Public Church

If we were watching the film on our lives, most of us would edit out some parts, and we know from today’s Scripture that King David would. Today’s lesson from a king who blew it can help us not blow it and move forward when we do.

How frustrating is it when you ask for something, and the answer is no? Sometimes the answer is no to our plans, which can leave us discouraged. Today we see a moment in King David’s life where he has great plans, but God says no. What do we do when God says no? We see in this moment that David faces what could have been a time of discouragement, but instead moves to praise God.

Have you ever almost blown it? By “blown it”, you almost made a decision whose consequences would ripple through your life for years. What stopped you? Or did you blow it? Did you make a decision whose consequences still haunt you? What could have stopped you? In today’s scene from King David’s life, he is so close to blowing it, but something, dare I say someone stops him. Today’s lesson from a k...

Does anybody read that title and go, “Yep, I hate to wait, too!“? It’s so frustrating and also so inevitable. Could there be a purpose in waiting that we disdain? King David endured long seasons of waiting, so examining his life can guide us to grow in patience even as we don’t like to wait.

Most of us don’t have kingdoms, but our version of the title could be, “How to Lose a Marriage” or “How to Lose Friendships”. Saul, who was Israel’s first king, lost his dynasty before it even got started. He didn’t even get to pass the throne down to his son. What went wrong with him? As we dig into his story, we see that a flaw that ruined him can easily take us down as well.

We are truly navigating uncharted waters as so many of us have been sent home. A question many of us have probably asked is “How do I lead others?” How do we lead people that we can’t even get in the same room with? As we dig into that question, a more pressing one emerges: How do I lead myself? During our current season of quarantine, most external leadership has been stripped away from our lives...

Easter is marked by bright colors, but this Easter season feels dark. Covid-19 has turned our lives upside down, and some wonder if we will recover. We can easily ask questions like, “Is God silent? Does he even exist?“. 2,000 years ago, some people thought God was silent and were wondering if they just watched God die. However, their story didn’t end there and neither does ours.

Description: During Covid-19, many points of tension and conflict are heightened, which can leave us in a mental place where we are easily frustrated and on edge. We need a strategy that shifts the atmosphere of our homes and minds, and Jesus clarifies what worship is and reveals its potential impact in our lives.

We are in a global crisis, and a crisis can immobilize us with fear, anxiety, and uncertainty. However, a vision mobilizes and inspires us to love and serve others even in these uncertain times. We invite you to serve as a Public Church. One way you can do that is dropping off food for our temporary food pantry. Here are items we need: Pasta, Pasta Sauce, Peanut Butter, Crackers, Rice, Boxed Mac a...

When you look at the COVID-19 situation, what do you see? That’s an important question because our experiences and bias cause us to look at the same situation and see it differently. Also, what we see influences our levels of anxiety or peace…fear or confidence. We look at a story where Jesus sees something that no one else does, which challenges us to evaluate what we see.

Our default mindset in a global pandemic is often self-preservation, and it’s so easy for us to be consumed by our own interests. Paul, the author, wrote it while sitting in a prison cell. Therefore, we can find guidance for our mindset through Paul’s perspective from prison.

When we experience hurt from people we are close with, it’s easy to get a firm grip on the pain, anger, and possibly even hatred. This grip on anger, if undealt with, with cause more damage on the inside that will in turn have a negative impact on others. The solution to this is forgiveness that we see patterned and displayed in the life of Jesus.

In Galatians 6, Paul challenges the church to love and restore struggling people which goes against our natural tendencies to shame and distance ourselves from them. God has given the gift of a Church family to walk through struggles together.

Do you ever want to sit down with someone farther along in the journey to ask question and glean insights from their life? That’s exactly what Todd Stevison does in his conversation with Phil Taylor, CrossNet’s Lead Missions Strategist. Phil provides incredible wisdom through his experience, and he even speaks to a vision the Holy Spirit gave him of our campus. A vision we are now living in!

Why do we often couple our generosity with arrogance? Can we serve people while honoring their dignity by acknowledging that they are made in the image of God and have something to give as well? To finish our series, we dive into these tensions as we articulate our mindset for serving.

How do we get so easily distracted from becoming love displayed? As we discussed last week, Jesus is clear that love is the one thing that will change everything, but often we are focused on so many other things. In the letter called Galatians, we find a church who is distracted, but Paul writes to refocus them. As we dig in, his challenge can refocus us, too.

Many of us can distract ourselves from thinking about the brevity of life, but when people die at young ages, we come face to face with the reality of our death. As we consider our own mortality, this question can give us perspective: what is one thing that could change everything? If we can find an answer to this question, then we can live lives that count. Lives that matter while we are on earth...

James was the leader of the church in Jerusalem, the birthplace of the church. In chapter 2 of his letter, he writes an intense and direct passage about the relationship between our faith and action. Did James’ writing contradict other church leaders? Or is it an inescapable challenge that every Jesus followers must embrace?

Do you ever want to just tell someone, “Prove It.”? It can really frustrating and even destructive to be around people who claim to be one way, but their actions say otherwise. When we look in the mirror, we realize that sometimes we are the duplicitous person, even though we want to make sure our actions and words match. Therefore we begin our series with this question: where do I start?

Join us today as Collin Cooke unpacks 2 Corinthians 5:1-6, where Paul challenges us to truly consider the cost of following Jesus and challenges Jesus followers to live as bright lights, pointing to Jesus, in a world where eyes are veiled from seeing Him.

What kind of church does Jesus want Public Church to be in the next decade? To answer this question, we dive into a prayer Jesus prayed for us about 2,000 years ago.

Have you ever felt disappointed by God? If so, how do you process these feelings? Todd Stevison and Nathan Eaton have a conversation about Nathan’s journey, which includes feelings of disappointment towards God. Nathan challenges us to ask the God who did the impossible on the first Christmas, to do the impossible in our lives.

Could it be that God sometimes invites us into impossible situations, that are pre-packaged with pain, so that he can display his limitless power and change lives? Mary’s story, which begins in Luke 1:26-38, leads us to ask questions like this and offers some answers. Mary shows how to respond when Immeasurably More doesn’t look like we thought it would.

The Christmas story is the story of the impossible, and many of us are facing circumstances that look impossible. As a church, we’ve been praying for God to do immeasurably more all year, but when faced with situations that look hopeless, do we still believe he can do what we’ve prayed for? In Luke 1:5-25, we meet Zechariah and Elizabeth, who had no hope of having a child. Yet, God did the impossi...

This week is a special Sunday as we kick off the Christmas season with a lot of laughter, smiles, and a powerful opener by Public Worship. We also took time to read the Christmas story with our kids, and share an impactful Jesus Connection.