99 CHURCH

Stories have the power to shape our world. Stories shape our culture, our values, our dreams and ideals. They teach us about love and friendship and courage and hope. It's significant that the way God chooses to reveal Himself to us is through the story of Scripture. What if the stories we carry aren't just for ourselves? What would happen if we could create a culture where our stories of God moving were shared and shared often? This week, we explore beauty through the lens of story and how God uses our stories to increase His activity in our lives.

Flowers are commonly associated with beauty. We enjoy them because they're beautiful to look at and touch and smell. But what can flowers teach us about the Gospel? As a floral designer, guest speaker Sammy Go shares his unique perspective about what flowers teach us about God, about ourselves, and about the order of creation itself.

One of the greatest challenges we face in our spiritual lives is learning how to remain childlike while growing up. You never have to convince children that they're creative. Yet somewhere along the way, so many of us get disconnected from our creative nature. How do we tap into the childlike wonder and creativity we once had? And what would it mean for our lives, for our world?

Most of us don't have a problem seeing God as beautiful, but we really struggle seeing beauty within ourselves. How different would our lives look if "beautiful" wasn't a status to be earned, but simply something we already are? We are God's living masterpieces. Our lives are a work of art. When we live with that awareness, it changes everything.

When considering Christian faith and practice, we often ask, "Is it true?" or "Is it good?" But what about, "Is it beautiful?" Along with apologetics and ethics, there is also an aesthetic to the Gospel. Christianity needs not only to be defended as true or good, it also needs to be presented as beautiful. Beauty is integral to the Gospel message. But what is it that makes our faith so beautiful? This week we explore the beauty that saves the world.

We conclude our Vocation collection by hearing stories and insights from people within our community. Vanessa Liu, Dan Fang, and Jonathan Yun open up about how they discovered their callings and what they learned along the way.

[Unfortunately, due to technical difficulties, the first 10 minutes of the discussion is not available. Sorry for the inconvenience.]

If we were to be brutally honest, work has become the most important thing in many of our lives. Instead of offering up our work to God as worship, we've made work the object of our worship. Work has become our American idol. This week, we explore what happens when we make work our idol and how we can reorient it to be an expression of worship unto God.

Why do we work? Is it just to earn a paycheck? Is it just to fund the lifestyles we want to live? Perhaps there’s something more. What if God gave work to us not as a curse, but as a gift? What if God gave work to us not for His benefit, but for ours? This week, we explore the relationship between faith and work, as we uncover the sacred in our vocations.

Do you live with a vision for your life? People with purpose are powerful people who change the world. What if we could be a people who live with deep and meaningful purpose? Dr. Deborah Loyd joins us to answer some of these questions as we continue in our Vocation collection.

What is my purpose? Why do I exist? Why did God create me? Finding the right answers to these questions changes everything. Yet, so many of us have such a distorted understanding of our purpose. There is a big difference between those who live their lives trying to earn God's favor and those who live knowing they already have it.