Shartel Church

As Egypt ramped up the oppression on God’s People, they began to realize they were in deep trouble. They probably asked the same question we often ask when we’re struggling. “Where is God in all this?” The answer: Working! God was busy at work preparing for the future and raising up a leader to get them out.

Sometimes we have to take a step back to begin the journey forward. Israel came to Egypt during a famine. But rather than go back to the land God promised them, they settled in the foreign country and stayed. Getting comfortable in a place where God doesn’t want you is dangerous. This message will look at the need to take an honest look at where we are to figure out where we need to go.

It often feels like we are walking into the unknown. We don't know what lies ahead or what's around the corner waiting for us. The same is true for the Israelites as they left Egypt. In this message, we learn from the Israelites as they followed this Unknown Path, placing their trust in God.

It was love that prompted God to send His one and only Son. It was love that Jesus came to proclaim to the world. It is love that God wants to instill in each and every one of our hearts. But it is also love that God wants to flow through us! The world hasn’t changed much in 2000 years. What the world needs now is what the world needed then. Love.

There is a peace we think about at Christmas, like the quiet of soft snow falling in the night. But the peace that the Christ-child came to give was a deeper peace—a peace that had nothing to do with what was going on around us. It is a peace WITHIN us. That's a peace only Jesus can give.

The angels’ message to the Shepherds is the same to us: We have Good News of Great Joy! This message will look at the shepherd's encounter and discover how we, too, can experience this joy for ourselves.

The world was dark when Jesus came. It was a world that felt abandoned and lost. Most people had stopped looking for the Messiah. Many had stopped hoping as well. But not the Magi. They saw the star and knew what it meant. God had come at last! This message will look at the hope that we find when we embrace the Jesus who has come.

Thankfulness GIVES. A heart of thanks prompts us to want to share, bless, and return to God what He has done for us. When we practice a lifestyle of “thanks giving,” we become conduits of God’s goodness and generosity. This message will challenge us to do more than SAY thanks. It will challenge us to GIVE thanks.

Anyone can praise God when everything is going well. But how about those times when God is doing what you want Him to do? How about when tough times come, problems arise, or life gets hard? Can you praise God, THEN? This message will look at thankfulness in the hard times. The most meaningful praise we give God is not when we’re at the peak but it’s when we’re in the pits!

An attitude of gratitude changes EVERYTHING! It changes how we feel about what we have received. It changes how we approach our daily opportunities. It changes our relationships with people, and it changes how we pray. When gratitude fills our hearts, JOY fills our lives. This message will focus on the incredible power of being grateful.

God gave us life. He gave us a world to live in. He gives us air to breathe, water to drink, and food to eat. From the very beginning, God gave. This message will look at the fact that the heart of all that we have to be thankful for is in God. And if all that we see around us isn’t enough to stir our hearts, we remember this: He gave His one and only Son.

Following Jesus stretches us. He wants to help us do more than just be the best versions of ourselves. He wants us to discover what HE can do THROUGH us! This message will look at the story of Peter and Jesus walking on the water and how God calls us out of our comfort zones and into those places where we have to depend totally upon Him!

The journey of following Jesus is one of learning to face our fears. It’s one thing to trust Jesus when all is well. But how about when life throws something that shakes us to the core? Can we trust Jesus, then? The story of the storm is a great lesson of faith for the disciples. It’s an excellent lesson for us as well. Are YOU ready to face your fears?

James and John, like the rest of Jesus’ disciples, were asked to leave their old life behind to follow Jesus. It’s still true of us today. There is no “following” without a “leaving.” We can’t be who we were and become who He’s calling us to be. This message will look at the challenge of letting go to take hold of all God has for us.

Nathaniel had a lot of doubts about Jesus. But Jesus knew that before He ever invited him to become a disciple. Jesus knows YOU too! He knows your fears, your doubts, and your struggles. He knows your past pain and past failures. But He also knows the future plans that He has for you! When you come to Jesus, it’s not about who you’ve been. It’s about who He can help you become!

God’s way of winning the world is through relationships—parents to kids, neighbors to neighbors, and friends to friends. Just like Andrew invited Peter, we are called as disciples of Jesus to invite others to meet Him as well. This message will challenge us to accept Jesus’ call to “Go make disciples!”

A life-long relationship with Jesus begins with a single step of exploring who He is. His invitation to John’s disciples is the same to us: “Come and see.” He’s not just inviting you to “make a decision” about Him. He’s inviting you to walk with Him, learn from Him, and discover all He has for you. Are you ready for your life to be different? Come and see!

Stephanie Greenwald will lead us in taking a look at Galatians 2:20 and what it means to die for yourself so that you might live for Christ.

Hope is a powerful virtue. It gives us energy. It creates expectation. It holds on when we get weary and want to let go. But how to we find hope when God is taking His time? This message will explore the wells of hope that we can draw from to keep our spirits up and faith strong. We can overcome ANYTHING when we’re convinced that God is on His way!

Sometimes we make waiting harder than it has to be. We allow our frustrations to build and our “stinking thinking” to take us to places that make our hard situation even more difficult. If we’re not careful, our impatience can circumvent what God is up to. This message will focus on facing the toxic types of waiting and yielding ourselves completely to God.

One of the parts of our journey of faith that we have to learn is that God is smarter than us. He sees the Big Picture and not just the little slice we see. Sometimes the reason we’re waiting on God is that He is up to doing things IN us and AROUND us that we’re just not aware of. This message will explore some of those reasons we’re seated in God’s Waiting Room.

Amazing faith came from an unlikely Roman Centurion. Let's see what lessons of faith we can learn from him and take our faith to an Amazing Faith!

In many of the Psalms, David shares that he will praise God throughout whatever trials he is facing. In this message, we will learn from David what it means to praise God.

God knows. He knows where we are. He knows what we're going through. He knows where we've been and where we're headed. Sometimes, we may feel that no one "gets us," but God does. Because He knows us so well, no one else can help us, lead us, and comfort us like God. Because God knows.

Psalm 22 is amazingly powerful and prophetic. As a prophecy, it gives several details surrounding Jesus on the cross. In fact, Jesus quotes this Psalm on the cross! But it is not a Psalm of despair. It is a Psalm that reminds us that no matter what we face in this life, we emerge victorious through our God!