Proverbs 31 is often presented as a checklist of what a godly woman should aspire to be like, but if anyone truly tried to do everything listed there, they would quickly become exhausted and even possibly ashamed, because it cannot be accomplished in your own strength. We should never strive through performance and works to receive love and acceptance from people and God. Christ won God's love for us and it is through His sacrifice that women are empowered to have aspects of the woman described in Proverbs 31.

There are needs all around us, and God wants to empower His people to meet those needs. In Acts 6, we see a ministry that was established to meet a need, but it wasn't fully functioning. We see examples of men who knew their calling and ministry, as well as a group of seven men who simply said yes when presented with the need. We all have a calling from God to serve the church and those in need. No matter how "small" your calling may feel, it is highly valued by God. It is only through Christ's finished work on the cross that we can fulfill that to which He has called us.

Christians today have a bad reputation. When you start a Google search using the phrase "why are christians so…" it will return suggestions like fake, judgmental and weird. If we are truly honest with ourselves, we have to admit that we can be quarrelsome and difficult people. Scripture says that all will know that we are Jesus' disciples by our love for one another. Church, it's time to repent and take up His love.

Pastor Gary Wilkerson takes some time to look at the purpose and mission of the church. We see in Colossians 1 that our "this" is to see the lost reconciled back to God and become radical followers of Jesus Christ. Sometimes a church gets focused on one end of the spectrum—either the lost and new believers on one end or the growing and mature on the other end. If we aren't reaching the lost and helping them become mature followers of Christ, then we are falling short in our calling.

We all probably have something in our life that we would like to change. The problem is, we are bad at changing. We make promises to ourselves and God, only to fail time and time again. Pastor Gary Wilkerson looks at how we can be better at changing, and how we can find real, lasting change.

Why do more people come to church on Easter, but have little interest the rest of the year? Like Nathaniel, they're skeptical about faith. They feel alienated, hostile toward the church, and want to live a lifestyle that doesn't align with the church. In this evangelistic message, Pastor Gary Wilkerson asks the skeptics to consider reconsidering faith.

Money can be a hot topic in the church today. There is a small camp of Christians that take a vow of poverty—selling all that they have and viewing money as evil. The other extreme, and the most prevalent in the church today, is a vow of prosperity, in which abundant material blessing from God is seen as a testimony of His goodness. In Luke 16 we see a completely different view on wealth from Jesus. He doesn't focus on how much or little we have, but is more concerned with how we use what has been given to us.

No one starts life wanting to be amazingly average and live a life of no consequence. We are created to build something significant. God gives each of us abilities in which we are to operate, excel and increase. Jesus invites us to something truly amazing. It's time to stop the excuses and renounce everything that is not part of our calling.