Watch/Listen
Topic: Transformation
The Insane Importance of Prayer
Is prayer really that important? Does it really play a purpose in the grand scheme of things? If we believe the Scriptures to be true, it seems that prayer is “insanely” important – so much that we are to pray with “shameless audacity.” Some get bogged down with the idea of prayer because they see it as a religious ritual that is too complex and difficult to do in our regular lives. Yet the reality is that prayer is basically talking with God in an ordinary way about our ordinary lives. Read More
Can God Trust You?
Every day we confront choices that reflect and form our character. Will we live for ourselves, or for the Kingdom? God wants us to be trustworthy for Kingdom service and it’s true that he tests us to refine our character, but he doesn’t tempt anyone. If that’s true, why does Jesus teach us to pray, “lead us not into temptation?” Read More
My Life as a Vampire
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. Read More
Ready to Receive
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. Read More
When God Reigns
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. Read More
The Jesus Legend
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. Read More
A Different Kind of New
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. Read More
The Kingdom is a Really Messy Party
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. Read More
Life is not JUST a Test
All humanity faces temptation. Part of being completely human is to deal with times of strong temptations. Jesus was fully man and fully God, therefore, His humanity allowed Him to face these temptations and to overcome them with the same tools He has given us-God’s word. Jesus was “led into the desert by the Spirit”, but once there he found that part of this wilderness experience was to be a time of testing and temptation for Him. Read More
The Beauty God Has Begun
This weekend concludes our six-week series entitled “Experiencing the Beautiful Life.” Over the course of the last few weeks we as a church have to begun to discover the deep yearnings we all have for more meaning and purpose in life. We have started to seek out a new way of doing life that connects us more deeply with God and with others. As we conclude the series, we look to God to continue the good work and bring about its lasting completion. Read More
