Generations Community Church

The last 18 months have been brutal. A pandemic. Lockdowns. Shutdowns. A hotly contested presidential election. People have lost their ever-loving minds, haven't they? There are times in our lives when we are living the best version of ourselves...the person we want to be...the person God meant us to be...and we're flourishing. And then there are times in our lives when we are living a broken and...

Living for God will require occasional acts of extravagant love and extravagant generosity - so much so that others in your life will question whether you're being taken advantage of, whether someone is playing you, whether you should be setting firmer boundaries. In this message, Max Vanderpool unpacks the action of the widow and her "mite" in the Temple complex. Most pastors simply want to say,...

Generations has put a lot of effort into loving people and accepting people. And that's a good thing. It's exactly what Jesus did in his relationships - he frontloaded them with love and acceptance. But, like Peter, we're going to need to do MORE than just love people. We're going to have to use words and talk ABOUT Jesus to others.

According to Anne Lamott, when Americans tend to pray, they tend to pray three things: (1) thank you, thank you, thank you, (2) help me, help me, help me, and (3) I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry. But what if there's more to prayer than that? And what if it actually matters WHO you're talking to? In this message, Pastor Max gives some practical advice on practicing praying to God.

If you don't know what's IN The Bible, you're going to spend your entire life just guessing. And because you're an American, you'll be making up what you think Jesus is like. (And here's the thing: Americans almost always think Jesus is just like them. If they CARE about environment, Jesus would care about the environment. If they care about unborn babies, Jesus would care about unborn babies.) So...

Any time there are two or more people, there is going to be CONFLICT. And unresolved conflict takes up room inside your body through high blood pressure, stress, eating problems, stomach issues, weight gain, weight loss, and a HOST of other ailments. Why live that way?

There are certain ingredients that will NEVER make a cake or a dessert. Cabbage, beets, slimy spinach, and pickled pigs feet are examples of foods that CAN be eaten but never enjoyed as a dessert. PEACE works in a similar way. There are ingredients necessary for peace to take hold in your life. Fortunately, the Apostle Paul spells out what these ingredients are.

Today is Easter Sunday. And Easter comes to people who are shaken, afraid, and have had their expectations turned upside down. Why? Because there is no place you can go that Jesus can't.

Shakespeare once wrote that expectation is the root of all heartache. As it turns out, Bill wasn't wrong. What if expectations get in the way of our relationship with God? What if we expect Jesus to be and do things that Jesus won't be or won't do? What then? Palm Sunday is the day Jesus rode triumphantly into Jerusalem as its king, and it's a day laden with expectations.

What do you do when you think or know that God has told you something, but nothing happens? Do you wonder if you heard God wrong? Do you get worried that God got busy or distracted? Or are you tempted to take matters into your own hands?

Because of the pandemic and the lockdowns and restrictions, a LOT of us have been waiting for things to get back to normal, things to reopen, the vaccine, and the END of the pandemic. But we Americans aren't really good at waiting. But what if God is actually DOING something while we wait? What if we can trust that God IS at work?

We're always dividing people into two groups. And, when it comes to kindness, we often feel like there are people who deserve kindness and people who don't. But Jesus doesn't see things that way. In this message, Max Vanderpool wraps up our February emphasis on the virtue of kindness.

Expectations can get you into trouble in life, particularly family expectations. But what if GOD actually has expectations of us? What then?

Chances are, you have a tendency to work hard or you have a tendency to do just enough to get by. And you know a ton of people in both categories. The Wisdom literature, in the Bible, has something to say about work, and hard work in particular. In this message, Max Vanderpool explains why Solomon appeals to ants - and what they can show us about work and preparing for a rainy day.

It is a mistake to believe that the best way to live life is to do so independently. It is a mistake to NEVER ask for help, never accept help, never rely upon people - because you believe they won't do it right or because you believe they'll let you down. There's a reason Jesus said that you have to BECOME like a (little) child to enter the Kingdom of Heaven. And it's probably NOT for the reason y...

These days, we have an army of psychologists and therapists reminding people to self-advocate, to not allow themselves to become doormats (or become co-dependent), to stand up for themselves. And while there's truth to all of it, something profoundly POWERFUL happens when you stand up for someone else. In the midst of the pandemic and lockdowns, many pastors and churches are generating noise about...

The Christmas story is saturated with risk and faith. We see it play out, over and over again, with Zechariah & Elizabeth, Mary & Joseph, the shepherds, the wise men, and even Herod. Why does God (seem) to ask people to trust Him to do the impossible? And how is it that people, like Mary, can simply let it unfold?

The world's kings and queens and presidents KNOW how to make an arrival, which makes the arrival of the King of Kings and Lord of Lords (on Christmas Day, so to speak) quite odd and quite extraordinary. To mark the first Sunday of Advent, Pastor Max takes a loot at the genealogy of Matthew 1 and what Matthew is saying about Jesus.

There is one sure test of whether or not God is ruling someone's life. And some people pass the test with flying colors, while others simply don't. What is this test? It's a test Jesus, Himself, put forth as the ultimate sign of God's Kingdom.

Why is it that two people can be in the same room but see what happened differently? And why is it that, at so many church events, God seems to "move" some people but not others? Jesus's signature teaching, in all likelihood, was the Parable of the Soils. And Jesus makes a BOLD CLAIM. Some people will recognize the movement of God and others won't.

In the 1970s, Americans were fascinated with the APOCALYPSE (and some still are, today). For many Americans, they assume God is going to destroy the world with fire and Christians will be evacuated right before that goes down. But what does Jesus say about all this? And what does the end of the world have to do with the Kingdom of God?

All the kingdoms of the world use power the same way. They use POWER OVER others. They leverage it, exert it, use and abuse it. And they attempt to control others (or coerce them) through the power of the sword. But not God. And certainly not God's Kingdom. In this message, Max Vanderpool, emphasizes what it looks like when God uses power.

What do you think of when you hear the word kingdom? Do you think of a PLACE like the magic kingdom? Do you think of a PEOPLE like the British people? We tend to think of kingdoms in terms of place and people, but is THAT what John the Baptist (and Jesus) preached was near?

This is the most important election in our lifetime, they say. If our candidate doesn't get elected (or re-elected), it could mean the end of our way of life...FOREVER. Face it, people talk about elections these days like people USED to talk about the apocalypse. But should we PANIC? Who exactly are we trusting in all this frenzy?

How did YOU learn to pray as a kid? Who taught you how to pray? Who gave you the words and language you use to pray? In this message, Pastor Max Vanderpool unpacks why the disciples asked Jesus to teach them HOW to pray and ponders what we're really asking when we pray that God's kingdom will COME.