Today, Jay gets us ready for Sunday's service on Peace.

Most people, even those who don't follow Jesus, acknowledge our need for hope. However, without God, what is hope? Is it possible to have true hope without Jesus? This Christmas season, let's remember the source of true hope: the life, death and resurrection of Jesus. Because of His great love for us, we can have true hope in this life. No matter what we are facing our hope is anchored in Jesus. 

Today, John talks about what hope looks like and how we can give hope to other people.

On day 3 of our Advent series, Jared talks, and sings, about how all of our hope is in Jesus.

Today, Monica talks about having hope even in the darkest of times.

Psalm 147:3 He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds. 

Isaiah 61:3 To all who mourn in Israel, he will give a crown of beauty for ashes

Jeremiah 29:11 For I know the plans I have for you, declares the LORD

Beka kicks off our Advent series and talks to us about what hope means to her. 

This week we welcome, Dr. Rob Palkovitz as he shares from his new book, 
“A Place Prepared”. Rob encourages us to live our lives from a place of abundant love and acceptance in God. He challenges us to live our lives in step with the Spirit and not in our own strength. Rob calls this living from an “orphan spirit”. Instead, we can learn to live from a place of being a child of God! Each of us is fully loved, accepted and known. Living out of this truth changes your life!

At the core of our faith is the discipline of prayer. Paul encourages us to “stand firm” in our faith, and one of the main ways we can do that is by cultivating a life of prayer. Everyone can pray, but it can be easy to get discouraged. In what ways can you increase your prayer life today?

We are all being influenced by the people and culture around us. The question is, are we being influenced on purpose or on accident? Are we choosing who and what has influence on us? Or are we inadvertently following people who do not line up with the teachings of Jesus? Are we helping others get closer to Jesus? Or are we wasting our influence? In this teaching, Christian challenges each of us to pursue being and influence like Jesus. In doing so, we will influence those in our lives for His glory!  

Why do we go to church? Why do we attend small groups? Why do we serve? Why should we be generous? Are we just checking boxes? Have we gotten into the routine of doing all these things so much that we’ve forgotten what’s driving us? This week we look at a powerful passage where Paul tells us simply what it’s all about: knowing Jesus. Together, let's rediscover the simple truth about why we do all of these things. Jesus doesn't ask us to follow a list of rules rather, He gives us opportunities to demonstrate His love to us and others. In doing these things, He wants to draw us close to Him. His desire is for us to have a deep relationship with Him.