Flagstone Church of Christ

The Christmas season is coming to an end. Decorations are coming down and being put away. Most of us will spend the next several days boxing up our Christmas stuff, and we won't pay much attention to it for another year. But some of us will be tempted to do that with our connection with Jesus as well. Now that Christmas is over, we'll stop focusing on Him and we'll stop allowing His presence to ma...

So often we talk about faith in God - choosing to believe His word, choosing to believe in Him, choosing to believe that He is active in this world. But there's something significant in the story of the birth of Jesus that shows God actually believes in us! He believes that we can do some pretty awesome things, and He gives us this ability to accomplish His purposes in our lives. But how do I know...

One of the words we hear often around Christmas time is the word "hope." We hope to get good presents. We hope to see certain family members at Christmas. We hope our Christmas recipes turn out okay. Taking this a step further, if we believe in the story of the birth of Jesus, we discover that there are promises from our God that we can put our hope in. And yet, there are those that try to convinc...

The newborn Baby Jesus being placed in a feeding trough in a stable isn't just about a miraculous birth or humble beginnings. It's about God choosing to actually enter our world, to enter our lives, to engage with us and connect with us in an extremely personal way. Do I really believe that an all-powerful deity really wants to be that close to me? And even if I choose to believe that to be true,...

We're usually encouraged to believe in a lot of things during Christmas time - flying reindeer, a rotund man sliding down a chimney, a locomotive that runs down Main Street. But there's one story that we focus on at this time of year that will absolutely change our lives if we choose to believe it - the story of a baby born in a barn and laid in a feeding trough. The challenge for all of mankind i...

In the gospels, Jesus continually offers a level of grace that blows the water off of cultural expectations. It's a grace that's offered to all peoples regardless of the amount of sin in our lives and should radically change the way we view God and each other. We bring nothing to the table except for debt, and Jesus deals our grace endlessly and boundlessly and THAT is something worth sharing and...

"Grateful" - what does that word mean? It's similar to being thankful or being content, but there's more to it than that. Being grateful goes beyond just saying "thank you" to someone who does something nice for me or being satisfied with what I have. When I am grateful, I am so thankful for something that someone has done for me that it moves me to action. I actively thank that person and probabl...

There are times in life when we struggle to be real, to be genuine. Some of us put a lot of effort into masking our true emotions and feelings. Others feel like we need to pretend to be someone we're not. But why do we feel like we need to put up an emotional "wall" between ourselves and others? And how do we get better at breaking down those walls and being more real and genuine with others?

We've got bibles with paper pages and bible apps. We've got online sermons and podcasts and live speakers onstage. We've got memes and blogs and bumper stickers. We have all sorts of different opportunities to hear about God and about the kind of life He wants us to live. So why do I struggle to actually do what His word says I should do? And how do I become a better "doer," not just a good "heare...

I may often have really good ideas of things I want to do and goals I want to accomplish. So why does it seem like I never actually accomplish them? The problem might be the goal itself or the obstacles I encounter. But honestly, the biggest problem might just be my lack of follow-through. I may have the vision and just not be very good at completing the mission. So is it wrong to struggle with fo...

Ever have those times when the thing you thought was going to be good turned out to be not so good? The meal you tried to make looked good on Food Network but not so good on the plate. The "simple" DIY project ended up taking hours and still isn't finished. The exercise/weight-loss plan is...well...still in its "planning stage." It happens to all of us - we have good intentions, but the actual res...

We live in a culture that appears sometimes to almost demand that we look out for ourselves and our own interests first. We don't like our comfort zones to be stretched, our time or effort to be sacrificed, or our "rights" to be given up for the sake of someone else. And yet part of Flagstone's mission is to find opportunities to serve other people...which seems to demand that I look out for other...

Churches often put a lot of emphasis on things like "fellowship" and "community." Even at Flagstone, we talk a lot about finding "connection." But do I really have to build relationships with other Christians? Why does it matter whether or not I get connected with a church family?

//Reposting due to livestream issues this morning// I may know a lot of things we do at church - sing, pray, study the Bible, give, volunteer, etc. But when it comes to Flagstone's mission, why is it important to reach out to, connect with, and serve others? If I don't know the reasons for taking action, I'm less likely to act. I need to understand why we do what we do in order to be more consiste...

Small Groups... Life Groups... Cell Groups... At Flagstone we call them Connection Groups. These groups are a vital part of our ministry and fulfilling our mission. But how important are these groups? How do I get plugged into one? And maybe most importantly, how do I stay plugged into one?

I do the right things, I pray, I give, I volunteer...and it still seems like things don't go right, or at least not the way I think they should. So why did I go to the trouble? What's the point of me doing what God says I should when it doesn't seem like He's rewarding my good choices and actions?

It's one of the most amazing gifts we could ever receive - grace. God promises to forgive us of all our failures, all the times we fall short, all the times we hurt ourselves or others. God calls us and challenges us to show that same level of forgiveness to others, and many of us try to do that on a regular basis. But if I'm really honest, one of the most difficult people for me to forgive...is m...

I recognize that God doesn't necessarily make bad things happen to me or to others. I can even acknowledge that life itself is hard, sometimes even unfair. And it's not that I'm even blaming God when things are difficult, but sometimes I wonder if He even notices. Does He see it when I'm hurting? Is He even paying attention? Does God care?

Scripture talks about finding and following God's will. Preachers talk about surrendering to God's will. But what if I don't feel like doing what God is calling me to do or going where God is calling me to go? Is it wrong for me to feel that way? Can I express that, or do I have to keep it to myself? What do I do when I don't want to do what God wants me to do?

Maybe someone said something hurtful. Maybe someone did something that embarrassed me. Maybe it was something worse - maybe I was the victim of abuse...racism...being cheated on. The church seems to say I need to forgive, but what I really want is revenge. I want that person to hurt like I do. Is that wrong? Can I have those feelings? Am I allowed to be honest with God about the hurt I want someon...

Unfiltered. Unrefined. Honest. Real. There are times when we pay close attention to our words and emotions, and there are times when the thoughts we express are blunt and maybe even a little raw. We don't check or "filter" our words in those moments because we're just being honest and genuine about how we feel. Often we try to be careful with our thoughts and words that we express to God, and yet...

Con-artists are masters of deception and experts at getting people to believe in something that isn't real. One of the greatest con-artists of all time is found in scripture. But his actions in deceiving others were motivated by his own misguided perception of himself. What real truths can I learn about my own identity from a man who consistently struggled to be real and genuine with others?

Join us as we continue our series with guest speaker Ragan Price.

When you think of "muscle-men," you may think of Olympic-level weightlifters or maybe a young Arnold Schwarzenegger. But the G.O.A.T. muscle-man was a guy that is talked about in the Bible whose name was Samson. Huge muscles, flowing hair, amazing feats of strength...and one colossal weakness. How did this strong man allow his weakness to ruin his life? And I how do I keep from allowing the same t...

Sure, there is plenty of drama on the line when watching "the Bachelor". But show us a "Bachelor" story with an entire people groups survival on the line, an evil adversary (more than just Brittany G.) and God's work in the middle of it all and you can have the title of Greatest of All Time! The story of Esther is a rough one but one that is incredibly important in understanding God's role in our...