Awakening Church

It seems our country is more divided than ever with a growing polarization between Republicans and Democrats, Liberals and Conservatives. Hot topic issues like immigration and climate change are used as weapons to entrench each group in their proverbial corner. How are followers of Jesus to respond and engage when it comes to politics in these divide states?

To close the series, we go back to the passage before the famous “salt and light” passage in order to understand the implications of living this way. Jesus tells us we are “blessed” when others revile us “for your reward is great in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.” On MLK weekend, we want to think about what it looks like to live a prophetic witness, and what the implications might be for the church.

"You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.”

Matthew 5:14-16

In Jesus’ day, salt was primarily used as a preservative for meat, it was ground and ingrained into the food in order to keep it fresh. In a similar way, Christians are to live “in the world but not of it”. How are we, like salt, to be “ingrained” in our culture and yet distinct from it?

Join us for a candlelight service on Christmas Eve at 4pm.

As a reminder, there will be no Awakening church services next Sunday, December 30th. We hope you enjoy time with your loved ones!

We would like to think that those who desire peace would be promoted, but human history would tell a very different story. We do not naturally seek peace, nor do we naturally receive the truth of God. What happens when we dedicate ourselves to being “peacemakers?” We certainly receive the blessing of God, but what happens when we don’t receive the blessing from the world?

There is a way of life that is counter-intuitive and counter-cultural that brings about human flourishing. What if the path to flourishing was found in the mercy we give and not the money we make? What if happiness had more to do with ones character than their capacity? Jesus invites us to reconsider what we bless up that we might experience life to the full.

Our American culture says, blessed are the successful, the rich and powerful, the Instagram famous. Blessed are those who are able to do what they want, whenever they want. If this is true, why is it then that we as a culture are never truly satisfied or content? Could it be that what the world blesses up actually pulls us away from the flourishing life? In the greatest sermon ever given, Jesus flips the paradigm upside down for those who are truly blessed and flourishing. Join us for episode 2 of Bless Up as Jesus teaches us how to be fully satisfied.

Jesus Christ’s central message was the “good news about the kingdom of God,” which was all about flinging wide the doors to heaven. If the doors to God are wide open, and if our own order of the world doesn’t matter anymore, what does? Losing our own superiority and identifying our need for God will help us receive Jesus’ great blessing, which is waiting for all.

Being thankful usually comes after we have received something first. We tend to think that gratitude is a something we give to somebody else. In this standalone sermon we’ll explore the power of expressing thankfulness and how God uses gratitude as a gift in our lives.