Catalina North Sermons: Recent Episodes
CatalinaChurchPodcast
At Catalina, we are all about people. We built Catalina to be a place where you can come just as you are and find truth that relates to what’s going on in your life today. At Catalina, you can dress up or down and bring any friend or family member, knowing that they will meet people who genuinely care about each other and experience God in the simplicity of great worship, relevant teaching and clear steps for growth.
Just as Jesus came to earth to explain God in a way we could understand, we want people to find God in relevant and applicable ways, grow together with Him in community, and actively be part of His plan to touch lives and change our world.
Week 9 of Cinematic Summer is the Tower of Babel, another doomed attempt in the account from Moses of people trying to bless themselves (Adam and Eve with the tree, soon the people of God in the wilderness, etc). This attempt is to use technology to prove they didn’t need God. Why doesn’t it work? Technology leads to separation, and none of us speaking in a common language. Yet God still used their attempted rebellion to accomplish His purposes.
Week 8 of Cinematic Summer is the trilogy finale of the famous story of Noah and the Ark. First, we were challenged by Noah’s family willingness to stand against their culture. Then their willingness to remain faithful on God’s timeline, and not their own. This time we see the God of Creation and re-creation show us how the Lord works after the devastation.
Week 7 of Cinematic Summer continues the famous story of Noah and the Ark. Last time, we saw the faith and perseverance of Noah and his family in the middle of evil and poor choices being made all around them. This time, do we trust God’s signs for reasons for Hope in the middle of a long and often confusing part of life?
Week 6 of Cinematic Summer is Noah & the Ark. We assign this one to small children, but the real lessons are for us. Faith. Perseverance. And the Wonder of God in the middle of evil and poor choices being made all around us.
Pastor Ted is on vacation and Guest Pastor Glen Layne discusses putting God first in relation to finances.
Week 5 of Cinematic Summer has the battle between Good and Evil driving Cain to kill his brother Abel. After a long discussion with the Creator of the Universe, we have an idea of his motive. What can we learn?
Week 5 of Cinematic Summer has the battle between Good and Evil now driving Adam and Eve away from the perfection of the Garden of Eden. The key: God goes with humanity into the world of thorns and weeds and conflict. And the rules still apply: God has always been, we are Created for the eternal relationship of Father, Son and Holy Spirit, we are to use our unique God-given gifts to be productive, we are to love God and those around us, and relationships require rest. Now that we know, what are we going to do, beginning with this day?
Week 4 of Cinematic Summer has the battle between Good and Evil now driving the plot. We live on the battlefield of Good vs Evil, and the promise of God is good will win. The question for each of us is which side we will choose, beginning with our next choice.
Week 3 of Cinematic Summer gives us more detail about why God created the universe: to put us in it! We are here to live in relationship with each other, and to join the eternal relationship of Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
Week 2 of Cinematic Summer has the perspective written to people created to live forever. Genesis 1 shows us the pattern of creating and resting. First, we need to be productive. Also important, relationships require rest.
Week 1 of our Cinematic Summer series: Like an epic movie brings us into its world, the opening scene of Genesis shows us the Who and Why of Creation: The Creator of the Universe made this world to put us in it, for a relationship that never ends. Are we up for the Adventure?
Week 7 of the Being The Church series follows the strategy of the early church to help the people of Jerusalem find what they were looking for. They came looking for Passover and found Jesus. What are people today looking for? What can we learn from the strategy of the Early Church to meet the needs of our generation?
Week 5 of the Being The Church series is a reminder we have been Created and designed on purpose, and the Body of Christ needs us to do our unique part.
Week 4 of the Being The Church series is a reminder we have been Created and designed on purpose, and the Body of Christ needs us to do our unique part.
Week 3 of the Being The Church series has Andrew, the less famous brother of the very famous Peter, again showing us the ‘Come and see’ approach to introducing our friends to Jesus.
Week 2 of the Being The Church series has the less famous brother of the very famous Peter showing us how living life with Jesus takes more trust than comes to us naturally.
Week 1 of the Being The Church series has the less famous brother of the very famous Peter showing us how to accomplish the Kingdom of God task we can only do while we are here on earth.BEING THE CHURCHWeek 1: Following Brother Andrew, Part 1Acts 1:8; John 1:37-42
This year, Easter Sunday is Baptism Sunday! An exciting day for those going under the water, and raising again. Baptism gives us the picture of rising to new life in Jesus, and the personal testimony of the good news of the forgiveness of sins and the promise of eternal life by those who are witnesses to the power of God in their own life!EASTERBaptism SundayJohn 20:1-18
WHAT ON EARTH AM I HERE FOR?Week 7: Palm SundayRomans 8:27-29Our Palm Sunday 2024 Celebration is for how the Lord is working in our lives and our from our church wide Bible study.
WHAT ON EARTH AM I HERE FOR? Week 6: Called to Be Sent2 Corinthians 5:18Week 6 of the 40 Days of Purpose series continues our adventure until Easter: What on Earth am I here for? This week: We are called to go into the world and share the good news God is not mad at us. In fact, God loves us and created each of us for a love that lasts forever.
WHAT ON EARTH AM I HERE FOR? Week 5: Called to ServeEphesians 2:10Week 5 of the 40 Days of Purpose series continues our adventure until Easter: What on Earth am I here for? This week: We are called to Serve others. For full life satisfaction, we are called to spend out life in service of others. The reward is out of this world.
WHAT ON EARTH AM I HERE FOR? Week 4: Be Like JesusRomans 8:29Week 4 of the 40 Days of Purpose series continues our adventure until Easter: What on Earth am I here for? This week: We are called to Become like Jesus. God is still God and we will never be. However, becoming more like our role model, our Savior, our confidant and friend is our goal.
WHAT ON EARTH AM I HERE FOR? Week 3: Loneliness CureEphesians 2:19Week 3 of the 40 Days of Purpose series continues our adventure until Easter: What on Earth am I here for? This week: We are called to Belong to the Family of God. The choice is ours.
WHAT ON EARTH AM I HERE FOR?Week 2: Be Loved FirstJude 1:1Week 2 of the 40 Days of Purpose series continues our adventure until Easter: What on Earth am I here for? This week: We are called to love God and love those around us. The crucial first step: Be Loved. Only then do we have love to give.
WHAT ON EARTH AM I HERE FOR? Week 1: The Point of EverythingRomans 8:28Week 1 of the 40 Days of Purpose series begins our adventure until Easter: What on Earth am I here for? And. How do we find God’s call on our life?
Week 5 of the Influence in My Community series is the big finish of what we’ve been working towards: We are in this together! The antidote for loneliness is community. People are crazy, but, sometimes, so are we. God is good.
Week 4 of the Influence in My Community series has the Apostle Paul calling us to live our life intentionally in the middle of this crazy world, so we can have all the benefits of being wise and not foolish.
Week 3 of the Influence in My Community series has King Solomon using a tiny member of the animal kingdom to motivate us to accomplish our part in the Kingdom of God, because it matters to both us and those around us.
Week 2 of Influence in my Community series focuses on actively participating in the community God has given us, for the benefit of everyone. Or. Risk being considered too foolish for life.
Week 1 of Influence in my Community series focuses on the entire point of life: Love God and Love Others. How and why? It’s the path to the greatest life possible.
Week 3 of our Season of Joy series is Jesus being born. If peace on earth was the goal, it didn’t work. Or was Jesus born for something else entirely?
Week 2 of our Season of Joy series has the Angel Gabriel visiting Mary with the news that the promised savior of God’s People will be her new baby. Mary shares our confusion with God’s plan for our life, and shows us how to respond.
It’s Christmas time again! We are following our Gratitude series with a Season of Joy. Week 1 has the faithful prophets of God delivering the hopeful promise of God to His people in the middle of dark times. Is the promise the difficult times are almost over? No. The promise is: Our joy is because God is with us.
Guest Speaker Glenn Layne discusses what is our disposition and how it relates to gratitude.
For week 3 of the Gratitude series we meet 10 struggling outcasts who have their lives changed by Jesus. Yay, Jesus! Yet only one takes the time to say thank you, and Jesus noticed. How do we be the one, and not the other nine?
Week 2 of the Gratitude series has David, like Indiana Jones, in pursuit of the Ark of the Covenant, reminding them of the presence and power of God. When the Ark is recovered, David celebrates!
Catalina Praise Band performs Great Are You LordSongwriters: Jason Ingram / David Leonard / Leslie Jordan
Week 1 of the Gratitude series has Paul in prison writing us to be grateful in all things. While also in prison, John the Baptist struggled to agree. As do we. Do we really have reason to be grateful in all things?
Week 1 of the Made to Create series begins with the profound concept that we are Created in the Image of God - the One who Created! And that is why Today is not just a random day of the week.
The Finale of the Faith series is our picture and God’s reality of Heaven. Church provides the crucial community that encourages us for all our days on earth. But it is just the beginning of God’s eternal plan.
Week 6 of the Faith series is about the importance of Church. Not for perfect attendance prizes, but for the crucial community that encourages us for all our days on earth.
Week 5 of the Faith series has Paul continuing his journey to share Jesus with the world. And his ship crashes onto the rocks. What do we do when our forward momentum and our planned path forward comes to a halt?
Week 4 of the Faith series has Paul facing a decision: Go where he feels God is calling him to go, or listen to the faithful locals who desire for Paul to stay where it is much safer. Ever faced a go or stay decision without a clear answer? For 2,000 years we’ve been trying to figure out whether Paul made the right choice.
Week 3 of the Faith series has Lydia, the first European to follow Jesus, use her beautiful home to encourage Paul and Luke on their mission to share Jesus with their world.
Week 2 of the Faith series reminds us we have a unique place in this world while we are here. Unfortunately, there is more opposition to our task than we would choose on our own. Paul and Luke go through an experience of Injustice while doing the work they were called to do.
The Opener of the Faith series has Saul meeting Jesus face to face in the middle of Saul’s rampage to wipe out all followers of Jesus. Oops. Sometimes we fight for the wrong side. Fortunately, Ananias demonstrates there are those who get it right.
Memorial Day is our finale for our Plot series for May. Conflict drives plot in most of our stories. Let’s look at one of the craziest stores in the entire Bible, the four short verses that show us how to interact with the culture around us. (Plus a university graduate recognition)
Week 3 of the Plot series has Peter and John amazing the crowd with a miracle at church, and upsetting the church leaders with that same miracle. When the going gets tough, it’s the Holy Spirit’s job to show up to amaze us.
Week 2 of the Plot series is Baby Dedication Sunday on Mother’s Day! A baby changes the plot because it reminds us we need each other, and God is still at work.
Week 1 of the Plot series begins with Jesus giving His followers the plan: Embrace God’s daily adventure way of living and demonstrate to others it is the best way to live.
The finale of the Forgiveness series is the part where relationships happen because we forgive one another as we are first forgiven by our Lord.
To follow up our Easter focus on the eyewitnesses to the Resurrection, this week we have some Bible comedy with two disciples who completely missed Jesus was both the Son of Man here to serve, and the Son of God who defeated Death.
To follow up our Easter focus on Peter, this week we have some Bible comedy with Peter and his friends to remind us to keep the faith in the middle of the Adventure, because the Holy Spirit is at work and our Heavenly Father does indeed have our best interests at heart.
It’s Easter Sunday! Let’s look at Easter through the eyes of Peter.Mark 16:5-7Luke 5:3-11Luke 22:21-24Luke 22:31-32John 13:38Luke 22:60-621 Corinthians 15:5
Palm Sunday is a celebration of Jesus trading His death for the death of Lazarus, and the rest of us. Ever attended a celebration and completely missed what it was about? So has the Palm Sunday crowd. This year the challenge is to not miss it again.
The Finale of the Forgiveness series preparing us for Easter has Jesus telling the classic tale of the Prodigal Son, with the younger son idolizing freedom, the older brother idolizing control, and both missing how blessed they are.
Week 3 of the Forgiveness series deals with that middle part of the Lord’s Prayer, where Jesus says forgiving others is a key part of being forgiven. This is the story Jesus told…
Our exciting focus this week will be some testimonies from our middle school group and the adults who went to winter camp recently! You will be blessed by their insight and excitement by their relationships with each other and the Lord. As time, and my health allows, we will then interact with the Kid’s Connection topic of Jesus forgiving Zacchaeus.
James Olexa moderates a discussion with middle school students who went to Winter Camp in Prescott AZ.
Week 1 of the Forgiveness series has Jesus offending his Pharisaical meal host by forgiving an uninvited ‘working woman’. And Jesus told a parable which seems to imply the Pharisee isn’t forgiven much and isn’t very loving as a result. There is no Biblical record of Jesus being invited back.
This week we follow Baptism Sunday with a study of why the first disciples called to follow Jesus were excited to join His movement. And where we might find renewed excitement to be a Jesus follower today.
It is Baptism Sunday! An exciting day for those going under the water, and raising again. We will have not only have a picture of Baptism, but of the principle of Oikos - passing on the good news of the forgiveness of sins and the promise of eternal life by those who are witnesses to the power of God in their own life!
For our final Baptism prep before the big day. Philip joins the throng of Jesus followers running away from the trouble in Jerusalem, and runs right into a Baptism opportunity.
Our 2nd week preparing for Baptism on February 19 focuses on the powerful Commander Naaman and his process in surrendering to Baptism.
We begin our preparation for the February 19 Baptism service with Matthew, writing to the Jewish audience familiar with the Old Testament predictions of a coming Messiah. John the Baptizer was telling God’s People it was time to step up and get more serious about their faith so they did not miss what God was doing. Then Jesus showed up to be Baptized. John didn’t feel worthy to Baptize Jesus. Jesus explained identifying with sinners was crucial to His time on earth as God in sandals. The Heavenly Father was pleased.
Week 3 of the Did You Know? series has Jesus relying on the promises of God and the angels as Jesus was hungry in the wilderness, facing personalized temptations to take shortcuts for his Heavenly task.
Week 2 of the Did You Know? series has John the Baptizer, the one specifically and miraculously sent by God to prepare the way for Jesus, joining Mary and Joseph as missing the everyday Jesus they knew was also God in sandals.
We begin the new series with Mary and Joseph losing Jesus. Both Joseph and Mary were eyewitnesses to the miracle of God in sandals - and still lost Jesus. A dozen years after the angel visits they were confused by the human/Divine relationship Jesus was living in their own house. 2,000 years later, so are we. But the key to finding Jesus is clear as 12 year old Jesus is our model: spend time with God’s word - where else would I be?
Week 4 of the Christmas series has the news of the birth of Jesus reaching the shepherds. The shepherds responded by going to see for themselves. If shepherds - who continually smell like recess - can get the good news, it truly is for everyone.
Week 3 of the the Christmas series is the Angel Gabriel bringing Mary the unexpected news that her chaste lifestyle is going to result in a miraculous pregnancy for the Promised Messiah. Not that all of her family, friends or even fiancé will believe her…
Week 2 of the Christmas series begins with the promises from God in ancient history. The promises took years to come true. But then, eternity does take a very long time.
For Week 1 of the Christmas series the Wise Men appear from the East to worship the newborn King. Where did they come from? And why are road tripping pagan astrologers and the awful King Herod the ones who most seem to believe the Old Testament promise is finally happening?
The Finale of the Great Adventure series has Abram (soon to be Abraham) heading off on an epic Travel Channel adventure. Sure, he gives away his wife and openly doubts God, but Abraham is the Father of our Faith, so what he gets right is: he never lets go of God. We’ll finish with Abraham’s fame in the New Testament. God Promised. Abraham trusted. And it turned out just as God Promised. Now, it’s our turn.
Week 3 of the Adventure series begins with the famous story of Adam & Eve getting us kicked out of Paradise. We know what happened. The remarkable part is seeing how almost all of the most important things we need to remember is on display.
The Bible tells us God Created the world we are born into. What does that mean for everyday life?
Week 1 of The Great Adventure focuses on the entire point of life: Love God and Love Others. How and why? It’s the path to the greatest life possible.
For the final week of July we will spend some time with one of our favorite followers of Jesus, Peter, in one of the most famous stories in the Bible. Turns out the whole thing is far more inspiring to us than we usually understand.
We wrap up the Golden Rule series with the very popular Good Samaritan story. It’s about that tricky second part of the Love God, Love Others fact of life. It’s not how we get Heaven, it’s how we bring Heaven to earth. We are not responsible for everyone in this world, but our lives are better when we treat others as we want to be treated.
Week 3 of the Make Waves series has John, a personal friend of Jesus, describing why we can love others in this world. First, we grasp God’s deep love for us by sending Jesus to die to make us worthy. Second, we love others out of our strong foundation of first being loved. We can be an extension of our Heavenly Father in this dark world because of our confidence in trusting God’s love for us.
Week 2 of the Make Waves series about being a positive influence in our corner of the world has one of the lesser known wise people of the Bible reminding us how to work for a good conclusion in the middle of a crazy situation.
Week 1 of the Making Waves series focuses on the boldness we can have because of the love of our Lord and the work of the Holy Spirit in our lives. Peter and the apostles are in trouble for teaching about Jesus. What we notice is: fear is missing in those who trust Jesus.
The finale of the Resilience series is Memorial Day weekend with the focus on freedom, and the lack thereof. First they meet a young woman who does not have her freedom, then they are annoyed by said young woman, then they bring freedom to her at the expense of their own freedom. It’s what happens next that reminds us to live boldly in the middle of our adventure that is this life.
Week 4 of the Resilience series reminds us we are not alone. And just as we are learning from others, others are learning from us.
Week 3 of the Resilience series has Peter and John amazing the crowd with a miracle at church, and upsetting the church leaders with that same miracle. When the going gets tough, it’s the Holy Spirit’s job to show up to amaze us.
Week 2 of the Resilience series has Peter and John amazing the crowd with a miracle at church, and upsetting the church leaders with that same miracle. When the going gets tough, it’s the Holy Spirit’s job to show up to amaze us.
Week 1 of the Resilience series begins with Jesus gaving His followers the plan: Boldly show & tell others what they had seen and heard. It wasn’t - and isn’t - easy, but it is the best way to live a daily adventure.
The Finale of the Hope series is what happens after Easter. His friends and followers still don’t realize they are in the middle of the greatest event since Creation: Resurrection. Death isn’t the grand finale they thought it was. Still isn’t.
Week 3 of the Hope series is Easter! Jesus said it would happen. Resurrection so resonates in our souls we still talk about it after a death as if it is a fact: ‘He is in a better place.’ Yet on that first Easter they were completely surprised it happened! Much like how we live most days.
Week 2 of the Hope series has Jesus ready to arrive in Jerusalem to invent Easter. But first: Jesus attended a thank you celebration party for Lazarus no longer being dead. And then, Jesus rode a small donkey to a celebration of Him taking on Rome, but Jesus wasn’t there to take on Rome. It became a problem later in the week.
Week 1 of the Hope series has Jesus ready to arrive in Jerusalem to invent Easter. But first: Jesus infuriates a few by raising his friend Lazarus from death. It is a confusing time for the friends of Jesus and the sisters of Lazarus, much as daily life is confusing for us. The key for them and us: Remembering what Jesus just did for them and us.
Week 3 of the Cooperation series has friends delivering an opportunity to Jesus on a blanket, and Jesus taking the opportunity to both heal, and challenge everyone as to Who this Jesus really is.
Week 2 of the Cooperation series has Jesus continuing toward His job of inventing Easter in Jerusalem. Along the way Jesus offers the opportunity to embrace our God-given standing as a Child of God by challenging their, and our, assumptions of who Jesus is.
Week 1 of the Cooperation series puts the focus on God being God of our entire life. All aspects. The woman without much to give gave all she had. Her generosity shows her commitment to trusting God provides.
The Finale of the Love Your Neighbor series has Jesus continuing toward Jerusalem, as the Old Testament prophet Isaiah said needed to happen. And just after Jesus announces His suffering and death waiting in Jerusalem, Mark writes down two Compare & Contrast stories of how to respond to what Jesus offers.
Week 3 of the Love Your Neighbor series focuses on a classic: Jesus feeds 5,000 with a wee one’s lunch. Andrew stands in for our role as both hopeful and faith-filled, and immediately, or perhaps chronically, doubtful and skeptical. The point: Use what we have to serve others, and let the Heavenly Father supply the amazing results.
For Week 2 of the Love Your Neighbor series Jesus expands our understanding of who qualifies as being worthy of our love. That ‘forgive me as I forgive others’ thing Jesus taught is tricky.
Week 1 of the Love Your Neighbor series begins with Jesus declaring He is the only one who can perfectly love God and others. And because Jesus did, we can receive the all the benefits. The Challenge? We have to embrace the benefits while still living imperfectly in this imperfect world.
Week 4 of the Wisdom series has Solomon pointing out Too Much of a Good Thing becomes a Bad Thing. We lose the joy of the Good Thing, and we lose Focus on the Main Thing.
Week 3 of the Self Control hits us where it hurts: The damage our words can inflict on those we want - and need - in our life. Some of the damage we do is unintentional. Solomon is challenging us on the intentional damage we do.
Week 2 of the Self-Control series begins with King Saul relieving himself in a cave in the middle of the chase to track down and kill David, who Saul fears wants the throne. Mostly because God has said Saul is a lousy king and David is the next king, which shows our Heavenly Father is funny, Saul chooses the cave David and his 600 fighting men are hiding in. David slices up Saul’s royal robe, but doesn’t slice up Saul. The question is, do we trust God is at work? Or do we need to do whatever is necessary to accomplish God’ goal for Him?
Week 1 of the Self-control has Jesus in the wilderness, hungry, and facing temptations to take shortcuts for his Heavenly task. Then what happens?
For Week 3 of the Christmas series the Wise Men trek from Daniel’s influence to see the newborn King. Nobody else seems to care. Except for Herod who was paranoid about keeping his power. That must have been very odd for the Wise Men. The ancient Scriptures promised a Savior, and here He is! The Wise Men show us just how far God works out His plans throughout all of History.
Week 2 of our Christmas series gets weird for Mary. Talking to Luke years later, Mary still remembers how unsettling the visit was from the angel about the birth of Jesus. Mary’s willingness to identify with sinners makes her a good lead-in for why Jesus had to be born in the first place.
Christmas is coming! Week 1 is the faithful Zechariah and Elizabeth, full of trust in God's Will and God’s Ways. Yet. When the angel showed up to tell Zechariah in person that he and Elizabeth would have a child, one that would prepare the way for the Messiah, Zechariah doubted because of their age. Ironically, the angel visit was while Zechariah was at church serving as the minister! Who expects God to show up at church during prayer time, anyway?
We finish the Contentment series dealing with a topic that too often steals our contentment: Money. God invented money to encourage relationships, and relationships are the basis of our contentment. Being generous reminds us just how much we have been given.
Week 3 of the Contentment series is the People of God reminding us that while God provides, and we have our part to play, mostly we specialize in complaining about how it could be better.