YOUnited States of America - Week #1

Freedom can be great!  In fact, all of us desire it in some form.  However, freedom without responsibility leads to problems.  Individual rights must be coupled with individual responsibilities.

Many times we hope that the law will provide those responsibilities.  However the law only represents the minimum requirement and won't inspire greatness, excellence, or virtue.  If only the law regulates our freedoms, it is a recipe for us to be as selfish as we legally can.

Our hope isn't in who we elect or what laws we should pass, though you should vote and be informed.  If only Christians would treat their freedom like Paul instructed in Galatians 5, our country could change dramatically.  You are to leverage your freedom for the sake of the freedom of those around you.  If we don't do this, we will devour ourselves in our quest to be free as individuals.

New Series begins This Sunday

The United States of America is a republic of 50 individual states.  It is also a huge group of individual people.  Both states & people have rights, freedoms, and ways they want to live.  What happens if either become more about the individual than the group?  Join us Sundays in July as we discuss our rights, freedoms, and ways to live along with how God views those things.

See the world

We all have a way we see the world.  We all also have lens through which we see the world that have been impacted by family, experiences, and people.

Unfortunately we have all become accustomed to the way we see the world.  Sometimes we blame everything and everyone around us, but the truth is our view needs to change and adapt.

What if God wanted to challenge the way all of us see the world?  In Acts 9, we see a glimpse of how God can challenge and adjust how we see the world.  Saul saw the Christianity as a threat and distraction from those truly following God.  God challenged the way Saul and a Christian enemy, Ananias, saw Him and the way He works.  Even Ananias, who was following Jesus, had his views challenged.  No matter where you are on any spectrum (politics, religious, relationships, etc.) God might want to adjust your view of the world.

We value... - Week #3

If God answered all our prayers, for many of us the only people impacted would be us and our families. It is easy to just pray safe, small prayers that don't involve any risk or sacrifice.

However, when we look at the early church, they prayed and lived very differently. In Acts 4 & 5, the church leaders were faced with persecution, yet they prayed for more boldness knowing they could be harmed along the way. Even when they were severely beaten or killed, the early Christians continued to live out and pray a bold faith.

To accomplish our mission & vision, we have to value...God-sized goals that might involve risk & sacrifice. One way to verify if the goal is large enough is to ask "Is this something we could achieve on our own or only with God's help?"

These type of goals might involve risk & sacrifice, but safe and comfortable was not the way Jesus came to live. We have been entrusted with the most important message of new life, and we can't become trapped by small meaningless goals.

We value... - Week #2

What determines how God views you?  Is it your behavior, your church attendance, your prayers?  Behavior is so important in life that sometimes we project that onto God.

However, God's love for everyone is not based behavior, performance, or under any conditions.  He loves us in spite of those things.  Jesus constantly taught & lived this out.  One particularly powerful instance happened in Luke 15 when He had 2 completely different groups of people together.  He was able to teach both the law-keepers and law-breakers that their behavior didn't impact God's view of them - Jesus did everything!

In this parable, we see through Jesus that God values people regardless of what they have done.  We should value unchurched people as much as churched people.

We value... - Week #1

While our mission is "to help people take a next step to follow Jesus" and our vision is "to create churches for more than church people", how do we get there and make that happen?

There is a strong connection between what organizations do and what they value.  Values are important to an organization because we do what we value and we value what we do.

Jesus lived out many values, but in John 8:1-11 He shows us one of the most important values of His time on Earth.  The way Jesus showed the religious leaders and sinners His value for people was fairly remarkable.  He showed everyone that God values people above everything.  Therefore, we should value people above everything.

What gets in the way of you valuing people above everything?

New Series begins this Sunday

...lots of things - identity, ourselves, traditions, people, etc.  What we value as a church matters just like it does individually.  Many times we don't realize what we really value until we have to make a difficult decision.  Join us starting This Sunday as we discuss our church values and how we can ensure we really value them.

Mother's Day - Comparison Trap

Comparing is something most of us begin doing at an early age.  We compare to see if we measure up, are ok, and fit in.  The problem is that there is no finish line to these comparisons; they could go on forever.  There  will always be someone nicer, better, and with more.

Add to this the fact that many of us also compare our spouses, kids, families, and friends to other people's spouses, kids, families, and friends where we drive ourselves and these people crazy!

Should we just fold our hands and sit on the sideline of life so we don't compare ourselves?  King Solomon actually speaks to this in Ecclesiastes 4:4-8, and he offers us maybe the most powerful advice in verse 6.

Solomon says it is better to grab all we can with one hand and keep one hand open than to use both hands to grab all we can.  When we keep one hand open, we allow God to place in it and take out what He wants.  One hand open allows us to have peace, tranquility, and trust in God.  Both hands closed results in stress & no peace.  It also means there is something you can't grab, while you hold on to things God may want to take from you.

Control

We are all controlled by something or someone.  Paul says that Christ's love should control the Christian.  God worked through Jesus to reconcile the whole world to Him.  For that reason we should not live just for ourselves anymore but for God.

As a church this is important to determine what drives us or controls us.  Here are the 3 applications Pastor Chris mentioned to allow Christ's love to control us:

1. be ready for changes
2. be praying for unchurched people
3. be at church 5/15 as we start our values series "Jesus & We".

Breathing Room - Week #4

In our effort to get the most out of life, we continually try to cram one more thing into our life and eventually the whole thing breaks. We end up with a mess.

Usually this shows itself relationally. Relationships thrive with breathing room. Relationships die when we live at our limits.

Part of the struggle is that we don't always realize that we will cheat someone. There is not enough time in life to get everything done, talk with the important people, and achieve everything. Choosing who we will cheat helps us to be more intentional about who/what we will spend time on.

Paul discusses how we are to submit ourselves to people, particularly for married people to our spouses. We are never called to submit ourselves to our careers, progress, or any other healthy tasks. We only have a few unique roles, so we shouldn't trade what is unique to us for something someone else will do eventually.

Breathing Room - Week #3

When we talked about time, we acknowledged that our time is limit, so we need to limit what we do with our time.  However, when it comes to money, we don't necessarily have to limit what we do with our money.  We can't borrow time; we can borrow money.

Without breathing room financially we feel pressure & stress in our relationships.  Usually we do this because we have bought into a lie that "standard of living" is the same as "quality of life".  However, this is not true and some of us have already experienced this truth.  We make more now that we ever have, but we aren't happy or satisfied.  

If there really is a God who knows our names and cares about us, He cares more about our quality of life than our standard of living.  Jesus taught that we shouldn't put much value in standard of living "stuff" because it can be destroyed or stolen.  Jesus encouraged us to put our value in quality of life - relationships with people & with God - and create financial breathing room.

Breathing Room - Week #2

Many of us are inclined to pack more into our calendars & schedules without taking anything out.  We pack so much in that we don't enjoy much of what we do.

While there are many approaches to managing our time, Moses helps us to remember an important step before those approaches.

God is beyond time, but we are not.  Our days are limited.  Moses' prayer to God in Psalm 90:12 (NIV) is so helpful to remember.

Teach us to number our days, that we may gain a heart of wisdom.

• How does your schedule need to look different?
• + What do you need to add?
• - What or who do you need to remove?
• > What do you need to increase?
• < What do you need to decrease?

Breathing Room - Week #1

Clutter or over-stuffed closets, cars, or basements can be funny; maxed out finances, over-booked schedules, and stressed relationships are not funny.

Many times we put ourselves in these situations because of fear.  This fear is usually based on a

• Fear of missing out
• Fear of falling behind
• Fear of not mattering

Thankfully our Heavenly Father knows what we need.  From commanding a day off to creating margin financially to trusting God to provide, life is better with breathing room.  There is a direct connection between our willingness to trust God and the amount of breathing room in our lives.

Easter - Death to Life

The idea of Jesus moving from death to life seems like non-sense to us.  The good news is that was the same thing Jesus' followers thought after his crucifixion.  Even while they looked into His empty tomb, they assumed someone stole his body.  His closest followers believed He was dead, and He was not coming back.  They thought it was non-sense that Jesus would move from death to life.

...that is until they saw a resurrected Jesus!

These same cowardly, unbelieving followers would receive a new life, new courage, new hope from seeing Jesus move from death to life.  Everything that we believe about Jesus was brought to us by people who saw a resurrected Jesus. 

Jesus offers all of us the same opportunity to move from death to life.  Because the same God who rose Jesus from the dead can live inside of you and me!

Breathing Room - new message series

The busy, fast paced world we live in doesn't leave much room to breath.

• Meetings & projects filling up our work & school calendars
• More activities & lessons jammed into our schedules
• Advertising everywhere encouraging us to buy happiness
• Constant & instant communication through email, text, and social media

Our lack of margin makes us stressed and short-tempered.  It can distract us from the important things in life...our relationships.  This even includes our relationship with God because our willingness to create breathing room is connected to our faith in God.  Join us April 3, as we begin a discussion about this important part of all of our lives.

Life can be better with breathing room.  

The Time Is Now - Week #3

Sometimes when we try to do the right thing or obey God, things don't turn out like we thought they would.  So why should we obey God?  Is it just so we feel better about ourselves?  Do we obey just to receive a blessing from God?

We obey God not just to receive a blessing. but to be a blessing.  Thankfully our Savior, Jesus, saw obedience the same way when He walked into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday.  His obedience to God's plan has blessed all of us.

We may never know how our obedience to God impacted someone else's life.

• being honest at work or school when others aren't
• forgiving someone even when they don't deserve it
• being kind & compassionate to those on the fringes of society
• loving & valuing others to show they have intrinsic value.

What area in your life do you need to be obedient to God?  How could your obedience bless someone else?

The Time Is Now - Week #2

Are you discouraged?  What did and what should be our approach when we are discouraged.  The Jews who were re-building the Temple also faced discouragement for similar reasons as us - comparison & lack of progress.  God understands this, and He has an answer.

- Be strong through God's power in you.

- Do the work, the last thing He told you to do.

Thankfully, God doesn't leave us to do this alone, but His power works inside of us.  He is with us to help us overcome discouragement!

The Time Is Now - Week #1

We all have un-finished business in some area of our lives.  

As we looked at chapter 1 of Haggai, we see that the Israelites also had un-finished business when they started to rebuild the Temple.  They didn't finish because they began to face opposition.  So they focused on themselves and their families.  God became simply an afterthought.

However, Haggai reminds the people of the importance of obedience and that God is with us!

The Time Is Now - new message series

There are always reasons to wait because of laziness, convenience, fear, discouragement, etc.  When we wait on what God wants us to do however, obedience becomes all the more important.  

Join us starting March 6 as we look at the little book of Haggai and examine being obedient now no matter the circumstances.

Permission Slip message

We all enjoy new, fresh starts.  However, with anything new comes the temptation to back to the old habits, routine, lifestyle.

When it comes to our new life from Jesus, going back to the old could be disastrous.  In Colossians 3, Paul discusses how to avoid slipping back into the old life.  If we give God permission to be in control and permission to let His Words change us, then we can fully enjoy the new life He has given us.  Without giving God permission to work in our lives, we will never fully know how God could have used our lives.