Coastal Church Podcast

<p>Merriam-Webster defines reach as: to move one’s hand in order to get or touch (someone or something), to try hard to achieve or succeed at (something), the action or an act of reaching, an individual part of a progression or journey.</p>

<p>God takes our lives and cleans us for a destiny that is bigger than we can ever imagine. In every stage of our lives, God continues His refining process, so we can be used for greater things.</p>

<p>As we leave the year 2018 and begin the adventure of 2019 it is important to know God’s peace is with us to guide, strengthen and protect.</p>

<p>The only invitation from God to anyone to come and visit Mary and Joseph and the infant Jesus is to a group of shepherds. They were common people on the bottom of the social ladder of that day, perhaps the last people that you'd expect God o send as the first VIP guests to see His son.</p>

<p>We may not be able to choose our family history, but we can choose where we get our identity from.</p>

<p>Coastal Church's Christmas Grand Service 2018 at the Queen Elizabeth Theatre</p>

<p>The light in Christmas was given to bring us out of darkness and to guide our lives.</p>

<p>Christmas is not only a time to look back and celebrate when Jesus came to earth, it is also a time to look ahead. For as sure as His first arrival was clearly prophesied, so too, is His return.</p>

<p>When we are angry because God’s ways don’t make sense, the best thing we can do is listen, for He is about to reveal what is in our heart and what is in His heart.</p>

<p>Like Jonah, God will give us another chance to serve Him when we choose to obey Him.</p>

<p>Jonah, like many of us, wanted to give up on what God had for him, but God intervened and did not let him quit.</p>

<p>There are times God will speak to us and ask us to do things we don’t want to do. We then have a choice: obey or disobey. We can always find a ship sailing in the wrong direction and run; but we won’t run from the Lord, but INTO the Lord.</p>

<p>Simon Peter was an ordinary man that Jesus called to be extraordinary. Simon, literally “a reed” became Peter, literally “a rock,” through the transforming power of God’s love. As we end our series on Good or God, we see in Peter’s story how God calls our potential out of us, so we can become more than what we were before.</p>

<p>Never before in history have we had access to so much information and opportunity. To navigate these times, we will require discernment to choose between right and wrong, truth and error, good and evil.</p>

<p>The Bible calls us to be holy, just as God is holy. (1 Peter 1:15,16 )The question is: where do we get the strength or fuel to live a holy life in a broken world?</p>

<p>Gratitude is more than saying, “thank you” when someone gives you something. What it takes to turn the words, “thank you” into gratitude is the genuine feeling of appreciation from the heart.</p>

<p>Continuing our series on Good or God, Pastor Dave shows us some ways we can start Setting Our Life in Order.</p>

<p>The truth is, we can’t do everything; we can’t go in every direction and expect to end up in the right place. God knew this, so He gave us an internal GPS that we can turn on and allow Him to guide us. Like the GPS in our car, it is important we set our internal GPS to the right destination.</p>

<p>Simply believing that God exists, without recognizing His authority in our lives, is not enough for a disciple of Christ. In the conclusion of the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus challenges us to make a choice to surrender our heart to Him which will produce good fruit and build a foundation for life</p>

<p>Most people feel pretty confident in their understanding of what is good. But who do we want to decide in our lives what is good?</p>

<p>Phil Cooke joins us to talk about his new book titled “The Way Back”. In this interview hosted by Pastor Dave Koop, Phil talks about why Christians aren't as engaging to the culture as they should be and what we can do to fix that.</p>

<p>It takes great courage to walk out the divine dream God puts in your heart. Like Joseph, in this life you will be judged, misunderstood, cheated and betrayed. Your courage will be tested to live a virtuous life that will allow your dream to come to pass.</p>

<p>To obey God is always the right thing to do, but it will require courage.</p>

<p>Nehemiah is a great example of someone who courageously left his comfortable position to help others and face harsh opposition.</p>

<p>Courage is acting on behalf of the needs of others, pride is acting on the need to promote yourself. In The Greatest Showman, the protagonist, <a href="http://P.T.Barnum" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">P.T.Barnum</a>, almost loses his family by allowing pride to come into his life. We need to be courageous in serving God, but when success comes, we must be careful that pride doesn’t creep in and steal what is most important in life. The Greatest Showman is the incredible story of P.T. Barnum, an American showman, politician and businessman who climbed out of poverty and achieved success. In this journey, he realizes that family and true friends are more important than fortune and fame.</p>

<p>The movie Lion presents a strong picture of God’s great love for us and the yearning we have to be “home.”</p>