Awakening Church

This Sunday we continue our Sacred Rhythms series on the topic of PRAYER. Centered around the Lord’s Prayer, join us as we unpack 5 prayer practices that help us develop intimacy with God.

You are created to have a personal relationship with your Heavenly Father. Prayer is the pathway to experiencing intimacy with God. The problem is for most people, prayer remains a mystery. What do you pray? When should you pray? How do you pray? As a result, it becomes a duty and drudgery rather than life-giving and soul-shaping.

Join us for Episode 2 of Sacred Rhythms as we discover how to grow deeply in our relationship with our God through the sacred rhythm of prayer.

We live in a fast paced, high pressure, results oriented area. In Silicon Valley everything has to be bigger, faster, better. And so we live rushed, hurried lives that leave us feeling empty and running on fumes. Is there any way to experience a new normal that is actually life-giving and soul refreshing in the midst of all the chaos? In our Sacred Rhythms series, Jesus invites us to embrace 4 spiritual practices that have the power to bring life in the midst of a soul sucking world.

Enjoy this special message from Chip Ingram, founder of Living on the Edge.

Jesus said, “Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you.”

That sounds nice but it is not realistic. How do you love the friend who betrayed you? How do you love your ex who stabbed you in the back? How do love the boss or coworker who has gone out of his/her way to make your life miserable? How do you love the person whose spread lies about you? How do you love your enemy? Or better yet, why love my enemy?!

What is at the heart of Jesus’ command and how do we live it out today?

We hold these truths to be self-evident— You have the right to LIFE, so live life how you want. You have the right to LIBERTY, so don’t let anyone infringe on your freedoms. And you have the right to pursue HAPPINESS, so do whatever makes you feel good. And then there is Jesus’ controversial invitation– “Lay down your rights and follow me.”

Jesus declares this is the pathway to discovering true life, liberty and happiness. Could it be that the tight grip we have on our rights has actually kept us from truly experiencing life?

How difficult is it for us to do what we say we will do? Jesus’ teaching that our “yes” should simply mean “yes,” sounds easy on the surface. But the more we examine our life, we will see our failure to keep commitments. We make excuses for not following through, we love the word “maybe,” and we make up stories to get out of things last minute. Jesus’ teaching shows us how our commitments to others should be based on our character. Could it be that in keeping our commitments to God and others, our life will flourish?

Jesus’ redefinition of marriage was so controversial that in his day even his own disciples said, “If this is how it is, then it is better to avoid marrying in the first place.” The disciples’ words echo the view many today hold towards marriage. Is marriage just an antiquated tradition from a by-gone age? What is marriage all about? What is God’s vision for marriage and why is it important?

We live in a culture where your sexuality has come to define your identity. Desire is sacred and ultimate. And anything that stands in the way of desire is evil. And yet the deep longing for intimacy persists and is left unmet. Could there be an intrinsic connection between love, sex, and God that we have missed?

“Behold, how good and pleasant it is when brothers dwell in unity!” Psalms‬ ‭133:1‬

We’re called to love one another, but what do we do when we are overcome with anger? This week as we continue our Controversial Jesus series, we’ll be taking a deeper look into what anger actually is and isn’t — and what we are called to do with our anger.

How do we Biblically solve conflict in a way that leads to healthy resolution?

Join us as look at anger through the lens of Jesus’ powerful words during the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 5.