The Parable of the Prodigal Son centers around the younger of two sons who turns his back on his father and his family to pursue his own freedom and happiness. His journey of rebellion, self-destruction, awakening, return, and redemption represents the very heart of...
This modern take on the Prodigal Son parable told by Jesus in Luke 15 was used as the sermon opener for the Prodigal series. Related Sermons
This final part of the series will be a panel interview with four professional psychologists who attend LifePoint. Joe Duke will moderate. This interview will take the place of the sermon slot. Joe will summarize the series then introduce the panel will introduce...
At some point in our lives, we are all going to experience negative emotions. That’s right. Suffering will come. And the emotions associated with suffering…guilt, shame, sadness, despair, anger…they will follow. What we do with these emotions says a lot about our...
There’s an enemy that lurks just below the surface of our lives. Its influence can be debilitating and even deadly. It may be Evil’s primary tool for rendering us ineffective and defeated. And no one is immune to its whispers. But this enemy can be conquered in ways...
Our culture would rather avoid emotional pain and suffering than engage it. These experiences are treated as obstacles to living life to its fullest. Yet when we look back at our lives it’s usually the difficult events that have shaped us the most. Far from getting in...
After we realize there is life below the surface, we can then learn to breathe under the water. In other words, we can learn to swim in the real world of our emotions. Being in touch with our emotions means that we understand that our past affects our present and our...
So much of your energy may be spent maintaining your life on the surface—your physical needs, your appearance, your life experienced through your five senses. But there’s a world that lies below the surface of your life too—a part of you that can often get ignored or...
Sometimes you can tell yourself lies without even realizing it. But your life can take on a completely different perspective when you learn to tell yourself the truth. Let’s begin this New Year with a reminder of five simple affirmations that can change the way we...
There’s nothing like the suspense of anticipation. Sometimes the wait seems like it lasts forever—like a child waiting for Christmas to finally arrive. When Jesus was born that first Christmas, the world had been waiting hundreds of years. But now for all of us, the...
Advent is simply about waiting and in the last couple weeks we’ve heard about how to wait and the significance of what we’re waiting for. In this last week of Advent, we seek to understand our role in preparing ourselves. It’s easy for us to create plans for every...
Most of the events recorded in the Bible took place before Christmas. Long before the first Christmas was the promise that Christmas would come. This promise brought great hope, but it also brought frustration and restlessness. This is still true of Christmas. We...
Every human being is born in critical condition. We’re in trouble. Our inability to personally save ourselves and get right with God leaves us completely vulnerable. Christmas begins with your need and ends with God’s love. You need a Savior—a Savior who has come to...
During our Be Rich series, our church has been mobilized toward radical generosity, acts of service and simple gestures of kindness. But it’s possible to be rich in another area that often gets neglected. In each of us lies a capacity of enormous power. It’s a power...
It’s easy to say that we love someone or a group of people and it’s good and right to communicate that love with our words. Putting that love into action, however, can be challenging at times. If we don’t demonstrate our love in our actions, our words about love...
It’s easy to get swept downstream in the current of consumerism. In a me-oriented society, our lives can instinctively become all about us—our money, our time, our pleasure. But the one wishing to follow Jesus and walk as He walked will eventually be confronted with a...
Imagine our whole church unleashed into our community to make a difference. It’s called Be Rich. We’re taking Paul’s simple advice to Timothy and putting it into practice: “Command them to do good, to be rich in good deeds, and to be generous and willing to share.” (1...
Three decades is a long time—long enough to experience the consistent faithfulness of our God. He has been with us through every twist and turn. God continues to empower us to be influencers who can help others discover His love and grace. Today we celebrate our first...
Life is filled with the unexpected. Sometimes our plans exceed our expectations and other times we fall short as we trip and stumble along the journey. We need to leave room for both successes and failures. Our plans must always create space for God to work in ways we...
The cost of achieving great things usually requires sacrifice and focus. When the Jewish people were called upon to occupy Jerusalem, they found themselves at a crossroads. This next step of faith would require giving up their comfort. In fact, it would require they...
We’ve all failed. From minor mistakes to persistent sins, failure has marked our lives. The best place to turn in times of failure is to God. But sometimes turning to God about our sins just seems to magnify our moral crisis. Thus, we’d prefer to keep our distance...