Firm Foundation with Bryan Hudson

A Father's Blessing

Like it or not, fathers provide both a present provision and a future prosperity for those who properly honor the office and principle of fatherhood.

Straight Talk About Marriage, Pt. 1

Insights on healthy marriage from an real, more than an ideal, perspective. Bryan & Patricia have been married for 30 years on March 24, 2009

Principles of Movement

A summary of the series on the NCC Vision for 2009

NCC Vision for 2009, Part 3

The message,"A New Design for a New Season" sharing a fresh direction for New Covenant Church and the unveiling of a new purpose statement

NCC Vision for 2009, Part 2

Topic for Part 2: "The Church God is Looking For."

NCC Vision for 2009

The message,"A New Design for a New Season" sharing a fresh direction for New Covenant Church and the unveiling of a new purpose statement: "Loving God, Love People, Serving the World."

First Things First

2009 will be a year of being blessed and blessing others as we put "First Things First." Our Lord Jesus put it this way: "But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you." (Matt. 6:33)

Courage in Changing Time, Part 3

Genesis 26:1 There was a famine in the land, besides the first famine that was in the days of Abraham. And Isaac went to Abimelech king of the Philistines, in Gerar.
2 Then the LORD appeared to him and said: “Do not go down to Egypt; live in the land of which I shall tell you. 3 Dwell in this land, and I will be with you and bless you; for to you and your descendants I give all these lands, and I will perform the oath which I swore to Abraham your father.
12 Then Isaac sowed in that land, and reaped in the same year a hundredfold; and the LORD blessed him. 13 The man began to prosper, and continued prospering until he became very prosperous;

Courage in Changing Times

One of the most important ingredients to future courage is to remember God’s help in achieving past victories.
Our day to day activities, not just our dreams and desires, do more to shape our future courage, faith and faithfulness than anything else. Engaging with mediocre endeavors and negative people weakens our future and sets us up to succumb to discouragement.
Moses built an altar and named it “Jehovan-Nissi, meaning “The Lord is my banner.” We use banners or billboards to promote an image, message or a promise. The image with Moses arms raised holding the “rod of God” inspired the army to victory.
This image or banner became a mental model or visualization of victory for Joshua. From that day forward, when Joshua needed to have courage, he would allow the Lord to raise a banner in his heart and mind. VICTORY! FAITH! FAITHFULNESS!

Walk on the Water

Walk on the Water
How Jesus Increases Our Faith
MAT 14:14-33
A. The Lecture: An explanation. Responding to Need stretches our faith. Compassion taps the miracle working power of God.
1. The disciples wanted to avoid the challenge of feeding the people
2. Jesus wanted to show them that God can produce multiplication and increase from our willingness to offer to Him whatever we have.
3. The miracle of provision feed some 15,000 people with 2 fish and 5 loaves
4. The disciples saw the miracle first hand. A miracle of provision and increase.
5. There we 12 baskets full of fragments of the meal [one for each of the doubtful disciples]
B. The Lab: A demonstration. Jesus made them get into a boat and prepare to cross the lake.
1. He sent them on a “lab” to allow them to apply what they learning: “How God can produce multiplication and increase from our willingness to offer to Him whatever we have.”
2. Jesus stayed behind to have a time of prayer with God
a. Notice his priorities vs. the priorities of His disciples
b. Jesus was not concerned about how He would get across the lake
c. It is not that He failed to have a plan, He simply trusted God to get Him where he needed to be.
3. They encountered a storm and Jesus was not with them.
4. At 3:00am, Jesus decided it was time to go, but He did not have a boat, so he started out walking
5. In the midst of the small storm, Jesus came walking on the water
C. The Learning: A demonstration. Peter did something that no man had ever done.
1. This would not have happened without the experience of the miracle of provision earlier that day.
2. Peter had it in his heart and mind that Jesus is not bound by physical laws. For a moment, he tapped into the raw power of God and suspended his confidence in everything except God.
3. Peter walked on the water as long as he had confidence in the word “Come”
a. He began to sink when he focused on the circumstances
b. But Jesus was there to help him and rebuke him
c. How did they get back to the boat? The walked!
4. We would not have any reservations about the things we could do if Jesus was physically with us. Jesus was training His disciples how to operate by faith in His unseen presence and power.
a. From the beginning of His ministry Jesus knew that He would not be with them for long.
b. Blessed are those who believe without seeing. We don’t want to be like doubting Thomas.
D. The Lesson: An application. We too can “walk on water” in the circumstances of life
1. You can learn and gain confidence from the blessings and miracles that God has worked in your life
2. You can take the challenge to do the seemingly impossible (like feeding 15,000 people)
2. You can give to God everything He requires and receive everything you need in return
3. You can rise above the storms of life, and your fear of storms
4. You can get out of your little boat of comfort and complacency to do something extraordinary for God
5. You can overcome the doubts of others
6. You can take Jesus at His word when He says “Come”; suspend your fear, activate your faith
7. If you can believe all of this: You WILL go to a higher place of worship and realization of the awesome power of God.