Pizza Ranch Serves

As you grow in your faith and the years continue to pass, the amount of times that you have heard some of the most famous Bible stories and verses continues to multiply. Among that list may be, the creation story, the parable of the Good Samaritan, Cain and Abel, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, Jesus walking on water… the list goes on. Among some of the most famous stories lies the Parable of the Talents. Many of you already understand the meaning and the premise of this story, but I have always enjoyed sermons, messages, or conversations that explain or elaborated on it in a way that completely opens it up in a new way to me.

At the beginning of the summer, I joined a few young adults in starting a worship/bible study group. We meet every Wednesday night in a small apartment. From the time it began with four people until now where our group is over 30 people, we have been worshipping, praying and reading scripture over one another. Over the last few weeks, one of our new favorite worship songs is "You are my Champion" by Bethel Worship featuring Dante Brown.

The Pizza Ranch in Muscatine, IA just finished their first community service project. Instead of helping to host a Community Impact event, these team members went above and beyond. A crew of kids and adults went out in search of ways to serve in their community. What they found was a local group online where people shared their needs and were connected with volunteers.

In life, we face many different types of trials and suffering, it can be very difficult to hold on to the promises that God has for us. Whatever it may be, whether you have faced serious situations in your personal/family life, or you are getting persecuted for standing up for your faith, remember that it’s during times like these where we can feel and experience a little of what Jesus went through. Jesus asked God if there was any way He could take the burden away from Him (Luke 22:39-44), but instead God sent His Angel to comfort Jesus, and by doing so, Jesus was able to persevere until God’s plan for His life was complete. (Thank the Lord for that!)

Every morning is not only a blessing, but it’s a blessing that holds an opportunity. In the morning, one of the first things we often do is look at our phone. We put our alarm on snooze, we may even roll over and mutter our displeasure. Unfortunately, we have the tendency to go about our whole morning without focusing on the most important part of the day, the mere fact that we were blessed with another opportunity to give thanks to God, and live out our faith.

Don't you just love a comeback story? I oftentimes think of the NFL's comeback players of the year. Typically the winning athlete endures some sort of physical or emotional adversity, and amidst the suffering- they embrace the challenge to overcome. These stories are inspiring and heartwarming. Today's scripture was James 1:2-12- Trials and Temptations. A few verses that stick out to me:

Thursday Thoughts – Where is your focus? What do you spend most of your time doing and thinking about? How about where you spend your…

A story from Rob at the Morris, MN Pizza Ranch. Rob and his wife Mel were able to support a local family as their community grieved the unexpected loss of Casey, a young father and husband.

Ever feel confused about who you are or ask the question “who am I?” Ever felt like you weren’t living up to someone else’s expectations?

When was the last time you helped a neighbor? Summer time is a great time to be out walking around the neighborhood.

If you've been following along with us, we're making our way through the book of Acts in the Bible. Today we asked the question, "Have you ever believed in something to be true, so true that you'd defend it with all its worth, only to find out later that you were wrong?" This question involves deep-seeded beliefs that one might take to the grave. In Acts 9:43-10:48 we see a few examples of these types of beliefs being challenged in the early Christian church. Do these same beliefs challenge us today? 

Whatever my lot, thou hast taught me to say.