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This Week's Messages

The Precious Promises of Peter — Part 8

October 4, 2026 · Pastor Brian Charles

MESSAGE SUMMARY

Pastor Brian continues the Precious Promises of Peter series, which he says is winding down, with 1 Peter 1:7: the trial of your faith is more precious than gold that perishes, though it is tried with fire. Everyone will face trials, and the adversary wants believers to leave faith and act in the flesh, but faith is our lifeline and the just live by it. Using Job 23:10 and the picture of a goldsmith, he teaches that fire does not create the gold; it reveals it and removes the dross, with the Holy Spirit as the one who skims the impurities. Trials show what we are made of and who we rely on, and he stresses that Peter does not call the trial itself precious, but the faith that survives it.

The applications are practical. Stay the course. Look to Jesus as your source rather than scrambling to people, money or your own plans. Cast your cares on the Lord instead of trusting the arm of the flesh, and do not set up camp in the valley. God's grace, the empowering presence of God, is sufficient, and Jesus sending the disciples across the lake and coming to them on the storm shows the worth of obeying His word. Pastor Brian shares a personal testimony of inner healing: weeping at a movie with his daughters and neighbourhood children, and hearing the Lord say He was healing yesterday's hurt to prepare him for tomorrow. He urges listeners to forgive, let go and give it to God.

Other points include people coming into your life for a reason, a season or a lifetime; Jeremiah 23:29 and God's word as a fire and a hammer, with a "fight fire with fire" controlled-burn illustration; Psalm 23 as being about our relationship with God now, including the table prepared in the presence of enemies; Israel wanting quail instead of what they needed; and a caution about pride and authority in ministry, since we are spokes called to complement, not compete. He closes by pointing to what believers have in Christ (Colossians 2, Ephesians 1:6, Matthew 6:33), then leads communion, teaching it as participation in the body and blood of the covenant and a reminder of our covenant consciousness.

SCRIPTURES REFERENCED

1 Peter 1:7 the trial of your faith is more precious than gold that perishes, though tried with fire
Job 23:10 "when He has tried me, I shall come forth as gold"
Habakkuk 2:4 "the just shall live by faith" (also Romans 1:17), repeated as the theme that faith is our lifeline
Hebrews 12:2 Jesus is the author and finisher of our faith
Hebrews 13:5 "I will never leave you nor forsake you"
John 19:30 "It is finished"
James 1:2 count it all joy
2 Corinthians 12:9 Paul prayed three times and the Lord said "My grace is sufficient"
2 Corinthians 10:5 casting down imaginations and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God
Matthew 14:22-33 Jesus sends the disciples to the other side and comes to them on the sea in the storm
Proverbs 3:5 trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding
Psalm 34:19 "many are the afflictions of the righteous, but the Lord delivers him out of them all"
Psalm 23 the valley, "He restores my soul," and verse 5, a table prepared in the presence of enemies
Psalm 22 described as a prophetic picture of the cross
Psalm 24 described as the millennial reign after Christ's return
2 Timothy 4:2 "be instant in season and out of season"
2 Timothy 4:6 Paul's life poured out like a drink offering
John 3:16 seen everywhere, yet truth must be received before it sets people free
John 8:32 "you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free"
2 Corinthians 3:17 where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty
John 17:17 "Sanctify them by Your word. Your word is truth"
Matthew 6:33 seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness
Jonah 2:7 "when my soul fainted within me, I remembered the Lord"
John 14:6 "I am the way, the truth, and the life"
Jeremiah 23:29 God's word is like a fire and like a hammer that breaks the rock in pieces
Exodus 16 manna, and the quail Israel demanded (cf. Numbers 11)
Matthew 6:10 "Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven"
Revelation 1:6 made kings and priests to God
Colossians 2:10 "you are complete in Him" (the pastor was unsure of 2:9 or 2:10)
Ephesians 1:6 "accepted in the Beloved"
1 Corinthians 10:16 the cup of blessing and the bread we break: participation in the blood and body of Christ
1 Corinthians 11:23-26 the words of communion: "this cup is the new covenant in My blood"
Hebrews 9:22 without the shedding of blood there is no remission
1 Samuel 17 Goliath taunting Israel, and Saul losing his covenant consciousness
Philippians 4:13 "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me"

Last Week's Messages

The Precious Promises of Peter — Part 7

September 30, 2026 · Pastor Brian Charles

MESSAGE SUMMARY

In Part 7 of The Precious Promises of Peter, Pastor Brian Charles returns to 2 Peter 1:4 and the word "partaker," which in the Greek means fellowship, partner and companion. God is our traveling companion on earth, and association brings impartation: the more time we spend with Jesus, the more we become like Him. He ties this to communion (1 Corinthians 10:16), where the cup and the bread are participation in Christ's finished work, received by faith, and to the new nature we received at salvation (2 Corinthians 5:17, Ezekiel 11:19, Hebrews 8:10).

He gives four marks of the promises. They are precious because they reveal God's character and were purchased at a price. They are personal, given "unto us." They are powerful, transforming us as we believe, and he points to people healed over the weekend. And they are dependable, because God cannot lie and is the promise keeper. He warns against treating Jesus as an emergency, ATM or genie, and calls believers to obedience, stewardship, giving and partnership, with Jesus as both "the seed and the need."

The heart of the message is that God's promises do not merely change our situation, they change our nature, bringing holiness where there was corruption, faith for fear, love for bitterness, purity for lust and self-control by the Holy Spirit. What we allow will continue, so we are to use the authority Jesus gave us (Luke 10:19), refuse bondage, and keep hearing the truth that sets us free (John 8:32). He closes with prayer for healing built on the finished work (Galatians 3:13, Isaiah 53:5) and reminds the church that the Word through Peter strengthens us.

SCRIPTURES REFERENCED

2 Peter 1:4 "partaker" means fellowship, companion; partakers of the divine nature, escaping the corruption in the world through lust
1 Corinthians 10:16 the cup and the bread as communion: participation and partnership in the body and blood of Christ
Ephesians 5:30 we are members of His body, of His flesh and of His bones
2 Corinthians 5:17 in Christ a new creation; old things passed away, all things new
Ezekiel 11:19 one heart, a new spirit, the stony heart replaced with a heart of flesh
Galatians 5:16 walk in the Spirit and you will not fulfill the lust of the flesh
1 Corinthians 6:17 he who is joined to the Lord is one spirit with Him
Hebrews 8:10 the new covenant: God's laws in their minds and written on their hearts
Jeremiah 31:33 the prophetic promise of the new covenant, "I will be their God"
Exodus 32 Moses breaking the tablets of the law, pictured as pointing to Jesus broken for our sin
Psalm 23:1 the Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want
Philippians 4:19 God meets every need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus
Philippians 2:17 Paul's life poured out like a drink offering; giving what God gives (cf. 2 Timothy 4:6)
Luke 16:10 faithful with little, entrusted with much (alluded to)
Romans 4:17 calling those things which be not as though they were
Isaiah 9:6 "Unto us a child is born, unto us a Son is given": promises are personal
John 10:27 "My sheep hear My voice"
John 3:16 God so loved the world that He gave; God makes givers
James 1:17 every good gift is from above, from the Father of lights
Daniel 12:4 knowledge shall increase
Ecclesiastes 1:9 nothing new under the sun
Romans 10:17 faith comes by hearing
2 Corinthians 1:20 all God's promises are yes and amen
Romans 3:4 let God be true and every man a liar
2 Timothy 1:7 not a spirit of fear but of power, love and a sound mind
1 Corinthians 2:16 the mind of Christ
1 Corinthians 14:33 God is not the author of confusion but of peace
Philippians 4:6-7 be anxious for nothing; prayer and supplication, and the peace of God
Luke 7:47 he who is forgiven much loves much
Matthew 12:34 out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks
Revelation 3:21 to him who overcomes, a seat with Christ on His throne
Isaiah 35:8-9 the highway of holiness, no beast there
Luke 10:19 authority to tread on serpents and scorpions and over all the power of the enemy
Luke 19:13 "Occupy till I come"
Matthew 6:26 the birds of the air; God cares for you much more
Psalm 23:4 through the valley of the shadow of death
1 Samuel 15 Saul's partial obedience with the Amalekites
1 Samuel 16:23 David's playing and the tormenting spirit leaving Saul
1 Kings 11 Solomon's many wives and the bondage that followed
John 8:32 you shall know the truth and the truth shall make you free
2 Corinthians 13:1 in the mouth of two or three witnesses every word is established
Daniel 11:32 the people who know their God shall be strong and carry out great exploits
Galatians 3:13 Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law
Isaiah 53:5 wounded for our transgressions, and by His stripes we are healed
Acts 10:34 God is no respecter of persons
Luke 22:31-32 Satan desired to sift Peter; "strengthen your brethren"
Matthew 18:19 if two agree on earth concerning anything
1 Peter 5:7 casting all your care on Him, for He cares for you
1 John 3:8 the Son of God was manifested to destroy the works of the devil
Psalm 91:16 with long life I will satisfy him and show him My salvation
Acts 16:31 believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved, you and your household

Grace to Help in Time of Need

September 27, 2026 · Jody Cagle

MESSAGE SUMMARY

In the final service of the revival weekend, special guest Jody Cagle picks up where Friday (faith) and Saturday (peace) left off in 2 Peter 1:2: "grace and peace be multiplied unto you through the knowledge of God, and of Jesus our Lord." With the whole message given to grace, he offers a working definition: God will treat you as though you have no fault. He then opens three of the word's many meanings.

First, grace is strength. When Paul asked three times for the "messenger of Satan" to be removed, the Lord did not remove it but answered, "My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness" (2 Corinthians 12:9-10). God's strength is more than enough for whatever comes against you, and "taking pleasure" in hardship means keeping your mind stayed on the Lord in the middle of it.

Second, grace is power. The same anointing of Holy Ghost power that rested on Jesus (Acts 10:38) is promised to believers (Acts 1:8). We are to be continually filled with the Spirit (Ephesians 5:18-20). God's part is to fill; our part is to open up and yield, because the Holy Spirit is a gentleman who will not force His way in. Humbling ourselves, resisting the devil and drawing near to God (James 4:6-8) all go together, since the Greater One lives within.

Third, grace is favor. God gives grace to the humble and exalts them in due time (1 Peter 5:5-7). A thankful people are a blessed people.

He closes with Hebrews 4:16: come boldly to the throne of grace to obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need. The word "help" pictures frapping a ship, when a rope from the dock pulls a storm-tossed vessel in and ties it fast to safety. Two women received Jesus at the altar, and the congregation joined in a prayer releasing forgiveness and receiving inner healing, so the flow of the Spirit is no longer capped.

SCRIPTURES REFERENCED

2 Peter 1:2 Grace and peace multiplied through the knowledge of God and of Jesus; the weekend's anchor text
2 Corinthians 12:9-10 "My grace is sufficient for thee"; grace as strength made perfect in weakness
Philippians 3:13-14 Forgetting what is behind and pressing toward what lies ahead
Acts 10:38 God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Ghost and with power; grace as power
Acts 1:8 "Ye shall receive power" when the Holy Ghost comes upon you
Ephesians 5:18-20 Be continually filled with the Spirit, with psalms, hymns, spiritual songs and thanksgiving
Luke 10:19 Power to tread on serpents and scorpions and over all the power of the enemy
James 4:6-8 He gives more grace; resist the devil and he will flee; draw near to God
Matthew 6:33 Seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness
Isaiah 59:19 When the enemy comes in like a flood, the Spirit of the Lord lifts up a standard
1 John 4:4 Greater is He that is in you than he that is in the world
Matthew 4:1-11 Jesus answers every temptation with "It is written"
Ephesians 2:6 Seated together with Christ in heavenly places
1 Peter 5:5-7 God resists the proud and gives grace (favor) to the humble; cast all your care on Him
Psalm 5:12 The Lord surrounds the righteous with favor as with a shield
Psalm 40:2 He brought me up out of the miry clay and set my feet upon a rock
Isaiah 1:19 If you are willing and obedient, you shall eat the good of the land
Matthew 26:39 "Not as I will, but as You will"
Hebrews 4:16 Come boldly to the throne of grace, obtain mercy, find grace to help in time of need
1 John 1:9 He is faithful and just to forgive and cleanse from all unrighteousness
Mark 4:39 Jesus speaks peace to the storm
2 Corinthians 6:2 Now is the day of salvation
1 Corinthians 6:19 Your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost