Messages

What kind of people would help us the most as we commit to growing spiritually in 2025? Who would be the perfect members of a spiritual growth team, and how to we find those people? In this second week of our 4-part series, we’ll look closely at the qualities Jesus was looking for as he assembled his first disciples and learn how we can build the best team for our own spiritual journey.

Pursuing God cannot be a journey we take on our own. For as much as we’d like to fly solo, none of the personal and spiritual growth goals we may have for 2025 will be reached without the support, challenge, and encouragement of other people. But who should be on our support team? What does it look like to assemble the spiritual friends and family we’ll need to focus on God and get closer to him this year? In this first week of our 4-week series, we’ll see that Jesus started his own team-building journey by making sure he was rooted in a relationship with God. We’ll follow his lead and set some God-focused goals together to launch into a vibrant new year!

Ever feel anxious about the unknown? The story of 12-year-old Jesus getting ‘lost’ at the temple is surprisingly relatable. His actions show us how to navigate uncertainty with confidence, trust, and a sense of purpose. It’s a powerful reminder that even in life’s most confusing moments, there’s a way to grow and find peace.

Zechariah, Elizabeth, and Mary are three people who responded to life-changing news with heartfelt songs of faith and joy. These ancient songs remind us to pause and reflect on God’s faithfulness, even in silence, and to open our hearts to His mission with joyful anticipation. Join us as we uncover how their stories invite us to trust God’s plans and embrace hope this Christmas season.

What should we do when we see injustice all around us? This is the question asked by the ancient prophet Malachi. He saw his country worn down immoral leadership, financial recklessness, and abuse of power. God answered him with the promise of a brighter future. This week, we’ll explore God’s promise of a coming “Sun of Righteousness” and look at what we can do to be part of the solution to the problems we see.

Isaiah, an aged Hebrew Prophet, is gazing into the horizon and sees his nation and people facing a dark future. He knows he won’t be there to remind them of God’s presence and love. Weighed down by the darkness before him, Isaiah is given a message for God’s people: “Comfort my people.” This week, we’ll look the pinnacle of Isaiah vision for the future, the role of a coming Suffering Servant and King who will carry the sins of the world and bring about God’s good plans for the world.

Sometimes things appear to be at their worst, right before they get better. There’s an… read more

As the period of exile came to a close for God’s ancient people in the Bible, they were reminded of how God had walked them through even their darkest of times. How can we do the same? How can we root ourselves in God’s love and guidance, and celebrate his presence with others? This week we’ll read a famous story of a prophet named Ezra in the Bible as he and his people are overwhelmed by God’s goodness – and learn how we can have that same experience.

One minute, the things of life are falling into place and you’re gaining momentum. The next, a curveball comes your way that forces you to rethink your whole life plan. Where is God in those moments of unexpected complication? How does he respond to the breakdowns and pitfalls of our lives? Can God use us, even when we’re facing situations and challenges, we didn’t plan for? This week we’ll read the inspiration story of Esther from the Bible and learn that God isn’t held back by our unexpected challenges; instead, he wants to use you exactly where you are today.

We often incorrectly assume that when we face challenging situations, it must be a sign that God is distant. The truth we learn in the Bible is just the opposite: God never leaves us, and we can often feel his presence the most when we’re in the midst of our greatest challenges. This week we’ll read the famous Bible story of 3 friends who faced an extreme risk, but as they faced it together, got to experience God in miraculous and powerful way.

In a world where disagreement is common, it can be easy to use our morals and values as a tool to insulate ourselves from others. God’s plan for his people is quite the opposite: his desire is that by living out his values, we’d be able to share his love and comfort with everyone. This week we’ll see how an ancient young prophet from the Old Testament, Daniel, went from being a scholar in captivity to a blessing to an entire nation because he lived and shared God’s values.

Have you ever had the feeling that you’re a stranger living in a strange land? Have you ever felt like you’re not quite at home in today’s culture? These feelings can be small annoyances, but they can also lead to major worry and anxiety as we seek to live in a world that can seem hostile or uncaring. During this 5-week series, we’ll explore a period of biblical history in which God’s people were conquered, removed from their homeland, and forced to live in exile, under the thumb of foreign rulers. They experienced, first-hand, what it meant to wrestle against their surroundings, yet still feel and share God’s love and hope. Though every feeling of exile is challenging, we’ll learn how it’s also an opportunity for followers of God to embrace their true connection to him and grow the ability to see themselves as citizens of God’s Kingdom

How quickly do you respond to good advice? In this final week of our GET WISE series, we’ll look at the story of King Josiah – a sixteen-year-old who had a heart for God and a quick response to wisdom. We’ll see how he prioritized God in his life and how we can do the same.

We are people who like to be prepared and in control.  In fact, there’s almost nothing that will interrupt our lives as much as situations that turn out to be different than our expectations.  How, then, do we process God’s directions that might look different than our life plan?  How can we navigate the moment when God’s instructions shake up our expectations?  This Sunday we’ll learn from the story of an ancient warrior in the Bible who overcame his own self-protective instincts to let God completely transform his life.

Making decisions is challenging! And the bigger the decision, the more pressure! How can we learn to grow in our decision-making ability? This week, we begin a new series of messages called Get Wise. We’ll be looking at three leaders in ancient Israel who responded to advice in very different ways and the impact they had. And we’ll start this Sunday with the story of King Rehoboam. We’ll see how his rejection of wisdom brough division and how we can welcome wisdom in ways that bring unity!

When we think of the benefits of successful leadership, the list seems obvious: money, fame, power, control. But what if there was something even more valuable, more life-giving than any of the worldly rewards we usually chase? This week, we’ll finish up our exploration of the greatest kings of the Bible and see how they pursued wisdom above all other goals.

The are many dangers that can tank our leadership: bad decisions, pride, over-extension, even bad luck.  But what if the greatest danger to our leadership was something completely avoidable?  What if it’s the comfort and idleness that our growing leadership brings that could be our greatest undoing?  This week we’ll explore a famous biblical leader’s fall from grace, what seemingly-insignificant problem caused his fall, and how God eventually restored him.  We’ll find out that God can help protect us from that same danger, and offers us that same forgiveness.

When it comes to leadership, they say it’s “lonely at the top.” But the truth is, it can be lonely as we grow in leadership at any stage. The pressure to become a breakout star, to rise above others, and to achieve self-made success can leave us cold and isolated. But what if the key to real leadership wasn’t flying solo, but developing rich and supportive friendships? This week we’ll take a look at one of the most powerful friendships in the Bible and see how God uses deep relationships to help us maximize our personal influence.

Climbing the ladder of leadership and success is exhausting. And we’ve all heard the horror stories about the stress and fickle rewards that wait for us, even if we reach the top. So, what if there was a different path to becoming a person of powerful influence – a path that didn’t come at the cost of our families, our standards, and our own sense of wholeness? As we kick off this new fall season, we’ll start by exploring the story of how one of the most famous people in the Bible, King David, was called into leadership by God. We’ll discover God’s new and refreshing perspective on how each one of us can maximize our personal impact.

Who is your leader? Not at work, or school, or home… but over your whole life? Who do you look to for wisdom and warnings about how to live your life? As we finish our three-week series in the Old Testament book of Judges, we’ll see how this dark season in Israel’s history ended with a movement away from God, not toward God. We’ll see what their story can teach us about keeping our hearts and minds open to God’s loving leadership of our lives.