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Have you ever worked hard for a project or person only to find out that what you hoped to accomplish was not realized? Have you ever been overcome with a sense of failure? This is not uncommon to the human experience. In part 4 of our reading through the life of Elijah, Pastor Victor Nuwamanya, shares a key factor in overcoming self-pity and failure. He shares how God has not forgotten you or left you without provision to fulfill his calling on your life.
1 Kings 19:1-18
Key Question: How does God’s call conquer our self-pity?
God calls us to himself. (vv. 1-8)
God calls us to the truth. (vv. 9-14, 18)
God calls us to serve. (vv. 15-17)
What is prayer? And what is its role in the life of a Christian? Prayer is an essential part of a life of faith in Jesus. In this 3rd installment of the study of the Old Testament prophet Elijah, Pastor Fikre Prince shares how we can learn from Elijah’s commitment to prayer and be more effective in the discipline.
1 Kings 18:41-46, James 5:13-18
Big Idea: The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective.
Key Question: How can I pray in a powerful and effective way?
Pray in alignment with God’s Word. (vv. 41-42)
Persist in pursuing God’s promises. (vv. 43-44a)
Plan to respond to God’s grace. (vv. 44b-46)
What is an Idol? An Idol is an artifact of worship that cannot actually respond to the worshipper. In life we can find ourselves worshipping the idols of success, relationships, wealth, and a host of other things. In this second message of the Elijah series Pastor Fikre Prince shares the dangers of Idolatry and the benefits of following the Living God of scripture.
1 Kings 18:1-40
Big Idea: The Lord is the only God who gives life.
Key Question: What does Scripture say about false gods? How does idolatry impact our lives?
1. Idols corrupt our lives. (vv. 1-19)
2. Idols have no life. (vv. 20-27, 29)
3. Idols take our life. (v. 28)
What is essential to being a follower of Jesus? Faith. How do I learn what true faith and its benefits are? Look at the Bible. In this sermon Pastor Fikre Prince shares part 1 in a series reviewing the life of the prophet Elijah. Though he was a prophet, he was just a human like us, and reviewing his model of faith will help us to grow into more obedient and dependent followers of God. (1 Kings 17)
Big Idea: A life of faith is a life of trusting God and taking him at his word.
Key Question: What does a life of faith look like?
1. Unconditional Obedience. (vv. 1-16)
2. Complete Dependence. (vv. 17-24)
Have you ever had a time in your life where things didn’t go as planned? And you found yourself asking God, “What? Why?” As we continue our Christmas series, Eyewitness: Finding Your Christmas Story in Theirs, we're turning to the book of Matthew, where we see this very situation play out in the life of Joseph. The Bible doesn’t say much about him, but in the glimpse we do get, God reveals a powerful truth: trusting His plan and walking in obedience bring about His glory! Listen with us to our newest message, Quiet Joseph, and discover how trust and obedience in God’s plan bring about amazing results!
Christmas is often said to be the most wonderful time of the year. As followers of Jesus, this is not just due to the Christmas festivities but because it’s the celebration of the Messiah’s birth. Can you imagine what it was like for those who got to witness that miraculous event firsthand? How amazing, overwhelming, and glorious it must have been! This Christmas, we invite you to watch the events of Jesus’ birth unfold through the eyes of the men and women who were there that first Christmas. Through our Christmas series, Eyewitness: Finding Your Christmas Story in Theirs, we’ll see that no matter who we are, the coming of the Christ was for us. Listen with us today for our first message of the series, Believing the Impossible, where we'll look through the eyes of Mary, the mother of Jesus, to discover that nothing is impossible with God!
The Gospel tells us all have fallen short of the glory of God and, because of our sin, deserve death. Yet it doesn't end there. In Jesus, God has given us the gift of eternal life - a brand-new life that starts today! But...can it really be that easy? Maybe today you feel stuck in your old way of life, your old habits, struggles, and vices. If that's you, join us as we continue our series, New-ish?: Everything's Changed. Have You?, by uncovering how we can live "in the new way" gifted to us in Jesus. Listen with us to our newest message, A Fruitful Marriage, as we unpack the truths of Romans 7:1-6.
We all see the constant conflict in our world, but did you know there’s a spiritual battle happening as well? There is a struggle between who controls our hearts, whether our sinful, fleshly desires or God's Holy Spirit. But here's the good news: If you've placed your faith in Christ, we know who wins this war! Join us as we continue our series, New-ish?: Everything's Changed. Have You?, as Paul seeks to bring us to the scary realization that sin is a power that seeks to master us. But the story doesn't end there. Jesus' death and resurrection have given us victory over sin and death! The question is, does your life reflect this truth? Listen with us to our newest message, A New Master, and determine who you're allowing to rule your life!
Have you ever wondered if God is still control when walking through a season of grief, pain, or suffering? Today we continue our message series - Good Mourning: Taking Your Sorrow to the Savior - by turning to chapter 5 of Lamentations, where we’re invited to turn our gaze from the rubble of our brokenness to the Redeemer of every hurt. The poet's words invite us to look toward God's promises even while we're still in pain. Listen with us to our newest message, What to Do When We’re at the End, and see how lament brings us back to God.
Don't you love a good rags-to-riches story? Certainly no one likes to see the opposite: beauty descending into ruin. Today we continue our message series - Good Mourning: Taking Your Sorrow to the Savior - by examining what happens to people when they deny God. As we begin chapter 4 of Lamentations, the writer gives us a glimpse of the streets of Jerusalem, where an idolatrous people face the consequences of their rejection of God. Listen with us to our newest message, On the Streets of Ruin, and encounter the reality that without God, people perish.
We live in a world full of hurting people who hurt people. Today we continue our message series - Good Mourning: Taking Your Sorrow to the Savior - by learning to cry out to God in the face of injustice. As we turn to Lamentations chapter 3, we'll talk about remembering the heart of God and learn to have hope as we wait on His justice! Listen with us to our newest message, How to Lament Injustice, and recognize lament as a means to grieve with those who grieve.
Do you know what it feels like to lose hope? To believe you'll never make it out of the darkness, the brokenness, the pain? In life, we all experience these "end of your rope" moments. The question is, where do we go from there? Today we continue our newest message series - Good Mourning: Taking Our Sorrows to the Savior - an exploration of an often-forgotten book in the Old Testament: Lamentations. As we turn to chapter 3, we find ourselves at the heart of this book, where we turn from suffering under the weight of our affliction to remembering God. Listen with us to our newest message, The Turning Point, and discover how lament allows us to hope again.
We often hear that God is love - and He is! But our world has a way of twisting something God created into a thing He never intended it to be. And our understanding of love is no exception. In our misunderstanding of God's love, many have come to believe He's incapable of hating or judging evil and sin. Today, we continue in our series, The Forgotten Virtue: Learning to Love Again, by looking to 1 John 2 for the truth about love. Listen with us in our newest message, The Love God Hates, as we compare the love God intended for us with the worldly love that surrounds us.
What do you hope for today? What do you hope for this year? Or even this lifetime? Hope is a powerful thing and it can guide how we choose to live each day. This week we continue our series, Unshakeable: Steadfast Hope in an Unpredictable World, where we make the connection of what we hope to how we act. When we know of the future grace and victory God has given us, we are transformed in how we conduct our lives! But do we truly find our hope in God alone? Listen with us in our newest message, What Do You Hope For?
This week we are starting a brand new series, Unshakeable: Steadfast Hope in an Unpredictable World! Hope seems to be a word thrown around when our circumstances seem, well, hopeless. In this series, searching for hope, we look to 1 Peter. Here, we read of the unshakeable hope of a scattered group of Christians facing exile and persecution from the culture around them. We see that hope is active and are encouraged to praise God for the security we can find only in our Savior, Jesus Christ. Even if we are experiencing great suffering, we know that Jesus is our hope. Listen with us in our newest message, Hope Has a Pulse.
Pastor Kevin Pobursky shares his heart from Romans 11 and the importance of perspective!
As we wrap up our series, Built for More, where we’ve studied how God desires for us to live in community together, we conclude by looking at what God desires to do through us as His people. We truly are built for more! But there’s something else we need to see before we begin to unpack this massive purpose. Discover with us in our newest message, Blessed for the Nations.
If we asked people what they have been most fearful of during this time, we may get many different answers; from COVID-19, social injustices, the unknown future, or maybe the safety of their family. But we have good news, THE good news! God is the greatest and most powerful. Period. And guess what? He’s on our side! Discover with us in our newest message, Imagined Disaster, how when God is with us, we have nothing to fear.
Unity seems very hard to come by these days. And we’ve all felt the harsh effects of what disunity causes. The Psalmist tells us of an eternal remedy - spiritual unity! God has given us the precious gift of a spiritual family. Discover with us in our newest message, The Goodness of Unity, how we can find the ultimate harmony in our Lord and Savior.
When one testifies in a courtroom, it’s usually to present evidence or because they witnessed something important. When we witness God’s goodness and power even during trials of life, we cannot help but testify!! We invite you to discover more on this message, Collective Testimony.
Has worship ever seemed like just a tradition you are supposed to do before a Sunday service? And now, worship seems less inspiring over a TV or computer screen? In Part 3 of our message series, Assembly Required, we are discussing the importance of praising God in every season. Worship is the key to unlocking blessings that we may have never realized. So what does happen when we praise God? Discover more in this message, Ever-present Praise.
Have you ever had to forgive someone who wasn’t really sorry? Not the easiest thing to do and ultimately that relationship will never be the same. Without repentance there is rarely a restored relationship. It's the same with God (and it’s not His fault). God wants nothing more than to have a relationship with us, with YOU! If our sin earns us God’s displeasure and separation from us, how is it possible to be restored to relationship and joy? Let's find out together as we discuss The Joy of Confession.
How do you know what your priorities really are? We prioritize what we delight in. The things that give us the greatest joy, we tend to meditate on. The same is true for the church when we gather. What we delight in most, what we value most, is what we prioritize, even when we gather as a church body. We should be asking the question, do our revealed delights match what we declare as a priority while in church? Discover more in this sermon, We Are What We Love.
Through the Parable of the Great Reversal, Jesus points our focus inward, inviting us to reflect on our own posture toward the Word of God. At the same time, he guides our attention to what’s to come, revealing to each one of us how our posture today determines our position in eternity.
When he told the Parable of the Qualified Sinner, Jesus revealed two ways people approach God. The meaning behind this story is as relevant to us today as it was to those listening when Jesus spoke it. Come away understanding how the heart matters when we approach God, and what may just be the matter with your heart.
As we study the parable Jesus told of the Open-Invite Banquet, we’ll discover what it looks like when we live as if the Kingdom of God has an open invitation. Parables are stories with intent, with the power to reveal truth we wouldn’t otherwise see. This parable asks us to stop treating Gospel invitations like an invitation to a social party and to truly consider, who are you inviting to the Kingdom?