Sovereign Grace Blog

Posts by Wesley Tamanaha

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Sermon Summary - Love One Another - Philippians 2:1-4

Paul appeals to the Christian's vertical experience with God through Jesus Christ, and instructs them to allow that experience to drive them to prefer one another in love....

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Sermon Summary - Christian Suffering - Philippians 1:29

Five Biblical reasons why God ordains suffering: 1) suffering deepens faith, 2) suffering increases your experience of glory in eternity, 3) God uses the suffering of some to help others, 4) sufferings carry the gospel of Christ's sufferings, 5) the gospel's beauty is made clear through suffering...

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Sermon Summary - Walk Worthy of the Gospel - Philippians 1:27-30

Christians are called to live in a way that is worthy of the gospel of Christ. Faith is the only thing that fits with what the gospel demands, thus demonstrating how worthy the Lord is....

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Sermon Summary - Gospel Centered Praying - Philippians 1:9-11

This prayer is here for us to pray constantly for ourselves and for each other. It’s radically gospel-centered and radically God-centered, that we would grow in loving God and loving others. ...

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Sermon Summary - The Perseverance of the Saints - Philippians 1:6

Philippians 1:6 teaches us what has been known throughout church history as the perseverance of the saints. This biblical doctrine teaches that those who have come to faith in Jesus will persevere in faith to the end because God preserves us....

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Sermon Summary - Slaves of Grace and Peace - Philippians 1:1-2

Allow God’s grace to go with you, dispensed to us through the Scripture, through God’s word internalized, being applied to the heart by the Spirit. ...

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Sermon Summary -The Lord's Supper (Part One) - Luke 22:19-20

Luke 22 shows us the most crucial meal ever eaten in the history of the world. This was a critical moment in salvation history, where Jesus will pour out his heart to these disciples, and indeed to all of His disciples. This is a memorial meal the church is to recall often, again and again in its gathering. ...

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Sermon Summary - Gods Sovereignty Through the Storms of Life - Acts 27

Jesus promised Paul he would get to Rome, but He didn't promise how. This unexpected journey of storm and shipwreck is a microcosm of the Christian life. ...

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Sermon Summary - Who’s Crazy? Acts 26:24-29

Who are the crazy ones today, those who live for this present world or those who love Jesus and walk with Him in the light of eternity? ...

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Sermon Summary - The Crucifixion

There is no salvation for any of us right now from the justice that we all deserve except through the brutal, gory cross of Jesus from Nazareth....

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No Sunday Service 3/22/20

Sovereign Grace Fellowship will not be meeting this coming Sunday, 3/22/2020...

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Sermon Summary - The Gospel of Repentance - Acts 25:22-26:23

Repentance is a turning of the whole person from sin to holiness, darkness to light, and Satan to God. It involves a change of mind and change of behavior. ...

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Sermon Summary - The Resurrection: Religious Belief or Historical Fact? Acts 25:13-21

The resurrection is not a matter of private opinion. It is a declared fact of history that confronts every single human being....

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Sermon Summary - The Lord Orchestrates The Details of Our Lives - Acts 25:1-12

Like Paul, we must trust God’s sovereign, providential hand with every detail of our lives. ...

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Sermon Summary - Waiting and Trusting in Times of Silence - Acts 24:24-27

While stuck in jail for two whole years, Paul models for us how to trust God's strange providence even when He seems to be silent. ...

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Sermon Summary - Felix Models The Pathway To Hell - Acts 24:22-27

Though Felix felt such fear that he was trembling after hearing Paul's preaching, rather than act on those feelings of ultimate reality that were coming over him, he instead squashed them....

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New Year, New Location and Time - Anza Baptist Church, Sunday @9am

Starting in 2020 we will be meeting for Sunday Service at Anza Baptist Church at 9am...

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Sermon Summary - Jesus and His Personal Encouragement to Us - Acts 22:22-23:11

Jesus stands by Paul in his darkest hour with a special intimacy. He stands by His sheep in their hardest times and says, “Take courage.”...

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Sermon Summary - The Gospel Offends the Proud - Acts 22:17-22

Biblical saving faith removes any valid grounds for boasting. And that's what's so offensive to us as sinners, and to the Jewish crowd who wanted Paul dead. ...

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Sermon Summary - Our Testimonies are Servants of the Gospel - Acts 21:27-22:21

Our testimonies are important servants in carrying the gospel to various persons and groups, acting as a bridge connecting our lives to the gospel. ...

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Sermon Summary - How Can I Know the Will of God For My Life? - Acts 20:36-21:14

This passage brings up a huge question for us: is there a pre-ordained, hidden plan of God for each of our lives that we are meant to try and discern before we make choices? ...

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Sermon Summary - It Is Good To Give Thanks - Psalm 92

This Psalm gives three reasons to give thanks: 1) it is good to give thanks to the Lord because of who He is and what He has done for us, 2) because the world will eventually be judged, and 3) because He causes His people to flourish. ...

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Sermon Summary - Guarding Against False Teaching - Acts 20:29-32

Shepherds are to guard the flock against false teachers. They do this by knowing the truth of the gospel. ...

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Sermon Summary - How To Persevere To The End - Acts 20:22-27

Paul's exhortation to the Ephesian elders is the key to persevering to the end: to not consider this temporal life as more important than faithfulness to the Lord, and the ministry to which one is called....

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Sermon Summary - Paul: A Model of Faithfulness - Acts 20:1-12

pauls-third-missionary-journey

Paul was utterly committed to Christ’s church, which led him to revisit the churches in Macedonia and Achaia for the purpose of strengthening the believers and bringing unity to all the churches by collecting an offering for the poor in Jerusalem. ...

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Sermon Summary - The Deadliness Of Pragmatism In the Church - Acts 19:11-20

We must get rid of any desire to control the unseen and the seen through magical sayings, and instead submit to the sovereign lordship of King Jesus. ...

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Sermon Summary - Apollos The Preacher/Teacher - Acts 18:18-28

Apollos was a man mighty in the Scriptures, yet humble enough to receive correction from a tent maker and his wife (Priscilla and Aquila)....

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Sermon Summary - Paul Preaches in Athens - Acts 17:16-34

Paul adapts his approach, but not the gospel. He first finds common ground with his audience in Athens before proclaiming God the Creator, Jesus' resurrection, and the call to repentance. ...

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Sermon Summary - Contemplating God - Rom. 4:16-21

Contemplating God, something that should be a constant in our lives as believers, is something that we learn from Abraham here in Romans 4. ...

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An Invitation to Come to Church

I hope that giving this explanation will be helpful for anybody who, like me growing up, doesn’t know what “going to church” actually entails. ...

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Sermon Summary - The Spirit’s Guiding - Acts 16:1-10

The Holy Spirit's guiding brings Silas, Timothy, and Luke into Paul's life as he begins his second missionary journey. The Holy Spirit then prevents them from going to Asia and Bithynia, ultimately revealing through a vision given to Paul, that they are called to preach the gospel in Macedonia. ...

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Sermon Summary - Church Planting - Acts 16:11-29

God is sovereign over planting churches, and over saving souls. He does it through the gospel being faithfully preached. God opens the hearts of some to respond with faith, while others reject the gospel because of the hardness of their hearts. Lydia did not open her own heart; the Lord opened her heart. ...

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Sermon Summary - Love Considers the Conscience of the Other - Acts 15:12-29

Spiritual maturity requires standing firm on core gospel issues, but favoring love and unity over disagreement on non-essentials. There are times when conceding to others' consciences is right, wise, and loving. ...

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Sermon Summary - The Office of Elders - Acts 14:19-23

Paul and Barnabas return to the cities they preached in, not as evangelists, but as shepherds to organize the believers into churches with elders. ...

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Sermon Summary - Evangelism and Election - Acts 13:42-14:7

In this passage, there are 4 lessons about the gospel that we are to learn: 1) God has an elect people, 2) the gospel is about the glory of God foundationally, 3) the Biblical gospel wipes out all human boasting, 4) the gospel divides ...

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Sermon Summary - The Schemes of the Devil - Acts 13:4-12

Our gospel witness brings us constantly into a battle with the enemy of salvation in Jesus Christ. Therefore, as believers, we need to grasp how he works (his schemes), in order to do spiritual battle against him. ...

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Sermon Summary - The Preaching Call and Missions - Acts 12:25-13:3

Acts 13:2 While they were worshiping the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, “Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them."...

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Sermon Summary - Pain, Evil, and the Sovereignty of God - Acts 12:1-17

God is sovereign over both the death of the apostle James, and the miraculous deliverance of the apostle Peter. This drives the church to earnest prayer, and God is glorified in answering their prayers. ...

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Sermon Summary - The Two Ingredients of Salvation - Acts 10:44-48

The way of salvation is always twofold: 1) the content and clarity of the gospel of Jesus, and 2) the sovereign work of the Holy Spirit falling in order to save souls. ...

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Sermon Summary - How To Do Evangelism - Acts 10:30-48

The way of salvation is laid out in this passage: God is offering to make peace with rebellious sinners through Jesus Christ. ...

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Sermon Summary - From Death to New Life in Christ - Acts 9:31-43

Jesus healed the bedridden man Aeneas, raised Dorcas from the dead, and then saved many persons with the gospel. ...

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Sermon Summary - Persecution & The New Sexual Revolution - Acts 8:1

God uses persecution as a means to purify His church and for the spread of the gospel through evangelism....

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Sermon Summary - Paul Meets Jesus on the Damascus Road - Acts 9:1-19

Through the salvation of Saul of Tarsus, we know that no one is outside hope of the Lord's salvation. Paul’s unlikely conversion to Christ should bring us great encouragement. ...

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Sermon Summary - Listen To The Holy Spirit's Leadings - Acts 8:26-40

Does God speak to His people today? Biblically, there is no reason that the Holy Spirit would now be silent in personally guiding His people like He did Philip. The Bible does not rule out the special guidance of the Holy Spirit; it advocates it. ...

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Sermon Summary - False Conversions - Acts 8:9-25

The Holy Spirit fell upon the Samaritans and they saw the grace of God in Jesus. Simon however, was blind to this, and only saw the manifestations of the Spirit and focused on what he could gain from them. ...

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Sermon Summary - The Christian Doctrine of Death - Acts 7:54-8:1

Stephen is a model for how God gives special grace in dying to those who belong to Christ. We should be encouraged, that as Jesus supported Stephen in the process of dying, His grace will be sufficient for us too. ...

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Sermon Summary - Jesus Made The Temple Obsolete - Acts 6:7-15

Stephen preached that Jesus was the fulfillment of Moses, the Law, the customs, the temple, and the sacrificial system, rendering those things unnecessary now that the reality has come. ...

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Sermon Summary - A Church Unbelievers Feared to Attend (Acts 5:12-16)

The great fear that came over the whole church and over all who heard the fate of Ananias and Sapphira (Acts 5:11) made this a church that unbelievers would not dare to attend. The powerful, consistent, regular signs and wonders in this passage and throughout the book of Acts were unprecedented in church history. ...

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Sermon Summary - Boldly Speaking the Truth (Acts 4:13-22)

In order to boldly speak the truth of the gospel, we must have communion with the resurrected Lord Jesus, by the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, over the truth of God’s word....

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Sermon Summary - Baptism (Acts 2:37-41)

Water baptism portrays and dramatizes forgiveness of sins and union with Christ by the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. ...

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Sermon Summary - The First Evangelistic Sermon (Acts 2:14-41)

Acts 2:14-41 is the very first Christian evangelistic sermon. 4 ways that God has authenticated Jesus of Nazareth as Lord and Messiah: His life, death, resurrection, and exaltation to the right hand of the Father. ...

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Sermon Summary - Is the Spiritual Gift of Tongues for Today?

Are the “sign” gifts (like tongues) for today? Or did those gifts only have their place in the first century?...

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6/10/18 - Sermon Summary - Baptism (Part 1)

(Matthew 3:1-10) Main point: Baptism is to be obeyed by every person who has come to saving faith in Jesus Christ. ...

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6/17/18 - Sermon Summary - Baptism (Part 2)

(1 Peter 3:18-22) Main point: Baptism is the outflow of saving faith, not the cause of saving faith. ...

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6/3/18 - Sermon Summary - Love and Guard the Truth (2 John)

Love and Guard the Truth (2 John) 2 John is like a brief summary of several of the points in 1 John. So consider this a refresher of 1 John. God's commands, truth, and love among believers are key points once again. A new point made in this letter: don't provide hospitality to false teachers. (v. 1) This letter is written to "the chosen lady and her children," possibly a...

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Latest Sermon from Ephesians - Be Filled With The Holy Spirit

Listen now or download the recent sermon to hear Pastor Joe's latest sermon from Ephesians 5, "Be Filled With The Holy Spirit"....

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Latest Sermon - How a Live Soul Does Life (Matthew 5:1-6)

Listen now or download the latest sermon - "How a Live Soul Does Life"...

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Latest Sermon from Ephesians - The Reign Of Jesus Over Our Sexual Lives

Listen now or download the recent sermon to hear Pastor Joe's latest sermon from Ephesians 5:3-6, "The Reign Of Jesus Over Our Sexual Lives"....

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Latest Sermon from Ephesians - Get Rid of Bitterness By Forgiveness

Listen now or download the recent sermon to hear Pastor Joe's latest sermon from Ephesians, "Get Rid of Bitterness By Forgiveness"....

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Latest Sermon from Ephesians - Taming the Tongue

Listen now or download the recent sermon to hear Pastor Joe's latest sermon from Ephesians 4, "Taming the Tongue"....

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Christmas Eve Candlelight Service Saturday 12/24 @ 4pm

Join us Saturday, December 24 @ 4pm for a Christmas Eve Candlelight Service to celebrate the birth of our Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. ...

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Sermon Series from Ephesians posted - What is Church Life?

In this 4-part sermon series from Ephesians, Pastor Joe answers the question, "What is church life?"...

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Latest Sermon - How a Disciplined Soul Develops in Life: the Necessity of Scripture for Jesus' Followers

Listen now or download the latest sermon - "How a Disciplined Soul Develops in Life: the Necessity of Scripture for Jesus' Followers"...

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Latest Sermon from Ephesians - Do Not Live As Unbelievers

Listen now or download the recent sermon to hear Pastor Joe's latest sermon from Ephesians 4, "Do Not Live As Unbelievers"....

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Latest Sermon from Ephesians - Gospel Speaking To One Another

Listen now or download the recent sermon to hear Pastor Joe's latest sermon from Ephesians 4, "Gospel Speaking To One Another"....

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Latest Sermon - Persecution Is Coming

Listen now or download the latest sermon - "Persecution is Coming"...

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Latest Sermon from Ephesians - The Purpose Driven Life

Listen now or download the recent sermon to hear Pastor Joe's latest sermon from Ephesians 4, "The Purpose Driven Life"....

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Latest Sermon from Ephesians - Prayer Is The Key To Living

Listen now or download the recent sermon to hear Pastor Joe's latest sermon from Ephesians 3, "Prayer Is The Key To Living"....

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Latest Sermon from Ephesians - Jesus Is the Only Way To God

Listen now or download the recent sermon to hear Pastor Joe's latest sermon from Ephesians 2, "Jesus Is the Only Way To God"....

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Latest Sermon from Ephesians - Spiritual Death to Spiritual Life

Listen now or download the recent sermon to hear Pastor Joe's latest sermon from Ephesians 2, "Spiritual Death to Spiritual Life"....

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Latest Sermon from Ephesians - How To Pray For One Another

Listen now or download the recent sermon to hear Pastor Joe's latest sermon from Ephesians, "How To Pray For One Another"....

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Easter Sermon - Eyewitness Accounts of the Resurrection

Listen now or download the recent sermon to hear Pastor Joe's exposition of 1 Corinthians 15:1-19....

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Latest Sermon from Ephesians

Listen now or download the recent sermon to hear Pastor Joe's exposition of Ephesians 1:3-14....

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Introductory Sermon to Ephesians

Listen now or download the recent sermon to hear Pastor Joe's introductory sermon to the book of Ephesians....

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A Baptismal Service

A Baptismal Service - audio is posted of Sunday's sermon and Peter's baptism...

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Latest Sermon from Galatians

Listen now or download the recent sermon to hear Pastor Joe's exposition of Galatians 5:16-25....

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Latest Sermon - A Christmas Story From John 1

Listen now or download the recent sermon to hear Pastor Joe's Christmas sermon from John 1....

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A Life Redeemed: My Spiritual Journey by Joe Lamay

Pastor Joe's spiritual autobiography is available for purchase on Amazon. ...

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Latest Sermon from Galatians

Listen now or download the recent sermon to hear Pastor Joe's exposition of Galatians 5:13-15....

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Youth Group This Friday Night 7pm in Lomita

See the Events page for details. ...

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Sermon Series: The Bible and So-called Same Sex marriage

Pastor Joe's 3-part sermon series explains what the Bible says about so-called same sex marriage...

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Latest Sermon in Galatians

Listen now or download the recent sermon to hear Pastor Joe's exposition of Galatians 4:21-5:1....

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Friday Night 7pm Youth Group

Youth group meets every other Friday at 7pm in Lomita...

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9/20/15 Sermon uploaded - Galatians 4:12-20

Listen now or download the recent sermon to hear Pastor Joe's exposition of Galatians 4:12-20. ...

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9/13/15 Sermon uploaded - Galatians 4:1-11

What does Galatians 4:1-11 have to do with demonic spirits? Listen now or download the recent sermon to hear Pastor Joe's exposition. ...

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