or be flippant about the power you possess. They are not just words. They are either death or life.

How do you talk to others? Specifically how do you talk to your family, your co-worker? You see that matters a lot. What are you seeding into them, death or life. How many of us, if we were really honest would take this power seriously and let it steer our thinking and steer our speaking so that we promoted life.

Pray and ask God to help you watch your tongue. Pray and ask God to guard your talk. Try to ensure that when you speak....God smiles.

Pastor Jay

The truth about how we feel

I'm an emotional guy - there, I've said it...I get hyped, excited, jazzed, happy - but I also get depressed, frustrated, angry, and sometimes, I even cry(okay - a lot of sometimes).

But a good question for all of us to be asking ourselves is are our emotions controlling us, or are we in control of our emotions.

Come check out the message this Sunday or listen online next week at horizonschurch.com as I'll be sharing 2 lies and one truth about our emotions.

Talk at you soon.

Pastor Rich

How I Think

I'm sure most of us are glad that people don't see all of our thoughts. Often, our mind is a battleground. It's why I love the scripture that says, we have the mind of Christ(1 Corinthians 2:16).

We all struggle with how we think about things, and that struggle is often a process of seeking a God orientation about what our view should be. We deal with this every day, it's just that some days are more difficult than others.

On 9/11, most of us in the Washington DC area were confronted with some very challenging thoughts. I know my thoughts affected me that day. For some period of time I was paralyzed by my own thoughts about what was taking place and by the horror that I was viewing on my TV screen. How do we cope with our thoughts? What boundaries/guardrails can we put in place before the moment of crises, temptation, struggle that can protect us and guide us through the challenging moment.

Come join us this Sunday as we reflect and remember the heroes and the loss of 9/11; and as we begin a new sermon series - Guardrails. I'll be preaching about How I/We Think.

See you Sunday

Pastor Rich