South Ridge Church FXBG

The Church has always dealt with those who do something that causes them and the Church to lose credibility. Jude faced it with leaders using Scripture out of context and bullying people with intellect. We face it too with those who attempt to manipulate people, sell out, and desire the spotlight.

Jude provides three examples with those who took what God offered without God. All three examples experienced severe consequences. Some would say they got what they deserved. But what if those consequences could have been avoided? What is the alternative to individualism?

Jude is writing to a group of people who took what God offered—grace—without God. This filter was called Gnosticism, which encouraged people to do whatever they wanted with their body because it didn’t affect the soul. Why is understanding grace so important?

Although Jude doesn’t address it because something else came up, he really wanted to write about salvation. Like Jude, we live in a world and culture that says there are many ways to get God to notice us and reserve us a spot for eternal safety. So why is getting salvation right so important?

Jude understands who he is and explains who he is. Do you know who you are? Are you who you want to be? Until we understand our identity, we may struggle with understanding how compassion, love, and peace should look like.

Imagine if we as a church get these two things right and the impact that we have on our community. In order to love and serve strangers, we need to get it right with family. We should have plenty of practice with those we love. If we can’t get it right in the home, we will not get it right with strangers.

There are actually two things we can do to serve our community. The way we describe serving our community at South Ridge is by the tagline—Lovin’ the Burg. This has become more than tagline but a way of life for those who call South Ridge home. If we can get these two things right then this community might be willing to view the church favorably and most importantly receive God’s invitation to cha...

When you make a financial donation to Be Rich, every penny supports the needs and efforts of these organizations. Your contribution will fund projects that are game changers for our nonprofits and life changers for the people they serve. Together, we can make a difference! It all starts with asking the right questions.

It is impossible to be honest/genuine in relationships when you’re imaginary. The imaginary you doesn’t have time for a group but the real you is craving to be known.

This has just been an observation but those who are less and less in community are the ones seem to experience more and more chaos in their life. We’ll discover that the following Jesus is more like a cluster of grapes than a bag of golf balls.

Jesus was a friend of sinners. And those who were unlike him genuinely loved being around him. In Jesus they both saw and experienced the heart of his Father. As the church, it is our joy and duty to continue his example, reflecting the Father’s heart and inspiring others to follow Jesus.

We gather to be reminded of his unconditional love, and in this season we get the opportunity to continue to gather in various forms. The form of the gathering is less important than the function of the gathering. We need to gather because unconditional love needs to be personally experienced and publicly practiced.

The Christian faith is not based on a sacred space, but a sacred relationship—a relationship with God through Jesus. You don’t need a building to start or restart believing. Sure...there are great reasons for buildings. But it’s not required for faith.

We are reminded that while we have different styles it’s vitally important that we appreciate each others’ style so we grow in unity and not division. Our unity gives the message of Jesus credibility to the world and shows that God loves us all and is for all of us no matter our style, no matter our story. We are better together!

The Bible says there is one way to God and that’s through the person of Jesus. There are a few staples for connecting with God...prayer and Scripture. In the Bible, Paul says that the Word of God should live abundantly in us. We are encouraged to publicly expose ourselves to the Word and privately give it time to soak in. We can interact publicly, privately, and personally with the Word of God!

This world keeps us from spending time with Him, but we need to connect with Him. Talking to God in prayer is a vital way we can grow a relationship with God, just like you need to talk to your friends in order to invest in your friendships. In Luke, God teaches us that there are four main principles for good prayer life: disconnect to connect with God, pray personally, pray persistently, and pray...

"The Sacred Pathways" are the nine spiritual styles discussed by Gary Thomas. It is important that we understand our spiritual temperament, because knowing how God has wired us could actually help us more effectively draw near to God. We hope that through this series, you can get a clearer picture of God’s unique design in your life and how that allows you to draw near to Him.

Can the church bridge the divide when compassion and national security collide? We say, “yes.”

Prayer can be challenging. We feel like we should pray, but we’re not sure we’re getting the words right. But what if our perception of prayer is inaccurate? What if the way we’ve been taught to pray or figured out how to pray over the years is misguided? What if there’s a better way? After watching Jesus for some time, His disciples went to Him and said, “Teach us how to pray.” And He taught them...

It’s only through the sheep-shepherd relationship that someone experiences a full and overflowing life that only Jesus can offer. As “sheep” we get in situation that’s not going our way and we feel like we can’t go on…we think: God, where are you? Have you left me on my own? What has been or is your wolf? Financial, spiritual, emotional, physical, job, family, relational?

If you have a hard time believing that God wants anything for you, remember that it’s not fair to transfer any jadedness to God. God is God. You get what you get with Him…He doesn’t change. Who wouldn’t want someone who empathizes, offers grace, slow to get fired up, committed, and trustworthy? We’ve settled for less than that in other important relationships.

We’ll find that your mouth can cause your entire body to suffer consequences. Have you ever noticed that you don’t fire the mouth, you fire a person? Instead of putting your child’s mouth in time out; you put your child in time out. Words possess the power to control the direction and quality of our lives.

Did you know that “Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me” is a religious saying? We’ll find that even though it may have good intentions, it’s not a Biblical idea. We recover from physical wounds far quicker than we do emotional wounds. What causes words to become weapons?

How are you using your words to build up your circles of influence according to what they need? We all have three circles of influence: inner, intentional, and influential. Each circle will have a different need but all need the language of grace.

Healthy effective communication is complicated. Our words are powerful as they carry the power of life and death. We’ll dissect a verse that will help us with life-giving communication. The words you use are the words you choose. Why do you choose the words you use?