Jon Taylor

Message Monday 8/19/19 – Encounter Jesus In Giving: Don’t Worry – Seek His Kingdom

Jon Taylor – Elder

Jesus talked a lot about money during his ministry. In fact, I believe that’s why he said in Matthew 6:21 “For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”

I’m also convinced that’s why he followed up that teaching with the command for us to not worry about money. He knew that we would get all wrapped up in concern with our next meal, what we would wear, and all matters of wealth and possessions. That’s why we need to renew our minds with regards to our finances and possessions.

Jesus very simply told us to not worry about these things. Our Heavenly Father knows what we need and he will provide everything we need. Not want, but need. Jesus came to give us a different perspective on most everything in life, including our money and possessions. Read Matthew 6:25-34 and Philippians 4:4-13, 19 to gain a different perspective. Learn how God wants us to view our money and possessions.

God wants you to trust Him completely, especially in the area of your finances. Put aside your worry and anxiety and trust that He will provide everything you need. Seek first His Kingdom! Then all these things will be added to you as well.

What financial worries do you need to surrender to God?

Message Monday 6/18/18 – Parables For The Jesus Follower: The Pharisee & The Tax Collector

Jon Taylor – Elder

It’s amazing how Jesus is able to tell the right story to the right audience at the right time. In Luke 18:9-14 he tells a parable that can have a powerful impact if one will really listen in humility.

He tells this story to those who are confident of their own righteousness and who look down on everyone else (vs. 9). It is a story with a stunning contrast between a Pharisee who prays about himself and a Tax Collector who begs God for mercy. The Pharisee tries to convince God that his “performance” of religious duties should earn him favor in God’s sight and that he is obviously better than common sinners like robbers, evil doers, adulterers – or the Tax Collector.

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Message Monday 5/29/17 – Love Your Neighbor: Mary & Martha

Jon Taylor – Lead Pastor

In this week’s message, we continued to look at how Jesus elevated women and rose above cultural norms of the day to counter the lies in that culture and show women’s inherent value that they’ve had since Genesis. Both men and women are created by God and given worth and value by nature of our creation and Creator. It was a lie in the culture (women are inferior) of Jesus’ day and still is a lie in many cultures today. He showed that value in a story told in Luke 10. (more…)

Message Monday 3/27/17 – Love Your Neighbor: The Return

Jon Taylor – Lead Pastor

“Those who don’t know history are doomed to repeat it.” Edmund Burke Most Americans think we are in unique financial times, especially since the big crash of 2008. But Cicero, in 55 BC, had this to say about Rome: “The budget should be balanced, the treasury should be refilled, public debt should be reduced, the arrogance of the officials should be tempered and controlled, and the assistance to foreign lands should be curtailed lest Rome become bankrupt. People must again learn to work, instead of living on public assistance.”  (more…)

Message Monday 3/20/17 – Love Your Neighbor: The Investment

Jon Taylor – Lead Pastor

In a world that tells us we need more and more and creates a sense of discontent within us, we need to refocus on what God says is the way to be truly content and fulfilled. It’s when we invest in the Kingdom with our talents, our time and our treasure that we find we can say with Paul that we have learned the “secret of being content in any and every situation.”  (more…)

Message Monday 10/10/16 – God at Work Through Justice: Justice & Advocacy

Jon Taylor – Lead Pastor

What do you think of when you hear the word justice? Does that word stir anything in you to act, or has the word been so misused that it no longer means anything to you? I have good news for you – our God loves justice and works for justice, and He wants us to live justly and to be deeply involved in the work of seeking, advocating for, and bringing justice to this world.  (more…)

Message Monday 8/15/16 – God at Work in Wisdom: The Beginning

Jon Taylor – Lead Pastor

I’m really enjoying watching the Olympics. Every 4 years we have the opportunity to watch some sports we normally don’t get to and to cheer on Team USA and our favorite athletes. With some of the sports, though, I have to be reminded how they are judged and what some of the rules are for that particular competition. Every athlete has to follow the rules and principles that govern that sport.

The same is true for us every day. We all operate within certain rules and principles in every area of life. From the big things like the law of gravity to the smaller things like driving around town, we all have to live by certain rules and principles. I’m really glad architects know and follow the rules and principles of building design. I’m amazed every time I fly that something so large can go up in the air, and I’m happy to know that the designers of that aircraft know and follow the rules and principles of flight and aerodynamics.  (more…)

Message Monday 8/8/16 – God at Work in Wisdom – Hold My Hand

Due to technical issues we don’t have any video or audio for the 8/7/16 message.

In this series on wisdom, it would only be fitting that we would mention all of the wisdom found in the book of James. There is so much deep wisdom in the short book of James. A great nugget is found in the first chapter of James, verse 19: “My dear brothers and sisters, take note of this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry…” There are several points of struggle for many of us in this verse – we struggle to be quick to listen, we struggle to be slow to speak, and we struggle to be slow to become angry. Today we’ll focus on being quick to listen.

Solomon, who was the wisest person in the history of the world, the person who had more wisdom from God than anyone, wrote more than anyone else about the importance of listening to others. Read some of his tidbits of wisdom about listening to others.

Proverbs 9:9 – “Instruct the wise and they will be wiser still…”
Proverbs 1:5 – “A wise man will hear and increase in learning, and a man of understanding will acquire wise counsel…”
Proverbs 12:15 – “The way of a fool is right in his own eyes, but a wise man is he who listens to counsel.”
Proverbs 15:22 – “Plans fail for lack of counsel, but with many advisers they succeed.”
Proverbs 19:20 – “Listen to advice and accept discipline, and at the end you will be counted among the wise.”
Proverbs 13:10 – “Where there is strife, there is pride, but wisdom is found in those who take advice.”

The reality is most of us are not quick to listen, or to ask others for advice or counsel because our emotions become involved. Personal decisions are emotional by nature. Emotionally charged environments are not ideal for decision making and almost every decision making environment is emotionally charged, especially big ones. So what do we need to do? Listen. Listen. Ask for advice. Ask for input. Ask for feedback from someone who is not emotionally involved in your situation.

Which brings us back to the question we’ve been asking throughout this series: what’s the wise thing to do? In light of your past experience, your current circumstances and your future hopes and dreams, what is the wise thing for you to do? Listen. Listen. Listen.

Message Monday 8/1/16 – God at Work in Wisdom: Edged Out

Jon Taylor – Lead Pastor

The Apostle Paul does a very unusual thing in 1 Corinthians 6. He classifies sins. Well, what he really does is create only two classifications of sins. He says in verse 18 to “Flee from sexual immorality. All other sins a person commits are outside the body, but whoever sins sexually, sins against their own body.” He’s not saying sexual sin is worse than other sins, he’s saying the impact is different than other sins.  (more…)