Lifecoast Church

Elder James brings the 3rd message in our Core Values Series, Grace. Grace changes how we see and how we act.

Pride promises to make us bigger, better, and more important, but only makes us smaller and meaner. Its destructive and It keeps us from meaningful relationships, and it more than anything it keeps us from experiencing God the way we should. Its Pride! Most often overlooked in church, but probably the most important sin we need to contend with. And Jesus has shown us the way for us to Kill it, and live rich and fulfilling lives.

Why is it that God's people can so readily receive unconditional grace from God, yet be so stingy to hand it out to one another? Even though Jesus came to free us from religious bondage, we are so easy to dispense religious demands and expectations. Find out how Jesus gave us a new command that will rid all our relationships of religious behavior....and empower us to be Grace Dispensers.

If religion is from the enemy and rooted in the flesh, and if "doing good things to please God" is religious behavior, then where does the Law come in? Isn't the Law good? How do we keep the commands of God but stay free from religion? Don't miss this message!

We live in an emotionally driven culture. With Reality T.V. being our guide to life, and social media immersing us with comparison and competition with others, most of our actions today are driven out of emotion. In fact, most of our thinking, about us, others and even God are driven out of emotion. In this series we'll discuss how God made it possible to keep our emotions in check through the Spirit, so that our thoughts, actions and even our theology can be in their proper place.

The Thessalonian Church had questions about the order of events to come. Paul warned them about being deceived by false teaching but to recall what he had taught them. God did not appoint the church to suffer wrath but salvation. We to should understand the promise of God and this should be reflected in our words and our works.

How does a believer purge his life of those pesky sins? Hard work and discipline? Or does God have a different plan? Check out God's better way to drive out sin...that could not only transform your life, but others around you as well!

How does a believer purge his life of those pesky sins? Hard work and discipline? Or does God have a different plan? Check out God's better way to drive out sin...that could not only transform your life, but others around you as well!

How can we be a pure church in the midst of an impure world? Check it out!

Join us as Holly Wehde brings a vulnerable and transparent message of hope and encouragement to parents. Drop the heavy load and pressure. Raising kids is less about rules and demands and all about grace.

Samson got his act together and led Israel for 20 good years. But then it all came crashing down around him. Today Josh Toro shows us how easily we can lose everything, but it never happens over night. Destruction usually happens in the many small steps we take away from God.

We get in trouble when our lives are driven by emotions. They always lead us to a path of destruction. Today Lifecoaster James Allen shows us how Samson’s emotions of anger and pride allowed him to get revenge on his adversaries, but always at the cost of those close to him. How do we take our deepest needs that tend to drive emotions and take them to God instead so they can be fulfilled by Him?

Samson was an incredibly strong man with a dangerously weak will. Today Pastor Mike shows us the three attitudes that make strong men weak- lust, entitlement, and pride, the very things that bring even the best men down to destruction. But Jesus wants to make weak men strong, to be able to fight for the right things, and stand in the gap for this hurting world. Will you be that man?

We live in a world of proud independence. Even those who believe in God tend to stay disconnected from the Church. Many have given up on church altogether, for various reasons. Join Pastor Mike as he shares 6 vital elements of church found in Acts 2, that make it the most exciting place to be on the planet - a place you wouldn't want to miss for anything. The best thing is that those things are evident today...and they can change your life! Its time to get to church!

There are many reasons that believers don't share their faith in Jesus with others. Truth is, most simply don't! However, if the truths that we believe about Jesus are indeed true, then there should be no reason good enough NOT to share our faith. Jesus truly Is the Savior. Heaven really IS that good. Hell really IS real, and CAN be avoided. And if we truly have a God who lives within us - these truths would just come bubbling out. Its time for believers to press in and Tell the World!

Our money says, "In God We Trust," but why does it seem to be the least thing we trust God with? If we understood who owns it all, and who so generously gives it to us in the first place, we might have a different perspective on what it is truly to be used for. And when we "get it," our money problems will be no more.

Do you believe in God, yet you worry about everything? Most people don't realize that faith and worry do not go together. In fact, worry actually diminishes faith, and it can paralyze the hand of God from working in your life. How do you stop? How do you go from worry-filled to faith-driven? Holly Wehde uses the Apostle Paul and great personal stories to show us how.

In a broken world, most have been hurt by others many times by the time they become an adult. And finding an ability to forgive can seem impossible. Though finding God's love can be so healing to us, true healing can only come when we come to forgive those who have hurt us. There is freedom not just in accepting God's forgiveness, but complete healing in forgiving others. Its what we need...and its what the world needs to see.

Do you believe that prayer works, but you rarely pray? Many Christians participate in less than 10 minutes of prayer a week, even though they know God answers our prayers. Today Pastor Mike shows us two key ingredients to a powerful and effective prayer life?

Many claim to "know" Jesus, but not as many take the time to get to know Him, and as a result, they don't really "know" Him. God desires so much more, seeking to have a relationship with us, and to fill us with purpose and fulfillment. But if we do not take the step to know Him more, we live just like the rest of the world, and never experience all that He has for us.

Today, we are always compelled to take sides over popular issues, and make judgments based on people's actions or sins. But Jesus refused to give in to position taking, and He always approached the sinner with grace and truth, with a heart of love. Pastor Jeff shows us how to do this in our lives, and the key is remembering who we really are, and what has been freely given to us, and should be freely given to others.

Jesus walked this earth with a perfect balance of Grace and Truth, and brought life to those He encountered. How did He do it, while we tend to struggle in such relationships. The answer is in the Tree that Jesus from which Jesus drew His source. Listen as Pastor Mike describes the 2 Trees found in Genesis, and how we tend to live from the wrong one. If you want to experience life, you have to be living in the Tree of Life.

How do you walk in grace and truth? It seems we always seem to lean one way or the other. We either turn someone away with truth, or leave others feeling no need to change because of grace. Jesus modeled the perfect balance of the two, and experienced perfect results, with the woman at the well.

How do you help change a hurting world? Our task is not to try and change them...but simply to live out the grace that has changed us. If we allow the Grace of Jesus to fill us...then we can freely give it away to the world around us. Live it out, then give it out freely, as its been freely given to us.

If God's Grace is so transformational, why do we see so little of it in His Church? At times it seems like you could find more grace at WalMart than you can among God's people at Church? The truth is - relationships are hard, and people are all sinners. So how do we learn how to live in grace with one another? How do go from being people in need of grace to grace givers?

For all that Jesus Christ has done for us, it should be easy for us to want to do things for Him. But sometimes our focus becomes the tasks we are doing, instead of the One we are doing them for. And in the end we end up feeling exhausted and unappreciated. But Jesus didn't tell us to produce fruit for Him. Instead He told us to just remain in Him, like branches on a vine. In the abiding, He produces all the fruit through us that He desires, filling us with joy! Abiding in His grace...works!

After our messages on Salvation through Grace and then understanding that Grace throws away the "score card" use for ourselves, the place to go next is what is our next step? The next step is to just let Grace do its work. It seems easy and satan tries to lead us back to our list of DOs and DONT'S. letting Grace do its work is an Inside Out process. We first must completely surrender our will over to The Spirit within us and begin the process of learning to hear His voice. It all begins with surrender.

Probably the biggest problem believers contend with after salvation is the idea that there still is nothing left to do to please God. We know by grace He was happy at the cross to let us into heaven, but we're not altogether sure how to keep Him happy until we get there. We are a people of works, and we develop lists of do's and dont's to "add to" grace.. hoping its enough to please Him. Pastor Mike shows us how the lists don't work, and in fact, how they have a negative effect on us all. We cannot do one thing to make God love us any more, and we cannot do one thing to make God love us any less. He's just plain happy...because of grace alone.

From the very beginning, right up until the coming of Jesus, Grace has been God’s plan. Sin has riddled us, and seeks to drive us far away from God. And our natural bent is to “make up” the difference for our shortcoming by working hard at getting better. We’ll join a religion, and try to “look” better, or be better, but in the end, it all falls short. Nothing helps this guilty conscience of ours. But God, because He is love, Graced man with an alternative to his works - His Son – and we have to do nothing to earn His pleasure and satisfaction. Grace Works. And He is pleased to tell you – there is nothing else you have to do, all the work is done.

For most of us, we learn about grace as that ticket God purchased for us to be used later when we die to get into Heaven. But what if it were more than that? We can look around and see a world, and a church, that is riddled with a lack of Grace. Religion is everywhere – with it’s Do’s and Be’s, and guilt and shame. But it never really helps us get better, and our churches many times look just like the world. What we have found is that unless we have learned to receive God's grace - we won't be able to give it to others. What if we began to jump head first into understanding God’s Grace, and allow it not only to change us, but become the very tool that changes those around us on a daily basis? What could a Holy Spirit do in this world, and in our church, if we became tools of grace for Him to use?

Do guardrails really work? Pastor Mike & Holly share several of the guardrails they've built into their lives from the dating years, money, fighting and parenting. Your guardrails may look a little different, but the bigger lesson is the need to be intentional about setting up guardrails. You'll thank yourself for doing so some day, as God blesses you with a rich marriage. The prudent see danger and take refuge,
but the simple keep going and suffer for it.
-Proverbs 27:12

Contrary to popular opinion, God does not want something from you, he wants something for you. And nowhere is that more true than with your finances. Then why are we so insistent on separating our faith and our finances? What kinds of guardrails need to go up in order to protect us from financial disaster?

If there is one area in your life that absolutely needs some guardrails, this is probably it…our sexuality! Sexual Disasters are the most difficult to recover from….as we carry the baggage of our mistakes, or others, with us for a very long time. Guardrails in this area are the most needed, but it is the most resisted area of all. Fortunately, the Bible is pretty clear on how we should approach it: FLEE! Join Pastor Mike as he gives us some guidelines for establishing Guardrails in this area of our lives!

Friendships are powerful things. They're great, but dangerous. You drop your guard with your friends. You become less careful. And as a result, you're easily influenced, drawn toward the acceptance you find. Because of this vulnerability, it would be smart to develop some guardrails. It's not an easy…

Nobody plans to wreck their marriage. Nobody plans to ruin his or her finances. Nobody plans to struggle with an addiction. What steps do you take to make sure these things don't happen? You can tell yourself that you'll "be careful," but we all know that doesn't protect us. Today Pastor Mike shows us the importance of guardrails and how God wants to use them to make sure we live victoriously for Him!

If the world is to know that we are Jesus' disciples by our love, then what does that love need to look like? We all have limits to our love for others, especially if those "others" are our enemies. Its natural. But Jesus shows us how to have a love without limits, even for our enemies, by looking at people in a different way. As we close the series, we learn one of the most important truths of our journey - What does a love that changes the world look like?

Looking for loopholes comes naturally. Whether it's eating all of our vegetables or being home by curfew, no one has to teach us that there is a difference between the letter of the law and the spirit of the law. Jesus had a new perspective on rules and loopholes. Today Brian Kingsley shows us that the difference between a Christian and a Disciple may be the one question we ask ourselves each day!

Many times we do not realize how we communicate to others who we are or what we believe. And if the world were to look at the Church, it certainly would be confused by the message we are sending by how poorly we communicate. Chris Irwin shows us how Jesus, the perfect, eternal expression of God's love to us, communicated with a perfect balance of grace and truth, and how we can use love to do the same to a word around us.

In this series we are looking at the difference between the terms "christian" and "disciple," and what our true mandate is as followers of Christ. Today Pastor Mike compares modern day Christianity to the one-a-day vitamins. Many think that if we just "add" Jesus to our already chaotic and unhealthy lives, everything will get better. The problem is that Jesus never wanted to be an additive to our lives. He actually wanted to "subtract" from them...and change them altogether. True discipleship is when we live to make Him greater, and us less.

"Christian" is a brand that can be good, bad, attractive, or repelling. It's a loaded label no matter whom you ask. But where did the word come from? And did it come with instructions? Today Pastor Jeff reexamines the word "Christian" and revisits the one thing Jesus wanted his followers to be known for. Does this characterize who we are?

Today Pastor Jeff brings us to the end of the Tribulation - to the Return of the King of Kings. What are the events of the final days that lead up to that time? How will wars in the Holy Land bring about His Return? The 2nd Coming of Jesus will bring final peace to the world - as He ushers it into the Millenial Kingdom, with us by His side. Are you looking forward to the Return of the King?

We finish our End Times Series by talking about the Millennial Kingdom and our final desitination - Heaven. What will it be like? What will WE be like? Will we get wings and a harp? Is it really something we can be excited about now? And a place we can get excited about inviting others? Yes..and more!

Today Pastor Mike walks us through the 7 Year Tribulation of the Bible. It's a time of devastation on the Earth. But what is it all about, and why must it happen? And what does God want us to do about it? There's a powerful message of hope in here for us today, as God always offers an opportunity to avoid catastrophe and trust in Him!

The Bible speaks of one man who will rule the world in the End Times, a man who will win over the entire remaining world with his intellect and charisma. Today Pastor Jeff teaches about the Antichrist to come, and who he might be, and where he might come from. But more importantly, he helps us identify how to identify the antichrists that are distracting us from Jesus Christ today.

Alex Hill, Lt. Col., brings our 5th message of the series concerning America in Prophecy. Since our nation is not specifically mentioned in the Bible, some have wondered if America will even be hear in the End Times. Or maybe we will be joined with other nations at that time. Though we cannot know specifically, we can study the spiritual climate of our nation's past and present, and hear God's challenge from His word on how we should proceed into the future....on our knees!

Today Pastor Mike teaches all about the Rapture of the Church, that event when Jesus comes back, in an unexpected and sudden moment, and His followers are "caught up" to meet Him. At that time, we will be changed and will go to be with Him forever! The rapture and resurrection of believers should give us great encouragement, for when we go through trials and pain, and a great challenge to live in such a way that we would be ready forHis Return. We're going UP! Are you ready?

Pastor Mike continued our End Times series by teaching on "Islamic Terrorism." Many beleivers know very little about Islam and their beliefs on the end times...and just how "similar" they are to the Bible. But if we get a handle on their beliefs, and how they operate based on thier beliefs in the end times, then we can not only understand their actions, we can respond to them as Jesus would.

Pastor Jeff begins our series teaching on the "Israeli Connection." Understanding the history of Israel, God's covenant with Abraham, and His promises are very important to understanding our times today. And to know God never goes back on His promises gives us great encouragement for our own lives!

Today guest speaker, and Lifecoaster Chris Irwin brings a powerful message from personal experience and Scripture about the necessity of surrender in our lives. There are times when the Lord desires us to come to the end of ourselves, in order for Him to do His best work in us!

Today we look at how and why the Holy Spirit leads us! Sometimes we tend to take Him on our journey and goals for life, when we need to stop and make sure we are walking in His plan for our lives! What's His purpose for us? Where is He taking us? How can we work WITH Him instead of against Him? Listen in and find out how to follow YOUR Best Friend.