Fully Alive in Christ

John 10:12-13 - “The hired hand is not the shepherd who owns the sheep. So when he sees the wolf coming, he abandons the sheep and runs away... Jesus is the Shepherd who stays when the wolves of life come to huff and puff and blow our houses down. Mixing parables a bit, but the point remains: We HAVE a Savior who guards and guides our lives, and fights anything that desires to "steal, kill or dest...

The Parable of the Laborers in the Vineyard invites us all to examine our response to the extravagance of the Good News of Jesus. If you are like me, on first read you may identify with the laborers in some way or even struggle with understanding what Jesus is really trying to say. As we spend time contemplating this section of scripture, let’s invite Holy Spirit to examine our motives and heart p...

John 10:10 is a scripture we often share, “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.” When Jesus said this statement, it was in the context of his description of Himself as both The Gate of the sheep pen and The Good Shepherd. While we may have an enemy who wants to “steal, kill and destroy,” Jesus is the One that both places us in t...

Let's dive into Matthew 7:24-27, the simple parable Jesus taught about two men - one who trusted the words of Jesus, and one who ignored them. Let's open our hearts and lives to Jesus, inviting Him to establish all that we are on all that He is - until nothing in our lives is built on sand.

This week we have the privilege of having Sommer Bury give a message on The Parable of the Sower and the Seed.

"Therefore, the kingdom of heaven is like a king who wanted to settle accounts with his servants...” Matthew 18:23 How we receive God's mercy and grace, and how we impart it to others is vital to living in and under the Kingdom of Jesus.

Too often we read the Parable of the Good Samaritan as if we are the Samaritan, called by this story to help those in need, even our enemies. Is there more to it than a lesson to be kind to those in need; an additional and deeper Kingdom reality?

This week we are walking through the Parable of the Mustard Seed and the Parable of the Yeast. Jesus was a storyteller. He used stories to help people understand what he was speaking to them. As a storyteller, this is one of the ways I was drawn into the Word as a kid, and still love to dig in as an adult. Join me as I tell some stories out of the Word and other stories the Lord is reminding me of...

Have you noticed how religion and doctrine seem to complicate God? The pharisees and religious elite were consumed by busying themselves with religious to-dos and complex behavioral and cultural box-checking. Jesus lived in a culture whose primary mode of learning was oratory, and baffled the religiously educated with the parables He told to express God’s Kingdom. Story has a unique ability to exp...

Listen to Drew as he gives historical cultural context surrounding the parable of the prodigal son and how we can apply it to our own culture.

Join us as we learn the WAY of Jesus together by diving into His powerful method of teaching and awakening hearts to His Kingdom: Parables. Parables are a powerful tool that Jesus used to invite his listeners into a whole new WAY of living, thinking and being.

Our Galatians key verse was: Gal. 3:3 - “How foolish can you be? After starting your new lives in the Spirit, why are you now trying to become perfect by your own human effort?” Why is this admonition important? Because it led into the entire section on the fruit (of the SPIRIT) in Galatians 5 and Galatians 6:7 - “God cannot be mocked, a person reaps what they sow…” But this fruit is not something...

In Galatians Chapter 6, Paul challenges the church to be careful where they sow. There are two possible kinds of soil: the flesh or the spirit. He reminds us that once they had, they could not change the harvest. What is sown to the flesh will bring a harvest of corruption but the parts of their life they sowed to the Spirit will produce life. All that we do is either an investment in the FLESH or...

In this teaching, we will be exploring the words of Paul inviting us to “keep in step with the Spirit” and stewarding our freedom in Jesus. We will celebrate together that Jesus is enough for every place of pain or temptation or struggle that we carry in this life. If you are feeling weary of religious efforts or the cycles of temptation - The Apostle Paul’s words are a powerful direction for us t...

Last Sunday was the 6th year anniversary being in our building. If you haven’t heard the miracle story of how we got here, we encourage you to watch. Join in on the story of what God is doing in and through our community.

As His children, filled with His spirit, we are welcome to come to him with whatever it is that we are walking through. He is going to comfort our hearts, listen to what we are saying and meet us with love and understanding. And He is ready to direct our hearts. What Paul had experienced and what he knew to be true, he was speaking in this letter to the churches in Galatia - and we get to look at...

Gal. 3:5 - "So again I ask, does God give you his Spirit and work miracles among you by the works of the law, or by your believing what you heard??" The Early Church saw a POWERFUL, TANGIBLE and SUSTAINED move of God's Spirit. How did this take place? It wasn't because they were following the Law. The Law was powerless. It was because of their BELIEF in Jesus! What can we learn from this? I believ...

A season of conflict doesn't have to spell the end of a relationship. What is God up to right now? How is he drawing us together and forward? How can we overcome massive hurt, offense, and frustration, like Peter and Paul had to work through?

In Galatians 2, we learn of an encounter between the two primary leaders of the Early Church, Peter, and Paul, that could have led to the end of their relationship. In his zeal to protect the purity of the Gospel of Grace, Paul confronted Peter openly and emphatically for being legalist and racist. How did Peter respond? What happened to their relationship afterward? Was this relational disconnect...

Paul, writing to a group of churches in a few different cities in what is modern day Turkey. He had already made a missionary journey through this region at this point. Now somethings have reached his ears and his love and passion for these people ignites a powerful letter. A group of “intruders” from Jerusalem most likely, came and began to spread a adjustment to the Gospel that Paul shared, in o...

A couple weeks ago, Ryan talked about not reading ourselves into the text of the Bible. It created a small stir when he said, “the Bible isn’t written about you, and the Bible isn’t written to you.” The Bible is a gift, and we need treat it as such. It doesn’t exist for us to know just ABOUT God, but for us to know God. WHEN WE STUDY THE BIBLE, we are not just pursuing information, or correct doct...

Kingdom over everything. Jesus said "seek first my Kingdom." He preached "repent, for my Kingdom is at hand!" What is the Kingdom? How do we seek it? How do we find it? How do we build it? These are vital questions as followers of Jesus This is no time to get our priorities mixed up! God's Kingdom is expanding and moving - Are we seeing, sensing and joining in?

Kingdom over everything. Jesus said "seek first my Kingdom." He preached "repent, for my Kingdom is at hand!" What is the Kingdom? How do we seek it? How do we find it? How do we build it? These are vital questions as followers of Jesus This is no time to get our priorities mixed up! God's Kingdom is expanding and moving - Are we seeing, sensing and joining in?

Kingdom over everything. Jesus said "seek first my Kingdom." He preached "repent, for my Kingdom is at hand!" What is the Kingdom? How do we seek it? How do we find it? How do we build it? These are vital questions as followers of Jesus This is no time to get our priorities mixed up! God's Kingdom is expanding and moving - Are we seeing, sensing and joining in?

Let's talk about this strange mystery of worshiping Jesus together in a gathering. Which in case you were wondering, is not perfect, or the best model, or style, or format. We could travel the earth at this very moment and hear and see the nations worshiping God in a million different ways together.