If we are to be who God has created and called us to be, then we have to actually follow Jesus with our lives. The word that can often be used for this is disciple. Disciples follow in the footsteps of their teacher, so being a disciple of Jesus means letting him lead the way and following his example. His example is to love like him, live like him, make disciples of him. Join us as explore discipleship in week three of CMC Means.

Moving into Week 2 of CMC Means, we explore how what Jesus has done now impacts every part of our lives. When our identity is rooted firmly in Jesus, his grace connects to and transforms not just some things, but everything about us…and we’re compelled to now live differently because we’ve encountered him.

Stepping into this Fall, we’re starting off with a look at who we are as a church and as people saved by Jesus. One of the key questions often asked is “Who am I?”, but just as important (if not moreso) is the question “Whose am I?” Where our identity is rooted changes everything else that follows. And if the answer to “Whose am I?” is “I belong to Jesus”, then our identity is found fully in Him. Come with us as we navigate what CMC means.

Jesus not only told his disciples how to live invested in God’s kingdom, he also showed them by example and then invited them to be participants. As we wrap up our series Invested, we look outward and end with the question “Who are you investing in?”

One of the key places of investment in our everyday life is something we all interact with in one way or another, and a thing that some even say “makes the world go ’round”…money. In a world where buying and selling is the norm over bartering and trading, our finances becomes a primary way we interact with the world around us. It’s also something that Jesus teaches on regularly, as money has the ability to vie for our hearts and tempts us to trust it to provide for us instead of looking to God. Join us this week as we explore how to honor God with this ever-present aspect of our lives.

Continuing in our series Invested, another key place of investment we see depicted in Scripture is our talents, utilizing those abilities that God has blessed us with to participate in what He’s up to. It’s a matter of if we’re gifted, but how are we putting those gifts to use? Join us as we explore the call and invitation to put these gifts to use.

Time, that great equalizer, is something we can often feel in short supply of, as well as something we can seek to guard dearly. But do you see your time as an opportunity for investment? Looking through the pages of the bible, we see that our time is also a central aspect of following and obedience to God. Come with us as we explore where Jesus says our first place of investment should be.

A key teaching of Jesus revolves around what we value the most: is it ourselves, our plans, our security, even our family?…Or are we willing to place God, His kingdom and His purposes in the driver’s seat? If we want to know what it is we hold most dear, we look to what, where, and who we’re pouring into. Like Jesus said in Matthew 6:21 (NIV), “For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” Join us as we explore what it means, in Jesus’ terms, to invest well.

As we come to the close of Judges, we truly do come to an epic tragedy of events occurring over the final three chapters. Circumstances within Israel have gotten far worse than any man could have foreseen, and morality has declined to a shocking scale and at a phenomenal speed. But even in these most hopefully and disheartening of events, the story isn’t over and God’s plan hasn’t faltered one bit.

Continuing on in Judges, we wrap up the life of Samson, the last of the judges in the book. After years and years of movement in the wrong direction and without any regard for God, Samson at the end of his life and after he had lost everything else (including his sight), takes a consequential step back to God with a true act of submission and surrender. Join us as we look once more at the tragedy that is Samson’s life, and along the way asking ourselves the question, “What’s our next step?”