Everyone dies, but no one talks about it. In our culture, we get uncomfortable with the idea that we will die, so we don’t prepare for it. Jesus taught us that death was an essential part of life and that the process of dying is a daily thing. This message looks at how this daily-death process helps us keep perspective and keep our heads on straight in a world gone mad.
01.16.22 - Pray
If we are honest with ourselves, there are a lot of reasons not to pray. Maybe we don't think we have the time, we feel distant from God, or we don't really see the point. In this week's message, we talked about what prayer actually CAN do and how to take our prayers to the next level.
01.09.22 - Read
Has the world gone crazy? That’s probably a question we’ve all said out loud over the last year. We are all wondering about how quickly culture is changing and where we stand in the midst of it all. In this series, we will look at four ancient practices that have helped Christians keep their heads on straight while the rest of the world is losing theirs.
01.02.22 - Planting for the Future
As we enter into a new year, we are all thinking about long term plans. In these dark, winter months, what good do we want to plant to harvest later in the year? In this message, we will talk about how our God loves to watch things grow, and the exponential impact that planting churches has for the Kingdom of God.
Christmas Presence: Christmas Eve at Area 10
On Friday, December 24th, we celebrated the best gift we've ever received: a newborn king. Thanks to everyone who joined us at the Byrd Theatre at our 3:30pm or 5:00pm services. We were unable to livestream this message, but present it to you now via our podcast. Enjoy!
12.19.21 - Love All
The Christmas season is often associated with love ("Love Actually", anyone?) - Why is that? What is it about the birth of Jesus that is so loving? In this message, we will look at how the birth of Jesus challenges us to be more loving, and we will talk about practical steps to live out in love.
You can listen to this podcast version of the message on our website or on iTunes, or you can watch the full service on our YouTube page by clicking here.
12.12.21 - Give More
Christmas is a season of giving, so we buy presents and give them to friends and family to show our love. The first Christmas was also a season of giving where God gave his son to humanity, and wise men responded by giving him gifts. In this message, we will look at how we have to offer at Christmas and do so in a way that truly honors Jesus.
Click here to watch the full service >>
Listen to this week’s message here:
12.05.21 - Spend Less
Advertising this time of year kicks into high gear. We are encouraged to go out and spend big to "capture the magic" of the Christmas season. Yet the first Christmas came with no such magic (or at least, not magic that money could buy). In this message, we will look at King Herod and the culture of Israel that Jesus was born into and see how we can resist the dark parts of that culture in our modern world.
Listen to this week’s message here:
11.28.21 - Worship Fully
The holiday season is upon us, and our schedules are starting to fill up. So how do we focus on the real meaning of Christmas: Jesus coming to earth amidst all the noise? In this message, we will look at someone who sought and worshiped baby Jesus to see what we can learn as worshippers today.
11.21.21 - Prophecy
If someone said they had the gift of prophecy or they were going to bring a prophetic word, would that freak you out? The idea of prophecy often kicks up weird ideas of fortune-telling and predicting the future, but in the scripture, prophecy doesn’t necessarily function that way. In this week's message, we will look at prophecy and how God gifts us to be prophetic.
11.14.21 - Get Your Heart Right
Sometimes in life, we know all the right things, say all the right things, do all the right things, but if we are missing one essential thing... it can all count for nothing. In this week's message, we will talk about how none of our accomplishments, good deeds, or virtue signaling matters if love is not what is driving all that we do. And in a day and age where we would rather define love in our own way, Paul lays out how God defines love in 1 Corinthians 13.
11.07.21 - Teamwork
God gives spiritual gifts to his people, but what are they? How do they work? What is the purpose of these spiritual gifts? In this message, we look at how the community of faith functions best when everyone is doing their part and using their gifts.
10.31.21 - Body & Blood
One of the earliest accusations against Christians in the Roman Empire is that they were cannibals - that they actually ate flesh and drank blood during their worship gatherings. In this message, we will look at that awkwardness around the Christian celebration of communion and how vital communion is for us to keep a "common union" in a world that is splitting apart.
10.24.21 - Men & Women
Sometimes when we come to the Bible, we expect an overwhelming sense of peace and security, but when we actually open the pages we find stories that can be awkward, uncomfortable, or confusing. In this series, we are wrapping up our year-long journey through the book of 1 Corinthians, and we are tackling some issues that can make us go, “Huh?”
In this week's message, we will look at Paul's notes to the Corinthian church about the role of "headship" in the church, and what a healthy relationship between men and women and husband and wives look like in the church and home.
10.17.21 - Cancel Culture
It seems almost every week someone else gets "canceled" in our culture for something they said or did recently or a decade ago. (Remember, kids: the things you say online last forever!) And this environment kicks up the fear of rejection in many of us - fear of rejection from friends, family, or employers. In this message, we will look at the long history of followers of Jesus being rejected and see what we can learn from Jesus about how to handle that.
In this week's message, we will look at this genuine fear and see how the gospel offers us purpose and direction for our lives.
You can also watch the service in full by clicking here >>
10.10.21 - "Nothing Really Matters"
There seems to be a high level of angst in our culture. Maybe that can be blamed on a virus. Maybe it’s employment challenges. Maybe the media is making us crazy. Maybe we are too glued to our screens. Some of this angst manifests as a sense of purposelessness. Does anything really matter? Is anything worth spending our time on?
In this week's message, we will look at this genuine fear and see how the gospel offers us purpose and direction for our lives.
10.03.21 - "It's All Going To End"
All of our days are numbered. At some point, we will pass away and be gone from the earth. Why do we have a hard time talking about that? Why are we so afraid to die? This message will look at the genuine fear of death, talk about what God has taught us about life and death, and how that can give us comfort and peace.
09.26.21 - "I Won't Have Enough"
We all seem to have a common fear of running out of something: food, employment, money, relationships, or time. We tend to believe all of those things are finite, and we get panicky if it looks like we will miss out on some of that. In this message, we looked at the genuine fear of not having enough and look at a parable Jesus taught to show us about the reckless generosity of God.
You can also watch the service in full by clicking here >>
09.19.21 - What Are You Afraid Of?
What are you afraid of? What thought makes your heart sink to the pit of your stomach the moment you think of it? There are certainly plenty of obvious things to be afraid of, such as heights, death, failure, and more. But these days, it seems like culture is pushing to make us fearful of everything. We began our new series, Facing Your Fears, this past Sunday where we are looking at our greatest fears and how the teachings of Jesus help us combat those fears.
You can also watch the service in full by clicking here >>
09.12.21 - Laodicea: Lukewarm Faith
We all face the temptation to do things halfway. We put in half-effort at work, our health, or our finances—to "kind of" do something, and we end up getting halfway good results. In this message, we will look at Jesus's final letter to a church from the book of Revelation, where he challenges them to stop doing their faith halfway. This letter, written nearly 2000 years ago, is a compelling message for Christianity in America today.
You can also watch the service in full by clicking here >>