Pursuing God with Gene Appel

Whenever Jesus taught, people were in awe. In all three stories in Luke 15, we learn timeless truths God wants us to internalize: When the lost is found, rejoice!  God loves you so much that instead of condemning you for wandering away, He takes the initiative and seeking you out.  Pursuing God with Gene Appel is designed to help you pursue God, build community, and unleash compassion. Grounded in...

Today, we are going to look at how Jesus’ teaching was like nothing that had been heard before. In Luke 15, He tells three powerful little stories to communicate to these religious leaders why He was associating with scandalous, non-believing, sinful, irreligious, spiritually unconnected people. Absorb His teaching into your soul, trust in His power, and be captivated with His love. Pursuing God w...

For Week 3 of our New Testament Challenge, we are going to explore how Jesus shows Himself to be extraordinary in ways that compel people even to this day. Jesus engaged His listeners by speaking in graphic stories with compelling imagery people of the time could understand. Pursuing God with Gene Appel is designed to help you pursue God, build community, and unleash compassion. Grounded in Script...

Jesus launched His ministry amid some big challenges, but He was anchored with a strong sense of who He was and what His purpose was. Never underestimate the comfort we get from our routines. We lean so far into our routines that our brain gets to shut off while we do them, which can take us away from following Jesus. When you come to Christ, your identity is a forgiven, washed, accepted, radicall...

Jesus walked into His ministry full of confidence, peace, passion, purpose, and focus. He would launch it knowing who He was, why He was here, and what He wanted to accomplish.  This challenge should remind you of who you really are and increase your ability to walk with confidence and clarity each day.  Pursuing God with Gene Appel is designed to help you pursue God, build community, and unleash...

We’ve been exploring this week how Jesus launched His world-changing ministry. What would change in your life if you started seeing temptation not as proof of your failure, but as an opportunity to experience Jesus's understanding and power in a fresh way?  Pursuing God with Gene Appel is designed to help you pursue God, build community, and unleash compassion. Grounded in Scripture and shape...

After His baptism, Jesus went into the wilderness for 40 days. When He's at His weakest physically, Satan shows up with temptations.  What's your wilderness? What's testing your faith right now? Are you trying to power through it on your own, or are you standing firm on God's Word like Jesus did? Pursuing God with Gene Appel is designed to help you pursue God, build community,...

Week 2 of our New Testament Challenge will give you a greater sense of God’s activity and presence in your life.  When people were waiting for a Messiah, but they had a very specific image in mind, and Jesus wasn’t it. But Jesus was baptized, it helped establish his identity and He asked 3 questions: Who am I really? Why am I here? What's my real purpose? Pursuing God with Gene Appel is desig...

We’ve completed our first week of episodes for our New Testament Challenge, and we’re taking a close look at the texts. Heaven had been a place of absolute safety for Jesus. But then He became a defenseless little baby. Yet Jesus is the defining mark of all history. He is the hope of the oppressed. He sparked the greatest revolution ever begun. He offers the greatest gift ever given. It’s time to...

Today, we’ll look at Jesus as a baby. John calls Jesus “The Word,” an intentional choice for the audience of the day. Jesus of Nazareth wasn’t just a good person; He was God in the flesh. He is fully human and fully divine, working with God to restore the relationship with broken people like us. Everything we need is found in Jesus Christ, born in Bethlehem’s manger. Pursuing God with Gene Appel i...

Today, we explore the delivery of Jesus. Joseph and Mary have an unusual delivery story.  God offers you salvation, friendship, and new life if you’ll let go and throw the door open. Jesus doesn’t kick the door in; He says if anyone will open the door and come to Him, He will fellowship with them. Have you let go and opened the door? Whether we open it for the first time or keep opening it wider,...

It all starts with the birth of Jesus. We’ll look at this story in three parts: the conception, the delivery, and the baby. Today we’ll talk about the conception. As we review this story, we’ll look at 3 aspects: the lower story, what’s happening right in the text and in the lives of the people; the upper story, the bigger picture of what God is trying to accomplish for His purposes; and the appli...

During the next 10 weeks, we will be doing an overview of the New Testament. Jesus was not a political figure, never held public office, never wrote a book, never traveled far, and was relatively uneducated. Yet, Jesus’ impact has only increased since His death.  This week, we’ll look at Christmas and how the birth of Jesus represents the day heaven decided to let go. Pursuing God with Gene Appel...

You’re on a Jesus + NOTHING plan. You don’t need a Jesus plus anything plan. Because in Him, you already have so much more. Don’t set aside your freedom and take yourself captive again. Pursuing God with Gene Appel is designed to help you pursue God, build community, and unleash compassion. Grounded in Scripture and shaped by Eastside’s conviction that God’s grace is for everyone, each episode inv...

There will always be those in Christian circles who try to impose a Jesus + Special Behaviors plan by being legalistic. The more mature you are as a follower of Jesus, the more comfortable you are knowing there are issues and areas where God gives you freedom to discern what’s right and wrong. The deeper you grow in Christ, the more willing you should be to extend freedom to others on non-essentia...

Sometimes, we miss out on some of the best blessings God has for us with our own sense of obligation. In Colossians 2:6, Paul reminded us what Jesus provides is so good, so you don’t need anything else else to enjoy an unbroken, thriving relationship with God. Paul goes on to share another hollow and deceptive practice that religious people can fall into: legalism. Pursuing God with Gene Appel is...

Jesus can accomplish and provide what we need, especially in times like this. We can be tempted to settle for something else on top of Jesus, but don’t fall for those who teach a Jesus + Special Days plan. Every day belongs to the Lord. Pursuing God with Gene Appel is designed to help you pursue God, build community, and unleash compassion. Grounded in Scripture and shaped by Eastside’s conviction...

Settling for good things when you can have great things is a common exchange that produces regret. In Colossians 2, the apostle Paul says believers shouldn’t settle for anything less than Christ. Salvation is a "Jesus + nothing" kind of deal, not Jesus + something else. Pursuing God with Gene Appel is designed to help you pursue God, build community, and unleash compassion. Grounded in S...

We’ve dived deep into the Old Testament story of Jonah, a story about running from God’s voice, then looking in, turning around, and starting over. We’ll finish up today by looking at how important it is to get ready when you get a fresh start. Pursuing God with Gene Appel is designed to help you pursue God, build community, and unleash compassion. Grounded in Scripture and shaped by Eastside’s co...

Christianity is built on the promise that you can start over when you are devastated or when you blow it. This is why Jesus humbled Himself and died the most excruciating execution ever devised: crucifixion. God isn’t just a guide for our lives; He’s also a fixer.  Pursuing God with Gene Appel is designed to help you pursue God, build community, and unleash compassion. Grounded in Scripture and sh...

God uses painful situations like Jonah’s to speak to you and prompt some of the most important changes in your life. A problem rarely leaves you where it finds you, so He uses them to turn you around.  Pursuing God with Gene Appel is designed to help you pursue God, build community, and unleash compassion. Grounded in Scripture and shaped by Eastside’s conviction that God’s grace is for everyone,...

We are exploring the topic of how to respond to God’s voice when you are overwhelmed by your circumstances. We are taking our cues, both good and bad, from the prophet Jonah, who had to respond to a very clear message from God in trying times. Pursuing God with Gene Appel is designed to help you pursue God, build community, and unleash compassion. Grounded in Scripture and shaped by Eastside’s con...

Problems come our way all the time, and most of the time we’ll never fully understand why. But there's a deeper, more productive question to ask in the midst of tough circumstances. God is speaking to all of us in one way or another. This week, we’ll look at Jonah’s reponses to God’s voice. Pursuing God with Gene Appel is designed to help you pursue God, build community, and unleash compassio...

God loves the world in three dimensions: a clear vision, holistic love, and an activistic faith.  You might not be able to change the world, but you can change a life, or two, or three, next door, in your community, and globally.  Pursuing God with Gene Appel is designed to help you pursue God, build community, and unleash compassion. Grounded in Scripture and shaped by Eastside’s conviction that...

Jesus shows a holistic love. We are not only invited to a life beyond the grave in God's kingdom, where there is no more pain, no more sickness, no more hunger, no more disease, no more bloated stomachs, but to actually redeem and restore this broken world.  Pursuing God with Gene Appel is designed to help you pursue God, build community, and unleash compassion. Grounded in Scripture and shap...