Evident Church

Zechariah 8:16 These are the things you must do: Speak truth to one another; What is truth? Well, bottom line, Absolute truth is and comes from God and we have those truths in His word. And God says, John 1:1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. Hebrews 4:12 For the word of God is living and effective and sharper than any double-edged sword, penetrating as far as the separation of soul and spirit, joints and marrow. It is able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart. John 8:32 “If you continue in my word, you really are my disciples. You will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” So, we see that absolute Truth is from God and we are instructed to share that truth. But, how do I. The Truth hurts at times. And anyway, aren’t I supposed to love everybody all the time. Afterall, wasn’t Jesus all love. Absolutely, Jesus was and is all about grace, mercy, forgiveness, and love. However, that i...

"Worship is a cruciely important act of singing praises and of giving honor to our God. God desires and longs for our worship through instruments and song. But worship goes beyond singing songs of praise, worship and thanks: Doing our best, daily, to live our lives as Christ did is an act of worship: attending church faithfully is an act of worship; giving of our time, talents, gifts and money are all acts of worship. Worship brings us into the presence of God. Are you feeling happy? Shout praises to God. Are you feeling lonely, depressed, hurt, sad, betrayed, ressentful, bitter, unforgiving and angry? Put on some Christian praise and worship music, or just start singing your favorite worship song, and I guarantee your mood and attitude will improve greatly. Worship, through music, is an important part of my relationship with Jesus and part of my daily routine. Below are some of my favorite worship songs. Just hit the play button and enjoy." -Pastor Gregg

Fullness of Life!  Pastor Gregg Introduction:            Hi everyone. I am Pastor Gregg of Next Steps Ministries. Thank you for being here. I know, expect and believe that hearts will be softened, and lives will be changed today. Amen! How can I be so confident of that? Because I know whom I serve. He’s changed my life, so I know He can change yours. And whether you believe in Christ or not, I’m glad you are here. At Next Steps, our number One Core Value is that “Every Life Matters!”. Today is Easter. Most of us know the story of Easter and why we celebrate it. We celebrate the death and resurrection of Christ. And what a great thing to celebrate. To know that we can be reconciled with God and have eternity with him because of Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross.   1 Corinthians 15 Christian Standard Bible (CSB) Now I want to make clear for you, brothers and sisters, the gospel I preached to you, which you received, on which you have tak...

My name is Gregg Crisp. I am the lead pastor of Next StepS Ministries. I am also the Wyoming State Rep. for CR Inside. I am writing today to introduce you to th e Celebrate Recovery and Celebrate Recovery Inside programs. I have personally witnessed so many people transformed and set-free by using the Celebrate Recovery tools and programs. Lives are being changed, families are being restored, and people are coming to God through Christ. Celebrate Recovery, unlike other twelve step programs, does not just focus on one issue (say drugs), but Celebrate Recovery (CR) (CRI) focuses on the entire person and any “Hurt, Hang-up, or Habit”. The issue may or could be alcohol, drugs, porn, anxiety, food, anger, pride, control, lust, co-dependency… the list is endless. Celebrate Recovery gets down deep into our behavior and character defects. Often times drinking, drugging, lashing out, excessive TV or video games, etc. are Band-Aids, symptoms of a deeper problem. We must address the “W...

I believe great churches are built by broken people, ministering to other broken people. Brokenness is a willingness to abandon our pride, our pretensions, and our self-righteous posturing. And it is the prerequisite to God’s blessing on our lives and our congregations. Jesus said,  “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven”  (Matthew 5:3 NIV). When we reach the end of our rope and give up our self-sufficiency, that’s when God moves into our lives with healing and growth. Sin is addicting, and “all have sinned.” That means we’ve all created ungodly and unhealthy methods for handling life, so every church needs to have some form of a recovery ministry. Not one of us is untainted, and because of sin, we’ve all hurt ourselves, we’ve all hurt other people, and others have hurt us. Each of us needs repentance and recovery in order to live our lives the way God intended. At Saddleback, we’ve watched the miracle of  Celebrate Recover...

Abundance of Life!             It’s the time of year that we celebrate Christ’s birth. Jesus, the Son of God was Born, became a man, died on the cross for you and me, rose from the dead and now sits at the right hand of God. Luke 2:10-12 John 19:16-30 Acts 2:24, 5:32, 10:40 & 13:31 Romans 8:34 Jesus came so that we could be reconciled to God. He came so we could have eternal life. What do we have to do? Nothing! It is a gift from God. Well, not exactly. We must choose to accept God’s gift. We must open the gift. We must believe and put our trust in Him. We can’t earn it, we can’t buy it and we don’t have to be good enough to receive it. Ephesians 2:8 says, “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God”. Now that is stinking awesome, Eternal Life! That is something to celebrate, Amen! But as if that were not enough. There’s even more. In John 10:10b Jesus said, “I came ...