Northgate

What did you think of today's message? Can you remember the first time that you realized you'd done something wrong? The feelings of guilt and the remorse you may have felt from disappointing someone you respected? We've all messed up at one time or another. And we've all had to go back, apologize and make things right. But how do you reconcile with God? How do experience forgiv...

What did you think of today's message? Nobody likes to wait. Whether it's long lines at the grocery store or being put "on hold" for the next available operator, waiting is never fun. Some waiting is even more distressing; the wait for a teen that is an hour late past curfew or waiting for results from a medical test. The higher the stakes, the harder it is to wait. Continuing o...

What did you think of today's message? How do you relate to a God whose goodness cannot be measured? How do you respond to such great love and mercy? How do you answer One who leaves you speechless? The Book of Psalms gives us the words. For centuries these inspired writings have provided us with honest expressions of the heart for every circumstance imaginable. While they are universal to the...

What did you think of today's message? We often say or hear "I'm hooked on _____" (fill in the blank). We use the phrase with some levity not realizing that addiction can easily cross into severity. Accompanying our human desire to find meaning and purpose in life is the trap of becoming enslaved and dependant on something that seems to compensate for pain and frustration, but i...

What did you think of today's message? The church has had a shaky history of either overemphasizing or glossing over the topic of sin (with all its immediate and eternal consequences). The subject touches a nerve in every human being because we all suffer the malady of serving only ourselves and not really caring about God’s desires or the needs of others. Why are we afflicted in such a way? I...

What did you think of today's message? We live in what has often been called a "disposable society". We have disposable plates, knives and forks, disposable razors, cameras and contact lenses. Even big expense items like computers can, within three short years, become more expensive to repair than to replace. This disposable mentality is not limited to material goods. Our jobs, our f...

What did you think of today's message? "Good" is a word that we use with some ambivalence. If a movie was "good", that usually means it was just "O.K." Good, not great. If someone is too "good" we deride them for being, "self-righteous" or "goody-goody". Yet we long for the "good life", we remind our children to "be goo...

What did you think of today's message? We've often been encouraged to practice, "Random Acts of Kindness". But what if we became even more intentional? What if we actually lived lives of kindness? How would our neighborhoods, our schools, our workplaces and our freeways change if patience and kindness became more than a random act, but a way of life? Is that even possible? Patie...

What did you think of today's message? "The pursuit of happiness" is one of the unalienable rights set forward in the Declaration of Independence. It could easily be argued that we are often so busy in our pursuits, that we're missing out on the happiness. The pace of our lives can actually keep us from enjoying life. While happiness is most often dictated by our circumstances,...

What did you think of today's message? Every culture has certain shared values, convictions and characteristics. Out of these grow the expectations that guide and shape the lives of the people in that culture. Jesus said, "By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another." The distinguishing characteristic that should define those who follow Christ is lov...

What did you think of today's message? "What am I leaving my kids?" It's a good question for every father to ask himself from time to time. Beyond drafting a will or providing for their physical well-being, what are we fathers instilling deep within our children's souls? What things ought we provide and how can we provide them? A Father's Legacy, this Father's Day...

What did you think of today's message? One question that overlaps every generation and culture is the one that interrogates the notion that God is loving. It's based on the pervasive presence of evil, suffering and death. This form of doubt is possibly the most readily used attack that the Bible's revelation of a caring God is erroneous. Those who use this appear to have a reasonable...

What did you think of today's message? What causes us to doubt when we waver in our faith? According to what we learn in the bible, we are "tossed" around like sea waves. Is this where the word wavering comes from? This weeks message from special guest speaker Jim Mitchell continues our series Dealing with Doubt. I Have... No Doubt!...? will teach us that there are times where we mus...

What did you think of today's message? The Rock group Kansas recorded a popular song in the late 1970s called Dust In the Wind. From the lyrics we can hear: Same old song, just a drop of water in an endless sea. All we do, crumbles to the ground, though we refuse to see. Dust in the wind, All we are is dust in the wind. When Solomon wrote the book of Ecclesiastes, he often concluded similar th...

What did you think of today's message? Doubt has been defined as a suspension of knowledge. As human beings, we often find ourselves in such suspension. Certain novelists make much money from being able to cause readers to hover over a plot until it is resolved. For the seeker of God or follower of Christ, faith is the major mode of operation. But, as every person soon discovers, doubt does no...

What did you think of today's message? Effective motherhood is not about perfection. Many women experience guilt because they're trying to achieve an unattainable standard of getting it all right. But God takes us just the way we are and comes alongside to strengthen, encourage and provide the wisdom needed for raising our children. The World's Toughest Job Description, this Mother&a...

What did you think of today's message? Freedom can be a risky venture. We live in a free society and yet we all understand that freedom doesn't allow us to trample on the rights and freedoms of others. Freedom cannot be used as an excuse for self-indulgence because ultimately, selfishness results in harm to others. Paul the apostle wrote, "Don't use your freedom to indulge... ra...

What did you think of today's message? Who do you trust? The answer to that question typically depends on how well you know someone. The more you know someone, and the more they've proven to be dependable, the more willing you'll be to trust them. It all comes down to relationships."Free To Trust" continues our series, "Living The Free Life", with a look at the fr...

What did you think of today's message? Millions of dollars are spent every year on Self-Improvement. We buy books, try new diets, hire professional "coaches" and personal trainers all with the expectation that they will help us change our lives. More often than not we end up disappointed with the results. Will we ever really change? Can we experience real transformation or is it all...

What did you think of today's message? The pursuit of freedom is at the very heart of what it means to be human. We long to live free but we are easily imprisoned. Our desires can trap us in addiction, our possessions can imprison us with worry, our past can enslave us with regret, and even our religion can become a prison of demands and expectations. "Free To Live", this week's...

What did you think of today's message? Easter is not just an event to be commemorated once a year, nor is it simply the proof that Jesus was who he claimed to be. At it's heart, Easter is about life. The resurrection is God's invitation to each of us to come alive. It is about life at its fullest, lived the way we were always intended to live. "Fully Alive", this Easter&apo...

What did you think of today's message? Everything that Jesus taught and did was filled with life. The Gospel writers record in great detail how Jesus concerned himself with life in every respect -physical, emotional, relational, and spiritual LIFE. He knew what life was about and he came to bring that life, in all of its fullness, to us."Jesus, The Master of Life", this message conti...

What did you think of today's message? Jesus had a way of cutting through the smokescreens and getting to the heart of a matter. He not only came to reveal the truth about God he also came to reveal to us the truth about ourselves."The Truth Revealer", this week's message continues our series, "Searching for Jesus", with a look at how truth may sometimes make us feel u...

What did you think of today's message? All four accounts of Jesus' life in the gospels are filled with emotional detail. Jesus was not a stoic walking unemotionally through life. He taught with humor in his stories, he shed tears at a friend's death and sighed deeply at his follower's unbelief. But most often, we are told, he was moved with compassion. The essence of Jesus'...

What did you think of today's message? We continue our series "Searching for Jesus." When searching, it doesn't take long to discover that Jesus challenged the status quo. According to Jesus' assessment, the Word of God had been turned into an instrument of death, rather than life. Simply stated, if God's truth doesn't bring change, it is not being engaged. This w...