Today we're talking about how we as a church can love the LGBTQ+ community. We look to God's Word to see how we can really just love people well. Let's look to Jesus together as we try our best to answer this question.

Have you been anxious or worried about what the world and culture has come to? Are you a parent wondering what your kids will grow up to be like? Are you trying to navigate being a good parent and sharing the love of Jesus with your kids? Let's turn to God's word together to hear how we can raise up our kids Jesus' way and not lose them to this worlds way of life.

Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. 11 Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. 12 For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. 13 Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. 14 Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, 15 and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. 16 In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. 17 Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. 18 And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the saints. 19 Pray also for me, that whenever I open my mouth, words may be given me so that I will fearlessly make known the mystery of the gospel, 20 for which I am an ambassador in chains. Pray that I may declare it fearlessly, as I should. 

We talk about “Reaching the world for Jesus one person at a time.” We celebrate people getting baptized all the time, and we’re growing rapidly as a church body. Yet, the work God wants to do through us in the future makes everything He has done pale in comparison with what has already happened. Isn’t that incredible? Remember that Jesus said that the “Gates of hell won’t prevail against His church”? That means that we as a body of believers in Jesus not only can reach the world but will reach the world if we are willing to go all in with Jesus. And Satan is helpless and powerless to do a thing to stop us. Who isn’t excited about THAT prospect? Let’s be a church that defies Satan knowing that our battle is already won. Let’s be a church that goes into the roughest, most dangerous areas of our city because we know that darkness can never win against the light that Jesus’ church brings wherever it goes. Let’s be a church that refuses to give Satan an inch of progress in our lives, our church, our homes, our neighborhoods, and our workplaces. This is the picture of the church that Jesus gives!

Are you tired? Worn out? Exhausted from life? This message has some good news for you as Chris Laurie unpacks Jesus' heart behind Kingdom Rest.

Devin Mecham breaks down what it looks like to let Jesus impact your work life.

The over-reaching of the church via politicking and aggressive language and behavior into the broken culture as a means of making a difference is a broken way of thinking and acting. We are to be light in the darkness – not fight the darkness with dark ways.

Let’s ask the right questions? How do we be light in a dark world? How do we make an impact? We want to change the world – we want to help people be free from brokenness and pain. We want to show the world a better way – Jesus’ way. That heart is amazing – we want to grow that heart – but we don’t want to fight for the things of God like the devil would fight.

Happy Father’s Day dads! We are so thankful for you and honor you. We celebrate you dads. We are in a series all about how Jesus is making all things new in our lives. Our relationship with him, within the church, in our homes…today we wrapping up the home sphere with a conversation about parenting. I love being a dad. I love my girls. So so much. I am excited to talk to you about parenting – I know we all have lots of different stories in here…some really amazing – some really painful. Today’s conversation is meant to be a inspiration for you to parent according to God’s design. There isn’t a ton in scripture about parenting – there is enough though for us to get a good sense of how we are to parent. Let’s dive in together today.

Many of us would probably agree that Jesus should be the center of certain aspects of our lives. But we often draw a line around certain parts of our lives where we don’t allow him to have that level of authority. Sometimes it’s just out of ignorance, and sometimes it’s intentional. One of the top places that we tend to do that is with our families. Our time together rarely involves Jesus, and many times our kids’ sports games or our family hobbies crowd out things like devotional time, going to church, or serving. If we look at our schedules and the way we use our time with our families, it becomes clear that Jesus isn’t really at the center of our families. This has led to things like similar divorce rates within the church as there are outside of the church; kids who are neglected and grow up with bitterness toward their “Christian” parents who really showed them a hollow version of Jesus; pornography addictions and affairs; and many other family-related issues that show what happens when Jesus is pushed out of the picture. Surely God intended better things for our families, right?

Let’s tackle a few small topics today – marriage and sexuality! Ha! I am only going to be able to lay a foundation for this conversation today. My wife and I have done some work on the practicality of this in our podcast if you haven’t listened to it…check it out. But today let’s lay the foundation Biblically for marriage and sexuality. The Bible speaks to this adventure in a powerful way. There are spiritual laws and designs that govern our families – when we live according to those designs we are blessed – when we step outside of those designs we experience the pain and destruction that is associated with doing things our own way.

We’ve always been passionate about the next generation being raised up and developed around here. But to actually believe in and invest in the next generation takes a heart for who is next and takes a passion for unity. 20 years separates us – there could be so many things that divide us. But God has done something special here. He has given us a passion for unity that supersedes our age and our preferences. Most churches get old as the leaders get old. The preferences of the older generation begin to create less and less room for the next generation to thrive. 66% of High School Students step away from their faith when they graduate High School. By having a passion for unity, we as a church can help change this statistic, but we have to make room for the next generation to not only grow, but to thrive!

Jesus is making all things new. There are several spheres of influence that we have as we go about life. As we follow Jesus, He begins to change us in every one of those areas. That’s what we have been talking about – we started this series talking about the first sphere – our abiding relationship with Jesus. Then last week Richie introduced us to the second sphere – the church. This is where we are going to pick up today. As followers of Jesus, we have been given a mission to reach this world for Jesus one person at a time. The primary way that we do this is by being in intentional relationships with the people around us – as we grow together in being and making disciples of Jesus. That word relationship is what can get us into trouble. Mostly from personal experience, we all bring our own definitions to what relationship looks like – most of which look totally different. Jesus’ church has always been and still is where we are supposed to learn how to be in intentional relationships with the people around us.

Why is the church here? What is the purpose of the church? Why do we need the church in our lives? How do we interact with the church? What is our role in the church? I wonder if we just attend and not think about some of these questions? I wonder if it would be important for us to spend a few minutes unpacking this conversation…I think it is actually essential to know what you believe and how you live within the church. When Paul wrote the book of Ephesians – he wrote more about the church than anything else. What a mess it could be – lots of different opinions and desires all colliding within the church. Who’s right? Wrong? What is God’s heart and plan? What does maturity look like within the church?

As a church, what kind of people are we going to be? The saddest Christian in the world is the one who only seeks God half-heartedly or casually. That person cannot enjoy sin anymore because they know it’s wrong but will not experience any of the joy and fulfillment of the gospel because they are not all in with Jesus. Remember Jeremiah’s statements? Those who seek God wholeheartedly will be in for the adventure of their lives. Those who are half-hearted and compromise will live a life of pain and separation from the goodness of God. When we look at the gospel, it is hard not to be moved by the goodness of God and hunger to know him better. The only way we will genuinely reach this world for Jesus one person at a time is by laying a foundation of faithful connection to God through day-in, day-out spiritual discipline. This world needs something real. They need SOMEONE real. They need Jesus. The more connected we are with him, the more people will see him shining through our lives. God loves you and wants to be in deep community with you. Will you create the space? Will you let him in?

We want to present all of us Mature in Christ. Each of us becoming who God made us to be. That is a process of transformation. Each of us are learning what it means to be mature in every area of our life. You see up here – there 5 spheres of life you walk through every day. Jesus, church, family, world, spiritual realm. Maturity is essential in each of these spheres. Today we are spending more time in this abiding sphere – your relationship with Jesus – everything flows from that – if you are immature there – everything else will be affected. He is the source of life and power to be transformed in every area of your life. Without his power – you have no hope to become who he made you to be.

A new thing. That is what we are talking about in this series. God has you here for a purpose. He wants you to know who you are and who He is. But there is a very big thing that keeps us from that – sin. Sin is everything that is against God’s plan for your life and it is toxic. Our sin can’t just be cleaned up. The world is selling a story of self-improvement. The Bible tells a story of total transformation from the inside out. A new way of thinking. A new way of doing. A new way of being. You were created with a purpose and to do good works in every area of your life. But before you can walk into those, you must learn how to abide in Jesus. And that starts with the death of the worldly way of living and the birth of a new life.

When we come to faith in Jesus – we bring all our brokenness and baggage – maturing is about leaving that behind and becoming someone new. All things are made new in Christ. If we don’t work out our salvation with fear and trembling – we risk staying in the same place as where Christ rescued us. Still wrestling in our broken ways. Are you becoming new in all areas of your life? Pursue, connect, give and multiply. Are you maturing in Christ? This is my heart in this message and in this whole series…are we becoming new? Are you allowing Jesus to transform every area of your life? We baptize so many people around here – we call us to get connected in a group – but maturity is isn’t just connection – it’s a whole process of every area of your life being transformed. We can’t accomplish this on a Sunday – we need conversations and relationships to help us mature this way. So let’s start the conversation on Sunday’s and allow you to work through this in your connections and relationships.

Happy Easter REALLIFE! We have hope and life because Jesus lives. We have freedom and expectation for God to move powerfully because He defeated the thing that separated us from Him - sin and death itself!

What we do when things are good, and God seems to be speaking and moving in profound ways, often reflects the depth of our faith and our intimacy with God. But everyone can be good when things seem good. The reality is that what we do when we DON’T hear God’s voice and have a hard time seeing his movement can actually be a more powerful testimony to God’s goodness and the strength of our faith.

It’s easy to follow Jesus when miracles are obviously happening around us, but it is a much greater act of worship to remain faithful and committed in the silence. God IS moving! Will we have the patience and faith to stay the course? Will we hold on to the hope that God is doing something incredible during the down time? Will we believe that salvation and the powerful work of God will burst forth in new creation when the time is ripe? We are God’s treasured possession, and he loves us very much. Let’s live like that is true, even through our own silent years!

In this episode, Richie walks us through the life of King Josiah, and how God may want us to reform areas of our lives.