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Our Easter Series will be called Hope: Desiring a Better World. All of us have deep longings and intense desires for a more perfect world. The people that lined the streets on Palm Sunday were looking for something more, something better, something different. They were hoping for a better world. We are really no different. We live in a world of dis…

This is the last message in the series on Daniel. The focus will be on the “Christ Sightings” in the book to achieve the unimaginable. Three main ones will be reviewed: 1) the great stone that crushes the kingdoms of this world (2:34-35, 44); 2) the Son of Man who is given dominion by the Ancient of Days (7:13-14); and the coming Messiah who will b…

Who is Fox Valley Church? Every church has its own DNA. Even if a church shares a similar vision and mission, because a church is people, each spiritual community takes on a flavor of its own. It is well known that as the church leaders go, so goes the church. So influential are the leadership shepherds, the sheep often follow in their steps. It is…

Who is Fox Valley Church? Every church has its own DNA. Even if a church shares a similar vision and mission, because a church is people, each spiritual community takes on a flavor of its own. It is well known that as the church leaders go, so goes the church. So influential are the leadership shepherds, the sheep often follow in their steps. It is…

Luke 10:38-42 Choosing the Good Part: Martha's Invitation, Martha's Irritation, and Martha's InformationBởi foxvalleychurch

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The Wait: The Promised King who will be a Perfect Redeemer God, our Creator, the One who made us, IS the only One who can redeem us and claim us as His own. With remarkable insight of Isaiah, we could see the promised fulfilled in the One and Only Son of God, Jesus Christ our Redeemer. In the fulness of time God sent for His Son to redeem us.…

The Wait: The Promised King who will be a Perfect Priest Jesus is our High Priest who is the perfect mediator between God and human beings. Jesus steps in as the Perfect High Priest who is our teacher, calls us to worship, and significantly serves as our High Priest who entered the Holy of Holies for us. We need the Perfect Priest!…

The Wait: The Promised King who will be a Perfect Shepherd The King for which we wait will be our Perfect Shepherd. We need a shepherd who will lead, feed, care and protect us without compromise. Today too, we live in the shadows of so many compromised “shepherds” that disappoint and discourage God’s people. So, we wait. Yes, we experience the Perf…

The Wait: The Promised King who will be a Perfect Son This promised King goes back to the writings of Moses, but is carried forward with the prophets clarifying it would be One out of the tribe of Judah, in the family of David, born in Bethlehem—so a Son who would be the Perfect King. God became human, one of us, yet without sin so that He could do…

Daniel: A Model Prayer Daniel’s prayer models how we might pray as we see countries (even our own) and individuals deny God. Perhaps we can see also the weakness of the church as it is often compromised. But it's ultimately an appeal to the mercy of God for forgiveness and healing. It is only in Jesus Christ that the most basic problem of sin (demo…

Daniel: Our Only Hope Daniel receives another vision that God is all-knowing of the past, present and future. God was paving the way for the fullness of time in which to send the promised Messiah. This is tightly tied to the vision of Daniel 7 taught a week earlier. Our only hope is in God who intervenes in history and our lives.…

Daniel: The Ancient of Days Still Rules As we live in uncertain times with a growing threat of nuclear weaponry, financial uncertainty, and a danger of a spreading Middle East crisis, we do not have to live in fear or intimidation on a world scale or in our individual lives. While we have “giants” in the world, we have “giants” to face in our priva…

Daniel: Trusting God when the World's Against You Daniel modeled a spiritual response of trusting in God and diligently seeking Him when others sought to work against him. So whether in our families, neighborhoods, or workplace living innocently before God and man brings greater spiritual vitality and honors God. In contrast, when we compromise, ex…

Nebuchadnezzar’s Dream of a Great Tree and Humiliation shows how this world is filled with ego, pride, self-centeredness, and self-focus, and one day, all of this will be finally and forever overthrown by Jesus when He comes as King and Judge. God moves in wonderful ways to disclose his hope and promise for the world which shows great, victorious p…

Daniel: Will you risk it all? Nebuchadnezzar’s Image of Gold and the Fiery Furnace reveals that God’s people are always safest when living in the convictions of God and His Word. The world and sadly many in the church too easily set the agenda. Rather, let God set the agenda and then take whatever comes your way. Daniel’s friends determined clearly…

Daniel: Equipped for life There is a standoff between God (His kingdom) and the kingdoms of this world. This can be brought down to the individual level as we seek God’s will and leading in matters. God has equipped us to do everything He has called us to do. More significantly, as we live for God, we will stand out, thereby giving testimony to the…

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Heart Matters: Restoring proper worship leads to revival Josiah had a long reign such that God described him as doing “right in the eyes of the LORD—not turning aside to the right or to the left.” The key to his ways was listening to God and restoring worship. Josiah renews the covenant, celebrated Passover and obeyed.…

Heart Matters: A responsive heart leads to removing idols King Josiah has a surrendered heart that completely removes idols. He goes the extra mile to tear down every idol in Judah and Israel. He has the spiritual eyes to see the impact that these idols are having on his people and the tenancy of removing every form of evil. Before we can restore p…

Heart Matters: An encounter with God leads to a responsive heart King Josiah walked in the way of the Lord from an early age. At 26 he had the temple repaired which led to the finding of the book of the law. Through the reading of God’s word, Josiah had an encounter with God which revealed God’s holiness and demanded a response. King Josiah respond…

Theme: Many people skip over the greetings section of the book as unimportant or unnecessary. But we learn much as we take some time to see how rich and amazing Jesus’ church really is. This section shows the diversity of the church, the unity of the church and the work of the church to persevere and sacrifice for an eternal cause.…

Passage: Romans 15:14-33 Theme: We are mediators between the people of this world and God by proclaiming the gospel (a priestly duty). There is power in our work as we rely on the Holy Spirit and not on our own natural abilities. As we let the gospel shape our lives we will be able to live out God’s vision for our lives.…

The amazing thing about the church is the diversity God brings together through His Spirit, which brings unity. The church always champions unity, and this can only happen when we are other-centered (put others first) and not seeking to please only ourselves. Our Lord Jesus Christ demonstrated laying down His life for others. Ultimately, we bring h…

Romans: How to Not be a Stumbling Block Mutual acceptance (love and unity) means that we live in such a way as to not be a stumbling block to one another. The gospel bring incredible freedom. However, this freedom cannot bring spiritual harm to those who have an opposing view. Thus, love for others and for the strengthening of the church matters. S…

Romans: How to Compromise Practices without Compromising the Gospel There is a laser-like focus on what it means to live in mutual acceptance (love and unity) between two groups of people—"the weak” (14:1; 15:1) and “the strong” (15:1) in faith. Remember we are family and some of our brothers and sisters are more sensitive, having a tender conscien…

We are members of His family and, therefore, representatives of the family. And our family is at war. He has a mission for you...get in the battle!Bởi foxvalleychurch

What do New Creations do? Put on the new self. I will address who this new self is (Him in us!). Both putting off the old self and putting on the new self require effort and both are necessary. We will talk about the importance of the "renewal of our mind" and how God is our only hope of being able to put off the old and put on the new. All to His …

What do New Creations do? Put off the old self. This is going to tie closely into week three and won't feel complete (and this is what I am going for). I will address who this old self is. But now that we have been made new all of this has been accomplished (the old self is dead) but yet we still have to work at it (sanctification)... what a myster…

What does it mean to be a new creation? What does it mean to be a New Creation? This message will be focused on taking the focus off of ourselves. Creators create with a purpose and our purpose is to glorify Him (2 For. 5:15). Sit in awe of the glory of the Creator (as proper creation should!)Bởi foxvalleychurch

Jesus sent the Holy Spirit into the church before he sent the church into the world, the outpouring of the Holy Spirit at the feast of Pentecost which was a thanksgiving celebration of the first fruit harvest but later associated with Christian a celebration of the day the church was established by the outpouring of the Holy Spirit. The Disciples w…

God cares and rather just saying it, He shows it in the works of His Son. The story is familiar to many, but familiarity has a way of shielding more probing questions. Jesus didn’t just accidentally find Himself at a well in Samaria with people His people loathed. It was intentional, decisive, on mission. There was a message to carry to people far …

Why Care? God Cares. Why Care actually backs into a deeper, more foundational question—why believe? There is a God in heaven who created everything in heaven and on earth. He owns it all. Yet, people have turned away from Him. However, when we rightly order our lives around Him and His ways, it changes everything about us. We see, most importantly,…

Passage: Romans 13 Theme: As the gospel shapes us, it changes all of our relationships. In chapter 13, the gospel changes our relationship to the government (1-7), the Law (8-10) and the Lord’s return (11-14). The government has authority and an important role, but we are call…

Passage: Romans 12:17-21 Theme: As we look at another relationship the gospel changes, our relationship to our enemies is taken head on with four negatives. Interestingly, all four are tightly related by reminding gospel-oriented Christ Followers that retaliation and revenge a…

Passage: Romans 12:9-16 Theme: As we are initially changed by the gospel, and we are committed to presenting ourselves to God, we now need to relate to others in the church with the supernatural love God provides (5:5). This section brings a comprehensive picture of Christian …

Passage: Romans 12:1-8 Theme: If the Gospel is true (and it is!) and Romans 1-11 accurately captures the human problem and God’s solution with the life-giving Spirit (and it does!), then we ought to be a certain kind of people (“dead to sin and alive to God,” 6:11).

Passage: Matthew 22:34-40 Theme: Jesus had numerous encounters with the religious leaders. In this context, the animosity grows as Jesus aligns Himself with the Father by laying out the things that matter most in the Mosaic Law: Love God and Love People. Light for the Future, our 5-year campaign, stands aligned wi…

Passage: John 20:19-23 Theme: Some of Jesus’s last conversations with His disciples were to align them with God: “as the Father has sent me, even so I am sending you.” Jesus was sent by the Father and in turn, Jesus sends us. Jesus will give us what we need, to do what He asks us to do. And so, we go! We pour out …

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Matthew 21:1-10 We all want to be loved, accepted and moved towards something bigger than ourselves. Jesus was the answer in the first century, and is still the answer today.Bởi foxvalleychurch