LifePoint Church

Approval is something we all long for, especially from the people who matter most to us. There is something deep inside of us that craves knowing that others are pleased with what we do and who we are. Approval gives us a sense of meaning and significance in the context of relationship, combining two of our deepest needs. This week we are going to look at how to find approval in the relationship t...

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As Paul writes his last words, he encourages Timothy to remember the gospel in kind of a strange way: he urges Timothy to join with him in suffering for the gospel. Is there a different way to see suffering? In this message, we’ll see how God empowers us to maintain His perspective. This passage will help us understand how treasuring the gospel changes the way we see life by setting our eyes on Je...

Our lives are better when we believe in Jesus and when someone else believes in us. We need to know we’re not alone. We have a valuable contribution to make as we remember the gospel and share it with others. And we don’t have to be afraid. We can know we’re empowered by God with the strength to live for Him. He will help us in every circumstance. Support the show

Peace. We sing songs about it. We march for it. Demonstrate for it. Hold conferences about it and create think tanks to create it. We long for it. But it remains elusive. We live in a world broken by war, poverty, hatred, and illness, making peace seem impossible. Yet Jesus says that it isn’t. He offers us the hope of peace greater than all the brokenness of the world, a peace we can live in right...

If our life with God is described as a race, it’s natural to assume we’ll one day cross the finish line. Life begins when you believe in Jesus as your Savior. Although heaven is then guaranteed, it really does matter how you live. Living for God means you’re pleasing Him. And it means you’re likely to be rewarded at the judgment seat of Christ. Live well and you can anticipate His “well done” when...

Your life with God is the race of your life. But as you run, it’s easy to get off course. Be alert to the things that hinder your running. There’s no guarantee you’ll run well. So, fix your eyes on Jesus and run for His approval. Stay on course and live to please God. Support the show

You may not consider yourself a runner but you’re in a race. The race of your life. What would it look like for you to win this race? Running the race begins with finding the starting line. Life starts with Jesus. Then, life is run with Jesus. What might you need to change to ensure a steady pace in the right direction Support the show

Life is full of extraordinary challenges: wars, injustice, and politics just to name a few. When faced with these extraordinary challenges, we can look for a miracle that is just as extraordinary. But life also has its ordinary challenges: stressful emails or losing our keys in the morning. If extraordinary challenges require extraordinary miracles, these ordinary challenges require miracles that...

From our earliest days, we’re captivated by stories. God has written the greatest story ever told. And this story even includes you. Born separated from God, every person needs to be rescued. God, in His love and grace, offers a free gift to all—a solution to our problem. Jesus was born, then died, so you could experience real life. Support the show

As the story of your life unfolds, never forget you are part of something bigger than just you. In our individualistic culture, it’s easy to become self-absorbed and me-centered. The moment you believe in Jesus for a new life, you become part of something enormous—the body of Christ and the movement called the Church. At our church, we are part of the same story. It’s a story of trusting God and a...

Your life is a story. Its chapters are filled with joys and sorrows, successes and failures, good people and hurtful people. Maybe you’ve found it difficult to follow the plotline at times. But there are no wasted experiences in your life. That’s because the main character in your story is God—whether you realize it or not. And God is inviting you to join Him, as together, you write the story of y...

Around this time of year, it may be easier for us to have thankfulness on our minds. But do we regularly give thanks throughout the year? What about when things don’t go our way? It seems like we wait to really give thanks until certain things happen the way we want them to happen. But it doesn’t have to be this way. In this message, we’ll see that when we consider God’s goodness, His work, and Hi...

The results on the playing field are largely determined off of it. In sports, in work, on the battlefield, even in our relationships, much of our success in the moment of engagement is determined by the work we did or didn't do preparing ourselves for it. In short, being prepared requires preparation. This is just as true when we step out to serve in ministry. How can we prepare ourselves to...

One eager to please God is determined to get out of the bleachers and into the game. But our involvement in serving doesn’t have to be random or chaotic. God has given each believer a spiritual gift—a specific, supernatural ability for building up the body of Christ. It’s impossible to fully invest your life for God without discovering and using your spiritual gift. God has a part for you to play....

Following Jesus calls us out of the bleachers and into the game. But being in the game means we have to get out of our comfort zones and get our hands dirty. This willingness to lay aside ourselves is at the heart of volunteering. In this message, we’ll see how Jesus gets His hands dirty and why it matters for us to follow His example. Support the show

It doesn’t take much energy to be a spectator. Just watch the action on the field. Then you can cheer when you approve and boo when you don’t. But following Jesus was never meant to be a spectator sport. One eager to please God is determined to get out of the bleachers and into the game. Serving others is to be the norm not the exception in the family of God! Support the show

If there is a god most near and dear to the heart of our culture it is the god of success. The god of success promises us the control, allowing us to make our own way; the approval of others who recognize what we've done; and the access to whatever pleasures we may seek as a reward. The god of success says we can have it all. But having it all is never enough and the success we seek never sat...

If given the choice between good feelings or bad, we would usually choose good. Let’s face it, good feelings are pleasurable. But pleasure as a life-goal leads to bad things. All around us are false gods that scream for our attention and devotion. And pleasure can become one of those false gods. Without our realizing it, pleasure can hold us captive. Support the show

We all want approval. At some level, we all want to be liked and affirmed. Seeking approval by itself is not necessarily bad, but seeking it in the wrong source is. When we make human approval our ultimate value, then we make approval into an idol, worshipping a false god. In this message, we'll see how God's approval is available and all that matters. Support the show

There is one true God. But all around us are substitute gods competing for our devotion. You don’t have to bow down to a statue to be an idolater. False gods are everywhere. One false god that screams for our attention is the god of control. When we’re satisfied only when things go as we plan and when we’re fixated on getting what we want, we have become devoted to the god of control. And the god...

Near the beginning of His ministry, Jesus stood up in the synagogue and said, "The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to set the oppressed free." ( Luke 4:17 ) Jesus calls us to be like him. To be people of love and compassion. To be people who...

Have you ever wondered what the Christian life is all about? Jesus Christ calls people to follow Him, to be changed by Him, and to go on mission with Him. His mission is for us to be disciple-makers, disciples who make disciples. That's what He wants our lives to be about, but are we actively doing it? Making disciples can seem difficult, even scary, so we tend to avoid it. In this message, w...

When we believe, Jesus invites us to follow Him and live with Him as apprentices of His way. This is an invitation to come and die to ourselves in order to follow Him into a new life with the Father. To die to our sin, our brokenness, our plans to save ourselves, and our plans to make our own way in life. But in dying, we can experience the best kind of life possible.[ Support the show

Jesus never insists that we clean up our lives before we can be rescued and redeemed. Thank God. Jesus, instead, invites us to take a closer look. To listen to the whispers of our curiosity. To come and see who He really is. Jesus is still inviting people to draw close to Him by using the words He’s always used, “Follow Me.” When we find and follow Jesus, we experience the abundant life He promise...