Messages

A message from the series “Daily Devotional Videos.” Devotional Manuscript: The Most Read Bible Verse This YearMessage By Dr. Rick Mandl, December 14, 2020 at Eagle Rock Baptist ChurchRecorded in Los Angeles, CA.
 
Hey church family, it probably won’t surprise you to hear that Bible searches have soared online during this very difficult year, with a record number of people turning to Scripture for help and hope. Searches on the YouVersion Bible App increased by 80 percent. But which verse was the most read? The answer is Isaiah 41:10, which says: ‘Do not fear, for I am with you; Do not anxiously look about you, for I am your God. I will strengthen you, surely I will help you, Surely I will uphold you with My righteous right hand.’
 
In Isaiah 41:10, the Lord promises strength, help, and protection. As part of that, He gives two commands: The two commands are…“Do not fear” And “Do not anxiously look about you.” 
 
One of Satan’s most subtle and most successful traps is the art of distraction. The enemy knows that fear can choke out faith. And so He is hard at work trying to get us to focus exclusively on all of the unsettling circumstances that are going on around us. Once a believer’s attention is taken off of God, and placed onto their circumstances, then anxiety and doubt can grow unobstructed.
 
Keeping focused on the Lord can be hard. It’s a very natural human response to try to find our security by thinking through all possible angles, and all of the potential “What-Ifs?” When we do that, we focus our attention off of God and onto everything we can do to try and keep our worst fears from coming true. When we do that, instead of becoming more confident, we begin to realize how powerless we are.
 
Fortunately we serve an all-powerful God who says, “Surely I will help you.” We can count on Him. Like Peter, getting out of the boat to walk on water, as long as we keep our eyes on Jesus we’ll be fine. When we take our eyes off of him and focus on the storm around us, it’s then that we begin to sink. My prayer for you and my prayer for me is that . . . we’d keep our eyes on Jesus and trust in the promises that He has given us. Amen
 
Recorded in Los Angeles, CA.
 
 

A message from the series “Daily Devotional Videos.” It’s hard to move forward with your eyes firmly fixed on the rearview mirror. Judy Mandl reminds us that in 2020 God is doing a new thing and that’s what each of us should be focused on.

A message from the series “Waiting.”

A message from the series “Daily Devotional Videos.” Devotional Manuscript: Your Prayer Has Been Heard?Message By Dr. Rick Mandl, December 11, 2020 at Eagle Rock Baptist ChurchRecorded in Los Angeles, CA.
 
Hey church family… Do you ever feel like you pray and pray and pray for something, and because you’re not SEEING an answer, you wonder whether your prayers are being heard?
 
Zechariah and his wife Elizabeth were described in Scripture as righteous and blameless. But they were also childless, so for years they prayed and asked God to give them a child. However, for nearly seven decades, their request remained unfulfilled.
 
After that amount of time, Zechariah could have done what a lot of people do – he could have given up on God. He could have said, “Why serve God? What good does it do to be righteous and holy and to fulfill my calling if God is not going to answer my prayer, what good is living for Him anyway?” Thankfully that didn’t happen.
 
Even though it appeared that God just flat out said, “No” to his request for a child, Zechariah kept on working and he kept on praying. Then one day an angel appeared to him and said, “Do not be afraid, Zechariah; your prayer has been heard. Your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you are to call him John.” 
 
Listen to those five words – “your prayer has been heard.” Do you realize how long they had been praying? For close to seven decades. Now this angel was telling them every word had been heard, and God was finally going to answer their prayers.
 
Are you in a season where you’re praying for something, and it seems as though your prayers aren’t getting any higher than the ceiling? If that’s you, and you’re feeling down and discouraged, remember this. . . What God said through the angel, to Zechariah, he also says through His Word, to you and me. . . “Your prayer has been heard.”
 
God hears your prayers. And He will answer them in His own way and in His own time. The challenge for you and me is to remember that every single prayer I’ve ever prayed, God as heard. And that even when it seems as though He is being silent, and nothing is happening… He is always listening. I pray that He would help us to remain faithful and trust in Him, believing that He will answer our prayers in accordance with His will and in His time.
 
Recorded in Los Angeles, CA.
 
 

A message from the series “Daily Devotional Videos.” Do the holidays stress you out? Do you sometimes tend to take it out on those closest to you? Judy Mandl reminds us of what 1 Peter 4:8 says about the priority of pursuing love in all of our relationships.

A message from the series “Daily Devotional Videos.” Devotional Manuscript: Are You A Joyful Prisoner?Message By Dr. Rick Mandl, December 10, 2020 at Eagle Rock Baptist ChurchRecorded in Los Angeles, CA.
 
Hey Church Family… How are you doing with this newest edition of Stay-At-Home California? More than one person I’ve talked to has told me that to them, it feels like being in prison. To which I’ve really been tempted to ask . . . How do you know? How is it that you’re so familiar with what it feels like to be in prison? But I didn’t know this person that well, so I didn’t want to ask. But, back to my question, how are YOU doing? Or more to the point… IF, because of all that’s going on in our state, you feel like you’re in prison, then let me ask you . . . Are you a JOYFUL PRISONER?
 
Those two words – – “Joyful” and “Prisoner” are two words that we don’t typically think of as going together. And yet, they are two words that would provide a perfect description of the Apostle Paul. Writing from a Roman prison cell, Paul penned these words. He wrote, “And I want you to know, my dear brothers and sisters, that everything that has happened to me here has helped to spread the Good News. For everyone here, including the whole palace guard, knows that I am in chains because of Christ. And because of my imprisonment, most of the believers here have gained confidence and boldly speak God’s message without fear.”
 
Sitting in a Roman prison, it would be easy for the Apostle Paul to focus on all that he had lost. . . Paul had lost the freedom to share the gospel, He had lost the freedom to plant churches, And he had lost the freedom to train up leaders in the different places that he longed to travel to. Nevertheless, he looked at where he was, and he looked at what was happening to him, and his response was JOY. Why?
 
Because everything that had happened to him, hadn’t slowed the advance of the gospel, it had helped it. Again, look at his words. He wrote . . . Everything that has happened to me here has helped to spread the Good News.
 
Paul shared THREE WAYS the gospel was advancing:
 
FIRST of all –  He was able to share the gospel with the Roman soldiers who guarded him. The way things worked at time, was that as a Roman prisoner, Paul would have had 3 different soldiers chained to him – each of them working an 8-hour shift – but three different soldiers everyday – 24/7. When it came to sharing the good news of what Jesus Christ had done with these soldiers, Paul had a “captive audience” – – So let me ask you – – who was really the prisoner?
 
A SECOND REASON that Paul could see the gospel advancing was that he was able to reach the Roman citizens who visited him. As a prisoner, Paul wasn’t allowed to leave his place of confinement, but that didn’t mean that others were allowed to visit him. They were and they did and Paul was able to encourage them and embolden them to reach out to others that Paul couldn’t reach.
 
A THIRD REASON that Paul saw the gospel advancing was that the longest period of Paul’s incarceration—two whole years—was also the greatest period of Paul’s impact. In other words, PAUL’S CONFINEMENT WAS GOD’S ASSIGNMENT. He wrote the books of Philippians, Ephesians, Colossians, and Philemon from that Roman prison. That prison became his pulpit.
 
Maybe you feel chained to, or imprisoned by, something right now. Whether it’s the restrictions that have been placed on you by this pandemic or whether it’s a job, a relationship, or just a set of circumstances that you didn’t sign up for. Have those things stolen your joy? They don’t have to. You can still choose to be a HAPPY PRISONER.
 
So the next time you feel shackled to some life circumstances, look at it as an opportunity to share the good news with others and point them toward the one who endured much worse than you and I are going through right now, all for us, so that we could have new life.
 
Recorded in Los Angeles, CA.
 
 

A message from the series “Daily Devotional Videos.” The darker that the world around us gets, the more of an opportunity that provides for our light to shine. Judy Mandl reminds us of what Jesus said in Matthew 5:14-16 about His desire for us to shine for Him.

A message from the series “Daily Devotional Videos.” Did you set any goals for 2020? How are those working out for you now? Pastor Andrew looks at what Paul tells us in Philippians 3:12 and reminds us that while many of the goals we set may have had to have been revised because of the pandemic, it’s possible to live a life with goals that we will never have to abandon.

A message from the series “Daily Devotional Videos.” Raquel Blanchard reflects on John 3:16 and challenges us to be creative when it comes to communicating God’s love.

A message from the series “Daily Devotional Videos.” Devotional Manuscript: The Power of PersistenceMessage By Dr Rick Mandl, December 8, 2020Recorded in Los Angeles, CA.
 

Hey church family, I’ve been thinking about the importance of PERSISTENCE. When you think you’ve experienced more challenges than you can handle and your failures are crying for you to quit, consider this man.
 
1816 His family was forced out of their home. He had to work to support them.
1818 His mother died.
1831 Failed in business.
1832 Ran for state legislature – lost.
1832 Lost his job – wanted to go to law school but couldn’t get in.
1833 Borrowed some money from a friend to begin a business and by the end of the year he was bankrupt. He spent the next 17 years of his life paying off this debt.
1834 Ran for state legislature again – won.
1835 Was engaged to be married, sweetheart died and his heart was broken.
1836 Had a total nervous breakdown and was in bed for six months.
1838 Sought to become speaker of the state legislature – defeated.
1840 Sought to become elector – defeated.
1843 Ran for Congress – lost.
1846 Ran for Congress again – this time he won
1848 Ran for re-election to Congress – lost.
1849 Sought the job of land officer in his home state – rejected.
1854 Ran for Senate of the United States – lost.
1856 Sought the Vice-Presidential nomination at his party’s national convention – got less than 100 votes.
1858 Ran for U.S. Senate again – again he lost.
1860 Abraham Lincoln was nominated by the Republican National Convention as his party’s candidate for President of the United States.
 
He won. And the rest is history. Lincoln, who was born into poverty and suffered more defeats than victories in his life, is one of the greatest secular examples of persistence, perseverance and dogged determination.
 
Another example is the Apostle Paul. If you know Paul’s story, then you know that when he first came to Christ as Saul of Tarsus and was converted and became the Apostle Paul, he was not initially well received by the brethren, whom he had persecuted.
Paul was beaten.
He was Stoned.
He was Imprisoned for preaching Christ.
Four times he encountered ship wreck.
False teachers unfairly brought unfounded accusations against him.
He endured a physical malady that he called “a thorn in the flesh.
And he bore the sting of rejection by some who left him.
 
Yet, in the one of the great and encouraging verses of the Bible, Paul writes, “We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not driven to despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed” (2 Cor 4:8-9). God’s grace was sufficient for Paul. He provided the apostle strength to meet any challenge, endure each assault, and overcome every affliction.
 
What problem are you facing right now? What pain are you suffering? What hurt are your feeling? Have defeats become more common that victories? And have you felt like quitting?
 
Don’t despair. Both secular and sacred history is filled with encouraging stories of triumph over trial. Of strength overcoming weakness. Of conquest instead of surrender. Of accomplishment over obstacles.
 
In good times and bad, in prosperity and adversity, success and failure, we can learn some valuable life lessons from great Statesmen like Lincoln. However, as Christians let us “fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith” (Heb. 12:2). And take to heart the words of the Apostle Paul who wrote. . . “Therefore, my dear brothers and sisters, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain.” (1 Cor 15:58 NIV).

 
Recorded in Los Angeles, CA.