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Sunday, December 21, 2008
Advent Conspiracy The Series
The Advent Conspiracy
Christmas should be the party of the year. But we too easily forget about the Savior and focus on the shopping lists, culminating in stress, looming debt, and presents you may return anyway. What if everyone spent less this Christmas, but gave more? The Advent Conspiracy starts with Jesus. And it ends with Jesus. It reminds us that Jesus loved the poor, the forgotten, the overlooked and the sick. The AC encourages us to join Jesus in giving resources to those who need help the most. Welcome to the Advent Conspiracy. Worship Fully. Spend Less. Give More. Love All. Enter the story.
A couple loses a significant part of their retirement investment because of the latest financial crisis. A spouse’s ex leaves and takes the cash, too. A co-worker amasses outrageous medical bills. A neighbor faces bankruptcy and foreclosure. Maybe this describes you. Everyone needs financial stability in turbulent times. And God’s Word has encouragement for our current crisis. God doesn’t offer a subprime solution, but a sublime solution. And He doesn’t want us to live in fear. The Bible teaches how to be financially Crashproof . If you or anyone you know needs financial CPR, this series is for you.
Clean House
You walk down the aisle with good intentions. You bring the baby home with high hopes. You start each day with new resolve to love your family members well. But something happens along the way. At times, we hurt the worst the ones we love the most. And our family relationships can end up strained or, even worse, unraveled. The Bible calls the problem sin. Our sins against each other result in messy relationships in our homes. In this series, we’ll see what the Bible says about cleaning up the messes we’ve made. And we’ll find hope for our families as we learn to access the grace of God in Christ. Come on. Let’s clean house.
There is a link between how we live our life now and our life forever. Life forever sounds so distant. But the Bible says that what we do today matters for eternity. The words of Jesus in Matthew 25:21 say some will hear this: “Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over a little; I will set you over much. Enter into the joy of your master.”
That day is approaching.
And what about the not-so-faithful followers? Well, let’s just say they won’t hear “Well done.”
On that day, what will you hear?
All you need is love, right? Popular culture paints love as a flowery emotion leading to a life of peace. It sounds simple enough. But is that really all there is to love? Reality tells us differently. We know we ought to love each other; but so often we find we just don’t know how, or we forget, or lose focus and live selfishly. Often we find we don’t have the power to love others as we truly desire to. God knows the difficult challenges we face in truly loving and serving one another. It’s a risk; but the Bible gives clear direction regarding love. And God’s Holy Spirit enables us to love at a level we could never reach on our own. In this life, the biggest adventure God sees us through is loving one another. So ... let’s talk about love
Most of us live at a lower level than we would like. Victory in the midst of day-to-day real life can often seem so elusive. The Bible teaches truths that provide us with hope for greater triumphs in our daily living. Romans 8 contains some of the most encouraging, insightful, and inspiring words in all the Bible. The chapter starts with good news - there’s “no condemnation in Christ” - and ends with better news - there’s “no separation from Christ.” In between, we learn the vital signs for victory - the Holy Spirit, prayer, and the love of God. If you’re looking for truth about how to come closer to living life at the level you’ve always wanted, don’t miss a weekend of this verse-by-verse study.
We don’t like to wait. Our fast-paced culture has us wanting to see God move quickly - to change things for the better ... now! Yet God’s Word and our experience tell us that God often puts us in His waiting room. God actually says we gain when we wait. If we run ahead of God, we will miss out on His activity on our behalf. Waiting on God isn’t resigning ourselves to living in bland indifference or quiet despair. Waiting is trusting God to orchestrate the events in our lives to work for our good and for His glory. Delays present us with opportunities to show the world what Jesus can do in, with, through, and for us. When God says, “Hold still,” how will you handle it? Wait gain: now is the best time to start learning this important truth.
Anger. Worry. Fear. Guilt. Most of us face difficult emotions every day. Our problems can start when our feelings rule us. We either wind up acting rashly and regretting it later or stuffing our feelings until they wear down our well-being. In this series, we’ll learn that emotions really are a gift from God. Our own emotions are part of what it means to be created in His image. We believe that God’s Word, the Bible, has vital information for us when it comes to dealing with feelings. We’ll talk about how to minimize the destructive impact our feelings can have on ourselves and on others. And we’ll focus on how to maximize the constructive use of our emotions in a way that honors God.
Jesus. The name is used in prayer. And the name is used in profanity. Skeptics can’t seem to ignore Him. And believers don’t fully understand Him. He’s the topic of many conversations, but there’s confusion about who He really is. Why not let Him speak for Himself? In the Bible, we find seven “I Am” statements from Jesus that reveal His identity. In this series, you’ll come face to face with Jesus. And you’ll learn that only Someone incomparable would dare make the claims He made about Himself. When you truly consider His claims, you’ll see He is like no other. When you seek to follow Him, you’ll never be the same. Listen to Jesus’ claims of being “incomparable.”
In this Biblical story of a man who questioned and ran from God, we’ll learn about Jonah’s disobedience and his restoration. The consequences of running can be painful, but from the life of Jonah we learn that God is in the midst of our most difficult dilemmas and circumstances. We’ll gain insights into God’s discipline and compassion. We’ll see that God truly loves the whole world and calls us to do the same. We’ll come to understand that God is the God of second chances. Listen as we study the story of one man and his rewarding journey towards surrender.
Remember all the mobile phone commercials that used the slogan “raising the bar”? We must be “raising the bar” in our spiritual lives. How does that happen? It takes the best connections and the best signal strength. The Bible says we are to “grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ” (2 Peter 3:18.) We benefit when we connect strongly with God and learn to love Him with greater passion. Join us and discover the impact of a better connection with God. By spending time in the Bible, in prayer, and in worship, we can all “raise the bar” and be better for it.
In these stand-alone messages, listen as Rick Duncan shares about the need for every believer to demonstrate the life transformation that has occurred in their lives through baptism in a message entitled “Watermark”, as Gary Nave shares about the need for every believer and seeker to be ready for Jesus’ coming in a Palm Sunday message entitled “Are You Ready?”, as Dale Piscura and Andy Sikora share about the “Flow” that brought us life on the first Good Friday, and as Rick shares the plan for his succession during the State of the Heart 2008 celebration.
