God WANTS to use YOU - don't let yesterday get in the way of tomorrow. We're to move forward: free - following after and focused on our Savior. (Hebrew 12:1-2)

We will never meet the BEST VERSION of ourselves inside our comfort zones. God can use chaos to mold and shape us. God moves towards us and He wants us to move towards the mess. Luke 10:25-37

Distance is a part of life - it can be measured, counted and even felt. But God doesn't like relational distance - so He put in motion a plan to bridge the gap of relational distance by sending Jesus. Jesus is the Good Shepherd who searches for everyone - because Each One matters. We're now to invite others closer to the Good Shepherd by leveraging our life: Found People help find people. *Parable of the Lost Sheep in Luke 15:1-7

In this week's parable Jesus is asked to play referee, but as our Savior he turns it and tells a story to highlight the pull of greed and to warn us about its dangers. The parable is the story of the Rich Fool (Luke 12:13-21). The problem wasn’t that the guy was rich or that he had extra – the problem was: he didn’t know WHY. Jesus challenges us to have our hearts shaped to match God's heart of generosity. Principle: when I’m blessed with MORE than I need – it’s to partner with God in blessing someone IN need.

In this week's parable, we're looking in the parable of the Sower and the Soils. It's found in Matthew, Mark and Luke's gospels. Jesus is driving home some truths around spiritual growth and vitality. The Sower sows extravagantly. The soil condition represent 4 conditions of the hearts that hear God's truth. We all need to tend to our heart condition to remain receptive to God's Word to change us. We're to join God as the Sower - to extravagantly sow his hope, grace and love into our 'here and now' in history.

Jesus is telling a story to challenge us to choose. What will we build our lives upon? Because we're all building a life – and it’s your foundation that matters most – adornments, accessories & architecture mean nothing if the foundation can't hold you up. It starts with a decision to choose Jesus over all other philosophies and plans available or offered. Growing your faith is the ongoing choosing to build your life on Jesus - his ways, his teachings, his life being the model & foundation, one decision at a time.

This series isn’t about trying to win an argument, this is about a conversation around the credibility of faith and the Jesus story. God is at work in the world and we're to join him. It is getting us to care about what God cares most about: PEOPLE. Inviting people into knowing they're loved and discover their way home into relationship with Jesus.

Maybe you've seen it in airports or online - those moments where people are reunited as one runs to another. Welcome home. There's something just so beautiful and right about those moments. As we continue our look into the Case for Christ - we see the narrative from Scripture, that Jesus' work was about making a way for humanity to 'come home' into relationship with our Creator. Jesus made a way for us to get HOME – into a relationship with God. Jesus made a way when there was NO WAY for us to make our own. THE QUESTION IS: Will you take a surrendered posture and accept the way Jesus made? Will you take him up on his offer and come HOME?

Happy Easter! As we continue our series around The Case for Christ and the opportunity we've been given to investigate the credibility of faith, we look at the reliability of the Resurrection. It's the lynchpin of all of Christianity. The Apostle Paul passes on the oldest creed we have in 1 Corinthians 15. We have overwhelming evidence to the reliability of the resurrection. Good Friday and Easter Sunday declare unashamedly and unequivocally: God loves YOU friend.

We all wrestle with things in our lives. For many, they wrestle with faith, and what priority it should play or if it should play a role in their life at all. We look tonight at Acts chapter 8 and someone who was encountering a spiritual sticking point in their journey and how God met them at their point of struggle. Friend, it is well worth your investment to seek out truth - to investigate Christ for yourself. If you'll turn in God's direction, you will discover that He has always been turned in yours. We hope this series on The Case for Christ will be a blessing to you.