What does it look like to live freely? What does spiritual freedom even look like? Why do I know I should live one way, but consistently find myself struggling to make a change? A relationship with God isn’t just about getting to an eternal destination, but it’s about transformation. As you aspire to leave your old roads, paths, and patterns behind and start new patterns that point to Jesus, where do you find the strength you need to make a change in your life? How do you live in freedom? What if God has a way to strengthen you to choose what’s best? This week we are talking about the role of the Holy Spirit in our transformation.
Is there an easy way to master your emotions? When you find yourself in a 'situation' is your first response to respond emotionally or rationally? Think about these for a moment ... What is your response when your boss asks you to work overtime, again, yet they haven't even thanked you for the last time you stayed longer? When you find yourself late for the family photos because your spouse needed to change their outfit one last time to make everything 'perfect', what boils up inside of you? Emotions. The good and the not so great - we all have them. Let's dig into how to control your emotions together.
What does it mean to follow Jesus? Is it just about obeying rules and being a good person? Is it becoming the best version of yourself? Is the Christian life only about heaven and hell or is there more to it than that? What is the whole point of life on earth for those who choose Jesus? We’ll be sharing God’s ultimate goal for your life and what the road to finding it looks like.
Your desire to blame is an attempt to cover your shame. And there’s a lot of shame circulating these days. Most people believe you can’t be fully known and fully loved, so they hide and try to make themselves look better so people won’t judge them. Jesus comes along with a message of radical acceptance that turned the ancient world—and this world—upside down.
When Adam and Eve sinned, the accusations flew, and no one took responsibility. Not only did the blame start, so did the shame. For the first time, Adam and Eve realized they were naked. And they were ashamed. That sounds like a lot of relationships. Mercifully, God clothed them, and later, Jesus clothed all of us with his grace and a call into a new way of life.
Why is life so hard? That’s a great question, and while the answer doesn’t take the pain away, it’s much easier to understand when you realize that your story, like every story, has a beginning, middle and end. Knowing where you are in your story makes it much easier to understand, accept, trust and even thrive.
Do you ever feel like who you really are was stolen? Like something’s missing? You know your life isn’t exactly the way it’s supposed to be. And neither are you. You have amazing intentions, but you struggle to fulfill them. You fall in love, but mess up the relationship. You get your dream job and it turns into a nightmare. You've met your goal, but there's still a gnawing emptiness. You keep trying, but it never quite works out. What’s going on? A journey into the Garden of Eden explains more than you think.
What would it take for you to be FOR your friends, family and neighbours in this weird season? So much of what we do and how we do it has changed, including the people we interact with. But what if there were ways we could be FOR the people in our lives and cities like never before? What if, we stepped into the corner of those around us in tangible, helpful, and potentially life-changing ways?
Do you ever have those moments where you say something and immediately want to take it back? Or you hear your little one repeat something you've said and wish they hadn't? We've all been there.
You struggle with control and expectations in certain relationships. We all do. Have you felt that in your marriage or with your significant other? Do you often want to micro-manage the choices your kids are making? Does it seem like things are spinning out of control at home with everything that’s going on? Should you “let go” of something you care so deeply about? Family relationships can be hard, but what God has to say about your relationships can make all the difference. This week we explored how the teachings of scripture point us to a greater purpose in our families than we might see in the moment.
Want to know how to stop worrying and start living? We all face moments when we feel powerless. How should we respond when hardships, calamities, and insults come our way? Our world often tells us that these types of situations are to be avoided or eased at all costs. That we should try to control or escape. But is that the best option?
We will be looking at what scripture has to say about the moments when we feel like things are out of our control.
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS https://wp.me/a7n2nP-8ew
How do the people around you experience your need for control? Control is really about having power, and how we use that power is important. Who do you have power over? How do you use that power to make a difference in the lives of those around you? Control doesn’t inspire people the way influence does. Control makes temporary progress, but it rarely makes a lasting difference.
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Was Jesus really all that Christians believe him to be? What if Jesus was just a "good guy" doing good things? Was he a prophet or the saviour of the world? What is Jesus really all about? In this message with pastor Mark Clark, we will explore how understanding who Jesus is changes everything.
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Where is God when we suffer? Perhaps one of the greatest questions of our modern human existence. If God really exists, then why do bad things still happen? If God is so good and loving, then why does He let evil take place? Isn't He supposed to be a "good" God? Let’s dive in as we discuss the role that evil and suffering have in our understanding of what is “good”.
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DISCUSSION QUESTIONS https://wp.me/a7n2nP-86J
A long-standing difference can be seen in the number of debates, papers, essays, and discussions had on the opposing ideas of evolution and creation. How can we know what is true? What do these ideas teach us about God in the midst of their differences? Maybe these two ideas can both lead us to uncover more about who God is and what He desires for us.
Is God real? As we process different thoughts, concepts, and ideas to inform our own worldview and beliefs, reason is often considered independently from faith and faith in opposition to reason. Could it be that faith and reason aren’t actually in opposition to each other, but rather complement each other? Can we find out what the Bible says about these two ideas, or will we find many Bible contradictions?
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DISCUSSION QUESTIONS https://wp.me/a7n2nP-814
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Healing is something we all look for in our lives at certain moments. Maybe it’s physical healing, or divine healing in a relationship, or healing from hurts of the past. What if Jesus wants to bring a greater purpose to your pain? Need a miracle prayer or a prayer for healing?What if Jesus wants to put His power on display through your circumstances? God often works in unexpected ways, but ultimately His goal is to put His power on display by seeing your life changed.
When we look at our lives, sometimes we can focus on the things that didn’t work out how we’d hoped. Then we can look ahead and worry about the outcomes in our future. But what if we’re missing the fact that Jesus is working in our lives right where we are, today? What if we could hope in His faithfulness throughout our life and see Him on the journey today? What if He has a bigger story in mind?
In this conversation with Deniel and Jeff, we explore how you process what you are seeing and respond to racism today. As you watch heartbreaking footage all around you, what do you do with your emotions? What does scripture say about the sin of racism? How can we change our hearts to align ourselves with the teachings of Jesus?
As you build your new normal, what should it look like? It’s far too easy to substitute new things that ultimately collapse for old things that collapsed and fail to satisfy you. Ultimately, Jesus, and all that he brings, is the only thing that doesn’t collapse when your life does.
So far in this series, we’ve seen that not everything you lost was worth keeping, and that trying to build a life around a kingdom without a King can crush you. This week we’ll look at what might really have been driving some of what you accumulated in your life prior to COVID, and how to allow God to reset your life around your real identity. Your real identity is one that’s received, not achieved.
There’s a story widely circulating in the culture. You were born good. Something happened, and your inner self was wounded. To find your true self is your life’s purpose and the ultimate pathway to true happiness, satisfaction and pleasure. Any form of difficulty, commitment, push back or restriction is a threat to finding who you're meant to be and your ultimate fulfillment. Throw off all limits and rise against any oppression, and you’ll find yourself.
Mark Sayers is one of the most profound thinkers and cultural commentators today. In this interview, Mark explains how the current pandemic almost instantly deconstructed and threatened both consumer Christianity and secular salvation, he shares principles on how to lead through the COVID crisis, and offers some insight into what the new post-pandemic church and world might look like.
The last 60 days have changed the world and your world like never before. Some of the things you used to put your hope and trust in crumbled overnight. So...what are you left with? Like a garage sale, you might discover in this pandemic that there are some things that used to have great value to you that you just don’t want (or need) anymore.