Four Barriers We Must Overcome

Now after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, behold, wise men from the East came to Jerusalem, saying, "Where is He who has been born King of the Jews? For we have seen His star in the East and have come to worship Him." -Matthew 2:1-2

Take a minute to envision the nativity scene. I'm sure you see baby Jesus in the manger, surrounded lovingly by Mary and Joseph. And I'm sure you also imagine the three wise men and their gifts. Yet, Scripture does not explicitly list three wise men.

Because there were only three gifts, we naturally conclude that there must have been three wise men. Three contributions, however, do not equal three wise men. Therefore, the truth is there could have been any number of wise men present.

We know the wise men came from the far East, and they were men who spent their whole lives studying the stars. Some people believe that Daniel, from the Book of Daniel, Chapter 7, left behind the understanding that a divine king would be born in his homeland. This prophecy may have been what provoked the wise men to go on their journey when they saw the star. We know for sure that the wise men do get to Jerusalem, and there they encounter an unbelievably wicked man named King Herod, who tries to knock the wise men off course.

King Herod wasn't the only adversity the wise men faced trying to get to Jesus. They had to overcome many barriers to worship Jesus. One of these barriers was distance. They may have spent years traveling and traveled hundreds if not thousands of miles to get to Jesus. This trek wasn't easy to travel by any means; it was challenging. They also had to overcome a barrier of danger. The road they traveled was known for occupying men who were thieves and murders. And they were traveling with precious gifts.

We want to worship Jesus, too, just like the wise men, but we face modern-day barriers in our own lives. They don't look the same as the wise men's barriers. It isn't necessarily problematic for us to find a Church where we can worship freely without danger. One barrier we face is discouragement. So many people in this season have their heads down with the weight of everything going on in our world. We are walking through tough times, and it's hard to process all the negativity we face. Discouragement sources itself by any number of things, a surging global pandemic, natural disasters, a family member fighting a life-threatening illness, the loss of a job, or a financial crisis. There is no shortage of discouragement -- and it beats us down! That's why our church focuses so hard on encouraging the discouraged! God still intends to be God in your life! Wise men keep seeking him!

Another modern-day barrier we face is "distraction." Can you relate to this? Every time you sit down to read the Bible, something distracts you. Every time you log on to church online to worship, something distracts you. Even sitting in church, you're distracted by the things around you. Distraction is a tactic of the enemy. He wants you to lose your focus. He wants you to become dismayed by everything coming at you. He knows that if he can distract you enough, your life will become Spiritually paralyzed.

What kind of barrier are you facing?

The wise men made it through their barriers, and I believe you will too! Do not let any barrier: discouragement, disappointment, distraction, or dismay keep you from arriving at the feet of Jesus. Give him your whole heart and your complete worship as you go all in and surrender to the Lord!

Take a look at your heart this Christmas. Inspect your heart to find the barrier you're facing. What is hindering your worship? Everyone faces these barriers, and it's easy for us to make excuses, but don't give up! Leave those excuses in 2021, and enter 2022 at the feet of Jesus Christ, fighting every barrier that comes against you!

I invite you to view this message in its entirety at this link: https://youtu.be/WSQtN6GI4iU

We want to connect with you and help you take your next steps!

1. Do you have a relationship with Jesus? This decision is the first step in receiving peace in your life. If you are ready to give your life to Jesus, we would love to celebrate with you at 3trees.com.
   

2. Do you need to rededicate your life to Jesus? If yes, please connect with us at 3trees.com.
   

3. Do you feel God prompting you to take your next steps? If yes, BEGIN is waiting for you! You can walk through our ONLINE BEGIN class at 3trees.com/begin
   

4. Would you like to make a difference in our community? Join our captivate team! Visit 3trees.com to find out how you can participate in community outreach opportunities.

WATCH IT | DISCUSSION GUIDE| MESSAGE NOTES

Peace Unto All

What’s your definition of peace? Most people describe peace as a sense of calmness, fearlessness, or the absence of anxiety. Peace could also be described as the absence of war or difficult times. In this message, “Peace Unto All”, Pastor Eric walks us through what it looks like to have true peace in our lives, why it’s so hard for us to obtain, and provides us with a handful of takeaways, obtained from scripture, to help us achieve peace in our own lives!

These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace. In the world, you will have tribulation, but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.” - John 16:33

Did you know it’s possible to have the peace of God in any and every situation? In the verse John 16:33, Jesus says “that in ME you may have peace.” You can have peace despite the disturbances within your life! When you are in a relationship with Jesus, you can have peace despite everything that is going on within the world.

What does true inner peace from God look like? Simon Peter, in the book of Acts, Chapter 12, demonstrates just how powerful the peace of God can be. Simon Peter is apprehended, placed in a prison cell guarded by more than a dozen guards, and sentenced to death! But despite this obvious tribulation in this life, he chooses to relax and sleep peacefully, fully trusting in God. An angel of the Lord does come to rescue Simon Peter but has difficulty waking him up because of the peaceful state of relaxation Simon Peter has entered. This is what true inner peace from God looks like! Unfortunately, many of us have never experienced this level of peace.

Why don’t we have the peace God planned for us? God wants us to experience peace, but we must be in a proper relationship with Him to experience His peace within us. The enemy is constantly trying to draw us away from a proper relationship with God. The enemy wants us to be separated from God. Our iniquities… our immoral behavior… our sin… is separating us from God’s peace.

But your iniquities have separated you from your God; And your sins have hidden His face from you So that He will not hear. -Isaiah 59:2 (NIV)

What does your relationship with God look like? If you are struggling with a lack of peace yourself, maybe you need to review your proximity to God. We are all searching for inner peace. Sometimes we pursue peace in self-help books, podcasts, and videos. For others, it may be counseling, therapy, or prescription medications. There’s nothing wrong with any of these pursuits, but we need to know that true inner peace only comes from a close relationship with God. God just wants your whole heart and soul. He wants your willingness to give Him your life. God wants to give us His peace!

Here is what you need to know about peace based on scripture:

1. THERE IS PEACE ON EARTH

Peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid. John 14:27 (NKJV)

2. GOD’S PEACE IS GIVEN TO YOU

Peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you… -John 14:27 (NKJV)

3. TROUBLE DOESN’T HAVE TO TROUBLE YOU

Peace, I leave with you, My peace I give to you, not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid. -John 14:27 (NKJV)

4. FEAR IS A PERSONAL DECISION

…neither let it be afraid. -John 14:27 (NKJV)

Unwrap the gift called peace! Let God’s peace rule in you.

And let the peace of God rule in your hearts… -Colossians 3:15 (NKJV)

There are so many more wonderful takeaways from this message, “Peace Unto All”, I invite you to view this message in its entirety at this link: https://youtu.be/l1mCso0hnzU

WATCH IT | DISCUSSION GUIDE| MESSAGE NOTES

We want to connect with you and help you take your next steps!

1. Do you have a relationship with Jesus? This decision is the first step in receiving peace in your life. If you are ready to give your life to Jesus, we would love to celebrate with you at 3trees.com.
   

2. Do you need to rededicate your life to Jesus? If yes, please connect with us at 3trees.com.
   

3. Do you feel God prompting you to take your next steps? If yes, BEGIN is waiting for you! You can walk through our ONLINE BEGIN class at 3trees.com/begin
   

4. Would you like to make a difference in our community? Join our captivate team! Visit 3trees.com to find out how you can participate in community outreach opportunities.

Why Unstable Faith Will Always Lead You Away From God’s Blessings

God is up to something good!

Sometimes things look one way, but upon further review, there is something more to see. It may look one way now, but in truth, it is something completely different. When you take time to look at what God is up to from different vantage points in your life, you will discover that the spiritual perspective dramatically differs from what you may be seeing in the flesh.

Last week we talked about Israel’s distance from God spiritually. As a result, they were in a severe drought and famine, things were pretty horrific, and God had sent a prophet named Elijah to bring fire down from Heaven and prove to the people that God was unrivaled as the only deity. God also promised that He would send rain to renew and restore what the drought and famine had taken. When the people returned to God spiritually, everything around them physically began to improve!

If you missed last week's message you can watch it here.

Have you ever experienced seasickness?

Seasickness is a form of motion sickness that occurs when the brain can’t make sense of the information being sent from the eyes, ears, and/or body. So, for example, for some people, motion in a car, boat, plane, or even on an amusement park ride can make them feel queasy, clammy, or sick to their stomach. And, all of these physical challenges are a direct result of the brain not being able to make sense of the mixed signals it is receiving. The body appears to be on something solid, but at the same time, everything is going up and down.

Have you ever considered that God might struggle with motion sickness?

Forgive me for that play on words, but ponder this passage, “So then, because you are lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will vomit you out of My mouth.” (Revelation 3:16 NKJV)

In Revelation 3, Jesus was speaking to a church in Laodicea. He addressed people who are expected to be one way, but their faith is being manifested in an entirely different way. Jesus says I’d rather you be really hot or really cold, but this back and forth -- up and down faith -- is making me sick. Scripture tells us that He will vomit this kind of faith out of His mouth. It is a harsh but real visualization of how He feels about lukewarm faith.

How do we define hot faith? Or cold faith? How do you know if you’re only lukewarm? Most commentators tell us that it has to do with the intensity at which you pursue God.

James, Jesus’s brother, further teaches us that Jesus doesn’t have a high tolerance for anyone who is double-minded. What we know about Jesus is that without faith it is absolutely impossible to please Him, “But without faith it is impossible to please Him... and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.” (Hebrews 11:6 NKJV)

Stay hot and intense in your faith, because God rewards the diligent heart that seeks Him fully! When we keep going after God, keep enduring, keep pursuing, and keep seeking Him we are rewarded and blessed. In the book of Revelation, Chapters 2 and 3, Jesus is talking to churches and believers...people who already follow Him, and He is saying to them that we must overcome whatever is in the world. This is incredibly important because He knows there will be a fight, a distraction, a hindrance, and a battle. We must press through what the world brings against us, keeping our faith hot! If we can do this there will be a special reward for us in Heaven.

How are you going to overcome the World?

How are you going to defeat the enemy?

Through faith:

For every child of God defeats this evil world, and we achieve this victory through our faith. And who can win this battle against the world? Only those who believe that Jesus is the Son of God. - 1 John 5:4-5 (NLT)

And, God’s preference, the thing He finds most pleasing is when our faith doesn’t waver as a result of life’s circumstances:

But without faith, it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him (Hebrews 11:6 NKJV)

But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for he who doubts is like a wave of the sea, driven and tossed by the wind. For let not that man suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord; he is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways. (James 1:6-8 NKJV)

Straight up, bottom line, God will not bless anything or anyone that is unstable or double-minded.

Thankfully, we learn there is hope for all who do waver or struggle with stability in their faith. And, we get the life-altering lesson because of what the Bible teaches us about Elijah. He certainly had his ups and downs in life and even struggled with his faith on a very personal level, just like we do, “Elijah was a man with a nature like ours...” (James 5:17 NKJV)

But when it mattered, Elijah showed up and his faith was on fire. He stood against over 850 false prophets by himself. Deeply believing in faith that revival would happen in his nation. He diligently sought God, and he believed that God would send fire to the Earth and prove His presence. He also believed that God would respond to the people's spiritual alignment and send a physical reward of restoration and renewal to the land. Through Elijah's strong faith, faith on fire, God ended the drought and famine. He brought rain and healing to their nation!

I believe God wants to do much the same for the nations of the world in our time. He just needs some Elijah’s who are ready and willing to stand firm in their faith and set the example of overcoming the world!

I invite you to view this message, “Here Again” in its entirety at this link: https://youtu.be/vjLKClOF-Is

Here are a few things to evaluate in your life:

1. Do you have a relationship with Jesus? This decision is the first step in receiving the anointing in your life. If you are ready to give your life to Jesus, we would love to celebrate with you at 3trees.com.

2. Do you need to rededicate your life to Jesus? If yes, please connect with us at 3trees.com.

3. Do you feel God prompting you to take your next steps? If yes, BEGIN is waiting for you! You can walk through our ONLINE BEGIN class at 3trees.com/begin

4. Would you like to make a difference in our community? Join our captivate team! Visit 3trees.com to find out how you can participate in community outreach opportunities.

WATCH IT | DISCUSSION GUIDE| MESSAGE NOTES