Faith Is - Hebrews 11:1-3 - Pastor Jeff Clay

Pray Our Father - Matthew 6:9-13 (The Lord's Prayer) - Pastor Rick Soto

SERMON TITLE: Pray Our Father SCRIPTURE: Matthew 6:9-13 (The Lord's Prayer) You're listening to the Ranch Church Podcast. For more information and service times, go to ranchchurch.com. THE MESSAGE Pastor Rick Soto teaches on prayer through the lens of relationship. The deepest truth about God is not a doctrine but a person: He is Father. The power of praying the Lord's Prayer lies not in repeating the words but in knowing God relationally. Rick emphasizes that through Jesus' blood, you have access to intimate relationship with God, who knows everything about you and loves you anyway. The sermon works through the Lord's Prayer phrase by phrase: Our Father in Heaven. God is actively Father toward you. He is not passive. His fatherhood is the foundation of everything else. Having the right Father changes everything. Rick illustrates this through Cherry Bentley's story from Ethiopia, where she realized that the only difference between her sitting in a nice restaurant and a woman begging on the street was her father. Through Christ, you have access to the right Father. Hallowed Be Your Name. God's holiness is absolute purity, more pure than anything in creation. When you pray this, you are aligning yourself with His sacred character. Your Kingdom Come, Your Will Be Done on Earth as It Is in Heaven. Through Jesus' blood, you have been given power and authority. Heaven's economy is not distant; it is working in your heart now, so that earth can be blessed through you. Give Us This Day Our Daily Bread. Jesus used a Greek word (epiousios) that did not exist before He spoke it. It means "upon substance and identity." He is saying: You need supernatural power and nourishment to face what you're facing right now. Not everything you want, but everything you need to live. Forgive Us Our Debts as We Forgive Our Debtors. Unforgiveness is a lock that grabs hold of you. You must break that hold by forgiving others, so you can step into the abundance God has for you rather than clinging to pain, rejection, and loss. Lead Us Not Into Temptation, but Deliver Us From Evil. God often answers prayers with "no" out of love. He is protecting you from paths that would harm you, not withholding blessing. Trust His judgment as a loving Father. THE PASTORAL INVITATION Step forward. Accept God's fatherhood. Let go of what has hurt you. Embrace the promises He has for you now. God is calling you to trust Him with both His yes and His no. CONTINUITY WITH PREVIOUS SERMON This continues the Hebrews series' focus on Jesus as the source of everything (following from Hebrews 5-6 on Jesus as High Priest and the call to maturity). Here, Jesus teaches us that intimacy with the Father through relationship is the substance of mature faith.

Faith Is - Hebrews 11:1-3 - Pastor Jeff Clay

Show Notes: "Faith Is" (Hebrews 11:1-3) You're listening to the Ranch Church Podcast. For more information and service times, go to ranchchurch.com. Scripture Hebrews 11:1-3 Message Pastor Jeff Clay defines Christian faith by starting with a simple but profound question: What is faith? While everyone exercises faith in some form, Christian faith is distinct because its object matters entirely. Faith without an object is worthless. True faith is connected to something solid, something that holds. The Greek word hupostasis, translated "being sure," literally means that which stands under, like a foundation. Our hope rests on something firm and substantive. This is what separates Christian faith from every other worldview. We don't have faith in faith itself. We have faith in Christ. Christian faith produces hope, and hope produces perseverance. When hard times hit, which they will, faith gives us somewhere to go and someone to trust. The ancients were commended by God precisely because they believed what they could not see and were absolutely certain of what they hoped for, even when circumstances suggested otherwise. Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego refused to worship an idol, knowing that God was able to deliver them, yet even willing to trust Him if He chose not to. That kind of faith honored God. But Christian faith isn't merely historical or spiritual. It addresses the real needs we face now: loneliness, love, meaning, freedom, forgiveness, and hope. Jesus offers not a checklist but Himself. Through Him, we find purpose when life threatens to become trivial, love when we're isolated, forgiveness when we've fallen, and hope that extends beyond death. Faith is both decisive and personal. It begins in a moment but must be maintained and sustained through community, discipleship, and intentional growth. Without maintenance, faith withers. Main Themes * Faith defined by its object, not by itself * The foundation beneath hope * Faith as historical reality (Old Testament examples) * Faith addressing present human need * Faith as a muscle that must be exercised

Don't Throw Away Your Confidence -- Hebrews 10:31-38 - Pastor Rick Soto

Don't Throw Away Your Confidence - Pastor Rick Soto SCRIPTURE REFERENCES: Primary: Hebrews 10:31-38 Supporting: Genesis 35:5, 2 Chronicles 17:9, Acts 5:11, Matthew 3:15, John 1:38, John 3, John 5:6, John 5:47 MESSAGE SUMMARY: Finishing out Hebrews 10, Pastor Rick builds the case that true confidence in God is inseparable from the fear of the Lord. Using free climber Alex Honnold as an illustration, he reframes fear not as terror but as the highest form of respect, the kind that produces unstoppable people. Drawing on three Old Testament examples where the fear of the Lord fell on surrounding nations, he shows that this posture toward God is a power key for the church. The heart of the message lands on three principles of confidence: knowing who you are, accepting who you are, and being who you are, illustrated through both Jesus and John the Baptist at the Jordan. The message closes with Jesus asking four questions that anchor faith and draw people to himself. MAJOR THEMES: * Fear of the Lord as reverence, respect, and awe rather than terror * Confidence rooted in the fear of the Lord, not in self-reliance * Three principles of godly confidence: knowing, accepting, and being who you are * Endurance as a product of confidence in where you are going * Faith as the normal operating mode of every human life * Jesus walking in your heart the same way he once walked in Galilee   Most people think confidence and fear are opposites. In Hebrews 10, they are the same thing. In this message, Pastor Rick Soto finishes out Hebrews 10 with a teaching on what it actually means to fear the Lord, and why that fear is the foundation of genuine, unshakeable confidence. Using free climber Alex Honnold as a window into what it looks like to respect something greater than yourself, Pastor Rick shows how this posture toward God produces people who are, as the text puts it, absolutely unstoppable. Three principles anchor the message: knowing who you are, accepting who you are, and being who you are. Jesus and John the Baptist at the Jordan River become a masterclass in all three. The sermon closes with four questions Jesus asks in the Gospels that he is still asking today. This is part three from Hebrews 10. Start with Draw Near and Lines Not to Cross for the full arc. For more information and service times, visit ranchchurch.com.

Lines Not to Cross - Pastor Rick Soto

Lines Not to Cross - Pastor Rick Soto Primary: Hebrews 10:26-29 Supporting: 2 Timothy 2:15, Philippians 1:21, Galatians 2:20, Matthew 4:19, Matthew 14:22, Revelation 2:4, Luke 7:41-48, Hebrews 2:1, Hebrews 3:7, Hebrews 5:11, Hebrews 6, Hebrews 12:15 MESSAGE SUMMARY: Part two of the sacred space series, following directly from Hebrews 10:19-25. Pastor Rick turns to the warnings in Hebrews 10:26-29, making the case that God draws lines not to restrict but to protect. The passage addresses three specific acts of rejection: trampling underfoot the Son of God, profaning the blood of the covenant, and outraging the Spirit of grace, a Trinitarian rejection of the gospel that the text calls apostasy. Pastor Rick is careful to clarify this is not primarily about moral sin but about heart posture, whether Christ remains your first love. Drawing on the church at Ephesus, Peter walking on water, and the woman who loved much, the consistent pastoral answer is a single phrase: eyes on me. MAJOR THEMES: * God's warnings are acts of love, not condemnation * Apostasy as a Trinitarian rejection of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit * Heart posture over moral performance, first love as the real issue * "Eyes on me" as the antidote to drift, doubt, and rebellion * The power of God versus the power of man * Following Christ versus following your own heart, way, or rules * The kingdom of God clashing with the kingdom of man SHOW NOTES: There are lines in life you do not cross. God put them there for your good. In part two from Hebrews 10, Pastor Rick Soto preaches from verses 26 through 29, taking on the serious warnings woven throughout the book of Hebrews. The text is direct: deliberately trampling underfoot the Son of God, dismissing the blood of the covenant, and outraging the Spirit of grace are not things to take lightly. But this passage is not primarily about a list of moral failures. It goes deeper. Jesus' concern for the church at Ephesus was not their doctrine or their deeds. It was that they had left their first love. That is what is on the table here. The answer is simple and consistent: eyes on me. Whatever you are facing, whatever line you have been tempted to cross, God is calling you back to himself, back to the place of his power, his grace, and his presence. This is a part two message. Listen to last week's episode first for the full foundation. For more information and service times, visit ranchchurch.com.

The Power of Sacred Space - Pastor Rick Soto

The Power Of Sacred Space - Pastor Rick Soto - Hebrews 10:19-25 The cross doesn't just forgive you. It gives you access. In this message, Pastor Rick Soto unpacks Hebrews 10:19-25 to show that the invitation of the gospel goes further than the removal of sin. Through the blood of Jesus and his role as great high priest, you are now welcomed into a sacred space with God, a place of healing, identity, hope, and strength. Drawing from the "let us" outline in Hebrews 10, Pastor Rick walks through three anchors for the Christian life: draw near, hold fast, and stir one another up. He speaks directly to the growing loss of hope in younger generations and calls the church to actively cultivate real hope together, not wishful thinking, but a confident trust in the promises and presence of God. This message closes with a pastoral call to vulnerability and prayer. If you need hope, this one is for you. For more information and service times, visit ranchchurch.com.