Bridging The Gap

Today on Bridging the Gap, we begin a look at Second Corinthians chapter two, and the topic will be challenging - trying to live a life like Jesus Christ led. Practically speaking, we cannot approach the perfect life He led, but we can strive to get as close as possible, right? Forgiveness is one of the aspects of a Christian life that we really ought to emphasize. 

We're back in Second Corinthians and pastor Lloyd Pulley aims to complete chapter one today.  Fewer and fewer people these days truly believe that Jesus and the Word of God are sufficient to meet our every need.  They seem to gravitate toward secular wisdom rather than to Jesus and the Bible.

We'll be looking at chapter one of Second Corinthians, where Paul explains to his brothers and sisters in the Lord that God is our navigator and sometimes He changes our course for very good reason.  The steps of a righteous man are ordered by the Lord. 

 Today we continue a new series in Second Corinthians. There are those who think life as a Christian should be trouble free. That's certainly not the case. We're to expect suffering as we go through life, and as we'll discover today God wants to be our comforter through it all.

The life of a Christian is sure exciting! But that doesn't mean there won't be suffering. But, even in the suffering, God is faithful to provide comfort and to use the Christian's experience to be a blessing to others. And today on Bridging the Gap we'll see this shining through as we begin a brand new series in Second Corinthians.

Samuel was a prophet who saw many things take place, most notably, the up and down life of King Saul, and the adventures of a young man names David. As we end the series today, we see the final days of the life of Saul, and we can't help but reflect on a life that could have been so much more than it turned out to be.

In First Samuel chapter thirty, we see David do that very thing. This is Bridging the Gap with pastor Lloyd Pulley. If you find yourself in a precarious position, will you seek God's wisdom, or will you go it alone? 

We've been studying First Samuel. Today we come to chapter twenty-nine.  It's a low time in the life of David. When you would think things couldn't get any worse - they get worse. That's not only David's story, it is everyone's story at some point. And what David did at that time will prove to be very instructive for us - in getting through hard times.

Today, as we continue our series in First Samuel, we see a desperate Saul consulting with a medium, despite the fact he had effectively banned them from the land. It's a great example of the hole we can dig ourselves in when we turn away from God and His wisdom.

Right on the heels of success, came a season where David gave up trusting in God and took matters into his own hands.  We'll read about it in First Samuel twenty-seven today on Bridging the Gap. Pastor Lloyd Pulley will show us today where David went wrong, so we can avoid this sort of faith crisis ourselves

Today on Bridging the Gap, Pastor Lloyd Pulley continues his study of First Samuel, where we find a King in training.  David  was no stranger to suffering, and how he handles his suffering serves as an example for us on how to handle the ups and downs of life. 

If you've been with us recently, you may recall how David beautifully handled his conflict with Saul.  He had the perfect opportunity to retaliate against the man who was trying to kill him, but David chose the higher road. Now today, we find him in a similar circumstance, but this time he tries to take matters into his own hands. Rather than getting all worked up, and seek vengeance, there's a much better course of action to take.

We are studying First Samuel right now and today David encounters a foolish man named Nabal. Ironically, the name Nabal means, "Fool".   We will see how David deals with a fool, and how we should too.

As we continue to study the life of David today on Bridging the Gap, pastor Lloyd Pulley will contrast David with the man stalking him - Saul. Both men were sinners, to be sure, just as all of us are. But David had something Saul didn't have - a repentant heart.

We're currently studying the book of First Samuel, and as we pick things up in chapter twenty-four, David is on the run from Saul.  Imagine having three thousand hunters determined to find and kill you!  David and his six hundred men are facing that terror, but all of a sudden the tables turn, and an opportunity presents itself for David to kill Saul.

Pastor Lloyd Pulley is currently leading us through the Old Testament book of First Samuel, and today we continue in chapters twenty-two and twenty three.  I'm sure you've heard this statement many times: "Without faith it is impossible to please God".  We all acknowledge the truth of that statement, but how often do we face adversity and forget to call on our faith in God to get us through? Living by faith is what it's all about! 

As you may recall, David knows he's going to be the next King of Israel, and he's running for his life. But all the way through this trial, God is reminding David that He's going to keep His promises and that He's with him and for him.  Here on this edition of Bridging the Gap we will take a look at the suffering David experienced in his life, and Pastor Lloyd will relate this to what we are bound to experience as well.

 David was a man after God's own heart - but we'll see that there was a time in his life where he had a heart of deception. Just goes to show even the greatest of God's servants are still sinners on the inside, but God can use any sinner to accomplish His will.

Whether we see it or not, God protects His children and restrains evil. We'll see a good example of that today on Bridging the Gap as we open First Samuel nineteen. If you'll recall, Saul is envious of David and wants to kill him.  But the Lord restrains Saul from harming David.  Just as He protected David, He can protect you too.

Today on Bridging the Gap - Pastor Lloyd Pulley  will  show us what God considers a true friend to be .  Good to be with you today.  Lloyd is about to continue his verse by verse study in the book of First Samuel and we'll consider the value of godly friends.  If asked to name one of the all time great friendships in the Bible, what names come to mind?  Many of us would say Jonathan and David, and rightly so.   Let's take a closer look at these friends in First Samuel chapter eighteen.