FOR THE TAKING (A Thrill of Hope, #3: 12.21.25

The night Jesus was born, the angels declared that peace could be on earth for those who pleased God. But the way that message was presented, first with one angel, then with row after row of angel armies, the visual effect didn't match a peaceful message. It appeared downright war-like. But that's what Christmas was, in reality: it was God making a move in the war on sin. Fortunately for us, this war has been won, and peace is our prize, if we'll only choose it.

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HOW HOPE MOVES (A Thrill of Hope, #2: 12.14.25)

Hope isn't meant to be stagnant.  For so many of us, however, we hope in so little these days that hope is *mostly* stagnant. And yet, we have the power this holiday season to spread hope to all those in our lives, if we'll only understand that hope is designed to be in motion, powered by the most shocking force this world has ever seen - the love of Jesus Christ.

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DEFINING HOPE (A Thrill of Hope, #1: 12.07.25)

For many individuals, the term “hope” is often used interchangeably with “wish” or “expectation.” However, this interpretation does not fully capture the depth of meaning intended by God when the concept of hope was established. According to divine perspective, hope is far more substantial and enduring. To truly comprehend the essence of hope, it is important to reflect on the moment in history when hope was truly realized—Christmas.

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KILLING THE DRAMA (The Family Business, #5: 11.30.25)

The unnecessary junk we go through in relationships - the drama - gets old really quickly, doesn't it? The bickering, fighting, posturing...it's just so...taxing! So how do we get rid of it? Fortunately, there's an answer found in God. It's a new way of living that'll be harder at first, but once we find it, it changes absolutely everything! In this finale of "The Family Business" series, we'll come to see that God's way really is the solution to the drama in life.

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LEADERSHIP VOID (The Family Business, #4: 11.23.25)

COVID is now just a memory, but another pandemic is sweeping through the United States like nothing we've ever seen. It's the damaging virus of fatherlessness, and it's ripping families apart at a staggering pace. Having a passion for the family unit he created, it's understandable that His Scriptures address this issue extensively. Fathers, in particular, bear a unique and vital responsibility within the family that can only be fulfilled through God himself.

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AGAINST THE FLOW (The Family Business, #3: 11.16.25)

Let's face it: trying to follow Jesus within a culture that really doesn't seem to care for him all that much isn't easy. But this is nothing new. In fact, all the way back in the time of Noah, the culture was pretty toxic. As it says in Genesis 6, everyone did whatever they wanted, and God was an afterthought...except for Noah and his family. Somehow, they stuck with God, and because of that faithfulness, God used them to save the entire world. How'd they do that?

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THE PATH OF FORGIVENESS (The Family Business, #2: 11.09.25)

So often, we want grace and forgiveness for the wrongs we do, but we fail to extend that same latitude to those who've offended us. What does it take to forgive someone...to truly let go? Even more difficult, how do we really absolve those who've hurt us in our own families? In part 2 of "The Family Business", we see something in Genesis, in the life of Joseph, that can actually make forgiveness easy.

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ORIGIN OF THE DRAMA (The Family Business, #1: 11.02.25)

Our families are supposed to be a safe haven, where we feel supported and cared for by some of the people who know and love us best. But for so many, this just isn't the case. Our families are often drama-filled clubs that we'd rather opt out of. Why is it that way? Where does family drama come from? In this first installment of "The Family Business", we'll look at King David's drama-filled household, and learn that the pain and heartache in a family has a very sinister origin.

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OPEN OR CLOSED? (The Almighty Dollar, #4: 10.26.25)

The Bible clearly teaches that we're supposed to tithe to the church...or does it? Actually, tithing was an Old Testament command for Israel, and while Jesus endorsed the tithe, it's interesting to hear how this teaching has been abused in the church today. In this final installment of the series "The Almighty Dollar", we'll set the record straight on what giving to a church should look like.

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GREEDY OR GENEROUS? (The Almighty Dollar, #3: 10.19.25)

What does it mean to be generous? Is it dropping a few bucks in as an offering at a church, or giving to a local charity doing good work in the city? Fortunately, God doesn't leave us wondering what generosity is or what it looks like. 

The best part? It's got nothing to do with dollar amounts...

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OWNER OR STEWARD? (The Almighty Dollar, #2: 10.12.25)

The Bible makes it absolutely clear that God owns everything in this world. If that's true, then it means that we are only managers of anything he allows us to manage. In this second message of "The Almighty Dollar" series, we'll see that God not only cares deeply about our management of his stuff, but how we manage what he's given determines what else he'll actually entrust us to take care of.

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RIVAL OR RESOURCE? (The Almighty Dollar, #1: 10.05.25)

Imagine for a moment that money is no object for you...but not because you won the lottery or landed a posh job with big paydays. What if, on what you currently make, money is no object because you finally learned to look at it as Jesus instructed his followers? Jesus spoke extensively about money, and in fact, it was the subject he addressed the most in his most famous sermon, the Sermon on the Mount. In this first part of "The Almighty Dollar", we'll look through Jesus' eyes to get a new perspective on money.

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THE GOSPEL. THE WHY. (Good. God. Gospel. #3: 9.21.25)

One of the most important words in all the Bible is "gospel", and it refers to the death of Jesus Christ on the cross as a payment for sin. But to only see the gospel as this moment is to miss its true impact. As the Apostle Paul shows us in Galatians 1, the good news of Jesus is part of a much larger story, and knowing this story is critical to understanding how the gospel is the game-changer our lives have been searching for.

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THE WORK. THE ADVENTURE (Good. God. Gospel. #4:9.28.25)

Many of us believe misconceptions about whether people want to talk about themselves, God, or even Jesus. The truth is, there's overwhelming data showing that people are more open to discussing these topics than ever before. But how do we move toward the "Good, God, Gospel" conversation? In this final part of the series, we not only explore ways to overcome our fears of sharing Jesus, but also how doing so can lead to adventures beyond what we can imagine.

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THE PATTERN. THE PLAN. (Good. God. Gospel. #2: 9.14.25)

For those who claim to follow Jesus, we have a clear call to share him with others; it's a get-to, not just an ought-to. But how do we do this? Jesus gave a clear pattern of how we are to take a good conversation and move it to a God conversation, and how we take a God conversation and move it to a gospel conversation. And here's a stunning truth that's unavoidable: as the events of the past few weeks show, from Utah to Charlotte, Minnesota to Colorado, we can no longer afford to wait to share King Jesus with all who will listen.

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THE CALL. THE PROBLEM. (Good. God. Gospel. #1: 9.7.25)

We've got to wake up in the Church. 

Jesus was crystal clear what he wanted us to be doing, which was to make followers of Him (Matt. 28:18-20). But for many of us, we conveniently leave that part out of following Jesus, and for good reason: it's hard.

But here's something awesome: this isn't some mandate to be tolerated; it's an adventure that will turn our world upside down.

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THE JONAH INSIDE (Jonah & The Mercy of God, #4) 8.31.25

We all want to believe that we're better than we really are. We'd like to think that some of the things that come out of us are exceptions rather than the rule. Nevertheless, being exposed is often the best thing that can happen to us; this is what happens to Jonah in Jonah 4. In his wisdom, God shows Jonah an ugliness inside of him that's got to go - an ugliness that lives in many of us even today, some 2,700 years later.

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THE GOD OF ALL (Jonah & The Mercy of God, #3) 8.24.25

Most people are at least familiar with the story of Jonah... up until the whale, at least. But what happens after the whale might be even more amazing, as Jonah finally obeys God's command and goes to the city of Nineveh. However, this city isn't just any city. As the capital of the Assyrian empire, it was home to one of the darkest, cruelest, and most brutal cultures on earth. But as Jonah would soon learn, not even these people could escape God's love and mercy.

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IN THE BELLY OF DESPAIR (Jonah & The Mercy of God, #2) 8.17.25

Many people know what despair is like...the sense of hopelessness, pain, and being trapped often leads us into dark places where we believe there's no way out. For Jonah, this was exactly the case. Swallowed by a whale, all he could do was cry out to God. But that prayer in the whale was more than enough for God to show mercy and rescue Jonah from a mess he made himself. The good news? God is willing to do the same for us today.

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RUNNING (Jonah & The Mercy of God, #1) 8.10.25

Much more than a children's story, the account of the prophet Jonah isn't just about a reluctant prophet getting swallowed by a whale. It's a story of incredible mercy and compassion from a God who sees all of us more clearly than we see ourselves. In this first installment of the series, we take a close look at Jonah, uncovering a person who is definitely no ordinary prophet. 

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THE GUARANTEED PRAYER (Prayer Words: Renewed, #3) 7.27.25

One of the most familiar prayers people pray is for God to look out for them and to protect them. That's a logical prayer, right? Isn't that part of God's job, especially for people who follow him? Well, what do we the stories of people who followed Jesus? How about the disciples? Or the martyr Stephen? Or, what do we do with the stories of Christians who are regularly killed for their faith around the world today? Does God just choose to answer some of those requests, and not all of them? Or, could it be that there's something God values more than our safety?

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THE LIFE INSIDE (Prayer Words: Renewed, #2) 7.20.25

"God, be with me at my job interview." "God, be with us as we look at houses today." Have you ever prayed prayers like this? Ever asked for a special, little extra-something regarding God's presence when we're doing something of significance? What if, as a Jesus follower, that prayer wasn't even necessary? According to the Scriptures, it isn't. Is there something better that we can pray?

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ALREADY DONE (Prayer Words: Renewed, #1) 7.13.25

As Americans, we often say things that are meaningless. When we greet someone, for example, we say "How are you?", but we don't really want to hear about their current state of being.

In the same way, when we pray, we often say things that are more filler than content. Doesn't God deserve better? Shouldn't we pray prayers that have more meaning? In "Already Done", we'll explore the reality that God has likely accomplished much of what we pray for, necessitating our consideration of the words we use before Him.

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WAITING (Elements of Faith #7 - Series Conclusion): 7.6.25

Waiting is hard. No one likes to wait. But it seems that God views waiting differently than we do. Take a quick stroll through the Scriptures, and you'll see that God makes a LOT of people wait. Even Jesus had to wait! What is God trying to tell us, then? Through the story of Thomas in John 20, we'll see that waiting is much bigger to our faith than we probably think. 

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SOLITUDE (Elements of Faith #6): 6.29.25

We live in a chaotic world. Threats of war, economic instability, just the problems in our day-to-day lives...they all add to a lot of noise in our lives that is often hard to escape. But for followers of Jesus, if we're really following him, we must learn to do what he did to get out of the chaos. As his life showed us in Mark 1:29-39, his modeling of solitude is our gateway out of the noise of a chaotic world.

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CONFESSION (Elements of Faith #5): 6.22.25

Imagine for just one second that your life had no guilt. No shame. Nothing to hide. The person you present is the same person you are when you know no one is looking. Is that kind of existence even possible? With Jesus, it is. What's more, he provided a way for us to be able to offload that guilt and shame onto him, for he asks us to do this very thing. This happens with the element of confession, and according to 1 John 1:8-9, there's a process to this we should know about and practice.

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LEGACY MAKER (Father's Day): 6.15.25

Father's Day is one of those moments in the year we're forced to think about our dads. For some of us, many happy moments come to mind. For others, thinking about our dads is something we'd rather avoid altogether. But like it or not, whether we're a father or not, we're ALL writing a legacy. What legacy are you writing? Does it create pain for others, or joy? In this message, we'll come to understand that writing a legacy we can be proud of first depends on what we've done with God.

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READING THE BIBLE (Elements of Faith #4): 6.08.25

The Bible can be an intimidating book. It's big. Many people don't know where to start. Sometimes it's confusing, and is it really true? Getting the most out of the Bible isn't dependent on what you know, it's dependent on what you believe about it in the first place. As we'll see in 2 Chronicles 34, what King Josiah believed about the Bible made all the difference for one nation, and it can make all the difference for you, too.

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FASTING (Elements of Faith #3): 6.01.25

When Jesus gave his instruction about fasting in the Sermon on the Mount (Matt. 6), it wasn't something foreign to the Jewish audience that heard it. They were very familiar with the subject. But something had happened to fasting as with prayer. It had been taken hostage by people who were just doing it for show. In his teaching, Jesus redeemed the beautiful practice of fasting, showing us how intimate and powerful this element of our faith can be.

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SABBATH (Elements of Faith #2): 5.25.25 (Bryan Kaye)

In the second installment of our series, Elements of Faith, Bryan Kaye brings us a closer look at God's command of taking a day of rest, or what is commonly known as Sabbath. Why is this so critical to us as human beings that God would command it, and is it even possible? Far beyond being an antiquated practice of the Jewish people, Sabbath isn't only something Jesus endorsed, it's something deeply necessary to our humainity.

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SLOWING (Elements of Faith #1): 5.18.25

For a lot of people, once they've decided to follow Jesus, life becomes an effort to go to church, read their Bible, and pray. These are all great things to do to follow him, but what if these practices were just a few of many more? Throughout "Elements of Faith", we'll look at Jesus' behaviors and habits that can better help us  connect us to him. In this first installment, we'll understand the importance Jesus placed on slowing.

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A LIFE OF HONOR (5.11.25)

Even if you're not a Christian and don't go to a church, the 5th of the 10 Commandments might be familiar: Honor your Father and Mother. But what does this mean? Should we do everything they demand we do? Should we make excuses for bad behavior or lifestyles?

In reality, honor is much bigger than a command in the Bible. In fact, honor is a word that is so close to the heart of God that it's virtually impossible to understand him without it. Just as important, honor is more than an action; it's a way of life.

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LIGHT THE FIRE (5.4.25)

Most people believe that there is a God, and many have heard that He wants to be part of their lives. According to the Scriptures, this is true. But where do we start if we want to know God? If we do know Him, how can we improve our relationship with Him?

In Psalm 63, we can read one of the most passionate exhanges ever recorded between a human being and God. In this Psalm, King David shows us what "logs" we need to throw on the fire of faith to have a passionate relationship with Him.

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HANDS (HEAD, HEART, HANDS #3): 4.20.25 (Easter Sunday, 2025)

Do you ever ask yourself the big life questions? You know...why are we here, what's our purpose, and other questions like that? In this last installment of the series Head, Heart, and Hands, we take a final look at Nicodemus, seeing how his initial curiosity in Jesus had not just become courage, but after the cross, the discovery of something much bigger. What Nicodemus found, in fact, was his very purpose for being alive. It's a process that God is still using today.

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HEART (HEAD, HEART, HANDS #2): 4.13.25

Two years after the meeting Nicodemus had with Jesus, it was clear that it was still affecting him. He couldn't shake what he'd heard from Jesus that night, but now the obscure rabbit Nicodemus met was much better known. In fact, throughout Judea, Jesus was now a household name, and that popularity was making him into a bigger threat to those in power. Eventually, it led the Jewish leadership to start breaking their own rules, and in that moment, Nicodemus' intellectual curiosity become something much more.

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HEAD (HEAD, HEART, HANDS #1): 4.6.25

Coming to faith in Jesus should be an emotional event. But if our faith is only about emotion - about feeling something - then we've got a problem. Because emotion is built on feeling, and feelings are changeable, a faith built on emotion is a shifting faith, too. In this opening message of this series, we examine how Jesus appealed to Nicodemus during that nighttime conversation in John 3. To get Nicodemus where he needed to go in faith, Jesus didn't seek to create an emotional experience for him. Instead, he appealed to Nicodemus' head - his intellect - to bring him closer to the truth.

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DISCIPLE #8: (Series Conclusion) INVESTED (3.30.25)

The Scriptures are clear that we are to invest in other people. We're to help lead them to follow Jesus, telling and showing who He is along the way. But how do we do this? Where do we start? Examining the incredible relationship between Paul and Timothy, this message will help us know not just where to begin, but what to do to bring Jesus into another person's life.

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DISCIPLE #7: DEVOTED (3.23.25)

These days, it seems like very few of us can stay committed to something for very long. Honestly, aren't we surprised when someone follows through on what they say they'll do? What would it look like for us to live a devoted life? A look at the first church ever formed can tell us much about what devotion looks like, as well as how we can see it develop in our own lives.

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DISCIPLE #6: BURDEN OF PROOF (3.9.25)

In John 13, when Jesus gathers his disciples for a final time before his crucifixion, he gives them a "new" command to love. Only...it wasn't new. Moses had given the same command hundreds of years earlier, and he'd mentioned it just two days before. But what he said that Thursday night with his disciples wasn't just a shift in how love could be understood; it was a completely different way of reaching people with the good news of who Jesus actually is.

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DISCIPLE #5: AMBASSADORS (3.2.25)

The data is clear. Fewer Christians are sharing Jesus now than at almost any time in the history of the Church. Yet, a search of the Scriptures reveals that the people that met Jesus couldn't shut up about hm. In fact, many of the people who were threatened with death if they talked of Jesus still couldn't be silenced. Why was it this way then, and so many people struggle to share him now? Could it be that it has to do with whether or not we've actually met him?

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DISCIPLE #4: JUST THREE WORDS (2.23.25)

Doesn't it seem that we over-complicate everything? It's like we can't help ourselves... Our faith is no different. We try to follow God and do what he says, but before long, things get more complicated. So often, we make it about rules, traditions, or our best guess, and soon, what we have is nothing like what we wanted...or what God intended. Fortunately, Jesus simplified everything through three powerful words he spoke in John 15.

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DISCIPLE #3: THE GOD WE DON'T KNOW (2.2.25)

For so many people, their view of God, and in particular, Jesus, has been shaped by many things other than Jesus himself. Our parents, as well as other authorities in our lives, have often been the culprit or the anchor that gave us a false or true view of Christ. The problem with this is that any view of Christ that isn't shaped by his own life and words isn't accurate. What would it look like for us to just let Jesus speak for himself? 

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DISCIPLE #2: TWO TREES (1.26.25)

All of us are making an impact in the world, but are we making the kind of impact we want? As believers in Jesus, our impact is to go far beyond just changing someone's earthly life; we have a daily opportunity to impact someone's eternity. In this message, we consider the incredible opportunity we have to impact others through a powerful teaching of Jesus in the book of Luke.

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DISCIPLE #1: OFFENSE & DEFENSE (1.19.25)

The goal of our Christian faith is to look more like Jesus. But which Jesus? We are OK with looking like the loving, healing, generous, wise, social justice Jesus, and we should be. But what about the Jesus who confronted, called people to right living, and even unintentionally offended people? To really look like Jesus, we've got to consider a bigger picture of Him.

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THE BIG PICTURE (Bryan Kaye - 1.12.25)

Sometimes, it's good to pull back and remember what God's story is all about - to go up to that 30,000 foot view and remember what he's doing in the world. Not only does this remind us what has happened and what is coming, but it also shows us our place in God's story in the world. To begin 2025, Bryan Kaye reminds us that we're in a relationship with a God and a story that is much bigger than we could ever imagine.

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SCANDALOUS #5: SCANDALOUS EXIT (12.29.24)

Have you ever noticed that when we try to take a step towards God, it's as if something seems to work against that move? In this final installment of our Christmas series, we look at what happened around the visit of the wise men, as these critical hours show us something significant. Succinctly, when light rises, so does the darkness.

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SCANDALOUS #4: SCANDALOUS JUDGMENT (12.22.24)

One of the most incredible stories around Christmas was what happened to Zechariah in the Temple in Jerusalem (Luke 1). That day, Zechariah was presented with incredible news; it was news he struggled to accept, because what he heard was so amazing it sounded impossible. And yet, Zechariah's choice not to believe that impossibility would cost him greatly.

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SCANDALOUS #3: SCANDALOUS ACCEPTANCE (12.15.24)

Have you ever stopped to consider what Jesus' birth cost Mary and Joseph? For one, their reputation took a dive, and the scandal that embraced Mary's pregnancy embraced Joseph, too. Their acceptance of God's plan changed them, but their lives illustrate a truth that we must embrace: to go deeper with God, it might cost us dearly before it rewards us greatly.

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SCANDALOUS #2: SCANDALOUS HERITAGE (12.8.24)

At the beginning of his gospel, Matthew cites the lineage of Jesus. It makes for tedious reading, if not just boring. But look closer through these verses, and you'll see that Jesus' heritage is anything but tame. Adultery, incest, prostitution, murder...this is but a small part of a bigger picture Matthew wants us to see in Jesus' scandalous heritage.

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SCANDALOUS #1: SCANDALOUS SILENCE (12.1.24)

So often, we'd like to fit the Christmas story into a tidy, neat part of the holiday. Like our manger scene in the house, we try to fit Jesus, Mary, Joseph, the shepherds, and the wise men into a nice, compact picture. But the story around that night in Bethlehem is anything but neat and tidy. It's downright scandalous. Even more, it's a story that seemingly begins with an odd silence from God.

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YOU, PASTOR (11.24.24)

The Church seems to be having something of an identity crisis. For one, we've separated out the "professional" pastors from the congregation. But the Apostle Peter paints a completely different picture when he boldly declares that anyone who has chosen Jesus as their rescuer and leader is a "royal priesthood". Such a statement clearly shows "pastor" is much more an identity than an occupation.

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FOR FREEDOM #6: WHAT REALLY COUNTS (SERIES FINALE: 11.17.24)

The American culture is a distracted culture, and that reality has penetrated the American church. But this isn't the first time this has happened; the entire book of Galatians was written because of this issue. The rule-demanding culture of the Jews had taken over in Galatia. In this look at the final few verses of Paul's compelling letter to the Galatians, we hear his heart for what really counts when it comes to our faith in Jesus.

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FOR FREEDOM #5: THE FAMILY OF FAITH (11.10,24)

It seems that every few weeks there's a new story about something dumb that a church did or said. What is going on with this? As we near the end of Galatians, Paul takes the time to expand his idea of what the Spirit-filled life of love looks like now as a collective body - as the church - instead of just as individuals. What he offers is the remedy for the Church getting off-course, for staying true as a family of faith in Jesus.

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FOR FREEDOM #4: THREE LIVES (11.3.24)

Galatians 5:16-26 might be one of the clearest passages in the Scriptures about what it means to follow Jesus. In practical terms, the Apostle Paul writes in vivid detail what a life apart from Him looks like. But he also shows what the work of the Holy Spirit in us would be as well, helping us understand the battle that rages in so many of us who try to follow Jesus. But is there more to this Jesus life than just living in a war zone?

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FOR FREEDOM #3: TRUST THE PROCESS (10.27.24)

Our culture likes to cut corners for answers, rather than trust in time-honored solutions to our problems. This is the way God works, and far above just wanting us to find an answer, he is very interested in us walking out a process with him. In Galatians 5, Paul offers us this process, using some of the clearest language in all of the New Testament regarding what a relationship with Jesus actually looks like.

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FOR FREEDOM #2: NEW ROOTS (10.20.24)

Without question, saying "yes" to following Jesus will change a life. But how much that life actually changes depends on what we do with our old self. Truth be told, no matter how much we may desire Jesus, no matter how passionate we may be for him, if we don't do the hard work of pulling out the old roots of our old life, we're going to sabotage the work Jesus is trying to do in us.

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JUST WORDS? (10.13.24 - 1 Year Anniversary)

Each week at The Gathering, we remind those who join us why we're here in the first place: "to welcome Springfield to the ways of Jesus, one life at a time". It's a nice statement to put on a website, a t-shirt, and on signs greeting you at the door. But what do these words mean? Are they just words? How do we do this?

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FOR FREEDOM #1: LEADERS (10.6.24)

As humans, we have a bent to follow someone. We want a leader we can trust. But with confidence in leaders and institutions we once trusted at an all-time low, our society seems a bit rudderless about who to follow. In Galatians 4, Paul gives some warnings about things we should look out for in who we follow, as well as some characteristics of leaders we can trust.

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SCARRED  (9.29.24)

As long as we're human, we're going to carry scars on our bodies. But God created an amazing process to heal those scar-causing wounds. But what about the deeper, more dangerous heart wounds? What's the process for healing those? That process is far different, and it's one that won't work without God. In this message, we find out God's way of healing the far more hidden - and more sinister - scars on our hearts.

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TO ABIDE (9.22.24 - Thom Dearborn)

It seems like our world has gone a bit nuts, doesn't it? Things we thought were secure no longer feel that way. Regard for human life seems to have slipped as well, and rampant violent crime seems to be the order of the day. How do we cope? What do we hang on to? In this message, Thom Dearborn brings us back to the beautiful realities around us, and what Jesus says we have to do to make sense of the world in which we live.

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HOW TO PRAY #6: YIELDED (9.15.24)

Throughout this series, we've tried to identify from Christ's teaching in Matthew 6 how he wants us to pray. It's clear he wants us intentional, unyielded, paused, refocused, and asking for what we need. If we pray like this, it will change our prayers for sure. But even if we get all these things right, there's still one thing that can keep us from the connection He desires in prayer...whether our hearts and lives are truly yielded to him.

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HOW TO PRAY #5: ASKING (9.8.24)

Praying to ask something of God is not only one of the most basic expressions of a belief in God, it's one of the most basic things about being a human being. The Scriptures tell us clearly that we are to ask for what we need, and Jesus goes so far as saying we can ask for anything we want! But do we really believe this? How should we go about asking God for things? What should we ask for? 

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HOW TO PRAY #4: REFOCUSED (9.1.24)

When Jesus tells us how to pray, he tells us to pray and remember God is holy, to ask for His Kingdom to come, and to ask for His will to be done on earth like heaven. For even seasoned followers of Jesus, this is the part of the prayer we ignore, because it sounds like a lot of religious stuff we don't understand. But we've got to understand it...to miss what Jesus is saying, and to not pray what he asks, can cost us dearly.

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HOW TO PRAY #3: PAUSED (8.25.24)

So often, our lives happen at a frenetic, almost manic pace. It's hard to slow down. And yet, when it comes to prayer, slowing down is exactly what God intended for us. When Jesus teaches us to pray, he unapologetically invites us to consider our identity through four words that changed prayer forever.

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HOW TO PRAY #2: UNHINDERED (8.18.24)

It's a nice thought to think that God listens to every single prayer we pray...but it's not the truth. Though he hears every prayer we pray, God does not, in fact, listen to every prayer we pray. Does he just have an attitude problem, or is it something bigger? In this message, we'll look at the things the Scriptures tell us will get in the way of God answering our prayers.

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4 STEPS TO PRAYER AS STRATEGY (8.11.24 - Dean Trune)

This past weekend here in Springfield was special, as we experienced our annual Prayer Weekend. During this time, we made prayer the centerpiece of our work, engaging with the people of Springfield, listening to them, and praying for them. We also welcomed back Dean Trune, and he helped us understand what prayer as the entire strategy for a church might look like.

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HOW TO PRAY #1: INTENTIONALLY (8.4.24)

The fact that Jesus needed to teach us how to pray says a few things. It says that we don't really know how to pray. But it also says that God has a certain way of being approached. In this first part of the "How to Pray" series, we'll discover that before Jesus told us what to pray, he gave us clear instructions on how we should approach prayer before a word is even spoken.

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TRY LESS #8 (FINALE): GUARDIANS (7.28.24)

Have you noticed that people who seem to have it all together with God are also the ones that act the coldest towards others? In this final installment of Try Less, we're going to see that the whole reason that the people in Galatia bolted towards behavior was because they had failed to connect to the most important thing with God: His heart.

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TRY LESS #7: GET IT IN WRITING (7.21.24)

For the entire first part of Galatians, Paul has been trying to re-convince the Galatian people that salvation doesn't depend on behavior. But if this is the case, why did God write the law to begin with? What's the point of all the rules? Paul not only answers that question, but he leads us to the striking reality of what it cost God when his Son died on the cross.

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TRY LESS #6: GOOD ENOUGH (7.14.24)

So many people think that "being good" is what makes us right with God. But who determines what is good enough to be with God in heaven? This week, in Galatians 3:6-14, Paul helps us understand through the example of Abraham that our behavior has nothing to do at all with salvation. It's deeper than we could possibly imagine, and better than we could possibly expect.

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TRY LESS #5: THE MARK (7.7.24)

What marks your life? Did something happen that, for better or worse, has come to define you? For Jesus followers, what's supposed to define us is a Person that we've welcomed. In Galatians 3, Paul comes to some of the meat of his argument to the Galatians, telling us a remarkable benefit to following Jesus.

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TRY LESS #4: LEFT OUT (6.30.24)

As we see in Galatians 2:11-21, a huge problem was developing in the early years of the church: because of an insistence in old rules, some follows of Jesus were left sidelined. The rule-followers were more about their rule-keeping than in really understanding what the Good News of Jesus was all about. It's a problem that persists event today...and it's a problem that's gotta go.

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TRY LESS #3: CREDENTIALS, Pt. 2 (6.23.24)

There's an old adage that asks, "If someone tried to convict you of being a Christian, would there be enough evidence for you to be found guilty?" Truth is, a lot of people claim to be followers of Jesus, but is there evidence to back it up? In Credentials, Pt. 2, we'll see the Apostle Paul show the Galatian people the evidence that accompanied the change he'd experienced through Jesus.

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TRY LESS #2: CREDENTIALS, Pt. 1 (6.9.24)

When someone attacks you personally, what do you do? You set the record straight with the truth, right? Well, the Apostle Paul did the same thing, but the record he put out there wasn't what you'd expect. In Galatians 1, Paul not only defends himself from a personal attack, he goes bigger: he tells us how God qualifies those he uses for his work in the world.

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TRY LESS #1: THE RELIGION OF "DO" (6.2.24)

The Good News of Jesus can't possibly be true, can it? All I have to do is believe in Jesus? Isn't there something I've got to DO?!? For many of us, even those who claim to follow Jesus, there's a lot of doing that seems to accompany a belief in Jesus. Yet, the Gospel - the Good News - isn't about what Jesus asked us to do. As we begin this look into Galatians, a people a LOT like us today, we'll see that Paul's concern is just as timely now as it was then.

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EASTER EPILOGUE #6: THOUSANDS OF LITTLE YESES (5.26.24)

The Emmaus Road account is about an amazing moment happened for the two travelers who met Jesus there. But it's much bigger than that. The Emmaus Road provides a blueprint for how we can hear Jesus for a lifetime. In this final installment of the Emmaus Road series, we see the roadmap that can lead us towards a lifetime of hearing God in decisions great and small.

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EASTER EPILOGUE #5: WHEN GOD WHISPERS (5.19.24)

It's so easy to think that God only moves through the big things... the firework-y, split-the-seas, giant displays. After all, if God's so big, shouldn't he move big, too? And yet, Jesus tells us that God's heart is humble and gentle. What does this mean for how God speaks? In this message, we learn to listen for God's whisper, a way he often speaks to try to bring us closer.

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EASTER EPILOGUE #4: FROM GOD (5.12.26)

Many churches stay away from prophesy, and for good reason. Much of the problem with prophesy today is how people have abused this gift. In spite of this, the Scriptures don't let us off the hook with prophesy. In this message, we look again at the Emmaus Road conversation to help us understand prophesy as a way to hear God, and keep us moving in the right direction.

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OVERWHELMED - Dean Trune (5.5.24)

These days, it's so easy to get overwhelmed by the things in our life. Guilt, grief, circumstances...name it, and it can take over our entire world. But the problem isn't that we get overwhelmed, it's that we're overwhelmed with the wrong thing. In this message, guest Dean Trune (Healthy Churches Network) brings us a helpful guide of what to do with being overwhelmed, and how we can be overwhelmed with the right thing.

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EASTER EPILOGUE #3: BURNING HEARTS (4.28.24)

In Luke 24:32, after hearing Jesus tell them about himself through the Scriptures, the two travelers reported that their hearts "burned within" them. When was the last time that your heart did that for the Scripture? Has it ever happened? Was this just something reserved for the travelers that day? In this message, we'll discover how the Bible can still ignite our hearts, even today.

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EASTER EPILOGUE #2: THE KEY (4.21.24)

While on the Emmaus Road, Jesus could have just told the two travelers who he was, but he didn't. Instead, as we read in Luke 24:27, he used the Scriptures to explain who he was. What does this tell us about Jesus' view of the Scriptures? In this part of the Easter Epilogue series, we explore the integral role the Scriptures play in helping us understand Jesus.

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THE KINGDOM OF GOD IN SPRINGFIELD - Sean Thomé (4.14.24)

When Jesus instructed his followers to pray, he said that we should pray for his Kingdom to come here on earth as it is in heaven. Some of us have prayed that prayer dozens - perhaps even hundreds - of times, but have we ever considered what it might look like?  In this message, Sean Thomé, Executive Director of Expand, a critical partner in getting The Gathering launched, helps us see what this might be.

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EASTER EPILOGUE #1: GATEWAY (4.7.24)

On the Sunday that Jesus rose from the dead, he joined two disappointed travelers on their route from Jerusalem to Emmaus. While at first he was unfamiliar to them, they eventually recognized him for who he was. Their conversation tells us much even today about how we can hear God, but it starts with something obvious: it was Jesus who showed them who he was. In our day, it's the same. To hear God, we must first consider Jesus.

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EASTER SUNDAY, 2024: THE WRONG JESUS (3.31.24)

That first Easter morning, one of Jesus' closest followers, Mary Magdalene, arrived at his tomb only to think she'd stumbled on a crime scene. She thought Jesus' body had been stolen. It hadn't dawned on her his promise of rising from the dead could be true, so she came looking for the wrong Jesus. Do we do the same thing? Are we looking for Jesus as we think he is, or as he actually is? Mary soon found out that Jesus was much more than she thought, and if we look at Jesus for who he actually is, we'll find the same thing.

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THE LAST DAY #4: THIRSTY (3.24.24)

In his last moments on the cross, and in a cruel and ironic twist, Jesus said that he was thirsty. However, Jesus wasn't the most thirsty person there around that cross - physically, perhaps, but not in the most important ways. Such a reality meets us even today: we're all thirsty for something. We all have dreams and desires that live inside us, but how we quench that thirst will determine if it will be satisfied at all. 

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THE LAST DAY #3: PRISONER (3.17.24)

By the time the Jewish leaders had resolved to kill Jesus, Pontius Pilate had resolved to stay as far from the issue as he could. But when they showed up at Pilate's court that Good Friday morning, everything changed. Questioning Jesus on his own, Pilate wanted out of the affair, but had he listened closely, he would have heard Jesus offering that very thing: a way out of the prison that disillusionment and discontentment had brought him.

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THE LAST DAY #2: TRIAL, DENIAL, AND HONOR (3.10.24)

Like no other passage in the Scriptures, John 18:12-27 shows us that in the hours before his crucifixion, Jesus was treated like garbage. Sure, we expect this behavior from the people who hated him, but from his best friends? As we look at this first trial and the subsequent denial of Jesus by Peter, it's hard not to wonder, do we treat him as worthless? Do we fail to honor Him in all our life for who he is?

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THE LAST DAY #1: CRISIS (3.3.24)

In the wee hours of the day he would be crucified, Jesus found himself at the worst moment of his life. Apprehensive of what was before him, tempted to walk away, and feeling isolated from his Father, Jesus pleaded for another way forward. But what he did in this moment teaches us what to do in our own crisis, be it the small day-to-day challenges, or the moments that change us forever.

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DIFFERENT #7: LIKE JESUS (2.25.24)

In Ephesians 4, Paul has been asking Jesus followers to act the part. He goes into specifics, asking us to consider the behavior we should have versus that of the crowd. But as we finish the chapter, he tells us that all that behavior is really about something much much bigger. It's about something that will stand out in the world, because it's something the world is really searching for.

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DIFFERENT #6: THE REAL YOU (2.18.24)

What makes you you? That should be a fairly easy question, right? But for many of us, including followers of Jesus, we can't quite pinpoint what makes us...us. As we begin to wind down this series, the Apostle Paul pauses in his list of behaviors in Ephesians 4 to point us back to the cost of not living differently. Beyond making God sad, we also miss out on the very thing that makes us different: we miss out on the new person God made us to be.

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DIFFERENT #5: LANGUAGE ARTS (2.11.24)

Most of us know that words have power, because all of us have been hurt by words at some point or another. But in Ephesians 4:29, we learn that words actually have much more power than we ever thought, because God can use our words to move in this world. But how do we do this, especially when we've blown it by saying things that we probably didn't mean to say?

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DIFFERENT #4: HONEST GAIN (2.4.24)

It seems as though we're no longer surprised at the images of people stealing from stores, even in broad daylight. It's been a problem for a long time, even back to the times of the Apostle Paul. But stealing is far bigger than just taking what isn't ours. It's actually a sign of a weak life, and God calls us to live in a power that results in something better.

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DIFFERENT #3: THE F.A.C.E. OF ANGER (1.28.24)

Doesn't it feel like everyone's angry these days? No matter where you go, it seems, people are angry at each other...on the highway, in the store, or wherever people gather. One of the clearest ways we can look different is in how we deal with anger. But anger in and of itself isn't bad. Don't forget, Jesus got angry, too. But how did he handle it? In this message, we'll take a look at how we can get angry without it turning into something messy.

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DIFFERENT #2: LIAR, LIAR (1.21.2024)

Everybody lies. Everybody. And yet, God commands us not to lie.

So what are we to do? Try real hard not to lie and just hope for the best? Or, could it be that there is a way to hold to God's standard? In this, the second installment of the series "Different", we're looking at how we can hold to God's standard in an issue is seems many have given up on.

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DIFFERENT #1: CONTRASTS (1.14.2024)

Yet, Christ calls us to a completely different life than the world, but we often look no different. What if part of the problem is that we don't know what "different" actually looks like? In Ephesians 4, we get a great picture of what a different life with Jesus looks like, but this hinges on something big: understanding  the contrast that exists between the crowd life and the Jesus life, and what fuels the difference.

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FINDING THE PLANS (12.31.2023)

One of the big themes of the Bible is that God has a plan for our lives. But how do we find it? How do we live out the agenda he wants for us? As we begin a new year, we look at the truth that no matter how much you've messed up, no matter how much you think you've blown it with God, his plan is as available to you now as it was the day you were born. And better yet, we'll have the opportunity today to hear how we can find that plan.

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THE REASON FOR THE SEASON: The Hero (12.24.2023)

Christmas is part of a much grander narrative. It's the declaration of the hero into the ultimate story, and just like every hero movie we've ever seen, it's met with an incredible darkness. Such darkness proves Jesus is, in fact, the hero we've been looking for. In this message, we close our "Reason for the Season" series with a look at the announcement and the darkness that rose against it so many years ago.

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THE REASON FOR THE SEASON: The Problem (12.10.2023)

As we go through the motions of the Christmas season again this year, are we beginning to lose what all this is for? Why do we do Christmas? The decorating, preparing, hosting, spending...why? In this first installment of The Reason for the Season, we're going to go back to the very beginning to understand that Christmas is God's answer to a problem we had no way of solving.

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THE CHURCH: R.A.S.H. PRAYERS (12.3.23)

Do your prayers sometimes look like a kid's Christmas list - like a list of wants, and not much more? Even just a quick look at how the first church prayed will tell us that there's a LOT more to prayer than just asking for what we want. This church saw it's prayers answered in amazing ways, and it serves us well to take the time to look at how they prayed. In this conclusion of the series "The Church", we'll understand that prayer is much bigger (and better!) than we thought.

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THE CHURCH: REMINDERS (11.26.23)

We're really distracted people these days, and when that happens, the important things get left behind. But God instituted something in the Church that was put there to help keep the main thing the main thing. Baptism and the Lord's Supper were the reminders of who we are as Jesus followers, and in this message, we'll understand the intent of both.

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GRATITUDE: A LOOK AT THANKSGIVING (11.19.23)

Being grateful and having a thankful heart isn't easy. Not today. Not in our country. It's a discipline. It's a choice we must make. In this beautiful reflection on the upcoming Thanksgiving holiday, Thom Dearborn  reminds us about the purpose of this incredible day, and how we can stay focused on the One we're staying thankful to.

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THE CHURCH: INTIMATE (11.05.23)

In a nation that is suffering from an epidemic of loneliness, God set up the Church as a way out of that isolation. But the Church itself wasn't the solution. The intimacy the Church can provide actually starts elsewhere, at a place in the lives of those who call themselves "the church". In this fourth installment of "The Church", we'll see that this original ingredient has more potency than we can know.

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THE CHURCH: CREDIBLE (10.29.23)

It seems that the Church today is suffering from a credibility issue, along with many of the institutions we once trusted, and much of the loss of this trust falls at the feet of the Church's leadership. Yet when Jesus ascended into heaven, he left the church in the hands of people who could be trusted to lead. What was it about these first leaders that made them believable?

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THE CHURCH: PREACHER (10.22.23)

As we continue in Acts chapter 2, it becomes clear through the Apostle Peter that preaching had a place in the church. But Peter? Really? This guy? As we'll see in this second installment of "The Church", we're all preachers preaching something, and Peter's message was bigger than what he said.

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THE CHURCH: SPECTATORS (10.15.23 - Official Launch Sunday)

Many people tend to define the Church according to tradition, custom, or preference. But what does the Scripture say the Church was supposed to be?

In this first installment of "The Church", we'll look at the birth of the church in Acts 2:1-13, and let those events tell us what it was supposed to be.

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THE PRAYER OF JESUS: START WITH YOU (9.24.23)

When we look at how Jesus prayed in John 17, we notice that how he started his prayer seems odd. Jesus was always about other people, but he starts this prayer by praying for himself.

Ever wondered why?

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AN  IMPOSSIBLE  LIFE (9.10.23)

The life of following Jesus isn't hard. It's impossible. No one can follow him perfectly.

But Jesus didn't intend us to walk the journey on our own, an he didn't set us up to fail. 

He intended us to have amazing, supernatural help that leads us into the life he called us to.

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YOU, PASTOR (7.16.23)

The Bible tells us clearly that, as a follower of Jesus, you have a critical identity in the world. It's an identity we must embrace to see transformation in ourselves and the world around us. In this message, Jason shows us that identity and how we must embrace it.

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GOD WASTES NOTHING (6.11.23)

This summer, as we're starting to begin gathering for public worship services, we're continuing our walk through the book of John. This week, we're in John 11:45-57, where the people who were against Jesus were in full panic mode. And why not? He'd just raised a guy from the dead! But they weren't about to go quietly...

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