Wisdom is humility expressing itself in prayer. Prayer recognizes not only our need for God but also his ability and desire to meet those needs.

A personal encounter with Jesus is eternity altering. Jesus calls us to play a significant role in someone else's encounter.

We have been given the gift of community. True community is discovered in the middle of both the messes of life and the mission of Jesus.

To grow in worship, we need to intentionally develop thoughts about and toward Jesus that are true. We need to cultivate feelings about and toward Jesus that are stronger than anything else.

looking UP means studying your Bible, praying, giving and worshipping. Worship is responding to the greatness and glory of God in everything we think, say, and do, both personally and as the church.

When we discover the reality of God and the reality of our own ID we discover our purpose...Love God and Love Others.

Throughout the Christmas story as well as the rest of the Bible angels pop. Definitely UNEXPECTED. Who are they? What do they do? How does the spiritual world effect us today?

Prior to the first Christmas God's people suffered and waited. In the suffering and waiting their expectations of the coming Messiah were altered. Then Jesus is born and everything about Him is unexpected. We still suffer from the same altered expectations today. Jesus will not always be the god we want or expect Him to be but He is always the God we need Him to be.

The shepherds and wise men were unexpected guests at the birth of Jesus Christ. They represent an invitation to us all. For those that don't yet know him, the unexpected guests are an open-armed invitation to the family of God; for those that do know him they are an invitation to join Jesus in his work of glorifying God and growing His kingdom.

The role God gives us in HIS story will always stretch us in a way that requires us to rely on HIM and HIS people in humility. If we could accomplish it on our own, it wouldn’t be God’s Story.