Los Alamos Christian Church

09/02/2026

This is a sobering reminder. The battle is real.
https://www.facebook.com/100057852211505/posts/1463879302217130/?mibextid=Nif5oz

08/18/2026

𝑰𝙉𝑭𝙇𝑼𝙀𝑵𝘾𝑬
You are an influencer
Christ's Influence In you and through You
Every day you're influencing someone.

🟢Your character.
🟢Your relationships.
🟢Your words.
🟢Your example.

The truth is, we're all influenced more than we'd like to admit. Advertisements, social media, entertainment, and culture constantly shape the way we think and live.

𝘽𝙪𝙩 𝙅𝙚𝙨𝙪𝙨 𝙘𝙖𝙡𝙡𝙨 𝙪𝙨 𝙩𝙤 𝙨𝙤𝙢𝙚𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙙𝙞𝙛𝙛𝙚𝙧𝙚𝙣𝙩

Join us beginning August 23 as we discover how Christ's influence in us becomes Christ's influence through us.

✅ The Source of Influence
✅ The Reach of Influence
✅ The Voice of Influence
✅ The Legacy of Influence

𝑮𝒐𝒅 𝒄𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒕𝒆𝒅 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒕𝒐 𝒃𝒆 𝒂𝒏 𝒊𝒏𝒇𝒍𝒖𝒆𝒏𝒄𝒆𝒓. 𝑯𝒐𝒘 𝒄𝒂𝒏 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒎𝒂𝒌𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒎𝒐𝒔𝒕 𝒐𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒊𝒏𝒇𝒍𝒖𝒆𝒏𝒄𝒆 𝑯𝒆'𝒔 𝒈𝒊𝒗𝒆𝒏 𝒚𝒐𝒖?

The Christian Church of Los Alamos, 92 East Road. We meet every Sunday at 10:30 am.

08/14/2026

Please join us for worship this Sunday at 10:30am. Below is a short version of the sermon topic, "Love One Another, Don't Grow Cold", which should prepare you for this sunday.

May you keep taking the opportunities that the Lord gives you to share His love.

It has been a great week thus far. Lots of opportunities taken. Lots of love shared. I can’t wait to hear about the opportunities that you took this week.

See you on Sunday,
The Christian Church

08/05/2026

I've always thought God must have a great sense of humor and he shared it with us. And it's true, good clean humor feels so good! This post is a good explanation of that and a reminder that we need to schedule another comedy night. The last one was a great success.
https://www.facebook.com/share/p/1Bfp5vo8Jj/

Award-winning comedian Nazareth Riskalla just won the 2026 Comedian of the Year Award from Drybar Comedy and Angel Studios. And he wants every believer to know something that most Christians have never thought about.

God created humor on purpose.

"God created humor. Satan perverted it, but God created humor. And when He created humor, He made our bodies secrete certain hormones that will make us feel good, and sometimes it's healing to our bodies."

That is not a punchline. That is a theological point grounded in Proverbs 17:22 where Solomon wrote that a merry heart doeth good like a medicine. God designed laughter to do something real inside the human body. And Nazareth has spent his career doing exactly that, reaching people through clean comedy who would never walk through a church door.

He described how clean comedy actually lowers people's guard in a way that opens the door to the gospel. "They lower their guard, they kind of feel like, 'Hey, I know this guy, I trust this guy.' And so when at the end I share my testimony and share what God has done in my life, it hits home. But it's the Holy Spirit who does the work. It's not me."

He also made a point that every believer watching certain kinds of comedy needs to hear. Laughter at something that violates your values does not produce the same healing. "When you're laughing at something that is not consistent with your values, you're not gonna laugh in a way that is healing. Your body won't relax because you're like, 'I shouldn't be laughing at this.'"

God designed your laughter too. Let it be the kind that heals.

"A merry heart doeth good like a medicine: but a broken spirit drieth the bones" (Proverbs 17:22).

When was the last time you had a genuinely healing laugh?

07/31/2026

We hope you will join us this Sunday for worship at 10:30am. The message will be focusing on a message from James 5:13–20.

For the past several weeks, our theme has been "Do This, Not That." Throughout Scripture, God doesn't simply tell us what to avoid—He also shows us the better way to live. We see this pattern throughout Paul's letters and throughout the New Testament. Believers are continually called to put off sinful attitudes and actions while putting on Christlike character.
James does the same thing in the closing verses of his letter. As he wraps up this practical book, he points believers toward two actions that strengthen the church: confessing our sins and praying for one another. At the same time, he warns against attitudes that tear the body of Christ apart. Instead of criticizing, condemning, or judging one another, James calls us to humility, honesty, and restoration.

The following devotion will help you prepare for this sermon.
https://www.lachristian.org/file/fae2c000-8cf0-11f1-908d-e7479c7f3260
We look forward to worshiping with you this sunday. We are at 92 East Rd in Los Alamos, NM

07/27/2026

https://www.facebook.com/share/1DQQoJ9MyL/

A lot of people are surprised when Christians reference Gangsta’s Paradise like it actually has something to say about faith. But if you listen to the lyrics instead of just the beat, you realize pretty quickly this song is not glorifying darkness. It is lamenting it.

The song opens with a man reflecting on his life and realizing he is trapped in a cycle he does not know how to escape. He talks about walking through death, violence, and hopelessness, fully aware that the path he is on ends badly. That alone should sound familiar to anyone who has read Scripture.

Psalm 23 says that even though we walk through the valley of the shadow of death, we do not have to fear evil because God is with us. The difference is not that one person walks through the valley and another does not. Everyone does. The difference is whether God is present in that valley or absent from the picture entirely.

Gangsta’s Paradise is what the valley sounds like when God is missing.

Throughout the song, there is an awareness of right and wrong, but no power to change. There is knowledge, but no redemption. There is fear, but no hope. The narrator knows the system is broken. He knows the outcome is grim. He knows the cycle is destructive. What he does not know is how to be free.

That lines up exactly with what Scripture says about life apart from God. Romans tells us people can know truth and still be enslaved to sin. Awareness alone does not save. Knowledge alone does not transform. Without grace, people remain stuck even when they see the problem clearly.

One of the most striking moments in the song references prayer being said, but nobody listening. That is not mockery. That is despair. It echoes the reality of people crying out without really knowing who God is, or believing He is distant, uninterested, or unreachable.

Christianity steps into that exact space and says God is not far off. He entered the valley. He walked straight into human brokenness. He did not stand at a distance and shout instructions. He came near.

Jesus did not avoid dark places. He went to them. He sat with people trapped in cycles they could not break. He met criminals, outcasts, addicts, and people written off by society. And instead of telling them to clean themselves up first, He offered a way out that started with grace.

Gangsta’s Paradise describes the consequences of sin without redemption. The gospel offers redemption without denying the consequences. That difference matters.

And yes, for the record, I absolutely listen to it a little too loud sometimes while working. But the overall vote around the barn is that it should really be called Jersey Paradise instead. Same intensity. Slightly more chaos. Less street violence. More calves bouncing like they have had three espressos.

Being in the world but not of it means you can recognize truth wherever it shows up, even in a 90s rap song blasting in a calf barn, without letting that song define your hope, your identity, or your future.

Gangsta’s Paradise is a snapshot of life in a broken world. Christianity explains why that brokenness exists and how it can be healed.

One is the diagnosis.
The other is the cure.

And sometimes hearing the diagnosis clearly is exactly what makes the cure sound like the best news you have ever heard.

07/11/2026

It's a little late for Father's day but be sure you talk to your true Father in heaven today and tell Him how much you love him. This post by Farmer girl says it well!
https://www.facebook.com/share/1BUacoTo3h/

"But I said, ‘How I would set you among my sons, and give you a pleasant land, a heritage most beautiful of all nations. And I thought you would call me, "My Father," and would not turn from following me.’" Jeremiah 3:19 (ESV)

Sometimes one verse completely changes how you read the rest of the chapter.

God isn't saying, "I wanted to give you a nice piece of real estate." He's saying, "I wanted you in My family." The land was never the point. The blessings were never the point. Even the miracles weren't the point. His heartbreak wasn't that Israel lost a country. It was that they stopped calling Him Father.

That hits a little differently.

Let's be honest. If someone offered us unlimited money, perfect health, zero stress, a house with enough storage that we could actually find where we put the Christmas decorations, and a vehicle that never made a weird noise the mechanic somehow can't hear, we'd probably be pretty excited. But what if all of those blessings came with one condition: you never got to talk to the person who gave them to you again? Suddenly the gifts don't seem quite as valuable.

That's what God has been saying all along.

"I wanted you to call Me Father."

Not King. Not Judge. Not Distant Almighty Being Who Exists Somewhere Out There. Father.

Think about that. The Creator of galaxies, the One who spoke light into existence, the One who holds every star in place by His power, wanted a relationship so close that His people would simply look up and say, "Father."

And they walked away.

Before we're too hard on Israel, maybe we should ask ourselves how often we do exactly the same thing. We pray when life falls apart. We bargain when the diagnosis comes back. We suddenly remember where our Bible is when the storm rolls in. Then life settles down, everything seems okay again, and somehow we become spiritual tumbleweeds, rolling whichever direction the wind happens to be blowing that day.

Yet God keeps calling.

Not because He needs us. Not because heaven gets lonely. But because that has always been His desire. From the Garden of Eden, to Israel, to the cross, to today, His heart has always been the same.

"I wanted you to call Me Father."

Jesus didn't die just so you could avoid hell. He died so someone who was once separated from God could become a son or daughter of God. The cross wasn't simply a rescue mission. It was an adoption.

If you've wandered, come home. If you've been treating God like customer service, only calling when something breaks, start talking to Him again. Not because you need something this time, but because He's your Father.

After all, when the God of the universe says, "I wanted you in My family," the only question left is whether we'll answer, "Father."

07/03/2026

The plan was always that we would all become brothers and sisters in Christ by grace through belief in Jesus. This lady explains it well.

https://www.facebook.com/share/19HGygTa6g/

One of the questions I see come up fairly often is whether Israel is still God's chosen people or whether God's chosen people are now those who believe in Jesus. Depending on who you ask, this can turn into a theological debate that makes people start reaching for Bible commentaries, maps of the Middle East, and enough coffee to keep a small nation awake.

The answer is not as complicated as people sometimes make it, but it is also not quite as simple as picking one side and ignoring the other.

God absolutely chose Israel. That is not up for debate. He chose Abraham. He chose Isaac. He chose Jacob. He made covenants with them. He gave them the Law. The prophets came through Israel. The Messiah came through Israel. Romans 9:4 says, "They are Israelites, and to them belong the adoption, the glory, the covenants, the giving of the law, the worship, and the promises." None of that suddenly became untrue. None of that stopped mattering. If God makes a promise, He keeps it. That is one of the themes that runs through the entire Bible.

But when you read Scripture carefully, you begin to notice something interesting. Being physically descended from Abraham was never the entire point. Even in the Old Testament, God kept welcoming people who were not Israelites but who believed Him. Rahab was not an Israelite. Ruth was not an Israelite. Yet both became part of God's people through faith. God was already painting a picture that was much bigger than a single nation. The plan was never simply to bless one group of people and stop there. The plan was always bigger than that.

Then Jesus came, and suddenly the invitation was thrown wide open. John 1:12 says, "But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God." Notice it does not say some. It does not say one nation. It does not say one bloodline. It says all who believe. For the first time, what God had been hinting at throughout the Old Testament became impossible to miss.

Then Paul writes something remarkable in Galatians 3:29: "And if you are Christ's, then you are Abraham's offspring, heirs according to promise." Think about that for a second. Most of us are probably not physically descended from Abraham. My family tree is about as Middle Eastern as a Holstein cow. Yet Scripture says that if we belong to Christ, we become heirs to the promise through faith. Not because of where we were born. Not because of our nationality. Not because we can trace our ancestry back far enough. Not because our last name sounds biblical. Because of faith.

That does not mean God has forgotten Israel. Romans 11 goes out of its way to say He has not. In fact, Paul warns Gentile believers not to become arrogant. He describes Israel as an olive tree and Gentile believers as wild branches grafted into it. We did not replace the tree. We were invited into it. We did not create the promises. We were graciously included in them. That should produce humility, not pride.

And maybe that is what I love most about the Gospel. The ground at the foot of the cross is remarkably level. The wealthy stand beside the poor. The educated stand beside the uneducated. The farmer stands beside the lawyer. The pastor stands beside the former addict. The person who has followed Jesus for fifty years stands beside the person who surrendered their life to Him five minutes ago. The Jew stands beside the Gentile. Every single one of us arrives exactly the same way. Not because we earned it. Not because of our last name. Not because of our nationality. Not because our grandparents believed. Not because we were good enough. Only because Jesus made a way.

I think sometimes we forget how radical that really is. Human beings are experts at dividing ourselves into groups. We sort ourselves by nationality, politics, income, education, skin color, language, denomination, and about a thousand other things. We are constantly looking for reasons why we belong in different categories. Then Jesus comes along and says the most important category is not where you came from but whether you belong to Him.

When Revelation describes Heaven, it does not describe one nation gathered around the throne. It describes "a great multitude that no one could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages" standing before God. Just imagine that for a moment. People who spoke different languages. People who grew up on different continents. People whose lives looked absolutely nothing alike on earth. All worshiping the same Savior together.

That was always the plan. God chose Israel and through Israel He sent a Savior. Through that Savior, He opened the door to the world. The invitation that began with Abraham now extends to every person reading this. The story was never about excluding the nations. It was about saving them.

So is Israel important in God's plan? Absolutely. Does God still keep His promises? Absolutely. Can someone from any nation become part of God's family through faith in Christ? Absolutely.

The question is not whether Israel was chosen.

The question is what you will do with the One they were chosen to bring.

06/15/2026

This is such a great explanation of Acts 12. Its a reminder of God's sovereignty. He is in control. He is still listening to our prayers. He is still working His plan to redeem His people as in
2 Peter 3:9 ESV
[9] The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance.

https://www.facebook.com/share/1GhmZKek2f/

Acts 12 is one of those chapters that reminds me that if I had been one of the early Christians, I probably would have been just as confused as everyone else.

The chapter opens with King Herod deciding that persecuting Christians is politically advantageous. James, the brother of John and one of Jesus' closest disciples, is arrested and executed. Let that sink in for a moment. This is not some random believer whose name appears once and disappears. This is James. One of the men who walked with Jesus. One of the men who saw miracles with his own eyes. One of the "sons of thunder." One of the disciples who was present at the Transfiguration. Yet Acts records his death in a single verse.

If I were writing the story, I would probably want more details. I'd want an explanation. I'd want God to tell me exactly why James died while others lived. Instead, Luke simply moves on because the story is not ultimately about James. The story is about what God is doing.

Herod notices that executing James made him popular, so naturally he decides to arrest Peter next. Apparently politicians have not changed much in two thousand years. If something gets applause from the crowd, there is always a temptation to do more of it.

Peter is thrown into prison and guarded by multiple squads of soldiers. Humanly speaking, the situation looks hopeless. James is already dead. Peter is next. The church is facing increasing persecution. If you were living through those events, this would not feel like a victorious chapter. It would feel like the beginning of the end.

Yet while Peter sits in prison, the church prays.

I love that detail because prayer was not their backup plan. It was not the thing they did after all the useful options had failed. It was the useful option. They could not overpower Herod. They could not storm the prison. They could not hire better lawyers. All they could do was pray.

Meanwhile Peter is sleeping.

Again, I love this detail.

Peter is scheduled to be brought out for trial the next day, and there is a very real possibility that he will be executed just like James. Yet when the angel arrives, Peter is sleeping so soundly that the angel has to hit him to wake him up.

That is an impressive level of trust.

If I have to wake up early for something important, I check the alarm three times before bed. Then I wake up at midnight to make sure the alarm still exists. Then I wake up again at two o'clock to verify that time itself has not somehow stopped. Peter is facing possible ex*****on and apparently decided this was an excellent opportunity for a nap.

The angel tells him to get up. The chains fall off. The guards remain unaware. The prison doors open one after another. Peter follows along thinking the entire thing is a vision. Only when he is standing outside in the cool night air does he realize this is actually happening.

So where does he go?

To a prayer meeting.

Naturally.

The believers are gathered together praying for Peter's release when Peter starts knocking at the door. A servant girl named Rhoda hears his voice, becomes so excited that she forgets the entire purpose of answering a door, leaves Peter standing outside, and runs back to tell everyone.

Peter is still knocking.

The people inside tell her she must be mistaken.

This may be one of the most human moments in the entire Bible.

They are literally praying for Peter's release while simultaneously arguing that Peter cannot possibly have been released.

Before we're too hard on them, I suspect many of us have done the same thing. We pray for God to provide and then stare at the answer in disbelief when it arrives. We ask Him to work and then act surprised when He does.

Eventually they open the door, and there stands Peter, very much alive and probably wondering how long a man is expected to knock before someone lets him in.

The chapter ends with another dramatic reversal. Herod, who looked so powerful at the beginning of the story, accepts praise that belongs to God and is struck down. The king who seemed unstoppable discovers that there is a significant difference between being powerful and being sovereign.

Then Luke closes the chapter with a simple statement: "But the word of God increased and multiplied."

That is really the entire point.

James dies. Peter lives. The church prays. An angel appears. Rhoda forgets how doors work. Herod falls. The Gospel keeps advancing.

Acts 12 reminds us that God is still in control when we understand what He is doing and when we do not. It reminds us that sometimes prayers are answered exactly as we hope and sometimes the answers look very different than we expected. Most of all, it reminds us that kings come and go, governments rise and fall, prisons are built and torn down, but the Word of God keeps moving forward.

Two thousand years later, we are still reading about it.

And somewhere in Heaven, I have a feeling Rhoda is still famous for forgetting to open the door.