Crossroads - Weekend Messages

Even if we’ve never acknowledged it, the reason words are so powerful is because they reveal what’s in our hearts...The worst part of regretting your words is knowing where your heart was at when you misspoke –– or knowing where someone else’s heart was at when they said what they did to you. Our words alter reality for people, and every time we open our mouths we have an opportunity to bring to life hope or hurt for someone else. In our new series, Sticks X Stones, let’s talk about the most powerful tool we all possess: our words.

Here’s something crazy: at the most basic level, being a follower of Jesus is about experiencing the blessing of God...Talk about a life upgrade! There’s two places we get hung up when it comes to God’s blessings: sometimes, we don’t want to let God bless us. Or if we do, sometimes we don’t work to bless others in turn. As we wrap up our journey through the Psalms of Ascent, we’re taking a deeper look at what it means to be blessed and to live a life that blesses others, too –– it’ll make a huge difference for all of us!

It’s not hard for any of us to imagine how unsafe life can feel sometimes: people hurt us, plans fall apart, we face problems we don’t know how to deal with. As we follow Jesus into unsafe territory, even if he doesn’t move the mountains for us, he climbs with us. And as his children, we know God will always hold us, comforting us in his arms, no matter what we go through. Because the God of the universe holds us, we can rest and experience real peace, no matter what’s going on around us.

Sorrow or feelings of overwhelm take a ton of energy...In fact, when things get really bad, it’s hard to think about anything else other than how badly we want something –– anything! –– to change. And that’s when it can be so tempting to take matters into our own hands and start living in a way that’s ultimately not God’s best for us...we can end up with serious regrets! The key to living out God’s best plan for our futures is to remember who God is and how he’s been faithful in the past. If we can remember rightly, we can live rightly too.

If you’re experiencing suffering that seems impossible to change, you’re the perfect candidate for a miracle. One of the amazing promises Jesus gives us in his Word is that sorrow is momentary. So if you’re facing impossible pain, you’re in the middle chapters –– God’s writing an end to your story that is beyond what you can imagine now, but is totally beautiful and full of joy. In this weekend’s message, we’ll journey together through the pain, with the expectation that God’s coming plans are way better than anything we can imagine now.

When times are hard, the worst thing is feeling alone. That’s why your support system is essential, and having people who can stand with you and for you helps. The beautiful thing for the follower of Jesus is we have the corner on the market for the best support system ever because God is our Great Defender. When we’re down, we can take encouragement in knowing God fights for us! Even if everything feels out of control to us, God is still in control and has better plans for us than we could dream up for ourselves.

If you don’t know your destination, it doesn’t matter what kinds of directions you’re using. But when you have a specific outcome in mind, you’ll follow whatever steps –– no matter how specific they are –– to get there. Our focus always determines what direction we take...so if we could just get our focus right, we’d know the right steps to take through life too. In this weekend’s message, we’ll zero in on what the BEST focus is, in any given situation.

Words have creative power. God spoke, and a universe was born! Jesus spoke, and the sick were healed, demons were cast out and the dead rose. Made in God’s image, our words have tremendous power too, both to build up and to tear down. That’s why it hurts so bad when someone uses words against us. In our new series, The Way Up, we’ll see the wordsmiths of the Bible using the artistic and creative power of words to glorify God and pray powerfully...with miraculous results.

When things have been tough for a while, following the Lord can start to feel like we’re just trudging through life. It’s tempting to take matters into our own hands in these moments. Or, if we’re set on being faithful and obedient, we might feel like God has only our duty, and not our delight, in mind. The beautiful thing about God is his best plans for us, although not always easy, always result in joy for his children. As we wrap up our journey alongside Elijah, we’ll see that God had a unique and inspiring conclusion for Elijah’s story in mind all along.