Pursuing God with Gene Appel

We’re exploring how God loved the world and what that means as followers of Jesus.  Jesus is often moved with compassion for people’s spiritual or physical needs. He looked at people and was moved in a heartfelt way. Sometimes we can get so busy with our church activities that we don't have margin in our lives for the people who live on the edge. We should unleash compassion for those people...

Jesus called the religious leaders of His day, the Pharisees, blind guides. They could see, but not with God's eyes.  When we determine worth based on what our culture says is valuable instead of who they are in the eyes of Jesus, we are missing out. Let’s give ourselves corrective lenses today. Pursuing God with Gene Appel is designed to help you pursue God, build community, and unleash comp...

This week we’ll explore the idea of not hating the world, but loving it like God does. We’ll look at lessons Jesus taught us to show how we can love the world. 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 invites you to discover God’s...

We need to walk by faith, not by sight. It would be foolish to make decisions without wisdom from God, which was Solomon's main blind spot. He failed to see God at work. The absence of wisdom ushered in a long season of misery in his life.  Only God's wisdom can preserve our lives from pitfalls, and only God's wisdom can provide our lives with perspective. Pursuing God with Gene App...

Solomon says patience is better than pride. One of God's great goals for all of us is that we would replace our prideful spirits with patient ones. If you're going to be patient in the present, you're going to have to learn to move on and let go of the past. Wise friends can help with this.  Pursuing God with Gene Appel is designed to help you pursue God, build community, and unleas...

Solomon points out compliments of a foolish person are empty; they’re meaningless. None of us like words of correction, but we can miss out on valuable feedback if we don’t listen. Solomon's next piece of wise counsel is integrity is better than deception.  Are you listening to the rebukes in your life? Are you learning from the times of pain? Are you in a place these days where you find your...

Through the wise counsel of Solomon, we can learn a lot.  Solomon says having a good reputation and name is valuable. Solomon also says eternal life is better. There are lessons learned in the house of mourning that can never be learned in the house of feasting.  Are you in a season of sadness? Are you mourning a loss of some kind? If not, do you love someone who is?  Pursuing God with Gene Appel...

We learn some lessons only through experience; we gain wisdom over time. As we study a passage this week in Ecclesiastes 7, we’ll look at the wisdom Solomon gained only through experience as he tried to fill the hole in his heart. 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...

Paul teaches us that forever friends are fully devoted to Christ. Christian friendship is based on a common devotion to Jesus. And when a Christian deliberately and consistently disassociates themself from the Lord, they violate the common bond of that friendship.  It's only in Christ that friends are friends forever. It's only in Him that we have the promise of eternal relationships. Pu...

Today, we’ll look at another characteristic of forever friendship: forgiveness.  If you're going to be good close friends, you need to learn to forgive, because even Christian friends are sometimes imperfect.  Is there someone who needs your forgiveness? Is there someone you need to ask for forgiveness?  Pursuing God with Gene Appel is designed to help you pursue God, build community, and unl...

Today, we’ll look at a second characteristic of forever friendship: being unselfish.  A spirit of unselfishness is essential for a friendship.  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 invites you to discover God’s presence and ac...

When you look at Paul’s post script at the end of Colossians, some patterns emerge that can serve as characteristics of lengthy friendships in our lives today. The first characteristic is loyalty.  Paul didn't have many loyal friends at the end of his life, but Aristarchus was one of them. Aristarchus reminds us of three things Proverbs teaches about being a loyal friend. Pursuing God with Ge...

The Apostle Paul wrote to the many churches he helped to plant in the first century, and we get to read his letters in the New Testament, including their PS’s (post scripts). This week, we’ll explore the post script found in Colossians 4:10-18 and share four characteristics of forever friends.  Pursuing God with Gene Appel is designed to help you pursue God, build community, and unleash compassion...

The last focus is to have a Jesus-centered ministry. We want to always be known as a church that is head over heels in love with Jesus and centered on Jesus.  We urge you today, out of love for Jesus, to demonstrate these things, because everyone matters to God. Eastside will always be a Jesus-centered ministry, because no matter what happens, the gates of hell will not prevail, and Jesus will bui...

Our mandate is to go and make disciples who, like Jesus, pursue God, build community in small groups, and unleash compassion in our communities and world that need hope. The world and our methods have changed, but our mission has not. In 2025, we are going to continue to be flexible in our methods to achieve our mission. Pursuing God with Gene Appel is designed to help you pursue God, build commun...

Grace-saturated unity is so important to Jesus, our lives and our mental health.  Unity doesn't happen unless it is saturated with grace, because we all make mistakes.  In the kingdom of God, we are not part of cancel culture; we are part of cross culture. The cross of Jesus cancels our shame and guilt with love and grace. Instead of canceling each other, let's be people of grace and giv...

Today, we’ll start with grace-saturated unity. One of the devil’s greatest strategies is to divide us. We believe Jesus cares, and turning to Him will open the door to discover help and hope.  Now more than ever is the time to pursue a grace-saturated unity. Jesus says the world will believe when we are united as one in the belief in Jesus Christ as Leader and our Savior. Pursuing God with Gene Ap...

How can you begin to feel and experience the presence of God in a real way in 2025?  This week, we’ll explore a prayer request in Jeremiah 42:3 and three answers to Jeremiah’s prayer: grace-saturated unity; mission-driven strategy; and Jesus-centered ministry.  These will help us sense and spread an awareness of God’s presence. Pursuing God with Gene Appel is designed to help you pursue God, build...

For love to have any value, it must be expressed. This could be the most pivotal year of your life if you make loving others your legacy builder and you start expressing it as a lifestyle. Nothing will make you more like Jesus than that. If you haven’t invested much in exploring the faith dimension of your life, why not start today and make it a regular part of 2025? Ask questions, open the Bible,...

What do you want to be known for? What do you want your legacy to be? The Bible offers a clear answer about what is most important: faith, hope, and love. While faith and hope are essential in this life, love is eternal.  With a blank canvas in front of you called 2025, what investment of love could you make? How could your commitment to love make a difference in a person’s life?  Pursuing God wit...

When God sent His Son into the world, it didn’t look like much on the surface. A baby, born to peasant parents, in a barn during turbulent times. But inside that box was the Savior of the world. He came to save us from sin, deliver us from death, and offer eternal life. And because of this, you are never alone. God so loved the world that He gave His only Son. The Bible says nothing can separate y...

When Jesus was born, the gift in the manger was not what people expected. It didn’t look like much, yet the Bible makes an extraordinary claim: This baby changed past, present, and future.  God with us through every trial, joy, and moment. This truth defines Christmas and gives us hope no matter what we face.  Pursuing God with Gene Appel is designed to help you pursue God, build community, and un...

God chose the people who celebrated the first Christmas because they responded with contemplation on His word, cooperation with His will, celebration of His presence, and dedication of their best to Him.  How will you celebrate Christmas this year? Pursuing God with Gene Appel is designed to help you pursue God, build community, and unleash compassion. Grounded in Scripture and shaped by Eastside’...

Our attitude as we approach Christmas and the new year needs to be a willingness to cooperate with God's will. What can you pinpoint in your life that you know is God's will for you but you've been unwilling to cooperate with? No matter what you face in 2025, God is with you. Depend on His presence daily. Pursuing God with Gene Appel is designed to help you pursue God, build communi...

The magi gave up years of their lives just to come and see Jesus and give gifts; they responded to Christmas with dedication. Today we challenge you to celebrate Christmas the way Mary, Joseph, the shepherds, the magi, and the wise men did. 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 convic...