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1. Peace Costs a Great Price (vs. 19-20) 2. Peace Compels Followers of Jesus to be Faithful (vs. 21-23) 3. Peace Comes by Faith in the Resurrected Christ (vs. 24-31)

Alastair talks about Paul’s message to the Corinthians regarding the resurrection of the dead and the challenge to believe in truth today.

Jesus has promised to return to the Earth. He brings His Kingdom. All those who've heard Him, who are trusting Him, following Him, are to be faithful in whatever He has delivered to us. It seems nonsensical to suggest we follow Jesus, the crucified Messiah of Israel, risen from the dead, while also trying to 'live our best life now'. Jesus is greater. His Kingdom is stronger and more wonderful still. We demonstrate our trust in Jesus and His Words by the choices we make with our lives. Not simply the small insignificant ones but the major, central direction of our lives and the thigns to which we give the greatest precendence. Jesus has rescued sinners. He still does. Let us cling to Him. These thoughts shared by Jason Stuart Percy at Refuge TLH in Tallahassee, FL on Sunday, September 26, 2021.

Alastair talks about the letter to the church of Sardis and the difference between looking busy and being spiritually alive.

Jesus gave His life as a ransom for ours. He died for our sins. The chastisement for our peace was upon Him. He laid down His life demonstrating the love of God for sinners. Anyone may be rescued from sin, death, hell, judgment, by trusting in Jesus. He, alone, is our hope for redemption. We have no other Savior. He rescues everyone who trusts Him. Let us be a people firmly planted on the solid ground that Jesus died for our sins, was buried, and has been raised from the dead. He is, therefore, alive now, receiving all those who place their trust in Him. Shared by Jason Stuart Percy at Refuge Christian Fellowship Tallahassee on Sunday, January 12, 2020.

We humans are all dead in our trespasses and sins. We have no life in us. It is the effectual call of Jesus, the giver and sustainer of life, that revives and enables us to trust Him. He cares not about the way of our traditions, especially those we use to put ourselves above others and to neglect our acts of service and charity (love) to our neighbor. We are those who excuse ourselves from obedience for myriads of reasons, all of which we excuse in ourselves and condemn in others. What hypocrites we are! True life, eternal life, is in the Father and in the Son, Jesus. He gives life to whomever He wills. Let us be those who diligently search the sscriptures, that we might know God as He reveals Himself through the prophets and apostles. But... let us not stop with having knowledge... let us go on to commune with Jesus, let us respond to Him, let us come to Him... and find life. These thoughts were shared by Jason Stuart Percy at Refuge TLH in Tallahasee, FL on Sunday, December 5, 2021

'Anyone who lives and believes in Me will never die. Do you believe this?, ' Jesus asked. Jesus teaches us that the dead aren't actually dead. They may have left their bodies, but they aren't dead. He restored Lazarus as evidence of this fact. We must decide in whom we will place our trust. We live in a world with many who only trust what they've experienced with their own senses. Jesus has asked us to believe Him, not to deny the experiences of our senses and their reality, rather to acknowledge that our senses may not be receptive of all that exists. There is more and we are challenged to believe the Word of the One who knows and promises that there is more. In Lazarus' resurrection, Jesus shows that those whose bodies have died are themselves not dead. There is a coming resurrection, some will be raised to eternal life and joy and others to eternal contempt and shame. These thoughts shared by Jason Stuart Percy at Refuge TLH in Tallahassee, FL on Sunday, January 30, 2022.

Jesus asks everything from those who follow Him. He will be second to none and nothing in the life of His disciples. Only He has the right to claim this kind of ownership of us since He created us, sustains us, keeps us alive, orchestrates our lives in the order in which we find them, and He knows the beginning from the end. God is supreme and Sovereign and there is no other being like Him. Jesus demonstrates to us the power and order and control of our God. We who follow Him lay down everything for Him. There is no other option for us for everything else is covetousness and idolatry. Jesus rescues us and brings us into his Kingdom where we find we needed no other things besides Him anyhow. He is present in our storms, able to calm when He is ready. He is able to heal and even the demonic forces know who He is and are under His authority as they, too, are something He created. He created them good, they turned away from Him, but they are no match for Him. That is sure. Be not afraid!

Jesus is the Good Shepherd of those in His Kingdom. He ensures we have all we need, every moment, to do and be and think and say what He wants. He is the ruler of all the Earth and there is nothing that is hard for Him. He is able to help any who come to Him. Jesus rescues sinners. Many believe they have established there own righteousness but those who know they are sick are readily rescued by the Good Shepherd, Jesus. He justifies the ungodly. While he is able to and does variously heal physical illness or touble, we look forward to the fullness of His Kingdom, when all sorrow, sickness, death, and pain will pass away and we will be made new! Isn't He wonderful!??!!!?!?!!

We excercise judgement about many things every day. Jesus asks us to be wise in judgement and not to simply judge the outside or cursory things. We need wisdom and we need to be asking, seeking, and knocking that we might know how to treat others the way we want to be treated. It is possible to be decieved and so good judgement is of vital importance seeing that Jesus' way is narrow and there are few who find it. LORD, give us wisdom. Help us to be merciful to others. Help us to love each other enough to hold each other accountable with mercy and grace and love. Recorded at Refuge TLH on Sunday, August 5, 2019.

Often, even as followers of Jesus, we find our immediate response regarding behavioral psychological issues to be more in line with an unbelieving, materialistic, naturalistic worldview. This, in spite of the fact that Jesus regularly dealt with, talked about, and affirmed the reality of the meta-physical, the unseen spiritual world in which we live. At the very least, we should pause and pray, consider, and seek the LORD in the situations in which we find ourselves in relation to the people around us in regard to both their and our behavior. Maybe there's more to humans that random, electrical impulses, synapses, and chemicals. Where do we draw the line anyhow? And who gets to decide where that line even is? God has made a world full of powerful elements. Medicine can be good. We ought to trust in God and be wise. We are to live by faith. Shared by Jason Stuart Percy at Refuge Christian Fellowship Tallahassee on Sunday, February 23, 2020.

Rev. 3:1-6

'Are You Dead?' is the fifth message (02/24/2019) in the 'Exploring the Miracles of Jesus' series from the Alto area United Methodist Churches (A. Frank Smith UMC and Cold Springs UMC). afsumc.org John R. Black Luke 7:11-17 #afsumc #alto-methodist #csumc #christianity #miracles #dead #luke-7

Have you ever noticed a tall tree with thick branches which has blown over in a storm? Outside it looks like a strong and healthy, but when you look inside, it's hollow and dying. That's how it was for the church in Sardis. On the outside, they looked like they were alive and relevant, but in reality they were dying. Let's see what God has to say to this church.

Death has been referred to as the great equalizer. No matter what our station in life, death is the one thing which comes to all of us in the end. As Christians, we are not immune to physical death. In today's message, Pastor Dean tells us how Jesus ministered to three members of a family who faced death in three different ways.

By Pastor Glenn Pease. On a flight from Britain to India, Handly Page, one of the leading aviators of Britain in his day, was forced to land in the desert of Arabia. He landed near some Bedouin tents and after some minor repairs he took off again. After he did, he noticed a strange noise in back of him…

February 17, 2012 By John Barnett Read, Print, and listen to this resource on our website www.DiscoverTheBook.org This morning Revelation 3 begins with the second shortest letter of Christ’s Seven, written to Sardis, hometown of Aesop’s Fables and Midas’ Touch. When we read these words we are not only…

Revelation 3:1-6 Stephen Caswell © 2004 William Booth Saw It General William Booth, the founder of the Salvation Army, said: I consider that the chief dangers which will confront the twentieth century will be: Religion without the Holy Spirit, Christianity without Christ, Forgiveness without Regeneration,…

By Pastor Glenn Pease Shakespeare died on his fifty second birthday and left what is considered the most famous will in existence. Among his last wishes were instructions to chisel this hex on his tombstone. "Bless be the man that spares these stones, And curst be he that moves my bones." The intention…

Revelation 20:1-15 Stephen Caswell © 2001 Wait And See Some time ago, a man brought forward his strong argument against the Bible, declaring, I am seventy years of age, and have never seen such a place as hell, after all that has been said about it. His little grandson, of about seven years of age, who…

The Nature of Unsaved Men & Women The Sinner Neither Able, Nor Willing The Unregenerate are: Unwilling to be Saved John 5:39-40 NASB "You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; it is these that testify about Me; (40) and you are unwilling to come to Me so that you…

Who are we, as a church? Why are we here? Are we doing what God wants us to do? Are we doing things the way God wants us to do them? And, Where are we going? I have been thinking about these things recently. We have been here for four years now. And God has done great things through us. We have a reputation…