Pastor Ben shares the vision for youth and children's ministries for 2017. He uses this vision to challenge us in our continuing to grow in the areas of learning, service, and leadership.

Our church is preparing for a three-night prayer revival. The Bible frequently correlates fasting and prayer and demonstrates that the two working in tandem are powerful in drawing us into a closer walk with God so that we can see His will and open a pathway to receiving His blessing. Often, our thoughts on fasting are not Biblical, however... Fasting is not a form of self-punishment, nor is it a way to somehow "pay" for our sin. Fasting is not something unpleasant that God forces on His people - rather, it is an invitation He extends that we can choose to accept; when we fast, we put aside ourselves and devote more time to prayer and fellowship with God. Listen to Pastor Dennis explain the spiritual invitation of fasting in this sermon. Scriptures used: Acts 13:1-4; Ecclesiastes 5:2; Acts 14:23; Isaiah 58:6; Luke 18; Matthew 17:14-20. (Pay special attention to an alternative look at this final passage in Matthew at the end of the sermon!)

This week, Pastor Doug takes us through six concepts that should shape our everyday lives. We are to know God's story, listen to His plan for us, fellowship with and bless others, celebrate His accomplishments, and rest in His glory.

Prayer is our personal connection to God and is vastly important to our Christian life. But many of us struggle with prayer. We generally know how to do it, but we may be missing out on a deeper kind of prayer that comes from the Spirit.

As we begin 2017, Hamilton George challenges our resolutions. Are we resolving to help ourselves, or should we resolve every day to follow the will of God? Hamilton walks us through what the standards that Jesus sets for us, and how we can effectively live for God's plan.

As we wrap up the Advent series, Pastor Doug speaks about love. We need to be vulnerable to accept and to show love. We get to experience the love that God has for us, and we get to spread that love to others.

Hezekiah was a righteous ruler, repairing the temple of God and restoring the house of prayer, removing the filth and garbage from the site to prepare it for God and His people. This serves as a lesson to us, as we are now the temple of God.

At this time of year, we often think of joy as a synonym for happiness. We, as Christians, then think that since we are to be full of joy, that we should also be happy at all times. This week, Pastor Doug looks at joy from an eternal perspective. We are allowed to be anxious at times, but need to derive our deepest joy in the coming of Jesus.

The temple of God was built to be a house of prayer. When Jesus entered it and found men selling doves for sacrifice, and profit, He rebuked them. Our service to God is not an avenue for personal gain, but to help Him make gains in His kingdom.