The Outsider's Kingdom01/07/07
The Holistic Kingdom01/14/07
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Speaker – Greg Boyd
- Topics – Joy, Covenant, Imagination
- Jesus' ministry did not just focus on one aspect of human existence (ie. the need for forgiveness). It was holistic, ministering also to the physical, social and relational needs of the people he came in contact with. As followers of Christ, we are also called to live a life that reflects this love.
Holding on for the Blessing01/21/07
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Speaker – Brenda Salter-McNeil
- Topics – Leadership, Creation Care
- The terms "blessing" and "blessed" are spoken of in many different church settings. However, there seem to be many differences of opinion on what the concept actually means. One thing that appears to occur across the board is that we do not usually think about pain and suffering in connection with blessing.
Kingdom Healing01/28/07
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Speaker – Greg Boyd
- Topics – Healing, Kingdom of God, Blessings
- The Good News Jesus came to proclaim to humanity was for all people and for all areas of our lives. He came to heal and set free the poor, the oppressed, the blind, the captives and prisoners of judgment. Jesus applied Kingdom liberation to every form of oppression. Jesus sets a pattern of speaking the truth in love and then following through with action. He does not just talk about the Kingdom. He acts upon it.
I Dream of Genie-Jesus02/04/07
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Speaker – Greg Boyd
- Topics – Communion, Identity in Christ, Prayer
- As Christians we can sometimes lose sight of our true identity in Christ and become distracted by our lives, our interests, and our worries. We can begin to feel that God is a convenient “genie” who can fix what goes wrong in our lives or to bless our plans and ambitions. However, the truth of living in the Kingdom of God is that only when we give up our agendas and our ambitions can we actually begin to understand how we fit into what God is already doing. God does not fit into our plans; instead we are invited into His.
Fishing with Jesus02/11/07
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Speaker – Greg Boyd
- Topics – Forgiveness, Repentance, Humility
- Jesus desires to be a part of every area in our lives. Following God is not a spiritual exercise or ritual that is relegated only to church. Rather, it is a relationship that consists of giving to God everything about us, and being obedient to God’s calling and direction in our lives.
Praying the Leper's Prayer02/18/07
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Speaker – Sandra Unger
- Topics – Healing, Judgment, Relationships
- Lepers in Jesus’ day were considered to be completely “untouchable” by mainstream society. They were excluded from the company of other “healthy people” and were forced to live alone or in leprous communities. Jesus, however, had no such limitations. When the leprous man came to Him to be healed, Jesus reached out to the man, touched him and made him well. In doing this, Jesus shows us how we are to minister to others.
A Community of Healers02/25/07
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Speaker – Annie Perdue-Olson
- Topics – Community, Faith, Healing
- There are a number of popular songs that mention the importance and need for a caring community. Songs like "Stand by Me" or "You've Got a Friend” mention relying upon each other in a time of need. They also demonstrate how good things can happen to individuals who "get a little help from their friends." In the Luke 5:17-26 passage, we see an account of Jesus healing someone, and a clear example of a caring community that desired to help bring healing and wholeness to their friend.
The Kingdom is a Really Messy Party03/04/07
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Speaker – Greg Boyd
- Topics – Identity in Christ, Kingdom of God, Transformation
- Messiness often bothers people. Life is messy, and many things are ambiguous or undefined. There are no clear categories into which certain events can be placed. It can be too chaotic, and unsettling for some to endure. Because of this dislike of messiness, it is pretty understandable how we would like to make things clean and unambiguous as we can...including our relationship with God and His Kingdom. We learn from Jesus' ministry, however, that God's Kingdom is not as clean-and-nice as we might like for it to be.
A Different Kind of New03/11/07
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Speaker – Scott Boren
- Topics – Identity in Christ, Kingdom of God, Transformation
- To say that Jesus was a radical, "thinking-outside-of-the-box" person may well be the understatement of understatements! In living out his call as God's Messiah, he went against a lot of the expectations and categories of his Jewish contemporaries, especially the religious leaders. It appeared that everywhere he went he was turning social convention on its head with his Holy Spirit-empowered deep wisdom and amazing love. Jesus' incredibly loving, accepting behavior towards social outcasts and "sinners" made him the constant target of attention, scorn, and many questions from people.
Sabbath People03/18/07
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Speaker – Seth McCoy
- Topics – Discipleship, Forgiveness, Justice
- The Lord Jesus was truly a Master Teacher to his disciples. Using his unique wisdom in the midst of tense and controversial situations brought on by the Pharisees, he was able to teach people deep truths about God...even without them knowing it. In Luke 6:1-5, we have an account where Jesus is doing just this very thing. Jesus and his disciples were being confronted by some of the Pharisaic religious leaders for picking grain on a Sabbath day, a religious offense that warranted serious punishment. He responded to them by mentioning how King David once did the same thing. Jesus further went on to say that he was, in fact, the Lord of the Sabbath.
Principles and Rules03/25/07
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Speaker – Greg Boyd
- Topics – Justice, Faithfulness
- Jesus has historically been seen as a powerful presence who bravely challenged the religious inconsistency and subtle oppression of his day. He sometimes broke serious religious rules that made some deeply question his actions. Some believed him to be just a troublemaker who had a disregard for God's rules for living. In reality, Jesus the Messiah was expanding the view of what God's life rules were really about.
The Twelve04/01/07
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Speaker – Greg Boyd
- Topics – Controversial Issues, Discipleship, Faithfulness
- Jesus of Nazareth started a movement the likes of which the world has never seen. The Kingdom of God that was lived out in Jesus’ life and ministry has touched millions of people all over the world. What’s impressive is that Jesus began with just 12 chosen people.
The Jesus Legend04/08/07
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Speaker – Greg Boyd
- Topics – Defense of Christian Faith, Resurrection, Transformation
- During this beautiful Easter season, the most important question arises: Did Jesus really rise from the dead? The Christian faith and all its transformative power depends upon the truth of Jesus’ resurrection. Greg shared the top 5 arguments about believing in Jesus' resurrection along with some responses.
Blessings to the Messy04/15/07
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Speaker – Greg Boyd
- Topics – Kingdom of God, Blessings, Humility
- This weekend, we started our 6 week church-wide adventure entitled “The Beautiful Mess." The title may seem a little different, but it's very representative of how the Kingdom of God interacts with our lives. When a new way of living begins to reveal itself, it can bring beauty into our "normal" messes of life by actually "messing up" our so-called ordinary ways of thinking. It is just this idea that grounds Jesus' "Sermon on the Plain". With this Sermon, Jesus not only presented the very blueprint of Kingdom life, but he also did so by telling shocking truths that seemed somewhat upside-down from what may have been thought of as "normal" living.
Unexpected Enemies04/22/07
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Speaker – Scott Boren
- Topics – Faith, Love, Conflict
- To follow Christ is to live a life of love. Love is at the center of Jesus’ message and is the central teaching given in the Sermon on the Plain. To love like Christ is to love even when it is not deserved or expected. It is a radical love that calls us to love our enemies. The call to love also includes loving those who are close to us, even when it’s messy.
A Gracious Mess04/29/07
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Speaker – Annie Perdue-Olson
- Topics – Community, Forgiveness, Grace
- Judgment of other people is a vicious cycle that destroys human relationships. Only God has the wisdom, power and ability to be an accurate judge of a person's life and character. Instead of creating self-centered little kingdoms for ourselves, we can follow the path of Jesus by living in perfect love.
Leadership with a Limp05/06/07
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Speaker – Greg Boyd
- Topics – Identity in Christ, Leadership, Humility
- A "bottom feeder" is a type of fish that eats just about anything it finds at the bottom of a body of water. Greg uses this term to represent a way of living where a person attempts to get life from things outside of themselves. Even church leaders can fall into a religious type of "bottom feeding" where they get life from the people they serve. In Luke 6:39-42, Jesus talks about just this type of thing when he speaks about the blindness and hypocrisy of some of the religious leaders. Greg describes an alternative to "bottom feeding"--"leading with a limp", where we humbly take our own weaknesses into account as we lead others.
Beautiful Conflict05/13/07
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Speaker – Greg Boyd
- Topics – Community, Relationships, Conflict
- Personal relationships are central to our lives. They have the power to give us beauty and meaning. At the same time, there is also plenty of opportunity for misunderstanding and conflict. Because of the risky nature of relationships, it's very important that we understand the nature of how we communicate so that we can continue growing into Kingdom ways of relating to one another.
Heart Reflections05/20/07
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Speaker – Seth McCoy
- Topics – Discipleship, Identity in Christ, Faithfulness
- Just like a tree reveals either good or bad fruit, our lives reveal to others who we truly are. As followers of Christ, we are called to live a life that reveals the beauty of God. We learn from Jesus that true beauty and change only comes from the inside-out. As our hearts are turned and transformed in Christ, our words and actions bring forth beauty.
Doing the Teachings of Jesus05/27/07
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Speaker – Greg Boyd
- Topics – Discipleship, Kingdom of God, Faithfulness
- Sound, wise teaching has no real effect in our lives if the teaching is not put into active, continuous practice. As we have seen throughout the “Sermon on the Plain” in Luke 6, Jesus lays out the demands and blessings of living as a disciple in the Kingdom of God. Jesus concludes his teaching with a challenge to his followers to embody his teachings and put them into living action.
When God Reigns06/03/07
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Speaker – Greg Boyd
- Topics – Faith, Transformation, Faithfulness
- When we live inside God's "Reign", we are basically making the decision to agree with God's truth about reality in every area of our lives. This means that we define the development of our lives only around whatever God says about things like relationships, money, work, and recreation. Living in God's Reign assures a person that, as they grow spiritually, they are actively making Jesus the Lord of their lives.
The Compassion That Heals06/10/07
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Speaker – Greg Boyd
- Topics – Controversial Issues, Healing, Pain & Suffering
- God chooses to engage us in all of our pain, division, and confusion to help us be healed. In Luke 7:11-17, Jesus demonstrates both the miraculous power and loving heart of God as he brings a widow's only son back from the dead. Just like Jesus had tremendous compassion on the widow, we can also seek to show God's compassion to help bring healing to others.
Yes, I Reign!06/17/07
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Speaker – Terrance Rollerson
- Topics – Faith, Identity in Christ, Kingdom of God
- In living a life of faith, it’s very important to allow Jesus to define how we see our life experiences. There are often moments in life when things do not turn out the way that we plan them to, or the way that we think things "should be." And it's in these moments, that we have to look at the work of Jesus in our everyday lives, and trust that God is indeed present and bringing forth his Kingdom in and through us.
Extravagant Forgiveness, Extravagant Love06/24/07
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Speaker – Greg Boyd
- Topics – Forgiveness, Kingdom of God, Love
- When we look at the fallen world around us, we often see division, separation, and seclusion. Whether it’s separation by family, country, ethnicity, religion, there is a tendency to sort ourselves into people groups by what we like or do not like. Though this may be natural in this world, it is completely opposite of what the Kingdom of God is about. Jesus came and demonstrated a radical willingness to associate with people of all walks of life with the love of God.
Ready to Receive07/01/07
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Speaker – Scott Boren
- Topics – Salvation, Transformation, Blessings
- There were many people following Jesus in the first century. They heard his preaching, observed his actions of love to the outcasts, and even witnessed his miracles. However, Jesus did not fit people’s expectations of how a Messiah should act. He did not conform to preciously established paradigms shaped by the culture of the time. These cultural blinders impacted people’s ability to receive what Jesus was saying.
My Life as a Vampire07/08/07
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Speaker – Greg Boyd
- Topics – Hope, Identity in Christ, Transformation
- What is the difference between a vampire and Jesus? This may sound like a rather odd question to ask, but you may be surprised at the profound difference between the two. A vampire is known for two things: it loves to dwell in darkness and feeds off of people. Jesus is known for two things: he lives in light and sacrificially gives of himself in love for all.
A War-Torn Creation07/15/07
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Speaker – Greg Boyd
- Topics – Creation, Pain & Suffering, Spiritual Warfare
- We live in a war-torn world of pain, hurt, violence and death. This is not how God intended creation to look. The Good News is God has sent his Son, Jesus, to defeat the powers of death, and to begin reconciling and redeeming the world unto God. When Jesus rebukes the storm mentioned in Luke 8:22-26, he is giving us a foretaste of the ultimate victory and restoration that is to come.
Lessons on the Battlefield07/22/07
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Speaker – Greg Boyd
- Topics – Problem of Evil, Spiritual Warfare, Presence of God
- Spiritual warfare is a present reality in our war-torn world. There are principalities and powers, often unseen, which influence and distort what is true about God and His Creation. As followers of Christ, we do not need to fear these things. Rather, we are called to live in the truth of who we are in Christ, being filled with God’s Spirit and power, to come against and resist the strongholds and lies.
Spiritual Warfare Q&A07/29/07
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Speakers – Greg Boyd, Paul Eddy
- Topics – Pain & Suffering, Problem of Evil, Spiritual Warfare
- This last weekend concluded our sermon series on spiritual warfare, a topic that can be neglected or overly stressed in churches. As followers of Christ, it is important to recognize that there is a spiritual side to our world, in which principalities and powers are in opposition to the ways of God. In Christ, we can overcome and resist these influences both individually and collectively. To bring a biblically balanced approach to the topic, Greg Boyd (Senior Pastor) and Paul Eddy (Teaching Pastor) held a Q&A time to help answer questions from attenders. These audio files are a collection of all the questions and answers addressed during our three weekend services.
The Anti-"Inside-Outside" Revolution08/05/07
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Speaker – Greg Boyd
- Topics – Identity in Christ, Kingdom of God, Love
- The Kingdom of God is revealed in the life and ministry of Jesus Christ. This Kingdom is about love and reconciliation; through Christ, being reconciled to God and being reconciled to one another. In Christ, there are no longer walls that separate or exclude, rather we are all united by Christ’s love. When Jesus heals the unclean lady mentioned in Luke 8:40-59, he is showing that no one, no matter what distinction has been made, is left on the “outside” of his love.
The New Way of the New Israel08/12/07
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Speaker – Greg Boyd
- Topics – Community, Discipleship, Kingdom of God
- Up to this point in the story of Jesus, Jesus was the one who displayed the power of the Kingdom of God. At this point, Jesus charges the 12 disciples to do what he had been doing. The program given to the disciples follows a simple pattern: Do the Kingdom > Then Proclaim the Kingdom.
Caring, Sharing and Multiplication08/19/07
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Speaker – Greg Boyd
- As Kingdom of God people, we are called to care and share with others. When Jesus commands his disciples to feed the crowd with only five loaves and two fishes in Luke 9:10-17, he is showing them that nothing is impossible with God, as everyone was fed and there were leftovers remaining. Our call is to trust and listen to how God would use us. No matter how much or little we have, God can use our faithfulness to abundantly bless others!
The Shock God08/26/07
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Speaker – Greg Boyd
- God is an awesome and powerful God! He reveals his power not by control or force, but through love and sacrifice. God so loved the world that he sent his Son, Jesus, into the world, not to condemn it but to transform it, ultimately laying down his life for all on the cross. This kind of power and love was shocking then, and it is still shocking to our world today.
A New Kind of Glory09/02/07
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Speaker – Greg Boyd
- Jesus is both fully human and fully God. He is the beginning and fulfillment of God’s covenant with humanity. In Christ, God’s love and glory was revealed as he came and dwelt among us, serving, and ultimately suffering and dying to give us forgiveness and hope. It is the most amazing revelation in history!
Dancing with God09/09/07
Entering Into His Presence09/16/07
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Speaker – Greg Boyd
- To worship God is to reflect back to God how much he is worth to us. Our lives are an act of worship, including special times where we individually and corporately worship God. As we participate in worshipping the source of all life, love and beauty, we in turn are changed and transformed.
The Diversity of Worship and Praise09/23/07
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Speaker – Greg Boyd
- God delights in the praises of His people. The manner in which we worship is not important. God is only concerned with our hearts and desire to worship. There are many ways to express our love for God through praise and worship, and it is in this diversity that we see the full beauty of our God.
The Inner Sanctum09/30/07
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Speaker – Greg Boyd
- What we know to be true often doesn't change us profoundly, but our experiences always leave a lasting impact. Each of us has a place within where we can meet the Lord during worship. When we practice the habit of vividly picturing Jesus during prayer and worship, this experience allows us to take on his glory and we're transformed more and more into his likeness.
Power vs. Presence10/07/07
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Speaker – Sandra Unger
- Greatness in the Kingdom of God is never measured like it is in our Western culture. Instead of seeking power and control the way our society does, Jesus taught that "...whoever is least among you all is the greatest." This has tremendous ramifications for how we minister to the people around us, and tells us a great deal about how God wants us to help spread his Kingdom.
A Call to Stand Out10/14/07
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Speaker – Greg Boyd
- In this first sermon of the Revolting Beauty series, we learn two aspects of how we are to stand out and revolt against our culture. First, no matter how "together" our lives are, God wants us to be part of what he is doing in the world. Second, allegiance to the Kingdom of God means that we may have to give up things that are good and normal in our culture. We need to consider even our most firmly rooted values: life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.
A Giant Jesus10/21/07
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Speaker – Annie Perdue-Olson
- Like Jesus' first disciples, we will be constantly confronted by anti-Kingdom values – in our case things like individualism, independence, and self-sufficiency. But Jesus' alternative Kingdom vision is very straightforward. As we reach out to the world around us, we're simply called to depend upon God and his community, enter into authentic relationships, act like Jesus, and then explain why.
A New Reality10/28/07
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Speaker – Greg Boyd
- Our modern, Western way of thinking can easily blind us to the reality of the spiritual world. We are called to revolt against this cultural tendency by waking up both to God’s constant presence in our lives and to the spiritual war around us. We also learn that Jesus has given his church authority over demonic powers in this world, and that no matter what we experience in this life, our hope and joy is rooted in the love of God!
The Relational Way11/04/07
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Speaker – Greg Boyd
- The Revolting Beauty series continues as we are brought face to face with the very heart of God and the center of the Kingdom: namely, Jesus' teaching on self-sacrificial love. In this sermon we learn about the four types of love, and the importance of living in such a way that God's agape-love flows to and through us. Finally, Greg helps us consider some of the areas in our culture that we will naturally "revolt" against if we are walking in the "relational way" of God's self-sacrificial love.
Surprised by the Outcast11/11/07
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Speaker – Greg Boyd
- Living in love for all people is one of the greatest challenges we face as Christians. Today, as in Jesus’ time, we often ask theoretical questions to justify ourselves and to limit who we love. In this message we’re challenged to ask how we self-sacrificially love and learn from those around us, including “outcasts” in our life. One crucial way to revolt against the systems of this world is to serve and be blessed by people who are judged by others.
A Better Way11/18/07
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Speaker – Greg Boyd
- Luke’s story of Mary and Martha is very relevant for our culture: like Martha, we are obsessed with working and producing, even in the church! It’s clear that Mary’s “better way” revolts against simply “doing” and prioritizes a relationship with Christ. When that’s in place, the kingdom will naturally flow from us. But the opposite is not true. We’ll never get a relationship with Jesus by focusing on what we do. Greg also ties this important lesson to marriages.
Downloads for this sermon
- MP3 Audio 5.87 MB
- High Quality MP3 23.5 MB
- MP4 Video 78.7 MB
- Windows Media Video 93.6 MB
Revolting Purity11/25/07
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Speaker – Greg Boyd
- God warns us to preserve sex for marriage, but why is it such a big deal? Our culture tells us that sex is recreational, but from God’s perspective whenever two people engage in sexual intercourse, they are sealing a sacred covenant that was meant to never be broken. God cares about our sex lives because he cares about the covenants we make with each other. As Kingdom people, we’re called to revolt against the corruption of our culture and be examples of his beautiful design for sexuality.
Downloads for this sermon
- MP3 Audio 6.02 MB
- High Quality MP3 24.0 MB
- MP4 Video 87.6 MB
- Windows Media Video 97.3 MB
Unleashing Inner Beauty12/02/07
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Speaker – Greg Boyd
- We are one-of-a-kind revolutionaries with inner greatness meant to glorify God. He has a unique calling for each of us – something that he’s given us special gifts and passion for – and we’ll never be truly fulfilled until we follow it! But too often our God-given beauty gets caged in culturally conditioned lies about why we can’t do the extraordinary things we’re meant to do. God is calling Kingdom people to unleash the beauty he’s built into each of us!
Downloads for this sermon
- MP3 Audio 5.61 MB
- High Quality MP3 22.4 MB
- MP4 Video 85.0 MB
- Windows Media Video 121.6 MB
A Birthday Prayer12/09/07
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Speaker – Greg Boyd
- It’s easy to both love and hate the Christmas season. On one hand, it’s a sacred time when we remember and celebrate Christ’s birth. But on the other, our culture has made it into a frenzy of consumerism and materialism. In the Lord’s Prayer we find all the basics of what it looks like to follow Jesus. What can we learn from this example that will help us keep our Kingdom priorities during the craziness of the Christmas season?
Downloads for this sermon
- MP3 Audio 5.07 MB
- High Quality MP3 20.2 MB
- MP4 Video 76.0 MB
- Windows Media Video 67.9 MB
Talking to Dad12/16/07
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Speaker – Greg Boyd
- Prayer is one of the most important aspects of our lives as Kingdom people. So why is it something we struggle with so much? Jesus used the Lord’s Prayer to teach his disciples when they asked him how they should pray. Perhaps surprisingly, his example is very different than the way many of us pray today. If we started from scratch, what kind of prayer life could we have if we followed this example from Jesus?
Downloads for this sermon
- MP3 Audio 5.81 MB
- High Quality MP3 23.2 MB
- MP4 Video 81.3 MB
- Windows Media Video 66.2 MB
The Coming of the Bridegroom12/23/07
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Speaker – Greg Boyd
- Christmas is a time of celebration and hope! The birth of Jesus celebrates the coming of the promised Messiah. God loved us so much that he gave the gift of His only Son, Jesus, to redeem and bring us back into relationship with Him. As we celebrate the coming of Jesus, we also expectantly await Christ’s return.
Downloads for this sermon
- MP3 Audio 4.6 MB
- High Quality MP3 8.3 MB
- MP4 Video 65.3 MB
- Windows Media Video 49.0 MB
The Great and Holy Smallness of God (Christmas Eve)12/24/07
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Speaker – Greg Boyd
- Christ's entrance into our world is both great and small. Jesus is the Son of God, a great and holy king. Yet he enters the world without much attention – in a small stable as a small child. Strangely, that "smallness" adds to his greatness. We ponder that "smallness" during our Christmas Eve service.
Displaying the Holy Name12/30/07
Downloads for this sermon
- MP3 Audio 4.71 MB
- High Quality MP3 18.8 MB
- MP4 Video 89.9 MB
- Windows Media Video 59.7 MB