Messages

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.

Someone once said: “Knowledge is learning from your mistakes; wisdom is learning from other people’s mistakes.” This week in our series from the Old Testament book of Judges, we’ll explore the story of one of the Bible most tragic leaders – Samson. We’ll discover that it is better to follow God’s desires, than our own… and we should live with the end of our story in the front of our minds.

What does it mean to be “called” by God? We sometimes have this image in our minds that people who are called by God have a heroic certainty about their calling, make big decisions all by themselves… and are impervious to big mistakes. But the stories of the Bible give us a different picture. As begin our three-week series in the Old Testament book of Judges, we’ll look at one of the most celebrated female leaders in the Bible – Deborah. Through her story, we’ll see how God brings us not only his presence in all the details of our lives, but also the people we need so we don’t have to face life’s battle alone.

You’ve hit the wall. You’re out of energy. The obstacle is too big to overcome. Maybe it’s a work, in a relationship, a health crisis, or in your relationship with God. What do you do when you are facing a battle that is too big for you to fight? In our last message of our series, The Great Rescue, we’ll look at the story of the Battle of Jericho, and unlikely military victory that can remind us of the unusual plans and partnerships that get us through the everyday battles of our lives.

We are all told to plan the future, but it’s easy to be so invested in the future that we miss what God has for us right in the present.  This is especially difficult when “the present” isn’t what we would like it to be. How can we thrive in the present without getting ahead of ourselves. This week, in our series The Great Rescue, we’ll look at the story of God miraculously providing food for the Israelites as they wandered the desert. We’ll see how they learned to trust God for their “daily bread” and how the “desert experiences” in our lives can help us to grow in trust as well!

We live in an instant culture. We are used to quick results and fast changes. When things are slow or take time, we assume something is wrong with us or the system. But some of the most important events in life require great patience. In this second week of our four-week series called The Great Rescue, we’ll spend time in the story of “Passover.” We’ll see how this long night of waiting for God’s divine rescue can help us find confidence and connection with others as we wait for importance changes in our lives.

Many of us experience what is called “Imposter Syndrome.” It’s the feeling of anxiety when called to something important or being afraid someone will see you as fraud or phony. This is a common experience, especially in the spiritual life. This week, begin a four-week series The Great Rescue, looking at the greatest imposter syndrome story in the Bible – when God calls Moses to deliver the Hebrew people from Egyptian slavery. We’ll see how this Moses’ calling by God can encourage us with our everyday callings to work, relationships, and our own relationship with God!

The story of Joseph in the Bible is so dramatic, it became the basis for a Broadway musical! It’s full of incredible highs, but even more intense lows. Through it all, we’re able to see how God’s promises are consistent, even in times of hardship and testing. This week we’ll learn to trust God’s promises more, find him active even in our seasons of difficulty, and share his love with people in need around us.

In the story from the Bible we’ll explore this week, God challenges a man named Abraham to trust him completely.  Abraham must face emotions we’re very familiar with in our complicated world: confusion, worry, fear, and even panic.  But Abraham gives us an incredible example of trusting God’s promises over the power of his own emotions.  Together we’ll learn how we can follow Abraham’s example, trust God boldly in our lives, and reap the rich reward of God’s presence and peace.