What is the purpose of parenting? This is an important question because if we don’t know our ultimate goal as parents, we won’t know how to get there. In this series, we will look at the call from God to pass on our faith to the next generation, and we will look at how all of us (parents or not) can fulfill that calling.
02.26.23 - Self-Control Over Indulgence
Are we losing our sense of self-control? It sure seems like it. So much of our digital world is designed to suck you and take up all your attention. They call it the attention economy. In this message, we will look at some wise words from the apostle Paul about indulgence and self-control.
02.19.23 - Gentleness Over Outrage
We sure love getting outraged at things in our culture, don't we? Whether it's political parties, school boards, public health policies, or some stunt that your sister tried to pull at thanksgiving this year: We all have things that trigger us and kick up the rage. But is there a better way? Jesus taught that there is a way to be gentle, even in the face of the things that prompt rage. In this message, we will look at how Jesus was gentle with a woman who had done a pretty bad thing. And we will learn some ways we can be more gentle in our daily lives.
02.12.23 - Faithfulness Over Forgetfulness
“We make our promises, and then our promises make us.” It almost seems like a lost art to stay faithful to our promises. But the truth is a steadfast, long-term commitment to things in life (marriage, exercise, spiritual growth) brings incredible results. In this message, we will look at why we become unfaithful and at a few time-tested disciplines that can help us grow in faithfulness.
02.05.23 - Kindness Over Hostility
Is the internet making us ruder? It sure seems that way. There is a lot of hostility in our culture, especially online, and it’s too easy to get sucked into it. In this message, we will look at kindness and goodness and see how Jesus showed those to a woman in pain. And we will look at some ways we can also show kindness in a hostile world.
01.29.23 - Patience Over Impatience
We want it all. And we want it now! And we live in a culture trying to give that to us. Microwaved food. 5G internet. Next-day delivery. Our culture trains us to expect everything to come to us quickly. But what if the best things in life are slow? What if it’s true that good things come to those who wait? In this message, we will look at the New Testament teaching on patience and how we can get more of it in our lives.
01.22.23 - Peace Over Contempt
So much of our media culture exists to stoke our anger and contempt for others. Not because it is just evil but because outrage sells and media companies exist to make money. This message will look at the problem of contempt and how Jesus offers us something else: Peace. How do we get that peace he offers, and how do we keep it?
01.15.23 - Joy Over Comparison
What does it mean to have joy? And is that something we can lose? Is it possible for circumstances to rob us of joy? Is it an emotional state of being or something deeper? Also, what is the source of joy, and how do we get more joy? This Sunday, January 15th, we will continue our Vintage series, talking about joy as the fuel for the soul and how to be filled with more joy in our daily lives.
01.08.23 - Love Over Despair
Our culture is obsessed with the latest and greatest—the things that are new and hot. And yet, some of the best things in life are pretty old. We find this unexpected truth in music, fashion, architecture, and more. It’s also true about how we live. Those values by which we choose to live? We don’t need new ones. Instead, we need to recover some old ones because humanity hasn’t changed much in thousands of years. In this series, we will look at eight critical vintage character qualities that God wants to grow in our lives and examine how our digital age works against those qualities.
12.18.22 - All Is Bright
This is the season of lights: Tacky light tours, not-so-tacky lights, just tons of lighting everywhere. (All of which spreads the most Christmas cheer to Dominion power!) Part of the reason we use lights to celebrate the birth of Jesus is that Jesus claims to be the “light of the world,” and the gospel of John tells us that Jesus’s birth brings light and life to all men. In this message, we will consider what that means for us today and look to a future where all will truly be bright.
12.11.22 - All Is Calm
Wars, political fighting, family struggles, and a bad economy: How can anyone stay calm at a time like this? And how does Jesus coming to the world bring us any sense of calm at all? In this message, we will dive into a promise that Jesus brings us about how he can lighten our burdens and how we can experience this today.
12.04.22 - Holy Night
We live in a noisy world. The holiday season always seems to be noisier. Yet, amidst all the noise, God whispers to us and invites us to focus on Him as the true reason for the season. In this message, we will look at how we can set our intention to focus on Jesus during Advent.
11.27.22 - Silent Night
We live in a noisy world. The holiday season always seems to be noisier. Yet, amidst all the noise, God whispers to us and invites us to focus on Him as the true reason for the season. In this message, we will look at how we can set our intention to focus on Jesus during Advent.
11.20.22 - Generous
Are you a generous person? If so, how do you know? What does it even mean to be generous? Is it about time, money, or something else? This week's message will looked at God's generosity and what God calls us to as we approach this season of giving.
We apologize for the technical difficulties that resulted in the inability to livestream this message on Sunday, November 20th. We were able to capture the video and most of the audio and post-produce it to the best of our ability. Unfortunately the recorded sound cut out about 10 minutes before the end of the message, so the remaining audio will be the room audio the camera was able to capture.
11.13.22 - What's Your Something?
It’s easy to get overwhelmed by all the pain and suffering in the world. We are more aware than ever of so many problems that are out there. And our typical reaction to that is to unplug and try not to think about it. But there are some struggles in the world close to home where we can make a real difference. So in this message, we will look at something that hits very close to home in Virginia and see how God calls us to step up for those who are hurting.
11.06.22 - The Bigger Story
Are we just little lumps of carbon who roam this earth for 70-or-so years, and then we are dead and forgotten? Is there any meaning to our lives? Or are we a part of a bigger story? The ending of the book of Ruth shows a God who works behind the scenes for our good. In this message, we will look at the final lessons learned from Ruth about how God is at work and how they point to a savior.
10.30.22 - Calculated Risks
Life is full of risks. We can’t always control our situations or our outcomes. So we have to step out often into the unknown. In the book of Ruth, we see a young woman, Ruth, make a risky move to secure her future with a man named Boaz. It almost reads as scandalous to us today, but there are some great principles we can get here about taking calculated risks.
10.23.22 - A Woman of Character
We all go through seasons of pain, sorrow, and even death. Some of these seasons of change are harsher than others, and we wonder if we will ever really feel hopeful again. What do we do when we can't see how God is working in our lives? How do we move forward in our lives when everything seems dark? And how can we continue to be people of noble character, even if our life situations don't make it any easier? In this message, we will continue following the story of Ruth and Naomi, and see how God continuously provides and brings us through hard times, even if we don't see or feel him.
10.16.22 - Victim of Circumstance
Life deals everyone a different hand: different families, birthplaces, relationships, jobs, and health. But does God ever actually intervene in our circumstances? Is he involved in our day-to-day, or are we just on our own? In this message, we begin our study of the book of Ruth by looking at people going through hard times and blaming God for them.
10.09.22 - Open Mouth
Should the Christian faith be kept to ourselves, or should we speak up about it? In our culture, the temptation is to stay quiet and not tell anyone what we believe. We fear being criticized or canceled, or perhaps fired from our jobs. But Jesus tells his followers to spread the word, so how can we speak up appropriately in the modern world? This Sunday, we will look at one of Jesus’s closest followers, Peter, and see his advice for how we speak up.