Advent is a time of preparation ... preparing to have 

The same longing to be part of the work of God The same readiness to take a risk  The same understanding of Jesus' mission 

And in a world that judges by hearsay, gossip, and outward appearances, we should judge with equality. 

Your hard labor is completed Your sins are forgiven Your belonging is restored

When people around you are asking "Where is God in all this mess?" You are the answer to their prayers. 

They will cry out and he will save them They will know His heart They will be able to praise and worship together as one They, too, will be a blessing to every nation!

In the worship service, we will be reading through the entire book together over the course of these four weeks, but you won't hear it in the audio. 

Overcoming conflict is not the same thing as overpowering conflict... that doesn't restore relationships, it drives them away.

Overcoming conflict is not the same thing as overlooking conflict... that doesn't restore relationships, it makes them fester and rot.

And this is where we so often mess up because the goal in conflict isn't to win or to bury the whole thing, the goal is reconciliation.

Several years ago, the book "Freakonomics" showed some surprising insights about the way we think about and use money: our economics changes the way we understand morality and build relationships.

The cover showed an apple with a slice cut out of it, revealing an orange on the inside. In the same way, the grace of God undermines our assumptions about the kind of world we live in: it turns it on it's head and brings the whole system crashing down. 

In This Lesson: 

[I use an illustration with a bunch of stuffed animals, lined up in chairs. Each one visually represents the five groups of workers hired by the man who owns the vineyard in Jesus' story]

In Jesus' story, the workers complain that it's not fair for people who worked ONE HOUR to be paid the same as those who worked TWELVE HOURS.

...admitedly, their complaint seems like a fair complaint. But Jesus is not talking about EARNING. He is talking about GENEROSITY ... and that makes all the difference in this story.

Several years ago, the book "Freakonomics" showed some surprising insights about the way we think about and use money: our economics changes the way we understand morality and build relationships.

The cover showed an apple with a slice cut out of it, revealing an orange on the inside. In the same way, the grace of God undermines our assumptions about the kind of world we live in: it turns it on it's head and brings the whole system crashing down. 

In This Lesson:

[I use an illustration of pouring water from one cup to another. You will hear longer pauses and the sound of water as it is being poured from one cup to another. Later, when I take volunteers, the cups are positioned so that:

As I pour water into one cup it becomes full As the cup is filled, it overflows and fills the second cup under it The second cup then also overflows to fill a third cup.]

Assuming limited resources and a zero sum game, we are often afraid that we will lose everything we work for to someone else. We try to be generous, but only to a point because we have to make sure we don't run out ourselves. But unlike our own resources, the resources of God have no end and he is able to bless you to overflow so that you can be a blessing yourself.

Several years ago, the book "Freakonomics" showed some surprising insights about the way we think about and use money: our economics changes the way we understand morality and build relationships.

The cover showed an apple with a slice cut out of it, revealing an orange on the inside. In the same way, the grace of God undermines our assumptions about the kind of world we live in: it turns it on it's head and brings the whole system crashing down. 

In This Lesson: 

[I use an illustration of a trophy shelf. You will hear some short pauses when I am setting up trophies on the shelf]

We operate under an assumption called “the myth of scarcity.” Our brains are conditioned to assume there is not enough… and to think of “just enough” as “not enough” which causes us to stash up as much as we can of everything we can.

God does not provide for us so that we can have blessings; God provides for us so that we will be a blessing.

Several years ago, the book "Freakonomics" showed some surprising insights about the way we think about and use money: our economics changes the way we understand morality and build relationships.

The cover showed an apple with a slice cut out of it, revealing an orange on the inside. In the same way, the grace of God undermines our assumptions about the kind of world we live in: it turns it on it's head and brings the whole system crashing down. 

In This Lesson: 

[I use an illustration of a "scale" in which I drop rocks to tip the scales. And then I knock the whole thing over.]

The world works off the principle of supply and demand in which...

WORK hard --> to gain ABILITIES --> to have VALUE --> which secures BELONGING

We think of having "belonging from God" as something you have to earn by doing more and more good stuff and avoiding evil things that would give you "bad credit."

But in the "Grace-onomics" of God ...

We are given BELONGING by the work of Jesus --> so that we know we have VALUE --> we are given ABILITIES --> so that we can be set loose to WORK freely

The bible does not tell us what we should think of suicide, but there are many misunderstandings and wrong teachings about suicide ... most of which do not come from the bible, but from history and politics. 

I use a ton of scripture references throughout this, so I will list them out here for your reference: 

Judges 9:52-54

Judges 16:25-30

1 Samuel 31:4-5

2 Samuel 17:23

1 Kings 16:15-20

Matthew 27:3-5

Ecclesiastes 2:17

1 Kings 19:4

Job 3, 6:8-10

2 Corinthians 1:8

1 Kings 19:15-18

Philippians 1:21

Psalm 139:1, 13

Luke 12:7

Psalm 56:8

Hebrews 2:11

Genesis 1:26

Romans 15:3

Matthew 25:40

Matthew 5:3

Lamentations 3:19-24

Psalm 8:6

Genesis 2:5-7,15-18,23

Jeremiah 29:11

Colossians 2:23

Some think the Bible doesn't really say much about it. And that is true ... kind of.

The language and politics of how we talk about and treat addictions and the people who suffer addictions is fairly new, but as we gain a better understanding of the human brain and how addiction works within the brain, the biblical view of human life and the gospel message of Jesus Christ actually address addiction in a powerful and meaningful way, even for the modern world. 

What does it mean to call God "Father?"

When evangelism is a strategy, you will act like a strategist and treat people like projects … But when evangelism is a conversation, you will seem like a real person and you’ll treat people like people.

When evangelism is a strategy, you will act like a strategist and treat people like projects … But when evangelism is a conversation, you will seem like a real person and you’ll treat people like people.

What tithing is really all about is to change your heart to trust God more faithfully, celebrate him with thankfulness, and share with others from your abundance more generously. 

“The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge”: The path of knowledge isn’t about carrying around the book of Proverbs as a rule book; as we know the heart of God deeply that we begin to act like Him with wisdom and justice.

What can we do to bring life and fire back into the church? 

My goal, for one, is to Cultivate a Culture of Creativity... and I hope you will join me in that.

This was a relatively lenghty meeting, but we had a lot of great conversation and I managed to whittle it down to a manageable listen. Please send me feedback on your own hopes and thoughts if you get a chance to listen through this!

So believe in the resurrection. Believe it for yourself and for the sake of a world in desperate need of new life. Rise from the dead and come alive in the power of the Holy Spirit!

For better or worse, we are shaped by both the methods and the madness. We are products of our circumstances, but we are also products of God's grace. Because of that, we will always have to navigate the constant changes and shifting sands of the culture around us as we resist the pull to be "like all the other nations." 

And the answer is never to simply repeat the patterns of before. 

It is to seek the same Spirit as those before us. 

In this fourt lesson, we hear from Pastor Trent's personal story and get deep in the "maddness" part of this "Methods and Madness" series. 

In this lesson, we'll explore the why Candy Crush is so addicting as well as what the first methodists called the "Danger of Riches."

In most of the lessons we have had to this point, we have talked about what you can do on your own. Today I want to you to know that what we do together is critical to our own spiritual health. 

In this second message in the series, we will discuss why sleep and rest are important disciplines for your spiritual walk.

In this first message in the series, we will talk about some of the baggage we carry with us that makes it difficult to spend time with God by reading scripture.

How can we be salt and light?

What has God revealed to us?

What is the Gospel?

But during Advent, we wait and prepare with hope, love, joy, and peace.

But during Advent, we wait and prepare with hope, love, joy, and peace.

But during Advent, we wait and prepare with hope, love, joy, and peace.

But during Advent, we wait and prepare with hope, love, joy, and peace.

When we answer that question from God's perspective, the answer is very surprising.

When we answer that question from God's perspective, the answer is very surprising.

In this series, we will be looking at biblical examples of worship to get an idea of what makes worship meaningful.

In this fourth and final lesson in the series, we read a familiar story about idolatry as we try to understand how things can go so wrong so easily.

In this series, we will be looking at biblical examples of worship to get an idea of what makes worship meaningful.

In this third lesson, I will gush about the Cub's first NLCS win in 71 years (I swear every second of it is relevant to the lesson of scripture, though!) as we learn about how worship is an act that forms our identity and initiates us into a shared legacy that is finally expressed in the way we celebrate communion.

In this series, we will be looking at biblical examples of worship to get an idea of what makes worship meaningful.

In this second lesson, we will encounter a strange, archaic ritual and what it says about the "covenant love" of God and the significance of baptism.

In this series, we will be looking at biblical examples of worship to get an idea of what makes worship meaningful. In this first lesson, we read about Moses entering the deep darkness where God was and preparing ourselves and expecting to encounter the presence of God are deeply tied to what worship is.

We learn that every tool in the hand of the enemy can be repurposed in service to God and His kingdom!

We learn that every tool in the hand of the enemy can be repurposed in service to God and His kingdom!

The central question is "Are we here to keep the wheels turning? Or to keep the fire burning?" And the underlying idea is that the church does not exist for the sake of it's members, but for the sake of those outside the church. 

In this fourth and final sermon in the series, we will learn what we need in order to get in line with the mission of God in the world.

The central question is "Are we here to keep the wheels turning? Or to keep the fire burning?" And the underlying idea is that the church does not exist for the sake of it's members, but for the sake of those outside the church. 

In this third sermon, we will learn just what it means to count the cost and that the cost might just be more than we are willing to pay.

The central question is "Are we here to keep the wheels turning? Or to keep the fire burning?" And the underlying idea is that the church does not exist for the sake of it's members, but for the sake of those outside the church. 

In this second sermon, we will respond to the recent Olympic wins and learn through Jesus' teachings that "belonging comes before believing."

The central question is "Are we here to keep the wheels turning? Or to keep the fire burning?" And the underlying idea is that the church does not exist for the sake of it's members, but for the sake of those outside the church. 

In this first sermon, we learn about why the Sabbath was such a point of dispute between Jesus and other religious leaders of his day.