Wesley Foundation at MSU

This week at Thrive...let’s dive into Identity! A really tricky thing about identity is that we tend to embrace whatever gives us approval as the thing that defines our identity. Basically, identity is the definition of myself that I accept from the thing that gives me approval. When it comes to identity, there are a million ways we can get it wrong, but there’s a clear way we can get it right and...

This week at Thrive...Gospel. “You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means.” -Inigo Montoya, The Princess Bride. “Gospel” is one of those Christianese words that we toss around a lot, and we kind of know what it means…but do we really? Or if we know what it means, are we truly living it out?

This week at Thrive, Katie Heckel teaches on Colossians 1:15-22 — We Thrive when Christ is at the Center of our Lives.  What does having Christ at the center do for our lives? How do we reorient our lives around Jesus?

This week, Hugh continues our 2-part Thriveology series by examining John 7:37-39.  Here's the bottom line: We thrive…when Jesus quenches our thirst…and…when the Holy Spirit fills us up… and…when living water overflows from us into our thirsty world.

Acts 1 & 2 tells the story of how the Holy Spirit takes us from survive mode to thrive mode! + There’s no thriving unless God keeps his promise! + There’s no thriving without receiving what you need! + There’s no thriving without diving in!

Thriving = fruitfulness.  Katie Heckel teaches on what it means to be fruitful?  How do we grow to produce fruit?  In John 15, Jesus teaches us that God has tied together our fruitfulness with His presence, Word, and our surrender.

Surviving or thriving?  Hugh Griffith asks, "What if the circumstances you're just hoping to survive could be a place where you could thrive?"  Thriving happens when the life of Jesus wells up in you and flourishes in you and gives life to the world around you.  Time to thrive!

From emptiness to capacity -- Hugh teaches on how God grows grace in our empty spaces. Bible study from 2 Peter 1.1-11.

How "well" do you respond to suffering?  How "well" do you grieve?  What we do within our pain can play a role in determining the direction of our spiritual life.  Our pain needs to be processed.  Katie teaches on how the expression of grief and distress is an important aspect of our relationship with God.  By looking at the book of Lamentations, we learn that the appropri...

Life was going along smoothly for the most part.  You had your routine.  You had your people.  You knew your identity and your purpose.  Sure, life was a burden at times, but it was mostly good--and at least it was predictable.  But then...a turning point.  Everything changed.  Suddenly.  Abruptly.  And now everything's different.  You're far from...

Relate{able} takes a look at dating and marriage in light of 1Cor6.11 with Hugh talking through: • Several faithful ideas for dating • How a relationship grows toward marriage • How to know when a relationship is ready for marriage • When a relationship ends

Single by choice...single by circumstances...single, yet dating...single, but engaged -- Would you use the word fullness to describe your singleness?  What things hinder your singleness?  What does Jesus say about singleness?  God uses singleness to make a significant difference for the kingdom...Tonight at Insight, Katie’s teaching truth to help you make the most of every SINGLE mo...

Tonight at Insight, Hugh teaches on Relate{able} - prt. 2.  It sounds like a Jesus juke, but it’s just so true:  What every relationship needs is more Jesus!  More Jesus & less of me/you makes every relationship better so you & I can truly be all that we can be for each other—all because we’re so full of Jesus.  Thank you, John 3.30, for that relate{able} truth!  A...

Relate {able} – A new teaching series at Insight on relationships.    The One who wired us to relate makes us able to relate. How’s it going with that huge part of life we refer to as relationships?  Friends and family.  Single, dating, marriage, and sexuality.  Gender, orientation, and preference.  Can you relate? Roommates, classmates, til-death-do-us-part mate? Sin...

Hugh teaches from Joel 2.28-29 pointing out three Holy Spirited ways you can bring the Kingdom to your corner of our crazy world.

The Bible’s idea of rooted is a relationship.  Rooted means I’m connected to the One who nourishes and anchors my soul.  Rooted means being connected to Jesus in a way that creates an overflow from my life into the world around me.  Rooted full-fills me with the treasure of Jesus! Tonight at Insight, we’re ramping up to our Rooted Retreat with this message by Hugh from Colossians 2....

What kind of blind are you?  Nearsighted, farsighted, blurry vision, double vision, tunnel vision, partially blind, completely blind, blind spots, legally blind, color blind, blind date, blinded by the light, blind to truth, blind as a bat… So many ways to be blind—and spiritually blind.  But here’s hope: “I once was blind, but now I see!”

New Year’s resolutions, a word for the year, fresh goals, exercise plans, & good intentions… Down the drain on average by January 12!  That’s how long most of our new efforts last—12 days.  Maybe what we need is a different kind of new.  Maybe what we need is someOne who specializes in new. 

Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace!  Tonight’s message unpacks the meaning of this prophetic name Isaiah gives to Jesus.  That poor innkeeper had no idea who he was turning away that first Christmas night!

Is your waiting marked by passivity or are you actively waiting on God to show up--expectant that He's going to work within your waiting?  Tonight, Katie Heckel's preaching on Waiting on God. 

Your will…Probably the single most strategic thing about you.  It’s the place in you where what you think & what you feel & what you want all converge into what you do.  The posture of your will has everything to do with how you pursue God & how you partner with God’s work in your life.  Tonight at Insight…Hebrews 12.14, Genesis 22.1-18—and the posture of a surrendered w...

When it comes to a crisis situation, how do you typically respond? Tonight at Insight, Hugh Griffith helps us look at and learn from Hezekiah and his response to a crisis.

The first half of the gospel…saves us, rescues us, forgives us, & reclaims us as God’s own forever.  The second half of the gospel…reorients us, realigns us, equips us, & transforms us to profoundly love God and people.  But did you know that 89% of Christians live their lives in the first half of the gospel only?  Just 11% of believers say they are experiencing the second h...

How does God speak to us today?  How do we learn to hear God's voice?  Why does God choose to speak to me in a way that's different than someone else?  Tonight Katie Heckel breaks down some different ways God speaks to us and how to make sure you're at a place where you can hear Him.

Our life often carries tension between connection and disconnection -- even our spiritual life.  As followers of Jesus, we believe that God is always with us, but what do we do when we feel disconnected from God and his presence?  Katie Heckel helps us learn to actively Seek God's Face....