If God is loving and all-powerful, then why is there injustice, suffering, and pain in the world? This is a difficult question, and it represents one of the most difficult reasons people struggle with believing in God. In this message, we will examine a secular...
Seeing Salvation
Isn’t it ironic. Through what appears to be a dramatic failure, Jesus achieved victory over every power raised against him. Through experiencing death, Jesus provides life for all who trust in him. As we explore Jesus’ crucifixion from Mark 15, let’s remember the...
Never Give Up
Resilience is such a powerful concept. Some of our greatest heroes and inspirational characters in stories are defined as people of resilience. But what does it look like to have a resilient faith? Spoiler alert... it doesn't mean that things are always going to go...
Not a Game
From childhood, most of us have learned to love games. The excitement, the cheering, even the competition creates a rush of adrenalin that’s hard to find anywhere else. And on the playing field of life—even life with God—we can find excitement too. But living your...
Suffering with Joy
Suffering with Joy You became imitators of us and of the Lord, for you welcomed the message in the midst of severe suffering with the joy given by the Holy Spirit. I Thessalonians 1:6 My cancer journey took me to some extreme lows. I remember sitting on my back porch...
Suffering Together
In 1 Peter 3:8-4:19, we discover the counterintuitive call not to seek revenge but to bless those who snub and marginalize us, just as Jesus did.
Break Their Teeth, God
There are some songs of the heart that we might rather not sing out loud. They express thoughts and feelings that are brutal and dark - feelings we'd rather others not know we feel. There are Song of the Heart in the Bible that curse others or invoke evil and they...
Your Growth Toward Maturity
You’re born into God’s family the moment you place your faith in Jesus for eternal life. You start as a spiritual baby. But it’s never God’s intention for you to remain a baby. You are to grow and thrive as a maturing believer in Jesus. But you never grow passively....
If It Seems Slow, Wait For It
If It Seems Slow, Wait For It I will take my stand at my watchpost and station myself on the tower, and look out to see what he will say to me, and what I will answer concerning my complaint. And the Lord answered me: ‘Write the vision; make it plain on tablets, so he...
A Good God
Nothing challenges our view of God like challenges. Maybe, lately, you feel like you’ve had your share of obstacles and hardships. When we’re pressured with difficulties, our idea of a good God can end up on the chopping block. How can God be good when evil exists and...
New Direction
When we find ourselves moving in a certain direction and focused on our goals, it can be jarring to feel like God suddenly is taking us in a new direction. It's hard to consider that what we are currently building is no longer necessary or worse, futile all along. We...
Lament: The Freedom to Feel
Lament: The Freedom to Feel e are wired to avoid physical pain. Just watch any toddler touch a hot candle after being told not to. Chances are, he won’t be in a hurry to do it again. Yet physical pain serves a purpose, helping us to focus on...
A New Song
Songs are powerful things. The combine melody and harmony. They express both truth and emotion. They can fill us with joy and hope or with lament and sorrow. Through the beauty of song we worship, we celebrate, and we mourn. In the Psalms, the worship songs of the...
Kids Experience July 19
Have faith and trust in God.In Rome, Paul was allowed to live in a home while watched by guards. For two years, he welcomed anyone who came to see him. He shared the good news of Jesus with Jewish and non-Jewish people—just like God had promised he would. Paul...
Big Enough to Handle It
Big Enough to Handle ItEven though the fig trees have no blossoms, and there are no grapes on the vines; even though the olive crop fails, and the fields lie empty and barren; even though the flocks die in the fields, and the cattle barns are empty, yet I will rejoice...
Our Finest Hour
It’s possible to experience “our finest hour” in the most challenging of situations. That’s true, in part, because God uses hardships and difficulties to reveal what’s inside of us. Then, we can change and become better with His help. It’s ambitious to envision our...
April 5 Kids Experience
Jesus put Others First When Jesus was in the garden praying, He was talking to His Father. Jesus asked if there could be another way to complete His mission. But in the end, Jesus chose to do what He had come to do because it was part of God’s bigger plan. Jesus...
Finding God in the Darkness
ASL Interpretation - Message OnlyThe last week of Jesus’ life began with a parade of celebration and hope. He would be dead by the end of that week. What happened? Even in darkness, God is at work; it just doesn’t feel like it sometimes. And even though there is no...
Family Life Weekend
ASL InterpretationHow do we build for the future when the future seems so uncertain? This week, we'll turn to Acts 2 to see how the early church began as a model for how we can continue to build the future of the Church together. As we follow their lead, we not only...
Finishing Well
How would you end your last words to someone? As Paul ends his second letter to Timothy, he works through a list that feels out of place at first. Honestly, it’s part of the letter that we tend to skip when we read it. But what if God has something significant to...
One Last Thing
Last words are important words. Books have been written and lists compiled about the last things that famous and influential people have said. This week in our study of 2 Timothy, the Apostle Paul will write his last and most important words to Timothy, his protégé....