Michigan Center Bible Church

09/06/2026

We would love for you to join us on this Labor Day weekend as we worship our Loving, Gracious, and Merciful Savior. Everyone is welcome. We hope you'll worship with us!

10:45 AM Sunday Morning Service,September 6, 2026. If you are no...

09/03/2026

Over the past few years, escape rooms have become a popular form of entertainment. If you don’t know what an escape room is, contestants willingly allow themselves to be locked in a room for a set period of time (usually 40 minutes to an hour). During that time, those locked in the room work through a series of puzzles to find clues. Once the clues are found, the contestants should have all the information they need to get out of the room. The goal is to figure it all out before time runs out!

April and I have tried to complete several rooms, but with very poor results. In theory, we find the idea of an escape room fun! We like the idea of working as a team to find clues, get out of the room, and beat the clock. But, at least for us, what seems fun quickly turns frustrating. The competitive nature in us wants to win, but the clues are often very difficult. Things that would probably seem obvious get overlooked because of the pressure of trying to beat the clock. Eventually, being trapped for fun begins to feel like being stuck in a no-win situation. We feel stuck and don't know what to do, and the temptation is to give up before time runs out. April and I have decided that maybe escape rooms really aren’t our thing to do together. Apparently, it isn’t very fun to feel trapped (even when we can be let out at any time!).

Have you ever felt trapped? I don’t mean that you signed up for an escape room, and I certainly hope you’ve never been in a predicament where you were physically stuck somewhere! I’m thinking about those times when you feel stuck or trapped in life. Maybe you feel trapped in your job or career? Or maybe you feel stuck in a boring routine or rut? Maybe you feel captive to a bad habit? Maybe you’re fighting against some vice that seems to keep pulling you back in? I think many of us, if we’re honest, have things that make us feel trapped or struggles that we just can’t seem to escape. Unfortunately, we live in a world broken by sin where evil is still very real. Even Christ-followers continue to struggle against sin and the forces of evil in this life. Have you had some struggles?

This Sunday, as we continue forward in our study of Luke 8, we come to the other side of the Sea of Galilee. Almost as soon as Jesus and the disciples get out of the boat, they come face to face with a man who knows bo***ge on a level most of us could hardly imagine. He is demon-possessed and completely captive to the forces of evil. But then Jesus steps onto the shore. As we go through the passage, we will see that the powers holding this man captive are no match for the power and authority of Jesus. Jesus sets him free, restores his broken life, and then sends him out to tell others what God has done for him. It’s a powerful picture of the grace of Jesus: He has the power to break bo***ge, restore what sin and evil have broken, and transform lives. And those who have experienced His grace are called to take that Good News to others. Has Jesus changed you and set you free? Are you sharing what He has done for you? We’d love for you to join us on Sunday. Everyone is welcome!

You are loved. You are valued. I hope you have a wonderful Labor Day Weekend!

Blessings,
Pastor Jonathan

08/30/2026

We would love for you to join us on this last Sunday of August as we worship our Lord and Savior! Everyone is welcome. We hope to see you in-person or online at 10:45!

10:45 AM Sunday Morning Service,August 30, 2026. If you are not ...

08/27/2026

It is no secret that I am a baseball fan! And I’ve not lost my Ohio roots: the Cleveland Guardians are my favorite team. I know we’re in the waning days of summer and people are thinking of all the fall activities, but I am still thinking about baseball season. If you're a sports fan, you may remember hearing about one of the strangest Opening Days in Major League history. On April 6, 2007, Cleveland opened their home schedule against Seattle. There was just one problem: apparently nobody told the weather that baseball season had started, and it was supposed to be moving toward spring and summer! During the game, snow began falling and kept falling. By the fifth inning, Cleveland was leading 4–0 and was only one out away from making the game official. But the snow became so heavy that players could barely see the baseball, so the game went into a snow delay! Fans started building snowmen in the stands. One fan even ran onto the field and made a snow angel. Eventually, they gave up. The game was postponed. In fact, the weather was so bad that Cleveland eventually had to move its next series all the way to Milwaukee and their roofed stadium just to find somewhere they could play baseball.

That's the fickle nature of weather: you can put Opening Day on the calendar, prepare the field, sell tickets, and make all the plans you want, but you can't control the weather. You can plan a church lake day but have rainy downpours on and off all day. The best-made plans can easily fail. And that's a pretty good picture of life. We like to plan. We would like to know what's coming. We like to feel as though everything is under control. Until suddenly it isn't. We often must adjust and roll with what life throws at us. Have you ever found yourself in a difficult situation where you just have to say, “It’s fine; it’ll all be fine”?

When we look throughout Scripture, it is obvious that because of sin, people deal with difficult and unplanned situations in life. Trials and tribulations are a reality in this broken world. That’s why we see the Psalmist refer to God as our fortress or strong tower where we can run for help and protection. Jesus told His disciples that in this world we are going to deal with hard things, but we can take heart because He has overcome the world. And one day Jesus is going to come back and make all things new! There will one day be no more pain, tears, heartache, burdens, or struggles. Do you believe that and look forward to it?

This Sunday, we will be back in Luke 8, where we find Jesus and the disciples on a boat. And this isn’t just a nice, relaxing boat trip on the Sea of Galilee on a Sunday afternoon! As they are in the boat, a massive storm arises. It was unexpected; the disciples did not prepare for this, and Jesus was asleep in the boat! How would you have felt or responded? I think most of us would have responded like the disciples: scared, stressed, confused, and uncertain. But they do make one of the best decisions they could make: they go to Jesus during the storm. They turn to Jesus for His help and aid. In the literal storm they were facing, Jesus was their only hope. And what happens next reveals that Jesus is far greater than the storm raging around them.

Do we look to Jesus as our source of hope in the struggles and trials of life? We can trust Jesus in the trials of life because of His power and presence. Do we believe that? I hope you’ll make plans to join us on Sunday morning as we unpack this passage. Everyone is welcome!

Have a wonderful last weekend in August. You are loved. You are valued. See you on Sunday!

Blessings,
Pastor Jonathan

08/23/2026

We are excited to worship our Lord and Savior this morning! We'd love for your to join us in-person or online at 10:45. Everyone is welcome!

10:45 AM Sunday Morning Service,August 23, 2026. If you are not ...

08/20/2026

It is good for spouses to go out on a “date,” even if it is just to get food. It is an opportunity for a couple to spend time together, talk, and catch up on life during the busyness of the week without the normal distractions of kids, pets, or other issues at home. There was a husband and wife who were out for dinner at their favorite restaurant. The wife was excited because she had lots of news to share! They ordered their food and were sitting across from each other while waiting for it to arrive, and the wife started talking. A few minutes into the conversation, she noticed her husband appeared focused on something in the distance. She tried to ignore his rudeness, but eventually she grabbed his hands to get his attention and said, “You know, sometimes I feel like you don’t really listen to me. I’ll be talking to you, and it just seems like you’re not paying attention to anything I’m saying.” Her husband looked away from whatever had captured his attention and responded, “Huh?” His one-word answer proved her point!

Can you relate to this? You’ve probably either responded this way or been on the receiving end of this type of response. We all have had times when we are supposedly in a conversation with someone, but our phone goes off and we can’t help but look at the screen. Or we’ve seen this with kids when they’re told to clean their room or put away their toys. “Go clean” can be repeated three times without being heard but quietly mention “ice cream” from two rooms away and suddenly their hearing is perfect!

There is a difference between hearing and listening. Many of us are good at hearing things: songs, sermons, conversations, or the news. Hearing simply means the words reached our ears. Listening means we received what was said and allowed it to affect us. It means letting words be more than passing bits of information and instead allowing them to become truths, instructions, or insights that can be helpful and useful in our lives. So, are you a hearer or a listener? This distinction matters in day-to-day life at work, at school, in our relationships, and especially when we come to God’s Word. Scripture is clear that God’s Word is a lamp to our feet and a light to our path. The Bible is God’s written Word that helps us learn more about who God is and what He has done for us through Jesus’ love and grace. But how often do we “hear” God’s Word on a Sunday, or on the radio, or through our Bible app—but do not really “listen” to it? Do we listen to God’s Word and let it take root in our lives so that we reflect Jesus in our world? Do we live out God’s Word in a world that needs God’s truth, hope, and love?

As we jump into Luke 8 this week, we’ll see one of Jesus’ most well-known parables about sowing seeds, followed by a shorter parable about an oil lamp. As we walk through Luke 8:1–21, we'll consider a simple but important question: How do we truly hear God's Word? It is my prayer that we'll discover that truly hearing God's Word means more than simply listening to a sermon or reading our Bibles. God's Word is meant to take root in our hearts, shine through our lives, and produce the fruit of faithful obedience. I hope you’ll make plans to join us. Everyone is welcome!

You are loved. You are valued. I hope you have a wonderful August weekend!

Blessings,
Pastor Jonathan

08/16/2026

We are looking forward to having Alan Mackey opening up God's Word with us this morning. We'd love to have you join us in-person or online. Everyone is welcome!

10:45 AM Sunday Morning Service,August 16, 2026. If you are not ...

08/13/2026

How often do we overlook or miss out on greatness?

Josh Gibson was a baseball catcher and spectacular power hitter that most people have never heard of because he primarily played in the Negro Leagues during his career. For years, he was known as “The Black Babe Ruth”—though a more fitting comparison might have been to call Babe Ruth “the White Josh Gibson.” Unofficial statistics record that Gibson hit somewhere between 800 and 1,000 career home runs. Babe Ruth hit 714. Gibson finished with a lifetime batting average nearly 20 points higher than Babe Ruth's. The most home runs Babe Ruth hit in a season was 60. Gibson hit 69 in one season. And he compiled these remarkable statistics while playing the final four years of his life with a brain tumor, which sadly led to his death at age 35. Babe Ruth retired at age 40.

Josh never got a shot to play in the major leagues because of the “gentlemen’s agreement” that banned him and his fellow Black ballplayers. Eventually, Josh became the second player from the Negro Leagues to be inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame. Then, in 2024, Major League Baseball officially incorporated Negro League statistics into its historical records, making Josh Gibson the all-time leader in batting average and slugging percentage, though MLB has not officially recognized his estimated career home run totals. He is one of the greatest players to ever play the game, yet for many people he remains largely unknown because we often become so familiar with the names we already know that truly great people can be overlooked or forgotten.

Sadly, we can do the very same thing with God. When it comes to our lives, how often do we overlook the greatness of our God? How often do we become so familiar with the truth that God is the Creator and Sustainer of all things that we lose our sense of awe? How often have we heard that God the Father sent His One and Only Son to die for our sins that we no longer cherish His love and grace as we should? Do we still stand in awe of who God is? Do we thank our good and great God for all He has done, and all He continues to do, in our lives?

This Sunday, we are honored to welcome Alan Mackey back to our pulpit. Alan will be speaking on the greatness of God from 1 Peter. I hope you'll make plans to join us on Sunday morning. I believe you will be challenged and encouraged by what Alan shares from God's Word. Everyone is welcome!

You are loved. You are valued. I pray you have a wonderful weekend!

Blessings,
Pastor Jonathan

08/09/2026

We would love for you to worship with us this morning in-person or online at 10:45. Everyone is welcome!

10:45 AM Sunday Morning Service,August 9, 2026. If you are not c...

08/07/2026

One day, there was a police officer who made a traffic stop and pulled over a silver SUV. When the officer approached the driver and asked for his license and registration, the driver, looking confused, asked, "What's wrong, officer? I didn't run any red lights, and I certainly wasn't speeding." "No," the officer replied, "you weren't. But I watched you wave your fist as you swerved around the lady driving in the left lane. Then I saw your flushed, angry face as you shouted at the driver of the Hummer who cut you off. Then I watched you pound your steering wheel when traffic came to a stop near the bridge." The driver asked, "Is that a crime, officer?" "No," the officer smiled, "but when I saw the bumper sticker that said, 'Jesus loves you and so do I,' I figured the car had to be stolen."

The story is humorous because I'm sure we've all experienced moments of frustration while driving, right? It happens to all of us from time to time. But the story does raise a sobering question: Does our life reflect the One we claim to follow? When people interact with us, do they see evidence that Jesus has changed us? Do they experience His love, grace, patience, and forgiveness through us?

Throughout Scripture, it is very clear that those who truly encountered God's grace were never the same. Peter, the one-time denier of Jesus, experienced His profound forgiveness and then boldly proclaimed Him. Paul went from persecuting Christians to planting churches across the Roman world. John, once known as a "Son of Thunder," became known as the apostle of love. None of them were transformed because they were naturally better people or because they somehow earned God's favor. They were transformed because they recognized both the depth of their sin and the greatness of God's grace.

The same is true for us. When we honestly admit our need for Jesus and receive His gracious forgiveness, our lives begin to change from the inside out. Gratitude replaces pride. Love replaces self-centeredness. Forgiven people become people who love.

This Sunday, we'll continue our Jesus for Everyone series in Luke as we come to Luke 7:36–50. We'll walk through Jesus' encounter with Simon the Pharisee and a woman whom Luke simply describes as "a sinner." Yet, as we'll see, Jesus transforms her life. Together, we'll discover how we should receive and respond to Jesus' forgiveness. I hope you'll join us this Sunday as we worship together and continue seeing how Jesus changes lives through His amazing grace. Everyone is welcome!

You are loved. You are valued. I hope you have a wonderful weekend!

Blessings,
Pastor Jonathan