He Is, Part 2: He is Here
He Is, Part 2: He is Here During this holiday season, it’s easy to get distracted, or to allow ourselves to be distracted—by the events that we have, by the programs we have to do, by the presents we have to buy and the parties we have to attend. It’s easy to let that get in the way of finding our true peace. But after the Christmas lights turn out and the fireplace is settled and the hot chocolate has…
He Is, Part 1: He is Foretold
He Is, Part 1: He is Foretold God came in the form of man. He was born in a manger. He grew up as a full adult, as you and me. The Bible says that he went to the cross. He died and was buried, and he was resurrected three days later. … We don’t really understand all of it, but this much we understand: it was a wonderful, wonderful thing God did for you and me—because our sins were…
BOTH/AND, Part 5: Staying/Going
BOTH/AND, Part 5: Staying/Going A purposeful life, for every one of us, is based on fulfilling God’s order to stay and go with purpose, recognizing that this home is not your home, this place is not your final stop; that God is using you for an indefinite period of time — you and this church you choose to be a part of — and let God make the decision about where you land. Download the PDF above to follow along with…
BOTH/AND, Part 4: The Great Divide Between Sent and Tell
BOTH/AND, Part 4: The Great Divide Between Sent and Tell You have been sent so that you can tell, so that others will hear, so they can believe, so that they’ll call on Jesus. … [but] if we are not telling, there’s a problem with our understanding of who sent us – it’s disbelief – or it’s just disobedience. … Our role is to tell. There’s components of telling the good news: a sending, there’s an audience, and there’s a message.…
BOTH/AND, Part 3: Local/Global
BOTH/AND, Part 3: Local/Global Both/and. Do we go here, or there? The answer is yes. We have to discover our [global] responsibilities. That’s what our GIC — and what this church — is all about. Download the PDF above to follow along with notes.
BOTH/AND, Part 2: Serving/Proclaiming
BOTH/AND, Part 2: Serving/Proclaiming It’s that tension that develops between serving and proclaiming: do I do something good for someone, or do I just tell them about Jesus and move on? Download the PDF above to follow along with notes.
BOTH/AND, Part 1: Being/Doing
BOTH/AND, Part 1: Being/Doing Living in the tension of doing for God and being with God looks like a branch connected to a vine. We are drawing life from Christ as he leads us, and that is what produces the fruit. Being with God should lead us to doing for God. … If we want to be a people committed to the mission of God — to living out that Great Commission that we find in scripture, to helping others find…
Refresh, Part 6: Real Relationships
Refresh, Part 6: Real Relationships The church family should not be a place for ‘polished’ believers to come and compare how good we look; rather, the church family should be a place for imperfect people to point each other to Jesus. We should be a place where the broken and the hurting can come together and be transformed by relationship with Jesus. Real relationships mean that we will be upfront and open and honest about where we are, and who…
Refresh, Part 5: Real Engagement
Refresh, Part 5: Real Engagement Real engagement is deeply engaging in the complexity of God’s Word, and bringing it to the complexity of life around us. … The Bible has real-life answers to the complexities this world offers us. Download the PDF above to follow along with notes.
Refresh, Part 4: Real Ownership
Refresh, Part 4: Real Ownership You play a critical part of the body [of Christ] because this is a family. It’s a body. It’s not just a family in the human sense of the word; it is literally the working of God in this world. … The body of Christ will recognize that everybody has to take ownership of their part. Download the PDF above to follow along with notes.
Refresh, Part 3: Real Life
Refresh, Part 3: Real Life Our everyday lives demonstrate our belief and our experiences of the gospel. … [Moses says in Deuteronomy 6,] use everyday life to pass on the truths about God. Love God with every part of your being, and use every part of your life to live out your relationship with him. That’s the core value of real life. …Instead of just looking for rituals or practices that are disconnected from the rest of our lives, God has…
Refresh, Part 2: Real Priorities
Refresh, Part 2: Real Priorities These stories that Jesus is telling [of the lost coin, the lost sheep, and the Prodigal Son] are meant to clue us in to God’s heart. He’s cluing us in to God’s priorities. God is willing to do the unthinkable to save the broken … [and] He wants us to be a part of that plan. Download the PDF above to follow along with notes.
Refresh, Part 1: The Mission of LifeWay Church
Refresh, Part 1: The Mission of LifeWay Church ‘Church’ in the New Testament is a Greek word: ecclesia. That term literally means ‘the assembly of called-out people.’ … You’re called out of this world, you’re assembling together in order to accomplish something that has a very different eternal consequence. It is not a marketing term in any way, shape or form. It is a reality of who we are as church. Download the PDF above to follow along with notes.
Let’s Talk, Part 8: Seek First God’s Kingdom
Let’s Talk, Part 8: Seek First God’s Kingdom Seek first His kingdom and His righteousness — and all these things will be added to you, or given to you, as well. I’m not the owner. You’re not the owner. You’re the manager. Don’t try to control life as the owner of everything. My prayer is that we all live as a people who know how to prioritize the steps of life. Download the PDF above to follow along with notes.
Let’s Talk, Part 7: Lord, Teach Us to Pray
Let’s Talk, Part 7: Lord, Teach Us to Pray What I’m about to teach you today is as practical as it can be, because it comes out of Matthew chapter 6. It’s literally Jesus’ extremely practical way of saying: You want to really change your life? You’ve heard it said, “Go to church!” But I’m going to tell you—you need to sit there and spend some real time with the almighty God of the universe. And you can do that…
Let’s Talk, Part 6: Prayer — Talking to God
Let’s Talk, Part 6: Prayer — Talking to God Prayer, essentially, in very, very simple terms, is talking to God. It’s not magical words that are spoken. It’s not laid out [as a] formula of how to accomplish something. It’s really, in its simplistic version, a conversation with God; it’s relating to God. Download the PDF above to follow along with notes.
Let’s Talk, Part 5: Let’s Talk About Money (2/2)
Let’s Talk, Part 5: Let’s Talk About Money (2/2) Delayed gratification is huge with an eye to the future if—if—they’re goals that we’re led by, by the Holy Spirit. I think we get wrapped up into saving just to save, and to have this financial security. There’s no such thing as financial security. There is in the world’s eyes, but there’s really no such thing as financial security. Our security and hope is only in one thing, it can only…
Let’s Talk, Part 4: Let’s Talk About Money (1/2)
Let’s Talk, Part 4: Let’s Talk About Money (1/2) Earning allows us to provide for our families, of course, but it also allows us to bless others and to help the Kingdom work. And knowing that everything is God’s to begin with helps us to better understand why giving is ultimately the first thing that we need to do with our money — and, frankly, our time and talents as well. [Our apologies — due to technical difficulties, the recording…
Let’s Talk, Part 3: Let’s Talk About Radical Truth
Let’s Talk, Part 3: Let’s Talk About Radical Truth Ultimately, in order to accomplish any of this — any of the perfect living, any of the commitment to radical truth telling, any commitment to faithfulness — we must be a people who stand firm in our faith in Jesus Christ. We must stand firm in our trust in His promises. We must stand firm in the gospel message. We must stand firm in the knowledge of scripture. We must stand…
Let’s Talk, Part 1: Let’s Talk About My Angry Heart
Let’s Talk, Part 1: Let’s Talk About My Angry Heart I believe this: THEIR need for Jesus is greater than YOUR need for respect. The world’s need for Christ is greater than your saying, “I deserve more. You’re offending me because I am better than that!” Well, you’re salt and light in a pretty dark world. And the world will constantly offend you. The world will always prop itself up as better than you. … Make a choice to not…
We are Family, Part 7: The Family Worships Together
We are Family, Part 7: The Family Worships Together The greatest thing about a family of faith coming to worship together is that we are literally a witness to the rest of the world of what Christ can do. And when we come into a relationship with him, worship is a witness of the gospel story, of a dead heart becoming new again. Download the PDF above to follow along with notes.
We are Family, Part 6: Single and Seeking
We are Family, Part 6: Single and Seeking Why is the gospel good news for those of us who are single—especially when we don’t necessarily really want to be? The gospel is good news because Jesus is pursuing you. … God sent Jesus to the cross to pursue a relationship with you, and He continues to pursue you. Jesus was obedient to that plan because He wants that relationship with you, too.
We are Family, Part 5: The Gospel of Dad
We are Family, Part 5: The Gospel of Dad Here’s how you need to dress for the job [of godly fatherhood]: you dress with humility. It’s like you walk out the door in the morning-time and instead of putting on a suit, to make sure everybody knows that I’m the boss, you put on a cloak of humility. … Your greatest need is to be the most humble man on the planet. Ephesians puts it this way: ‘Love your wife…
We are Family, Part 4: The Youths
We are Family, Part 4: The Youths To the students in the room: my hope and my prayer is that you will faithfully and boldy follow after Jesus and go to the world with [the] good news that He is Lord, because Jesus is better than anything the world has to offer. Family: the gospel is good news to the youth because it’s ultimately not about them; it’s about Jesus. Download the PDF above to follow along with notes.
We are Family, Part 3: Seniors
We are Family, Part 3: Seniors This is a temporary residence. If I’m going to grow in maturity as an older person—not just growing with grace, but growing with pure gospel presence in my life—I will live as a stranger, not as a permanent resident. … How pathetically sad [to think], “I’m a permanent resident on this earth and a stranger in eternity,” when in reality, as a disciple of Christ, it’s the exact opposite: I’m a stranger on this…