Submerge Sermons

We all face suffering of all kinds constantly in our personal lives, and see it everywhere in our world. How does all this pain & suffering fit in with our understanding of God and faith? And is there any way to find any sense of joy in the midst of it all? Learn with us some "theology of suffering" and some real ways to respond that make sure it is never "wasted", and can even lead to finding...

We all face opposition in our lives from all sorts of fronts, and it's one of the biggest things that can rob our joy. On this Sunday we learned from people like Jesus & Apostle Paul, who faced a whole lot of opposition, how to still find purpose and God's radical joy in the face of it all, and how to respond in healthy ways that lead us to know Jesus better...

So many things that happen in our world & our lives to rob our joy are out of our control. But there are some things that we can control, and ways we can choose joy--and God wants to help us in do that! Learn with us some inspiring & practical lessons on choosing joy...

It's exhausting to keep pursuing happiness, when it depends entirely on what's happening in our lives. So God offers us something deeper--a joy, that can go beyond circumstances. And one unexpected place we can find joy is through humility--God's humility in becoming human because of HIs deep love for us, and our humility in serving others. Discover this joy with us!

The most frequent thing Jesus ever talked about was "the Kingdom of God"--but what is it, how do we become a part of it, what does it mean for the church & for our lives personally? Explore these questions with us and hear why bringing God's Kingdom "here as it is in heaven" is more important these days than ever, and how it reminds us we're part of something bigger...

“Within every apple lies the potential for an entire orchard.” Did you know that because God placed His Spirit & the seeds of the Gospel in us, He can bring an entire orchard through us? And when we do that, it adds all new purpose to our daily lives! And it makes the church "more than a place"--but a community of people that brings value to their local neighborhood...just as God intended!

God wired each of us with skills, gifts & talents, and He calls us to use those together to "be the church" in our world. Everyone gets to play in God's Kingdom! Learn with us how to discover your gifts & explore ways to use them inside & outside the church...

What did God really intend for "the church" to be? Join us as we learn about God's calling to us as a people, "beyond the fish bowl", beyond buildings & events, to people who are set apart for a purpose. And we learned that the more we embrace that calling, it changes how we view "church", why we go, and how we live the rest of the week...

We wrapped our prayers series by learning about a type of prayer that's often misunderstood & under-valued, but is vital to us staying close to God, and is a powerful antidote to all the guilt & shame we often face--prayers of confession & forgiveness. Learn with us the why & how of these, and how to forgive yourself!

In our world that feels as divisive as ever, it's encouraging to know that the one thing Jesus prayed for all of us was unity. But how do we find it, especially with those we disagree with? Learn with us what unity is NOT, what it looks like even in diversity, and how God wants to help us find more of it...

How do we learn to pray for more of God in our lives? Is asking for His blessing too selfish? What would it look like for Him to expand His influence through us? Learn with us from the little-known Old Testament story of Jabez--a guy familiar with pain but committed to prayer--who experienced a whole lot of God!

The next step deeper in our prayer lives involves moving from just talking to God--to actually listening. This involves making space for silence in our lives, and tuning into all the various ways God likes to speak to us (there's more than you think).

Do you know what the antidote is to complaining? To criticism? To entitlement? To discontentment? Gratitude. Not only do prayers of gratitude help us spiritually and help our persective on God--they're incredibly valuable to our mental health too! On Sunday we learned why & how to deepen into these prayers and learned that gratitude doesn't just have to be a feeling to wait for--it can become...

Prayers of Blessing are one of the most under-utilized spiritual practices we have available to us--they can be so impactful on us and others! In this service we kicked off our new series on deepening our prayer life by learning from Genesis through Jesus about the power of prayers of blessings (and some creative ways to practice it)...and you can get a "blessing prayer" prayed over you!

We wrapped up our series on Jesus' powerful story about a dad & his two sons, by learning what "prodigal" really means, and how it describes the heart of the father, the heart of God, and the kind of heart He wants us to have toward the lost...

The longer we follow Jesus, how do we avoid drifting toward having the heart of "the older brother" in Jesus' famous parable--a heart of bitterness, resentment, and judgment? This Sunday we learned together how to find the heart of "the Father" instead, and practical ways to live out grace, even toward the people that are the hardest for us...

On Sunday we kicked off our series submerging deep into a story that many scholars consider the greatest story ever told--Jesus' story of the prodigal son. We learned what it really means to choose our "bottom" & decide to turn around and come back home to God--and what's awaiting us there...

We're all dealt different cards in life--how will you play your hand? It's your choice, and God wants to help you! On Sunday we finished our series for May (Mental Health Awareness Month) by learning from the story of Job, about how to partner with God to navigate all that we face in life, and even find a full abundant life in the midst of it all.

What are most of your thoughts focused on lately? On Sunday in our series for May (Mental Health Awareness Month) we got super practical in learning how to partner with God to change our thought life--which overflows into all other areas of our lives! Learn with us wisdom from God's Word (and how psychology backs it up) to avoid the unhealthy thought patterns & learn to re-fcous our thoughts i...

For Mother's Day, we learned from an "unsung hero mom" of the Bible about how to find courage & faith when facing the hard things in our lives, including mental health challenges. We learned why fear is NOT the opposite of courage, and why we can still have faith even when God isn't making sense...

Did you know God cares about our mental health? And He wants to help transform our thought life! And most importantly, He can help us find the main thing that our anxieties and fears try to steal--hope. Learn with us how to find & choose hope daily in God...

It's so easy to find our identity in so many other things in our lives (popularity, possessions, accomplishments, failures, what others say about us)--but God wants to give us our new identity through His revolutionary love--one of being "beloved." On this Sunday we wrapped up our series by learning how to embrace our new identity in God.

Jesus was clear about the most important commandments in our lives: loving God, and loving our neighbors. So how do we deepen in our love for our neighbors/neighborhoods, even when it's messy? This Sunday we learned more about how to, from two interconnected stories (and the two times Jesus wept): the Palm Sunday story (a story of two parades) + the story of Jesus unexpectedly raising a dead guy.

What's the key to experiencing the fullness of God's love? To experiencing joy? To helping people "see" God? To showing others what it means to follow of God? Jesus says ALL of these are found in learning to "love one another." In this service, we submerge into how to "one another" in all sorts of practical ways--another way God's revolutionary love can change everything.

If we want to move from "religion" to "relationship" in our faith, it all begins with understanding how God loves us, and how we can love Him in return. On Sunday we learned a few simple but deeply spiritual practices that help us stay connected to God in our daily lives (and are good for our human relationships too)...