Bay Area Community Church

I once heard someone say, “Disappointment is inevitable. Discouragement is a choice.” All of us face disappointment in life. But what keeps us from discouragement? How do we – when our life is cratering around us – not lose heart? If anyone should have been discouraged, it would have been the Apostle Paul. Yet two times he says, “we do not lose heart.” Join us this Sunday and invite a friend in need of encouragement to learn what God’s Word says about how to overcome discouragement!

One out of twelve men are color blind. I’m one of them. Yesterday Mary Kaye asked me, “What color is my sweater?” To which I confidently responded, “brown.” “Nope,” she said, “It’s rust.” So much for me and colors. Sadly, when it comes to seeing the gospel of Jesus, many are color blind. Think of a loved one who, try as you might to tell them about Jesus, they just don’t see it. They are spiritually blind. Well, Paul has something to say about that in 2 Corinthians 4. Join us this Sunday as we learn how God wants to use us to help family and friends see “the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ.”

Have you ever gotten an unlimited subscription to something? Doesn't it feel so satisfying to know that you can keep going back and back, and there's no limit to the enjoyment you can get from it? Well, in this passage from 2 Corinthians 3, we'll see how God has given us an unlimited subscription to the power that can transform our lives - but many of us neglect that gift! I look forward to exploring this passage with you on Sunday!

Making passionate, maturing followers of Jesus from here to the nations is a big calling. Some of us might feel like running from the enormity of the challenge or developing some strategy to make it more achievable. However, as we'll see in this passage, our confidence to fulfill the mission of God comes from our realization that God alone gives us the ability to answer his call to make disciples. As Paul continues his campaign against self-reliance and pride in 2 Corinthians, we'll see how easy it is for us to slip into the very mindsets that Paul wrote to correct. See you Sunday!

We are wrapping up a wonderful Christmas season of remembering God's sovereignty over all things. As we enter 2022, how do we continue to have faith that God is in control of all things, a plan for all things, and is working all things together for good? The answer is by spending daily time with Jesus in His Word! That’s where Chapter A Day comes in. This tool is our gift to you. Your life will be blessed by God regardless of whatever challenges might come as you delight in and meditate on God’s Word. Join us online this Sunday at 9 or 10:45 a.m. as we dive into the "why" behind the journal, and head to our website to get a digital version of the first 10 days.

As we continue our Advent series “All Things,” the messages are building toward Christmas Eve and the birth of Jesus. Please invite your friends, not only this Sunday but especially to a Christmas Eve gathering! This Sunday we look at one of the most encouraging verses in the Bible, Romans 8:28: “And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.” All things: Everything in heaven and earth. All our failures and successes, all the good and bad we’ve done and experienced, all our daily frustrations and disappointments. All things are not good but God can cause all things to work together for good. Join us this Sunday as we discover from the life of Mary and Joseph how God works all things for good for those who love Him.

All of us experience disappointment in life. Disappointment can bring disillusionment which can lead us to doubt that God is there or that He cares for us. But God, sovereign over all things, orchestrates the way we should go and guides our feet in the way of peace. God’s plan is for a larger plan for redemption, and we will see an example of that in Elizabeth and Zachariah’s story. Join us this Sunday as we see how His plan, though much different from our plan, is always the best and brings Him the greatest glory.

Sometimes it feels like the world is whirling around us and we can’t find our footing. It is important in the midst of that to remember that God is in control of All Things. There is nowhere that we can go that is outside of God’s sovereignty, the magnitude of which is overwhelming yet encouraging. This idea can be exemplified in something like the aurora borealis – the magnitude of which is displayed across the night sky. From where you stand looking up it is all you see across the expanse and overwhelmingly beautiful. It’s the beautiful and expansive aurora that reminds us God is sovereign over all and in control of all things. Join us this Sunday as we kick off our Christmas series!