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oneChurch.tv is a church for people who don't go to church. Located in Clarksville, Tennessee, the goal of oneChurch is to engage with those who don't normally connect with God or the church and get them to take a second look at God and His church.
In today’s culture, the definition of manhood is often distorted. Society sends mixed signals—some emphasize power and dominance, while others promote passivity and complacency. But what does true, biblical manhood look like?
THE BIG IDEA: Masculinity isn’t about culture—it’s about Christ.
In today’s world, beauty and success are measured by fleeting, external qualities. Social media, advertising, and cultural expectations can pressure women to seek validation in appearance, achievements, or status. But Proverbs 31 paints a different picture—one of a woman whose true worth comes from honoring the Lord.
THE BIG IDEA: A woman who honors the Lord will be praised.
We all want to be known for something. But what do you do when you don't measure up—even to your own standards? You'll never become who you want to be unless you are willing to face up to who you actually are. And the only way to do that is to stop worrying about being known for something, and allow yourself to be known by a group of someones.
THE BIG IDEA: Managing our image makes us imaginary and not known by anyone.
There are four habits to ensure that the self you’re living with is the self on display, and that what people see is what they’re actually getting. Life is hard on our souls and our inner selves. Healthy souls, if unattended to, become unhealthy. Nothing gets better when left unattended. It’s why we wake up, look in the mirror, and start attending to things like our appearance, performance, and reputation. We’re quick to attend to our exterior lives because people are watching, and we’re competing for approval. But there’s only one person who has the ability or responsibility to be attentive to your soul and monitor the condition of your heart—you.
The Big Idea: What you cling to eventually decreases in value. What you make available to others has the potential to multiply.
There are three habits to ensure that the self you’re living with is the self on display, and that what people see is
what they’re actually getting. Life is hard on our souls and our inner selves. Healthy souls, if unattended to,
become unhealthy. Nothing gets better when left unattended. It’s why we wake up, look in the mirror, and start
attending to things like our appearance, performance, and reputation. We’re quick to attend to our exterior lives
because people are watching, and we’re competing for approval. But there’s only one person who has the
ability or responsibility to be attentive to your soul and monitor the condition of your heart—you.
THE BIG IDEA: The state of your heart drives the story of your life.
The health of your soul determines your capacity for duplicity. Is the self you’re living with privately the self on display publicly? Is what people see is what they’re actually getting?
THE BIG IDEA: To safeguard your soul, surrender your will.
Fasting throughout scripture is setting aside time to focus on Jesus. Many times we think of fasting only as abstaining from food, but you can also fast from TV, movies, the internet, spending money, facebook/twitter, etc. The point is to pick something in your life that consumes you, that takes your attention and time away from God and abstain from that for a period of time to. Fasting allows you to spend more time praying, listening to God, and reading scripture. This is a great way to remind us what is important, who our first priority should be (God) and to refocus and center ourselves.
The Big Idea: Going hungry is one of the easiest ways to be filled by God.
Every Christmas we remember the birth of a King. The birth of the King of Kings, and the promised Prince of Peace. The birth of Jesus Christ, the Savior of the world. We so often hear it preached, we read it and we even quote it, but when the world throws a curveball at you, do you really practice Jesus’ reassuring command, “Do not be afraid”? The world cannot give us peace, not like the Prince of Peace can.
The Big Idea: Peace isn’t about the absence of storms but the presence of Jesus.
When you think of a father, what do you think of? Maybe you had a dad who showed up and believed in you.
For others, the idea of a father brings negative feelings and painful memories. Wherever you find yourself on
the dad spectrum, whatever our image of our earthly father impacts how we view God, our heavenly Father.
Our experiences with our dad impact how we trust God, how we interact with God, and how we believe in God.
The Big Idea: Your past, present and future are held by the Everlasting Father.
During the holidays, we often don’t know what we need. We spend money on gifts people need that don’t satisfy what they want. But God knows us, and He knows exactly what we need.
THE BIG IDEA: Our Mighty God isn’t just powerful—He’s personal.
During the holidays, many times we don’t know what we really need. We spend money on gifts that people really need that don’t satisfy what they really want. But God knows us, and He knows exactly what we need.
THE BIG IDEA: Jesus is a Wonderful Counselor who knows us and cares for us.
More than almost anything, our world needs truth and grace. Reconciled. As one. Our world needs it, but so does your world. This week, we’ll look at how you can change the way you live to better reflect grace and truth, reconciled.
THE BIG IDEA: God doesn’t love you because you change, you change because God loves you.
In Jesus, grace and truth were perfectly reconciled. He never acted with grace in a way that was untrue, and he never acted truthfully in a way that graceless. This week we’ll see how to live more like Jesus lived by studying how grace and truth were completely present in him.
The Big Idea: Truth—when joined with grace—always brings freedom.
There are two kinds of people in life: grace people and truth people. One kind is all about the relationship; another kind is all about the rules. Both think the other is wrong. So, who’s right?
THE BIG IDEA: When grace and truth collide, your ability to make an impact soars.
The Fourth Watch of the night comes from ancient Roman practices of dividing the watch periods into four,
three-hour periods. It has come to have significance both in its literal period of the hours just before dawn and
in the figurative sense of the final period of some situation, event, or other finite time span.
THE BIG IDEA: A Fourth Watch Salvation is still Salvation!
One of the most significant spiritual battles we face is in our minds. While Satan plays a role in this struggle, the real challenge lies within us. Our thoughts shape who we are, and learning to control them is key to victory.
The Big Idea: The battleground for faith is in the mind.
As we continue the Defense Against the Dark Arts series, we focus on the spiritual battles that we all face daily. These battles are often unseen but very real, and God has given us the tools we need to defend ourselves and stand firm. This week, we'll explore the armor of God described in Ephesians 6 and learn how each piece equips us to face the enemy’s schemes. Are you ready for battle?
THE BIG IDEA: God gives us His armor to stand firm against the schemes of the enemy, and live in victory.
Scripture tells us that our enemy is unseen but does not claim that his schemes are also invisible. So, if you can’t see the enemy to fight him, you fight his schemes! Satan uses his demons and all kinds of schemes to keep us from knowing and doing God's will. All through scripture we have examples of the enemy finding victory of people, but we also have examples of what victory of the enemy's schemes looks like. Jesus shows us how to fight and be the most likely and most dangerous course of action the enemy takes.
THE BIG IDEA: Knowing God’s word is the only way to end the schemes of the enemy.
In a world of wizards and witches, an enemy, that no one was allowed to mention caused a lot of problems. In the real world, Christ-followers have an enemy as well. However, unlike the Harry Potter Universe Christ follower's enemy is real and should be named. If we don't name our enemy we may walk around and think it's people. This week we will look at scripture to tell us who our true enemy is!
Marriages, like knots, face tension. When difficulties arise, the natural response is often to loosen the bond, but Jesus teaches us that tension can actually make the bond stronger if we lean into it by pursuing our spouses and keeping our marriages strong—even when it's tough.
THE BIG IDEA: When tension is applied, pursue one another to keep the knot tied.
As Jesus followers, we are called to have relationships that are not average. God’s design for marriage is His reflection of His relationship with us. But we have an enemy who will do everything he can to keep us divided. How do we not fall victim to the enemy’s strategy when it comes to relationships and marriage?
THE BIG IDEA: What starts in the heart doesn't stay in the heart.
While it is easier than ever to fall in love, it is harder than ever to stay in love. No one wants to fall in love and just exist or endure. We want our love to become deeper and deeper. We want our marriage to experience more intimacy. We want to stay in love. Today, we’re going to look at what kills intimacy in relationships.
THE BIG IDEA: When ME wins, WE lose.
How we live as Christ-followers should make the teaching about God our Savior attractive. When we live out God's truth in our everyday lives—with integrity, humility, and a spirit of service—we become beacons of hope in a broken world. Whether in our workplaces, homes, or communities, our lives can reflect God's goodness and draw people to Christ.
THE BIG IDEA: The world finds The Way, when Jesus' followers live attractively.
Spiritually mature Christians do not start out that way. Newer Christ Followers must learn and grow in their
faith. Knowledge and maturity come through thoughtful pursuit and careful study. This spiritual education
happens most effectively in community with other believers who lead, mentor, and teach those who come after
them to ensure the proper foundations for their growth and development.
THE BIG IDEA: You are God’s tool for shaping newer Christ Followers all around
you.
In a world where the lines between right and wrong often seem blurred, we are faced with the challenge of living lives that stand out. Especially when we find ourselves in a culture that often values convenience over character, and self-interest over service. Followers of Jesus are supposed to live in the culture but point to something different, something better. Who you are, the way you live and your character shapes the world where you are. God’s plan to change the world is through the changed lives of His people, the Church.
One of the most common thoughts that get the “gears of deconstruction” moving has to do with human sexuality. More specifically, reconciling what God’s Word declares about sex with our desire as human beings for sex. Yet God created our bodies, and cares deeply for our well-being. He created sex as a gift to be enjoyed by a man and woman within marriage.
THE BIG IDEA: Sexual Purity paves the way for intimacy.
A common reason people have deconstructed their faith is because of church hurt, a term used to describe a wide range of experiences in which someone was let down and wounded, or trust was broken within the church.
THE BIG IDEA: Church Hurt is pain inflicted in a place created for healing.
We have all been to High School or college where teachers and professors have dismantled our faith and discounted the Bible. They were smarter than you. Had more degrees than you. So you just left God and the church. Now when someone brings up the Bible, or says, “You should read it!” You just ignore what they say, because you remember some claims that a professor made years ago that you never investigated. You think, “It’s full of errors. It’s full of contradictions. I haven’t read it. But that’s what people say.” Don’t just regurgitate what other people say. Read the Bible for yourself.
THE BIG IDEA: The Bible can be trusted.
In a world where doubt and uncertainty reign supreme and where faith is tested and beliefs are questioned, we find ourselves at a crossroads. Deconstruction in and of itself is not always a bad thing as we peel back the layers of our faith, examining the cracks and flaws that have formed there over time. In this process of breaking down, we have the opportunity to rebuild, to reconstruct our faith in a way that is stronger and more resilient.
THE BIG IDEA: The deconstruction of your faith should not lead to the destruction of your faith.
Fear is a normal part of life—it keeps us safe from harm. But fear can also control our lives and keep us from taking risks or trying new things. When we face fear, we get forgetful. We forget what God has done in our lives, and in the lives of the people around us.
THE BIG IDEA: When life isn’t fair, worship and remember God—He’s not finished.
When we face problems with fear, we get forgetful. We forget what God has done in our lives, and in the lives of the people around us. Habakkuk’s choice to worship and remember provide us all with an example when life isn’t fair.
THE BIG IDEA: When life isn’t fair, worship and remember God—He’s not finished.
None of us like waiting. Whether it’s waiting in traffic, waiting in line at Walmart, or waiting in a waiting room at the doctor’s office. Waiting is so hard for us, because we’re not in control, and we cannot speed up the process. All there is to do is…….wait. But what we learn is that God doesn’t waste the waiting. He’s not just working on your circumstance—He’s working on you.
THE BIG IDEA: When life isn’t fair, wait and watch—God is in control.
Habakkuk has become nicknamed by many scholars as "The Doubting Prophet" because he was willing to question God. Habakkuk wrestled with God through some tough issues and questions. We still ask God many of these same questions today. Habakkuk's struggle is important to understanding our relationship with God and how we relate to him in the tough times.
THE BIG IDEA: When life isn’t fair, complain and doubt—but hold on to God.
What do the "One Anothers" of bearing burdens, and encouraging have in common? They require you to know how to do each of them. They require that the "One Anothers" are known bye other "One Anothers". Being known can be scary, especially to be fully known. For people to know the real us means revealing something we might be scared to reveal. Today we talk about revealing to one another is part of the healing one another in God's plan.
Encouragement can be awkward. We don’t really know what to say, so we just make pleasant comments about superficial things. Paul seems to have in mind something deeper when he writes in 1 Thessalonians 5:11, “Therefore encourage one another and build each other up...” When Paul writes those words, perhaps his friend Barnabas came to mind. Barnabas was a notoriously encouraging person.
THE BIG IDEA: Encouragement must take place in order to finish the race.
There is an often-ignored principle that determines the quality and direction of our lives. While we are quick to recognize the importance of this principle in our children’s lives, as adults, we feel like we can disregard it. However, the truth is that we are just as impacted by the power of this principle now, as we were when we were younger. Today, we will discuss how we can become intentional about harnessing this principle for our spiritual development.
THE BIG IDEA: Jesus followers love one another by bearing one another's burdens.
Many of us have viewed faith as something we do alone. We might have said that it’s private. But there’s a limit to our faith growth when we go it alone. There’s a deepening to our faith that we only experience together. When it comes to consistently growing our faith, “we” is greater than “me.” Who’s spurring on your faith and whose faith are you spurring on?
THE BIG IDEA: When we create circles and spur one another on, we are Fulfilling Jesus’ Command.
Christians have not always presented a pretty picture to the world. Too often they have failed to show the beauty of love, the beauty of Jesus, the holiness of God. And the world has turned away. Is there then no way to make the world look again? Must Christians continue to stand with arms folded, going on in their old sweet ways, presenting to men a tarnished image of God—a shattered body of Jesus?
THE BIG IDEA: You can change the world by one anothering one another, one at a time.
Within Easy Company they had made the best friends they had ever had, or would ever have. They were prepared to die for each other. They found in combat the closest brotherhood they ever knew. They found selflessness. They found they could love the other guy in their foxhole more than themselves. They found that in war, men who loved life would give their lives for them. —Band of Brothers by Stephen Ambrose
THE BIG IDEA: When our relationship with God is what it should be, our love for others is what it ought to be.
Many times the church and Christians answer questions that nobody is asking. So in this series, we want to
answer your questions! oneChurch is a group of people who are willing to listen to you, dialogue with you, and
meet you right where you are—especially if you have questions!
We’ve all been there. The pressure of difficulty, pain, and hard seasons in our lives. We cannot pretend that
there is not a side of pressure that is not just plain hard. Loss, betrayal, abandonment, abuse, death, divorce,
sickness, loneliness, fear, confusion, anxiety, stress—the list of hard things is long and painful, and a place
where most of prefer to spend as little time as possible. Yet God is creating something in our lives.
THE BIG IDEA: When we are under great pressure, God gives us His great power.
Today, we want us to recognize the weight that comes when the vessel that He has formed gets poured into.
After all, what good is our empty vessel? He has created us so He can fill us. And not just filled a little bit. Not
just a few drops or a couple of ounces. When He fills us, we are filled to the brim with a life that has been
formed by the pressure of His hands, and now holds the pressure of the weight of being filled to live life
faithfully for Him.
THE BIG IDEA: We are called to bear the weight of being fruitful.
Should I stay, or should I go now? If I go, there will be trouble. And if I stay, it will be double. So come on and let me know. Not only are those the lyrics from a song by the band called “The Clash”, that is also the clash Jesus followers find themselves in. The one where we ask ourselves, “Should we stay or should we go?” Oftentimes the pressure-filled circumstances and situations that God allows us to be placed are on purpose. Many times staying isn’t to benefit us in the here and now, but to save others for eternity.
THE BIG IDEA: Jesus followers stay in the pressure.
There are countless studies, polls, podcasts, and discussion about the negative effects of the pressure in our lives. But if we’re not careful, we can start to think that all pressure is bad. But life couldn’t exist without pressure. Our physical body cannot function without pressure: Blood Pressure, Air Pressure in the lungs, Pressure in the Eyes. It is God that uses pressure in our life to form us and make us into what He wants us to be.
THE BIG IDEA: To be shaped by the Potter’s hands, we must surrender.
High School seniors can get multiple offers from colleges to come play sports at their school. Signing Day is
the day where an athlete will decide, “I'm going to this school. I'm accepting this offer. I’m going with this
scholarship. I’ll play for this team and wear their jersey.” Baptism is the Christian Signing Day, where a person of any age can say, “I now belong to Jesus. I'm declaring my allegiance for Jesus. I put my faith in Jesus.”
THE BIG IDEA: Baptizing is Identifying with Jesus.
If you think Jesus was a great leader and teacher, but find it hard to believe in his resurrection? You’re in good company. Even his disciples were skeptical. But those same followers were the ones who would later become the spokesmen of a new movement: the church. They would maintain faith in the midst of incredible suffering. Many died still claiming that Jesus was their Savior. So what do we make of this defining event—the one that became the foundation of their faith . . . and of ours?
THE BIG IDEA: The resurrection of Jesus created Christianity & launched the church.
At Passover, Jesus gathered his followers and spelled out a new relational arrangement between God and humankind: “As I have loved you, so you must love one another.” But Jesus wasn’t celebratory. He seemed troubled. Initiating this new covenant with God would require sacrifice. What came next would confuse his followers and send them scattering.
THE BIG IDEA: When Jesus died, everybody unfollowed and everybody unbelieved.
Jesus didn’t come to initiate Judaism 2.0. He came to offer something entirely new to the world: a new covenant that would forever change humankind’s relationship with God. And with that new covenant came a new ethic—one that insisted that the greatest choose the back of the line.
THE BIG IDEA: “As I have loved you, love one another.”
We weren’t made to earn love through deeds and accomplishments. Because of God’s love for us, through his son Jesus, we can sit and learn. We can sit and learn how to live from God’s love. An unconditional love that leads a profound transformation in one's approach to life and relationships. A love that challenges the conventional pursuit of validation, advocating for a life led by the security and abundance of love that is freely given.
THE BIG IDEA: God’s love frees us to go from living for love to living from love.
Jesus introduced the most powerful, transformational, and inspirational leadership principle on the planet. Every leader you respect practices it. The leaders you don’t respect don’t practice it. You can lead without it, but you won’t be a leader worth following unless you embrace it.
THE BIG IDEA: In God's Kingdom, leadership sacrifices self for the well-being of others.
Jesus told Nicodemus that he must be born again to enter God's kingdom. What does it mean to be “born again”? Let's listen to Jesus explain the answer to this 1st Century Religious person who thought he had all the answers. No one, even the most religious person, enters heaven by doing good things, but only by having a relationship with Jesus.
The Big Idea: Religion is spelled do. Relationship with God is spelled done.
People ask a lot of questions. Who should I marry? Where should I live? What car should I buy? Where did I put my keys? While we will never be able to answer every question with confidence, can we have an answer for everyone? Christians aren't called to have an answer to everything, but to be an answer to everyone.
THE BIG IDEA: Your story could be the difference in someone’s life.
We surround ourselves with people who like us. We surround ourselves with people who are like us. But Jesus calls us to maintain relationships with those who disagree with us. How do we do that? The key to becoming a merciful person is to view yourself as a person in need of mercy.
THE BIG IDEA: You can’t have mercy if you’re self-righteous, because mercy comes to those who need it.
We all have a natural tendency to surround ourselves with people who like us. Whether we’re geeks, jocks, hipsters, Democrats, or Republicans, we surround ourselves with people who are like us. But what is the cost of isolating ourselves from those who are different?
THE BIG IDEA: We like people who like us and who are like us. Jesus wasn’t like that, and he wouldn’t like that.
Something in us is tempted to believe God loves his law more than his people. We’re tempted to prioritize rules over people. Maybe you left church because somebody prioritized the Bible and laws over a person. But Jesus came to offer us a life greater than keeping religious rules.
THE BIG IDEA: There are no sacred sites; just sacred individuals.
If you aren’t religious or you gave up religion, you probably had good reason to walk away or stay away. You’re a reasonable person, and there are plenty of good reasons to reject religion. But reconsider Jesus. He wasn’t an extension of the old religion. He came to introduce something brand new.
THE BIG IDEA: Jesus did not come to continue something. He came to replace something.
When you read the Gospels, two things are abundantly clear. Being a sinner doesn’t disqualify you from following Jesus. And being an unbeliever doesn’t disqualify you from following Jesus. So, what does that mean for you?
THE BIG IDEA: Whatever your next step is, take it!
Jesus didn’t come to extend an old religion. He did not come to simply complete the Bible, so we'd have both a New Testament and an Old Testament. He didn't come to create Judaism 2.0. From the angel’s announcement to Mary that she would give birth to a son whose kingdom would never end, it was clear: Jesus would do something new for the world.
THE BIG IDEA: Jesus came to do something new for the world.
The central theme of the Bible is Jesus; He is the focal point. The books of the Bible that focus on the Jesus are known as the Gospels. The word gospel is derived from two words: good and story literally, it means the good news and is used to signify the message of forgiveness and reconciliation of Jesus. The four New Testament reporters who wrote the story of this good news are Matthew, a converted tax collector; Mark, a missionary; Luke, a physician; and John, a fisherman.
THE BIG IDEA: The unknown God has made Himself known through His Son Jesus.
Ever felt the chaos of Christmas? Things that start off so beautiful become terrorizing and terrifying by the end of the season. The songs you love to sing become annoying. The food you look forward to eating you get sick of. The parties you been anticipating become a burden. Is that how you want to spend this Christmas? Do you think that this is how God wants you to spend this Christmas?
To understand all that God did through the birth of His son Jesus to radically change and redeem our story. God gave us a whole new way to live, to love, and have relationship with him and others—all through the birth of a little baby, born in a forgotten town, to a teenage mother.
THE BIG IDEA: God takes ordinary things and transforms them into extraordinary things.
Santa Claus is real. It rarely snows where he’s from. Palm trees and orange groves dot the landscape. If you went there today, you wouldn’t hear sleigh bells, but the sound of the Muslim call to prayer from the minarets of the town mosques. Born in 260ad, St. Nicholas was from a wealthy trading family off the seacoast of Turkey. But when he was a teenager, tragedy struck, and he lost both of his parents in a pandemic. Nicholas used his inheritance to love and share the Gospel of Jesus Christ, and became a leader of the early church.
But the problem with Santa Claus today is that most people believe that nice people go to heaven, naughty people go to Hell. That God is making a list and he's checking it twice. But the problem we discover is that no one nice makes it to heaven.
THE BIG IDEA: God love. God gave. We believe. We receive.
On December 9th 2023, a series of deadly tornadoes ripped through Clarksville / Montgomery County. Many people lost homes, and some lost their lives. Some are asking, "Where is God?" This is the time for the church to act, to be FOR our community in more than just word but deeds.
What does Christmas mean to you? For some, it’s about the birth of Jesus—God in a manger. But for most of us? It’s not about Christmas, but X-mas. It’s about everything else. The presents, decorations, trees, talking reindeer, snowmen, candy—everything gets lumped into the X and Jesus gets left out. And that X is a problem we need to solve.
BIG IDEA: Obey God and take a step, and He will direct your steps.
Perseverance and tenacity are a lost art these days. Many times, we give up right before God is able to do something amazing in our problems. If you’re struggling through a problem, hang on and persevere. If you’re not dead, then God’s not done!
THE BIG IDEA: When we look up to God, we find our reason for Thanksgiving.
Consistency. Whether it’s in music, or sports, or public speaking, any other realm, consistency is something we strive for. A college football team needs a quarterback who’s consistent. A pitcher in baseball needs to be consistent in throwing. As Christians, God calls us to live lives of consistency and integrity. If we live consistent lives of devotion to God, you will find more and more opportunities in which God will move mightily in your circumstances. Why? Because God takes full responsibility for a life completely devoted to Him.
THE BIG IDEA: When we live lives of consistency, we set the stage for God to move mightily.
Everyone seems to have an answer about how to improve the country. As the political landscape grows increasingly impassioned during this election season, there is no shortage of opinions as to how the next President should lead. What if you were given the opportunity to be one of the President’s closest advisors? What if you were given the opportunity to influence the perspective of the leadership of a country? An organization? A family? What would you advise?
THE BIG IDEA: Leadership is stewardship. It is temporary. We are accountable.
We're looking at one of the most talked about Bible stories. When we tell this story to kids, we don't teach it correctly, and it causes many of us to eventually walk away from faith. It's all about following God and leaving the results up to Him.
THE BIG IDEA: Follow God and leave the results up to Him.
Prince Harry was born on September 15, 1984, and is the youngest son of King Charles and Diana, Princess of Wales. His book Spare is the fastest selling nonfiction book of all time. Pulling back the curtain of what it’s like to grow up as a royal, Prince Harry’s life is all about grief and loss. From the loss of his mum on August 30, 1997, when Diana was killed in a car crash in Paris, to the loss of his family and relationships.
THE BIG IDEA: Jesus sees your grief and knows your pain. His heart breaks with yours.
An NFL football player who left a flourishing career and millions of dollars to enlist in the Unites States Army after the terrorist attacks of September 11th, 2001, Pat Tillman was an American hero who lost his life in the line of fire. So what would Jesus say to Pat, and so many other service men and women who serve our country?
THE BIG IDEA: The love of Jesus leads to belief, which ultimately leads to freedom.
The richest and perhaps the smartest person on the planet—some call him Da Vinci Plus—Elon Musk has reinvented and turned on its head so many aspects of different areas of our lives: banking, the internet, electric cars, energy, space exploration, public transportation, medicine, AI, and now social media. So what would Jesus say to Elon? What would they talk about?
THE BIG IDEA: Jesus makes you better and makes you better at life.
When will Kanye West ever not make headlines?! Whether it’s his run for president in 2020, bizarre rants, or relationship with Kim Kardashian, the controversial rapper seems to always be the talk of the town. While he’s had his fair share of public feuds, Kanye West has made headlines for much more than his occasional outbursts. The rapper-turned-mogul has invested his creative ideas into his billion-dollar empire called Yeezy, become the highest-paid hip-hop artist of 2019 and in 2022, Forbes named him the wealthiest musician in the world with a net worth of $2 billion.
THE BIG IDEA: The best version of you exists on the other side of community.
Johnny Depp has been voted twice the sexiest man alive (in 2003 and 2009), has won numerous awards, and appeared in many blockbuster movies. He was the highest paid actor in 2012 earning $75 million dollars per film. In 2015, Johnny married Amber Heard but after 15 months of marriage, they filed for divorce. So, what would Jesus say to Johnny and Amber? About relationships, life, and success?
THE BIG IDEA: When God isn’t the center of your life, everything is meaningless.
He won an Oscar for his performance in King Richard, got 2 Oscar nominations for his performances in Ali and The Pursuit of Happyness, 5 Golden Globe nominations, two of which were for his wildly popular sitcom, The Fresh Prince of Bel Air, and 4 Grammys for his contribution to hip-hop. He’s been in a slew of box office hits: Bad Boys, Independence Day, I am Legend, Hitch, Men in Black, Aladdin. And then there’s what happened at the Oscars. So what would Jesus say to Will Smith?
THE BIG IDEA: Anger turns us into the worst version of ourselves.
Forgiving someone before they ask for it isn’t easy, but it’s exactly what God did for us.
THE BIG IDEA: Just forgive. Forgive, before they ask. Forgive If they never ask.
We all want forgiveness, but we're not always eager to give it out. And for some of us, there are some very big hurts that have a grip on our lives. Even the very memory of those things brings up the emotions as fresh as they were when they were new. So how do you move on? How do you push past something where you can finally release it?
THE BIG IDEA: Choosing forgiveness allows us to look away and let go.
After the resurrection, the disciples were completely different people. They were so bold and inspired to spread the message of the Gospel, even in the face of death. As Christians, we have the exact same Spirit of God in our lives, so why don’t our lives look more like Peter's or Johns'? Is it even possible to experience the Holy Spirit in the same way?
THE BIG IDEA: When you choose courage over comfortable, the Holy Spirit does his best work.
We all know that sickening feeling of being separated from your child or parent in a big crowd. Looking for that familiar face in a sea of unknown faces is a sickening feeling. One of our greatest fears is being alone without anyone, but for the Jesus follower, God gives us a promise today.
THE BIG IDEA: The Holy Spirit is always with us and never leaves believers.
The night before Jesus was killed, Jesus told His disciples that He was leaving. At that moment, the disciples weren’t sure what to think. They couldn’t think of anything better than spending time with Jesus. Jesus knew as long as He was living on the earth, everyone would look to Him to do the work of God. But when He was gone, the disciples would realize that they had the same power to do God’s work through the Holy Spirit.
THE BIG IDEA: The Holy Spirit inside you is better than Jesus beside you.
Jim Rohn said this “You are the average of the five people you spend the most time with." Confession: It’s heartbreaking to see such negativity from a group that isn’t actively pursuing the young people of this generation.
THE BIG IDEA: If we want to see this generation fall in love with Jesus, then Jesus' people need to be around this generation.
Every teenager longs to have an adult in their corner cheering them on, encouraging them, and helping give them guidance. During their elementary years, they know Mom and Dad are there to be that soft place to land if they need it. But when they become teenagers? They start to become more independent of their parents--and God made them that way. That's why it's so important for the church to partner with parents to help bring adults alongside parents and teenagers to reinforce God's love.
THE BIG IDEA: Kids fall, so be a soft place for them to land.
If you ask any parent “What phase of parenting worries them the most, the vast majority will answer in one chorus: adolescence; teenager years.” The good portion of the apprehension parents have about their teenagers is that they remember what they were like when they were teenagers!
THE BIG IDEA: Stop trying to change our kids and start changing our perspective.
Everybody talks about unity and being unified, but no one wants to give up their rights and privileges to be unified. Yet we learn that is exactly what Jesus did for us—He humbled Himself for us.
THE BIG IDEA: Without Humility, there will never be unity.
We learned that unity can change communities. However, with the highly polarized nature of the world, and the inclusive nature of Christianity, unity sounds nearly impossible. The key to achieving this is found in Ephesians 4:2 where paul says to “Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love.”
THE BIG IDEA: Unity begins with bearing with one another in love.
Churches rarely get in trouble because of theological issues. They get in trouble over competing agendas and power grabs. That’s not what Jesus had in mind when he launched his church. In fact, when he prayed for his followers, he prayed that they would be one. But what does that look like?
THE BIG IDEA: Unity Can Change Communities.
The Big Idea: Your words have the power to change the world. Your relationships have the power to reflect God’s love.
The fight for women's equality is well-documented. The 20th and 21st centuries witnessed an exponential improvement in women's rights globally, from the right to vote to Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 to the allowance for women in combat roles in the military. But what does the Bible say? How does God view the role of women in His mission to save and transform the world?
THE BIG IDEA: Women play a central role in the mission of God.
All of us are on some quest for truth in discovery to the answer to tough questions. But can we trust the Bible? After all, isn’t it so full of violence and oppression? Isn’t it full of contradictions? What we love about following Jesus is that His truth claims are historically verified, unlike any other ancient truth claim, thanks largely to the event of the resurrection. His resurrection is archaeological and historically verified. Thousands of documents support his life, death, and resurrection.
THE BIG IDEA: We can trust the Bible because we can trust Jesus.
Do unto others. Love is patient, love is kind. Turn the other cheek. It’s easy to appreciate Jesus’ teachings until the Bible writers tell us that he rose from the dead. For some, the idea of a person rising from the dead is so hard to believe that they cherry-pick the teachings and refute the resurrection. In this message, Pastor Chris recounts the truth about Jesus’ life and death that the apostle Paul says is a Hill to Die On.
THE BIG IDEA: If there is no resurrection, we should abandon all things Christian.
Paul wrote about what is the core and center of our faith in 1 Corinthians 15. Tonight—as well as on Sunday morning—we’re going to be looking at the same passage of scripture in which Paul says, “This is the essence—the core of our Christian faith.”
A Hill to Die On is used to refer to an issue or belief held to be so important that it is worth fighting for at all costs. Most Christians are known for what they’re against, not what they’re for, and they seem to fight about almost everything. To most Christians, they have hundreds—if not thousands—of hills they would die on. But if everything is important, then nothing is important.
THE BIG IDEA: Whatever you put at the core of your beliefs—include love.
Imagine what it would be like to feel completely powerless. Nowhere is the sense of powerlessness more evident than when it comes to the concept of time. Time is deceitful. Someone once said, "we tend to overestimate what we can do in a day and underestimate what we can do in a lifetime.” The thing about time is that we all get the same 24 hours a day, yet none of us are promised the next 24 seconds. What do we do with today?
THE BIG IDEA: Big Idea: Don’t just count the days; make the days count.
Have you ever done something that left you feeling gross, infected, or unclean? Maybe you’re the reason you’ve kept your distance from God is that you feel unclean and disgusting. Or worse, maybe God's people have made you feel like you could never be clean enough? Every person wants to live a life full of blessings. We want to experience satisfaction, live a life of purpose, and enjoy all of God’s promises. So, how do we get there...if our lives are a mess? What do we do? Jesus answers the question.
The Big Idea: Only Jesus makes the unclean clean.
Fashion trends come and go, they are ever changing, but some things are timeless. Chuck Taylors, a good blue jean jacket... However, most fashion trends die and for good reason! Think back to some of the fashion trends when you were younger, if you are anything like me those memories likely make you cringe. This leaves me with the question “what is timeless for Christians?” What can we embrace that we know will always be in style? Paul gives us clear instructions on what to wear in his letter to the Colossians.
The Big Idea: We have a clothing issue.
There are many who, when they think about the church, say, “Who needs it?” As we’ve learned in this series, so many have a problem with the Church because the Church has not always done the best job representing Jesus. Because of this hypocrisy and mismanagement, an entire generation chooses to deconstruct, disaffiliate, and disavow. For them: The Church is just another philosophy. One can take it or leave it if it's just another philosophy. However...
THE BIG IDEA: The Church is a force, not a philosophy.
Some of you have stayed away from church for a long time because you cannot stand the hypocrisy. We get it. However, more often than not, those feelings flow from the flaw of believing that the Church should have it all together. The Church is just a bunch of imperfect people who a perfect God is perfecting. That is what makes the church beautiful.
THE BIG IDEA: The Church isn’t perfect; it’s chosen.
One of the biggest questions or misconceptions about the church is that the church has done more harm than good. Some say, “just do away with God altogether.” In fairness, a lot of evil throughout history has been done in the name of the Church, Jesus, and the Christian God (The Spanish inquisition, elements of the Crusades, the slave trade, war, etc.). However, what if we told you that the church had accomplished more good than bad throughout history? What if we could change how people view the church by returning to “who” the church should be?
THE BIG IDEA: The Church is a people, not a place or political position.
Most people don't have a problem with God. After all, plenty of people show up for church on Christmas and Easter. But unfortunately people do have a problem with the church. As you read through the accounts of Jesus' life you can't escape this simple but often overlooked question, Why would Jesus spend so much time with religious outsiders? As we explore Luke 15 to find the answer to this question, we'll uncover the driving force behind our church's past, present and future direction.
THE BIG IDEA: The church is for everyone—insiders and outsiders.
Is work life-balance possible? Maybe. But what if that’s not the best way to live? We’ll see how the most effective people rarely shoot for balance. They shoot for something radically different. And if you do it could change so much in your work, your family and your life.
THE BIG IDEA: Passion accomplishes far more than balance.
We all drift. We begin with great intentions, determined to stay the course, but along the way we find ourselves falling back into the places and behaviors we intended to avoid. Somehow our commitments and convictions just aren’t able to help us on their own. There’s a missing ingredient that is necessary if we’re going to accomplish more in this life.
BIG IDEA: Having convictions and commitments isn’t enough — you have to have connections.
So many people are frustrated with the lack of progress they make in life. It’s especially confusing since so many of us feel like we’re so busy. How can you have that much activity and yet have so little productivity? We’ll look at some practical, biblical strategies for getting more accomplished.
THE BIG IDEA: Never confuse activity with productivity.
It’s the New Year. You’ve got goals. Resolutions. Some will be easy. But there are probably one or two issues that seem too big for you to tackle. What do you do with those? We’ll ask a question that can lead you to an answer that just might change everything for you.
THE BIG IDEA: What would the future you tell you to do?
God’s answer for the world’s problems has never been material things. God did not give us more stuff – such as work, food, or health. He gave us himself—the most priceless and personal gift of all. When we give relationally during the Advent season, this is what we remember: it’s an opportunity to worship as we remind each other of the gift given for our sake.
THE BIG IDEA: We give our lives to Jesus because He gave His life for us.
According to modest estimates, there are about 100 billion observable stars. Each of them is powerful and potentially life-giving in its own right. And yet, for all of their power, might, heat, and light, the only thing comparable to a star's power is its converse...darkness. Darkness is cold and uninviting. Darkness can be dangerous. It is the absence of light. Can you imagine a powerful darkness that sucks out even the possibility of light? Can you imagine a powerful darkness that leaves people feeling hopeless and helpless? What if there was a way toward the light?
THE BIG IDEA: Following King Jesus Leads to the Light
Jesus Christ. Most people today think that Christ is his last name, but it wasn’t. Christ was His title, His rank—He is King. And because He is King, He has authority over our lives, so He calls the shots. Following Jesus means we should be like Jesus. We sound like Him, react like Him, and love like He did. The church does not need any more Jesus admirers. The church needs followers of Jesus.
BIG IDEA: The church does not need any more Jesus admirers. We need people to follow King Jesus.
It’s one thing to battle the monster, but how do you defeat him? A lot of the battle goes on in your mind. And it goes on in your bank account. So is defeat possible? Yes, although the answer may surprise you and even discourage you before it liberates you.
THE BIG IDEA: You will always want more until you decide to give more.
So you’re battling entitlement in you, but you’re also trying to fight it in your kids. Nobody likes an entitled, ungrateful child. But practically, in a culture that has so much, how do you raise kids who are truly grateful? This week, we’ll uncover an important principle from scripture and practically apply it to raising kids today.
THE BIG IDEA: Kids who feel entitled to everything will be grateful for nothing.
What do you value? And more importantly, why do you value it? Often, the belief that what you’re pursuing has greater value than what you have drives the sense of entitlement most of us feel. But what if the monster has caused you to overvalue what you’re chasing?
THE BIG IDEA: Overvaluing the wrong things will cause you to overlook the best things.
When is enough...enough? You take a little more each time, but you still don’t feel satisfied. Enough always seems to be changing, doesn’t it? Why is that? Maybe it’s because you’re friends with the monster. Understanding how the monster works is the first step toward containing it.
THE BIG IDEA: Feeding an appetite fuels it. Denying an appetite curbs it.
For far too long, Christians have used their power to make a point and used their dollars to demand their way, and because of this, we have lost influence in our communities. Jesus never used his power that way. Instead, he showed us a better way to live. He had all the power and every legitimate reason to demand His way, but this is not the example He set. Instead, He leveraged His power to love and serve others and told us to follow His example. His example was the example of God the Father. His example was to Give (John 3:16). THE BIG IDEA: If God has your heart, then you won’t hold back from Him.
The word revival has a lot of definitions. It can mean “an instance of something becoming popular, active, or important again,” like a TV show revival. It can also mean “a reawakening of religious fervor.” At oneChurch.tv, we like the medical definition: restoring bodily or mental vigor, life, or consciousness. Revive = To re-awaken. To resurrect. Think about your life right now. Is there anything that needs new life? THE BIG IDEA: God revives us so that he can rebuild us.
In his now classic book, author Ryan Halliday shares a story about an ancient King. According to legend, the king's people had grown soft and entitled. He decided to teach them a lesson because he’d grown tired of their apathy, laziness, and poor attitudes. His simple plan involved placing a large boulder in the middle of the main road, which would completely block entry into the city. The king wondered, “How will the people respond?” What would you do if this happened to you? Would you move the boulder or find another route? THE BIG IDEA: Obstacles and opposition are often opportunities.
Have you ever had a problem that was just so big—so daunting—that you just didn’t know where to begin? There is just so much to do. You’re overwhelmed and don’t know where to start tackling an unsurmountable problem. The problem is just a tangled ball of mess, and it won’t be solved by panicking or doing what you’ve always done. You have to do something different if you want different results. BIG IDEA: If it’s God’s will, it’s God’s bill.
Jesus wants to free us from being pinned down by shame. When healthy conviction comes, we can either cover up or come clean. Covering up leads to unhealthy shame, but Jesus went to the cross to destroy our shame. When we come clean, sin no longer defines us. THE BIG IDEA: Guilt is feeling bad about what you’ve done. Shame is feeling bad about who you are.
All of us have the capacity to get angry. The bible doesn’t prohibit anger—it’s a very real emotion! But we have to learn to express anger in a healthy way, or it will lead to bitterness. And there’s no healthy expression for bitterness. It’s just toxic. THE BIG IDEA: Bitterness is the result of unresolved, unforgiven anger and resentment built up over time.
As followers of Jesus, we are under no obligation to get caught in the webs that bring spiritual and emotional death. Instead, we can kill what is killing us through the power of the Spirit. This week, Carlo talked about the web of worry. If worry is the web, the thing that spins that web most often is fear. The Big Idea: Freedom from fear comes from faith in the Father.
Like spider webs, we often don’t see life’s biggest problems coming until we’re tangled up in them. We want to avoid the webs, but what we really need is to kill the spider—or get to the roots and true causes of our issues. Envy is a feeling of discontent or resentful longing aroused by someone else’s possessions, qualities, or luck. Our sinful nature urges us to compare ourselves to others, taking our eyes off of who God made us to be and what he wants us to do—but we have no obligation to keep dealing with these “webs.” The Big Idea: Comparison tries to kill what God wants to heal.
The wisest man who ever lived encourages us to trust God and not lean on our own understanding. Wise advice. But what does that look like practically? THE BIG IDEA: Trusting God with your leftovers rarely grows your faith.
There is an often-ignored principle that determines the quality and direction of our lives. While we are quick to recognize the importance of this principle in our children’s lives, as adults, we feel like we can disregard it. However, the truth is that we are just as impacted by the power of this principle now, as we were when we were younger. Today, we will discuss how we can become intentional about harnessing this principle for our spiritual development. THE BIG IDEA: Your friends determine the direction and quality of your life.
A life hack is a new way of doing something that has a better result than your previous way of doing it. Doesn’t a better result sound inviting? What if there was a life hack that would move you from disgrace and to honor? Being honored at work or home sounds great, right? King Solomon, the wisest man who ever lived, had something to say about how to pursue a life of honor. THE BIG IDEA: Be humble or be humbled.
We live in a world that loves a shortcut. We look for the easy way all of the time. If we can get something faster, cheaper, and with as little stress as possible, we’ll go all in! However, God made us for something more. God created us and called us to do something important: work. THE BIG IDEA: Hard work, works.
No one is going to argue against integrity. We all want leaders with integrity. We all want to marry people with integrity. And we all want to be people of integrity. The problem is when it comes to defining integrity. What is it? And what does it take to have it? It may not be what you think. THE BIG IDEA: Integrity is doing what you ought to do even if it costs you.
What is the meaning of life? That question has sent people looking and searching for “purpose” through fame, power, money, sex, and substances. Think about your life. What is the MAIN thing? What is the most important thing? What are you pursuing and why? What is your priority? THE BIG IDEA: Life becomes pointless when you remove God from your priorities.
We all know people who have a lot of book smarts, but who aren’t street wise. Just having a high IQ doesn’t guarantee living a successful life. Don’t believe me? Just ask Solomon. He was the wisest person who has ever lived, but as we will see over the next couple of weeks, he started well with wisdom but ended his life as a fool. BIG IDEA: Dependence gives direction.
We all want forgiveness, but we're not always eager to give it out. And for some of us, there are some very big hurts that have a grip on our lives. Even the very memory of those things brings up the emotions as fresh as they were when they were new. So how do you move on? How do you push past something where you can finally release it? BIG IDEA: When we don’t forgive, it poisons us and poisons our relationships.
Christianity is not a merit system–we are saved by grace through faith. Jesus tells a story about a religious fanatic and the Messy Christian. As we will see, if you compare yourself to others, you will always find someone you think you are doing better than. But when we compare yourself to Jesus? You will find yourself humbled quickly. BIG IDEA: Humility is all about who you are looking at.
Many Christians are like poor photographs—overexposed and under-developed. They’ve had plenty of exposure to the light of God’s Word. Yet what difference has it made in their lives? THE BIG IDEA: Spiritual depth is not measured by IQ but, “I do.”
People are all around us crying out for help. But do we even hear them? Do we even notice their needs? Or do we mistake their gestures for something else?
Jesus told us to love our neighbors as ourselves. But that’s easier said than done. Which people qualify as neighbors, and which don’t? How far does our responsibility to others extend? If we make the effort to move toward the messes in other people’s lives, how inconvenient is too inconvenient? How unsafe is too unsafe? How dangerous is too dangerous? What are the limits to loving others as we love ourselves? THE BIG IDEA: God cares more about their eternity than your need to be right.
Many times, when we look at how God shows grace to others and compare ourselves, we can think that God is unfair or unjust. But is He? Grace is never fair or just. God showing grace is just a gift. THE BIG IDEA: Grace isn’t fair or just, grace is a gift.
As you read through the accounts of Jesus' life you can't escape this simple but often overlooked question, Why would Jesus spend so much time with people who were clearly not God fearing to the neglect of the more religious? As we explore Luke 15 to find the answer to this question, we'll uncover the driving force behind our church's past, present and future direction. BIG IDEA: Why did Jesus hang out with People who were nothing like Him?
What would happen if you dared to forget about all your thoughts and feelings about “HER” and focused on the fact that God remembers you. Because ultimately- in our struggle of “Why Her” – it has less to do with who “she” is and what “she” has- and more to do with- TRUSTING God to be who HE is and do what HE Says HE WILL DO. If I really trust Him, if I really want to build my life on Him, if I really want to find contentment, if I really want to live fully in all that He has purposed for me then- I MUST be more like Jesus and less like HER. THE BIG IDEA: Being more like Jesus and less like everyone else, lets YOU be YOU.
No one has a perfect life, no matter how much is looks like from the outside. We must learn to see it like it really is. Because our thoughts and perceptions about our lives are rarely based on reality. We’ve all got our places of secrets and ugliness, but for some of us, it’s just more hidden. Often what we NEED to see and what we WANT to see are worlds apart. And we end up longing for a life that was NEVER intended for us in the first place. And in the process, we miss out on all of the great things God has planned for us. The Big Idea: Competition erodes our confidence and keeps us striving to reach unrealistic standards.
Whether we like to admit it or not, we all tend to base our worth and value on one thing: how we measure up to the people around us. We compare ourselves to others, and as we will see, trying to measure up only brings us down. THE BIG IDEA: Comparison is a battle to see whose truth—ours or God’s—we will allow to rule our thoughts and actions.
If family and friendship division weren’t enough, we live in a culture that is divided across political, racial, and socio-cultural lines. Things may have been worse in the past, but we’ve never seen such division in our lifetime. We have a division problem, but what is the solution? Big Idea: It’s never too late to give someone a second chance
As Christ-followers, we belong to a big family called the church. That means that what we have in common is greater than anything else. We may disagree on issues, but the fact that we share this planet means something. We’re part of the family called the human race. No matter what our opinions are today, the things that divide us diminish when we focus on what really matters. Big Idea: What divides us diminishes when we focus on family.
We are all drawn to great stories—whether that’s on the big screen, small screen, in a book, or elsewhere. But we may be completely unaware of one simple truth—that our lives are a story. The decisions we make every day shape the plot. The things we do, believe, and trust determines what is written. The story we are scripting could be so much more for many of us if we let God write or even rewrite our story. It’s the story we long for, the one our hearts truly desire. BIG IDEA: To be a part of God’s great story, you have to let Him write/rewrite yours.
There are over 208,000 people in Montgomery County, TN. According to some researchers, over 80% of those people are not engaged in the life of a local church. At oneChurch.tv, our mission is to lead people into a growing relationship with Jesus Christ. That means those 208,000 people are our reason for existing. However, that task can seem overwhelming if we focus on the size and scope of the mission. What should you do when the task seems overwhelming? BIG IDEA: Everything changes when you focus on “one”.
Anytime we start to follow God and His purpose, you will be met by criticism and discouragement. When that happens, the best thing for us to do is to pray, remember, and revise the plan–knowing that God planted this purpose in us. BIG IDEA: Prayer prepares and positions me to respond appropriately to my critics.
When problems become our passion, we discover God’s purpose for our lives. And if your purpose is part of God’s plan? There will be more risks, and more questions than answers. It will involve physical sacrifice and all of us doing our part to further God’s kingdom. When we sacrifice some of our treasures, it allows Him to stir our hearts towards the path to spiritual renewal. BIG IDEA: This wall won’t build itself, so build what’s in front of you.
When problems become our passion, we discover God’s purpose for our lives. But when is the right time to start talking about what’s burning within your heart? When it’s time to talk about the purpose God has birthed in you, you should be able to answer these four questions clearly: the problem, the solution, the reason and the timing. BIG IDEA: If God is planting a passion and a purpose in your heart? Dwell don’t tell.
The story of Nehemiah moves from prayer to planning. Nehemiah’s heart was broken by the news that Jerusalem still lay in ruins, over 100 years after its destruction. After praying, Nehemiah brings to the king his plan to rebuild the city walls. Having a vision builds our faith and serves as a constant reminder of our dependency on God. But it will take some courage and discomfort on your part. BIG IDEA: God uses your experiences to prepare you for His purpose, but it will take courage.
The book of Nehemiah is not actually about people rebuilding walls; it’s about God rebuilding people. Sometimes we need to zoom out to get the bigger picture on what God is doing in and all around us. BIG IDEA: If it breaks your heart, be a part of fixing it.
What makes Christianity different from any other religion is that God actually entered our world and became human. “The Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son [Jesus] from the Father” (John 1:14). If this is true, isn’t it worth breaking from the busyness of your life to listen to what he has to say, to learn from what he did? Don’t you want to lean into the One who understands what it’s like to be human? BIG IDEA: Jesus as God means God is with us and for us!
What do we do with the millions of stories held by rational, credible people that defy all logic? Belief in miracles is seen by skeptics as something for the ancient mind - the naive and uninformed - and not for modern, scientific, rational people. But what if miracles are actually probable given the universe in which we live? What if the miracles we read about in the accounts of Jesus’ life on earth really did happen? What would those miracles mean to us in our world today? Jesus’ miracles weren’t an end unto themselves. They relayed messages about God, love, humankind, and life. BIG IDEA: The miracles of Jesus aren’t about our goodness, they’re about His goodness and for His glory.
Jesus was asked to sum up all of the commandments in the Bible with the single greatest command. His response was: Love God with your whole self. So why does it seem so scandalous to live out the command to love God? Contrary to what you might think, the topic of loving God is one of the most neglected ideas in modern Christianity. BIG IDEA: Being in love with God is better than just believing in God.
Jesus upends everything we ever thought about God, ourselves, and what life is all about. From demons to miracles, from why we tell lies to questions about heaven, hell, and the purpose of our lives--Jesus speaks to every area of life, even the topics we don’t want him to talk about. Every person must make their own decision about Jesus. You must investigate him and his claims as if your life depends on it. Because it does. BIG IDEA: Your response to Jesus is the most important decision you will ever make.
What does it mean to be for something? In a world where so many people are AGAINST so many things, God calls us as the church to be FOR others, because God is FOR us and sent His Son FOR us. BIG IDEA: Loving Others is not an option!
So what if someone knew everything? Everything. Would they hate you? Reject you? The truth is Someone does know everything. And He loves you. The question is, how do you respond? BIG IDEA: Completely loved people completely love people.
Because of our sin, so many of us spend our time isolated from God and from others. We run. We run because we believe the lie that we can’t be fully known and fully loved. And yet as we run from God, we discover something utterly astonishing. That while we were running from God, he was running to us. BIG IDEA: When you were running away from God, God was running to you.
Have you ever had a dream, plans, and vision crushed so swiftly that you didn’t know if you would ever be able to recover? Psalm 13 shows us how to “see a victory” when everything seems like it’s against us. BIG IDEA: Honesty and community position us for victory.
What do you do when you make a mistake? You want to do what almost every politician and leader does when they make a mistake—you try to cover it up. In the process of covering up our mistakes, we cover up something else. Something far more significant, and something far more tragic. Big Idea: In an attempt to hide your sin, you hid yourself.
78% of people who don’t attend church are open to a conversation with a Christian about what they believe. At the same time, on average, Christians share what they believe with less than one person a year. There seems to be a disconnect between what God calls all of us to be—“His witnesses, telling about Jesus to everyone”—and our reality. BIG IDEA: The Good news does no good if it stays here.
Waiting is something we aren’t typically very good at. And sadly, 2020 and 2021 has felt like one giant waiting room. When we look at the Bible, one of the longest seasons of waiting happened when God’s people waited for the fulfillment of the promise of a coming Messiah. The story of Christmas shows us that just because we find ourselves waiting doesn’t mean that God isn’t working. God always fulfills His promises at just the right time. BIG IDEA: While you are waiting, God is working.
The Bible talks about prayer often. Have you ever felt confused about prayer? Maybe you can relate to the crushing feeling of guilt that you don’t pray enough. Or, maybe you think prayer is completely illogical. Or conversely, you have seen prayer bring you a measure of comfort that is unexplainable. What if prayer was actually the most important and powerful aspect of a relationship with Jesus? BIG IDEA: Prayer isn’t our last resort, it’s our first and best option.
JIM CLASS PT 5: GOOD POSTURE The Bible talks about good posture often: “Pride goes before destruction. A haughty spirit before a fall. Humble yourselves under God's mighty hand that He may lift you up. God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble. Stand firm. Let nothing move you. Be joyful always. Be quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to become angry. Trust in the Lord. Do not lean on your own understanding.” Instead of trying to muscle our way through difficult situation, what if we considered “good posture”? BIG IDEA: Your posture could be the difference between being down for the count or finishing on top.
Like a small spark that has the potential to scorch an entire green forest, our tongues are untamable, with the power to control our whole bodies. We have a tool that can be used to build up those around us or tear them down in just a few words. What do we do with that kind of power? We can’t lock it away. But we can, by God’s grace, learn to control it. BIG IDEA: The tongue controls the course of your entire life!
The Bible says a lot about the importance of acquiring wisdom, knowledge, and discernment. However, knowing is half the battle. Sometimes, if we aren’t intentional, if we aren’t careful, we can get stuck in the knowledge trap. We can know a lot, and do very little. Strengthening our faith involve smore than just knowledge. BIG IDEA: Knowing without doing will keep you from growing.
Life isn’t easy. We’ve all faced troubles, and if we’re not careful, they can derail us and derail our faith. James knows this, so for his first Jim Class, James is going to challenge how we think about troubles and how the resistance of adversity stretches our faith muscles. BIG IDEA: Your pain is not where God is absent but where He is most present.
After Jesus’ death and resurrection, his followers couldn’t re-embrace a temple religion. They were left with Jesus’ odd assortment of commandments—impossible to imagine before the resurrection but made possible by the resurrection. These commandments would fuel a movement that changed the world. Perhaps the most popular commandment among those who don’t follow Jesus is “judge not.” It’s the one Christians are most often accused of violating. However, it’s also one of the most misunderstood of Jesus’ commands. BIG IDEA: If you’re going to judge, then judge like Jesus.
A lot of people stall out or quit their faith journey because they get discouraged. Some just grow disillusioned because as hard as they try to get close to God, they still don't feel connected. Isn't it true that the more you grow in your faith, the more you'll feel God's presence? But what if your spiritual connection isn't always reflected in your emotional condition? BIG IDEA: You can't equate your emotional condition with your spiritual connection.
He had brains, he had brawn. But he had one weakness and it eventually cost him everything. The mighty Samson was destined to be the next leader of Israel. But as his gaze drifted, so he eventually drifted far away from God. How did this drift happen? Did it happen overnight, or was it a slow erosion? Today, we will discover that most of us don’t take huge leaps away from God and our morals. Most of us take small steps away from our values and our conviction and, over time, we don’t even recognize the person we once were. BIG IDEA: You ruin your life one step at a time.
There are some things that we can control and a lot of things that we have no control over. That’s what makes emotional management so tricky. Whenever we find ourselves in tough situations, the tendency is to try to control what we can’t control. We pile on worry, we cram in anxiety, we stuff in some stress, we make our mess messier and in the end, everything falls apart. What if it didn’t have to be this way? BIG IDEA: Uncontrolled emotions lead to an out-of-control life.
Think you’re strong? Even our best intentions can falter when we face temptation & distraction. Don’t believe me? Just ask Samson. He had every advantage as a boy. His birth was predicted by an angel. He had godly parents who loved him. Samson was dedicated to God, and he experienced the power of God's Spirit as a young man. Despite all these favorable factors? Samson failed to embrace his God-given purpose. Time and time again, he made the wrong decisions, and ultimately wasted his life. BIG IDEA: A strong man with weak character is a weakling.
Cancel culture seems to be on the rise in our society. When we consider the heart of it, we see that some of it has to do with the one doing the canceling. When we look deep inside, often our desire to point out others’ faults has to do with ourselves. Our most critical voice is frequently reserved for our inner dialogue. Pointing out others’ faults often makes us feel better about ourselves. What does Jesus have to say at the moment when we count ourselves out because of our failure and brokenness? BIG IDEA: Jesus hasn’t canceled you, so don’t cancel yourself.
It’s hard to treat people with love and respect on a regular basis, especially in today’s culture of trolling, roasting, and cancelling. When we’ve been mistreated, it may feel more appropriate to punish, ignore, or just avoid the other person. Perhaps you’ve been hurt, cheated, or victimized by someone in your life. Surely you aren’t expected just to treat that person with love and ignore what they did, are you? At the very least they owe you an apology first, right? Sure, you’d love to be free from the burden of anger, but how do you reconcile God’s idealistic standards with the cold, harsh realities you’ve experienced? At the heart of forgiveness is a concept that brings a whole new perspective to the pain of your past. Forgiveness is not about forgiving and forgetting, but about deciding and remembering. BIG IDEA: We cancel others because we forget that God cancelled our debt.
In our culture, our access to power, influence, and judgment is faster than our access to knowledge and relationship. It’s easy for us to jump on the bandwagon and cancel someone without truly knowing all the facts. As we look to influence people with the platform of our lives, how do we navigate our polarized world? What does it look like to engage a culture that cancels individuals so quickly? How did Jesus respond to someone being cancelled right in front of Him? BIG IDEA: Culture shames you for your sin & cancels your future. Jesus cancels your sin & frees your future.
It seems like our culture is growing increasingly frustrated, contentious, and hostile. Social media is always ready to pounce on its next victim. If you are honest, under the pressure of our world, you’ve privately torn down, gossiped about, ghosted, or blamed someone this year. Culture can tell you it’s okay to hurt someone--even cancel them--in the name of truth. Jesus has a radically different view of how you can approach your life. A way of living so freely that it’s worth canceling your membership in today’s polarized culture. BIG IDEA: Truth is most powerful when it is filled with grace. Grace is most powerful when it is filled with truth.
Growth, accountability, belonging and care happen in community groups—in circles, not rows. It's easy to stumble away from faith when you are a nameless person sitting in a row on a Sunday morning. But it's almost impossible to stumble away—or to stay away—when you're in community, doing life with a group of people. BIG IDEA: It’s easier to stumble out of church & away from God than it is to stumble out of community.
We are currently in a seller’s market when it comes to our housing boom. People are paying $50,000 or more above asking price to purchase their dream house. What makes you want to walk through the front door and take a look? Curb Appeal. You never will get to see the inside of the foyer if you don’t like the house from the curb. The same idea applies to the church. Amazing, life-changing things can be happening inside the church, but us as Jesus followers must get outside and love and lead people into a church. We must create curb appeal. BIG IDEA: Sidewalk environments create curb appeal that can lead to the front door of a church.
What does God want me to do with my life? Should I take this job? Pursue this relationship? Make this career choice? For the Jesus follower, we don’t want to miss God’s will for our life. Today, we’re going to look at two short verses that help us determine not only how to hear God’s voice, but how we can know what He wants us to do with our lives.
We all have something in our lives that it took a lot of practice or training to develop confidence in. It could be cooking, writing, building. Whatever it is you and I know that: Practice makes perfect. However, it gets better than that. When it comes to our walk with God, our spiritual life, there’s a principle that runs deeper than practice makes perfect!
Have you ever had something in your life that you know is not good for you, and yet, you always seem to lose the battle against it? Have you ever listened to the wrong voice? Here’s the awesome thing about God - He wants to speak and he doesn’t leave us to figure it out on our own.
God speaks, but we don’t always listen. In fact, we often suffer from “selective listening” when it comes to hearing God, especially through the Bible. God wants us to hear his voice, understand his voice, and act on His Word, but we can’t do it alone. BIG IDEA: You can’t understand God’s word without His Spirit.
So many times we feel like God's up there and we’re down here. Yet, the Bible teaches us that God wants to lead us, teach us, help us, and be with us. Does God intend to have a living, active, interactive, personal, and vibrant relationship with us?
We compare ourselves with others. You can imagine the results already. Either you are prompted to feel smug and proud because your strengths outweigh his weaknesses—or, more often, you begin to feel threatened, inferior, and blue because you fail to measure up. Striving to emulate a self-imposed standard, you begin to slide from the pleasant plateau of the real you to the sinking sands of I don't know who. This sometimes leads to extreme role-playing where you try every way to adapt and alter your portrait to fit into someone else's frame. In simpler terms, you've pawned your real personality for a phony disguise.
We can definitely be victims of our own success. One reason is that success can make us arrogant since we now have a reason to feel superior. Society heaps value on the winners and forgets those who came in second. And long track records of success almost certainly create an “I'm superior” attitude the more we allow the outside world to influence our ego. When everyone is telling you how great you are through sales, comments, and awards, it's easy to start thinking that you are better than you actually are.
Where do mushrooms grow? On top of decay and in the darkness. Shame is like that. It decays our souls and grows in the darkness of secrecy. As long as you keep the secrets in the dark, there is no hope. But when you bring it into the light? That’s where healing begins. BIG IDEA: Shame loses its power when we bring it into the light.
God wants us to connect better with others by avoiding common disconnects that hurt relationships. Whether you're sometimes your own worst enemy or you occasionally send the wrong message, we all can tend to kill connections and relationships. If you want stronger connections, understanding of how/why we sabotage relationships, and the overcoming strategies? Then buckle up! BIG IDEA: If possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone.
Very few people take Hell seriously anymore. These days, Hell has been reduced to a joke, a swear word, a cartoon, or a reality only mean-spirited people believe in. If that’s the case, why did Jesus appear to take Hell so seriously? Hell isn’t actually an Old Testament concept. While the Old Testament barely mentions Hell, the New Testament, Jesus and others talk about it a lot. What’s going on? Is Hell real? And if so, what should you do about it? BIG IDEA: Hell is not God’s decision to live without you; it’s your decision to live without God.
So if you’re going to live forever, what’s it like? This week, we’ll look at the biblical descriptions of heaven, what role Jesus plays, what role your deeds play (they do play a role, just not the one most people think), and we’ll answer some top questions on heaven. BIG IDEA: You go to heaven based on what Jesus did for you. Your reward in heaven is based on what you do with His gift.
A lot of people struggle to believe what they read in Scripture. Instead, they argue that they’d be more likely to believe if someone came back from the dead and told them about what happens when you die. This week we’ll look at the stories of three people who did just that. BIG IDEA: If you would believe in eternity if someone came back from the dead, then why don’t you believe?
Almost everyone has an opinion about the afterlife, but so many things people believe about eternity may or may not be true. How do you know whether what you think is true...is true? To kick off the series, we’ll cover five commonly held myths about eternity (like everything works out just fine) that it’s time to bust. BIG IDEA: Some of the decisions you make today, last forever.
How can you tell what’s right and what’s wrong? Fortunately, many would say, we live in an age where objective truth has disappeared. What’s true for you isn’t true for others, and what’s wrong for you isn’t wrong for others. But is it truly good for us when morals change from generation to generation and you can write your own? Or, are we missing something? BIG IDEA: Subjective morality leads to chaos and confusion. Objective morality leads to life.
Why would anyone living today trust the Bible? After all, it’s so full of terrible instances of violence and oppression that it has to be both barbaric and outdated. Besides, you can’t really rely on a document that’s over 2000 years old. It’s been translated so often there’s very little likelihood that what we’re reading is what was written. Right? BIG IDEA: The Bible isn’t the point of Christianity. Jesus is.
Religion is basically how ancients understood the world, but science has taken us so far beyond that. Between what we know about evolution, astronomy, genetics, biology and so many other sciences, we’ve explained what we used to attribute to God. If science explains or will explain everything, why do we really need God? BIG IDEA: You can’t love God with all of your heart and soul if you don’t use your mind.
Lots of people all over the world appreciate, respect, and even follow the teachings of Jesus without believing he rose from the dead. But the people who recorded his story and teachings wouldn’t recommend that. Their message was clear: Jesus rose from the dead. He is Savior and Lord. And He came to defeat death!
Finish this sentence—“I don’t want to go to church, because the church is filled with !” What did you say? Hypocrites. That’s right. I believe that hypocrisy, more than any other issue, has kept more people out of church and from connecting with God. To far too many people, being a Christian and being a hypocrite are one in the same thing. What would Jesus undo? He would undo hypocrisy.
What Would Jesus Undo? What are the things that break the heart of Jesus? Jesus would undo hollow, empty worship that just goes through the motions.
WWJD is not a bad question. It’s just not helpful without an understanding of what Jesus would NOT do. Better yet, it is important for us to consider what Jesus would UNDO. When you’ve “been there, done that” it is easy to slip into indifference. It’s easy to be nonchalant. In fact, it’s quite normal. However, normal is not the way of Jesus. Jesus came to flip normal on its head. Jesus didn’t come to make things normal. He came to make things new.
Letters are powerful, but not as widely read as they used to be. That’s okay. What if instead of writing letters to people who are lost, we could show them the way? What if Instead of just writing letters to someone we love, we could demonstrate that love with more than words? What if instead of longing for a chance to write to someone who is gone, we could live our lives in a way that would carry on forever? THE BIG IDEA: God’s plan FOR us, is for us to be FOR others.
Communication is the lifeblood of healthy relationships, especially marriage. Almost all couples (97 percent) who rate their communication with their partner as excellent are happily married, compared to only 56 percent who rate their communication as poor. When it comes to communication, we should NEVER stop growing and developing.
Think of the deals you’ve struck in your life. Your first car. Your first real job. Your first house. You saw what you wanted, did what you had to do to get it—and you came home with a done deal. No deal compares to winning a wife, though. You pursued her with all the courage, creativity, and resources you could muster. Then, one day, you closed the deal. Your wedding day was the day you proved your love to the world and to her. Your marriage feels like the most obviously closed deal in your whole life. Right? Well, not exactly. It just feels closed for you. Your wife doesn’t feel permanently loved once the marriage papers are signed. She may have a subconscious question about your love. She may know you love her, but there will be times when her feelings will need to be convinced and reassured. Sometimes over and over again.” THE BIG IDEA: Women want to feel that they are worthy of your pursuit.
What is the biggest need of most men? Every woman thinks they know the answer to that question, but your answer would probably be wrong. Yet asking that question might be the key for women to get what they need and want most—unconditional love.
In every relationship, we bring with us a box of expectations. Some of us may have a smaller box with very few expectations; while others of us have larger boxes with significant expectations. As we move through the relationship, we think we know what is in each other’s box of expectations. Often, we think our box of expectations even matches. Yet, couples face all kinds of challenges in their relationships. Common challenges arise in communication, finances, values and lifestyle choices, or husband and wife roles. Understanding how expectations work will have a huge effect on the relationship between you and your spouse. BIG IDEA: When desires become expectations, relationships move from covenant to contract.
God uses detours in our own lives to bring us closer to Him. God will take us on a detour because He is constructing something in our lives. Today, we will see Joseph finally realize his dreams and God brings him to his destination on a 22 year detour—to not only rescue an entire nation, but his family as well.
There is something about revenge that is enticing. We love it. Think about our favorite sorties. Don’t we like to see the bad guy get what they deserve? Most of our favorite movies or TV shows involve some highly trained loner who is out to right all of the world’s injustices. Revenge seems like a good idea, but it never satisfies. BIG IDEA: Forgiveness is easier said than done. Do it anyway.
Today, it seems like everyone is all about dreaming big. There is an entire industry that centers on selling people a dream lifestyle built on travel, money, and image. The problem with dream culture is that it often ignores the important planning that makes dreams come true. BIG IDEA: A dream doesn’t mean a thing apart from God’s plan.
God uses detours in our own lives to bring us closer to Him. God will take us on a detour because He is constructing something in our lives. But how do you know God has you on a detour rather than simply experiencing a bad circumstance? How can we know that this is a God-ordained detour rather than things just aren’t working out right now? BIG IDEA: To get unstuck from a detour, serve others who are struggling alongside you.
As we continue to study Joseph’s story and the detours God took him on, notice how God uses detours in our own lives to bring us closer to Him. Sometimes detours take longer than we hoped for, but remember that the Lord has a purpose and a reason for them and that we can trust His timing. BIG IDEA: God cares more about the development of the dreamer than the realization of the dream.
A detour is an unexpected shift in the route we were trying to travel. We often think of detours that happen when we are in our cars, but sometimes our life takes a detour and we end up in a place we never dreamed. Yet God allows and uses detours to grow us and to get us towards our ultimate goal—to a place where we can be used by Him. BIG IDEA: The purpose of detours is to develop you for what God has for you.
Some labels withstand the test of time: Conan the Barbarian, Buffy the Vampire Slayer. But your nickname in grade school? Probably not. Some labels are honoring: Alexander the Great. Others aren’t as flattering: Rahab the Harlot. But is God able to do something through us regardless of what our labels, our pasts, or our reputations might suggest? You bet. BIG IDEA: People with pasts are the point.
You might think the Bible is filled with good, godly people. And it is. But these people have their fair share of dark secrets and shadowy pasts. Judah and Tamar are no exception. He’s a little shady—no, he’s a lot shady. She took extreme measures. So why in the world would God decide to include them in Jesus’ ancestry? BIG IDEA: Dysfunction doesn’t disqualify you from His-Story
Whether we’re religious or not, we all have at least one thing in common; we’ve all made some messes in our lives. You’ve said things like, “I messed that up,” “I made a mess of that,” or, “My life is a mess.” We’ve all been in, are in, or are only one decision away from a mess. Fortunately, Christmas reminds us that Christianity is not for religious people but for messy people, just like us. BIG IDEA: God includes—not excludes messy people from His story.
There’s always more. There’s always better. The grass is always greener on the other side of the fence. It’s easy for us to look at what our neighbors have and assume their lives are better than ours. But what if their stuff isn’t making them as happy as we assume? BIG IDEA: Contentment is tied to what we “do” not in what we “have.”
What do you value? And more importantly, why do you value it? Often, the belief that what you’re pursuing has greater value than what you have can drive the sense of entitlement most of us feel. But what if the myth of the greener grass has caused you to overvalue what you’re chasing? THE BIG IDEA: Overvaluing the wrong things will cause you to overlook the best things.
The grass is always greener on the other side. It may be an old cliché, but it lurks in every one of us. It’s that thing we don’t currently have that we think will give us what we want most. It’s an insatiable appetite for more. It never leads to joy. It robs us of life. So, what do we do with our longing for the greener grass? THE BIG IDEA: Don't waste your own life wishing for a different one.
Your favorite candidate either won or lost based on how our country voted last week. However, the church will win or lose based on our behavior in the aftermath of the election. The unity and diversity of the early church shocked and intrigued the ancient world. Ours should as well. THE BIG IDEA: Jesus is the King who came to reverse the order of things.
Your favorite candidate will win or lose based on how our country votes this week. However, the church will win or lose based on our behavior between now and then. THE BIG IDEA: We can disagree politically and love unconditionally.
We’ve all heard of a win-win outcome. But as Pastor Chris points out in this message, we are daily engaging in a lose-lose activity and we may not even realize how destructive it is. Being rich-er or smart-er or funny-er may feel like a short-term win, but for ourselves, our families, and our marriages, comparison is a game with no winners. THE BIG IDEA: Compare-i-sin kills contentment.
With communities across the country facing a mental health crisis unlike anything we’ve ever seen, combined with the uncertainty, chaos; disruption from a global pandemic; protests and racial tension; and a more and more tense political climate have only increased anxiety for many Americans. According to the Anxiety and Depression Association of America, the feeling of anxiety affects one in five of us to a paralyzing degree.
Through Jesus we can move past our issues like anxiety, cynicism, comparison, shame and insecurity. When we say, “I can’t handle this,” It’s a cry of desperation. But just because we say “I can’t handle this”, doesn’t mean it goes away. Yet when we bring God into the equation? But as we will realize, God is drawn to desperation.
Money is such a touchy topic but it is so important to deal with, especially when talking about emotional and spiritual maturity. See, the Bible reminds us in John 3:16 that God loves us so much that he “gave.” James 1:17 tells us that “every good and perfect gift comes from God above.” God is generous. His salvation is free. BUT, money is the test in Scripture about whether or not you truly are generous. THE BIG IDEA: Open hearts and open hands lead to emotional health.
Statistics reveal that in the UFC, 50 percent of the fight’s end via technical knockout (TKO), knockout (KO), or submission. This means that in any given fight, anything can happen. Thus, flexibility is an essential asset for mixed martial artists. In the same way, life is a fight, and flexibility is a key component of maturity. THE BIG IDEA: Flexible people grow into the future. Rigid people are stuck in patterns of the past.
Bursting into tears because it is time to make your bed is cute when you are 4, but not the greatest reaction when you are 24. At the same time, some outfits look amazing when you are 18, but may not work as well in a boardroom at 48. Part of life involves maturing. We all want to mature at the right time. We learn the skills, requirements, and habits of adults... but we don’t always mature emotionally, especially when we are offended. THE BIG IDEA: There is no freedom without total forgiveness.
Growing up physically and intellectually do not guarantee we will grow at the same pace (if at all) emotionally and spiritually. Charting a path of growth towards becoming our true self requires that we take an honest look in the mirror. Are you ready? THE BIG IDEA: You can’t really care until you become self-aware.
The more stressed out we are, the more selfish we become. But what if it doesn’t have to be that way? We get to live out a New Normal. When I HAVE to do something, my sole focus is ME. When I GET to do something, I see beyond me. The church does not exist for us. We are the church and we exist for the world. Real freedom comes, not from consumption, but from compassion. THE BIG IDEA: Jesus Saves. We Serve.
Many of us have viewed faith as something we do alone. We might have said that it’s private. But there’s a limit to our faith growth when we go it alone. There’s a deepening to our faith that we only experience together. When it comes to consistently growing our faith, “we” is greater than “me.” Who’s spurring on your faith and whose faith are you spurring on? THE BIG IDEA: Weekly connection leads to our best direction.
Your faith in God matters to God. In fact, God is most honored through your living, active, death-defying, out-of-the-box faith. That being the case, He’s committed to growing it. BIG. Imagine how differently you would respond to difficulties, temptations, and even good things if you knew with certainty that God was in all of it and was planning to leverage it for good. But in order for all of that to happen, there’s one thing it all hinges on. THE BIG IDEA: The greater your faith in God, the stronger your relationship will be.
Here's something we all have in common—we’re ready for things to get back to normal. Some of the new normal has been forced on us, but if we're wise, we will pause and ask the question, “What have I learned, what have we learned, and what do we want to carry into the future?” How will the church change to meet this new normal on the other side of this pandemic? What will stay the same, and what will change? THE BIG IDEA: Will the future of the church be analog or digital? Yes.
When it comes to following Jesus, the shallow end is safe and it's well-populated and it's easy, but in the depths, you will quickly find out it can be unpopular and difficult and risky and downright inconvenient. Is it worth it? It's easy to say “Yes” when following Jesus involves showing up on a Sunday morning or even opening up your Bible app in the privacy of your own home. That may cost you some time, but it’s relatively easy. However, what if following Jesus was about more than just giving up time on a Sunday? What if following Jesus costs more than we are willing to pay? BIG IDEA: Real life begins when we lay our lives down
Moving out of the shallows starts with feeding ourselves spiritually. But if we stop at that step, we’ll be left spiritually fat rather than spiritually fit. How do we prevent that from happening? We know in our heads that in order to get somewhere we’ve never been, we have to do something that we’ve never done. In order to get something that we’ve never had, we have to do something new. What do you do if you are not satisfied with where you are at? You work out. In fact, no matter what spiritual shape you are in, you can always work out. BIG IDEA: A deep faith is one that is exercised.
Many Christians are like poor photographs—overexposed and under-developed. They’ve had plenty of exposure to the light of God’s Word. Yet what difference has it made in their lives? The problem is not with Scripture. The Bible can transform us, but only if we apply it. Spiritual growth is a commitment to change. And therein lies our problem: the human heart resists nothing as strongly as it resists change. We will do anything to avoid it. BIG IDEA: Spiritual depth is not measured by IQ but, “I do.”
When you go to the ocean, you can either stay in the shallows near the beach or venture out into the deep—where coral reefs lie, colorful tropical fish swim, and where the observations from the deep can literally take your breath away! What will it be—the shallows or the deep? It all lies in the details. THE BIG IDEA: Going Deep is all in the details—it is all about observation.
No one strives to be shallow. But how do we grow deeper? The journey starts with a step that each of us can only take for ourselves. It’s time to pick up the fork. BIG IDEA: The shallows can be bottle-fed, but the depths have to be self-fed.
We’ve been at home more than ever and seen all the imperfections in our yard, in paint colors, etc. Home Improvement stores are busier than ever. You’re also probably seeing all the imperfections in your spouse as well. This week we’re going to do a DIY project on what really matters in our home - our marriage! THE BIG IDEA: What God has made one cannot be undone.
You bring home a sweet, innocent baby from the hospital. The next thing you know, he learns to crawl. Learns to talk. Starts to play video games. Starts dating the girl next door...SCREECHING HALT! Don't blink and miss it! Whether you have a teething one-year-old or a tween in braces or a high school senior filling out college applications, it's never too late to shape your kids. Join in for three weeks as we launch a discussion about ways to cut through the clutter and influence their hearts and futures. THE BIG IDEA: What we see as detours, god uses to bring us closer to Him.
So many of us struggle in marriage as a result of ineffective communication. We muddle through misunderstandings and assumptions with our spouse and often fail to resolve conflicts in healthy ways. With these questions, we will bring clarity to the confusion of marital communication. Chris presents some strategies will help us better love and communicate with our spouse.
Perhaps nothing characterized the life of Jesus more than his pursuit of people whose lives and lifestyles did not look like his. If we fail to listen to people who don't experience the world the way we do, we will never bear their burden.
Storms can be beautiful and scary. Storms bring problems but they don’t last forever. Some storms are avoidable, most are not. Storms are a part of life. THE BIG IDEA: The strongest storms can’t stop the promises of God.
There’s an old saying that all of us are either in the middle of a storm, about to walk into a storm, or just coming out of a storm. We all need to know how to get through what we’re going through. We all need clarity as we try to recover from what we’ve been through. And wisdom says that we should prepare for whatever is coming around the corner. Some storms are sent. Some storms are caused. ALL storms can be used by God for something better. THE BIG IDEA: Sometimes the Storm is actually a second chance.
Ever found yourself in a storm of life? If so, then there is a day in the life of Christ that you need to know about. Aside from the Crucifixion, it is the most stressful day of his life. A roaring sequence of bad news, demanding crowds, and doubting friends. 24 hours in which Jesus faces the same gale-force fears that you and I face. Waves of pressure slam. Winds of anxiety blow. Clouds of darkness billow. Yet through it all, Jesus remains calm. Let’s see how Jesus stays calm on the stormiest day. THE BIG IDEA: When you are in the storm, let Jesus in the boat.
Many times, our faith deteriorates as our circumstances deteriorate. When that happens, our faith is quickly overcome by fear, and the future looks dark. We all have a fear of losing control of things in our life. When life seems out of control it does not mean that God is not in control. It is not our responsibility to control our circumstances – it is God’s. THE BIG IDEA: We grow in storms in ways we can’t in the calm.
We all have a tendency to judge others based on what we think they deserve. Maybe you’ve tried to do things the right way, but those who had no regard for the right way seemed to be rewarded. The truth is, when we overestimate our own righteousness and underestimate the grace we’ve been given, we can’t help but judge others. In order to discover true peace, we need to shift our focus from others to ourselves and rest in the relationship we have with the Father.
If there’s one thing that’s true for all of us, it’s that we will pursue our own desires and eventually come to regret it. It’s a cycle in which we often find ourselves. Unfortunately, we tend to circle back to the same desires that got us in trouble in the first place. Often this is because we’re afraid to come back home to our heavenly Father. We try to fix things on our own instead of coming home, where we can truly find peace and rest. What if we made the decision to come home—where we were intended to be all along? Maybe it’s here we will realize that our dependence on the Father is what gives us true freedom in this life.
The term “father” stirs up a variety of feelings and memories in all of us. For some of us, our fathers were a dominant presence in our homes. For others, our fathers were people we barely saw. For still others, our fathers were consistent providers, but cold when it came to showing genuine love. So, when we hear the term “heavenly Father,” what feelings bubble up? In one story, Jesus gives us a perfect picture of who our heavenly Father truly is. THE BIG IDEA: It’s hard to get life right when you’ve got God wrong.
Throughout the story of the prodigal son, we tend to focus more on the sons than the father. This week we are going to take a long look at how the father in this story is a revolutionary representation of God, not just to the culture Jesus was speaking directly to, but also our culture. THE BIG IDEA: Your relationship with God is never broken beyond repair.
When we think about adding, following, and blocking, it is easy to think of the outside influences that we need to manage. However, it is equally important to consider our personal role in influencing others. When was the last time you audited your own social media posting habits to see what type of content you are sharing consistently?
As much as there are some things we should delete in our lives, there are some things that should never be blocked. In fact, they need to be saved, added and followed. Pursued. We’ll look at the kinds of things--and the kinds of people--you want to always have close to you.
Can you follow Jesus and delete toxic people from your life? Surprisingly, yes. In fact, sometimes it’s the most loving thing you can do. Join us to find out why, when, how to delete toxic people from your life. You might even discover who needs to go.
One of the reasons many shy away from the Christian faith or avoid going deeper is because they fear giving up things they like, even though they suspect they may not be good for them. Can you be a Christian without being a prude?
Ever asked God to help you? Sure you have. What might surprise you is the response you find in scripture to that prayer. Practical help for your life might be closer than you think, and a little more uncomfortable than you think.
So many people try to live with conflicting values, and it causes a great deal of stress. Life is hard and that’s not a bad thing. Good things can actually come from hard times. However, there is a way to live and work that makes it easier to navigate those tough times and more importantly, there is a way that sets a great example for others to see. It is not the way of conflict, drama, division, outrage, or politics. It’s the way of Jesus and his way is one of togetherness, unity, and the freedom that comes from serving. This is totally counter-cultural but it is revolutionary.
As we continue on in our study of the book of Colossians and learning that Jesus truly is the Greatest of All Time, Paul is calling on the believers in Colossae to do something new. Staying where they’ve been—living the same ole way—is no longer an option. He says it’s time to live the NEW LIFE they have in Christ.
An overemphasis on the rules can lead to distraction. Nowhere is this truer than when it comes to religion. In fact, some of you are skeptical about this Jesus stuff because you do not want to deal with all of the rules. You left the church 10 years ago because of all of the rules. You don’t believe in God because of all of the rules. What if we told you that the teachings of Jesus and his earliest followers flip all of that upside down? What if we told you that what makes Jesus great is that he came to fulfill all of the rules of religion? What if we told you that following Jesus leads to freedom, not restriction?
In the Christian life, we never stand still—we either go forward or gradually slip backward. “Let us go on to maturity!” is the call we must obey (Heb. 6:1, literal translation). The Christian who is not making spiritual progress is an open target for the enemy to attack and destroy.
In the world of sports there is often a debate over who the “greatest of all time” would be in a specific sport. And throughout history, there’s always one. One that rises to the top of the class. One that out-ranks, out-performs, out-shines all the others. One that is the G.O.A.T.: the greatest of all time.
Jesus is exactly that—the greatest of all time. Jesus is God who creates and holds the entire world together. And when we give Jesus His proper place in our lives, He will hold our world together as well.
What makes friendship so great is the same thing that makes it so dangerous. With friends, we drop our guards. We’re most open to influence from others when we’re with people who accept us the way real friends do. Acceptance leads to influence. And it can work for us—or against us. Some of the most addictive behaviors imaginable are those that people began as pastimes with friends. Our friends greatly influence the direction and quality of our lives. In fact, they can actually determine the direction and the quality of our lives. Think about it: how much have your friends impacted who you are? Friendships are valuable. But because friendships can also be dangerous, we need guardrails.
The point of guardrails is to light up our consciences before we hurt ourselves or other people. They prompt us to feel uneasy before it’s too late. Solomon, the second king of Israel and considered in ancient times the wisest person who ever lived, wrote this in the Old Testament book of Proverbs: “Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it” (Proverbs 4:23).
Guardrails keep vehicles from straying into dangerous or off-limit areas. We need personal guardrails so we don’t stray into areas of life that can harm us or the people we love. If there’s one area in which personal guardrails are most needed but also most resisted, it’s in our relationships. THE BIG IDEA: Sex God’s way has NO shame.
Guardrails keep vehicles from straying into dangerous or off-limit areas. We need personal guardrails so we don’t stray into areas of life that can harm us or the people we love. When it comes to our finances, it’s easy to cross the line into the danger zone. That’s why it’s essential to establish guardrails against greed.
They're everywhere, but they don't get much attention—until somebody hits one. And then, more often than not, it is a lifesaver. The damage done by hitting a guardrail is minor when compared to what you would have hit had it not been there. Guardrails are designed to keep vehicles from straying into dangerous or off-limit areas. They minimize damage by keeping us in the safety zone. But the highway isn’t the only place we need guardrails.
Perhaps you are in a season of life where you are desperate for answers. Life has not gone in the direction that you planned, and you are searching, longing, and reaching out. Perhaps you are trying to figure out what’s next. You may have been taken completely by surprise at the events of life, and you are hocked, scared and unsure of what to do. You are silently waiting, too afraid to move forward—to wounded to look back.
Imagine working hard and getting nowhere. Imagine giving it your best, striving and striving, only to still be under someone else’s thumb constantly. Imagine feeling unfulfilled. Imagine feeling powerless. Here’s the truth: FEELING powerless and BEING powerless are two different things.
The 1 st century church was deeply divided over race and social status. Too often, the modern church is too. But God commands us to love one another as we share with the world the good news that God loves everyone.
You don’t have to be flashy to make an impact. Margy Whitmer, Producer of Mister Roger’s Neighborhood, said, “You take all the elements that make great television and do the exact opposite, you have Mister Roger’s Neighborhood–low production value, simple sets, unlikely star–yet, it worked.” Fred Rogers said, “I always felt like I didn’t have to put on a funny hat or jump through a hoop to have a relationship with a child.” So if it’s not flashy that makes a difference, then what is it? The answer is simpler than you might think.
Itʼs been 50 years since Fred Rogers first appeared on TV screens, a gentle and avuncular man who warbled “Wonʼt You Be My Neighbor?” as he changed into a cardigan and sneakers. The low-key, low-tech Mister Rogersʼ Neighborhood presented Rogers as one adult in a busy world who always had time to listen to kids. That legacy burns for many in these turbulent times. An ordained Presbyterian minister, Rogers's faith in Jesus Christ motivated him to love everyone.
It’s easier to keep track of something than to catch up with it. That’s especially true of our money. If our money could talk, it would say, “I’m easy to track but lose track of me and you will lose your peace of mind.”
Are you mastering your money or being mastered by it? Maybe it’s time to flip the script. Instead of striving to have enough money to satisfy a me-first appetite, Jesus encouraged his listeners to have an others-first approach.
If our money could talk, what would it tell us? You might be shocked to find out that what our money would say is pretty close to what Jesus did say—and what we should still consider today. Does our money add meaning to our lives or is it the meaning of our lives?
Today, it seems like everyone is all about dreaming big. There is an entire industry that centers on selling people a dream lifestyle built on travel, money, and image. The problem with dream culture is that it often ignores the diligence culture that makes dreams come true. Hard work works. What is holding you back?
Greed, gluttony, and lust are 3 spiders that can hold us back from God’s best because they amplify our worst. Many of us walk through life trying to satisfy our desires and cravings at every turn. What if real peace, contentment, and fulfillment came from living for someone and something greater?
Pride, envy, and anger are 3 spiders that can hold us back from God’s best. Many of us walk through life trying to clean up the cobwebs and spider webs in our lives (outside appearance/symptoms) when the answer to wholeness is found in killing the spider. It’s time to stop moving the mess and allowing the spiders to hold us back!
Time flies. One day your kids are taking their first steps, the next day it seems they are going off to high school and then college. Where does the time go, and what should you do with the time you’ve been given? While you may eventually run out of time as a parent, we’ll show you how you never run out of influence, and what to do with it.
Integrity. It’s something we all want our kids to have. But how do we help them find it in a world full of compromises? The answer might surprise you. We’ll look at one essential key to building integrity in your child and in your home that could change everything.
Statistics say that the three biggest factors in building a faith that lasts in the life of a child are the spiritual investment of a parent, the outside voices of other adults, and the opportunity for that child to find a personal mission. That’s why having a family rhythm of faith and having outside voices speaking into your family are so important. That’s why a partnership with a church is so important for every family.