What do you do after God reveals His plan for you? If you're like anyone in the Bible, you wait. And while we have a tendency to believe that waiting is simply wasted time, there's more going on than meets the eye - and there are definitely things you can do to actively wait, so that when God is ready, you're ready, too.
Many people over the age of 70 have figured out that chasing after happiness doesn't work. Taking a particular job, marrying a particular person, living in a particular town is NOT going to make you happy. Instead of asking what will make you happy, you are probably better off figuring out what problem you could help solve. In this message geared toward graduates, Max Vanderpool teaches on Nehemiah 1 and the power of a burden for something broken.
They just need to. It's a phrase we deploy about all kinds of problems. Race problems. Family problems. Political problems. Education problems. They just need to. But that phrase often misses what God's up to, what God wants to do. In this message, Max Vanderpool walks through the calling of Moses in hopes that you will abandon they just need to and look to God and what He wants to do.
Face it. We tend to put a lot of stock in who we are based upon what we do, what others say about us and what we have. But is that really wise? Is helpful? In this message, Max Vanderpool makes a case for what rooting your identity in God looks like.
God's gift of salvation is more than just a ticket to heaven. It's restoring what was broken in the fall...you identity. It means that you no longer have to look for what you do, how you perform, what others think of you or how you feel to TELL you who you are or what you're worth. In this message, Max Vanderpool share TWO ways to pass along a blessing to others that cements their true identity.
From our April InterGen on Perseverance, Max Vanderpool shares why we can hang tough and how we can help others do the same.
The biggest imprint on our lives is what we did or did not receive from our parents. Every one of us looks to our parents, whether we want to recognize it or not, for a blessing...a mix of unconditional love and acceptance. Unfortunately, this is a broken world with broken people...and broken parents produce broken children. In this message, Max Vanderpool outlines what can happen - and what God can do.
Every culture has a way of identity formation. Every culture has a way of helping individuals determine who they are and how to express it and live it out. Ours is no different. In this very important message, Max Vanderpool outlines how our culture shapes identity and why, more often than not, it doesn't work.
Jesus didn't save us to find safety and refuge inside a church building. He saved us so that we could be the church, so that we could be his family, so that we could be his hands and his feet here on earth in establishing his kingdom...here on earth. You and I have a crucial role to play in God's Big Story...and deep down, we know it.
In the Gospels, we see Jesus consistently reversing what should be absolutely irreversible. He heals lepers. He restores sight to the blind. He commands a dead guy to come out of a tomb...and the guy obeys him! Jesus even restore the cut-off ear of the servant of the high priest on the night he was arrested. Despite all of that, his followers struggled with doubt and skepticism that he had actually risen from the dead. But once they were convinced...once they saw him with their own eyes (and ate...
Everything in the Old Testament points to Jesus: his teaching, his life, his ministry. He was the fulfillment of God's promise. And his death on the cross cemented, once and for all, that currying favor in God's sight has absolutely NOTHING to do with our performance. In a word, grace.
We all have peaks and valleys in our lives. Sometimes, things go well. Sometimes, they don't. What if it's in the valleys that God most clearly demonstrates His commitment to us? What if you're never so far off script that God can't bring you back? 1,700 years of history in roughly 7 minutes - which points to how amazing God really is.
God made a promise to his people that he would always love them - and he kept it. Listen as Max discusses God's promise.
Sin made everything broken, but God didn't leave! Listen as Max talks about sins relation to "The Big Story" and God's plan.
Sometimes we fail to see the bigger story of the bible. What if we read the Bible as a story in which God is the main character? Listen as Rev. Dr. Brian Hull discusses the "bigger story" of the Bible and how it connects with our relationship to God.
It's time to CHANGE some of the ways we, in the church, respond to LGBT issues - and more importantly, LGBT people. In this message, Max Vanderpool issues a pastoral call to tweak our methodology while maintaining our Biblical integrity.
There's a lot of advice out there about dating, relationships and romance. Some of it's good, and some of it's absolutely stupid. So how can you tell the difference? And what about finding your soulmate, the one God has for you? In this message, Max Vanderpool chases after imaginary animals and talks about one myth that's worth getting rid of.
There are voices all throughout our lives. These voices sometimes tell us things about ourselves, sometimes good, sometimes bad. In this message, James Ballard speaks on the voices in our lives and which we should listen to.
It's on billboards and magazines, it's in our phones and on our screens, it's talked about, hyped and celebrated. Sex is everywhere, and we're told MANY things about sex. So how do we make sense of what we're being told? In this message, Max Vanderpool tackles the phrase, it's just sex.
God made a statement about who would receive the good news first. It wasn't the famous, the well-connected or the elite. It was shepherds, blue-collar workers of the first century. In this teaching time from our December 2015 InterGen, Max has Generations reconstruct the Luke 2 account.
Most Americans, and even American church-goers, believe in God, believe that Jesus is God and believe in an afterlife. But when you ask them how that works and how you can know, with any certainty, one's standing with God, they start using words and phrases like, I hope or I've tried to live a good life. The Gospel, the one, true Gospel flies in the face of that. And we see it clearly in the life of Mary as she is told that God is going to give her a son.
All of us know what it's like to live under the rule (or thumb) somebody. And when that somebody is RUTHLESS or a jerk, life is simply miserable. Believe it or not, a big part of what the Gospel is all about is the arrival of God's RULE. In this message, Max Vanderpool ties one of the biggest themes of the Bible together with the Christmas narrative - and why it's worth it to worship and follow.
The earliest Christians used a word to describe the core of their message: Gospel (or, literally translated, good news). These Christians wanted YOU to know that something BIG had happened...something that changes everything. So why is it that, in many churches, the Gospel is reduced to a set of truths or an experience? When did it stop being news? In this message, Max Vanderpool ties together one of the larger themes of the Bible and why Christmas is so important.
It really IS possible to avoid stupid - especially when it comes to debt. That's because debt and freedom tend to move in opposite directions. The more debt you have, the less free you become. In this very practical message, we talk bout college debt, credit cards, car loans, pay day loans and how to walk with wisdom in terms of debt. Parents: you may want to fast forward to the last 10 minutes for some great advice for your kids.
A lot of us believe we will be generous financially when our student loans are gone, when the house is finished, when the kids are grown or when we've finally snagged a real job. In short, we bank on the potential for tomorrow's generosity. But is that a wise decision? And what do we lose, if anything at all, by waiting? In this message, Max Vanderpool talks about the connection between today and tomorrow.
Wait a minute? That's MY money! How often have you felt like your money wasn't going far enough, doing enough or reproducing enough? What if there was a subtle mindset shift that could be a game-changer in your finances? There IS. In this message, Max Vanderpool teaches on one of the most misunderstood aspects of money from the BIble.
It turns out Murphy was right. If it CAN go wrong, it WILL go wrong. Because of that, you need to be prepared for the UNEXPECTED...because unexpected stuff will happen to you that costs money. In this message, Max Vanderpool, draws out the very first thing you must do to go ANYWHERE financially.
Words matter, and the words spoken to us and the words we speak to ourselves BUILD the worlds we live in. In this powerful message, Brian Hull, charts a path toward building a world of love we can live in and invite others into.
Why is prayer SO HARD for Americans when things are going well, when the bills are paid and when relationship are good? And why is prayer SO EASY when life is falling apart, when the doctor says cancer, when there isn't enough money for bills or when a key relationship has crumbled? And why is it so easy, then, to pray continually throughout the day without even thinking about it? In this message, Max Vanderpool shares why it's important to know WHO you're talking to in prayer and how that could...
Christmas Day. That's the ONE day you can count on when Americans won't expect you to work or answer the phone or place an order. One day out of the ENTIRE YEAR. It didn't used to be this way. It used to better. People actually stopped what they were doing once a week to simply BE and NOT do. Recovering the Sabbath is, perhaps, one of the more important issues Christians could tackle in the coming year - and it would be a welcomed gift to many, many Americans.
