Your Mission

Do you sense there is an urgency in your life, that you have an important mission to complete which will have some kind of profound impact on other people? Or do you see life more as an often repetitious, even dull meandering through routine daily tasks which no one seems to notice? Is it pretty hard some days to get excited about what is going to happen during the next 24 hours?

This week we’re going to study the life of a man named Paul. If you would have been able to speak with him in his later years he would have told you that things turned out totally the opposite of what he had expected. But in the same breath he would have added that he wouldn’t have changed anything.

Paul came to know Jesus Christ in an incredibly startling way. That encounter changed his life forever. In fact, his life became a mission for Jesus. His was a life of challenges and suffering, and yet at the same time what he did changed the course of history.

God has his eye out for modern day Pauls, people he can use to touch the lives of others for all of eternity. It isn’t an easy or comfortable life. It is, after all, a mission. But what a mission it is!

Saturday evening service – 6:00 pm
Sunday morning service – 10:00 am

What Now?

We’re told that Jesus appeared to his disciples over a period of 40 days after he physically rose from the dead on that first Easter Sunday. He used those occasions to continue to teach his followers what the meaning of his crucifixion and resurrection were and what both events had to do with their lives and God’s ultimate plan for human history. Still, as these disciples watched Jesus ascend to heaven, one gets the feeling that there was the nagging question in their minds, “What now, that he is gone?”

The answer to that question came 10 days later in the form of a powerful display of the Holy Spirit coming upon those first followers of the Lord. It was a new beginning in many ways, but above all, it answered the question “What now?” Jesus was not visibly present among his followers, but they knew without a doubt their mission was to get his message out to the world.

Have you gotten to a point in your life that you are asking the “What now?” question? You don’t have to be old to ask it. All it takes is a series of circumstances which leads one to wonder what really brings lasting meaning and value to human life. The title of the chapter we’re studying this week in the Story Bible is “New Beginnings”. Join us. See if you might find a new beginning to answer that question, “What now?”.

Saturday evening service – 6:00 pm
Sunday morning service – 10:00 am

Life’s Foundation: Fact or Feeling?

It’s a question we struggle with every day of our lives, every decision that confronts us. Are we going to base our behavior on what we believe to be true or on how we feel? Feelings are fun; feelings give us all different types of pleasure, but feelings can sometimes be totally wrong, leading us into disaster. We can all think of examples in our lives when we wish we would have followed the facts rather than our feelings.

The resurrection of Jesus Christ is the foundation of Christianity. If Jesus’ body is still in the tomb Easter Sunday, there’s no point in giving him much thought at all. He was a man who said he was god but wasn’t. But the tomb was empty that Sunday 2000 years ago and until today no one has come up with a better explanation than that given by the angels to the women who first went to the place he was buried, “He is not here, he has risen, just as he said he would.”

“Jesus Christ has risen.” He is alive. He is who he claimed to be. Everything he said is true. We have foundational facts for living which guide our feelings so that rather than be enslaved by them, our lives are enriched through those emotions. When the truth of the Resurrection is the foundation of our lives, we begin the exhilarating journey to the life God intends for us.

Join us for one of our weekend services. Let the resurrection story work its miracle in your life.

Saturday evening service – 6:00 pm
Sunday morning service – 10:00 am

In the Dark

“She’s such a smart person. How can she be so in the dark about what is going on in her life?”

Have you ever said something like that about another person? Has someone said that about you? Being “in the dark” isn’t necessarily about not being intelligent or smart, it just means we don’t see things the way they really are, for whatever reason, and so can’t make good decisions.

In his teaching, Jesus described humanity as being “in the dark”. As a race, we have so much incredible potential, but we don’t see things the way they are, primarily when it comes to the big issues of life such as, “Why are we here? What’s the point of my life? What happens when I die?” Because of our broken relationship with God we answer those questions from a limited, self-centered understanding of reality.

This week’s reading in The Story Bible is titled, “The Hour of Darkness”. It narrates the last days of Jesus earthly ministry, including his crucifixion. It is a dark chapter. And yet, the irony of all that happens is that the result is Jesus shattering the spiritual darkness which permeates human existence and replacing it with the liberating light of a second chance with God and an opportunity to experience life as He means it to be. Because of Christ going to the cross, no one needs to be in the dark about what really matters in life anymore!

Saturday evening service – 6:00 pm
Sunday morning service – 10:00 am