New Beginnings Church

How many times have you negotiated with God? Sometimes we intertwine our negotiating skills with our relationships. God’s grace comes before His justice. Grace Invites Us into Conversation (Prayer) God’s justice is real, but His first move is grace. God’s justice protects the integrity of His grace. Justice IS NOT the opposite of grace. Where have you lowered your standards of personal holiness un...

God changes our identity by His grace, and we are called to mark ourselves through holy living. 1. God’s Initiating Grace Rewrites Our Identity (“As for me”)   Our identity rewritten by grace isn’t just a mental concept; it requires a shift in how we live. 2. Our Faith-Filled Response Requires Outward Cooperation (“As for you”) When we embrace this deep work of grace, it changes not only our daily...

Faith isn’t a straight line of perfect performance; it’s a messy journey of relying entirely on God’s grace. When we manufacture a “Plan B” to help God out, we don’t fix our problems—we tend to multiply them… BUT: Our unfaithfulness cannot derail God’s faithfulness and grace. When have you stepped away from God’s will, or at the very least, not even asked what His will is? Here's your invitat...

“I do not think that any human mind can ever grasp the fullness of meaning of these four words, ‘I am thy reward.’ God himself, the reward of his faithful people” (Charles Spurgeon) . When we bring our doubts, God reveals His promise Just as God walked that aisle alone in the darkness in Genesis, it points directly to a darker afternoon centuries later on a hill called Calvary. Our assurance doesn...

Faith isn’t a straight line of perfect performance; it’s a messy journey of relying entirely on God’s unmerited favor. What is your most comfortable place to rest, recline, and feel peace? Grace gives you the security to step into the unknown before you have all the answers. Grace Interrupts Our Comfort Grace Ensures Our Future Grace Initiates Our Obedience When have you delayed or said no to beca...

It’s one thing to bring God’s presence into our city (lives), but it’s another thing entirely to His presence change how we actually behave (live) It’s easier to judge those who are “all in”, than to get in the street and join the celebration  True passion requires true humility What is one “rule of dignity”, you hold onto that keeps you (or others) from being fully present with God? When might yo...

Faith builds integrity. Integrity is choosing the harder right over the easier wrong when God is our only witness. (when no one else is looking) Integrity resists the temptation and pressure of an “easy exit.” Integrity responds to the smallest nudge of the Holy Spirit. Integrity means you don’t have to “get even” because you know God sees the truth. “Where am I tempted to take a shortcut right no...

Assurance begins when we ask the right questions… Assurance begins when we stop measuring the giant and start measuring the giant against the Lord. Assurance begins when we identify the lions and bears God helped defeat in the past and know we are prepared for what is to come. Assurance encourages us to reject and take off the heavy, awkward armor of reliance of anyone or anything other than the L...

1. Beware the Surface Humans look at the outward, but God looks at the heart. 2. Power of the Pasture Being faithful in the pasture is only half the story; the real change happens when God’s selection becomes reality. 3. Weight of the Oil Do I feel the weight of the oil?” We rely on the power of the Holy Spirit because we cannot do it without Him. God doesn’t check our resumes; he knows our hearts...

What if Jesus had never risen from the dead? Friends, the reason for hope and joy is because our Christ is risen!  There is no grave that can hold Jesus; through grace, there is no sin which can hold us. 1. The resurrection shows us the power and glory of God. 2. The resurrection shows us God’s compassion. 3. The resurrection shows it isn’t just about one person or one people; the resurrection cha...

If you were to make a time chart of your typical day, who/what would be at the center of your day?   We find ourselves being pulled in so many directions, which might cause us to not feel God’s presence.  Without God at the forefront, it wouldn’t be difficult for us to become subordinate to the things we think will save us. Who/what is at the center of your day and life? How might our actions mirr...

Being called to the cross is to be called into solitude with Christ. If the Son of God needed to step away from the busyness and people to be with His Father, why do we think we can survive any other way? Why is it easier for us to say yes to what this world offers and struggle to long for and delight in solitude with our Creator?  How will you respond to Christ’s call to be alone with him today?

Remain (Abide) To be with Jesus, to learn from Him, to live like Him. When we break away from the vine, we may be able to survive in the short term, but not eternally.  We must intentionally practice remaining in Him.  God doesn’t ask us to love; he commands it. How do you remain in Him?      What might be drawing you away from Him?  What must be pruned away that is not bearing fruit? How are we a...

Sin and darkness overshadow our lives, and it can leave us broken The journey to the cross can feel dark, but that is because we are living in the dark. The good news is that there is freedom in the Light… freedom in Jesus. Our life is littered with choices, but none more important than who we call  Lord and Savior How has your life changed since you “first believed”?  Has it? What might the light...

We have the Good Shepherd who loves, saves, leads, and calls us by name John 10:18 “No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord.” “God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.” 2 Cor 5:21 What is your relationship with Jesus like?  A routine or life-changing one? How might you begin to live more completely, more invested, in...

How might you describe the father’s love to sons? Is. 49:15-16 “Can a woman forget her nursing child, or lack compassion for the child of her womb? Even if these forget, yet I will not forget you. 16 Look, I have inscribed you on the palms of my hands; your walls are continually before me.” At the heart of this parable is our calling to be like the Father Romans 8:16-17 “16 For his Spirit joins wi...

Identifying with the eldest son is difficult for us to face. “Returning from a lustful escapade seems so much easier than returning home from a cold anger that has rooted itself in the deepest corners of my being.” How have we compared ourselves to another person, church, or business and asked why we cannot be more successful? Do we have the capacity to not only love the ones who have come back fr...

The story of the Prodigal is all humanity returning to God through Jesus. Distant land/country - Wasted - Rock bottom When have you hit rock bottom? To be redeemed means you are coming back from something. How has your story been like the son’s? We have all walked away still wanting our inheritance. To whom do I belong: God or the world?

Procrastinare (Latin)                                                                                                                                     Akrasia (Greek) We procrastinate by doing something in place of what we are supposed to be doing. Procrastination is “a way of coping with challenging emotions and negative moods induced by certain tasks—boredom, anxiety, insecurity, frustration,...

Our life in Jesus is about being changed to reflect Jesus, to grow in love.. Oftentimes, our faith is fed with fast food. John 17:19 (NRSV) “And for their sakes I sanctify myself, so that they also may be sanctified in truth.” Sanctify: To purify internally by reformation of the soul; to be changed to reflect Jesus, to be more like Jesus. We are being separated from our sinful selves, purified fro...

Change is a part of life, and it will either bring us closer to or further from God.  When do we procrastinate the most?      CHANGE New life in Jesus breeds new spiritual habits through which we can see and experience the life-giving process of change as we follow Jesus. Not many people like change, but change doesn’t care what we feel. It's wise for us to remember that each moment we live i...

GOD MOVES FIRST John 15:16 “You did not choose me, but I chose you” 1 John 4:19 “We love because he first loved us.” John 3:16-17 “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.” God’s love is extended to the humble...

Joy drives us toward one another Our true joy will point towards God as well as what He is doing or will be doing Our joy reminds us of the bigger picture What is your joy rooted in?  How are we able to experience more joy?  What might need to change in our lives?

Mother Teresa - “If we have no peace, it is because we have forgotten that we belong to each other.” Ronald Reagan - “Peace is not absence of conflict, it is the ability to handle conflict by peaceful means.” Jewish people were working through some conflict. Joseph was working through some conflict. The voice of the Lord brings peace. True peace is connected to the presence and voice of God, not j...

We can cloud hope with wishful thinking. HOPE is confident expectation, it is security in knowing, it is expecting an awaited outcome. Holiness and Faithfulness do not protect us from disappointment or even suffering. Unmet longings can become places to encounter HOPE. God’s answers often look different than our expectations. Jesus at one time was the future hope who became, and still is, the pres...