Encounter at Illinois State University / ISU

God makes it very clear that He cares deeply about lost people.  This was Jesus’ mission statement, and should certainly shape our own. (Lk 15:4-7, Jn 10:10-15, Lk 19:10, Lk 7:34, Psalm 23, 2 Peter 3:9, John 10:11, John 21, I Peter 5:1-4, Ezekiel 34, Gen 4:1-16)

We are the receivers of God’s deep blessing and grace, and yet feel slighted when we sense that others get more than their fair share of the very same thing. (Matt 20:1-16, Gen 1-3, Rom 7:18-22, Matt 19:29-30, Ps 103:10-13, Rom 8:1, Luke 15:11-32, Heb 12:2)

Practicing Celebration – In our lives, joyfulness, prayer, and thankfulness should be a part of the language we speak to those around us. In fact, this is literally “God’s will” for our lives. How do we do this on a daily basis? (I Thess 5:16-18)

Jesus wants us to understand how His Kingdom works, and gives us 2 small parables that help us understand the incredible value of His good news and the high cost of accepting it. (Matt 13:44-46, Matt 23:13, Matt 13:33, Matt 16:25, Matt 20:16, 2 Cor 12:9, I Peter 5:6, Eph 2:1-2, 4-7, I Jn 1:9, Eph 1:13-14, Rom 8:11, Eph 2:19-21, I Cor 3:9a, Rev 21:3-5, Matt 16:24-25, Rom 12:1, Rom 6:4)  

We all desire a deep sense of peace, but the path to shalom requires us following Christ into some very hard places. (Matt 7:1-6, Isaiah 26:3, Jn 14:27, I Jn 4:1, Gal 6:1, Eph 5:11, 2 Tim 4:1-8, Is 33:22, Ps 75:7, Rom 2:16, Matt 18:5+, Prov 18:2)

Jesus shatters our expectations on who “deserves” our love. Who is our neighbor? Connect this to our prayer discipline for the month. Who are we praying for? Who have you decided it is “ok” to hate? (Luke 10:30-36)

Prayer is the conduit by which we experience God in relationship. Let’s experience what prayer is and what it does in and through every follower of Jesus. (Luke 3:21, Matt 14:23, Mk 6:46, Lk 6:12, Mk 1:35, Lk 5:16, Lk 9:18, Matt 26:36, Matt 17:20, Jn 14:26, Jn 16:13, Jn 16:8, Acts 1:8, Matt 5:23-24, Is 1:8, Lam 3:22-23, Jn 10:27, I Thess 5:17)

Winter Retreat – Session 4- Sunday AM

Winter Retreat – Session 3- Saturday PM

Winter Retreat – Session 2- Saturday AM

Winter Retreat – Session 1 – Friday PM

In Jesus’ short parable about light, we learn a great deal about how our faith, connected to our behaviors, is a powerful beacon in a very dark world. (Matt 5:14-16, Matt 5:3-12, I Jn 1:5, Ps 4:6, Ps 27:1, Ps 28:28, Ps 89:15, Jn 1:9-10, Col 1:11-14, Jn 15:19, I Cor 6:11, Eph 5:3-8, Jn 12:47, Jn 13:35, Jn 8:12, Ps 36:9, Ps 119:105, Jn 3:20, Is 9:2)

In this parable, we see people who are entrusted with differing resposibilities by the master. The only worker reprimanded was the one who did nothing out of fear. Jesus doesn’t require success. He does require you to offer what has been given to you back to Him. What has been given to you that He may desire to multiply? ( Matt 25:14-30)

We desire God to move and work in our lives.  Yet when He uses a particular tool to do just that, we begin to obsess about that tool and forget the One who gave it. (Mk 2:18-3:6, Heb 13:8, Mal 3:6, Rev 1:8, James 1:17, Ps 90:2, Jn 8:58, Is 43:19, Matt 23:4, Gal 3:24-25, Heb 7:19, I Kings 19:9-18, Ex 3, Luke 5)

In our current age, we see through a glass, darkly.  But God has promised that there is a time coming where he will remake and restore our world.  And He’s a God who keeps His promises. (Rev 21:1-5, I Cor 13:12, Gen 2:17, Gen 3, Jn 16:33, I Peter 5:8, Eph 6:12, Rom 5:17-18, I Cor 15:22, Gen 15:13, Ex 14:29-30, Isaiah 7,9,11,53, Micah 5:2, Num 23:19, Josh 21:45, Josh 23:14, Jn 14:1-3, Jn 6:40, Heb...

Joseph seems to attract favor and trouble everywhere he goes.  God gives him a unique gift that becomes a turning point in one of his darkest moments.  What gifts has God given us?  How do we discover and use those gifts? (Gen 36-46, Prov 3:35, I Cor 12:14-21, Eph 4:11-14, Jn 3:8)

Abraham and Sarah decide they have waited long enough, and have a child with their maidservant Hagar. They twist God’s promise to the point of justifying sin to make it happen. Our desire to bypass God’s timing will never produce the result he intended. (Sarah’s plan quickly results in her own jealousy and hatred) This week we hear how 3 people’s stories of rushing God&#821...

Moses looks at his own resources and knows they don’t equal the task at hand.  If Moses would dare to lift his eyes up, he’d realize his human limitations are not God’s limitations. (Ex 3-4, Acts 7:22, Matt 14:14-21, Gen 50:20, Rom 8:28, 1 Cor 1:27, Acts 4:13, 2 Cor 12:9, Matt 21:42, Phil 3:7-8, Is 64:6, Gal 2:20, 2 Cor 5:17, Rom 8:1, Rom 8:14-15, Jn 15:15, Matt 28:20, Jn 14:16, Jn 14:7, Rom 8:9,...

In a desperate moment, Moses lets his anger get the better of him and murders a man.  This turning point may teach us some things about sin that we allow in our own lives.   (Ex 2:11-15, I Jn 1:5, Eph 5:18, Rom 6:12, James 1:14-15, Numbers 32:23, 2 Cor 5:23, Is 1:18, Lam 3:22-23, Jn 16:8, I Jn 1:9, 2 Cor 7:10, James 5:16-17, Matt 5:23-24, Ps 34:14, Eph 6, Ps 119:11, Heb 12:1-2, I Peter 5:8-9,...

Good stories have sad chapters, good stories change you, good stories challenge you. And we know God is a good author of your story. (John 9)

We see a picture of a perfect Garden in Genesis and in Revelation, but in between those gardens is another garden, one of suffering.  What does it mean to live a life of faith in a world where we can expect trouble and suffering? (Mark 14:32-42, Heb 4:15, Jn 16:33, Neh 8:10, Luke 4:13, Matt 26:52-53, I Cor 10:13, Jn 17:14, Matt 5:4, Ps 34:18, Ps 147:3, James 1:3, Rom 8:28)

Jesus loves to provide invitations that beckon us beyond our barriers.  But when we ignore too many of his invitations, the opportunities God provides may start to look more like obstacles. (Acts 9:1-19, Acts 22:3, Phil 3:5, James 4:6, 2 Chron 16:9, Psalm 23)

We are all holding tight. Jesus challenges us to let go of what we are holding onto and follow Him. {Mark 10:17-27}

In the life of Peter, we watch the power of a submitted, struggling-toward-the-Lord, kind of life. And through Peter’s journey, we hear whispers of what Jesus desires to accomplish in each of us. (John 21:2-19, Lk 5:1-10, Mk 5:41, Matt 14:22-33, Matt 26:31-35, Mk 14:66-72, Rom 12:1, Prov 24:16, I Cor 12:4-6, 2 Cor 12:8-10, Rom 8:28, Acts 3:12-13, I Peter 5:1-4)

Fall Retreat – Session 4 – Sunday AM