Messages

A message from the series “Daily Devotional Videos.” Reflecting on the angel’s words to Mary in Luke 1:37​, Judy Mandl encourages us to trust God even in those situations that seem impossible.

A message from the series “Daily Devotional Videos.” Devotional Manuscript: He Hears Our CriesMessage By Dr. Rick Mandl, December 15, 2020 at Eagle Rock Baptist ChurchRecorded in Los Angeles, CA.
 
Hey church family . . . Most parents of newborn children quickly develop a sense of knowing what their child is crying about.  Sometimes that child will cry because they’re hungry, or because a diaper needs changing. Other times they cry because they are tired. But every parent somehow recognizes their child crying because they are scared, or they need help. To someone else that cry may sound or feel the same, but a parent who knows their child well enough can recognize the difference.
 
Just like a parent, God hears the cries of His children. Psalm 34:17 says, “The righteous cry, and the Lord hears and delivers them out of all their troubles.”  God hears our cries. When we are hurt, or troubled, or in pain, He hears us. The next verse says, “The Lord is near to the brokenhearted.” Isn’t it good to know that when we cry, when we are in trouble, we can know that our Heavenly Father hears us and responds?
 
When a baby cries because she is in need, a chemical called cortisol is released in the brain. It’s a chemical that is harmful in the brain, and some neuroscientists describe it as toxic. If mom or dad don’t respond to the crying, the chemical, over time, hurts the baby’s brain development. When the mother or father responds to the baby’s crying and meets her need, a different chemical is released that brings the baby’s brain chemistry back into balance. This ongoing process of crying and having a need met creates a bond between the parent and the child.
 
When you have a need, the scriptures encourage you to cry out to God. It is in sharing our needs and our suffering with God that we find peace. God will hear our cry. He will respond when we pray. And that process repeated over time strengthens our relationship with God as we learn to trust Him more and more. God wants us to bring our troubles and concerns to Him so that our trust in Him will deepen and grow.
 
Are you crying out to God for help today over something in your life? I encourage you to listen in prayer and in your study of God’s Word to see how God is hearing and answering your cry. Because He promises that He will.
 
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 “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 “Waiting.”

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: 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.” 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.” 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.” Raquel Blanchard reflects on John 3:16 and challenges us to be creative when it comes to communicating God’s love.