Andover Christian Church & Dr. Jim Conner

In this final sermon of the BLESSED series, we look at our work. Could God want to use us at our jobs to be a blessing to others? How could that actually work? We'll talk about some possibilities.

We are all blessed by God - in many ways. Who He made us each to be. What He has given us. But there is an even greater resource He has given us: PEOPLE. Today we look at how God wants to use us to bless the people around us.

God blesses us for a purpose. We've seen that in the past two weeks. That doesn't just apply to our abilities or time. How would our thinking about money change if we saw our resources as a tool God wants to use to bless others?

Our world is pretty hard on us. We're not sure how much we're worth - if our lives really matter at all. That's not God's view of us! He says we're VERY important! In fact, He has specific plans for each of us!

If someone asked you, "How does a person get ahead in life?" What would you say? How do we make sense of life? Do you think God has an answer? He does. We're going to spend the next few weeks looking at God's economy - how to get ahead in life.

We all want our prayers to be answered. We want God to always say "Yes" to our requests. If He doesn't, we feel like our prayers didn't work. What if we're missing the whole point of prayer? In this sermon we'll look at two prayers, with opposite answers - but they both "worked!"

Our world isn't easy today. It creates insecurity and we question our worth. Friends come and go on social media. We're connected but insecure. God was giving us a gift at Christmas that can change all of this - if we open Gods' gift.

Christmas didn't just happen. And it is more than just a cute story like a Disney animated movie. There were huge issues being resolved, and none were no bigger than our fates!

This world has a lot of problems, and they don't seem to be getting better. It would be easy to feel discouraged about the future. That isn't something new. At the time of the first Christmas, there were a lot of problems, too. One of the reasons WHY we have Christmas was so God could give us HOPE.

Christmas is a wonderful, amazing story. We are thrilled to hear it every year. Yet this surprising story didn't just happen. There were reasons God did what He did, when He did it. Today we look at the 400+ years of silence He was finally breaking - so speak with the WORD.

Corinth had so many problems in their worship services, Paul needed four chapters to deal with them all. We needed two sermons! In this second sermon we look at the Holy Spirit and spiritual gifts - what was wrong - and how to make it right.

Worship can be controversial today - people have strong opinions about most everything. The same thing was happening in Corinth! Paul gives them some sound advice. Two of the issues involved what women were doing in the services - which remains an issue today!

Paul has a challenge for us. It isn't enough to just be in the race, to be a Christian. We need to take our faith seriously. It is more than just words, it is how we live.

We all know our rights - we want them, we deserve them, we even demand them. But what about when our rights harm someone else? What then?

Marriage in Corinth was a real question. People were trying some really "new" ideas and asking Paul if it was OK. Paul has a lot to say about not only marriage but also engagement and divorce.

Conflict is something almost everyone wants to avoid. Yet it happens, even in the church. The challenge is not to avoid conflict but to handle it in the correct way. The Christians in Corinth failed to do that, and Paul challenged them!

Some things were WRONG in the Corinthian Church - the problem was that some were proud of what they were doing wrong! Paul challenged this thinking - and urged them to take sin seriously.

While those who don't know Jesus may see us as weak and even foolish, the opposite is in fact true. We possess Divine wisdom and super-human power - not because WE do, but because God has given us His Spirit!

Leadership is critical for any group or church. Yet it can also be a problem. It was in Corinth! Paul has some correction for us all: We have only one real leader - and leadership in God's Kingdom is about serving, now climbing the ladder.