Family Life Church of Leesville, LA

When we were growing up we all had someone that we looked up to. Someone we wanted to be like. That’s good and all to want to be like them but we need to remember that we still need to be ourselves. Because that’s who God called. When He called you He did exactly that. He called YOU. So as we discuss this morning our roles as living disciples of Jesus Christ we first need to know who it is that we are. Not our talents, our skills, or even our jobs say who we are because when those things are no more then who are you. It’s who God has already made us to be.

God will speak to you and He will use you. Even if you may not “look” the part or be the perfect person, God can use you for His purposes. That’s one of the things that the religious struggle with from day to day. They hold this idea that if you don’t meet or live up to a certain criteria then God will have nothing to do with you. This could not be further from the truth. Example: Look at Jonah. He was running from God. Yet God would not relent until He had him. God met Jonah where he was at and pursued him. God will do the same for you. And He has done it through Jesus Christ.

Have you ever received odd looks from people because of who you hang out with? That’s exactly what constantly happened when Jesus would spend time with “the unlovable”. Zaccheus would have been considered one of the most hated people in his time because he was a Jew who became a chief tax collector. He was viewed this way because he was working for the enemy and taking money from his own people. But when Jesus set aside time just to be with him when no one else would it changed him. That little gesture brought about repentance. That’s the exact thing that we as disciples should be doing. We should be reaching out to those who have been rejected.

How did the religious people of Jesus’ time view sinners? They saw them as the worst people out there. They saw sinners as a people who had no chance of being with God. Not only did they see sinners as the lowest of people but they also viewed them and treated them in the same manner. Which brings me the bigger question. How do we as the modern Church view these same sinners? How do we treat them? When they come near us does it seem like were “carrying a sign” that says stay back 50 feet? As followers of Christ we should be welcoming these people to follow us, to hang with us, to join us on different activities. Not because it’s the right thing to do but because it is what our Savior Jesus would do. So join us this week as we begin a new and exciting teaching!

Come and join us this week as we celebrate Resurrection Sunday.

We need to be a people whose word means something. So many people don't trust or believe what the other says because so many of the examples we have today do not stand by their words making their own words of no meaning. This week we take a lesson on this matter from Joshua. So I urge you all to tune into this weeks message and join us in learning what it means to mean what you say.

I know. It's the subject that most people don't ever want to talk about. How many times have you met someone where they said, "They just want my money."? Have you ever not went to your favorite restaurant because "they just want your money"? Of course not! That would just be silly. So why do we have that attitude when it comes to church? It does take money to make things work but don't forget. It's not just about money. So check out this weeks message and be blessed by it.

Don't you wish this year was greater than last? Isn't that what we all kind of want every year? It is possible that this new year be greater than last. It can be guranteed. How can we gurantee that you may ask. Check out this weeks new message and you will have the answer and be blessed by it.

God has called us to many things in our walks. One of those things is to be compassionate. Many times we find ourselves in a situation where we are faced with a decision. Normally it’s the choice that is easy and the choice that is right. Many of times we want to make the choice that is easy because it normally doesn’t cost us anything. Showing compassion normally requires some sort of sacrifice. So let’s check out this weeks message and find out exactly how God sees fit for us being compassionate.

Over the past couple of weeks we have been learning about missed connections and how they may affect our lives and the opportunites and doors that God is wanting to open and close for us. So join us this week as the conclusion to it all is being preached.

Do you remember those times in your life when you had to make a decision and choose to change something? Honestly most of us would much rather keep things the way they are before we allow change into our lives even if it is for the better or not. Well this weeks message will cause you to rethink about allowing for change in your life because how many times have we missed a connection because we were too comfortable with our life to make a change that God was calling us to? So join us this morning and be blessed.

How many times have we missed a divine connection due to the compromises and distractions that we’ve made or allowed in our lives? This week as we begin this new journey we will take a look at someone in the Scriptures who allowed many distractions and made many compromises in his life that furthered himself away from God but even then he still found a way back to God.

Do you know how to contend? What should you contend for? We seem to contend for the things that mean the most to us. Our families, jobs, friends, etc. What about our faith? Do we contend for that? We should. Check out this weeks message and you will be equipped and ready to take your faith into this world and contend for it.

We've all been there at some point. You go to Church or God does something amazing and your faith is increased exponentially. But then as a few days go by life starts pressing in on you again. Your faith begins to become weakend. Check out this weeks message and you'll see how you can get out of this vicious cycle.

God has given us many abilities. One of the greatest that He has given us is knowing His will. We all have the ability to know the will of the Father. It’s called His Word (the Bible). The Father has called us to be willing vessels to do His work for the Kingdom. It’s not just a few people. It’s not only your pastor, the deacons, or even the leadership. It’s ALL of us. God has chosen all of us for His purposes. We must no longer have the mentality that someone else will do it and instead we need to be the ones to do it. Go witness to somebody and be a light in their lives.

Do you think at times we may get too caught up with the things that God requires from us? It seems that we too often reach that point in our walk with Christ that we begin trying to DO instead of just BEING. We were never meant to do all these things on our own. God purposed us to depend on Him so that we wouldn’t have to struggle trying to DO. But when we turn to Him instead it becomes very natural for us to BE what God has called us to BE.

What is our perspective when someone ends up leaving Jesus for whatever reason? Do we look down on them with the thoughts of, “I can’t believe they’ve fallen and left Jesus the way they have done.”? Do we choose to have nothing more to do with them from that point forward? Maybe we should have the hope that one day they will see how they have squandered what God has given them and choose to return to Jesus and the Kingdom. Hopefully we are participating in the latter. So check out this awesome message that God speaks to us through His magnificent Word!

What have you done? This is the question that we must all ask ourselves. Are we really doing what God wants us to? Did you share Jesus with that person you ran into at the store? Did you show kindness to someone when they were rude toward you? Did you lend a helping hand to someone in need or did you instead hand them an excuse as to why you couldn’t help? At the close of everyday we should ask ourselves, “What have I done?”

This week is the final message of "The Ability Of God" series. We have said it continuously over and over. Gods ability is shown to others through us by Him and we should be that example that they all look to because it is Jesus that they are seeing. It doesn't matter who we are or where we come from or what mistakes we may have made God can still use us for His purposes. So join us and allow your life to be revolutionized by the Word of God.

Everything depends on the foundation. If you have a weak foundation whatever you choose to place upon it will not last and will eventually fall. But if you have that strong foundation that is heavily grounded in the Word then your faith will continue to persist and endure. So join us in this weeks message and be equipped.

The past couple of weeks we’ve discussed the ability of God and what He is able to do for us such as salvation, redemption, and restoration. This week we will be seeing how the ability of God works IN us.

Too often we’ll get thinking I don’t have the ability to do this or to do that. There’s no hope for me. Why do we think that there are things that God can not do for us? God has the ability to help us with however big or small a situation may be. He is able. That IS the ability of God.

Join us for this weeks newest message as we look at the abilities of God. How do we see the abilities of God? How do we view them in our lives? Do our views of God’s abilities match with the Scriptures or do our views of His abilities attempt to make Him smaller than He is? If His abilities speak that He can do all then we should view Him as being able to do all.

The more time that you spend with someone the more you tend to become like that person. Your attitude, your language, your thoughts, your actions, everything. You begin to abide in that person. It’s the same with Jesus. The more time we spend with Him in prayer, reading His Word, fellowshipping with His people. The more we do these things the more we begin to abide in Him and take His appearance. So we ask you to join us and abide in this message and continue to Abide In Christ.

It's been a wonderful journey as we have traveled together and studied about how amazing God's grace is. How it empowers and enables us. This is the conclusion to our series "Too Good To Be True". But never forget...God's grace is so good it has to be true. Join us and check out this weeks new message.

Help! Help! How often do we actually ask for help? Why do we feel the need not to ask anyone for help when we know that we're in need of it? Sure, you may not want to ask just anyone for help. But of all places, the church should be the one place that we should be able to ask for help. As the church, we have failed at times by being judgemental of those who come to us and ask for help. Instead of giving help we have given a glare of the eyes to some. But no more. We should be there for our brothers and sisters when they are reaching out to us for help. So check out this weeks new message as we take a closer look.

When someone was trying to make a point did you ever miss what it was they were trying to tell you? Looking back can you think of any times when you may have missed a connection due to you not wanting to take the time or allow change to enter your life? Honestly most of us don't want anything to disrupt our lives. We would rather keep things the way they are instead of allowing change into our lives even if it is for the better. Well this message will make you rethink that. So join us this morning and be blessed.

Too many times we give excuses as to why we are unable to do what God has said for us to do rather than to do what it is that God has called us to do. Why not get up and go like Jesus says for us to? Wouldn’t it be much easier than spending our time looking for the next excuse for us to remain as we are? Grace is that tool that God uses to empower us to move forward and make that change. So join us this day and hear the Word of the Lord and drop the excuses.

We've said it before: Most things in this world have taught us that if it seems too good to be true then it probably is. But the promises that God gives us are so good they have to be true. It is His grace that He has given us through Christ that enables us to do what He has called us to.

There are many of things that grace always does for us. More than what we realize or acknowledge. But in this weeks message we are going to take a closer look at only three of these things that grace always does. What are they? You'll have to tune in to this week's message.