Whispering Pines Church

We have been through a very difficult year, a "storm in life." Certainly Covid has changed our "normal." Perhaps you have had other challenges this past year such as financial struggle, family issues, health concerns. How has your faith been challenged, strengthened or weakened? We will be looking at "When Faith Is Not Enough" this Sunday.

We are now in the third sermon in the Genesis series. In the first two weeks we learned of the two significant truths; about God and beginnings. We learned of the beginning of everything in the space-time universe and the ONE who brought it all into being. “In the beginning God created…” is a watershed statement regarding creation and the self-existent God. This week we are in Chapter 2, vv 1-17. We will see a more specific emphasis on day 6 of creation. We learn of God’s provision and love for man as He creates the Garden of Eden specifically for man. We also learn of God’s desire for protection along with His provision.

This last Sunday, Pastor Rick began his series in Genesis. He spoke on Gen 1:1 “In the Beginning,… He started by showing us that the Bible had always spoken of the beginning all things, as God acted. But science had originally believed the known universe was eternal, neither having a beginning or and end. But the big bang changed all of that and now scientists have to agree with the Bible that there was a beginning. This next week Pastor will explain more about the rest of Ch 1 in highlighting the Intelligent Design of the creator, God, and specific observations of the chapter. The following concepts will be explained; kinds, tohu we vohu, uniqueness of man, ex nihilo, to name a few. We’ll see that truths in Genesis can have great meaning for us. Please read Gen 1: 1-25 in preparation for the message.

This Sunday is our 1st in the series, Genesis chapters 1-12. This series will help us comprehend what the foundational truths of the Bible are, that help explain the origins of the Judeo Christian world view. This week we learn of the beginning of the Time-Space universe. We will understand how it all began, and how mankind is related to the rest of creation. And we will recognize and celebrate our God as Creator, to Him belongs all the praise and glory, especially from us His creation

We begin the day with our normal worship service which will focus on the glorious truth of the empty tomb and especially the historicity of the resurrection. The resurrection really occurred, and is the best explanation of the empty tomb. Join us Easter for a wonder celebration of our Lord’s Resurrection! Feel free to invite friends and family to be with us!

The culmination of Jesus’ earthly ministry is upon us. Jesus’ last miracle, the greatest to date, is the raising of a man who was dead – Lazurus. This did at least two things, it led the religious leadership, the chief priests and Sanhedrin, to decide they needed to eliminate Jesus for the “good of the nation.” For the people, this incredible miracle brought them together in their support of Jesus as the Messiah, their hoped-for king. In fact, the people rallied around Jesus as He entered Jerusalem, yelling in support of Him. But Jesus understood far better what was really happening amongst the crowds. For many of us, we have always understood the adulation of the crowds as their recognizing their king—but this message may change your mind. Join us this Sunday, in our 5th message of the Easter Season – Palm Sunday – Triumph or Tears? Pastor Rick

The Last Supper & Easter: Connections to Egypt As Pastor Rick has been emphasizing during his Easter series, what was associated with the 1st Easter did not happen by chance, or by reaction to the rejection of Jesus by the 1st century Jewish leadership. No, this KEY EVENT was designed by God as the major component of His plan to redeem mankind. In fact God gave illustrations in the OT of the substitutionary death that Jesus would voluntarily give. This Sunday we will see the connection to a major event in Jewish history, that of the Passover celebration. Pastor will show us the connection to the last meal that Jesus would celebrate with his disciples, that of the Seder meal.

We are now in our 3d message of Easter. We have seen that what happened during Easter was not a reaction to man’s rejection of Jesus. Not a response, but a plan of God laid before the history of mankind. Last week we saw that the last great miracle (other than the Resurrection itself) was Jesus’ resuscitation of Lazarus. For many, specifically His believers, the raising of Lazarus caused great faith; but for his enemy’s, the same event became the “straw that broke the camel’s back” and led to the Jewish leadership to specifically, concretely plan for Jesus’ death. This Sunday we will learn that as Jesus prepared the disciples for his death, He will lead them from Uncertainty to Hope and Peace. God’s provision for the disciples will not be a knee-jerk reaction, but a carefully planned out program to provide for them AND FOR US!

Last week we studied how God wasn’t surprised by the actions of man or nature, but He is aware of everything. The event which is the foundation of today’s sermon is no exception. We’ll see that one of Jesus’ friends Lazarus becomes sick and dies and Jesus will use this sad, tragic event to help Lazarus’ family grow in faith. It will also pose an important question each of us as Christians need to answer regarding our willingness to be used of God.

Today we begin a new preaching series, Easter 2021. Pastor Rick will be leading us until Easter Sunday in our understanding of how Jesus’ death at Easter impacts us. This Sunday he will lead us in “Not by Chance”, how the sovereign plan of God the Father for the death of the Son was planned for, and not by chance; it wasn’t God’s reaction to man’s actions to reject the Christ. This will help us be confident in God’s control of our lives.

Pastor Eric shared that we are stewards of the Word, and fulfill our ministry by preaching the Word and by enduring. 2 Timothy 4:1-8

Pastor Eric continues his study of the book of 2nd Timothy by sharing what we can do to be prepared and be grounded in God's Word. 2 Timothy 3:1-17

Pastor Eric shares how we can be Faithful Disciples. 2 Timothy 2:14-26

Pastor Eric shared how we can be strong in our faith through 4 Commands and 1 Promise. 2 Timothy 2:1-13

Guest Speakers from Alternatives Pregnancy Center shared what they do to help in the situation of an unplanned pregnancy, why they do it, and what we can do to help.

We can stand firm for the gospel by... * Embracing the message of the gospel * Not being ashamed of the gospel * Enduring the work of the gospel * Guarding the gospel 2 Timothy 1:8-14

How do we rekindle our faith? 2 Timothy 1:1-7

Christmas should not be celebrated on December 25th...we should live like it is Christmas 365 days a year. Matthew 2:1-12

Christ is our source and template of love. To follow Christ is to love like Christ and live an others-centered life. Philippians 2:5-111

The joy of the Lord is our strength. We rejoice because of Christ's coming ~ the First Advent. We rejoice in His coming again ~ the Second Advent. Zeph 3:14-20