COMMON GROUND CHURCH of the CMA

A church might go one of two ways - the way of the Pharisee which leads to legalism, favoritism, and judgmentalism, yielding death and violence ... or ... it can go the way of Jesus, promoting grace, humility, and forgiveness, yielding peace and restoration.

A temple declares the glory of the god it represents - the god who dwells within it. How doe you understand the temple of the Holy Spirit which God is building with living stones upon Christ the foundation? Take a peek into 1 Corinthians 3 and build with God.

Strangely enough, the Holy Spirit which was given to unify Christians has become a dividing point amongst Christians. For instance, some refer to the Spirit as "it", some as "Him." This message tackles the direct link between our relationship with the Holy Spirit and the gospel of His kingdom being spread in this world.

In the upside-down kingdom of Jesus, there are many things that He calls us toward that the world sees as foolish, weak, and often downright stupid. Yet those are the things that bring strength, power and dignity. How upside-down are we?

Selfishness is a prevalent characteristic of adolescence. In this message we will take a look at the link between the prevalent culture and the church of Corinth and begin to see how selfishness created chaos - even in the church.

The fall of mankind into sin led to abundant death. How can one know the joy of abundant life? By knowing the right shepherd.

Grumbling and complaining originates in the chest - in Hebrew literature, the place where your soul dwells. Jesus came to change what happens in that region.

Jesus' kingdom is an upside down world where service and humility reign.

Humanity has been wrecked by the desire to possess truth but rejecting the truth that can only come from God. Jesus came to bring us the truth we've rejected and free us from the false truths we have possessed.

Truth is reality and hope based on anything other than reality is simply hype. Jesus came to affirm what He has seen, heard, and experienced and as His followers, we should own the mission to do the same.

Most relationships are often ambiguous in their definition - which fosters the idea of having a relationship without commitment. This can never be so with Jesus who sets definitive parameters when it comes to following Him.

What does a "Jesus Encounter" look like? As we explore the story of Jesus and Zacchaeus, we'll find a second reason for the Incarnation and discover if the patters for our life follow Jesus, Zacchaeus, or the grumbling crowd.

How do you live your life - Under God, over God, from God, for God, or with God? The answer depends on how we understand Christ's relationship with the Law.

What is the purpose of the Law in the age of Christianity? Understanding why God took on human flesh helps us understand the tension between Law and Grace.

Habakkuk saw evil everywhere, and he was angry about it and wanted God to do something about it ... then he had to deal with the surprising way God dealt with that evil. Our perspective of Jesus has a lot to do with how we respond to the evil we see in our times.

It could be that God would prefer that we bring a charge against Him than to be indifferent to the brokenness of the world as a whole and ourselves as individuals. Psalm 89 causes us to consider, "Is it God's promises that are broken or us?"

A lot of us remember being scared of the dark when we were kids, but what do you do when you run into adult darkness? Psalm 77 lays out a process that helps develop a perspective of faith.

When life makes no sense, in our human frailty we try to make God make sense ... and that tends to make things worse. Asaph gives us a clue on how to get a grip on faith when faith doesn't want to make sense.

Psalm 68 lays out the "triumph" of God. Like a parade, the Psalm honors Him, demonstrates His victory, and shows Him as a King marching out to war. What we have to decide, is how we are going to react to this parade.

Who does God establish? The downtrodden and marginalized. Who does He scatter? The powerful of this world. Where do you need God to show Himself as mighty, powerful, and awesome in your life? See how Psalm 68 describes a God we often forget.

It's not in the tumult and great noise in this world that we recognize God, but in the quietness of our own souls.

King David lays out a pattern for how we transition hiding from God to hiding in God.

When we see how David handled the lowest point of his life, we can be better equipped to walk through it ourselves. It all begins with knowing who God is and who we are in Him.

Some days life can seem overwhelming. In Psalm 3, we see the worst day of David's life and how he found refuge in a relationship with God.

The Gospel tells the story of God's greatness and glory as He reveals Himself to the nations ... and He invites us to tell the story, broken as we are.