Whether it’s your first time or your fiftieth, we’re so glad you’re here and hope to see you again soon. At Word of Life, our desire is to be a life-giving church where you can connect with God, and experience His presence in a real, tangible way. We meet every Sunday in three physical locations and online!

LAKELAND & ONLINE
SUNDAYS AT 10 & 11:30AM

HIGHLAND COLONY
SUNDAYS AT 8:30, 10 & 11:30AM

FONDREN
SUNDAYS AT 10AM

PASTOR JOEL & PEPPI SIMS

There’s an amazing story told by Jesus in Luke 15:11 about a young man who took his entire inheritance early so he could spend it all on “wild and free-living”. When all the money had run out, he was left with two options: To eat with the pigs he had found himself with or to go home to his father and ask for his forgiveness. My favorite part about this story is the response of the father as he saw his son returning home. It says in verse 20, “… his father saw him and was moved with compassion for him, and ran and embraced him and kissed him.” Notice the father never mentioned what he’d done or had been doing in the past. He only embraced him and had compassion for him. One thing I see more often is a hesitation to run to the Father. Sin will always carry shame and guilt with it, and if you listen to them, they’ll cause you to hesitate to run to Him…

Sir Edmund Hillary, famous for being the first to conquer Mount Everest, once stated in one of his many failed attempts “I will come again and conquer you because as a mountain you can’t grow, but as a human, I can.” At Word of Life we know that everyone has different metaphorical mountains in life that need to be conquered. We also realize that sometimes we struggle because of a lack of preparation and growth. That is why we have built THELIFEONLINE.CC with YOU in mind. This is a website filled with content that will help you grow in your faith. The Bible says in 2 Peter 3:18, “but grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.” We are called to grow. We are called to increase our knowledge of who Christ is, and we have the perfect place for you to start.

Yale University says you need to be uncomfortable if you want to grow. No seriously. I mean Jesus saying, “Go into all the world and preach the Gospel” should be enough for us to book the plane ticket for a missions trip, but it doesn’t hurt to have a gentle nudge by a bunch of Ivy League-ers.

According to a 2018 study, “If you want to maximize learning you need to make sure you’re doing hard things 70 percent of the time.” It specifically mentions traveling abroad as a way to strategically introduce discomfort in your life. And if you want to make sure you hit that 70% discomfort level, try China or India!

Therein lies the beauty of God’s commands. On one hand, they’re worth our obedience just because of what God has already done for us. It’s that whole Amazing Grace song:
“He saved a wretch like me. I once was lost, but now I’m found. I was blind, but now I see…”

There is no doubt that you can have powerful times of worship with just you and God. In fact, I encourage you to do that every day! Have that one-on-one connection and relationship. Without that, it makes life a lot harder. A life lived intimately with Him is just easier.

A very wise leader once told me, ‘Life moves at the speed of relationship.’ And it’s true! Not only your relationship with the Lord but your relationship with the people in your life. Whether that be friends, co-workers, or church members you see each week, community is a big part of your walk with the Lord…