Afleveringen
-
What are âstrongholdsâ? Strongholds are more than sins; theyâre the patterns, addictions, behaviors, or traits that you might not even realize are holding you back from being the person God created you to be. The good news? The grace of God is available to all of us, and He will help you break free from the strongholdsâthe sinsâthat keep you from leaning into the full life He intended for you.We explore John 10:10 to discover where weâre stuck and practical ways to break free from what holds you back from life at its fullest.
-
If youâre the type of Christian who attends church a couple of Sundays each month and maybe reads a Bible plan on your phone app every so often, youâre not living up to your full potential.Just attending church is not enough to fully live out Godâs plan. Our true purpose in life is living as the church every day. Wherever you are, thatâs where God has placed you and He means for you to make a difference in the community right outside your door.How do you make a difference in your everyday life? We pray, we listen to and serve others, we get into Christian community and partner with God to love peopleâeveryoneâaround us.Pastor Dave Dummitt finishes up the series in Ephesians 5:1-20, urging us to be the light of the world today.
-
Zijn er afleveringen die ontbreken?
-
Where does your loyalty lie? Your sports team? Your family? Your political party?What about with Jesus? Does Jesus sit at the top of your loyalty list? If not, we can become diverted from God by other things. As much as we might feel passionate about a cause we believe in, or fiercely loyal to our âpeopleâ; Jesus should always be the one you're most passionate about.And our loyalty to Jesus gets tested every day. The world puts pressure on Christians to live outside of the moral boundaries God gave us. But when God transformed your heart, you were made into a new person; loyal to Jesus and committed to following Him.And in that commitment, you heart should be expanding. Because your relationship with Jesus should be destroying any hatred or animosity for others. In this moment, what is your heart doing? Pastor Thomas Anderson, Jr. takes us into Ephesians 2 to demonstrate where our priorities and loyalty should really lie.
-
Itâs easy for Christians to focus solely on answering the question; âhow do I get into Heaven''? and getting others into Heaven with them. But when we break the real message of the Bible down to just that, weâre missing a huge part of it: Godâs purpose for your life.Godâs not only concerned about you getting into Heaven, He wants you to express Heaven while youâre here on earth. On earth as it is in Heaven, right? The bigger story of the Bible lifts up every human being as a valued member of the community in which they reside on earthâand itâs our calling as Christians to partner with Jesus in bringing love to our neighbors.This week, Pastor Megan Marshman shows us how Paul in the Bible reminded the church in his letter (Ephesians 1:3-14) of this truth: that God put us here on earth to change the world, and be a part of bridging Heaven and earth.
-
When you become a Christian you have to follow a bunch of boring rules, right? Well⊠sort of! Itâs not so much rules as it is moral boundaries that God sets. These boundaries allow us the freedom to live fully in the beautiful life He has planned for us.Some people believe theyâre being a âgood Christianâ by following the âChristian rulesâ. Perhaps they donât smoke, or they donât drink. They donât swear or sleep around. They tick off the rule boxes like thatâs the most important thing. But theyâre missing the essential part: their heart.Many people have experienced church hurt because they have not lived up to an arbitrary set of religious rules and been painfully expelled by their community. But Jesus wouldnât turn a woman away for wearing too short of a skirt, or ban an unmarried pregnant teen from His presence. He would treat them with the exact same love He would treat anyone. And that is what we as Christians should be doing as well. Your life of faith is less about following supposed âChristian rulesâ and more about pursuing what is good, so that all people can thrive. Pastor Dave Dummitt teaches from Ephesians 4.
-
What do Christians get wrong about Christianity? We can all be in danger of veering off in a direction that God never intended. In this new series, exploring the church in the book of Ephesians in the Bible, our hope is to remember the mission of the church as it was originally designed, and inspire you to be a part of it!When Christians think itâs all about us, we surround ourselves with those who look and think like us, and we miss the opportunity to have authentic connection with people who can stretch, challenge and support us. This week, we look at how our church, our community within the church, and being an active part of that reflects what Jesus began. How will you get into the community at your church and start making a positive difference in the wider community around you? Because itâs not just about creating Christian community for you, itâs about connecting with, and supporting, other people too.
-
All things are possible with God. No, really! Nehemiahâs story in the Bible shows us how, in partnering with God first, nothing is impossible. Nehemiah does what was previously impossible for 100 yearsâbuilt the walls of Jerusalemâthrough his faith and partnership with God. What could that look like today for us?In our final week of Celebration of Hope 2024, Pastors Dave and Shawn challenge us and demonstrate, through the story of Nehemiah, how we can come together to help make big dreams come true and make a huge impact in the world!
-
Do you have what it takes to make a difference in the world? To change it for the better and to help others?
Yes! You do!
Nehemiah, in the Bible, felt like he had many constraints, but he was still able to use his influence as King Artaxerxesâ cupbearer and his connection to God to serve others in need. And you can too.
In week two of Celebration of Hope 2024, David Temfwe of the Jubilee Centre, one of our partners in Zambia, demonstrates how God has given us all that we need to use our influence, connections, and resources to help people around the world, and tells us how the Jubilee Centre is making a significant impact in the lives of the people they serve in Zambia.
-
What do you do when youâre faced with a big problem? Most of us do one of two things: either move quickly into action, or become overwhelmed and freeze. Itâs fight, or flight, or freeze.When we think about how to change the world, or how to help people in difficult times, our best course of action is to go to God first. Itâs a natural thing to want to help so badly that we rush in out of desperation or to feel so overwhelmed by the scale of a problem that we simply canât find our way into action. And thatâs where attuning your heart to God becomes incredibly powerful.
-
Have you ever been told to stop questioning and just believe? People say that with good intentions, but it can lead to a lack of faith. Itâs perfectly normal and expected to have doubt and curiosity about Jesus and the Bible. Have you ever heard of âdoubting Thomas?â In John 20, Doubting Thomas had witnessed Jesusâ miracles and heard Him teach, but he still wanted to see the resurrected Jesus for himself. Jesusâ response to âdoubting Thomasâ says a lot about how He welcomes, and even encourages, our own doubts and questions!
-
We know the Easter storyâJesus lived a perfect life, suffered and died on the cross, and then rose from the dead on Easter Sunday. But what would it have been like to be one of His disciples or friends at Easter? They changed their entire lives to follow Him; then everything they thought would happen shattered when Jesus died. Their own hope died. But then Jesus was miraculously resurrected and appeared to Mary and many others. While they didnât fully understand the depth of who He was or what had happened, they knew for certain that He was alive! And that is what gives us hope for our own lives now.
-
Many of us have a fear of being alone. Itâs a very human trait to suffer through feeling lonely and social isolation. But with God next to us, we are never truly alone. And God understands our feelings of loneliness and sadness; Jesus suffered terrifying depression and loneliness in the Garden of Gethsemane (Matthew 26:36-46)and cried out to God in desperation. Jesus experienced the depths of despair so that we would never have to experience true isolation. As we remember Jesusâ sacrifice on Good Friday, we unpack the story of His life and journey to the cross to see how Jesus is God with us in all things.
-
We imagine Jesus as a very serene, calm and soft-spoken man. But, just like us, Jesus feels anger, and in John 2:13-25, He gets so angry Jesus flips tables!But have you ever noticed that anger comes from another feeling? The thing that lies underneath it causes an explosion that sometimes we struggle to contain; your disappointment, grief or sadness.But we donât need ways to manage angerâitâs not about how to control your anger, either. God made that feeling; therefore, feeling angry is not a bad thing. However, we can express our anger in ways that do not harm ourselves or others. Pastor Megan Marshman helps us understand how.
-
Shame is a word and feeling we all want to avoid. Shame is often a barrier between us and God, too. Our regrets, all those actions and feelings we carry with us for years, weigh us down and make us feel less than worthy of Godâs love. But thatâs just not true at all.
In John 18, Peter denies Jesus three times, something he is deeply ashamed of. And then, in John 21, Peter is forgiven by and restored through Jesus.
You, too, can experience forgiveness and restoration; true healing and freedom from shame, guilt and regret. Pastor Shawn shows us how this is possible in our own lives.
-
Does God understand our grief? In the story of Lazarus and his death and resurrection, Jesus shows us that He lives grief just as deeply as we do. Even though Jesus knew Lazarus would be brought back from the dead, He still joined Mary and Martha, Lazarusâ sisters, in their grief and sadness. Jesus also demonstrates how, through Him, we can use our grief for a greater purpose; a deeper connection with God and with others around us.Pastor Thomas visits John 11 and the story of Lazarus in the Bible.
-
When Jesus turned water into wine at a wedding, it was not only His first miracle but also caused great joy. No, not because the guests got the best wine (but that did make them pretty joyful)! But because Mary, Jesusâ mother, saw Him step into His calling.
We can sometimes wonder how we can be happy. Or curious about where others are finding joy in this life. We can ask; what do I need to find my joy?
As we begin a new series on Big Feelings, Pastor Dave takes us to John 2:1-12 to discover how being close to God can bring out our own joy.
-
What is the power of our giving? Can our generosity change the world? In the earliest Christian church (in Acts 2:42-47), people gave so that others in their community were looked after. Orphans were homed, the sick were cared for, and anyone with a need was helped.
Jesus calls us to do the same in our world today! We can help in our community by giving generouslyâand remember, itâs not about the amount you give, but the heart behind itâwe can meet the needs of others. What would the world look like if we all gave to help in our community?
-
What is a motivating factor in giving when you decide to give? Itâs usually in response to a need; a heartstring has been pulled, and you want to help someone else. When something really hits home, we can feel like itâs worth giving sacrificiallyâmore than we might usually, or perhaps we have to forgo something else to help meet someone elseâs need..What if we gave sacrificially toward the Kingdom of God instead of out of abundance? In 2 Samuel 24, King David says âI will not sacrifice to the Lord my God burnt offerings that cost me nothing.â How can we take a stance like that and what impact would that have on the world?
-
Church offerings, or the concept of âtithing,â is typically hard to talk about, hard to begin doing and often is questioned. When many doubt the church's intentions, what good comes from tithing? Tithes and offerings are all about generosity. Itâs about how you give, not how much. It is an expression of worship in response to Godâs goodness. And itâs not just about keeping the church lights on either. Generosity extends much further.Pastor Dave begins this series by exploring where the concept of tithes began in the Bible, in Genesis 14 and how our motivation to give means way more than the amount.
-
Yes, Godâs will for your life is much bigger than you could imagine! God wants to use YOU to help heal, restore, and redeem the world. You can change the world in partnership with Godâs work in your life. But how?We finish up the last week in our Divine Dreams series by looking at Joseph in the Bible, in Genesis 50 and Romans 8:28, and learning how he was used by God to reconcile his family and provide safety for his people.How will God use you in this world? Discover Godâs will for your life and pursue your biggest dreams through Him.
- Laat meer zien