Lifetree Community Church

This week at Lifetree, Pastor Otto Wegner shared about the importance of prayer. He encouraged us to always be quick to listen and slow to speak and reminded us of Psalm 46:10 which says “Be still, and know that I am God."

During this series, we've been renewing our vision for our church and examining why we are doing what we are doing. There’s one more thought regarding The Forest that you may not be expected; however, the problem is that it's literally all over the Bible. God has said this again and again. It's something that has too often been abused, misrepresented, and downright twisted to mean something God ne...

We've been spending the past few weeks renewing our vision and reminding ourselves why we are doing this, why we’re a church - the difference it makes to us, to those in need around us, and to the next generation. There’s one last group of people we exist to bless. And it’s big. Like really big.

Where would you be without knowing about God?  How different would your life be if you had to do this life on your own? The reason that each one of us has hope in God is entirely due to a long list of people who passed down truth and stories of faith. How could we fail to pass that hope to the next generation?   "Let each generation tell its children of Your mighty acts; let them pr...

Giving is not just about money. It's about participating in God’s work of bringing life to all those here through the tithe, and to all those around us who have needs through The Forest. It’s For The Rest. Trees don’t exist for their own benefit. Generosity forms us into the kind of people who have a heart like God that desire to see true restoration take place among those in need. That’s why we d...

What would happen if there was no church? What’s at stake if there was no Lifetree? Would it matter? During this week's message, Pastor Dan talked about the four actions a church takes to make a difference in our community and how when we see the difference this church continues to make, we’ll have deep joy in knowing we have been part of it.

God has not called us to have a nice little community church where we gather and read the Bible and talk about how to live good lives. God has called us to gather in worship so that living water can flow out of us and produce life for everyone anywhere near us. Our vision is not a single Lifetree, but a forest of Lifetrees on every side of the river! Join us in this new series as we talk more abou...

In this life, we build, we guard, we provide - yet God is the one who makes it all count. He is so good that when we rest, He blesses us with those things that are often the very things we dream for, care about, and work for. Moreso, those blessings often become the things that protect and provide and fulfill our dreams. As we journey toward God, He will take care of all of it!

Psalm 92 starts with the phrase "A song to be sung on the Sabbath Day". It's a reminder of why we get together each week for church services on the Sabbath at God's direction for countless generations. When we come together, when we are present with each other, we actually become the house of God - the place where God chooses to live. It's a gift to pause and rest from our labor, to gather with al...

Last night, we had the opportunity to hear Reverend Willie Alfonso's testimony of how God transformed his life in a miraculous way from growing up homeless to becoming a chaplain for the New York Yankees.

Sometimes we find ourselves in a circumstance or season of life that is completely dry - a lonely place - and that season is long and painful. However, no matter what part of the journey you are on right now, David has some wisdom that can help us get through any wilderness experience with a forward-looking vision for the future. This week, Reverend Cheryl Greco guided us through an 8-Step Wildern...

"I will exalt You, Lord, for You rescued me. You refused to let my enemies triumph over me. O Lord my God, I cried to You for help, and You restored my health. You brought me up from the grave, O Lord. You kept me from falling into the pit of death. Sing to the Lord, all you godly ones! Praise His holy name. For His anger lasts only a moment, but His favor lasts a lifetime! Weeping may last throug...

This week, James took us through our next psalm - Psalm 51. We looked at the story of David and how the shameful sin of a godly king teaches us about how brokenness leads to repentance, repentance leads to restoration, and restoration leads to change.

"For the choir director: A psalm of David, the servant of the Lord. He sang this song to the Lord on the day the Lord rescued him from all his enemies and from Saul…God arms me with strength, and He makes my way perfect. He makes me as surefooted as a deer, enabling me to stand on mountain heights. He trains my hands for battle; He strengthens my arm to draw a bronze bow. You have g...

When you are trying to do what’s right, and nobody else seems to be, when it feels like the bad guys are winning, when those who do what is wrong come out on top, when you are tempted to take the easy way out - David is saying to each one of us GOD SEES YOU.  He sees every time you choose to do right even when it would have been easier to do wrong, even when no one may have noticed, even when...

Psalms 1:3-8 says,"O Lord, I have so many enemies; so many are against me. So many are saying, "God will never rescue him!" Interlude But You, O Lord, are a shield around me; You are my glory, the one who holds my head high. I cried out to the Lord, and He answered me from his holy mountain. Interlude I lay down and slept, yet I woke up in safety, for the Lord was watching over me. I am not afraid...

"Understand this, my dear brothers and sisters: You must all be quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to get angry." - James 1:19

If you live to simply please yourself - if you will only allow those who affirm what you want to speak into your life - if you have no room for truth that challenges your self-serving interests - then you are destined for the ocean floor. But how do we avoid that? Realistically, how do we know if we are only listening to what we want to hear, or if we are hearing the truth?

If you will dare to hope, you will find it to be a trustworthy anchor for you over these next few months - no matter what storms come. With King David we can declare this boldly, Psalm 27:13 “I remain confident of this: I will see the goodness of the LORD in the land of the living.”

The storm of anger can and has shipwrecked the faith of far too many. What makes anger so dangerous is not that we feel it, it’s what we do with it.

This week at Lifetree, we had the pleasure of meeting Tara Matthews! Tara is a Missionary Associate who will be serving in Costa Rica with ChildHope! We are so looking forward to hearing her share her story as well as her heart about missions and calling for youth students. https://www.facebook.com/taramatthewsma/

This week at Lifetree, we examined another threat to our faith and how we can guard against it or rebuild if it's already done its damage - our past. The weight of our past can shipwreck our faith, but the failures and brokenness of our past are the very things God redeems and uses to show love to a world drowning in guilt and fear. Your past does not rob you of the future He has for you.

Have you had those days where you know you’d write the story differently? Those days where you want to tell God how things should turn out? When we walk through pain and suffering that WE THINK is unnecessary, it can cause us to distrust God - and our boat starts to sink a little. Through Naaman’s story, we learn when we feel like we know better than God, He knows exactly what He’s doing - and He’...

Missing the point of faith, or even encountering someone who has missed it, can shipwreck our faith. The point is not to believe the right things above all else. Instead, the point is to Love Well. Watch last night's message to learn more about what it means to love others well!

If you've found your faith shipwrecked or feel like you're headed that way or if you believe there is a rich treasure of faith somewhere out there but haven't experienced it yet or if you're skeptical that there's anything real out there, we're taking some time during this series to really talk about it. Each week we are going to explore one simple step we can take to rebuild a faith that is not g...