Jesus said the reason he came was to announce that the Kingdom is here, and he called us to pray “Your kingdom come.” Why was this so important to him? What does it mean for how we deal with our hopes and disappointments? Continuing the Lord’s Prayer series, Mike Distefano teaches us about the Kingdom of God, and what it means to pray “Your kingdom come.”
Kicking off a new series called The Lord’s Prayer, Pastor Ben Stuart reminds us what it means to have God as our Father. We were built for proximity to God, and God wants us to be around Him! God, as our Father, shows us that He is strong, loving, and wise towards His children.
This week, Pastor Ben Stuart shares a powerful message on the love God has for us as explained in 1 John 4. Those who know and believe they are loved by God live a life that is fearless and free. Pastor Ben dives into four traits that characterize love and how we see those traits demonstrated through the life of Jesus. On Easter Sunday, we remember that Jesus exited heaven and went through hell to get us back. This is love!
“Generous people are joy creators.” — This week, Pastor Ben Stuart closes out the Home Team series bringing a strong word about generosity. Looking at the way Paul writes to the Philippians we see 7 powerful reasons to be a generous person, and the enormous impact that generosity has. We are all given the opportunity to be a part of God’s story through the way we are generous, and in the way we steward our resources. The question is will it be by fear or by faith?
“For many of you, your biggest problem is not your problems, it’s your anxiety about your problems.” Jesus presents anxiety as one of the biggest impediments to seeking the Kingdom of God. For many of us, worries and anxiety in life keep us from all we are meant to be under God. This week, Pastor Ben Stuart reminds us that there is an invitation to cast our cares on Him. Our anxieties are not too heavy for God — He is there waiting for us to release them.
This week, Pastor Ben Stuart continues the Home Team series in Philippians. We see that Paul is concerned about the people who reduce spirituality to a list of rituals instead of a pursuit of intimacy. This is the type of spirituality that looks like the real thing but isn’t. If you buy into it, it will not only fail you but it will destroy your life. True spirituality is a powerful intimacy — it is not about a list. It’s not about being good, it’s about being God’s!
“The people of Jesus are not just a light that stands out from other people, but a light that stands out for people.” This week, Pastor Ben Stuart continues the Home Series with the reminder that we are meant to be luminaries in the world - people who shine light into the darkness. The way we live sends a powerful message, and as followers of Jesus, we want our activity to promote the message of Jesus. Everything we do should be a response to the work that God has done in us, and this changes th...
Continuing the Home Team series, Pastor Ben Stuart reminds us that humility is the path to unity. The way we treat each other is always a response to how we have been treated by God — our activity is a response to God’s activity. What then is the natural response to all that God has done? It is to care about us! True spirituality always expresses itself in unity, and the key to unity is humility!
"Why am I here? What is my purpose? This week, Pastor Louie Giglio helps us reframe the way we think about our purpose in life. God’s will isn’t necessarily about figuring out the right job to pursue, the right place to move, or even the right thing to do. Instead, it is to make Him known as you pursue whatever passion He has put in your life and to do that to the best of your ability. This is our true purpose for being alive!"
"Spiritually is always worked out in the context of community. You will never be you without us.” Pastor Ben Stuart continues the Home Team series with the encouragement that we need an us. We can’t be who we were made to be without each other. Your human potential cannot be reached as an individual. Victory is not found alone; you need unity so you can stand. We’re not made to run alone, and we don’t have to!
“A whole universe of meaning and joy opens when we live according to our Creator’s intent.” Meaning and joy aren’t things to be aimed at; they are byproducts of a life surrendered to the purposes of God. If you have created your own meaning, then unfortunate events can derail you — but when you have a God-given purpose, circumstances can’t shake you. Pastor Ben Stuart continues our Home Team series helping us to understand how meaning and joy come from living lives linked with the Creator....
In this week’s message, Jason Thomas continues the Home Team series, reminding us that to have the greatest impact, we need to have the deepest intimacy with the One who called us. “If you’re going to grow in abounding love, you’re going to have to minimize your distractions and maximize your devotion.”
“You will never be fully you without us and we will never be fully us without you.” Pastor Ben Stuart kicks off a new series, Home Team, by diving into the book of Philippians. He reminds us that no one unifies just for the sake of unity - we unite around a common purpose. We need community, and we are in a community, that has linked with the best of all causes; running with the best of all Kings!
Pastor Ben Stuart closes out The Fight series by giving us five practical ways to pursue transformation in our lives. God built a structure that promotes the pursuit of intimacy with Him — a structure in which we flourish!
Continuing The Fight series, Director of Community and Formation, Mike Distefano, comes around the importance of community. — Looking in Matthew 6, we see that Jesus commands us to seek first the Kingdom of God for it is the only thing in life that satisfies, and the only thing in our world that is truly permanent. The thing is, we are meant to be in the pursuit with other people. We are a people made for community; hardwired to stand with others as we run after the Kingdom of God together, neve...
The pursuit of spirituality happens in the context of adversity. We are in a fight to cultivate intimacy with our Creator, and in this fight, there are things we flee from and there are things we pursue. In fact, there are things we need to say no to, in order to say yes to something better! This week Pastor Ben Stuart encourages us with the truth that though we struggle, we have the ability to struggle well, and overcome in Jesus’ name. What do you need to say no to, in order to give something ...
“The greatest fighters are the ones who know that they’ve been fought for.” Kicking off the New Year with a new series, “The Fight,” Pastor Ben Stuart encourages us with the truth that we need a new identity before a new activity. The answer we are looking for is not a list of rules; it is a liberator. We have Someone who has set us free and ushers us into life with the conquering King—the Stronger One is here!
Christmas Eve // Pastor Ben Stuart reminds us that God is a searching God who sent His Son to save us while we were still sinners. Why did Jesus show up in a manger? Because Jesus wants you! This holiday season, we’re remembering that compassion is the WHY behind the WHAT of Christmas.
As we approach Christmas, Pastor Ben Stuart encourages us with the truth that Jesus was born into real life - he was born into a world mixed with joy and pain. Jesus lived the human story on earth, not just the good parts but the hard ones as well. We can have confidence that Jesus understands us because he lived in the struggle. But that’s not the end of the story - we can have hope too! He joins us in the struggle so that we might join him in the victory. His liberation is for our hope!...
"Jesus intends not just to bring peace to you, but through you.” — Closing out The Missing Peace series, Pastor Ben Stuart guides us through what it looks like to be peacemakers in a broken world. We are meant to leverage the freedom we have in Jesus to bring peace to others. — How do you be a peacemaker? By praying and by greeting. Love looks like prayer. Greeting someone initiates kindness, and communicates respect. Peacemakers extend love beyond expected boundaries....
If many of us know about Jesus and the peace He brings, why is it that we walk around with such a lack of it? This week, Global Pastor Louie Giglio reminds us that connecting with the peace of Jesus will require a recalibration of how we think about Him, and who He really is.
“The peace of God is not just the absence of conflict, but the presence of flourishing.” — Kicking off The Missing Peace series, Pastor Ben Stuart encourages us with God’s solution to the lack of peace we often feel in our lives. We see that the solution is not a list of principles; it’s a person: the Prince of Peace. The hope we can have today is knowing that even when everything is falling apart, we have the Prince of Peace, and we can trust Him.
Closing out the Trust Issues series, Pastor Ben Stuart answers this question: How can we know that the Scriptures we hold today are what was written down originally? In this message, we take a look at the history of the preservation of the Scriptures concluding that we can have confidence that they hold true and we see God’s true heart for His people. — God preserved His Word so you would know that He came for you.
Continuing our Trust Issues series, Dr. Darrell Bock from Dallas Seminary walked us through an exploration of one of the big questions that many of us struggle to reconcile: what about the gap between when events occurred and when they were written down? Can we have confidence that the Scriptures we hold today faithfully recount the life and work of Jesus? Dr. Bock explains three things that help us understand the gap: orality, memory, and eye-witnesses.
“Christian hypocrisy is maximized when the resurrection of Jesus is minimized.” — What if the greatest barrier to Christianity is Christians? Kicking off our new series, “Trust Issues,” our friend Timothy Ateek from Breakaway Ministries joins us this week to talk about what happens when Christians become calloused to the beautiful reality of the resurrection of Jesus. Timothy Ateek reminds us that the resurrection gives us freedom from the past, power in the present, and hope for the future!...
You want to marry someone you trust. This week Pastor Ben Stuart closes out the Survival Skills series by taking a look at Proverbs 31 and what to look for in a spouse. Proverbs 31 describes a trustworthy woman: one who is prudent and shrewd, has grit and perseverance, is industrious and generous, and is sacrificial and thoughtful. — “As you enter into the difficulties of life, you want someone who has your back, isn’t going to stab you in the back.”
Words are powerful. For many of us, some of our deepest pains are because of what someone said or didn’t say to us. A simple arrangement of words has the power to drastically change a situation and perspective. — The book of Proverbs encourages us to apply wisdom to the way we use our words. Will we build others up with the way we communicate, or will we use are words to tear others down? This week Pastor Ben Stuart walks us through how honest truth, spoken at the right time with the right inten...
“Money can build a house, but it can’t build a home. Money can give you food on a table but it can’t give you fellowship.” In this week’s message, Pastor Ben Stuart takes a look at what the book of Proverbs has to say about money. It has power, and can be used to build up or tear down. Proverbs helps us to see money as a gift from God and gives us wisdom about how to handle it well.
When we look at the grand scope of our lives, we see that most of us spend the majority of our time at work. As believers, how do we navigate the work world in a way that’s glorifying to God and life-giving to others? — In this powerful message, Mike Distefano challenges us to use the power we’ve been given in the workplace for the good of those around us. In a society that often seeks self-promotion and personal success, we have the opportunity to choose a different path. By understanding our i...
In an overly sexualized world, we often find ourselves feeling lonely, as emotional intimacy has been separated from sexuality. In this week’s message Pastor Ben Stuart reminds us that we are not made to give our bodies without our hearts. Each of us have the opportunity to have relationships that are healthy, life-giving, and glorifying to God. In this powerful message we learn how to build relationships that flourish, trading in a consumer mentality for a covenant mentality. What kind of menta...
