In America, we're enamored with the kind of leadership that's visionary, compelling, capable, and is able to muster results. But there's a difference between true leadership and false leadership. Ask anyone who's served under or worked for a talented individual...only to watch that person use them as a stepping stone to some bigger and better. In this message, Pastor Max begins to unpack strength through weakness.
Most of us, when we look at what others have or at what others are doing get a pang of jealousy. We sulk. We complain. We're envious. And we often get mad at God - why does He seem to love them MORE than He seems to love us? In this message, Max Vanderpool, gets to the heart of the issue and how to STOP playing the comparison game.
God is constantly doing the unexpected. When God's Son began His public ministry, they weren't expecting Him to go to the cross. Two thousand years later, it's the same way with God - He's always doing things you DON'T expect. In this message, Max Vanderpool makes a case for why rationality isn't enough...no one can think their way to God. It takes the Spirit.
Holy. It's a four-letter-word in America right now. And that's due, in part, to many years of hypocrisy (folks who SHOULD have been holy and weren't) and many years of holier-than-thou (folks who, because they do certain things and avoid other things, they're somehow better than everyone else). Holiness is also out of style right now, because Americans value authenticity and brokenness MORE. So what's a church to do? Especially when God wants His people to be...holy.
Face it: America is full of inconsiderate jerks! They're everywhere - and they have a tendency, when thinking about Jesus, to think primarily or exclusively about what Jesus does for them. We Americans LIKE a Jesus who heals, who provides and who wins. But that Jesus doesn't capture the full picture of him we get in the Gospels. Jesus was going somewhere - and he calls us to join him.
Apparently, a while back we all stopped RSVP'ing to weddings...or birthday parties...or graduations...or anything, really. And even Facebook has developed a tool to help us keep our options open when it comes to events. Face it: we Americans have commitment issues. Which is interesting when it comes to church, because according to the Bible...marriage is way to talk about church and its relationship with Jesus. Talk about awkward!
Most Americans are looking for a place of worship where they feel comfortable: comfortable with the liturgy (or lack thereof), comfortable with the music, comfortable with the types of people there, comfortable with the preaching. But most of our (actual) experience IN church is awkward and UNcomfortable. In this message, Max Vanderpool, makes the case for why we should expect and embrace the awkward IN church.
Pastors get asked all the time to pray for people. And when we do, we are passionate, hopeful and believing that God is at work. Sometimes, the results of all that praying causes us to think WOW, God! And sometimes the results of all that praying causes us to think WOW, God...REALLY?!? In John's Gospel is an important encounter with two sisters and a brother who's died - and what to do when God doesn't do what you ask for or expect.
Incarnation: it's a word we use at Christmas time, but do we really KNOW what it means? Incarnation means God shares our human frame, participates in our human limitations and enters INTO our world. In short, God moved into the neighborhood. Do you know that God is WITH you? Really know it...in a way that you believe it?
The people of Jesus's day were waiting for a Savior...one who would break the chains of Roman rule. Jesus (the baby, meek and mild) is NOT what they expected. Life is like that. And many of disappointments are tied to expectations which were unfulfilled. Tucked away in Luke's Gospel is the story of Simeon - who was open to the leading of the Holy Spirit - and open to the unexpected ways that God fulfills His promises.
Most of us don't mind getting a gift that has been re-gifted as long as it's new, in the original packaging and has never been used. But when someone tries to give us a broken, damaged, used or clearly worn item, watch out! We consider them a cheapskate. The good news is that our feelings about re-gifting allows us to understand something very important about God...something that affected the Israelites way back and that affects us Americans today.
How much is enough? $25,000/year? $75,000/year? What if you made $5.7 MILLION/year? Would THAT be enough? Because we live in America, we tend to focus on people higher up the economic food chain...people who have MORE than what we do. And that makes life hard for us. There's a better way. In this message, Max Vanderpool lays out ONE THING you can do, over the course of your life, that give you margin and can help you be rich toward God (and it doesn't have to do with giving!).
We're just like the Greco-Romans of the first century in two ways: (1) we are obsessed with the perfect form of the human body, (2) we think we can do whatever we want...because it's our body. Sadly, such thinking leads to misery (both in terms of self-esteem and in terms of general health and well-being). God CARES about our BODIES. And how we take care of them matters.
In America, we cheat. We cheat in school. We cheat in sports. And we cheat in relationships. ONE of the ways we cheat people around us is by putting work or hobbies consistently ABOVE our relationship with them. Doing so over the long haul creates problems. Not just for them, but for everyone. In this message, Max Vanderpool outlines how you need to cheat WELL and cheat WISELY so that the people and things that matter the most are the things you cheat the least.
The language we use to describe time is woefully imprecise. Soon. Just now. One of these days. Before long. Any time now. Many of us have hopes and dreams that we plan to get to SOME DAY. In this message, Max Vanderpool explains what the Psalmist meant when he asked God to help him to number his days. Much of it has to do with moving SOME DAY to an actual day.
Would it surprise you to learn that empathy is on the DECLINE in the United States? People have less patience to wait until someone else is done speaking to talk. People are often surprised that a friend has been hurt by their words or actions (or inactions). So what can we do? How can we turn the tide? In this message, Max Vanderpool argues why empaths are wanted and NEEDED...everywhere.
Conflict is everywhere. With your roommate. With your friends and family. With your co-workers. With your boss. With your spouse. And SOME of the ways we're fighting with each other in the digital age are actually making things WORSE. In this message, Max Vanderpool offers practical advice for handling conflict in your life, so that you can live to fight another day.
Smartphones. They are ubiquitous. And there is little doubt they have CHANGED us. Changed how we relate to one another and communicate with one another. Some of those changes have been good, while others seem to be making us less human. In this message, Max Vanderpool tackles the ONE THING you can do to dial up the people in your life who matter.
Where do babies come from? That's a question parents of preschoolers get asked when they are expecting another child. And there are MANY different ways to answer that question. Where did we come from? That's another question that many adults ask, at some point in their life. How did life on Earth get here? How do we know? Where did we come from? The ANSWER to question matters now more than ever...perhaps more so that in the past 500 years. In this message, Max Vanderpool teaches on Genesis 1 and...
Our community is filled with people who have given up on God and/or given up on church. And you don't have to look hard to find them. Just live somewhere. Go to school somewhere. Work somewhere. In this message, Max Vanderpool articulates the third mark of a disciple...someone who's on mission with Jesus and who cares about the people Jesus cared about.
Is it reasonable to expect a Christian to be perfect, to love perfectly, all the time and in all circumstances? Probably not. The church if filled with imperfect people following Jesus imperfectly. So is it reasonable to expect Christians to grow & change (for the better) over time? ABSOLUTELY! In this message, Max Vanderpool articulates the second "mark" of a disciple.
Getting saved. Asking Jesus into your heart. Accepting Jesus. These are all phrases we use to describe a life of faith. But are these phrases HELPFUL? Do they get at the core of what it means to be a disciple? In this message, Max Vanderpool articulates the first "mark" of a disciple.
Teaching time from our July 2nd InterGen on uniqueness. Pastor Max shares the story of David & Goliath and teaches about cubits and knowing yourself.
We live in a world marked by chaos, ugliness and scarcity - and that makes us afraid. So we try to mitigate our fears by exerting control. But faith moves in the opposite direction. Faith is what God rewards. Faith is how we come to see God, life and the world around us. So what does that look like? What is a life WITH faith?
Go back 100 years, and you'll discover a rush of activity and activism regarding the faith by Evangelical Christians. We're busy, busy, busy doing things FOR God, and often the language we use to describe our personal relationship with God is language of doing. So what exactly did Jesus make possible if it wasn't a rich and satisfying life WITH God?
If you attended a Christian college, you may have picked up a God-filter that told you what you DO for God is the most important thing about you. It doesn't help that our culture reinforced the idea that your worth, your value as a person is tied to what you accomplish. In this message, Max Vanderpool unpacks the story of the Prodigal Son (and the lessons we can learn from the older brother).
It's no secret that America is a nation of consumers. We consume; that's what we do. We maximize EVERYTHING for our benefit. And, for better or worse, we take that same approach to our faith. We approach God for what God can do FOR us, what God can GIVE us. And when we do that, we miss out on something very, very special.
Believe it or not, SOME Christians and church-going Americans are (practically speaking) no different than atheists, secular humanists or deists. And rather than blame them, it's probably a better idea to figure out why it's so easy and tempting to trust in techniques and principles rather than trusting in God, Himself. In this message, Max Vanderpool unpacks another God-filter that can cause you to miss out on some powerful things.
Just like some people have a political filter, it's possible to have a God filter - a way for seeing God that flavors everything you say and do. Unfortunately, not all God filters are accurate. Not all God filters help you see God for who He is and how the world really works. The first God filter in our series (Life Under God) claims that if you live according to God's rules, God will bless you and answer your prayers. But is that REALLY how life works?
If you grew up in church, there's a good chance you prayed for God's Kingdom to come on earth as it is in heaven. There's also a good chance you thought that had to do with something down the road, in heaven or after you die. Charlotte Lacy shares how her understanding of God's Kingdom has changed and how you and I can partner with God's Spirit in advancing His Kingdom right here and right now.
