All of us know someone we might consider to be "beyond God's reach." It's the family member who obstinately REFUSES to have anything to do with "organized religion" and who claims to be more "enlightened" than the rest of the family. It's the co-worker who grew up in church but is the first one to name the hypocrisy and politicization of church as a reason to "stay clear." Is it possible to be too far gone for God's compassion and mercy? Can any of us get to a point where it's no longer possible...
Sep 15, 2024•26 min
How do you handle it when you're about to DO something you've NEVER done before? Is there a part of you that's anxious or afraid or uncertain? And how do you handle it when you're about to GO somewhere you've never been before? What questions run through YOUR mind? Will I succeed? Or will I fail? Will things work out? Or will I get crushed? Will these people like me? Will I fit it? Can I figure things out? It's a LOT to shoulder. But here's the thing about God and faith. If you follow God for an...
Sep 08, 2024•24 min
Think back to a time when someone made time for you. Maybe that looked like caring for you when you were sick, or teaching you how to tie your shoe, making food for you, or teaching you how to read or learn a new skill. No matter what it is, when people make time for us, it can bring us joy. It’s like a light shining on a dark day. Caring for one another isn’t always the easy thing to do, but it certainly is what Jesus asks of us. When Jesus gave the command in Matthew 5 to let our light shine, ...
Sep 01, 2024•9 min
Jesus assumed that his followers would pray and fast. But Jesus doesn't want them to fast like "the hypocrites" do. So what it that? What makes a person a hypocrite when they are fasting? And what are the reasons (or benefits) to fast? Is it to control our appetite? Is it to hear ourselves and the voice of God more clearly? In this message, Matthew Maresco draws out the "Daniel Fast" and what Jesus was concerned about when he warned against "fasting like the hypocrites."
Aug 25, 2024•32 min
On any given Sunday, you bring your body to worship - but your attention could be elsewhere. And this is what gets God's shorts in a bunch in the Old Testament - God's people were OBEYING him (coming to worship, etc.), but their attention - their hearts - were elsewhere. In this message, Matthew Maresco and Dawn Tippey unpack what lies at the heart of worship and why we use music.
Aug 18, 2024•25 min
YOUR spiritual life (and yes, even your prayer life) isn't just about YOU - it affects the people around you and the church family to which you belong. That's just another reason WHY prayer is important. As Dr. Paul Tippey walks us through The Lord's Prayer, we see that prayer is getting intimate with God through reverence and worship, seeking His agenda, His will, His provision, His protection - anything beyond that isn't (really) necessary. Unfortunately, people have COMPLICATED prayer.
Aug 15, 2024•21 min
Brian Hull walks us through Luke 2:41-52 as we explore the virtue of wisdom (finding out what you should do and doing it).
Aug 04, 2024•14 min
William Tyndale was on to something when he translated the Bible into English, so that ordinary people could hear it, read it, and understand it in their native language. The Bible is meant to be heard, read, and understood. And yet, familiarity can breed contempt - or, at the very least, indifference. In this message, Max Vanderpool looks at a moment when God's people were MOVED by hearing God's Word and asks, "Do we really want God to speak?"
Jul 28, 2024•27 min
Your life is important. And the great stuff of life lies right in front of you - today - if you can see it and recognize it. And, while rebuilding the walls of Jerusalem was important to Nehemiah - because it would mean people were safe at night and because it would mean business could happen during the day and because the city could finally flourish again - it's also a METAPHOR. Your life, like Nehemiah's city walls, is important - so important that you should not "come down" from the great wor...
Jul 21, 2024•27 min
When you're tired and worn-out, you can get easily discouraged. And those are the times and moments in your life when you will be MOST tempted to quit or walk away from someone or something. New parents with a six-month-old who won't sleep through the night are ready to return that child to the hospital for a REFUND! The graduate student who is half-way through their program working a full-time job "on the side" thinks they will NEVER finish. Tired, worn-out people get easily discouraged. And di...
Jul 14, 2024•25 min
There's a difference between joy and happiness. Happiness is typically a (more) fleeting emotion, one tied to a particular set of circumstances. We get an ice cream cone we wanted. We're happy. We get married like we wanted. We're happy. You get the idea. But JOY - joy is a more long-lasting state of being, characterized by contentment and satisfaction with life overall. And one thing to remember in trying to cultivate joy is this: joy is MARRIED to gratitude. It's not that joy makes us grateful...
Jul 08, 2024•12 min
“Ugh. This would be so much easier (or better) if I did it myself.” Have you ever muttered those words? Have you ever had those thoughts? Accepting help (from others) can be incredibly difficult. Face it, those class projects in school sure didn't help. Unfortunately, that thinking isn't healthy and isn't biblical. That's because ONE is too small a number to accomplish anything of significance. In this message, Max Vanderpool tackles our inclination to do things alone - and to resist offers of h...
Jun 30, 2024•24 min
This sermon is not an admonishment to “be like Nehemiah.” However, LIKE Nehemiah, when you name what is broken and insist on changing it – you’re going to face PUSHBACK. Count on it. Expect it. It’s going to happen. But know that God deals with the truth (way things ARE) – and it’s much easier to fix or address anything in the light. In this message, Max Vanderpool continues our summer series on the Book of Nehemiah - and the idea that you can never go home again.
Jun 23, 2024•25 min
Often, you find yourself in circumstances you did NOT choose. And, for Americans (who LOVE choice and freedom), this is tough. Because there is so much to your life you do NOT get to choose. Nehemiah faced that. But what if you find yourself in circumstances you didn't choose and that don't feel like they are taking you anywhere? What then? What do you do when it feels like nothing is happening? You wait. In this message, Max Vanderpool talks about the waiting we ALL experience in life - and wha...
Jun 16, 2024•25 min
At some point in our adult lives, we develop a strong desire, a longing, to "go home again." It's a desire for safety and comfort, a desire to know and be known, a desire to things to be right and as they should be. Unfortunately, none of us can EVER go home again. So what's a person to do? What do you do with the gap between the way things are and the way things should be? Max Vanderpools starts off this study of Nehemiah and the desire we all develop (over our lives) to return home.
Jun 09, 2024•30 min
Historian Noah Harari says that "nations are built on stories." As Americans, we know this to be true. Think of George Washington and the cherry tree or Paul Revere and his ride through towns shouting, "The British are coming." And just as nations are built on stories, so are God's people (Israel and now the Church) and so are we as individuals. So what is the dominant story of YOUR life? What story do you live under? And what kinds of emotions does this story tend to evoke out of you? In this m...
May 19, 2024•24 min
You are going to have MOMENTS and SEASONS of your life when you are on the Road to Emmaus, when you don’t SEE Jesus on the road you're traveling. And you're going to be tempted to say that faith no longer works or that God isn't who you thought (loving, involved, etc.). So what do you? What do you do when you can’t see (or recognize) Jesus on the road? In this message, Max Vanderpool shares his journey of early 2024 - and what NOT to do when you can't see Jesus.
May 12, 2024•22 min
There are often small ways in which we physically reflect one or both of our parents. Hair color. Freckles. The way we smile (or laugh at a joke). Mannerisms, too, can put us in territory where someone will say to us, "Boy, do you remind me of your father." Part of what it means to be human is to reflect - or image - our Creator. But, as Scripture and experience teach us, we often choose to reflect other things - and those things and those reflections often bring about ruin and death. In this me...
Apr 28, 2024•30 min
You actually give up a LOT to participate in a "stuck-ness" community (or tribe). You don't get to simply show up when you want, you don't get to define (necessarily) what's important. But you also GAIN so much more. Americans, however, are rugged individualists who make their own decisions and decide (for themselves) what's best for them. Which is why it's difficult for Americans to get what the Bible means when the Bible talks about or describes community. In this message, Amanda Duke unpacks ...
Apr 21, 2024•39 min
Both the NIH (National Institutes of Health) and the CDC (Center for Disease Control) have released studies showing that LONELINESS is the single, biggest predictor of premature death...of all causes. Americans are lonely, isolated, and spending lots of time online - but they generally report feeling depressed, anxious, and disconnected. What gives? In this message, Ryan Hicks makes the case for why we are made for community - and practical steps we can take to "be together."
Apr 14, 2024•16 min
It can be difficult to find patience while you’re waiting for something important—or even something that’s not important. At its core, patience is about trust: trusting people to follow through . . . trusting that a process will run smoothly . . . and most of all, trusting that God has our best in mind and that God’s timing is better than our own. Thankfully, as we follow Jesus, the Holy Spirit is helping us grow and transform to become more like Jesus. This transformation includes growing in ou...
Apr 07, 2024•10 min
Easters come and Easters go - but what difference does Easter really make? In this message, Brian Hull unpacks the potent symbolism and foreshadowing woven into Jesus's final week in Jerusalem - the week that culminated with his death and resurrection. So what does a sandal, a lamb, a goat, a kernel of wheat, and fruit have to do with Jesus? What do they have to do with us? Is it possible to go to church your entire life and never really "hear the music?"
Mar 31, 2024•37 min
We've all had something so amazing we wanted to share it with people who matter to us. Maybe it's how to digitally clip coupons at Kroger - or how to take a selfie by just holding up your hands with five fingers - but we know what it's like to have or know something so worthwhile we simply can't keep it to ourselves. One of the more amazing stories from Mark's Gospel is Jesus's encounter with the man possessed by a legion of demons - and what happened to that man as a result. In this message, Br...
Mar 24, 2024•29 min
For the longest time, the American church has believed it needed to have the answers and give people "the answers." But what if it doesn't HAVE to be that way? What if church (and "church people") can help others talk about what matters. In this message, Brian Hull outlines some ways we can engage others on the things that matter most. The good news? In doing so, we will be just like Jesus.
Mar 10, 2024•31 min
We define peace as "proving you care more about each other than winning an argument." And, believe it or not, even people IN churches need to develop this virtue. Today, Josh Lanier shares a real world example of making peace involving a Methodist church and skateboarders.
Mar 03, 2024•11 min
Have you ever had a friend or family member you disagreed with in a significant way? What was that like? Did one of you have to win in order for the relationship to work? In this message, Brian Hull unpacks the story of the Good Samaritan and how we see a third way in which we can be a good neighbor to others and welcome others, even when we may not always see eye to eye. Are we willing to see people for who God's created them to be? Doing so unlocks the good stuff - the real JOY of God's Kingdo...
Feb 25, 2024•30 min
If you've been part of Generations Community Church for ANY length of time, you've heard Max Vanderpool (our pastor) preach and teach on LOVE. So what does it REALLY mean to love someone? Today's message features several sections (cut here for brevity) where the congregation was invited to think about and discuss the following questions: (1) What does it mean to really love someone? (2) How can you tell when people are truly loving? (3) What are the traits of churches and families that are built...
Feb 18, 2024•15 min
Asking the right questions opens doors with people. And being genuinely curious about someone opens the door to a meaningful conversation. We know this about ourselves, and yet, we are often hesitant to ask questions. Why? What hinders us from being curious about others?
Feb 11, 2024•22 min
There's a subtle difference between being nice and being kind. Being nice usually involves things like speaking softly, pleasing others, minding your manners, smiling all the time (even when you don't feel like it), and going along with what people want. Kindness reflects God's character and sometimes is risky and downright dangerous. Jesus shows us what kindndess looks like - and reveals God's heart toward people.
Feb 04, 2024•9 min
Much of what takes place in our society is “Here’s why WE are right and YOU are wrong.” People don't need that. People don't need advice. People don't want to be told what they "need to do." People need to be HEARD. In this message, Max Vanderpool makes a case for why listening matters. It matters - because often there’s a question behind the question, the issue behind the issue. And what most people need in not an expert but as friend with open ears.
Jan 28, 2024•24 min
