Pastor Ricky's Blog

  Let me be honest with you about something. After everything we ate on the Fourth of July, the last thing any of us wants to talk about is fasting. But that might be exactly why we need to. We've been walking through a series on spiritual disciplines — Bible intake, worship, prayer, evangelism, stewardship, and service. Each one is an invitation from God's Word, not just a suggestion. And today, I want to talk about a discipline that most of us have quietly set aside: fasting . What the Bible Actually Says About Fasting I want to start in Matthew 6, because I think Jesus settles the question of whether fasting is optional for the follower of Christ. In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus gives three parallel instructions. Look at how he phrases each one: "When you give..." (Matthew 6:2-3) "When you pray..." (Matthew 6:5-6) "When you fast..." (Matthew 6:16-17) Jesus didn't say if you fast. He said when you fast. Just as he assumed his followers...

  This past Sunday, I asked our congregation a question that I want to ask you now: Does He control my calendar and my clock? It's a simple question, but it cuts straight to the heart of how we live. The Weight of What We're Dealing With We've been working through a series on spiritual disciplines — Bible study, worship, prayer, evangelism, and service. This week, I want to turn our attention to stewardship. Not just stewardship of our finances (we'll get there), but stewardship of our time . Here's something I've been sitting with: when you and I walk away from God's Word and forget what we heard by Wednesday, we haven't just forgotten a preacher's words. We've been neglectful of the eternal Word of God. That's the gravity of what we're dealing with every Sunday. The Apostle Paul puts it plainly in Romans 13:11–14: "And do this, knowing the time, that now it is high time to awake out of sleep; for now our salvation is nearer than wh...

This past Sunday, I asked our congregation a question that I believe every one of us needs to sit with this week:  Does God control my calendar and my clock? It's a simple question. But if we're honest, it's one of the most convicting ones we can ask ourselves. We're in a series on spiritual disciplines — Bible study, worship, prayer, evangelism, service — and this week we turned our attention to stewardship. Specifically, stewardship of our time. Next week we'll talk about our finances, but today I want to focus on what may be our most undervalued resource: the hours and days God has given us. We All Understand Time — So Why Do We Waste It? In Romans 13:11-14, the Apostle Paul writes with urgency: "And do this, knowing the time, that now it is high time to awake out of sleep; for now our salvation is nearer than when we first believed. The night is far spent, the day is at hand. Therefore let us cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the arm...

What if the very thing you were created to do is the one thing you keep putting off? This past Sunday, I wrapped up our two-part message on the spiritual discipline of serving, and I have to be honest — this topic has stayed with me all week. We live in a culture that quietly tells us we deserve to be served. I'll be the first to confess that if I'm not careful, that mindset creeps into my own heart. But here's what God's Word makes unmistakably clear: followers of Christ were not just invited to serve — we were created for it. Serving Is Not Optional

This past Sunday, I shared something I believe cuts to the heart of what it means to follow Jesus: serving isn't a program or a personality type — it's a spiritual discipline every believer is called to practice. We've been working through a series on spiritual disciplines — Bible intake, worship, prayer, evangelism — and now we arrive at one that I think many of us quietly avoid: serving. My hope is that by the time you finish reading this, you'll see serving not as a burden to carry, but as a gift you've already been equipped to give. What Does It Actually Mean to Serve? The word "serve" appears somewhere between 600 and 1,000 times in the Bible, depending on your translation. That alone tells us something important — God takes this seriously. In the New Testament, there are at least five different Greek words translated as "serve," and they carry a range of meaning: to minister to, to wait on tables, to care for practical needs, to obey compl...

You Have Been Given a Privilege We started in 1 Peter 2:9, and I want you to sit with these words for a moment: "But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light; who once were not a people but are now the people of God, who had not obtained mercy but now have obtained mercy." Did you catch that? Because we have received God's mercy — because He called us out of darkness — we have been given the privilege of proclaiming His praises. This isn't a burden laid on a few professionals. It's a gift entrusted to every single believer.   My prayer for our church is this: that people would say about us, "Them folks will tell you about Jesus." What greater thing could be said? Evangelism Is a Command — and a Discipline Like Bible intake, worship, and prayer, evangelism is a spiritual discipline. And like any discipline, it doe...