Mill Creek Church

Let's jump into this year's Be Rich programs, including a brand new opportunity we hope to launch called the Fulton County Impact Fund. Most of us know someone in need, what if the church could create a tool that could help you, help them?

Generosity isn't about having more, it's about loosening your grip on what you already have. Coming near to the generous grace of Jesus changes our hearts and how we see our resources.

What if the greatest financial decision you could make had nothing to do with accumulating more? Money is not the enemy. But the love of it, the obsession, and the endless pursuit of more is where things go sideways. Jesus calls us to something different - don't just be good, do good. And not "average" good, be rich in good deeds.

Can we be the most generous people our community knows? To live for God and within His values in this modern society, we must be willing to live counterculturally by being generous and investing in a way that puts people before possessions.

It is easy to read ourselves into the ancient text of the Bible. Would God really offer a promise to enable believers to do whatever they want whenever they want it? Or is there a deeper context to the promise of Paul in Philippians 4:13?

Prayer isn't a magic genie. Asking "in Jesus' name" means aligning with His character, His will, His glory. Stop asking God to bless your plans. Start asking Him to make you part of His.

God has a plan for you — but it's bigger than the right job, school, or spouse. He wants to change your life. Even in your brokenness, He wants to be found by you. That's the real promise.

There is no promise of easy — but there is a promise you won't face it alone. That is what the Church is all about. Not perfect people, but broken, redeemed people walking through storms together -- giving and receiving the comfort that only God can provide.

Our sufferings are uniquely ours, but they are not unique. We find strength in the stories of those who have persevered before us and who cheer us on in the present. So we keep running our race with our eyes on Jesus!

Following Jesus doesn’t remove hardship; it reframes it. Suffering isn’t a sign that something is wrong; it’s part of being human and of walking the same road as Jesus. Stop being surprised by hardship and start preparing for it.

Life won't go as planned. Troubles will come. But Paul reminds us: we are pressed but not crushed, knocked down but not destroyed. Don't lose hope. Keep your eyes on Jesus.

The standard of authentic love is how well you treat the person you cannot stand. As John reminds us, since God so loved us, we ought to love one another -- and that "one another" leaves no one out. Including our enemies.

Throughout history, every generation has had its "boogeyman" -- a group of people deemed too different, too dangerous to love. As followers of Christ, we are called to something radically different. There is no fear in love.

What are you afraid of? And more importantly, is fear shaping how you live, how you treat others, and how you follow Jesus? Jesus said the greatest commandments were to love God - love people. But "neighbor" is bigger than we think. It is not just the person next door.

Life offers many reasons to fear, but Jesus invites us to live with love instead of fear. By focusing on God's love rather than fear, followers of Jesus can be empowered to engage their communities.

In the limited time as parents, we can only teach so much before our kids head out into the world. Our faith's core ideas—love God and love people—should be central. What does it really mean to love our neighbor?

Eighteen summers sounds like a long time until you realize how quickly it passes. The question is not whether you will leave an impression on your children. You will. The question is what kind of impression it will be. Make it one that points them toward something worth being devoted to for a lifetime.

18 summers. That's all we get. How can we make the most of the opportunity and help our kids experience the better way of Jesus? Reading the Bible to our kids isn't enough—we must live it out.

Throughout the Psalms, we find prayers that encourage us to turn to God in moments of fear, difficulty, and shame. At the core of each of these issues and their solutions is our need to trust in God.

We've all felt it—that weight of being "found out." The moment our mistakes are exposed and shame tells us we're fundamentally flawed, unworthy, and beyond repair. In Psalm 51, David runs to God, not away from Him. He understood a powerful truth: God's mercy is far greater than our shame.

Life means we will experience times of difficulty and suffering. Suffering can cause us to feel alone, distant, and spiritually and emotionally empty. But there can be blessing as well. Rather than drive us away, it can cause us to turn to God in a way that is richer and more urgent than many of us do when things are going well. 

Every believer, regardless of their strength of faith, experience, or character, has experienced moments of fear. Feelings of fear are part of the human experience. That’s the bad news. The good news is that we don’t have to process our fears alone. 

God comforts us in our troubles so we can comfort others in theirs. No one seeks out pain but maybe, in God's hands, we can find purpose. A church who embraced this truth might find itself with amazing opportunities for impact.

The truth is, most people don't need a therapist as much as they need a faithful friend who knows how to listen well. Imagine a church where we threw open the doors of our lives and let people in. Where listening, presence, and authentic community bring hope and healing.

The Church isn't meant to refer hurting people away—it's meant to walk with them. With loneliness and mental health at epidemic levels, we must return to our roots: believers carrying each other's burdens. Some of the best healing happens in community.