When you first get saved it is so exhilarating!  You're pumped and ready to witness to everyone you come into contact with.  You can just feel the Holy Spirit moving through you and using you.  Am I right?  You feel like nothing can bring you down.

And then you sin.  ugh.

Sin affects us in so many ways.  Psychologically, your thoughts begin to change.  Emotionally, the shame you feel from knowing the same friends and family you were just witnessing may be aware that you've just sinned, can discourage you from ever wanting to share the Gospel again.  And even worse than that, the devil knows that you've sinned and will use that moment of weakness to try and take you out of the faith for eternity.

You hear alot of people say, "well even David sinned" and that is true, but what did David do after sinning? Instead of condemning himself, David prayed for restoration and vowed to teach sinners the Lord's ways (Psalm 51).  Listen as Pastor Cox pushes you to get back up and keep running the race of faith even after stumbling.  Just imagine how much louder the crowd roars when the team they thought would lose comes up from behind and wins.  We too have more influence after getting up.  When the enemy thought he had us defeated we come back even stronger!

Most likely you've heard the story of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, but you've never heard it like this. 

The Israelites (also known as the Hebrews) were slaves in Babylon when the three Hebrews boys got an opportunity to be more than that.  Most people in this situation would be so grateful for the opportunity that they would do anything to stay in the king's good graces.  However, the Hebrew boys made a resolve to live for God like the covenant was never broken.  Even though it looked like God had forsaken them they still made a resolve to serve only Him.  And they took that resolve all the way into the fire where Christ was right there to protect them.

It was their lifestyle that showed their obedience to God - not their lips.  Listen as Pastor Cox pushes you to look at your life and see if your life shows that you believe in Jesus Christ who will be there to save you too when you forsake fame, notariety and position in this life for a life lived sold out to your Savior.

Do you sometimes feel beat down?  You're tired of the fight that it seems to take to live sold out to Christ.  You're almost ready to quit.  You know what?  Many throughout history have felt the same way.  And at that point, they had a choice - give in to discouragement and quit or trust that just as God delivered his people many times in the past, He would come through again.

For the Israelites coming out of Egypt and headed into the promised land, there was nothing standing in the way of them getting what God promised them...nothing except Discouragement.  Listen as Pastor Cox describes what Discouragement can do in the lives of God's chosen people if you let it.

The How to Get to Hell message is a little jab to hopefully get you to open your eyes to the truth about what can happen if you try to hold on to a little sin in your life. To encourage you past that to see the power that God has to offer all who will believe, Pastor Cox followed up with a message on the power of your faith to push back the gates of Hell even when you have been beaten down by the world and you have a little strength left.