Even while we face trials of all kinds one thing we do not lose is agency: our ability to do, to cause something to happen, to influence. As long as we have breath we have agency because it is God-given, God-sustained, God-affirmed, and God empowered.

Own Your Faith

Because I Still Can

Jesus was political. Many voices in the church have politicized Jesus to support their politics. The response is generally that Jesus was not political. This is not true. Jesus was political in the sense that he addressed the issues that affected all areas of individuals and the community's lives. Listen to this message about the politics of Jesus. Matt 25:34-40

A Political God

As we begin this advent season anticipating celebrating the birth of Jesus we do so with a spirit of gratitude. We begin this series taking a look at the value of Jesus's genealogy in Matthew 1. It should cause us to reflect on our own heritage or family. We have something in common with Jesus here. We all, like Jesus, have a family line that has both great and deeply flawed people that make it up. The good news is God preserves (the greatness) and redeems (the sinful). | Matt 1

Who I'm From

How do we follow the instructions found in the James 1:2-4 to "consider/count it (trials) all joy?" How do we at times like what we've all collectively experienced in 2020 still find joy in the midst of it? This message unpacks how that is at all possible.

Can You Count It All Joy Pt. 1

In our lives, especially during times of transition and change, we may trust God, but it is perfectly ok if we wrestle with God in prayer. We would be following in line with Jacob in Genesis 32 when he wrestled with the man of God until he blessed him. We would be following in line with Paul in 2 Corinthians 12 where he kept praying for God to remove a "thorn" from his "flesh." We would be following the example of Jesus in Gethsemane where Jesus prayed in agony as he neared the suffering he had to endure according to the will of God. It is necessary and healthy to wrestle with God not so much because we do not want to do God's will, but because we do and we know it will be challenging in the process. Genesis 32

Wrestle With God

As we transition, and in fact in any season of our lives, we ought to adopt the concept of setting a table. This is the idea of hospitality that welcomes God (the vertical relationship) and others (horizontal relationship) to a sacred space of fellowship. Conversely, we must also be open to accepting the invitation to the table of others (God and our neighbor). We should not go through the uncertainties and challenges of changing seasons alone. It is at the table that we find encouragement, wisdom, insight, counsel, correction, and affirmation. We need to set at table and come to the table (with wisdom). | Matt 26:26-29

To Set A Table

During seasons of change when so much is uncertain and so much is lost, we get so focused on what's next we forget to grieve what is being left behind. Not only is this important for transition, it is also important in other times in our lives when we should know it is ok to lament, to grieve loss, pain, suffering, etc. Jesus modeled lament yet planted seeds of hope. | Matt 23:37-39

Lessons From Holy Lament

Jesus's encounter with the rich young ruler was more than a test of the young man's heart to see if he was willing to sell his possessions, give it all to the poor and follow Jesus. It was an invitation to activism. The instructions were not to sell his things for profit, but for philanthropy. Giving to the poor and vulnerable in the community, tending to their needs. Every season prepares us for the next season of out lives. Each season God invites us to is to live a life of activism like Jesus embodied activism with his life. | Matthew 19:16-22

An Invitation To Activism

If we choose to follow Jesus it will require the willingness to sacrifice. It is in the willingness to give of one's self, entrusting one's life with Jesus, that we gain the fullness of life in this world and ultimately beyond. This message is about desire, sacrifice and risking all to live out our faith as culture-changing witnesses of Jesus.

When You 'Want' the New Thing

During times of transition we must no only pray, but we must also take steps to participate in what we are praying for God to do. In this series we take a look following the steps and the teachings of Jesus as he began a transition toward his suffering and subsequent death and resurrection. We begin with Matt 16:21-23. Set your minds on the things of God during the uncertain and often scary seasons of transition.

When Seasons Change

Here is God's will for the world: that they might have life and life in abundance. This was central to Jesus's mission. This was the reason why Jesus lived and died. This is also what should define our lives: that we be life-giving witnesses of Jesus. This is the will of God. | John 10:10

That They Might Have LIfe

The will of God for the church is to be a witness of solidarity to the world. Jesus commanded it and prayed for it; that we would be one, perfectly one as is the relationship between the Father, Son and the Spirit. This seems like an impossible task, the fulfillment of which will not be seen until Jesus returns. But we are called to be participants in that witness to the world. | John 17:20-23 | 1 Cor. 1:10-13

The Church: A Witness To The World

The will of God for your family is that your family be defined by the will of God. What defines your family today will be what is passed on to your children and your children's children. When you frame what the will of God is for your family think about legacy. Joshua declared, "...as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord." His house was definitely his immediate family. But it could have also been his extended family or the generations of his "house" that were to come. | Joshua 24:14-15

As For Me And My House

God's will for our lives is that we be free. God's will is that we be free to contribute to God's will for humanity. God's will for us is bigger than us. We must decide if we want to each be consumers of God's will or re-creators of God's will.

God's Will For You (Is Bigger Than You)

When we pray for God to cause something to happen we must be prepared to engage and participate in what God is doing to accomplish the very thing we prayed for. This participation is central to our witness. When we do the will of God it is, as Jesus said, "food." That means doing the will of God is essential to life, it gives us energy, and we ought to enjoy it. To engage in doing God's will is to enter into "play" with and for God. | John 4:32

Pray to Play

We exist for "healing the wounded and building up the healed." (Re)-introducing the Father's love. Our focus is discipleship, restoring men and women & while championing them to leadership, fostering multi-cultural community and inspiring authentic worship through life-on-life mentoring and faithful biblical teaching.

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Own Your Faith

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