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Ecclesiastes 3:16-4:12
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Ecclesiastes 3:1-8
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The gospel alone sets us free from the bondage of broken religion and empowers us to leverage our platform to serve others.
Press in and press on in your pursuit of Jesus. Live as a missionary, leading others to behold the beauty of Jesus.
We believe that Advent is the antidote to the hurried holiday that Christmas has become. This Christmas season, we're going to take a slow walk to the manger as we celebrate.
We believe that Advent is the antidote to the hurried holiday that Christmas has become. This Christmas season, we're going to take a slow walk to the manger as we celebrate.
We believe that Advent is the antidote to the hurried holiday that Christmas has become. This Christmas season, we're going to take a slow walk to the manger as we celebrate.
We believe that Advent is the antidote to the hurried holiday that Christmas has become. This Christmas season, we're going to take a slow walk to the manger as we celebrate.
We are called to know the gospel; love and serve people; listen and tell stories. In this story, we see Jesus as being the perfect example.
Knowing your story plants the gospel in you. Telling your story plants the gospel through you.
God cares deeply about each and every one of us and wants us to tell him our story. He also wants us to take this sentiment into our community.
Learning to live a lifestyle of service is built on three things: the hospitality of God, a selfless appetite and regular Sabbath rest. Otherwise service will always be begrudging submission rather than a joyful life overflowing from the Spirit in us.
We are never more like God than when we serve. Yet most of our service is filled with an agenda that seeks personal benefit alone. As his kids, we are called to serve others, simply to be a blessing, expecting nothing in return. It's through this...
Jesus had a laser focus on mission to die on the cross in order to reconcile sinners to God while living out his character of love, service, and sacrifice. This story highlights that for us and provides us with an example to follow.
The truest image we have of God is Jesus. That image is a laser focus toward his ultimate purpose while living true to his character of teaching, loving, serving, and tearing down self-righteousness along the way.
The constant has been Jesus. North Church are an imperfect people in imperfect places in an imperfect city in an imperfect world. Jesus is constant. Jesus is constant.
God loves his Church too much to allow her to be apathetic and indifferent towards him. Through that love he woos us to a life of more; a life marked by a rekindled fire, zealous to repent and seek more of the scandalous grace of God.
In John 8:1-11 The Scandalous Grace of Jesus is on display to the woman caught in adultery and the purpose of that grace is not to condemn her but to save her life.
We are made to be stunned; to engage and seek the stunning. When we find it or when we see something that we can see no where else, we are stunned. We are most stunned when we see Jesus rightly.
The Kingdom is about getting back to our designed place. You and I have longings, have desires, plans, aspirations, hopes. We have desire to be known, to engage with beauty, to create, to love, to be loved. The Kingdom of God is initiated in us when...
King David’s life was a legacy in chaos, redeemed by God and passed on to his son Solomon. Just like David, our legacy is something we create as we live everyday. Whether we realize it or not, we are building that legacy and passing it on to the next...
Courage is only as strong as its foundation. our foundation is Christ and his mission for our lives.
Sin is ugly and it brings death and destruction to our lives. It brought great pain to David. But Jesus came not to be its judge but to be its savior.
The Kindness of David to Mephibosheth teaches us the power of kindness and reminds us of the kindness of Jesus toward us on the cross.
Christ's acceptance of us in spite of us brings freedom to dance before the lord with all your might.
Our call to be One Church for the glory of God is no minor calling. In fact the very thing that is at stake if we fail in this mission is the gospel itself.
We are compelled by our full and complete welcome by Christ to welcome those around us.
God's plan and purpose of the Church is to use the imago dei and fallen nature that is in every one of us and redeem that imago dei from the fallen nature and bring glory to himself to show the world the all fulfilling life, wonder, and inspiring...
Because of what Jesus has done for us and in all of us, there can be a church and people who live in harmony with one another. It is our mutual and dependent relationship with Christ that compels us.
The job of parents, grandparents, and those investing in the next generation is to tangibly lead our kids to the Father. Signs, symbols, and memorial stones that foster awe-inspiring conversation about a mighty and faithful God who sent Jesus to...
The purpose of lament is God. The purpose of lament is not to get through, it is to get God through pain.
Seeing The Lord rightly in a life in chaos moves us from fear to trust and fuels our obedience and mission.
We all have a sinful nature and as we chase and sacrifice for our idols we grow and feed that nature.
Gospel friendships are deep, valuable, and life giving. In this story we see a friendship that is all of these things and points us toward the value of such friendships and toward being in these sorts of friendships.
Life gets chaotic and in the middle of the chaos, the king that sits on the throne of your heart comes out. The gospel that you really believe becomes known. The God who rules you is identified.
David's victory over Goliath to set Israel free foreshadows Jesus' victory over sin and death to set His people free. Christians have the victory in Jesus. But what exactly does that mean and how do we live victoriously?
The story of David and Goliath is not primarily a story about human courage and effort; instead, it is about the awesome power of a life built around bold faith in the Lord. This story demonstrates the power of single faith-filled life to inspire an...
God wants to move you from fear to trust. He wants you to learn to fully trust him. He wants you to understand that he is pleased with you. And this is what it means to move from fear to life.
Through the resurrection, God is moving from chaos toward hope and peace. Even when we only see our life in chaos, God is working to bring us life in hope and peace.
Palm Sunday is a celebration of Jesus' triumphal entry into Jerusalem. It marks the beginning of what is known as the HOLY WEEK, the final week of Jesus' life before his crucifixion.
Innate within every human being is the temptation to quit. When things get hard or don't go our way, we're tempted to throw in the towel. The journey of faith, however, beckons us to remain steadfast in the challenges of life as we trust in...
We've spent nearly 40 days now asking God to transform us! Now how do we continue to live in that ongoing transformation? God's desire is for us to continually have the trajectory of our lives set by him, who's hidden us with Christ...
Jesus is teaching his disciples about their need to be clean on the inside rather than the outside like the pharisees. We must run to Jesus and continually ask for grace and power to clean the inside of us.
Gospel centered repentance leads to honest reflection and knowledge of our sinful nature which leads us to seeing grace and our acceptance as sons of God.
Today, we launch into week 4 of our 40 day journey and will introduce the discipline of repentance.
The rich young ruler was willing to change his behavior but not willing to BE transformed. His values, his desires, his heart were all fortified from transformation. Strongholds kept him from experiencing the abundant life in Jesus.
Week 3 in our 40 day journey of transformation is about Evangelism. Listen to Rik as he describes this discipline.
We all struggle with tendencies that don't honor the lord or match our christian identity. Yet, here's the good news, Jesus wants to transform those areas of our lives where, when left unchecked, we tend to drift away from obedience. The...
Welcome to 40 days of transformation. This intro message will help you know how to best engage in the next 40 days.
The end of being transformed is being in perfect and unhindered relationship with God that will satisfy your every longing. This is the resolution of every conflict in your life.
The Apostle Paul writes these challenging words in Romans 12:2, "Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed." We have a great tendency to conform to the things around us. God's desire is that we wouldn't conform but that...
The love of God is continually wooing us deeper into his presence, all the while we are content to stay on the sidelines and observe from a far. Paul’s prayer in Ephesians 3:14-21 teaches us to fight apathy by positioning ourselves under the waterfall...
Prayer unleashes the presence of God in our lives. It’s through a life of prayer that our hearts are stirred with affection for the Lord and we can see what is unseen. It’s through prayer that God desires to show us things we didn’t even know existed...
The good news of great joy is that Jesus entered in as the Christ, the Savior we need. Through that we are offered forgiveness and redemption.
Christmas is the invitation to “Enter In” to the peace offered through the person of Jesus.
At the first Christmas, Jesus entered into our world and brought with him the gifts of hope, peace, joy and love. As he came into this world, he was a missionary.
Apart from prayer we'll choose the easy road over the hard road, the wide road over the narrow road, what seems to be satisfying now over the long, hard obedience in the same direction down the path of exuberant joy. And we do all this in the...
James wants to focus our attention on living with patient faith and established hearts. We are called to press in deeply to a God who is near and wants to root the essence of our beings into him as the one who is ultimately in control of today and...
James challenges us regarding the miserable pursuit of much. We must fight against the pursuit of a luxurious, self-serving life on this earth. We must see all that we have as a means of lavishing grace on others…that we would put our hope in the Lord...
Our sinful nature is overcome by God’s grace, and our response is to trust in God for the provision of our pleasure.
If you are wise, prove it with your life. Wisdom comes when we trust that God is smarter than us. He’s inviting us out of the chaos of a self-strategized life and into the wisdom that’s marked by the blood of his Son, Jesus, who says, “I’m a good...
Our tongue is a gift from God that reveals the truth about our heart. It’s a powerful tool that can bring flourishment or destruction. God’s intent is that we would be people who learn to cultivate life-giving speech as evidence of a maturing faith...
John and Fran Ryan from Summit Community Church join us to talk about how to parent our kids in the gospel.
James calls us to not show favoritism not only because Jesus told us not to, but because that is the path to deeper relationship with him - and relationship with him is glorious and life-giving.
James calls us to receive with meekness the implanted word, and to look intently into the perfect law.
Trials and temptation are very present in our lives. Yet we can’t lose sight of the Father’s good design and hope for us as his kids. He’s a good, good Father.
How does a God of grace and a gospel of grace lead us to think through, address, and respond to homosexuality as a real issue, in a real world, in real lives?
Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.
James 1:2-4
How are we to be on mission with the gospel? Many times it's simpler than we think, as God just calls us to obey and point people to Jesus.
What does it look like to invest the gospel in the next generation?
You then, my child, be strengthened by the grace that is in Christ Jesus, and what you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses entrust to faithful men who will be able...
It’s not enough to simply be a person of faith. The gift of faith is designed to endure. Hebrews 11 marks the lives of faithful men and women who were broken and sinful, yet had a deep, robust belief in the things of God. Their beliefs led to powerful...
From the life of Adoniram Judson, we see how suffering, endurance and character lead to hope. And hope will not put us to shame.
King Nebuchadnezzar was an evil king reigning under the sovereign will of God. Through the faithful obedience of four teenagers, God transformed his polytheistic and narcissistic heart. This prideful king became a man who acknowledged the One True God...
The story of the gospel is one of a pursuing God who captures wicked hearts and invites them into his grand story. Through the story of Kyle Lackey, we see what the gospel is and our calling to use the gospel story to walk beside others and invite...
"Our lives must find their place in some greater story or they will find their place in some lesser story." -H. Stephen Shoemaker
Your story is not about you. It is about God and his glorious grace and making him known.
Kenny Petty from The Gate Church joins us to share his story - a testimony to the power of the gospel to change lives.
Our culture (and our lives) are so often marked by sexual sin and emotional scars. While we need to understand our God-given appetite for sex, we also need to see the gospel in the midst of it. Because grace abounds and God redeems.
The kids around us will grow up to be teachers, pastors, policemen, engineers, accountants, husbands and wives. How can we invest the gospel in them now that will continue to impact them the rest of their lives?
Money is a resource given to us by God so that we can tell the world what the Father is like in the sending of His Son. Through open-handed generosity, we sow seeds into the kingdom of God, to advance the gospel and help ourselves and others find...
God does not need or want our money. In fact, he wants more than that - he wants all of us, starting with our hearts. And everything we have is nothing compared to knowing Jesus.
The average person would write over 4,000 novels in their lifetime if all the words they spoke were written down. And Proverbs 18:21 says, "Death and life are in the power of the tongue."
Words matter.
So often we try to separate the sacred and secular, especially in regards to how we spend our time. But God calls us to live a life where everything we own and spend our time on is saturated by Jesus.
The resurrection of Jesus is not only about Jesus no longer being dead. The result of the resurrection echoes through eternity. It ripples beyond that day when the stone was rolled away.
Stewarding your privilege means leveraging the measure of grace you have been given for the sake of Jesus - and not your own.
Believers in Jesus are saved into a new name and a new identity that changes everything about how we live and act and steward all that we have in this life. Jesus, at the cost of his very life, purchased people for God’s possession. But, how does this...
Every human being is a worshiper. Worship is when we set our affections on something to the extent that it controls us. God’s design is that He would define our affections and be the object of our worship. The question is, how does that happen and...
God is universal and eternal. He has always been and never needed anything that he did not possess in himself. He is the center of everything. Yet he has labored and suffered and pursued us to be in relationship with himself, in order that we might...
To love people like Jesus loved us is to give out of our abundance, and into an area of need.
The second greatest commandment is that we love our neighbor as ourselves. But the who and how of loving our neighbor is easily misunderstood. In the gospel, we learn a path of inconvenience and self-sacrifice in not only how we serve but even in how...
Knowing and embracing the Truth of the gospel enables us to combat our greatest insecurites and walk in freedom. Through the work of Christ attributed to us, we have no lack, because the Holy Spirit lives in us.
What happens when our passionate pursuits go from self-serving to kingdom advancing? Through the life of Saul, turned Paul, we see the power of God to transform ungodly tenacity into a tenacity that leads us to reorient our lives around the life and...
"Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied." - Matthew 5:6
Our souls were created to have intimate and personal relationship with God. Yet our fallen nature and world fight against it, and we must be vigilant to get back to what we were created for.
Ecclesiastes 3:11 - "He has made everything beautiful in its time. Also, he has put eternity into man's heart, yet so that he cannot find out what God has done from the beginning to the end."
The Christmas season is often a time where Jesus takes a backseat to the scurry and craziness of everything related to Santa, presents and lights. However, when we really consider the love of Jesus as the true meaning of the season, we find our...
The joyful message of Christmas is Luke 2:10-11, "Fear not, behold I bring good news of great joy that will be for all the people, unto you born this day is a savior who is Christ the Lord."
Luke 2:11, "For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord." This is our hope.
Hours before going to the cross, Jesus pours out his heart - a heart of unadulterated humility and passion for the glory of his Father, a heart that you and I would be recipients and messengers of grace.
In confusing times, we need anchors - words and truth that aren't just surface band-aids, but something that drives deep into our soul, and deep into reality. When our foundation is shaken, we need to know that Jesus is still on the throne, and...
Confusion and pain rule the day the minds of the disciples, but the love of Jesus compels him to not leave them alone and to promise to come back to them.
God created us in His image and commanded that our lives produce fruit. In an effort to obey His commands, we most often expend our energy trying to self-produce what only comes through abiding and resting in Christ.
Jesus calls his followers into a mission of “greater works.” This mission is characterized not by perfect obedience, but by the presence and power of Jesus, himself, through the person of the Holy Spirit.
In seeing the character and nature of Jesus when he washes the disciples' feet, we are drawn to worship and be changed to love and serve.
In Acts 26, Paul is on trial. But more than giving a defense for himself, he is giving testimony to Christ. Paul's life is Christ. And he desires for his hearers that they too would know Christ as he does.
Gospel advancement comes only in the face of much opposition and requires a kind of love that “bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things and endures all things.” Gospel love demands missional perseverance.
The gospel of Jesus Christ breaks down walls of prejudice and hostility, and ushers us into the hope and reality of one united people under the banner of peace.
John 11:49-50, "But one of them, Caiaphas, who was high priest that year, said to them, 'You know nothing at all. Nor do you understand that it is better for you that one man should die for the people, not that the whole nation should...
Pain is all around us, and as God’s people we have a very unique opportunity and calling on our lives. By living as Jesus did, we can help people lay hold of the Kingdom of God and a hope-filled reality as we lead them to believe and see the glory of...
Believing that Jesus is the Christ must cause us to act in every aspect of our lives. The gospel is our only hope for that to happen.
John 10:14-15, "I am the good shepherd. I know my own and my own know me, just as the Father knows me and I know the Father; and I lay down my life for the sheep."
One big danger (among many) of self-righteousness is that many times it is blind to itself. We do not see our own blind spots, the things that keep us from true relationship with Jesus. Who or what is God trying to use to show you himself?
When we encounter grace, there are many ways we can respond. But we see in John 9 that being changed by grace truly should send us in response.
John 8:31-32, "So Jesus said to the Jews who had believed in him, "If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free."
John 8:12 - "'I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.'"
John 7:37-38, "On the last day of the feast, the great day, Jesus stood up and cried out, 'If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, 'Out of his heart will flow rivers of living...
John 6:19-21: When they had rowed about three or four miles, they saw Jesus walking on the sea and coming near the boat, and they were frightened. But he said to them, "It is I; do not be afraid." Then they were glad to take him into the...
John 5:6, "When Jesus saw him lying there and knew that he had already been there a long time, he said to him, 'Do you want to be healed?'"
John 4:42, "They said to the woman, 'It is no longer because of what you said that we believe, for we have heard for ourselves, and we know that this is indeed the Savior of the world.'"
The point of the gospel of John is to see Jesus rightly, and then pattern our lives around what we see.
The Gospel, while beautiful news, contains some of the hardest truths to accept and some of the most difficult steps to walk in…so difficult, it requires a miraculous work of the Spirit.
John 1:35-37: "The next day again John was standing with two of his disciples, and he looked at Jesus as he walked by and said, 'Behold, the Lamb of God!' The two disciples heard him say this, and they followed Jesus."
John 1:29: "The next day he (John) saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, "Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!"
Starting a new series on the book of John that will cover most of 2014, we see the background of John and what he intended as the purpose of his book. Hint: it's Jesus.
There is never a time when spiritual warfare is not engaging all around you. But know this - God will find a way.
When we realize the abundant life we have in the Holy Spirit and embrace the power available to us from the Holy Spirit we will be unleashed to walk with incredible purpose through the Holy Spirit.
By the power of God we are clothed in the person of the Holy Spirit, equipped with an unshakable identity as the people of God.
This is the Thursday night session to kick off Unleashed Church and prepare our hearts for what the Lord wants to teach us about the Holy Spirit. Our goal is to lay a foundation for what it looks like for us to be a Spirit-filled community on mission...
How has God shown his faithfulness to you in 2013? We look back and give testimonies of how has shown he is faithful over and over.
A king in a manger. God born in a dusty barn. This is not how we would expect it to happen, but Jesus reverses everything.
Jesus came as a king. But even with all power and authority, he didn't command people to serve him - he came to serve.
Jesus came to earth and reversed everything we knew about life - the way we think, the way we live, the way we love. So this year we look at the Advent season in reverse - starting with our Savior's death on a cross.
James 1:27 says, "Religion that is pure and undefiled before God, the Father, is this: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained from the world." There are orphans all over the world, and we have the...
At the end of Colossians we are reminded of the importance of the partnerships we have for the sake of the gospel.
In Colossians 3, Paul lays out the idea that we are to die to ourselves. And only in dying to ourselves do we honestly gain life and purpose.
Each one of us has been called into different relationships in order to embody and live out the gospel in our everyday life and calling. Colossians shows us many of those relationships.
We expect apple trees to produce apples. But what should we expect from Christians? Colossians 3 gives insight into what Christian maturity should look like.
Your identity is found in Jesus and nothing else. Your identity is not found in what you do or do not do. You are invited into Christ's presence, and nothing that is true is keeping you from being there.
In Colossians 1, Paul says he rejoices in his suffering. But why? And how? One of the primary ways God has provided is community. This is the calling of the church - the enter into the pain of others, to suffer with them and even instead of them.
Colossians 1:15-23 is a powerful and important passage of Scripture because it establishes the supremacy of Jesus. We see that Jesus is supreme - because he is God.
In Colossians 1 we see the passion Paul has for his people. We see the prayers he has for them, and we see what God offers to us in the gospel.
In Colossians we see that Christ is Lord, and He is the head. He is central to all, and our full reliance is on Him.
Like many other Psalms, Psalm 103 is a chance to behold our God and his attributes. It is a celebration of his providence and the promises he has kept with his people.
How do we discern the will of God? Psalm 25 helps us see the prerequisites to God's leading, and the promises to those who wait on and follow God's leading.
What does it mean to be blessed? The Lord longs for us to trust him, as Psalm 84:12 says, "O LORD of hosts, blessed is the one who trusts in you!"
Psalm 121:5 says the Lord is our keeper. No matter what life may bring, we can know that the Lord is keeping us.
We tend to believe many lies about God and about ourselves. But the Psalms give us incredible truths that help us combat those lies.
Martin Luther said, "Our Lord and Master Jesus Christ…willed the entire life of believers to be one of repentance." Everything in our lives flows from repentance - relationship with God and others, worship and mission.
Believers can have safety and security in God because of the truths of Psalm 23. He guards us. He guides us. He glorifies us.
How do we know what to pray? Psalm 119 gives us numerous prayers that could change the way we see God and how we value his Word.
Psalm 119 is a treasure we shouldn't miss. Among it's many benefits is how it teaches us to value the Word of God.
Psalm 62:1 says, "For God alone my soul waits in silence; from him comes my salvation." But why is it hard for us to be silent before God? God is a refuge for us, and he alone is our hope.
Psalm 43:5 - Why are you cast down, O my soul, and why are you in turmoil within me? Hope in God; for I shall again praise him, my salvation and my God.
Psalm 115:1 says, "Not to us, O LORD, not to us, but to your name give glory, for the sake of your steadfast love and your faithfulness!" When a person truly experiences the salvation of God, they can only respond this way - "Not to...
As humans, we know virtually nothing about perfection because our lives are saturated with the imperfect. But by God's grace, He's given us His perfect Law to do what nothing else is capable of doing - reviving our souls.
Priesthood may not be the first thing that comes to mind when listing pillars of our faith, but it is foundational. Key to our relationship with God is the truth that we have complete and total access to Him through Jesus.
1 John 4 says love is from God. In fact, God is love. But we must also see that in John 13 we are given a new commandment: to love others just as we have been loved by God.
Mercy is truly an expression of God's love. It is the compassionate disposition of God that even when we linger in our sin, he acts on our behalf. It is the ever-present characteristic of God that won't allow his patience for his children...
Scripture commands us to walk in joy. Philippians 4:4 says, "Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice." We must know that joy dwells where God dwells, so a life lived in God’s presence will produce exuberant worship.
In the Old Testament the word for peace is Shalom - it means 'completeness.' If you have Shalom, you are complete. God created you and I to live in harmony with one another and with him.
As we begin a new series on the foundational pillars of the Christian faith, we start with hope. And hope is the confident expecation and joy of eternal salvation provided by the finished work of Jesus Christ.
Who was Mary Magdalene? When we see Jesus' resurrection through her eyes, we experience a renewed hope and purpose. Easter provides a finality and security to our hope and purpose - the tomb is empty and Jesus is alive after being crucified.
During this Holy Week, it's appropriate to think about Jesus going to Jerusalem, preparing to sacrifice his life. This is the ultimate act of obedience and act of worship. Obedience and Worship cannot exist without each other. You can’t have...
When we realize the abundant life we have in the Holy Spirit and embrace the power available to us from the Holy Spirit, we will be unleashed to walk with incredible purpose through the Holy Spirit.
Have you ever been reading the Bible, and come to one of those parts that leaves you perplexed? Like, maybe on some level, you can’t believe what you just read? “That’s really in the Bible? Maybe it’s a misprint.” This should happen frequently...
Nothing in us is righteous, but all righteousness is found in God. The law shows us our need for mercy and God graciously invites us into His presence. And God's presence is found through prayer.
We've covered a lot of prayer so far in 2013, and much of it has been focused on practically connecting ourselves to the Lord through prayer. But Matthew 6:10 says, "Your kingdom come..." Prayer is not just about us, but about the...
In the gospel, we are more sinful than we could ever know, and we are more loved and accepted than we could ever imagine. What we don't realize is those same principles apply to prayer, as well.
We're devoted to all sorts of things. But how can you tell if you're devoted? And what would it look like to be devoted to prayer?
The different Psalms can be put into many categories, but they all have a purpose in bringing our hearts into relationship with God.
Fasting is yet another weapon in the war of this life. But what is the true purpose of fasting? Why should we fast, and how do we do it?
Fighting is a constant reality throughout the Bible. But prayer is not just reactive, it is our way to fight victoriously.
God has called us and has led us to pray. But the heart of our prayer initiative is not for our community, our church, our quality of life or anything similar. It is for our own hearts to be changed.
This is a perfect time to reflect on how God has moved and worked over the past year. We look back and see what God has done and how he has been faithful in 2012.
The joy of Christmas is that Jesus left perfect heaven to enter into our predicament. We are broken and so is our world, but Jesus Christ brings hope.
There are many ways in which Abraham's life was foreshadowing Jesus. In fact, the whole Bible is one big story that leads up to the birth of Jesus. We say come, thou long expected Jesus.
The Advent season is for adoring Jesus. We adore him for who he is and what he has done. As 2 Corinthians 8:9 says, "that though he was rich, yet for your sake he became poor, so that you by his poverty might become rich."
As we finish our series in Ecclesiastes, we listen to testimonies from people who have been changed by God's power in light of Solomon's wisdom.
Ecclesiastes is filled with reminders of the struggles of life. But chapters 8 and 9 offer hope and remind us of the simple joys of life.
Psalm 16:2 says, "You are my Lord; I have no good apart from you." We know pursuing righteousness is good, but too often we're actually pursuing righteousness for our own gain.
What is wisdom? Is it just the ability to make good decisions? Maybe it's like cleaning the dirt off your glasses, allowing you to see things for what they really are - tools used by God to sanctify you and deepen your love for Christ.
The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases. Even in our darkest times, we find our peace simply from being in the presence of the Lord.
While Ecclesiastes frequently talks about how meaningless life is, Solomon offers the antidote: fear God. But what does that mean? And how does it change our perspective?
It's tempting to read Ecclesiastes and only see despair. Solomon says we are just like the beasts of the earth, "All are from the dust, and to dust all return." So why are we here? God provides our purpose in everything we do. And...
Ecclesiastes says plainly that there is a season for everything in life. But instead of this being a cause for pessimism, we see events and seasons in our life as ingredients God is using to create something beautiful, and something eternal.
Ecclesiastes is filled with a message that all of life is meaningless. But there is hope and meaning for our lives - it's found in Jesus Christ.
What do you busy yourself with? What do you value? Maybe what we spend our time on shows what we value. And maybe what we value doesn't really matter.
Ecclesiastes was written by Solomon, the wisest man to ever live. Not only was he wise, but he was also immensely wealthy and powerful. Anything he wanted, he had. He wrote Ecclesiastes to show us that everything in this world is meaningless.
Making disciples is an obvious command in Scripture. But how are disciples made? We look to the apostle Paul, who devoted his life to spiritually parenting and discipling young Christians all over the world.
We all lust for something. We have thoughts and desires that we fulfill outside of the provision of God. But 1 Corinthians says we were washed, sanctified and justified. God is a transforming God, and Jesus has set you free from the power of sin.
So often we fall into the sin of worshiping the created, rather than the Creator. And what we deserve is the judgment of God. But instead we receive his kindness and patience, which leads to repentance and the transformation of our heart.
In this new series we want to learn what the Bible says about sexuality. Today we see that what the Bible says is centered around repenting from the sin in our own hearts to a gracious and forgiving God.
A blessing is anything that affords an opportunity to know God or know the character or provision of God. Children are not only a gift, but also blessing from the Lord that allows us to know Him more.
The word 'disciple' is used more frequently than the word 'Christian' to refer to believers in the Bible. Being a disciple is not a role we have, but it's who we are in Christ.
Jesus told his disciples to "come follow me." He had a plan and a purpose in discipleship, and it is the example for us in discipleship today.
Ephesians 5 explains our roles in marriage. But marriage is merely the context in which God shows us the profound mystery of his redeeming love for us.
Ephesians 5:21 calls us to submit to one another out of reverence for Christ. That is the foundation to any relationship we have, and it is not something we manufacture. It comes from a life that is led by the Spirit.
In the garden of Eden, Adam and Eve experienced creation as it was truly intended - beautiful, good and completely fulfilling every purpose. After the fall, frustration entered the world because now nothing is the way it was intended to be. But as...
Many times God calls us to do something. And many times, our response is, "I can't." But, most importantly, God replies to us, "I know. I'll do it."
Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord. (1 Corinthians 1:31)
The gospel informs not only how we live, but who we are and how we find our identity. As Christians, we will never know who we are until we know whose we are. We belong to a God who will not settle for cheap joy in our lives. He will stop at...
Think your family is dysfunctional? However crazy yours may be, the most dysfunctional family heritage belongs to none other than Jesus. But God protects and works through dysfunction. Your story is just a part of God's ultimate redemption story.
Martin Luther said we should know the gospel well, teach it to others, and beat it into their heads continually. In 1 Corinthians, Paul said the gospel is of "first importance." It is not something we can move past or get over, because God...
Hearing someone's story of redemption is an amplifier to the grace-filled voice of God. We hear David's story and see God deliver the same message he did to Mary and Martha about Lazarus - "This illness does not lead to death. It is...
This week we will have a covenant celebration for all the covenant members of North Church. Today we not only celebrate the covenant we have made with each other as part of this body, but also the new covenant God has made with us through his son...
Easter is the day to celebrate Christ who was crucified and buried, yet was risen three days later. We also have the opportunity celebrate what God has done through Christ in saving John and Katie Jost.
We are all enemies with God. Romans 3 describes how truly deplorable we are. But love compels us to more than ourselves. When we engage the love of God and rest and live in his grace and peace, we are compelled to move. Love changes you.
Vernon Burger from His Voice Global joins us to teach from the parable of the lost sheep in Luke 15. We identify with the one sheep who is lost - our righteousness is not from ourselves, but from God who has picked us up and redeemed us.
Many of us find ourselves more like the older brother in the story of the prodigal son. The older brother believed in himself and his own self-righteousness. Rebekah's story is an example of God's grace saving us from ourselves, and...
The parable of the prodigal son not only describes the path to destruction, but also the path to redemption. We see a firsthand account of redemption through God's grace in the life of Ben Somers.
Each of us has our own story. These stories are meant to put the grace of God on display, that we might tell an even more grand story - the story of God's redemption for the world.
As we begin 2012, one focus that North Church will have is discipleship. We are called to it by Scripture, and this morning we explore why it's necessary for us as Christians.
In Matthew 28:19, Jesus commands us to make disciples of all nations. But the original meaning of this verse is to make disciple-makers. We are called not only to be disciples, but also to reproduce ourselves by discipling others who will make...
Acts 20 shows how Paul was a great example of what it looks like to live as a missionary. God has called us to tell of the grace of the gospel - whether we're in another part of the world or with our next door neighbor.
During this season we hear a lot about the Christmas spirit. But what is that? What does it mean? We explore that and what it has to do with the incarnation - that Jesus Christ, the Son of God, became man.
The story of the Bible has three parts - creating, fall and redemption. And when Jesus came to the earth, he came and died as the final payment for sin. So we celebrate with John 1:29, “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!"
Martin Lloyd Jones said, "What God did when he sent his son into the world is an absolute guarantee that he will do everything he has ever promised he would do." God fulfills all his promises, and this gives us hope - even in a broken world.
Confession is good for the soul. And there is no greater confession than Psalm 92 - "It is good to give thanks to the Lord ... for you, o Lord, have made me glad by your work."
God cares for us, and he calls us to lay down our worry and anxiety. While there is a very real enemy to us that exists to devour us, God has given us faith as a tool to resist the enemy.
We all know by now that suffering is an unavoidable part of life. But how should we suffer? And what is the point? These are important questions, because the rest of the world is watching.
1 Peter 4:7 says, "the end of all things is at hand." But "the end" is not a single point in history - it is the final stage in God's redemptive plan for the world. So while God has freely given his grace to us, he has also...
How do we raise the next generation in the presence of the Lord? The gospel is defined by Christ's steadfast love, not ours - and that's why we need the wisdom of God in teaching the gospel to our children.
C.S. Lewis said, "You don't have a soul. You are a soul. You have a body." Every day our bodies are one step closer to decay. But 1 Peter 4:1-6 says we can defeat sin through connecting with Christ's sufferings, while living...
In all of life there is always something more and bigger going on than the current circumstance. When we see God for who he is and what he's promised, we have a foundational hope that transcends any situation that life brings.
Dave Becker from Freshwater Church in Bolivar, MO joins us to teach about holistic missions and explain how we can connect with opportunities to serve and teach the gospel all around the world.
By nature we are conformists. But while the world around us is all about personal rights, holding grudges, and getting revenge, we are called to live contrary. We are called to humility. We are called to forgive. And we are called to bless.
1 Peter 3:1-7 talks about wives and husbands. Whether you are either one of those or neither, there is still much to be learned from this passage on what it means to be a woman or a man who is submitting to the Lord.
Everyone is subject to some kind of authority. Not surprisingly, Jesus gave us a perfect example of what it means to live under and submit to authority. 1 Peter 2 also shows us the implications of subjecting ourselves to authority in a godly way.
There is a vast need in our world today. The crazy thing is that we are all the means by which God wants to bring gospel peace in the midst of much brokenness. Join us as we examine what our identity is in relationship to the world we live in.
We have an identity of love and God is calling us to live out that identity. 1 Peter 1:22 calls us to "love one another earnestly from a pure heart." This week we examine our identity as it relates to how God calls us to love one another...
We have seen so far in 1 Peter that God is the great hero of our salvation. But it doesn't stop there. Through true saving faith God changes you. He truly changes your life and makes you holy.
As we continue our series in 1 Peter, we must see that the Scripture covered in each message is not meant to stand alone. They are pieces that fit together, relying on each other to show how suffering produces faith, and faith produces a joy that is...
Everything that is here in this earth will pass away or fail you. Every element of suffering, pain or difficulty that I can think of is a result of something on this earth that has either passed away or failed. Yet God uses suffering to purify your...
It is very easy to make the gospel very you-centered. But the truth is so much better. The truth is the gospel begins and ends with only one hero - and it's not you.
The life of Jesus was filled with suffering, and even more so with grace. Similarly, when we allow our lives to be shaped by Jesus, we can experience grace and peace in the fullest measure, even through suffering.
A friend of North Church who is a missionary in another part of the world joined us this week to talk about living out our faith.
The grace of God is unlike anything we know here on earth. It motivates us toward holiness and worship. And once we understand how God views us through his grace, it changes how we view and treat others.
God is a sender. The Bible is full of people that he sent on mission. God has sent people into our lives, and we can't forget that we've also been sent with his mission.
You need god. Whether you realize it or not, we are all dependent on God. So why don't we always live like it? And how do we live like it? We look to the Psalms, where we see David finding joy and peace in knowing the Lord.
This is our final week of the Gospel in Life series, and we look at the culmination of it all - eternity. Revelation 21:5 sums it up, "And he who was seated on the throne said, 'Behold, I am making all things new.'”
Mercy is spontaneous, superabounding love which comes from an experience of the grace of God. The deeper the experience of the free grace of God, the more generous we must become.
Work. Everybody's got to do it. But what would it look like if the Gospel affected the way we work? What if we lived like God's plans are bigger than ours? It just might remind us that the Gospel is not about us, it's about Jesus.
Why does suffering happen? Why are there so many storms, and why are they all over the country? Ultimately, what is God trying to say to us through it all?
We live in a world that longs for something different. Surrounded by the next latest and greatest, we aren't content. And we never truly will be, until we show the world there's a better way to live.`
Why is community important? What was Christ's attitude towards community? Join us as we explore what the gospel calls us to in community.
Idolatry is believing the lie that all you have in Jesus isn’t enough. Yet God has provided and promised us everything we need, including how to deal with our idols and rejoice in Christ.
Easter - the greatest day in the history of the world. It's a day to remember the resurrection of Jesus. Join us as we uncover all the hope the resurrection has to offer.
Usually we think there are two types of people - those who believe God, and those who reject him. But what if there's a third way - and it's the most dangerous? It's called religious. It's saying on one hand that you believe...
Do you live in your city strictly because of how it benefits you? Or do you live in your city because of the impact you can have on others, and the change you can bring to your city?
What does "the gospel" mean? As we begin a new series called "Gospel in Life", it's important to define it. Join us as we begin this series to try to connect the gospel to everyday life.
What do you boast in? What do you glory in? We close our series in Galatians by seeing Paul's instruction of the only thing we can boast about.
Listen as Rik walks us through what it means to live in Spirit-filled community, and what it means to carry one anothers burdens.
"I am frightened by the reality that the church I lead can carry on most of our activities smoothly, efficiently, and even successfully, never realizing that the Holy Spirit of God is virtually absent from the picture. We can so easily deceive...
"We're ashamed to think of ourselves as adopted, because to do so would focus our minds on the gory truth that all of us in Christ, once were lost but now we're found, once were strangers and now we're children, once were slaves...
Promises made in Galatians 3 about those who place faith in Jesus... 1. In Christ Jesus you are all sons of God, through faith. 2. If you have been immersed into Christ have put on Christ. 3. You are all heirs to Jesus. -Jesus is the...
Live by the Spirit, stop trying to be perfect, surrender yourself to the gospel that Paul is preaching in Galatians 2.
"It seems to reason unlikely that the Holy Spirit is received only by believing what we hear and that there is nothing else...
Exodus 33:15, Psalm 28:1
"Whatever a man does without God he must fail miserably, or succeed even more miserably." (George MacDonald)
Since this is the day after Christmas, I want to get our minds off of that lowly first coming of Jesus and direct our minds to the coming that is to come. We have studied the first century advent. Today let’s study our own advent. Let’s look with...
The greatest act of love this world has ever seen is God giving His son Jesus. John 3:16 says that God sent His son because He loves us so much, and that if we would just believe in Jesus we would have eternal life.
As we enter the holiday season, we begin this year's Advent series. Each week during Advent this year we will highlight a ministry/missionary that North Church is connecting with. This week we start with Ryan and Jamie Wagner, who are...
The Gospel Coalition is an organization of gospel minded church leaders across the globe. This is a tweet from their Twitter account from today that stuck me as I prepared for the message this week. "The gospel doesn’t just make you right with...
There is no amount of right doing that will get us to God. In fact, it is detrimental to our getting to God, because our success and failure in following the law places our focus on self and not on God. The old chorus, Turn Your Eyes Upon Jesus gets...
Imagine a love so great, a message so great, a hope so great, that even those who live with no greater purpose than to absolutely destroy it, could be captured and enthralled with the very thing they sought to kill. It's one thing to live...
We have looked at six different Bible characters and their example of obedience (and disobedience). As a wrap to the series, now we find out what Jesus himself had to say about obedience.
Obedience is hard, we can all agree on that. But why? Well as we study the story of Hosea - who was commanded by God to marry a prostitute (think that'd be hard?) - we find a few reasons why, and see the depth of the love God has for His people.
Gideon was man whose life was marked by fear. Multiple times fear prevented him from obeying God, and so often it does the same to us. But we need to know that in the moments we remind God of our insufficiency, He is there to remind us of His...
We were created to be in perfect abiding communion with God, and each other. Yet disobedience plagues us all, and serves as a block to that relationship. Here is the life of David, who shows us the path to taste of the purpose of our existence -...
Did you know Moses was a murderer? It's true. But that didn't stop God from using him. You may or may not be a murderer, but either way, disobedience in your past does not disqualify you from being used by God.
Obedience to Christ, in some form or another, is always hard. Just ask Abraham - he experienced it firsthand when he was asked to sacrifice Isaac. The very things the Lord calls us to will in turn expose our idols and require us to lay them on the...
Starting off our series on obedience with Noah, we examine the "easy" decision he had - build an enormous boat or die. Maybe that decision wasn't so easy, after all. But how does obedience to God become easier? For starters, it must...
What would it look like if the gospel affected every area of our life? We take the opportunity as we dedicate Tobin Kuntz to examine how the gospel should affect how we parent, especially in the context of a gospel centered community.
How do we define success as a church? How do we define success as a Christian? Looking at words from Paul in 2 Timothy 2, we try to identify what our definition of success should be.
Why does the church exist? One of the reasons is to bring about worship - both corporate worship and to cultivate in the hearts of men a desire to treasure God. This concept of worship is vital to us and to our relationship to God both as...
We live in a day and age where the Word of God is seen to have little, if any, value for life. Yet there is a massive responsibility for the Church to remain true to the Word and call others to do the same. But how does the Church do that? Does the...
Most of us have heard the phrase, "...in the world, but not of the world." But what does that mean? We look at the example of Jesus to see exactly what it means, and how it informs the way we should live.
You are God's agent of redemption. You can spend your life pursuing your own self-interests, or you can spend it being an agent of redemption. How will you spend it?
God has gifted everyone with particular gifts. But what do we do with them, and why? Rik examines what Scripture says about the true purpose of our gifts.
What does covenant membership mean? And why is it important? Dave examines that, and what it means to commit to covenant membership at North Church.
What is the purpose of being a "member" of a church? We examine what Scripture has to say about it - and find that our natural view of the purpose of joining a church might be backwards.
Continuing in our series on the church, we look at God's design for church leadership, and what it means to submit to that leadership in submitting to God.
Rik take a look at the metaphors that Scripture uses for the church, and we see the church as a temple and a bride.
What is the church? As we examine what the church was founded and built on, we find some insight into what roles we are called to in being the church.
We begin our new series on "Questioning the Church" by examining what the church really is. What does "church" mean? Does church today look like it did back in Acts? What should church really be about? These are just a few of...
On Mother's Day we celebrate our moms. And we look at our moms for insight into who our God is - a God of comfort.
What does repentance mean to us? Do we actually understand it the way the Bible teaches it? Rik explores true repentance, and how important it really is.
**Due to technical difficulties, the recording of the sermon begins approximately five...
In the very last installment of our Images of Jesus series, we examine the last words of Jesus, as he calls the disciples to "'Go into all the world and proclaim the gospel.'"
As we come to another Easter season, we look at the word "Hosanna" and its true meaning. It is an expression that not only admits our true desperation for God, but is also filled with hope for Christ's coming.
Life is hard, troubles come. In fact, that's actually promised in Scripture. But God also promises that through His love, hope does not disappoint. The question is, are you fully convinced that God is able to do what he has promised?
We don't know much about Joseph of Arimathea, but when we see how he responds to Jesus' death on the cross, we can learn a lot from him.
Jesus says in John 19, "it is finished." We look at how that affects our salvation, and the fact that we have been saved, are being saved, and will be saved.
Spending another week looking at the results of the cross of Jesus Christ, we see true love in Jesus laying down his life, and how we can do the same in response.
As we look at the crucifixion of Jesus Christ, we see not only what he did on the cross, but also what it means for our relationship with God.
We see Jesus suffer as he stands trial, is mocked and beaten, and edges closer to his crucifixion. Jesus provides the perfect example of how to suffer well, and how to keep the ultimate prize in mind in the midst of pain.
Following up on Rik's address to the church last week, Dave Kuntz takes a look at his role in North Church and its future.
North Church aims to be a biblically faithful church in North County where people are safe to explore the truth about God while living in a gospel-centered, community-centered way. As we take a biblical look at church leadership, Rik lays out some...
Seeing Peter's denials of Jesus and the first trial of Jesus, we learn from the difference in perspectives of Jesus and Peter.
As we take a look at the betrayal and arrest of Jesus, we see the incredible greatness of God and mercy of Jesus to die for those whom He calls friends, yet ultimately count Him as an enemy.
Getting back into our Images of Jesus series from the book of Mark, we see Jesus' commitment and resolve for his mission even as his death draws near.
We start 2010 by examining the power of the Scriptures, and the ways in which it completes us.
As we examine what the true Christmas spirit should be, we find three main things it should affect throughout the entire year - mission, prayer, and study.
We continue in the season of Advent, looking at the peace that is offered in the person of Jesus Christ.
God did not intend for you to live in fear. In fact, God is about replacing fear with joy. As we continue in our Advent series, we see examples of God replacing fear with joy in the Bible, and learn how we can experience that ourselves.
Each week during Advent we will deal with a concept that THE COMING of Jesus brought. The intent of this series is to disconnect with the hurriedness and consumerism of the season, and to instead connect with these themes. Tonight we look at hope.
As we learn from this story in Mark 14, cherishing Jesus is incredibly important even though it often gets overlooked for other good works. And when we truly cherish and worship Jesus first, our mission should flow out of that.
As we finish the second half of the Olivette Discourse in Mark, we see Jesus teaching about the warning signs of the end times, while we draw our hope from his second coming.
As we see in Mark 13, Jesus calls us to endure while running the spiritual race. And we can do this because the dwelling place of God is not a building, but in our hearts.
The third and final sermon with Jesus using the religious leaders of Jerusalem to teach about authority.
Looking at four stories involving the religious leaders of Jerusalem, Jesus continues to teach about authority.
In the first part of three messages about the religious leaders in Jerusalem, we examine the total authority of Jesus Christ. The question is not whether Jesus has authority - the question is whether we will submit to it.
As we see the first Palm Sunday, the book of Mark begins to transition into the last part of Jesus' life.
As Jesus ministers to a blind beggar, we learn what true Christian discipleship looks like.
We look at the disciples' example again, and how easy it is to be selfish. But Jesus says to look at Him, as He is an example of giving His life away to serve others.
We examine the rich, young ruler from scripture and take a look at what Jesus says about idols.
Jesus talks about marriage and divorce, using that as a context to talk about a bigger message of being close to Him.
What does it mean to be salt? Continuing in our Images of Jesus series out of Mark, we explore what it meant to be salt and the value in enjoying God.
As we look at Jesus' healing of a little boy and his father's faith, we also look at the problem of pain in a world with an almighty, loving God.
As we explore the transfiguration of Jesus, we look deeper to try to see Jesus as who he really is.
We see Mark's story take a pivotal turn as Jesus begins journeying to his death. Jesus teaches that following him means completely giving of ourselves and surrendering to him.
As we continue through Mark, we examine the importance of remembering the work of Christ.
We study three miracles Jesus performed, and how his purpose in all of them was that we would learn to trust Him as Savior.
As we look at three miracles from Mark 6, Dave Kuntz teaches that God still works miracles today, and he wants to use us in those miracles.
Comparing religious repentance and gospel repentance, we explore ways in which we can repent in a gospel-centered way.
In this week's passage we see Jesus sending the disciples with a message of repentance.
We look at the unbelief of the people in Mark 6, and through that examine the true identity that we have in Jesus. Rik explains how faith ignites the power of God, and how we can have more faith.
This week we look at how Jesus is in control of disease and death. We see the importance of faith, even if it is an imperfect faith, and that we are called to love the people Jesus loved.
Last week we explored Jesus being the master of nature, now we see Jesus as master of the spiritual. What evil intends for harm, Jesus uses for the kingdom of God.
In part 10 of our Images of Jesus series, we look at the disciples' lack of faith, and the promise of a Father in our own storms.
As we dive back in to the Images of Jesus series, we walk through three more parables of Jesus and see what the kingdom of God is meant to be.
We walk through seven proofs that the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ actually did take place.
**We apologize for the poor audio quality. We are currently working to fix the problems.
Taking a break from the Images of Jesus series, we explore the doubt that happens in everyone, including John the Baptist. Maybe doubt isn't so bad, as it allows us to practice endurance and perseverance. Sometimes God will deliver you from...
As we look at the parable of the sower, we see Jesus again using the physical to teach the spiritual. Rik challenges us to look at the soil of our hearts, and what we can do to guard against Satan's attacks.