If it's ever been hard for you to "keep the faith", you are not alone. All Christ followers reach their faith limit from time to time - the question is how do we exercise our faith in such a way that those limits aren't pressed so easily or so much? In the story of the centurion and his dying slave we discover we find the answers to having a "greater faith... than all of Israel".
What might we do if we were commissioned to create a bionic Christian? I know theres no such thing, but all who follow Christ should be seeking His very best in doing so to be better, stronger, and faster in doing the right things. In this teaching, Jesus gives us new eyes, a good heart, and firm feet.
Jesus must have made peoples brains explode when he talked to them. In this teaching on love, He takes our understanding of it way past its earthly standards and all the way into crazy territory. Jesus tells us to love our enemies, to do good to them, to speak well of them, and to even pray for them. This is one very crazy love.
If you trust that your "sin struggle" is always going to win, Romans 6 has some great news for you! In this text, Paul reveals a great truth that points to victory and life!
Everyone loves a rags to riches story, a tale of success created by someones grit and determination to make it in this world. Most of us think that if we just had more financial security, we would be fulfilled. But Jesus preaches something different He upholds the riches to rags story as our only means to fulfillment. Join us as we uncover this road to fulfillment, as road that leads us into poverty, hunger, weeping and rejection its way better than you think.
Unfortunately, we often live our lives without a plan for the road that’s ahead. In fact, if we honestly consider it, some of us will realize that we're on the wrong road altogether. Others may feel like they're traveling the right road but feel distracted from what's really important. In this message, we take a lesson from the road that Saul travelled, so that we can truly understand what God wants for us.
The story of Ruth is the story of Gods redmeption in her life and ours. This teaching takes us deeper in our understanding of just how great Gods redemption is.
To redeem something means to restore the honor, worth or reputation of something. You exchange the old reality for a new reality. Redemption may be freely offered and freely received, but it costs dearly. When we have experienced redemption, what is our response?
In almost every difficult circumstance, one will have difficult choices to make, choices that will require us to take risks that will stretch us beyond our comfort zones. It's in these choices that faith in Christ takes shape and is deepened - we need only to trust His directrion and follow where He leads. In this teaching, we witness the risks of Ruth and how God provides for her in her troubled times.
God is our "Jehovah Jirah", our provider whose grace is truly sufficient for all we need - He is constantly giving of Himself to all mankind. Most people don't recognize His goodness, but for those who do there are choices as to how we receive from Him. Our only reasonable response to His goodness is humble, flat on our face gratitude. That's what this teaching is all about.
Fred Stubbs should have probably died the night of his horrific motorcycle accident. A helicopter transported him to the hospital, and there he began a 4 month journey that would teach him and all who love him how God comes through for those of us in troubled times. Enjoy his story as he and his precious wife Ilene give glory to God for His provision in troubled times.
Luck is not something that Christ followers count on or believe in. We're not much for coincidences either - God's providence is behind the events of our lives, and our hope is to trust Him in the bad times and praise Him in the good (and bad, for that matter). In Ruth 2, we learn how to handle a troubled time and how to help someone else through theirs.
We have become the most socially isolated generation of all time. As a result, we have moved from being a front porch society to being a garage door society! As we explore Ecclesiastes 4:9-12, we will see the importance of why we should be connected with other people!
As human beings, we all have the innate desire inside of us to achieve success or greatness in this lifetime. So we work really hard at our jobs. And we try to make a lot of money. And we pray that our kids get really good grades and have alot of friends. And we tell ourselves, that if we can accomplish these things, then we will be considered successful or great in this life. However, when looking at the Scriptures, we can quickly discover that God's idea of success or greatness doesn't have...
Christmas is rife with traditions, some of them a bit odder than others (live trees inside, hanging up more lights outside, etc.). Every year we look forward to observing these traditions, but then every year we pack all of the trimmings away and get on with life. Is this really all that Christmas is meant to be? The answer, of course, is no Christmas is the pivotal moment in history that ushers in peace between Man and His Creator. In this teaching, well reveal the revelers who first heard of...
When it comes to the person of Christ, everyone (and I mean everyone) forms an opinion. Classic literature has narrowed the categories to Jesus being a liar, a lunatic, or Lord. But even for those who see Him as Lord, there is still yet one more choice to be made will I sit back and in disbelief criticize the work of Christ around me, or will I in obedient faith do all I can to bring others to Him? In the story of the friends and the paralytic, we see both sides on display which side are you on...
What does a sick person do with his sickness? He seeks a cure, looking to an expert for help (we call them physicians). What does a person who is spiritually sick do? Well, lots of things usually - self medication, self hypnosis, home remedies - but none of these actually work. In this teaching, we meet a sick man who gets his cure and learn what we can do to find ours.
In everything from classic literature to modern television, a central theme demanding our attention in story telling pervades – good vs. evil. Whether it’s Luke battling Darth Vader, the Spartans vs. the Persian hordes, or Snoopy vs. the Red Baron, we intuitively connect to the struggle found between good and evil. Know why? It all traces back to the Garden of Eden, where evil triumphed over the good in mankind and ushered sin into the world. But there’s good news for those embroiled in...
Three Questions: Ever had someone tell you they had good news and bad news to tell you? Did they give you a choice of which one you wanted to hear first? Which one do you typically choose first? When Jesus Christ started his earthly ministry, he preached "good news" that sounded like "bad news" to some. In this teaching, we seek to understand what the "Good News" is all about.
I remember as a kid getting in trouble (too often) and using the same excuse for my behavior again and again - "The devil made me do it". While my excuse wasn't completely right (the devil can't make us do anything), it does point to this truth - our adversary is tireless in his efforts to pull us away from God's very best for our lives. How did Jesus persevere when He was tempted to do evil? We have much to learn from Him, so let's get started.
God has called all of us to go and make disciples of all the nations. For some reason many Christ followers lose sight of this call and never really live motivated by this command. Maybe all along we have never had the right motivation. In this message we are going to see what our true motivation should be to go to the nations.
As Christ followers, our heart should reflect His heart. So what is God's heart for the poor? Join us for a journey through the Old and New Testament to see how our heart should reflect Christ's heart for the poor.
What breaks your heart? Disappointments are a part of life that we all face, but as we launch this new series, we want to turn our attention to the things that break God's heart. Join us on this important journey to a deeper awareness of God's heart for people.
When Jesus established the first church through His disciples, He was really reforming a family that had long been separated. As brothers and sisters in the family of God through faith in Jesus we have a unique opportunity to impact each other and the world. This teaching seeks to unveil how a church family should function, what role Jesus plays in our family, and what might inhibit the growth of our family as we seek to serve Christ.
If we have chosen to follow Christ, we have joined another family – the one where we are united as brothers and sisters in Christ (otherwise known as the church). God has high hopes for His children, and in this message we begin to unpack what those things entail. God has a central hope for all of us in the family – for us to be generous in our dealing with each other. This message peels back the curtain on some of our habits as a church when it comes to giving and addresses what we must do...
Pretty much everyone in the world has been or still is somebody else’s kid. How does God expect children to treat their parents? The Bible asks us to obey our parents, and for most kids this is “priority one” as they seek to navigate a world that can trip them up at every turn. The Bible also requires children of all ages to honor their parents so that it may go well with them in all of life. Figuring these things out is not always easy, but in the end it is always best. If you are a kid,...
With marriage covered, we can turn our attention to the parent/child relationship – what does God hope for and expect from parents who seek to honor Him as they raise their children? This message seeks to answer that question in practical terms.
Submission – the very sound of the word sends chills up the spines of many a wife in our world today. What these ladies fail to understand is that without submission from both marital partners, a marriage fails. This teaching seeks to make it safe to submit again – first to God, and then to one’s husband.
Marriage has turned into a coin flip. Statistics say that half of all marriages end, with little to no respect for race, creed, financial standing or even faith standing. Is this what God had in mind when he created marriage? Starting with the husbands, we unpack God’s design for marriage – it’s a relationship where two people join together in a commitment to put the God first and the other second. Husbands must die to themselves so that their wives can become all that they can be.
The family was and is God’s idea, and He has great hopes for yours! In this first part of our series, “The Best Family Ever”, we uncover the truth behind the problems that visit every family and how God has paved a way for us to leave them behind. It’s all about building on the right foundation…
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