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The Three Pillars of a Healthy Church in Jesus

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  Three Things a Church Must Be When I sat down to prepare this message, I asked myself: What should I share? I decided it was best to communicate, by the grace of God, where my heart is when it comes to leading any church or family of faith. There are three qualities I believe must be present in a church for me to be a part of it. If I didn’t see these at Harvest—or at least see that we’re ready to move in this direction—I wouldn’t be standing here speaking to you today. You might be asking, “What are they, Pastor Dwayne?” I'm so glad you asked—that tells me you're paying attention! 1. Harvest Must Be a Biblically Serious Church This means we love the Bible as the only life-giving, 100% accurate Word coming directly from our Heavenly Father. We're going to: Preach the Word. Sing the Word. The lyrics of our songs will come from Scripture or be rooted in sound doctrine. Be people of the Book. That can never change. “Grace and peace be multiplied to you ...
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Living in an Age of Strong Emotions

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 We are living in a time where emotions run high. Emotions themselves are not bad — in fact, they are part of being human — but they can sometimes cause problems. Even the disciples struggled with this. Matthew 16:21-23 “From that time Jesus began to show His disciples that He must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things from the elders, chief priests, and scribes, be killed, and on the third day be raised to life.” Who is Jesus speaking to here? His disciples — Jewish followers who were deeply familiar with the Old Testament and the Prophets. They knew from Scripture that the Messiah would have to be rejected, despised, beaten, crucified, and then raised again. God’s Word is above everything else! Yet, like you and me, the disciples struggled emotionally. Paul tells us in Ephesians to “Be angry and do not sin.” Emotions aren’t inherently wrong — they can lead us closer to God or pull us away. Here, they almost led the disciples astray. Verses 22-23 “Then Peter took Him aside...
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