Blaze Church

Do You Believe - What do we do when life doesn't go the way you planned for it to go? When hope is lost? How do you cope? Brokenness is a sure thing in this life. Jesus entered a broken situation. One of his friends died. During this tragedy, Jesus repeated this one word: believe. He asked his followers, people who were hurting, and the crowds one question: Do you believe? That is the question Jesus asks us today. When we believe, brokenness breaks!

Good Friday 2018 - We are used to conditional promises. I will, if you. That is why we get so skeptical when we hear the words "unconditonal" or "guaranteed." On the night before Jesus was crucified, He said, "I'm making a new promise." The question is, what kind of a promise was it? What were the terms and conditions? And why does it matter today? We discover the answer in what Jesus says as He celebrated the Passover meal with His disciples.

Better Part 6 - When we experience fear, we choose a response. Some of us run. Some of us freeze. Some of us fight. But do any of those responses work? Through the story of David and Goliath we discover a fourth response to fear. The people of Israel placed their FAITH in David. When he won, they won. Jesus rode into Jerusalem to win our victory against sin and death. Because Jesus conquered death, we can fear differently, and know that he will defeat whatever we face.

Better Part 5 - All throughout our day, there are opportunties for us to look down on other people. We elevate ourseleves because of what we've done, who we are, where we come from, our beliefs, or any reason we can find to say, "I'm better and more deserving than you are." Nationalism, racism, sexism, and a whole bunch of other "ism's" exist. God hates it. And so do you! Jonah was so proud of his Jewish background, that he could not celebrate God loving people who hurt him and were not like him. He would rather die, than live in a world with his enemies. We discover that Jesus came to this world to die, so that his enemies could live. God asked Jonah, "Can I show mercy to all people?" That is the question each of us have to answer today.

Better Part 4 - We all have areas of our life that we desperately try to control. We can't imagine trusting God with our relationships, time, or money. Why don't we trust God? Because of our view of Him. Today we see in the story of Abraham and Isaac that Abraham chose to open his hand and trust God because he believed God would provide. When we open our hand, we are able to experience the provision of God and live a life free of worry.

Better Part 3 - All relationships involve pain. What do you do when there is a fracture between you and someone else? How do you fix it? The only fix is forgiveness. We can have so many reasons not to forgive someone. Today, we discover the one reason to forgive. Forgiven people forgive people. The forgiveness that Jesus bought us is our reason to forgive and fix the fractures around us.

Better Part 2 - At some point in your life, maybe someone told you "God loves you." You might have read it on a flyer, or on a poster at a baseball game, or maybe a family member or friend told you that. You hear it a lot, but do you believe it? Today we explore what it means to personally believe, "God loves me." That truth is life-changing. We look at the story of Adam and Eve and see what happens when we forget that truth. Thankfully, when the great lie, "God doesn't love you" entered the world, so did the God's greater truth, "Yes I do!"

Better Part 1 - Insecurity and confusion are normal emotions. We constantly wonder, "Am I good enough? Do they like me? Why don't I understand?" That's how we relate to other people, and how we relate to God. The reason why we feel insecure is because we are focused on ourselves. If we change the focus, insecurity dies. Too often we approach God, faith, church, and the Bible and focus on us. But Jesus said, "Everything is about me." By realizing that every page, every command, and every story is about Jesus, we are free from our insecurity and confusion. We can begin to live free lives.

On Tuesday, February 13, 2018, we gathered to celebrate all that God did in 2017, and cast vision for where we are going as a church in 2018!

Home Part 4 - Your relationship with your parents is foundational to every other relationship. We were born looking for their acceptance, love, and approval. The problem is that we can't receive those things unconditionally from any person. When we don't get what we need, we refuse to honor mom and dad. This impacts how we relate to others and God. In Jesus, we are invited to know a perfect Father who loves and accepts unconditionally because of the work of Christ. We are free to remove our parents as "god" in our lives, and begin honoring them.