The world is full of suffering. Sometimes it is the result of natural disasters: earthquakes, famine, tsunami, etc. At other times, suffering comes from the hands of evil people who inflict pain upon others. It could be the child who contracts cancer or the despot who oppresses a whole nation for personal gain. Whatever the cause, the suffering induces pain, leaving long-term affliction or results in death. How could God allow such suffering and evil? Christians talk about God's love, but that's...
Nov 01, 2015•41 min
"There are so many religions in the world, how can Christians think their way is the only way to God? What does that say about the other religions? There are over a billion people in China alone, most of whom are not Christian. Are they all wrong? What about all the people who have never heard about Jesus Christ? What happens to them? It seems simplistic and naive to believe that Christians possess sole access to God. It even seems arrogant. All these religions contradict each other, fight with ...
Oct 25, 2015•43 min
"Christians place a lot of stock in the Bible. They study it, memorize it and try to teach it to others. They talk about it as a source of truth but how is it really different from the spiritual record of other faiths? Isn't it just a compilation of stories, folklore and myths that were created to communicate how one religion understood reality? How can you believe that miracles actually happened? The Bible contains some beautiful, poignant and helpful insights but it can't be more than just a c...
Oct 18, 2015•40 min
Many people carry a burden of guilt or shame from their past actions. They don't know how to come out from the shadow of the shame in order to find forgiveness. As a result, the weight affects their relationships, their identity, and their perception of God. As Christians, we have been tasked with the privilege of helping them find the forgiveness and cleansing that Christ offers. We should look for the people who sinned and offer them the message of Grace that leads to freedom and life.
Oct 11, 2015•37 min
Christians have always been called to address the needs of people who are broken, grieving, suffering. They may struggle with physical illness, emotional distress, mental dissonance, grief or confusion. As a church, we are called to care for their needs. As Christians, we are called to connect in relationship, loving people to wholeness.
Oct 04, 2015•43 min
Rich Stearns, President of World Vision, addresses the church's responsibility to reach out and help people who live in a fragile nation. A fragile nation is an area of the world where people do not have clean water, sufficient food, physical safety, adequate education or employment. God clearly calls His church to be aware of the people in their communities and in the world who need help in meeting their basic needs for life.
Sep 27, 2015•30 min
To watch the video Pastor Mike references this week, go to: https://storycorps.org/animation/the-road-home/ The Bible consistently talks about the importance of welcoming people who are new to our community. They may have moved from another area of the country or they may have moved from another country. Either way, they are struggling to adapt to region. They lack the connection of relationships that provide acceptance and assistance. They may even struggle to speak our language, understand our...
Sep 20, 2015•36 min
Sep 13, 2015•44 min
Sep 06, 2015•40 min
Aug 30, 2015•42 min
“When people ask, ‘How was your Sabbatical?’ I don’t know what to say. It was one of the greatest gifts I have ever received. It was a deeply moving, restorative journey with God. It was a blessing to my family. Through this series, I’ll be sharing insights I gained for my life and our church. One thing I hopes come through clearly: it was good to pull away – it is also good to come home. I love this church.” – Pastor Mike Laurence
Aug 23, 2015•46 min
God creates us to be in relationship with him. He then invites us and provides us with resources to start and grow that relationship. This invitation is never given just once, but stands as an open invitation to seek God every day.
Aug 16, 2015•42 min
For many of us, we spend the majority of our adult lives working. Sadly, for many, those hours feel wasted. Work is something we do so that we can get money to enjoy the rest of our lives. But God sees work as valuable and important. One of the first things he did in creation was give his newly created people work. We can find enjoyment and satisfaction in work if we discover the way God sees work, and how he sees our work specifically. Knowing how God thinks about work guides our thinking, whic...
Aug 02, 2015•43 min
Very little is possible in our world without money. Money interacts with almost every area of our lives. Viewing money with a biblical mindset and dealing with money according to biblical principles will help us experience transformation and financial health. This includes dealing with issues like giving, saving, debt, budgets, and spending. Beyond that, we touch on a key biblical virtue regarding money - contentment. Knowing what God says about these areas and thinking correctly about them will...
Jul 26, 2015•38 min
Jul 19, 2015•40 min
We all carry hurts from our past that have left emotional scars on us. Most, if not all of us, struggle to find the balance between allowing ourselves to feel our emotions and being controlled by our emotions. God is concerned for our emotional health too and wants to heal our emotional life. God is able to deal with our hurts, even turning them into opportunities to see and experience his grace. He offers us his peace, his presence, his healing power, his forgiveness and his joy amongst others ...
Jul 12, 2015•41 min
The only way to truly change your life is to change the way you think. Your thoughts control your actions. So if you want to change the way you act, you must start by changing the way you think. If you want to be like Christ, you must learn to think like Christ. The goal of this change in thinking is transformation. To transform means "to change the condition, fuinction, nature, character or personality" of something. Transforming is something God does to us.
Jul 05, 2015•42 min
When your body is not healthy it affects how you work, think, act, and respond. God is concerned about our physical bodies. He provides for our needs because he loves us. God wants us to take care of our bodies, not only because that's where we live, but also because that's where he lives. Our body is a temple of the Holy Spirit. Physical health is a spiritual discipline.
Jun 28, 2015•41 min
We are thinking people. God created us with thought and reason. Descartes said, "I think, therefore I am". How we think affects how we act. For many of us the battle of true transformation is a battle of and for our minds. What we read, watch, think about and interact with affects how we think. As we learn more about how we think, we also discover a host of mental health problems that we need to overcome. God wants to transform us by helping us find mental health. What we discover is that we mig...
Jun 21, 2015•40 min
Jun 07, 2015•38 min
May 31, 2015•45 min
May 24, 2015•45 min
A guardrail is a standard of personal behavior that becomes a matter of conscience. When we establish guardrails we discover that we feel a tension. We are drawn towards the unhealthy, inappropriate and addictive side of the rail. This is nothing new, we need to make up our minds to do it. The reality is whether you give in to the tension and break through the guardrail or live with the guardrail, the temptation will always be there. But if we break the guardrails we discover that it becomes eas...
May 17, 2015•40 min
A guardrail is a standard of personal behavior that becomes a matter of conscience. To avoid greed and irresponsibility: give, save, live. We live in a society filled with the consumption assumption. Get more, spend more. John Ortberg calls it the shadow mission of America - more. Contrary to popular belief, God does not need your money. He does not want something from you, he wants something for you. He wants to protect and direct us in life to void the ditches of consuming and hoarding. In oth...
May 10, 2015•40 min
A guardrail is a standard of personal behavior that becomes a matter of conscience. Setting some clear guardrails in your marriage around other relationships, parenting, money and work (ministry) is essential. These guardrails can be established at any time, even now in your marriage. They can also be established before you are married to help you choose a partner. Knowing the guardrails of your married friends helps you to respect them and support them in their marriage too.
May 03, 2015•38 min
A guardrail is a standard of personal behavior that becomes a matter of conscience. If every desire requires guardrails, your desire for physical/sexual intimacy requires reinforced steel. The struggle with sexual sin is not that God finds it more offensive, but rather that it causes immense damage to us and our families. Far too often we flirt with sexual sin instead of fleeing from sexual sin. In this area, culture baits us and then chastises us when we cross the line. The best defense is to f...
Apr 26, 2015•42 min
A guardrail is a standard of personal behavior that becomes a matter of conscience. We need guardrails in our friendship choices too. Friends influence the direction and quality of your lives, therefore we need direction and protection in choosing friends, discerning how close we let friendships become and creating a position from where we can help friends in times of need. Having a good guardrail in friendships also works positively when good friendships guide us towards health and holiness....
Apr 19, 2015•40 min
They're everywhere, but they don't really get much attention . . . until somebody hits one. And then, more often than not, it is a lifesaver. Ever wonder what it would be like to have guardrails in other areas of your life—areas where culture baits you to the edge of disaster and then chastises you when you step across the line? Your friendships. Your finances. Your marriage. Maybe your greatest regret could have been avoided if you had established guardrails. Just as we need physical guardrails...
Apr 12, 2015•42 min
To many, churches are archaic remnants of our American Christian past that has lost it's significance to our society. They are useful for doing good and helping people in crisis but there are other organizations that can serve that purpose without the controversy that religion often introduces. Jesus speaks of the church as a powerful force that can turn the tide of evil. As the first Christians gathered, churches became the physical representation of Christ to the world. They generously served ...
Apr 05, 2015•41 min
Mar 29, 2015•42 min
