GuineaField

Perhaps one of the least mentioned figures in the Christmas story is actually one of the major characters in Matthew’s account of Jesus’ birth.   Joseph.   Joseph?   Yes, Matthew’s Gospel gives us the birth of Jesus from the eyes of His “step-father.” Joseph teaches us much about humility and faith.   He is a hard working Jewish man.   He is excited about the soon to be marriage with Mary and has even entered legal contract separable only by divorce.   I see him counting down the days.   How crushed he must have been to hear that Mary was expecting.   No doubt tears were shed as he came to the conclusion that the woman he had been working to provide for had been unfaithful and is now with child by someone other than himself.   What other conclusion could he come to?   And so he decided to quietly end their marriage contract without making a show to many people to help keep Mary from public disgrace.   His concern is still for her and the perception others might have of her

As we have just recently passed another anniversary of 9/11, let me encourage you to keep your hope and heart fixed on God's ability to turn tragedy into triumph. If you would like to listen to a couple messages on this topic, follow the links below: 1. Triumph through Tragedy - Understanding 9/11 in light of the Book of Job, Part I 2. Triumph through Tragedy - Understanding 9/11 in light of the Book of Job, Part II

The following quote is from the third booklet in the LIFE Groups "Growing" series.  In this booklet, we survey 1 John and the doctrine of a believer's Assurance of Salvation.  In the segment below I'm teaching the difference between the object of faith and the content of faith.   Simply stating, "I believe in Jesus" is not enough (object of faith).  Most important is the question, "What do you believe about Jesus (content of faith)?" I'm teaching through this booklet on Tuesday nights.  Lessons 1-3 are on our YouTube channel now, and we will be going through lesson four this Tuesday night (Tuesday, September 2nd).  See below for lesson 3.  Also, the full booklet is included via pdf below. " John presents specific truths about Jesus that we must believe.   This demonstrates a very important truth.   When it comes to assurance of salvation, faith is not the only factor we must examine.   We must also consider the object and the conten

One of the most common questions that I have asked of me as a pastor revolves around knowing God's will in life.  "Should I take this job?"  "Should I marry this person?"  "What should I study in College?"  Many of these questions have no aparent moral absolute recorded in Scripture.  So, what do we do?  This booklet highlights several bilbical principles to help us come to a settled confidence of God's will in a particular decision in life.  I trust the lessons and principles will be very helpful to you. You can  view the lessons and read along on through pdf below.  Or if you would like to use the booklet for a personal or group Bible Study, you can order the study here ($3 each, and $2 shipping and handling). God's Desires in Life's Decisions by timrichmondnyc

What a privilege we have in the U.S. to be able to share the Gospel with others and worship our Heavenly Father according to God’s Word.   We are truly blessed.     If you have read much of church history or secular history, you know that the normal experience for God’s people has been one of persecution and limitation.   Even to this day a large portion of our world limits and persecutes those who follow the Bible according to conscience.   We must continue to pray for our brothers and sisters who do not enjoy similar freedoms.   Let us also commit to praying for the Lord to protect our freedom and ask for grace to use our freedoms for His Kingdom as long as we have them.   It is not easy to sense that our door of religious freedom is one that many would love to close.   In many spheres of our culture, they have closed this door nearly shut.   And although we know we can worship and serve the Lord in freedom and under constraint, we should pray and work while i

“But as for me, the nearness of God is my good; I have made the Lord GOD my refuge, That I may tell of all Your works” (Psalm 73:28). Speaking God’s Works is a prominent theme in the Songs of Israel.  I’d like to ask you to glorify our God for doing wonderful works in a tangible way by providing a house for our family.  Front Porch Thankful for believing, praying, women in my life. I’ll be honest, I have not been praying very believingly about a new house until recently.  But my mom has been praying for years, and my wife has been praying for years, and my daughters have been praying for at least a year that the Lord would provide a house for our family. When my mom recounted to me the different amenities she was praying for, I tried to stop her.  “Mom, we are in NYC.  We don’t need to think about purchasing a home.  And especially one like you are asking for.  That is for people who live in suburbia.  God has called us to pastor here and it is too expensive to ev

I learn so much from my children; patience, endurance, self-control, cartoons, science facts, the list could go on and on.   But there is another stream of lessons that I enjoy even more.   These lessons spring from the mirror of correspondence between my relationship with my children and my relationship with my heavenly Father.   These lessons humble me almost daily. Let me share one simple lesson with you.   Asher is three and everything is a race to him.   “Race you to the door.   Race you to the car.   Race you to the table, ha-ha, I win!”   Asher is teaching both me and our neighbors in our apartment building patience by his love of racing.   You see, he is not yet a good loser or a good winner.   So even if it is a small race, there may be a noisy melt-down if he loses to me or to one of his sisters.   Our sixth floor hallway is often echoing with the screams of a losing racer because he is emotionally involved in every race as if it were his last.   And yet his three yea

We cannot place ourselves in the sadness of Jesus’ intimate followers - His mother, Peter, James, John, and the band of 70 or so close associates who were eagerly anticipating His political kingship over Israel.   We live in a different time and place.   Many of you are Gentiles who can identify very little with anticipating a Messianic deliverer.   And none of us have experienced a monarchy.   But these 70 crushed individuals had such hopes – very high hopes!   These people gave their livelihood to pursue a monarchy, a just monarchy with Jesus as King.   They truly believed that Jesus would overthrow the Roman treachery and re-institute a thriving Israel in their lifetime.   We know that they were still anticipating this until the end because of one of the first questions the disciples asked Jesus after His resurrection. “So when they had come together, they were asking Him, saying, ‘Lord, is it at this time You are restoring the kingdom to Israel’” (Acts 1:6)? Their