Pearlside Church | Pearl Highlands

Jesus came to bring us peace. We experience this peace when we choose to follow and trust Him. Christmas can conjure up images of a peaceful nativity scene with Mary, Joseph, and Jesus in a manger. However, Mary and Joseph had to endure a tremendous ordeal to get to this moment to fulfill God’s plan to bring peace to Earth. They had to travel almost 10 days and 100 miles from Nazareth to Bethlehem to register in a census enduring difficulty and dangers since Mary was about to give birth. Mary then had to give birth to Jesus in a less-than-sanitary condition in an animal stable. However, we see that this was all a part of God’s plan because Jesus’ place of birth was prophesied to be the town of Bethlehem over 700 years before His arrival. From this, we can have peace amid the journeys of our lives when we know that God is in control and has a plan that He will fulfill as we trust in Him.

Every person and every church has a God-given assignment to fulfill. A life of faith in building

towards this assignment becomes a part of our eternal legacy that God will reward. Pearlside

Church’s God-given call is to not only impact our city and state but also our nation and beyond.

We are a local church with a global impact.

Jesus instructed His followers to be like "salt and light" in their communities by doing good deeds. While these deeds don't save us, they show non-believers that we follow Christ. It's crucial for non-Christians to witness our good actions, leading them to praise our Heavenly Father. Unfortunately, some Christians distance themselves instead of actively serving and engaging the community. This has allowed non-Christians and their beliefs to heavily influence our communities. It's time for us to change this trend and actively live out our faith.

God calls us to consider what we are building with our lives and calls us to build for eternal things, not temporary things. One of the most important ways we build to last is by investing in the spiritual life and faith of the next generation. All of us have next-generation people in our lives whom God calls us to invest in: our childre, grandchildren, neighbors, co-workers, or in our community.

The Bible repeatedly calls us to consider what we are building with our lives and what we are ultimately living for. The world encourages us to live for the here and now and to build for temporary riches and pleasure. Conversely, Jesus implores us to build for eternal things, not for the temporary.

As we discussed in this series, we are in a spiritual battle against spiritual forces of evil, and we are empowered to stand victoriously against them by putting on the "full armor of God" everyday. Last week, we looked at the first part of the armor. This week, we will discuss the rest.

The Bible is clear that we are all engaged in a spiritual battle against demonic forces. Thus, God provides us spiritual armor to stand against the enemy and his attacks. God instructs us to “put on” the first three pieces of armor and to keep them equipped in the believer’s life at all times.

The Bible makes it clear: we are in a battle. When we decide to follow Christ, we enter into spiritual warfare. It's a battle we can't avoid, with an enemy we can't see. This enemy is constantly attacking us, hurling lies, and trying to distract us from the plans God has for us.

God not only cares about our relationships with Him but He also cares about our relationships with one another.

Just as parents are called to lay the foundation of faith in their kids and teach them to follow God, we are all called to help cultivate faith in others (our friends, family, etc.). Parents can do this by tending to the hearts of their children and by being present in their lives, allowing them to lovingly extend truth and grace when their children struggle with sin. We help others by listening to their hearts and pointing them to Jesus with truth and grace.

For families to thrive, they must fulfill God’s purpose. The very first family in the Garden of Eden was given the command to fill the earth with the goodness and love of God (Genesis 1:28). Jesus expands on this by calling all people to “make disciples” (Matthew 28:19-20). Therefore, our families do not exist for ourselves, our successes, and happiness but to bless others by serving and pointing them to Jesus. Our families cannot be blessed until we begin living out and fulfilling God’s purpose to bless others by making disciples.

Times of crisis reminds us how important relationships are to us, especially our families. God designed us to thrive within the context of healthy families. This is why we all desire and long for healthy relationships in our family. However, Satan’s desire is to destroy every good thing God has made - including family - through sin. Thus, many of our greatest hurts and pains come from the brokenness we experience in our family. From the beginning of time, God had a plan to restore broken relationships through His forgiveness, love, and grace. We see this in how He restored the Bible’s first family, Adam and Eve, after they committed sin against God and each other. This becomes a powerful example that we can also experience God’s restoration in our family today because God deeply cares about His creation.

As we saw throughout the series Resilient, God is calling us to live victoriously so that we can overcome the brokenness of this world and shine God’s light and love into the lives of people around us. Seasons of crisis make the need for God’s light to shine even brighter. God desires for His Church to thrive and shine the light of the Gospel, being ready to extend ourselves into the homes and lives of others, bringing the love of God. Crisis provides opportunities to love and serve others. We must use every opportunity, and especially seasons of crisis in people’s lives, to demonstrate God’s love and to proclaim the good news of Jesus Christ

In 1 Kings 19:1-18, Elijjah faced off with the wicked king and queen of Israel, performed many miracles, and won great victories in the hopes of turning the people back to God. When things didn't go the way he expected, instead of being "high" from his victories, he was feeling "low" and defeated in despair.

In 1 Kings 18, we see Elijah, after facing many challenges, is now waiting for God's timing and intervention. God told Elijah that the drought would end after three and a half years. With no signs of rain, Elijah instructed his servant to look again, knowing that God is faithful to fulfill His Word. On the seventh time, the servant sees a small cloud that eventually brings the promised rain. From this story, we learn several truths.

Elijah, the prophet, faithfully stood for God amid the wicked culture of Baal worship in Israel. He obeyed God and declared a drought on the land as a judgment on Ahab and a challenge to Baal, the purported God of fertility and harvest. Elijah then experienced God’s miraculous provision numerous times and saw a dead boy raised to life. He then faced the ultimate test of his resilience by standing alone against King Ahab and 450 prophets of Baal who threatened his life. From his experience, we learn several truths.

Amid God's work in our lives, we will face contradictions to our faith— times when God doesn't work the way that we expect Him to. After God miraculously provided Elijah food through a widow, her son unexpectedly died (1 Kings 17:17-24). The widow blamed Elijah for her son’s death. The accusation and contradiction initially rattled Elijah, but he chose to persevere in prayer and took the widow’s son to the upper room in their home. There, he cried out to God and prayed fervently for the boy’s resurrection. God answered Elijah’s prayer and brought the boy back to life, which left no doubt to the widow that Elijah’s God is the one true God. This event gave Elijah greater confidence to face greater challenges later on.

Resilience comes from being able to navigate life from one season to the next. What we once depended on for comfort and provision in one season can dry up. God desires to move us out of complacent comfort and into His purpose. The prophet Elijah had to navigate a season of drought where sustenance was brought directly to him through food from the ravens and water from the brook (1 Kings 17:2-6). That season ended, and God was preparing to provide for Elijah another way. He led Elijah to minister to a widow who would provide for him.

God wants our faith to be resilient amid pressure and persecution. Resilient faith does not back down and receives God’s favor and eternal life. One of the best examples of resilient faith is Elijah, the prophet who stood up against the wickedness of King Ahab and persevered until the end. Elijah is one of the only men in the Bible who did not experience death but was instead carried into heaven, foreshadowing Christ’s ascension and a picture of triumphant and resilient faith. From his example, we learn several truths to help us to have resilient faith as well.

Our God is a generous God. We see His generosity first and foremost in Him sending His son Jesus to save us from sin and death. He also offers us an abundant life when we obey His word. 2 Corinthians 9:6-11 teaches how we can experience His provision as we trust and obey Him.

God created us and calls us to a life of abundance—or always having more than enough—rather than a life of scarcity and lack. Abundance from God is intended to be a blessing to others rather than being hoarded selfishly. While the “thief” (or the Devil) comes to steal away God’s blessing, Jesus came to lead us to a life of abundance as we follow and trust in Him, our Heavenly Father.

Throughout this Blessed series, we have been looking at Jesus' Sermon on the Mount, which shows us what the Kingdom of God would be like if we follow Him here on earth.A primary aspect of this is to value people and relationships. This is why Jesus used the powerful imagery of our human tendency to fixate on the speck in someone else's eye while ignoring the "plank" in our own eye. He cautions us us against being judgmental of other people's sinful behavior or attitudes while minimizing or ignoring the sin in our own life. Jesus is not teaching us, as Christians, to not exercise any judgement. Rather, He is instructing us to prioritize dealing with our sin first. Doing so will put us in a posture of humility, allowing us to see clearly and help others deal with their sin. This is a powerful process that allows us to deal with both hypocrisy and judgmentalism within our own lives while being able to minister to others and deal with the shortcomings in their lives.

Our world teaches and tells us to accumulate material possessions for our personal happiness and enjoyment. However, despite many of us having more things, we often feel stressed and overwhelmed by anxiety and worry. Jesus explains that a blessed life is not one that is ruled by the love of money and possessions, but rather a love for God's eternal kingdom. This is the antidote to anxiety and worry because everything we worry about is temporary, whereas what is eternal can never be taken away from us.

All of us are called by God to fulfill His purpose and will face contradictions to that calling. Situations and obstacles will arise that discourage us and prevent us from fulfilling God's call. In the Bible, we find that Mary had ti navigate such obstacles when she received God's call to be the mother of Jesus. She was in a difficult position to be pregnant while being a virgin and not yet married. Yes she surrendered her fear and placed her faith in God to do the impossible. Practically, Mary also sought out Elizabeth, her cousin, who recognized what God was doing in her life and encouraged her. We too are called to trust in God and must walk with the right people who are also pursuing God. There, we discover that we are not alone and we receive the strength to persevere. God is always faithful to fulfill His purpose for us as we continue to trust in Him.

One of the pathways to God's blessing and provision is prayer. Prayer invites God's kingdom into our lives. Therefore, we must pray with the right heart and focus. Jesus teaches us several important aspects of prayer that bring God's kingdom blessing and breakthroughs into our lives.

To bring God's blessing into our lives and the world around us, we must align ourselves with Jesus and His Word. in the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus taught His disciples how to live as children of God, bringing the values and the blessings of God's Kingdom to earth. His teachings reveal that God is far more concerned with what is going on in our hearts than He is about our behavior alone. Humans have always been tempted to live to please others and to gain honor and notoriety from people. Jesus addresses this by challenging why we do and the motives of our hearts.

The world's standard is to love those that love you back. Jesus raises the standard; to love even our enemies. Our natural inclination is to seek retaliation, which says, "You hurt me, so I will hurt you." This leads to a divided world filled with conflict. Jesus teaches us to "love our enemies" and to "pray for those who persecute us." Jesus demonstrated this by loving us at the cross, even while we were His enemies. He overcame evil love (note: this does not condone abuse nor prohibit self-defense). To love like Jesus, we must first allow God's love to change our hearts, and pray for those who hurt us. The result: we can treat everyone with kindness and love. This leads to a blessed life and demonstrates the power of His Kingdom.

To experience God's blessing and to be a light to the world requires that we align our lives with His word. One of the most important ways we do this is by living with honesty and integrity where our actions and words align.

Easter is the most important event in human history. Jesus' death, burial, and resurrection proved that He was who He said He was, and that what He said was true - that salvation and the forgiveness of sins are available to anyone who repents and believes in Him. The first witness of Jesus' resurrection was Mary Magdalene, a former prostitute who Jesus had delivered from seven demons.

Jesus came to bring the values of the Kingdom of God to earth. His values are very different from the world's. When we align ourselves with His values outlined in His Word, we position ourselves to experience His blessing in our lives. Jesus came to show us the way and gave His life on the cross to save us from the brokenness of this world.

Many relationships over the last few years have been severely challenged due to various kinds of crisis. In Matthew 5: 21-26, Jesus teaches us how to preserve relational blessing when faced with relational brokeness.

***Due to technical difficulties, there will only be audio for this service. We apologize for the inconvenience.***  

In Jesus' famous Sermon on the Mount, He addressed what it means to be "blessed" in God's Kingdom. Throughout this series, we will unpack Jesus' Sermon and discover how He defines true blessing and the path toward attaining it. We will see that His definition of blessing vastly differs from the world's. True blessing comes when we align our values and way of life with God's Word. When we do, we will experience real blessing, which is truly satisfying and eternal.

God uses ordinary people and ordinary moments to do the extraordinary. God uses miracles as signs to point people to trust in Jesus as Lord. These signs are not just meant to happen in the Church but in the community through ordinary people like us in our daily lives. Therefore, we must see needs and challenges in people's lives and the world as opportunities for God to do the miraculous through us, pointing others to Jesus. After Jesus ascended into Heaven, the Disciples believe that God would do miracles though them.

In John 11:1-45, when Jesus heard that a friend, Lazarus, was sick and dying, He remained in the town He was in for two more days before traveling to visit him. When He arrived, Lazarus had already been dead for four days. Jesus was deeply moved with emotion and wept with those who mourned even though He knew that He would raise Lazarus from the dead. He proceeded to the tomb and raised the dead man to life. This miracle led many more people to believe that He was the Lord.

When Jesus healed the blind man, He explained that adversity and difficulty in life may not always derive from prior sins. Rather, the constant truth is that God is in control and allows adversity to accomplish His purpose. In the process of healing this blind man, Jesus makes a mixture of spit and mud to heal the man's vision. This shows us that while God can and will meet our needs, it may not be the process we expect. This process will always involve our faith and obedience as Jesus looks to partner together with us.

Pearlside Pearl Highlands 10 AM Service  After feeding the multitude, Jesus sent His disciples across the lake on a boat to meet Him on the other side. On the way, they encountered a storm.

In John 6:1-15, Jesus miraculously fed 5,000 men (not including women and children) by multiplying five barley loaves and two fish.

The third miracle that Jesus performed, according to John's gospel, was the healing of a man who had been paralyzed for 38 years.

God's miracles are important for the spreading of the Gospel, since some people will not believe in Jesus until they personally see and experience signs and wonders. In John 4: 46-54, Jesus miraculously heals an official's son and his whole family coming to faith in Jesus.

Jesus is the Son of God and promised Savior of the World. Jesus performed numerous miraculous acts while here on earth, validating this truth. His first miracle was the turning of water into wine when the host of a party ran out of wine for their guests. What began as an embarrassing problem became an opportunity for God’s power to be displayed. This miracle turned water into wine and skeptics into believers. The ultimate purpose of God’s miracles is to reveal His glory and bless people.

Each new year brings new beginnings, an opportunity to leave the past behind and start afresh. It doesn’t matter what has happened in the past. God is gracious and always offers us new beginnings and a future full of hope if we put Him first.

Welcome to Pearlside Church! No matter where you are in the world, we're so excited that you've tuned in. We pray that God speaks and encourages you from today's service.

Welcome to Pearlside Church! No matter where you are in the world, we're so excited that you've tuned in. We pray that God speaks and encourages you from today's service.