Paradigm

What kind of person would God delight in? In 1 Thessalonians 5, Paul gives us instructions in pursuing what God loves: rejoicing, prayer, and thanksgiving as well as attitudes that should not mark us as followers of Christ: apathy, complaining, distraction, defiance, and giving in to things that are evil. What characteristics mark your life? Notes: https://www.bible.com/events/48996897 Paradigm is...

Are you a leader or a follower in your spiritual walk? In 1 Thessalonians 5:12-15, God has given us guidelines to walk in in order to be a godly leader and a godly follower. These roles carry challenges and rewards, and involve laboring hard, admonishment, encouragement, peaceful living, and patience. Notes: https://www.bible.com/events/48993360 Paradigm is a weekly gathering of Kansas City colleg...

What will be the best Day ever for some will be the worst Day ever for others. In 1 Thessalonians 5:1-11, Paul informs us that the sudden Day of the Lord, the return of Jesus, will be like a destructive thief to those who are not following Him. In the same passage, Paul encourages believers to live in a way that is ready and expectant of Jesus' return.  A believer is to live in new identity, walk...

Jesus came to earth once to make a way for us to know Him, and He's coming back to make all things right. Pastor Phil Hopper walks us through 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18 and answers some questions many have about the second coming of the Lord, like what happens to Christians when they die? What's the rapture? What's encouraging about the end times? Most importantly, are you ready for the Lord's return...

When you share with others that you’re a follower of Jesus, are they surprised? In 1 Thessalonians 4:9-12, Paul lays out how us as followers of Jesus are to practically live in a way that reflects we’ve made Jesus Lord of our life and have been radically changed. The conduct of a follower of Jesus is loving others better, living simply, and sharing openly with others, inviting them to experience t...

Struggling with sexual sin is proof of your salvation, but there’s a big difference between struggling with sin and giving into sin.  In 1 Thessalonians 4:1-8, we learn what God’s will is for our lives, which is to be to be sanctified, or set apart to progression in purity and surrender to God.  We learned how to practically walk in God’s way regarding our sex lives, and how to listen to the warni...

What if we told you that you could talk to the One who created you and that He delights in hearing from you?  Paul tells us in 1 Thessalonians 3 how to grow in prayer, the language of someone who is dependent on God.  In this passage, we learn what prayer is and isn’t, who to pray to, and what to pray. Notes: https://www.bible.com/events/48972221 Paradigm is a weekly gathering of Kansas City colle...

Leadership. We hear this buzzword a lot; we want to have influence, and we want to leave an impact. In 1 Thessalonians 3, Paul lays out what it looks like to be a strong godly leader. Are you willing to sacrifice for your people you lead? Do you care and pray for those you lead? Notes: https://www.bible.com/events/48968645 Paradigm is a weekly gathering of Kansas City college and 20s-30s young adu...

What's the difference between serving others out of an overflow of love for God vs. just going through the motions? Continuing in 1 Thessalonians 2, guest speaker, Darrell Robinson, shared his story of how God can use anyone to do the work of His ministry.  As believers walking out the call to serve others, we must examine our motives, be willing to impart our lives and suffer for others, and cele...

We all crave authenticity. In what we buy, in our relationships, in our jobs, and in what we believe, we want the real thing. But how can we examine our faith to know that it’s real, because “faking it till we make it” isn’t possible in a relationship with Jesus?  In 1 Thessalonians 1, we find what marked the true believers of the Thessalonians church. And in turn, we asked ourselves 10 questions...

An epic story of rejection, hidden identity, bold risk, and quiet faith are combined in the short book of Esther in the Old Testament. Guest speaker Todd Genteman walks us through the incredible events found in this history, showcasing how our decisions make a difference, what burdens us can actually come a blessing, and that no matter how quiet it may seem God is being ... He's always in control....

Justice. We all want it — things put “as they should be” when there’s been a wrong. But who decides what’s right? And where do we get this universal sense of justice? We find its origins in the book of Genesis, in the story of the global flood, when God recognized great evil on the earth and responded with a just judgment. But He also extended mercy — if people would choose it. And thousands of ye...

Why is the world so broken? It's because evil invaded all the good that God created ... through one simple act. In Genesis, we learn how two people doubted God's goodness, questioned His Word, and chose to rewrite the one rule God laid out. The result? Shame. Religion. Running. Hiding. Blaming. And all the rest of the mess we mourn in our world. But in the midst of the darkness, God promised hope:...

In Genesis, we learn that the origin of gender and sexuality is from a perfect, creative, good, and loving God: He created human beings, male and female. And we learn that we were created with a glorious purpose: to be His image bearers, reflecting Him in both our physicality and our psychology. So as our culture communicates that gender identity is optional, we can respond with truth — and with l...

Every civilization has a story of beginnings, because we need to know where we’ve come from if we’re going to live with hope and purpose. God Himself found it important to communicate to us the history of the world’s beginning; the very first verses of the Bible begin with that history, where we find the origins of the universe. And when you understand Who created the world, you’re invited to know...

Imagine the most incredible wedding you’ve ever been to. Was it yours? A friend’s? Or maybe the one you dream of having one day? Now, consider: God is planning the actual greatest wedding celebration of all time, and you’re invited. All of history is centered around Jesus Christ pursuing His bride, the Church, and his preparation for the Marriage Supper of the Lamb. The question is: Will you be th...

If you take a look at relationships in our culture, one thing is clear: We're not crushing it. Marriages end in divorce half the time, and dating isn't helping fix that stat. But marriage God's way is absolutely amazing. So how can we get there? Chad and Chelsea invite us to listen in on some of their story (what worked and what didn't) and guide us through biblical principles for dating: selectin...

Sex was God’s design. He blessed it and even commanded it — in the right place. But if sex gets out of place, it can turn our lives into a wreck. So God's plan? Get sex in the right place by fleeing immorality and filling up on truth, and we can experience grace, freedom, and joy in both singleness and marriage.   Notes: https://my.bible.com/events/48928632   Paradigm is a weekly gathering of Kans...

Do you have the gift of singleness? Well … if you’re single, you’ve got it. And it’s not like that bad Christmas gift from your aunt: It’s an opportunity to say yes to the invitation of a lifetime. Guest speaker Jason Fenton story-tells through why singleness is gift and how you can leverage it by accepting it, investing it, and risking it. Because a relationship with Christ is the only one that p...

Has fear ever caused you to make a decision that you weren’t ready to make or shouldn’t have made at all? Jordan and Sasha Marcotte did — and in this special evening at Paradigm, they share their music and their story of how God brought them to live in the light of truth in their relationship with Him — and restored their relationship with each other. Notes: https://my.bible.com/events/48921570 Pa...

Disappointments can lead to deconstructing belief in God. And deconstruction can be healthy — taking apart our practices and beliefs to determine their truthfulness, usefulness, and impact. But where do we bring our doubts, and then what happens next? In Matthew 11, we find John the Baptist wrestling with his own disappointments and doubt, and he brought them straight to the source. Jesus responde...

Are you a fan of fables? You know, nice stories that help us understand basic moral lessons? Some view the Bible that way, but a fable most certainly isn’t worth living for — or dying for. And if we’re going to count the Bible as our foundation for faith, then we must know it’s reliable history based on eyewitness accounts. We’ve got to know if it’s really God’s Word, recording His plan and His pe...

If we believe in the God of the Bible, then we must believe that He is good. But if He's good, how can He allow suffering? In Romans 8, we find that suffering is not a result of God’s action, but our own choice to sin. And our sin has not only cursed ourselves but also all of creation. So where does a good God come in? With a grand redemption plan that will one day result in so much good, it won’t...

Deconstruction ... all the cool kids are doing it. If you’ve got doubts, too, don’t demonize them; DO something with them. Examine what you believe. Then reconstruct what you’ve deconstructed on the truth! In 1 Corinthians 15, Paul does this: he examined the Resurrection of Christ, because he knew that if we don’t get this one thing right, then the building blocks of our beliefs won’t matter. The...

If your life has been intersected by the Gospel, then you can never be the same. This is Paul's message as he concludes his letter to the people of Galatia, warning them against fleshly living and calling them to Spirit-led relationships, activity, and confidence — only possible by salvation through Jesus Christ. Through the Gospel, we rely not on what we can do or must do, but on what Christ has...