Pastor Jim was back and gave his 24th installment of his study on the book of Romans called “Unveiled Grace: The Dominion of Grace.” By now, the congregants that have been following Pastor Jim’s teaching on Romans should have a clear understanding of what justification is and what it means to the believer. There are many benefits to this justification. It’s a gift of New Testament righteousness. But this righteousness is something you must be established in. And fortunately, by the time this study on Romans has been completed, you absolutely will have been established in it. Because, as Pastor Jim said, “I’ve been hammering it and hammering it and hammering it!” 

Pastor Mac gave a message entitled, “How to Finish the Year Strong.” We’re at the end of the year and many use this time as an occasion to pray about what the Lord would have them do in the coming year…to set their sail in Christ, so to speak. They want the Lord to help them identify the marks they are to press toward in order to finish their race. To that end, Pastor Mac spoke to us about “finishing strong.”

Special guest Dr. James Tan continued his message entitled, “Releasing the Anointing.” He used Hebrews 5:14 as his text: “But solid food belongs to those who are of full age, that is, those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil.” Dr. James said, “This tells us there is solid food available, but it only belongs to those who are full age.” If there is full age, then that means these is a half age, or partial age, or young age. God’s goal for us is that we grow and mature into “full age.”

This past weekend, Pastor Mac gave the last message in his series entitled, “The Vision Imperative.” Since it was the last message, that made it “Commitment Sunday.” He talked about commitment being the final step to whatever we need or desire from the Lord. Without commitment, he said, not much is going to happen in your life. Many people avoid commitment and, instead, are always seeking the proverbial “backdoor” of a situation. Pastor Mac said, “You can’t go through life that way. The only blessed person is a committed person.”

Pastor Mac gave his fourth installment in his vision series, “The Vision Imperative.” The whole objective for this year’s vision series is designed for the purpose of setting our sails for the coming year in order to establish our goals and objectives as a local church for what God’s called us to do. And then, individually, you too must sharpen and clarify God’s vision in your own life and how it will fit into the larger vision of the local church. This is the very thing that will cause your life to “Come Alive!” After all, Proverbs 29:18 says, “Where there is no vision, the people perish!”