Randy Hagar - Pastor Matt described Jesus' offering of Himself as the greatest act of sacrificial love to ever take place and then took us to the Ephesians 5 explanation of Christ's love of the church for further understanding. What we have in this chapter is perhaps an example we can better grasp as Paul gives us similarities which this love of Christ has to what the love of a man (a saved man) should have for his spouse and even love for himself. We understand from the teaching earlier in this same chapter that these things are only possible to us as we are filled with the Spirit!  Read More

Stacy Warner - First, God is merciful to the unbeliever. It is worth recalling that the wages of sin is death (Rom. 6:23), both spiritual (John 3:16, Matthew 25:46) as well as physical (Rom. 5:12). Furthermore, it is fitting to remember that unbelievers are not necessarily “bad”, but “dead”. Ephesians 2 actually states that the unbeliever is ALREADY dead spiritually (Ephesians 2:1 “As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins…”). This is what is meant when we use the term, “in Adam” (“For just as through the disobedience of the one man the many were made sinners, so also through the obedience of the one man the many will be made righteous”. Rom. 5:19). One is not a sinner based on what they have done. One is a sinner based on WHO THEY ARE, either “in Adam” or “in Christ.”  Read More

Kale Magness - This past Sunday, Pastor Matt kicked off a new series entitled “Gaudy Christmas” with a message dealing with God’s grace. You don’t have to have attended Heritage for very long to recognize that we talk A LOT about grace here. In fact, in the early days, we often referred to Heritage as a “Grace Place.” Matt made a statement early in his message that is so important to grasp. He said, “Everything that we receive from God is by grace, through faith, in Jesus.” The words “in Jesus” are used many times by the Apostle Paul in his writings as a qualifier. In other words, apart from Jesus, we have no claim to the promises of God for the Body of Christ, which includes His grace. Once, I heard grace defined as the “love of God shown to the unlovely.” That’s a pretty apt description, in my opinion.   Read More

Cody Burt - Heritage was undoubtedly the “cooler” church because they had loud music and those moving lights. Even though that is cool, there was something different that intrigued me. What was being taught stood out more than anything. It wasn’t what I was used to hearing and, in some ways, challenged what I believed, yet they were using scripture to back it up.  Read More

Chris Williams - The enemy had me so wrapped up in the fact that I would never be good enough that I just didn't care to try. I remember my breaking point, I grabbed my Bible, prayed, and asked God to show me something in His word that I could build on, or I was done with it all. I wasn't being arrogant or challenging God in that. I was just tired of all of it. I couldn't do it.   Read More

David Magness - The power to overcome sin in your life isn’t rooted in motivation and self-discipline but from God through the Holy Spirit. The world has motivation and self-discipline, which ebbs and flows, but believers have the power of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22), which is constant and never-changing.  Read More