Richard Ellis Talks

There's no way to sugarcoat the truth: we live in a dangerous world. Not only do we face physical struggles constantly -- we face spiritual battles every day. The Bible tells us to hide ourselves in God and He'll cover us. He's faithful to protect us from the attacks of the enemy when we call on His name.

When we give God our lives, He gives us so much more in return. He allows us the privilege of partnering with Him to change the world for His glory. We only need to read Scripture to see how He provides for those who trust in Him: He offers the Bread of Life -- Jesus Himself.

We sometimes talk about being a "yes" person like it's a bad thing. But when it comes to our walk with the Lord, giving our "yes" to Him is not only a choice we get to make, but the biggest privilege we could have. If you've said "no" until now, make this the moment to give Him your "yes" -- and never underestimate what He can do with the willingness of His people when we make ourselves available to Him.

Sometimes, we allow the outside noise of the world to drown out God's voice because we're afraid of what He's trying to say to us. Other times, we just plain get distracted. Regardless, when we stop to listen and He tells us what to do, it's our job to respond with immediate obedience. Listening only makes an impact when it's followed by action.

Some people heard the stories of the Bible before they were even out of the womb, and they grew up knowing the Gospel message by heart. But for many others, the words of Scripture are brand new. If we're in the first group, may we never make new believers feel stupid, but always be ready to graciously answer questions and help to teach; if we're in the second group, may we never stop asking questions or lose excitement about the miracle of the Gospel!

Do you want to hear some really, really good news today? The same God that parted the Red Sea, raised Jesus from the dead, and rescued Paul from prison works on behalf of you and me. God may allow suffering, but He always has a plan to bring us through suffering.

If you've ever been a film junkie, a sports enthusiast, or an avid supporter of a musician or band, you know that there's a difference between being a "fan" and being a "follower". We can all be fans of Jesus without ever actually obeying what He told us to do in order to follow Him. We can choose to be Christians who believe for the sake of salvation and continue to go about life as we please, or we can accept the exciting and fulfilling invitation Jesus extends for us to follow Him.

The miracle baby whose birth we celebrate on Christmas grew into the Savior Who took our sins to the cross. But in between birth and death was the life of a boy wonder! Mary and Joseph walked obediently in God's will and raised Jesus to fulfill God's plan for Him. In the same way, the Lord asks us to respond to our Savior by walking in obedience and surrendering our lives to Him.

Christmas is a celebration of Jesus' birth, but in a way, it's also a reminder of His sacrifice. Just as He was wrapped up in swaddling clothes as a baby when He was first declared the Messiah, He was later wrapped and buried after His death -- a death He died all so that we could have eternal life. God offers us the gift of salvation, wrapped up in His Son -- and all we have to do is reach out and receive it.

For centuries throughout Old Testament times, the people waited on the promise that a Messiah would come. During that period of waiting, the Israelites experienced a lot of darkness before the Light of the World arrived. Like them, we all go through difficult seasons, but when we cling to the hope we have in Christ, He brings light to the darkest corners of our lives.

When God created Adam and Eve, He gave them free reign in what you'd consider "paradise on earth": the Garden of Eden. They had just one command to follow -- and as we all know, they blew it. Their decision to sin in that moment set the stage for every generation of humanity since, and our imperfect, sinful nature has caused our separation from a perfect, holy God. We needed a flawless sacrifice to cover our sin and bridge the gap between us and God. That sacrifice came in the form of a baby boy who would grow up to pay the ultimate price on our behalf, taking our sins to the cross and dying for us, all so we could be made right with God.

What's in a name? In God's case: everything! Some of the world's most famous people -- athletes, actors, historical figures -- are remembered by just their first name. But the most notable is the name that was given to a baby boy by His earthly father, who was told by an angel to name that baby boy "Jesus". And it wasn't just a name for a child -- it was the name for the Child who was born to save the world.

Did you know that the scientific probability of someone fulfilling 8 different Old Testament prophecies is 1 in 100 quadrillion? The Bible contains more than 300 prophecies about the coming Messiah -- and Jesus fulfilled all of them. Statistics prove that Jesus really is the Messiah, but at some point, each of us has to decide whether we're going to continue arguing the facts and ignoring the evidence, or whether we're going to trust Scripture, have faith, and share the Gospel with others.

Jesus was a lover of people -- but more specifically, He was a lover of strangers. Jesus demonstrated His love for all humanity by dying for every single one of us without preference or prejudice. Not only that, He lived out His earthly life by showing kindness to each person that He met. When we become part of His family, we're called to adopt the same mindset of hospitality -- by opening our arms, our homes, and our hearts, even to strangers.

When it comes to letting Jesus into our lives, many of us are more likely to put up a "No Vacancy" sign than we are to roll out the welcome mat. But when we finally turn off the "No" and make room for Him, Jesus changes our hearts and our lives from the inside out.

Mary wasn't perfect. And yet, God used her to bring His Son into the world. After Mary gave birth to Jesus, she continued to be faithful and followed Old Testament law by bringing fowls to the temple to be sacrificed. But she also brought something of far greater importance: she brought the Lamb of God, who would become the ultimate sacrifice and take away the sins of the world.

If we ever doubt God's reason, purpose, and perfect timing for our lives, we only need to look at the hundreds of prophecies that Jesus fulfilled to realize that He's always had His hand in each and every detail! There's nothing that happens in your life or mine that's outside the plan and the will of God. He sees the bigger picture -- even when we don't.

There are too many different elements of the Gospel story that line up perfectly for it to be dismissed as coincidence. It's not bad to question why we believe what we believe, but at some point we have to have faith in what the Bible says or pass it off as nothing more than a hoax. If it's a hoax, there's no "Christ" in Christmas...and if there's no "Christ" in Christmas, then we're still waiting for a Messiah who will come and save us from our sins.

The Christmas story is about Jesus giving Himself for us. He came to earth as a baby who would grow up to die for our sins. And in response, He asks us to love Him with our whole selves and hold nothing back. When we give Him all of us, it's amazing how He uses that commitment to change the world around us.

In the book of Exodus, we read how the Israelites needed the blood of a spotless lamb to save themselves from physical death. Today, we need the blood of God's spotless Lamb -- Jesus -- to save us from spiritual death. And when we understand there's nothing else that can save us but the blood of Christ, we realize how important it is to share that news with others.