Napoleon Church of the Nazarene

Welcome to our new sermon series, "Building Blocks: the DNA of who we are". This week, Pastor Chip teaches on what it means to know God and be born again through the power of the Holy Spirit. This Christian life is about more than just being religious. It's about being radically changed by the Holy Spirit; your mind, your soul, and your heart. It's about having a new birth in Christ with new eyes to see and ears that hear. Are you open to the Holy Spirit doing a new thing in your life?

We end our "Book of James" series teaching from the end of chapter 5. Pastor Chip gives an encouraging message on confessing our to sins to one another, being healed, and the power of prayer. Be accountable to one another, pray for each other, and watch the Holy Spirit change lives!! We hope you've enjoyed the series with us in the Book of James. Join us for our next series!

Pastor Ken Behrens continues on in James chapter 5 teaching on some heavy topics. Listen in next week as we finish up our series in the Book of James.

Pastor Ken Behrens teaches on the last portion of James chapter 4 in our sermon series, "The Book of James." He gives us a few points to live by to continue living our daily lives for the Lord in full surrender to Him!

We are honored to have special guest speaker, Pastor Dwayne Mills from Martin County Kentucky come and share about a ministry the Lord had brought him to called, Appalachia Reach Out. Pastor Dwayne shares his personal testimony along with a challenge for us to listen to the voice of the Lord and follow His plans for your life. Join us next week as we continue on in the book of James.

Pastor Chip teaches from James 4:1-12 about the desires of our hearts and our selfish motives. We need to get serious about dealing with our sin and pursue Christ with all humility and surrender. This message comes full circle to our theme of the series, "Faith Acts".

Continuing on in the book of James, Chapter 3:13-18. Pastor Chip teaches on what James taught us about wisdom. Wisdom that comes from above is first pure, peace-loving, considerate, submissive, full of mercy and good fruits, impartial and sincere. This all ties in with the theme of James, "Faith Acts"! What kind of wisdom are you seeking after? Are you seeking after the wisdom that promotes selfish ambitions or are you after the heavenly wisdom from our Father that is truth?

Week seven of our series in the book of James, continues on in chapter three, where James teaches about our speech. James points out how man can not tame the tongue. It has to be done as a result of the Holy Spirit working inside your heart. With our tongues we bless the Lord yet curse our brother and that should not be. As Christians, we need to allow the Lord to work with our speech and speak life into others not death. Watch what you say and allow Christ to tame your tongue. Speak Life!

"Faith without works is dead", the main theme you think about when you think about James. Our whole series starts with the statement, "Faith Acts", and this week, Pastor Chip teaches on knowing the role of faith and the nature of faith and how they are evident in the life of a Christian. When you come to having faith in Jesus Christ and accepting His gift of salvation, your life will be radically changed as you start following and trusting Him; this can only help but produce active works and deeds of faith as you live.

In week 5 from the book of James, Chapter 2:1-13, James preaches on how we as believers should not show partiality or favoritism. It's easy in this culture to overlook the poor and outcasts and pay more attention to the elite and high society. But Jesus calls us to treat each other equally. Yes, even that not so pleasant co-worker who others think is a little socially awkward. Evaluate your life and ask the Lord if there is anyone in your life that you need treat more equally. Love your neighbor as yourself!

Pastor Ken Behrens teaches us in our forth week through the book of James. He focuses on verses 19-27. The first portion of scripture teaches how we are to be quick to listen, slow to speak, slow to anger. We need to be held accountable and practice self control through the power of the Holy Spirit in how we react. The second portion of scripture teaches us that we are to be doers of the Word and not just hearers only. As followers of Christ, practicing these truths of scripture can deeply impact our witness to the world around us!

Pastor Chip continues on in the book of James starting in Chapter 1 verses 9-18. In this portion of James, Pastor Chip teaches about our desires and how they can eventually lead us into temptations and trials. God never temps us but always has good gifts for us. In the trial, God is always wanting to use the situation to refine us and draw us closer to Him! He makes all things work together for our good!

Pastor Chip continues teaching in the book of James. This week, he teaches on James 1:9-18, which covers a lot of topics from: how the rich should take pride in their humiliation to knowing the good and perfect gifts from above. Join us next week for our next teaching in the book of James.

Welcome to our new series, studying the book of James. Pastor Chip opens up with some background on the brother of Jesus, James, and how all through out scripture we see James' message here on living out your faith. He then starts teaching from Chapter 1 verses 1-8 expounding on faith and trials ending with the thought provoking question, "are you all in or unstable?"

Pastor Chip ends our "No Place Like Home" series with part 2 of the topic "Family". We take a moment as a church to honor our graduates and then Pastor Chip dives into a very fitting sermon on how God's design for family was meant to expand into the body of Christ, the church. We find belonging, encouragement, and strength through being a part of a body of believers.

Pastor Chip Bullock continues in our "No Place Like Home" series with part one of a two part message about the family. Teaching from Deuteronomy 6, Pastor Chip had one point to hit on.... ~"As a parent, we are called to create an environment where the Word is lived and taught."~

This week, Pastor Chip dives into our "No Place Like Home" series talking about parenting. Teaching from Ephesians, Psalms, 1 Corinthians, and 1 Thessalonians, Pastor Chip talks about the roles and goals of parenting as a follower of Christ. Effective parenting requires constant repair and maintenance through prayer and asking for wisdom from the Holy Spirit.

Welcome to our new series,"No Place Like Home". Throughout this series Pastor Chip will be teaching on the dynamics and design of a Christ centered, Bible based home. Pastor Chip starts the series off by teaching on marriage and how the health of our home comes from prioritizing your relationship with your spouse above your children. Pastor Chip teaches from Ephesians 5 to emphasis this point that we often tend to miss as busy families with children.

Happy Resurrection Day Everyone! We end our Red Letters/ Encounters with Jesus series taking a look at one of Jesus' disciples, Thomas. Pastor Chip teaches on how encountering Jesus brings real change as Thomas experienced for himself after seeing the resurrected Jesus!

Happy Palm Sunday! Pastor Chip teaches on the encounter the disciples have with Jesus on this very significant day, Palm Sunday. Jesus told the disciples to do something that today and even back then seemed a bit sketchy. But with faith in knowing who Jesus was, they obeyed and didn't let fear stop them from doing God's will. We hope you are encouraged to step out and do the same; to trust God, take courage, and step out and act in faith!

Pastor Chip teaches on a topic that is not heavily talked about today in church. He teaches on the encounter that happened between Jesus and the demon possessed man found in Mark 5. The powers of darkness are real and there is a real spiritual battle happening in our world against evil in the heavenly realms. This encounter makes us aware of what is going on in our world and how Jesus ultimately has all the authority and power to overcome it!

This week in our Red Letters series, Pastor Ken Behrens teaches on the encounter Jesus had at the Pharisees house with a woman who humbled herself enough to come to the feet of Jesus. This woman should not have been in this Pharisees house due to her sinful lifestyle. Yet; she was so overcome by the forgiveness that Jesus has shown her that she risked it all to come and wash His feet with her own tears. When we encounter Jesus, we encounter His forgiveness and peace. Are you holding back from declaring what Jesus has set you free from?

The next encounter with Jesus we take a look at this week, is the encounter Jesus has with the Canaanite woman from Matthew 15:21-28. The Canaanite woman was desperate for Jesus to heal her daughter. Pastor Chip teaches on this encounter and the woman's great faith. What does faith look like in our own lives?

Jesus' encounter with the woman at the well reminds us that no matter how many times we've gotten it wrong, it's never more than Christ can forgive if we simply give Him a chance and trust in Him.

We end our Real God series with "the Faithfulness of God". Pastor Chip starts the message with all of us realizing that we are all dependent upon something in life; and dependance should be upon God. God is 100% faithful to His Word, His promises, His people, and His character because He cannot be otherwise. He will never let you down! Pastor Chip shows us through scripture how God reveals His faithfulness. He continues to passionately teach on 2 Timothy 2:11-13 and how we are to respond to God's faithfulness in our lives!

This week in the Real God series, Pastor Chip talks about the love of God. He passionately shares on how as Christians, we all know that God loves us. But there is a difference between knowing that in your mind and really knowing and experiencing His love in your heart. He urges us to seek that connection between our mind and our hearts and really comprehend the depth of God's love that He lavishly pours out on to us!

In week six of the Real God Series, we learn about the justice of God. Most of us have asked the questions, "why do good things happen to bad people?", or "why do bad things happen to good people?". Pastor Chip walks us through these questions and guides us through scripture to show us how God reveals His justice to us. He continues to help us understand the first and second judgments of God and how we are to respond to God's judgment in our lives.

Pastor Ken Behrens teaches on the wisdom of God this week in our sermon series, "The Real God". A.W. Tozer quoted, “Wisdom, among other things, is the ability to devise perfect ends and to achieve those ends by the most perfect means. It sees the end from the beginning, so there can be no need to guess or conjecture… All God’s acts are done in perfect wisdom, first for His own glory, and then for the highest good of the greatest number for the longest time…Not only could His acts not be better done: a better way to do them could not be imagined.” - A.W. Tozer, The Knowledge of the Holy We may not always understand God's plans and ways but we can trust that He knows the greater picture and has the best possible outcome in mind for us. Pastor Ken teaches through the scriptures how God reveals His wisdom to us and how we are to respond.

The Holiness Of God by Napoleon Church of the Nazarene

Week three in, "the Real God" series, we talk about God's Sovereignty. Pastor Chip shows us through the word, how God reveals His sovereignty to us. Our response to His sovereignty is complete surrender.

“What comes into our minds when we think about God is the most important thing about us.” - A. W. Tozer Most of us have some common misconceptions about who God really is. In this series, "the Real God", we dive in deep to knowing truly who God is. Each week we will study an attribute of God to better gain an understanding of His character and grow in our relationship with Him. This week we study "God's Goodness", as we look into scripture and see exactly that GOD IS GOOD!

HAPPY NEW YEAR! We are excited to see how God moves and works in lives of His children this next coming year. He has already begun a new work in us and is cultivating the hearts of many. In this sermon, we welcome Pastor Ben Hartford to teach from Isaiah 43. He gave us an illustration on how Jesus had come to disrupt the order of the former things and to establish a "new thing". What will you allow the Lord to disrupt in your life this year?

We end our Christmas series, "Behold" teaching on the last Advent theme, LOVE. Pastor Chip teaches on lowly shepherds, and how they care for their sheep. Jesus is the ultimate shepherd in how he takes care and nurtures us, His sheep. This season, we are reminded of God's love for us, and how much Jesus, the Son of God, Emmanuel, the Spotless Lamb, the Good Shepherd, loves us! Merry Christmas!

Our third theme of Advent that Pastor Chip teaches on is, "Joy"! Pastor Chip teaches on the difference between happiness and joy and what true joy that can only come from God looks like. He references Luke 1:46-55 (Mary's Song) and uses Mary as an example of someone who has pure joy even through her life's difficult circumstances.

In the second week of our Christmas series, "Behold", pastor Chip talks about the second theme of Advent, Peace. Pastor Chip walks us through the scriptures to show how we can have peace with God, peace from God, and the peace of God.

We are starting a new series for the Christmas season called, "Behold", where we walk through the themes of Advent. Our first week starts us off with 'Hope'. Pastor Chip teaches on the story of Zechariah and Elizabeth found in Luke 1:5-27. He brings us to the point of how hope creates faithfulness to the promise and plan of God! We hope you join us for the next couple of weeks as we continue to teach through the rest of the themes of Advent!

We end our four week series, "Be Lifted High", with the last two words for praise, 'Halal and Shabach'. Passionately teaching on these words is our very own, Justin Braun; a young man from our church who has been called into the ministry of preaching! Everything that Jesus is and what He has done and continues to do for us, calls for an action of praise! Praise shouted out from the rooftops and living in exclamaiton out of all that He is to us. We are to be a light, an example of God's glory; to make known of His good works and shout it out so the next generations will hear and know!

We have been going through the seven words of praise in this series called, "Be Lifted High". This week, Pastor Chip teaches on the two words for praise, 'Zamar' and 'Tehillah'. Zamar means to make music with an instrument and Tehillah means to make spontaneous music before the Lord. Chip teaches on why music was created, how it helps us in our relationship to Christ, and how it lifts us the soul.

Our second week of the series, "Be Lifted High", focuses on the words 'Yadah' and 'Towdah', which means, to extend out the hands or hold out hands. In our giving praise to God, we should be compelled to lift our hands in adoration and thankfulness to Him. It's an outward expression that is so natural yet sometimes we are afraid to do so in corporate worship. Are you free to worship the Lord in this way?

This sermon series called, Be Lifted High, will take a look at the seven different words used for 'praise' in the book of Psalms. Each word used for praising the Lord, brings with it a different response of praise. Pastor Chip Bullock teaches this week on the word, "Barak", which means to kneel, bow down, or salute. He reads from Psalm 95, 100, and heavily through Psalm 103, where this form of the word praise, Barak, is used to describe how to praise the Lord in this context.

Pastor Chip teaches on the miraculous account recorded in all four of the gospels; the feeding of the five thousand. In this lesson, we take a look at the question Jesus asked the disciples when they were confronted with feeding the five thousand people; "How many loaves do you have?" Jesus knew the answer already but had a plan to reveal to all that He is in fact the God who provides. We can surely find peace and rest in Him!

Welcome to our new series, "Questions Jesus Asks". Pastor Ken Behrens introduces the sermon series with the account from John 8, when the woman was getting ready to be stoned for committing adultery. Jesus asks more questions than gives direct answers, allowing us to really process and think about who He is and how we should be. In this portion of scripture, we see that Jesus loves fully yet loves completely!

Since 1968, the Church of the Nazarene has been growing and impacting lives all over Napoleon and surrounding areas. It all started with a call, a vision, and a love for people to know Jesus Christ! We are truly blessed to be celebrating 50 years of God's provision, providence, and faithfulness to His church!

We end our sermon series ,Synced Up, with the church of Laodicea. Pastor Chip gives some insight to the time period and how Jesus related the culture to the church. He told them, I know your deeds and that you are neither hot nor cold but luke warm. But Jesus reassured us that He rebukes those who He loves. He who has an ear them hear what the Spirit is saying.!

Pastor Ken Behrens teaches on the letter to the church of Philadelphia. Jesus had nothing to say against them. In fact, He encourages them to hold fast to the promises of God and to keep doing what they are doing. They were a church who didn't compromise, wasn't about the number of attenders, but truly loved Jesus and sharing the gospel message. God would open doors for them to continue to share the gospel and be their strength even during times of trials.

WAKE UP! In this week's message of the series, SYNCED UP, Pastor Chip teaches on the church of Sardis. They did many good deeds and even had a good reputation or were, "known" so to speak. But yet, they were dead inside. Jesus warns us about our churches becoming like this and ourselves even becoming dead inside. We can look alive on the outside all we want, but are we allowing the Holy Spirit to work in us and use us to bring life from the inside out? Or are we in a period of our lives where were are coasting by?

This week's message in our series, "Synced Up", we look at two of the seven churches; Pergamum and Thyatira. Jesus commended them on their faith, love, and perseverance. But yet, they still clung on to some of the beliefs of the world and fell into acts of sin. This makes us think about our own ives and if we are falling into the trap of being conformed to this world instead of being like Christ.

We are so blessed to have Pastor Mark Bane, Evangelism Ministry & New Church Development Director with the Nazarene Church, come and share his heart on evangelism and spreading the truth of the gospel to the lost.

In our second week of, "Synced Up", Pastor Chip Bullock teaches on the church of Smyrna. This church was a persecuted church, faced with poverty, trails, and afflictions; but they remained faithful. Jesus encouraged them to hold on to their hope and faith; having an eternal perspective that they would receive the victor's crown.!

Welcome to our new series called, "Synced Up" a look at the seven churches found in the book of Revelation. Pastor Chip starts off the series taking a closer look at the first church mentioned in Revelation, the church of Ephesus. Here we see that Jesus praises the church for working hard, having perseverance, and standing up against the wicked, however; they had lost one important thing in the midsts of all of their good deeds. They had lost the love they once had, the very catalyst for why they do what they do. They became a "going through the motions" type of church. Pastor Chip takes a hard look and reflection of own lives in this and talks about what Jesus says we need to do if this is where are hearts are at.