Ever notice that what you think will satisfy doesn’t? Money, success, homes, relationships and even family often promise more than the seem to deliver. You always want more. Why? This week, we’ll introduce you to how idols–even sophisticated idols—work, and why elevating the gift God gives you above the Giver always disappoints.

In this special bonus podcast episode, Carey interviews Clay Scroggins about being a young leader. Clay will be teaching our upcoming series "Bad Blood" and is the lead pastor of the Alpharetta location of North Point Community Church.

If God is love, why do people often feel so hopeless? Perhaps it’s because we tie our hope to circumstances and emotions. God invites us to tie our circumstances to something profoundly different. Even something unshakable.

Maybe you think the Bible is unreliable or that, even as a historical book, it’s riddled with errors and mistakes. This week, Carey will be joined by world-renowned New Testament scholar Dr. Craig Evans, who has been interviewed on Dateline NBC, by the New York Times, Wall Street Journal and lectured at Yale, Princeton, Harvard and Oxford Universities. Together, they’ll discuss why many of the world’s brightest thinkers have come to trust the scriptures.

So maybe you can accept that God is real and Jesus is who he said he is, but you’re reluctant to get involved in Christian community or a church. After all, Christians and Christian leaders are pretty much all hypocrites. True? Absolutely. And here’s why you should get involved anyway.

Many people read the Old Testament (the first part of the Bible) only to be shocked by the violence they see, even some, apparently, sanctioned by God. Why did God order the slaughter of children? Why would God support war? There are answers….

So if there is a God, and he has a plan for our lives, why does it seem to be so difficult to figure out? The answer to that question might be simpler than you think. And, for those moments when it seems confusing, there’s actually a shortcut to finding God’s will that we’ll share with you.

One of the greatest objections to the existence of God is this: If God is loving, why does he allow good people to suffer? Many world religions tackle this question with different answers. Christianity’s is unique, as God responds not with information, but with something far more profound.

You probably have questions. You wish God would answer now. If anyone had questions that deserved to be answered, it was Job, who lost everything. He finally gets a chance to ask his questions directly to God and learned something that completely changed his questions.

We’ve all been part of a disorganized workplace or group and had our motivation sapped. Add to that an impulse within all of us that prefers independence, and you have a world in which few individuals and organizations ever realize their full potential. What if everyone’s life could be better by aligning their gifts around a common mission, vision and strategy?

Selfishness is not an attractive quality in others, but it’s a quality that comes naturally to all of us. Why battle it? And if you don’t look out for yourself, who will? Jesus provides a radically different perspective and a completely different way to find what you’re really looking for.

When something goes wrong, do you believe the best or assume the worst about the situation? Or about the people involved in the situation? Believing the best can seem so naive, until you realize it can trigger something SO much better than you imagined.

Long hours. Fast food. Difficult people. Lots of expenses. Too little money. Too little exercise. Not enough time off. It’s so difficult to stay emotionally, physically, financially and even spiritually healthy today. Or so you think. But what if you could?

Somebody should do something about that. We’ve all thought it. And most of us have said it. Maybe that’s why things never change. So what are you waiting for? Who are you waiting for? What if you discovered God has uniquely positioned you to make it happen?

Why is work and even family life so uninspiring at times? Sometimes we expect our boss or our spouse to make work and life awesome. But the scripture has a very different approach. One that challenges everyone to bring something significant to their work, to the family and to life.

How has Jesus impacted you? It could be more than you think.

What’s the truth about angels? Are they here to help us? Can you pray to them? Are they everywhere? Does everyone have a guardian angel? It’s actually surprisingly difficult to get an intelligent answer these days, except from the bible, which has a surprising amount to say about angels. We’ll explore that—and why angels even matters—this weekend.

So if evil is real, how do you oppose it, and how do you protect yourself from it? Fortunately, the scripture actually shows us how to prepare yourself for the little battles and the big battles you face in your life.  

Be Rich is our annual fall serving and giving campaign. During this campaign, we ask people to “do more” and “give more” by being rich toward others. Our motivation comes from 1 Timothy 6:18: “Command them to do good, to be rich in good deeds, and to be generous and willing to share.”

In this bonus interview, Carey interviews John Thompson, pastor of C4 Church in Durham Ontario, and dives deeper into how we can handle the supernatural.

So if evil is real, how exactly does it work? Better yet, how does it work in your life—today? In this message, Carey draws from scripture and classic theology to show how subtle and clever Satan can be in his activity. Once you see his strategies, you can defeat his strategies, in your life and in the world. 

So is evil real? Is there a personal power of evil at work in the world? Is it a power that you as a human being can tap into, intentionally or unintentionally? And what happens when you do? We’ll explore those questions and more this weekend.

So how do miracles work...why are some people healed and some not? Does God favour some people and ignore others? Or are miracles a sham or something that stopped happening in the 1st century? Or maybe, they’re something else entirely.

So is life only what we can see, touch and experience, or is there more? Is there a supernatural side? Are ghost reals? Are there supernatural beings? Do miracles still happen? We’ll look at what the scripture has to say.

If you don’t give in or give up, what do you do? You give over whatever you’re struggling with to God. And we all struggle. Strangely, freedom from Christ (and his ways) isn’t freedom. Freedom in Christ is freedom. So if you want freedom, start surrendering.