Everyone loves a story of hope. It’s good to look ahead and believe that better days are coming. But what happens when those better days ahead require some changes from us in the present? We don’t love that as much.
In this message, we looked at Jesus starting his ministry with a message of hope and change and learned how we can respond to what he is asking of us.
Whether we realize it or not, we are all spiritually transformed. We are all becoming like someone or something. How does that process work? What does it look like to be a disciple of Jesus? And how can we walk a different road than the culture around us?
In this week's message, we looked at discipleship and consider how we can walk in the footsteps of Jesus.
On Easter, we celebrate Jesus Christ overcoming death and rising from the grave 2000 years ago. Do you believe that? For many, this is just fiction, but for the first followers of Jesus in the ancient world, this fact changed everything. For those of us in the modern world who have to deal with the inevitability of death, this fact can change everything for us too. In this Easter message, we will explore this incredible life changing truth.
Our world is noisy and busy. Everything is shouting different messages at us, from the phone, to the TV, to the laptop. We can find a spiritual solution to that kind of pressure in solitude and silence. But for many people, getting quiet and alone can be terrifying. In this message, we will dive into that and find a way to unplug and quiet our minds so we can hear God communicate with us.
To quote Avril Lavigne: "Why'd you have to go and make things so complicated?" This is our world. We have tools and technology to make life easier, but somehow that makes life more complicated. Culture practically begs us to get more and consume more, and go after more. When is "enough," enough? Is there a better way?
This week we are diving back into our Fast & Slow series with a message called "Simplicity". In this message, we will look at the discipline of simplicity and see how it can help us navigate an increasingly complicated world.
What does it look like to unplug for a while? Of course, we all say we want to do that. We all desire some downtime. But how often do we try to unplug without really unplugging? How often do we rest but don’t end up feeling rested? In this message, we will look at the ancient practice of Sabbath-ing and how this old idea can help us today navigate the insanity of our world.
Fasting is an ancient spiritual discipline that we often misunderstand. Are we supposed to actually go without food? For how long? How? Why? What difference will it make for me? In this message, we will look at how fasting can be a key discipline for us even today, and we will look at some ways we can incorporate this spiritual practice into our lives.
This week we begin a new message series called "Fast & Slow". where we will discuss the number one challenge facing Christians in their daily walk with Jesus: Hurry. (Are you surprised?) When we rush from one event or activity to another, we don't leave space for God to speak to us and actually transform our hearts. In this message series, as we approach Easter, we will talk about how to eliminate hurry from our lives and how to keep pace with Jesus, walking through life at a slower pace that allows us to love people well.
How do you recognize when someone is actively deceiving you? And if the entire culture we live in teaches you one thing, can you believe something else? In this final message of the Disinformation Campaign series, we will look at Satan’s larger strategy of infecting culture with lies and look at some ways we can not let them affect us.
Who are you when no one is looking? On the one hand, it’s easy to convince ourselves that it doesn’t matter. We can be whoever we want to be when we are on our own. But on the other hand, who we are when no one is looking is a more accurate measure of who we are since we are not performing for others at that moment. In this message, we will look at the lies we hear in culture about integrity and learn a lesson from how Jesus handled an integrity challenge.
We hear many lies in our culture - through social media, television, and friends. But not all of the lies affect us directly, and some of them are about things we don’t care about, but some lies penetrate our hearts and move us to action. In this message, we will look at matters of the heart, how these lies deceive our hearts, and what we can do to avoid that.
“To thine own self be true” is the oft-quoted famous Shakespeare line. And it sounds like good advice. But how do you know your “own self”? Who are you... really? In some ways, the answer to that question is one of the most important questions you will ever face. In this week's message, we will look at how we are being lied to about our identity and look to some wisdom from the scriptures that help us undo those lies.
Where do I belong? Where do I fit in? In many ways, that is a quest we are on for our whole lives. And the reason we are on that quest is that we are wired for community. We are designed as humans to be social, interconnected creatures. (Yes, even you introverts!) So how can we connect well in a world that is so divided?
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.
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.
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.
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.
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!
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.
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.
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