Flagstone Church of Christ

I might have a perfect picture in mind of how flawless my marriage will be, how awesome this dating relationship is going to be, what an amazing connection I'll have with my kids, or how well my friends and I are always going to get along. But then problems come, mistakes are made, and feelings get hurt. My picture-perfect relationship becomes anything but picture-perfect. What do I do what my...

If we were to come up with a list of things that we get excited about, some of our responses might include vacations or ballgames or opening gifts or going to a certain concert. Something that probably isn't on the list, or at least isn't very high on the list, would be giving...especially giving to the church. It's not that we don't want to give; it's not that we don't thi...

Scripture tells me that, when I am a child of God, I have the same power in me that God used when He raised Jesus from the dead. That's a lot of power! And yet I often find myself struggling to use the "power" - the gifts and talents and abilities - God has given me. I consistently let opportunities to be a blessing to others pass me by. Why is that? What are the barriers that keep m...

Mahatma Ghandhi once said, "What a man thinks, he becomes." While Ghandi was a very wise individual, he's not the first to recognize the power our minds have. Scripture tells us multiple times how important it is to make sure our minds are pure, because it's our minds that end up dictating our actions. So what are the things that pollute my mind and make it impure? And how do I c...

The need to go through some kind of physical detox is rarely because of one incident. More often a detox becomes necessary because little by little I have allowed toxins to pollute my body and corrupt my physical health. In the same way the need to detox my spiritual self is rarely because of one incident. More often it is because little by little I have allowed sin or guilt or habits or other thi...

It's time to say goodbye to 2023 and welcome 2024. Often when the new year rolls around we hear plenty of advice on how to make some significant changes and how to make sure the upcoming year is better than the previous one. But at Flagstone this Sunday, we're going to approach the new year from a different angle? Instead of finding ways to make sure we have a healthy/productive new year,...

It's time to say goodbye to 2023 and welcome 2024. Often when the new year rolls around we hear plenty of advice on how to make some significant changes and how to make sure the upcoming year is better than the previous one. But at Flagstone this Sunday, we're going to approach the new year from a different angle? Instead of finding ways to make sure we have a healthy/productive new year,...

Even when things are hectic and frazzled, there can be moments of calm in the middle of the chaos. When we look at the messiness of the events surrounding the birth of Jesus, we can still see at least a moment of beauty and serenity and peace in the middle of the mess...because that's what God has always done. He quiets the storms. He calms the chaos. He even cleans up the mess.

Jesus' birth story seems to be messier than we would expect. For the King of the Universe to finally arrive here on this planet, why so messy and full of drama and underwhelming? In scripture we see that God consistently chooses the broken, messy, and underwhelming people and situations in to do his best work. In fact, he takes those very things and redeems and redefines them for his purposes....

We all have different "messes" we have to deal with from time to time, especially when we make a hurtful choice or a wrong decision that becomes a problem of our own creation. But sometimes we find ourselves in the middle of a mess we didn't create. Someone else's choices, someone else's actions, or maybe just life itself causes us to find ourselves in the middle of a stressf...

In spite of all of our best intentions during the Christmas season, Christmas can have often have its share of messes. Some of the problems we have to deal with are the result of other people's choices and actions. What can be even more frustrating are the messes we create on our own. This Christmas we need to recognize that we have some difficult situations in our lives that in all honesty we...

We say "grace" over a meal. We talk about a person who can handle stress as having "grace under pressure." Someone who does things in an effortless way is described as being "graceful." The word "grace" may have become so common to some of us that we have lost the wonder and the amazement we should experience when we think about the grace God has given us. W...

The problem with our day to day lives, money, and aspirations in this life is that if we're not careful, we can let those things consume us. We become unable to function due to worry, we end up purchasing things we don't need just to feel good about ourselves, and we walk paths that can lead to destruction if left unchecked. So how can we combat getting overwhelmed and choked out by these...

Disconnection and distance can take place in any relationship, including my relationship with God. I can start out feeling close to Him, consistently feeling His presence around me, and then at some point I realize I've slowly faded away from that connection. How does that happen? What causes me to drift away from God, when I used to feel so close? And how do I reverse my slow fade away from H...

Anger is a natural way for us to react when we feel we've been wronged in some way or something hurtful has happened to someone we care about. If we deal with that anger in a healthy way, it ceases to be a problem for us. But if we hold onto that bitterness and allow that frustration to continue to grow and fester inside of us, we find ourselves slowly fading into feelings of resentment. Why i...

While there are some temptations we face in life that we see immediately and deal with quickly, there are other common struggles that often creep into our lives slowly. They don't seem very strong or dangerous, and we begin to allow these things to slowly take over our hearts and dictate our actions. We might even justify our choices or try to convince ourselves "it's not a big deal.&...

We're finishing our "Known" Series with a call to action. In light of the fact that you are fully known and fully loved by God, can benefit by trying to understand yourself better to understand others better, and see how important it is to be known by a church family, what does it mean to allow OTHERS to see and know Christ by our love? Does the world see Christ in you through your s...

We all have an innate need to feel known, to feel seen, to feel understood. And one of the places we should be able to find that kind of connection is in the church. And yet, for many the church is a place of disconnection, a place where we feel like completely unknown, maybe even invisible. How can a church family get better at seeing those in need of connection? And if I'm feeling disconnect...

We all have an innate need to be seen and to be known. For many of us the struggle to feel truly known by others is compounded by the fact that we don't really know ourselves. We struggle to understand our own true identity, and so we find ourselves trying to fit into other people's expectations or allowing ourselves to wear the labels other people put on us. How do I begin to truly unders...

One of the greatest needs that each human being has is the need to feel seen, to feel appreciated, to feel known. Feeling “unknown” and “unseen” can cause significant consequences to our emotional and physical health, as well as our spiritual health and our faith. Many of us struggle with just moving through our daily routine and wondering if anyone really knows us or notices we’re even there. We’...

We are constantly surrounded by all kinds of light - lights in our homes and workplaces, streetlights, stadium lights, even lights on our phones. And yet with all these sources of light many people still find themselves fumbling in the dark - not a physical darkness, but emotional and spiritual darkness. Jesus came to be a light to our dark world, but He also challenged His followers to be a sourc...

Sheep are not always viewed as the most intelligent animals. They're also skittish and somewhat helpless. And yet multiple times in His word God describes His people, especially His church, as sheep. At first glance, it doesn't seem like a very positive thing that God views us as helpless, defenseless animals with questionable intelligence. Is that really what God sees when He looks at us?...

There are a variety of buildings we encounter on a regular basis - houses, factories, warehouses, shopping malls, hospitals, and restaurants. Buildings come in different shapes and sizes and are used for different functions. But buildings are also inanimate and stationary. Some are cold and unattractive, and some sit empty and seem to serve no purpose at all. So why does God choose to view His chu...

Wedding ceremonies can be magical and beautiful, but they can also be stress-filled and chaotic. Husbands and wives can seem perfectly matched, and yet most marriages have some amount of mistakes and at least a few problems. In spite of its imperfections and flaws, Jesus chooses to view His church as His bride. But what does that mean? How is the church like a bride? And how does our role as a &qu...

Our bodies are made up of a lot of parts, and each one of those parts has a specific function. When my body and all of its parts function the way they're supposed to, I am usually more active and healthy and productive. Several times in scripture God uses "the body" to give us a snapshot of how the church can be active and healthy and productive in this world. So what is my particula...