“Falling Into Goodness: Follow Jesus” (March 25, 2018-Palm Sunday)

from Matthew 21:1-11

What is the statement you are making with your life?

Is it one of security, or of uneasiness?  Is it a statement of confidence, or are you seeking identity in people and possessions?

Everything we do or say makes a deeper statement about who we are and what we believe…everything we do even makes a statement about Who we believe Jesus to be.

What if this Palm Sunday, you didn’t merely watch Jesus “pass by” on the road into Jerusalem amid shouts of “Hosanna!” but you chose to turn and follow Him?

w/ Vern Collins

“Falling Into Goodness: Wrestle With God” (March 18, 2018)

from Genesis 32:22-32

Yes, you’re taught not to fight…but we fight anyway don’t we?  Maybe it’s not about throwing punches, but it nearly impossible to go through this life without finding ourselves in contention with others from time to time…

What if fighting is actually a part of the journey?  What if it has everything to do with what you are fighting for and who you are fighting?

For our 5th Sunday in Lent we consider Jacob and the fight he had with God…perhaps it’s time for you to get in the dirt with God!

w/ Vern Collins

“Falling Into Goodness: Choose the Humble Path” (March 11, 2018)

from Matthew 5:1-3

As we continue our series through the season of Lent, we are invited to consider one of Jesus’ keys to the kingdom we have been talking about in recent weeks…

Humility.

What if, instead of the way we tend to think of humility, as what we stand to lose by choosing the humble path, we dare to consider that humility is instead about what we might gain?

w/ Vern Collins

“Falling Into Goodness: Imagine the Kingdom” (Marcy 4, 2018)

from Luke 17:20-21

We often speak of life with Christ as being a “journey,” but inherent in a journey is that at some point there is an end…a finish line.  What does the finish line with Christ look like?  How do we know when we’ve arrived?

On the 3rd Sunday of Lent, you’re invited to consider what Jesus means when He talks about this Kingdom that is coming or that is near…

Where exactly is this Kingdom breaking in?  Around us…or inside us? And if it’s inside you…imagine what that means for your life!

w/ Vern Collins

“Falling Into Goodness: Live From Your True Self”

from Psalm 42 and Ephesians 3:16-19

What if you longed for God, simply for Who God is, rather than longing for the things God can do for you?

In our second week in Lent, you’re invited to consider how life might begin to look different if you live from your true self, from your true nature as one created to be deeply connected to God.

w/ Vern Collins

“Falling Into Goodness: Dwell With God” (February 18, 2018)

from Matthew 4:1-11

As we begin our journey through the season of Lent, we invite you to consider Lent perhaps differently than you ever have before.

What if, instead of surrendering some habit you are trying to break, or feeling guilty about the things you can’t surrender or simply don’t want to surrender, you saw Lent as a time to rest?  A time to rest in the ground of God’s goodness, and allow God to speak to you about who you truly are as one loved deeply by Him.

w/ David Hockett

“God Is: Already and Not Yet” (February 4, 2018)

from Revelation 21:1-7

Many of us have a difficult time waiting…for anything.  In this world of immediacy, we have grown impatient and feel like waiting is a waste of time…

And yet, for far too many followers of Christ, faith is little more than waiting for some promise that is going to come at the end, when the reality is that promise of a future hope is meant to have bearing on the “already,” that is the life you are living right now.

w/ Vern Collins

“God Is: Compassionate and Just” (January 28, 2018)

from Matthew 18:21-35

week 3 of our “God Is” series…

while it would be easier to be able to define God as having ONE attribute, the reality is we will never see God for Who He is, and will never live pursuing the life He longs to give as long as we continue to limit our view of Him.

w/ Vern Collins

“God Is: Vast and Personal” (January 21, 2018)

from Isaiah 40 and Psalm 139

 

week 2 of our “God Is” series…

while it would be easier to be able to define God as having ONE attribute, the reality is we will never see God for Who He is, and will never live pursuing the life He longs to give as long as we continue to limit our view of Him.

w/ Vern Collins

“Anxious: Mary” (December 17, 2017)

from Luke 1:26-56

How do you navigate the unexpected interruptions that come in life?  The phone calls, the turn of events, the changes that sometimes come without any warning?  Do you just get through them, try to survive until you get to the other side?

What if it were possible to navigate those unexpected interruptions and challenges faithfully rather than just trying to get through them?  What if God could change your worry into willingness or your pain into possibility?

w/ Vern Collins

“Anxious: Zechariah” (December 3, 2017)

from Luke 1:5-23

If we are taught anything about waiting, we are taught simply to be patient…we’re typically not taught anything about how to navigate the feelings of anxiousness that can arise when we find ourselves waiting for something.

Over the next few weeks we will look at how being anxious in our waiting can either be a hindrance to being a part of what God is doing, or serve as a catalyst that will propel us into deeper faith and more faithful participation in what God is doing.

w/ Vern Collins

“Jesus As: King” (November 26, 2017)

from Philippians 2:1-11

What determines your priorities?  What drives your life?

Is it Jesus?

Many who consider themselves Christians, while grateful for the saving work of Christ on the Cross, are still content to follow, “little kings,” as they work to establish their own, “little kingdoms.”  And yet, based on Paul’s use of what is likely an early church hymn, we find that there is really only One Who is worthy of being called King.

Imagine how your life might change if you not only looked to Jesus as Savior,  but submitted to Him as King!

w/ Vern Collins

“Jesus as: Priest” (November 19, 2017)

from 1 Peter 2:4-11

What drives your life?  For many wrapped up in whatever they may do is a search for an identity, or a means by which they are defined…

What if rather than working so hard to create an identity for yourself, you embraced the identity God longs to offer you through His Son Jesus?  And what if that identity called you to live your life on behalf of those around you…regardless of where you find yourself planted?  Part of a royal priesthood…that the world may know.

“Set Free: Faithfulness” (November 5, 2017)

from Jeremiah 32:1-15

It’s not that we don’t want to respond faithfully to the life-changing gift that God has given us in Christ…it’s that too often faithfulness feels just too inconvenient.

What if instead of thinking about what it might mean for us now, we begin to think about what God is calling us to in terms of what it might mean for God’s Kingdom in the future?

What if you begin to think of both the little acts of faithfulness and the huge leaps of faithfulness as something might God use to teach you about Himself now as well as plant seeds for growth in the lives of others in the future?

w/ Vern Collins

“Set Free: Self-Control” (October 29, 2017)

from 2 Peter 1:1-11

If you could control anything what would it be?  Time?  Distractions? The weather?

What about yourself?  What about those things that might be a distraction or a hindrance to experiencing, enjoying, and living in the fullness of life with Christ?  What about those things that hinder and harm relationship with others, or those things that affect how you feel about YOU?

Imagine how your day or your week might begin to look different if you took seriously Peter’s words that one of the results of our faith in Jesus should be self-control.

w/ Vern Collins