99 CHURCH

A healthy community is often marked by a culture of encouragement. Encouragement is what the Gospel feels like as it moves from one believer to another. This week, we explore the power of encouragement and what the Korean word "Nunchi" teaches us about togetherness.

Why is it so hard to cultivate and maintain deep, meaningful relationships in our lives? Why do we continue to walk through life isolated and alone, trying to figure it out on our own? One of the greatest dangers the American Church faces in our day is extreme individualism. We are socialized to believe that our needs are more important than the needs of the community. How do we recover the togetherness of the early Church when the Church was a family?

In seasons of transition, how do we move onto what’s next well? As we explore the story of Joshua and the Israelites crossing over the Jordan, we discover God’s heart for our community in this moment.

Life has a way of hardening us. And if we're not careful, the struggles, disappointments, and burdens of life end up hardening our hearts. Calloused hearts keep us from experiencing God moving in and through us in our everyday lives. The question is, how do we remain tender? How do we keep an open heart to God in the face of disappointment and hardship?

Spontaneity is a polarizing term, especially in today's day and age. Everyone wants to forecast and fulfill their goals without factoring in the idea of unpredictability. Have you ever thought about how God had blessed you in the most unconventional, random moments? Do you ever think in hindsight that God simply puts you where He needs you to be when He needs you to be there? Perhaps there is some value in creating space for spontaneity, so the Spirit can help you bear fruit from your faith.

As we experience many different seasons throughout the year, so does our faith. Understanding what season you're in spiritually, informs what expectations you should have and what posture you should take. This week, we explore the six stages of faith, as we seek to understand where we are in our journey of formation and how God calls us to live in our particular season.

We are addicted to our plans. We are often obsessed with needing to know every facet, every detail of where God is leading us. But are we able to trust God, even when we don’t know what His plan is? Are we able to trust God, even when we don’t like His plan? When it looks so different than what we thought it would be. Scripture never tells us to place our trust in God’s plan, but to place our trust in God Himself. We are to be a people who choose to seek God’s presence over His plans.

The ultimate goal of emotionally healthy spirituality is to grow in love for people. Love is the mark of maturity. Love is the mark of wholeness. Without love, we've missed the point. What does it look like to embody love like Jesus? How do we love people well?

God reveals that His Kingdom vision of the multiethnic Church has intention, power and potential for us—as His followers individually, but more importantly for us collectively as His body of believers. Not just in our current context—but around the world.

Maybe you’ve heard it said: “You can do anything you set your mind to.” Or, “If you believe it, you can achieve it.” But are those things really true? Can we really do or become anything we’d like? Limits are a part of the human experience. A core part of becoming an emotionally healthy disciple of Jesus is learning to embrace and live within our God-given limits. We come to discover that our limits are actually God’s gifts to us in disguise. This week, we explore the limits we’re called to embrace, the limits we’re called to break through, and the boundaries we need to set to live faithfully within our limits.