Family Fest Speaker Podcast

Jesus' first message was so radical that the people in power wanted to throw him off a cliff. In spite of this, Jesus took his message to the street. He didn't just give speeches, he lived out what he preached. We as followers are often hiding from God when we pretend that we've got it all figured and, yet, we're seeking, wondering if there's something more.

With the rise of digital products in our lives and especially the lives of our children, how can we help each other to overcome the negative effects of social media? Physical space matters-God gave us bodies for a reason. We must strive to prioritize physical community built on God's love for us. Scripture: John 1: 14

The Bible is not just a book about how God rules. It is also a book about how people lived. Jesus broke the racial traditions of the Old Testament. He brought the Good News to those that were considered unworthy. Scriptures: Deuteronomy 7 Matthew 15: 21-28 Matthew 16: 20 Exodus 21

The Christian life is not meant to be lived in a comfortable way. We are meant to be uncomfortable, to step into the lives of the messy and broken. When God wraps his arms around us, we can change the world.   Scripture: Mark 6: 45

We understand that God desires for goodness in the world. We want to relate both to ourselves and to God so that the good things that God desires become more manifest in the world. We can do this with two basic activities that form the foundation of a spiritual life and community: silence and listening. Prayer is the act of listening and paying attention to God. Scripture: Matthew 5:43-47

As humans, we sort information into three categories, information we like, information we don’t like and information we ignore. We create bubbles that form our reality and we hold on to our bubbles at all costs. The basic goal of a spiritual life is to get out of the bubble. God has designed us in such a way that if we engage in spiritual practices, the bubble begins to break down. We can have an...

We're a prisoner of what our tribal bubble world tells us to do and when we attempt to step out of that, we feel dissonance and fear. As we connect more deeply with God, we have a greater sense of confidence to do the things that are life-giving, even if it runs counter to what most of the rest of the world is doing. That presence of God in our lives, that life-giving spirit, is always there suppo...

Ignatius of Loyola gives us the Examination of Spirits, a reflection of our day using two very simple questions: “Where did I notice Fruits of God's Spirit” and “Where did I notice Fruits of spirits that were not of God?” Each one of us experiences life-givingness and death-dealingness in our own unique way by how God has formed us. By looking backwards, we can begin to understand how God is worki...

We all experience basic alienation; separation from ourselves, separation from each other and, ultimately, separation from the divine. God has this incredible compassion and love for us that God is trying to fix that alienation. The essence of spiritual community is to engage in practices that allow our bubbles to disappear. Entering deeply into a life of prayer is entering into a darkness where w...

When we allow ourselves to let go of our sense of outcomes and expectations, we are able to engage deeply in a life of faith. This allows us to venture out into the world, away from our bubbles, in a courageous way. As we engage others in a loving way we begin to take the words of Jesus seriously: to love our enemies and pray for those who persecute us so that we may become children of God.

Family Fest Winter Weekend - February 2018. Saturday Morning presentation - Allen Arnold- Invitation to the Journey. Passing out of Adventure Journals. Jeremiah 33:3 "Call to me and I will answer you and tell you great and unsearchable things you do not know." Allen Arnold invites you to discover what is makes your life mythic and epic. He delves into what's missing from your lives, why it matters...

Family Fest Winter Weekend - February 2018. Saturday Evening presentation - Allen Arnold-Orphan Realm, Freedom Realm. Allen Arnold introduces two realms of where we exsist and how we view our lives, the Orphan Realm and the Freedom Realm. In the Orphan Realm you feel overwhelmed, isolated, weary, always striving for validation. In the Freedom Realm, you let go of the illusion of control, you walk...

Family Fest Winter Weekend - February 2018. Sunday Morning presentation - Allen Arnold-Desires of our Heart. God is inviting us into more, into an adventure with him. What does it look like to step activiely and intimately into each day with God? When you discover your truest identity, people and projects lose thier power to limit and define you.

Family Fest Winter Weekend - February 2018. Sunday Evening presentation - Allen Arnold-Journey of Life with God. God invites us into a wildly unbalanced life. Live for what matters most-what are your two or three things? He will break through into your world in countless and creative ways. When you live a life with God, you don't have to worry about if you're doing the will of God. There's no myst...

Family Fest Winter Weekend - February 2018. Monday Morning presentation - Allen Arnold-Living with God and With Others. Allen's final talk of the weekend suggests ways to shift your life to be with God and with others. What's it like to live a life of sonship and daughtherhood intimately, actively with God? When you do so, you will experience the most amazomg season of your life.

Family Fest Winter Weekend - January 2018. Saturday Morning presentation. Opening talk for the weekend. Summary: God is coming to do a new thing in our lives. He desires to restore us and to bring us to his full glory. We need to let go of the old things and embrace the new. What might be God attempting to show you in this season of life? What part of your life could use examination and renovation...

Winter Weekend Talk #2. God's "I Am" is greater than my "What If's". God calls us to rest. We often feel that rest is self-indulgent. God is calling us to lay down our objections, our worries. He is calling us to a place of rest for our souls, our minds, our wills, and our emotions. What are the sources of your unrest? What does life look like when you are rested?   Scripture: Psalm 23 - The Lord...

Talk following Marc Seymour's testimony on Sunday morning worship. The Lord is My Light and My Salvation. If you ever have asked God why it doesn't make you a bad Christian, if you've ever struggled and asked God, "What's the point of my suffering?" It doesn't make you a bad Christian. God is big enough to deal with our grief. He's big enough to deal with the uncertain questions. He's big enough t...

Laurel Bunker Talk #4 at the Night at the Ball Dinner. Sunday Evening. Do you remember your great turning day? Do you remember the day when you recognized the blessing of freedom for which Christ died, the sweetness of relief that was yours for the asking? Rejoice as you ponder the reality that if anyone be in Christ, they are a new creation. This new life in Christ comes with a desire to explore...

Laurel Bunker Talk #5 on Martin Luther King Day. Monday Morning. How do we continue to gain momentum against the forces of darkness? Satan is invading our intimate spaces and the promises of God. The power of the Holy Spirit declares us to stand up and suit up with the full armor of God. You only get the Holy Spirit if you first grab Jesus, but when you grab Jesus, you get the Holy Spirit. You get...

Marc Seymour's testimony at Family Fest Winter Weekend - January 2018 at Grand View Lodge

We are here because people in our lives sowed the seeds of faith, hope and love into us. They nurtured, supported and tended us so that we can become the people that we are today. Reflect on three questions: Who is somebody that you want to honor, What does solitude look like for you and How does your soul need to be refreshed?

To be open to the Word, is to have our lives transformed. The Word demands discipline, obedience, and contemplation of us. Jesus is the most powerful Word that God ever spoke. Obedience is much more difficult than sacrifice. It's hard to learn, to listen, to be silent, to acquiesce in terms of our own will so that we can listen to God’s. Samuel 3:1-9

When we feel embedded in a community, we feel protected, respected, and connected which in turn generates enormous trust. Healthy communities create the context for us to relax our hearts and minds and we are open to hear and engage with each other.