Faith Community Church

Leadership Weekend: Feedback (with Pastor Dorian Botsis)

JONAH: How to See the World Through God's Eyes

Pastor Mike references this song in his message. Check it out!: https://youtu.be/6Hi-VMxT6fc Jonah was angry that he was so successful. He didn't want these people to receive forgiveness. He felt they deserved to be punished. Jonah knew God's character. Throughout the whole story, he knew that God was loving, kind and merciful. He would forgive. God sends an object lesson. God reveals the true nature of Jonah's faith through a plant. Jonah was a religious man who did not see the world through Go...

JONAH: How to be Successful

Jonah had a powerfully successful ministry: the whole city converted. Ninevah was in tough shape. Their nation had diminished in power, influence and reputation. A famine had struck the land so the people were suffering economically and physically. They were looking for hope and Jonah delivered it. The people jumped on the prospect of God's help and dedicated themselves to change. God proved Himself faithful once again. When they converted, He forgave them. Its amazing, God is eager to respond t...

JONAH: How to Pray when you are in Trouble

To check out the videos Pastor Mike references in this episode go to: https://youtu.be/K-H35Mpj4uk (In the Heart of the Sea - Final Trailer) http://www.iamsecond.com/seconds/wayne-huizenga/ (I Am Second - Wayne Huizenga) Life is miserable when you don't obey God. We run from His call into trouble. Jonah thought he was dead. He sank into the seas and God sent a most unusual salvation. It was an object lesson. Jonah was reminded that death was terrible, separation from God miserable and disobedien...

JONAH: What to do when you don't want to do what God wants you to do

Jonah received a clear, direct call from God to bring a message of change to a specific people in a specific place. The call was undeniable; Jonah didn't want to do it. So, what do you do when you don't want to do what God wants you to do? One option is to run, avoid the responsibility. This is a particularly appealing option when you don't like the people—you believe they deserve to be punished—and don't want to help them. Obedience is a sign that we love God and see people the way He does. We ...

EMOJI: Anger

God gets angry. So does Jesus. God gets angry at injustice and oppression. Christ gets angry at suffering and with leaders who seek their own benefit rather than the benefit of those they lead. They both hate to see religious leaders neglect their responsibilities to shepherd God's people and twist religion into something that weighs people down rather than free them. Unfortunately, anger can be destructive. We can become instinctive, lashing out with anger before we realize it and then find our...

EMOJI: Envy

Envy is the only emotion that makes it's way in the Ten Commandments (covet). It's an expression of lust and greed as well as a possible motivation for stealing, murder and adultery. It is a force that directs many sinful behaviors. Interestingly, it can also be a motivating force for good as well. The Greek word for 'lust' can be used to describe the passion that drives our godly ambitions. When we see people advancing their lives, improving their relationships and growing spiritually, envy can...

EMOJI: Sadness

Expressed in a healthy fashion, sadness can motivate us to be compassionate as we identify with other people's suffering. Sadness also gives us the opportunity to evaluate the true worth of what we have lost. In addition, it allows us to express our love for a person who is gone as well as the pain we are suffering from life's tribulations. Left unchecked though, sadness can grow into despair or depression.It has the power to immobilize us. We stop living in the present because we can't move on ...

EMOJI: Fear

To check out the video Pastor Mike referenced this week: https://www.youtube.com/v/IY-FzWumn_A?start=122&end=216 Fear is an interesting emotion. We are called to 'fear God' - respect His power, His wrath over injustice and His holy distinction. Healthy fear can also keep us from danger and personal harm. Yet, it can immobilize us so that we try to control life and relationships in order to minimize threat. Because of fear, we may not take risks that could grow us or advance our mission in li...

HESED: God's Love – The Day Love Won

God's love transforms. The grave becomes a stage for life. Where once guards secured a lifeless body, an angel protects a monument to victory, a garden of hopeless grief becomes the scene of celebration - all because God's love has won. Christians pushed worship from the end of the week to the beginning because they wanted to always remember the amazing display of love, life, hope and peace that emerged on Sunday. Their devotion to Jesus Christ moved them out of hiding, in fear of their lives, i...

HESED: God's Love – Christ The Word

To watch the video Pastor Mike references in this week's message: https://www.rightnow.org/Content/VideoElement/164591 Throughout the record of the Old Testament, God demonstrates, displays, and describes His loving nature but there is the sense that it is like looking at a photo of the Grand Canyon. You see it and catch glimpses of its majesty but don't fully comprehend it. So God sends Jesus. He is known as the "word" (a concept with multiple applications). He is full of 'grace and truth', a p...

HESED: God's Love - God's Love and My Suffering

To watch the video Pastor Mike references in this week's message, go to: https://youtu.be/TaNM_T1d1as God's love is the reason why people turn to Him during times of suffering. Sometimes we realize that the suffering is the consequence, as warned by God, for our actions. We feel the pain of our choices and realize our folly so we turn in humility to God. Sometimes, we suffer because the world is a harsh place. The wicked prosper and the righteous do not. We turn to God in our confusion and cry o...

HESED: God's Love - His Mercy

To watch the video Pastor Mike references in this message, go to: http://www.iamsecond.com/seconds/james-caldemeyer/ God's love becomes the reason why we can ask Him to forgive our sins. He first demonstrated it in the Garden when He covered Adam and Eve's shame. Forgiveness and mercy became part of the description of His nature. Because He knows our inability to not sin, He promises forgiveness based on His nature: eternal, complete, gracious and unexpected. Properly understood, it compels us t...

HESED: God's LOVE - Prayer

To see the video referenced in this message: https://youtu.be/UrvaSqN76h4 God's love provides the motivation to prayer. We come to Him because we know He wants us to come to Him. We can walk into His presence with confidence, not fear because our Father loves us. God knows us intimately, even knowing what we will ask before we bring it up. He wants to provide in a way that demonstrates His love so He answers our prayers in a manner that catches our attention. When He answers, we can receive His ...

HESED: God's LOVE – His Identity

To see the video Pastor Mike references in this message: https://youtu.be/VCdqwowpr4Q When Moses asked God to show Himself. God chose to describe Himself in terms of love. While all the other religions emphasized power and holiness and fear, the God of Israel emphasized His love. The term He used as the primary description of His nature is as indefinable as He is. It is a description of love that is unexpected and complex. This demonstration of His very nature was so profound that it stunned Mos...

5 Love Languages (with Rob Stadolnik)

Enemies of the Heart (with Tony Ianacelli, Spiritual Growth Team)

APPROACH: Amazement

God is amazing. People who come to see God's nature and understand His works find Him astounding. Whenever we discover something or someone we find beautiful, pure, rare, unparalleled or infinitely good, we marvel. Whether the work of an artist, the character of a hero or the beauty of nature, we find our attention locked and our spirits lifted. We praise it, applaud it, stand stunned before it, surrender to it and sacrifice for it. Christians worship God when they approach Him like this. When w...

APPROACH: Intentionality

People rush into weekend services harried, busy, distracted, bored, frustrated, and disengaged. They skip weekend to weekend like a stone on water without ever sinking into God's presence during the week. The affairs of the week washes away the impact of the last weekend they attended. They forget their commitments, their experiences of the divine, their insights that were supposed to change how they live. Instead, they bring worry with them. They bring the anger and frustration of broken relati...

APPROACH: Faithfulness

It is hard to worship God. Our desires, our attention, and our affections are constantly drawn away from God to other people or other things. Even as we draw closer to God, we are tempted to pull away. Sometimes we are tempted by people who do not understand our desire to worship God. They mock, persecute, minimize and try to woo us away. Sometimes we are tried by the difficult experiences of life. They challenge our resolve and cause us to question God's concern for us. Sometimes we are distrac...

APPROACH: Honesty

Genuine worship includes honesty. The Gospels are full of encounters between Jesus and people who confessed their sin, doubts, weaknesses and failings. They came to God without pretense or façade. The Gospels are also full of people who came to Jesus feeling that they deserved to be recognized by God. They took pride in their religious practices, expressed contempt for the sinful practices of others, found security in their lineage and protected their religious worldviews. They felt challenged b...

Author of Creation (with Marty Pomeroy)

No Strings Attached: The GIFT of God's Purpose (with George Cladis, Executive Pastor)

We do not blink an eye to see countless Wise Men occupying “made in China” plastic crèche scenes decorating shops at Christmas time: a scene that would be shocking and disturbing to First Century Israelites. One simply does not expect pagan astrologists at the birth of the Jewish Messiah of God (let alone crusty shepherds, but that’s for another sermon). Yet it seems consistent with this outrageous God–who acts with a flair for Tom-foolery and holy mischief–that we find at the Messiah’s Delivery...

No Strings Attached: The GIFT of God's Presence (Christmas Eve)

Five hundred years pass between the end of the last book in the Old Testament and the Christmas story. These are centuries where God's people remain faithful but His silence is deafening. When God finally did speak, it was through the life of Christ. God's silence is broken by words woven into a human life. Suddenly the God who seemed distant is near. You can see Him in Christ's deeds, hear Him in Christ's words, feel Him through Christ's touch. This child born at Christmas is the gift of God's ...

No Strings Attached: The GIFT of God's Peace

The Christmas story has a lot of strife. There is a broken relationship between a man who believes his finance has been unfaithful. There is the despot, full of fear and hatred who seeks to kill a child. Blood runs in the streets from his violence. Despite this, the story speaks of a peace that is available to everyone. Its the same today. We live in a world where people inflict senseless violence on others. It happens in schools, movie theaters, and churches. Places where you would expect safet...

No Strings Attached: The GIFT of God's Provision

Life can feel overwhelming. Something like a unanticipated pregnancy can send our world spinning. Mary was on her own with the threat of losing her marriage, being rejected by her family and becoming a single mom without an income. For us, it doesn't have to be a surprise pregnancy. It can be job loss, unexpected illness, infidelity, the break up of a family, depression, and much more. Into these conditions, God emerges - a divine presence who provides help. He touches people's hearts, maneuvers...

No Strings Attached: The GIFT of God's Plan

In this first message, we'll look at the gift of God's plan. The world can seem like a chaotic place. There are stories of war and violence, suffering and tragedy, economic uncertainty and social instability. The people in the Christmas story had all these same uncertainties. Incredibly, God had a plan! He was working in their world and through their lives to achieve something great. He is doing the same today. Even though we may feel insecure and unstable because of what we see in the news or e...

It's Kind of a BIG DEAL (Synergy 2015): What Happens When We DIE?

"Christians seem to have strong beliefs about what happens when someone dies. They talk about a heaven and a hell. What are these places like and why should I care where I go? Who (or what) determines where someone goes when they die? Why would a loving God send anyone to hell or deny anyone heaven? Christians seem to tie a decision regarding Jesus Christ with access to heaven. What does Christ have to do with it? There are people I know who have died. Are they in heaven? They were good people s...

It's Kind of a BIG DEAL (Synergy 2015): Who decides what's RIGHT and WRONG?

"Christians claim they know right from wrong. They judge people according to a standard that was developed in ancient societies. Because of that, they have justified slavery, suppressed women and promoted outdated sexual mores. Anyone who doesn't fit their narrow definition of morality is unaccepted and even ostracized. How can they say that there is a universal code that transcends all cultures of all time? Who are they to tell me what is right and wrong? Why would they be so condemning and jud...

It's Kind of a BIG DEAL (Synergy 2015): Can SCIENCE and FAITH be Compatible?

"The stories in the Bible are like the myths developed by other ancient civilizations. They didn't possess the knowledge and technology that we have today so they interpreted the world through their primitive perspectives. They believed in miracles, gods who worked in supernatural ways and heavenly messengers. No rational person with our understanding of the natural world could take faith seriously. The biggest example of this is in the origin of the world and the evolution of life. What the Bib...