LifePoint Church

It might seem natural to equate spiritual health with an absence of weakness and vulnerability. Maybe it’s exactly the opposite. Sometimes power and strength are found where we least expect them. Could it be that running from weakness is actually a weakness? We become spiritually healthy when we see the value of humility, weakness, and vulnerability—all-powerful responses when combined with trust...

If we said we had a personal relationship with another person, we’d all assume, at the very least, some degree of regular, back-and-forth conversation. So how does a “personal relationship with God” work? We talk to God through prayer, but how does God talk back to us? Of course He uses the Bible, which provides general information, but to say we have a personal relationship, there must be more an...

God has gifted each of us to contribute to the spiritual well-being of the body of Christ. Being good stewards of our gifts means using them to impact the lives of others. Loving one another, serving one another, accepting one another, and encouraging one another are some of the ways we can use our gifts and experiences to grow strong and find fulfillment in the Lord individually while promoting t...

Our past marks us. Those experiences go into making us the people we are. But some of those experiences we would rather forget. Guilt, shame, and regret can carve deep gashes in our souls—permanent reminders of another life we would prefer to leave behind. But God reminds us that He can free us from the unwanted narrative of past failures and sins. Through Christ, freedom is real and rewarding. An...

Following Jesus on the path towards spiritual health sometimes leads us up mountaintops. Here, God’s presence is a tangible experience, and activities like prayer, scripture reading, and worship are fulfilling. However, as we continue to follow Jesus, we will inevitably be confronted with His crucifixion on the hill called Cavalry. This may seem like a place that leads to spiritual death, not life...

Spiritual health is impossible apart from discipleship. We can hardly say that, as Christians, we are spiritually healthy if we are not following the way of Jesus. The question is how do we follow Jesus in a healthy way? It is very easy for discipleship to become about “Do’s” and “Don’ts” and a list of rules. These things look like discipleship but fail to produce real-life and joy within us. This...

Getting to know God ranks high on the list of life’s most meaningful quests. God has revealed Himself to us. He is knowable. And we can grow to know Him in deeper and deeper ways. But our knowledge of God is always connected to the knowledge of ourselves. As we get to know God, we get to know ourselves. It’s impossible to learn about God in a vacuum. We naturally see ourselves more profoundly as w...

We live in an age of information overload, and the amount of information increases every day. Yet the most important information ever written is contained in one book–the Bible. The words in the Bible, God’s words, give us life–spiritual life, eternal life. Jesus said, “Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.” To be spiritually healthy, we require the...

When opportunities arise and we are thrust into the spotlight, we have a choice to make. We can choose to camouflage our convictions to match our surrounding culture, or we can stand true to the people God calls us to be. Today’s sermon will awaken us to the reality that God may be leading us into these so-called opportunities. We’ll learn they may not always be a positive experience and could eve...

One-third of our lives are spent at work. When you consider errands, chores, hobbies, or raising children, the percentage of our lives we spend working can be significantly higher than 30 percent. Considering how much time we spend working, is there a connection between our work and our spiritual health? This week, we’ll discuss how work is more than something we do to pass the time here on earth,...

To be spiritually healthy is to be thriving in your desire to pursue Jesus and walking in the strength of the Holy Spirit. But spiritual health is tricky. We might be so obsessed with looking good outwardly that we fail to pay attention to what’s going on inside us. No wonder Jesus addressed the outwardly religious of His day with a scathing indictment. “Hypocrites,” He said. It’s not enough to ju...

Finding the will of God is both a mystery and an adventure. Certainly, we would be short-sighted if we didn’t curiously and diligently pursue the path God wants us to walk. If Jesus is our Lord, it makes sense for us to do what He wants us to do. Can we know what He wants us to do? If so, how specific can we expect His direction to be? And how much freedom has God given us to make decisions that h...

Saying that Jesus is Lord, implies surrendering to His will over ours. No matter how you frame it, surrender is frightening. When we surrender, we are vulnerable. When we surrender someone else determines our path and can take us where we do not want to go. Jesus gives us no guarantee that, if we surrender our lives to Him, we’ll only be led to pleasant places. In fact, He promises us just the opp...

Temptation is real. And so is the danger of making sinful choices that displease the Lord of our lives. Fortunately for our sakes, others before us have made unfortunate choices that we can learn from. While the Bible is filled with examples of success, it is just as often filled with examples of failure. Pay attention, God says. Be alert to that which causes you to fall and draws you away from li...

When you think of the word authority, what comes to mind? You might think of someone who used their authority to control or manipulate you. If that’s the case, the word authority may cause a negative reaction. But as Jesus used the authority given to him by God the Father, he completely flips our ideas about authority upside down. This week, we’ll discover the life-giving authority of Jesus Christ...

If we grudgingly view Christ’s lordship in our lives as a threat to our freedom, we don’t understand the real freedom we’ve been given through Him. Jesus has come to make us new, literally! Through the new birth, we’ve been given a new nature and the cord to sin and death has been severed. Right standing with God should motivate us to right living. The best way to live life is as one who surrender...

The glory of God can seem like a confusing idea. The Bible makes a big deal of it, even making it a matter of life and death. But we tend not to think about it very much. What exactly is God’s glory? What if understanding and seeking God’s glory dramatically change our lives? How would our lives look if we were living for His glory? God wants to show us that His glory is for our good. In this mess...

No one makes Christ Lord; He is Lord. So, it goes without saying that His lordship extends over the life of every person. Whether or not we acknowledge His lordship is another matter altogether. The price paid for the sins of all was a high price indeed—the death of Christ. To be bought by Christ is both a reminder of His great love and His invitation to live a life fully surrendered to Him. Suppo...

Every person in every church and every pastor should never forget a singular, irreplaceable truth: Jesus is the head of the church. Jesus is first in everything. Get that priority confused and you invite the disintegration of what’s most important usually replaced by a pull toward self-importance. As the head of the church, Jesus has promised to build His church. And He invites us to invest our li...

No other event is more central to our finding and following Jesus than His resurrection. Without it, the Christian faith is just wishful thinking. But if Christ is raised from the dead, that changes everything. Because Jesus lives so can you! You can be raised to a new life while you’re still alive. And you can expectantly await your literal resurrection in the life to come. Support the show

God is gracious and that is a very good thing, and, normally, we consider it a good thing. But what happens when God shows His grace to those who have hurt us or others? All of a sudden we’re not so certain anymore. When God gives grace to the undeserving it raises hard questions in our minds and hard feelings in our hearts. This is exactly where we find Jonah in the final chapter of his story. Jo...

We tend to get frustrated when things don’t go our way. And if we’re honest, sometimes our frustration is tied to our stubbornness. But what if God uses tough circumstances to get our attention for a reason? What if He wants to give us a second chance to overcome our stubbornness and follow Him? In this message, we’ll see how God always accomplishes His purposes, even when we resist, and even when...

Jonah is in an unbelievable situation, living three days and three nights in the belly of a giant fish. After Jonah disobeyed and ran away from God, it’s almost equally unbelievable that God would still pursue, rescue, and protect Jonah. The story of Jonah is a powerful reminder that God continues to show steadfast love, even towards His enemies. Today, we continue to take comfort knowing we don’t...

You may not be a prophet like Jonah, but there are times when God wants you to do something you should not ignore. You can respond in obedience. Or you can run. Running from God is never a very good option. You may not get swallowed by a giant fish, but you will be exposed to the intense pressure of the loving discipline of God. To run from God is to head down a path that leads to pain and regret....

There are some songs of the heart that we might rather not sing out loud. They express thoughts and feelings that are brutal and dark – feelings we’d rather others not know we feel. There are Song of the Heart in the Bible that curse others or invoke evil and they raise many questions. How could these be songs of the heart? How can such dark and ugly sentiments be in scripture? What can these dark...