Many of us can think of someone in our neighborhood, work, school, family, or friend circles who is lost. Someone who really needs to see Jesus for who Jesus really is. But we often jump in and attempt to get them to the finish line (or a point of decision) before we prayerfully assess what's going on. The TRUTH of the matter is God is already at work. As Rick Richardson says, "Before we talk to people about God, we need to talk to God about people."
Every single one of us wants to be noticed, wants to be seen. It's why babies become distressed when a mother's gaze is turned away toward a smartphone or something else. And, despite all the growth that happens in us (from toddlerhood to adulthood), we still want to be noticed and seen. Here's the good news: Jesusa notices people. Jesus sees them. And Jesus wants to use us so that others can feel "seen" by their Heavenly Father.
Responsibility - showing you can be trusted with what is expected of you. And the greatest reponsbility we have is the LOVE God and LOVE others.
Generations' first-ever "radio players" put on a Christmas skit that entails going to Grandma's house.
At Christmas, we retell the story. Caesar & Herod, Zechariah & Elizabeth, Mary & Joseph, the angels, the shepherds, the innkeeper, and the wise men. And in these narratives about the birth of Jesus, the Gospel writers are wanting us to know that Jesus is a king. All the kings in the Old Testament point to Jesus. And sometimes, it's okay to admit that you don't know what to do. It's okay to say to God, "I don’t know how you’re going to fix this, solve this, deliver us, provide for us....
Jesus is a prophet, someone who speaks for God. But Jesus is more than just a prophet. He is God. So when Jesus speaks, God is speaking. And all throughout his public ministry, Jesus shows us God’s heart, one that hurts and is MOVED by those who are oppressed, used, taken advantage of, and who have no one to help them. Chances are, you have a lot of voices in your life these days. Jesus is the voice we must listen to. When Jesus speaks, God is speaking to us. Will we hear it?
We have this tendency, precisely because we’re Americans, to cast ourselves in the role of the hero. When we read the story of David and Goliath, we naturally insert ourselves in David's place. WE face a lot of giants, and with God's help, WE can slay them, just like David did. Only that's a lot of pressure. Not to mention the fact that, when it comes to THE story (history), we're NOT the hero. God is. What if David actually points to Jesus? What if Jesus is a better David? A better king? A bett...
In the Bible, we encounter God's prophets - people who told the truth and who spoke for God by warning and accusing and by testifying to God's goodness. Two different prophets, Isaiah and Micah, spend their ministries warning God's people that destruction is coming (because God's people were rebellious, idolatrous, and acting injustly). But they also spoke of a coming king - one who would bring justice and peace to the nations. And that king is Jesus!
We often forget that Jesus was born in a particular time and place. That's why Luke reminds us of some of those particulars. Things like Caesar Augustus. Rome had a particular way of bringing "peace" to the ancient world - through power and control. Interestingly so some 2,000 years later, many of us try to experience peace using the tools of Rome - power and control. But real peace won't come that way. In this message, Brian Hull unpacks the cultural context of Luke 2 and why the peace that Jes...
Most American Christians don’t appreciate how big, how important, how all-encompassing Jesus is through Scripture. They camp out in the "red letters" and some of Paul's letters, but ignore everything else. It ALL points to Jesus. In this message, Max Vanderpool, makes a case for why Jesus is the true and better human. The only way to recover your full humanity is through Jesus. You won’t get there through self-help. You won’t get there by trying harder. You won’t get there by trying to obey all ...
All of us, because we are SO human, tend to return where we are wanted and welcome and invited. You could almost say we’re “acceptance magnets.” God knows this about us – which is why Jesus was constantly inviting people IN. Today’s big idea is simple: As followers of Jesus, we build relationships that are strong enough to invite others in.
At the end of 1 Thessalonians, the Apostle Paul reminds the Thessalonican church that God knows the end of the story, and no matter what they were facing, God would give them strength to keep going. At the end of the letter, Paul says, "Be thankful in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you who belong to Christ Jesus." You and I don't know how our stories will end, but we do know how THE story ends (Jesus returns, Jesus makes things right, Jesus sorts people, Jesus gives us resurrectio...
Unlike Job's friends, Jesus knows how to be a good friend for those experiencing pain & suffering, for those enduring loss, for the woman caught in adultery, and for the thief on the cross. Jesus is a better friend. In this recording, Amanda Duke shares the Biblical pattern of lament, Max Vanderpool shares how to be a good friend to someone who is going through and tough time, and Danita LaSage and Dawn Tippey share their experience of loss - and where they found Jesus.
"Who are your people?" For the longest time, you LIVED in the same place where you were born. You were rooted and connected to a household. “Who are your people” was the most common question asked (even in America). All that changed after WW2. Now the first question typically asked of an adult is, “What do you do?” But despite all the mobility we Americans have enjoyed over the past century, and despite ALL the ways we can now remain connected to people “back home” through social media, you cann...
True friends are not blind. They see us as we really are. They know our strengths, truth, and beauty – and they know our weaknesses, warts, and issues. Friends know the truth about us. The art of friendship requires both ENCOURAGEMENT and REBUKE. True friends help us see the truth – the good, the bad, and the ugly – because the truth will set us free.
Friendship requires that we make and keep promises, even though we will break them and need forgiveness. That's because true friends, good friends, are peole who have committed to stand by you and with you - people who will not run away, bail or dump you simply because they get mad or hurt or offended. We all need these kinds of friends. So what does it take to get there? In this message, Max Vanderpool explains the power of refrigerator rights.
Our virtue emphasis for October is INTEGRITY - choosing to be truthful in whatever you say and do.
What do you do when a friend hurts you? When a friend is selfish? When a friend doesn’t care for you the way you’d hoped? When a friend lets you down? Do you confront them? And, if they don’t seem to apologize right or show the right amount of empathy, do you forgive them anyway? Or – do you walk away? Ghost them? Write them off? Many friendships in America today last until the first conflict. And that’s a shame – because we LEARN forgiveness by practicing it. And we learn it in the context of F...
We’re impressed with people who've succeeded in life, but we CONNECT with people who share their struggles and failures. This is why vulnerability is so important - it's a doorway to true friendship, and it's a doorway to new life. Learning to be appropriately vulnerable unlocks friendship and the potential for healing and transformation. So what is it and how is it different from just sharing or being authentic?
When you were born, you couldn’t walk or talk. You couldn’t read or write. You couldn’t even control your own bowel movements. You LEARNED all those things from another human being. You were made for people. And here in America, we're now five years into a downward trend in life-expectancy that's being fueled by "deaths of despair" (suicide, drug overdose, and alcoholism). Why? Because Americans are LONELY. As it turns out, YOU WERE MADE FOR PEOPLE.
Corrie ten Boom once said that if the devil can’t make you sin, he’ll make you busy. If the devil can't make you sin, he'll make you busy. Huh? How is that again? That's because both sin and busyness have the exact same effect—they cut off your connection to God, to other people, and even to your own soul. In this message, Max Vanderpool makes a case why you should eliminate hurry from your life.
In 2023, far too many of us are choosing streaming over people. We go home, and we're tired. We've been with people all day at school or work, and those people have been extremely "people-ly," and so we stream something. But here's the thing about streaming or gaming: It will not energize you, it will not calm your mind or allow you to hear your heart or God's voice. We need each other, and we need to be together. In this message, Max Vanderpool makes a case why you should choose people over str...
We BECOME what or who we reflect. We BECOME what we pay attention to, and far too many of us are paying way too much attention to our phones – which means we are not hearing God’s voice: “You are my beloved child – and you are becoming like me!” In this message, Max Vanderpool makes a case for why putting Scripture before phone will better position you to hear God's voice and experience the Fruit of the Spirit in your life.
Be a child of God as your identity. Fight the good fight from a place of victory. And abide in His presence as your inheritance and peace.
Truth brings about freedom and security. And one of the biggest truths of the Gospel is that we are (now) God's children. And the truth and love of God is revealed to those who are His children.
If someone we KNOW & TRUST gives us a testimonial, we generally accept it, whether that's for an InstaPot, a lawn service, or a church. But if a stranger gives us a testimonial, we hold it as suspect, dubious. So why do we trust all these strangers on Amazon & Google? We ASSUME that because there are SO MANY of them, the truth must be in there. And we also ASSUME that every single review is legitimate (and written by an actual person). We assume a lot, don’t we? In this message, Max Vand...
You are going to encounter people who CLAIM to be on Team Jesus, but who are selfish, mean, and hateful. In fact, the more you get the know them, the less gracious, kind, loving, or forgiving they are. Instead, they are angry, spiteful, and hateful. Despite their claims of religiosity, despite their insistence that they follow Jesus, they are lying to you and to themselves. The Apostle John will have NONE of this. In this message, Max Vanderpool unpacks the most important characteristic of someo...
Americans, like everyone else, RESIST change. And more than one church has uttered the phrase...that's the way we've ALWAYS done it. But what could happen if we allowed God to change us - to work inside of us and through us? Does it really take an evangelist to reach others?
On the one hand, God's got the whole world in his hands. On the other hand, Jesus said that the world hated him - and would hate his followers, too. So what gives? Why are we told in 1 John to NOT love the world?
Strangely enough, there IS an expectation from people that Christians should be DIFFERENT. They should have integrity. They should be honest. They should work hard. They should be loving people. And strangely enough, God seems to think the same thing. In the Bible, this expectation that God's people will be DIFFERENT is called holiness, and in 1 John, we get a picture of what that should look like...because God is light and HIs people should live in the light.
