Resurrection Life Church

022116 | The Genetic Code | Part One | Allen Hickman

DNA stores all information that makes up any organism. That’s quite a lot of information but what’s interesting about DNA is that it is made of just four building blocks, which are – cytosine (C), thymine (T), guanine (G) and adenine (A).  1 single gram of DNA is capable of holding an amazing 700 terabytes of data! (terabytes = 1 trillion bits of data).  If someone manages to unwind all DNA molecules in a human body and place them end to end, the total length that can be covered is 10 billion miles! That’s the distance covered in a trip from Earth to Pluto and back to Earth.  If you could type 60 words per minute, eight hours a day, it would take approximately 50 years to type the human genome. A parent and child share 99.5% of the same DNA.

Our genetic code as believers, comes straight from our Father God.  In order to know who we are we need to know what we are made of.  Once we know and understand our genetic code it makes living for God a joy.  One of the first codes that are embedded in us as Christians is we love people.  We love them because God loves them.  It is His love in us that gives us strength and power.  

There are four basic ways our genetic code enables us to love.  First we tell people about the good news of Jesus.  Second we build a relationship with them and pour into them the love God has given us.  Third we love people in the Power of the Holy Spirit and lastly we give people the same value and dignity our Father does.

Pastor Allen begins this series about our genetic code with a powerful and enlightening message that culminates with a video from the Passion of the Christ as to why Jesus did what He did for all of mankind.      

021416 | Big Love | Allen Hickman

“Go big or go home.”  “It’s all or nothing.”  These are phrases that are synonymous with extravagant and lavish living and thinking.  The United States culture is known through out the world as a people who do everything big.  We are indulgent in just about everything, from food, to entertainment, to houses.  But what about our relationships?  What about how we treat each other?  Do we go big with our love?  Do we go big with our commitments?

 

God has call us to love big just as He has.  It has always been “all or nothing” with God.  He is “all in” with us and expect us to be the same with Him and with our relationships.  Some might say, “I don’t have what it takes to love big like He does.”  That is okay because God has that covered.  According to Romans 5:5 God has given us the ability for “Big Love” by giving us His Holy Spirit to empowers us to love big.  It does not rest on our shoulders but on His.

 

There are a few things we have to understand though if we are going to have big love.  We have to choose to be “all in”.  Give it everything we’ve got and leave the rest up to God.  Second realize it all “hangs” on God and we simply submit ourselves to Him.  If we don’t have this mind-set, the things God ask of us, become nothing more than a set of rules.  Third, we have to receive God’s love ourselves.  We cannot give away what we don’t have.  And lastly, give it away.  God’s love will only grow when we give it away.  So yes we say “go big or go home.  God’s love is a Big Love!

020716 | The Journey | Part Five | Allen Hickman

On this journey to wholeness we have a powerful gift at our disposal, the gift of memory.  “How is that a gift?” you might ask.  Well, it can be a gift or a curse, it’s all in how you use it.  It can be a place that inspire greatness as you remember what God has done in and through your life.  It can be a place of joy and courage as you recall all the times God was faithful and was there for you.  But it can also be a place where the enemy comes in and torments you with past mistakes, failures and sins.

None of us are perfect and neither is our past.  We all have bad memories.  How do we deal with bad memories?  First of all learn to release by forgiving.  Forgive yourself and forgive others. Second reduce the garbage in your life.  Get rid of the excess baggage. Lastly replace those bad memories with God’s destiny for your life.  Refuse to be defined by your past.

Once your get past the memories of yesterday that haunt you, you will need to “sanctify” your memories by testifying of the goodness of God.  Also by not being lazy with your thought life.  Be disciplined in what you think about especially about your past.

Then finally remember it is about Jesus, it’s always been about Him and it will always be about Jesus.

013116 | How to Initiate Spiritual Growth | Dan Finley

Growth doesn’t just happen unless some certain elements are put in place and into motion.  In order for a plant to grow there must soil, water, sunlight and air.  All these play a part in the growth of the plant.  It doesn’t just happen without all the elements in place at the right time with the right amount.  Growth will not happen and the plant will begin to wither and eventually die.   It is the same way spiritually.  There are certain elements that must be put into play in order for us to grow spiritually.  

Once we begin to grow we come into three basic levels of growth or maturity.  The first being our elementary stage.  We are “little children” as the Apostle John refers to us.  We are learning and growing in the basic of spiritual life.  Then we mature to a place of “young men” or young adulthood where we are actually walking out the spiritual life God intended us to live.  We are growing and advancing as we “flesh” out the things we learned as “little children”.  Thirdly, we beginning to pass down and give away the things we’ve learned and grown in to others.  In this third phase John calls us “fathers”.  “Fathers” implies that we have reproduced and are growing others in the “faith”.  It means we don’t live for ourselves but for the glory of our Father God and the “little children” and “young men.”

Pastor Dan Finley humorously and with precision shares what we need to do to initiate spiritual growth and how to grow in the three levels of maturity.

012416 | The Journey | Part Four | Allen Hickman

This journey we are all on called life is a journey that is fraught with danger and peril.  It doesn’t have to be.  It should be a journey that is full of peace, hope and joy.  Why?  Because the outcome is not dependent upon us it is dependent upon God.  He is in control, not us.  When we assume control of our life the stress and pressure of the outcome rest on your shoulders.  The peace, hope and joy now come from the results of our own efforts and not God.   It will also result in us believing that we are the master of our own destiny.  

It was once said “if you want to make God laugh, tell Him your plans for your life.”  God has one plan and one plan only.  There is no plan B with God.  His plan is the perfect plan He has no contingent plan.  We may but He doesn’t.

If we are going to get to a place of wholeness we are going to have to do a few things.  First, take on the yoke Jesus give us, second, walk in meekness and live in humility.  The yoke Jesus give is not burdensome.  His yoke leads to peace and rest.  Meekness is understanding the power that we have comes from our trust and hope in God’s plan for our life.  To live humble means that we realize we aren’t in control but He is.  It means to give complete total control of your life to God.  He is in charge and the burden of the outcome rest on His shoulders.  The one thing that validates our faith is obedience not the outcome that’s God’s job.

011716 | The Journey | Part Three | Allen Hickman

The journey that we are on has several levels and different road that we may have to travel.  Some levels are difficult and some roads are rocky and curvy and hard to traverse. God has given us a few things that we must learn how to manage.  Manage through His rules, regulations and precepts.  Many think that we have it all figured out and our lives deny that we do.  That is why we must depend and count on our creator and listen to His ways.

There are three things that we must learn how to manage God’s way or we run the risk of getting side tracked and lost on our journey to wholeness.  We must learn to manage our expectations, of others, God and ourself.  Remember people are not perfect, God is not going to do it your way and newsflash; you are not perfect either. On this journey the road of your words is a precarious and dangerous one.  Our words are powerful.  We must learn to speak positive, generous and carefully so that we do not steal peoples faith or their hope.   We are emotional people.  Some are driven and ruled by the emotions.  If we do not manage our emotions we will derail our journey and ending up crashing and burning.

If we do not manage those three things we will have a hard and arduous life.  God has given us what we need to manage those things so we can thrive as His children and affect positive change in our world. 

011016 | The Journey | Part Two | Allen Hickman

The Journey that we are on with Jesus is not only a spiritual journey but a journey of the soul.  A journey of our thought life.  Our spirit, soul and body should be lived in concert with one another, in harmony, in tune with each other.  God has told us how to live in our thought life by putting it in His word.  We must learn how to take our thoughts captive and the way we do that is by doing three basis things.  

First we must recognizing bad thought by dwelling on the truth of God's word.  Second we have to restriction some thoughts from coming in and lastly we must replace those old ungodly thoughts with whatever is true, noble, just and pure.   It's hard to do that when what we are putting in us is in direct opposition to what God wants for our life.  We must learn to pay attention to what we don't pay attention to.  

Once we start down the road on our journey with God, He puts thoughts in us that can and will change the world.  We will start thinking big when we start thinking like God.  Our ways may not be His ways, but His ways can become ours.  When they do our world will be changed for the better.  We then bring life to all those around us because we are thinking on His thoughts and then there is joy in the journey.

010316 | The Journey | Part One | Allen Hickman

We are all on a journey.  Some of us are further down the road than others, some have learned along the way.  Some have not, some have given up on making sense of the journey, and others have found peace and joy in the journey.  Mankind, since the fall, has been searching for significance.  That significance and wholeness can only be found in a true and intimate relationship with God the Father through His son Jesus.  

In order have true joy in the journey to completeness and wholeness we have to learn how to align somethings in our life.  Actually, we must allow God by His Holy Spirit’s power to re-align our whole man in the order God originally created us; in His image.

We were created in His image in that we are a triune being; spirit, soul and body.  Before the fall of man in the garden we worshiped God in spirit, soul and body, in that order.  The fall rearranged somethings and we started to live body, soul and spirit.  For the most part mankind lives in the two dimensional, body and soul only.  However, that was not God’s original intent according to His Word.

Jesus said that those who worship God must do so in “spirit and in truth” thus engaging the whole man.  Pastor Allen begins the series on what order we should live and how that will affect the lives of those around us.

122715 | The Rhythm of Life | Kerr Howell

Life has a rhythm.  However, each life has a different rhythm from the others.  Learning to hear and catch the rhythm of life that God has for your life is not always the easiest task but it is possible.  God has made a way for you and I to catch the rhythm by calling on and being completely dependent on Him.  We must learn to listen and “feel” the ebb and flows of the rhythm.  When we do there is a peace and satisfaction that comes that the world around us cannot duplicate or match.  God has given us everything we need in His Word, it is our responsibility to read, study it and be saturated with it.  It is the music we must learn to read in order to “catch” the rhythm.

Kerr Howell, friend and church planter from Spokane, Washington gives us an update on what God is doing in and through River City Church that was planted 20 months ago.  They are now running on average of 50 people and are planting a new house church in one of the most needed areas of the city.  Over the last 20 months Kerr has learned exactly what it means to tap into the rhythms of life and how he and his family must continually trust in God.  Trust Him to do the work in them as He advanced the work He has called them to do in Spokane.

Are you in need of learning the rhythms of life?  If so go to God’s word and seek and you will find.  Jesus promise that if you seek with all your hear you will find the rhythm.

122015 | The Greatest Gift | Allen Hickman

Do you remember the greatest gift you ever received?  Was is a bike, a guitar, a four wheeler, a ring, or a new car, what was it?  We can all remember the greatest gift because the memory of it invokes deep emotions of joy and happiness.  That gift was personal and only meant for you, nobody else, just you.    However, the greatest gift given to mankind was the gift of God’s only son, Jesus being born in a lowly manager, and in humble beginnings.  But there is more to the gift than His amazing birth.  It is the privilege it affords all of mankind to have the opportunity of being part of a family.

The subject of family may not have a positive tone for you because of how you grew up but family done the way God intended will always bring hope, joy and life.  The gift of family is open to all mankind.  All we have to do is come, believe and accept the gift of God’s son Jesus as the Lord of our life.  However, when we become a part there are some things that we find out about being in the family of God. We have a heritage that comes from our family, we teaches us to honor, respect and give us direction to our life.  It also gives us a sense of belonging that lets us know that we are part of something bigger than just us.  And lastly it give us purpose for our life and all God’s children are destined for greatness.

May this time of the year be a time for you and your family to re-evaluate what true family is and become part of the family of God if you are not.  If you are are a part of God’s family may you bring hope, love, joy and life to others.