It’s much easier to maintain faith when our lives are going well. But what happens when our circumstances take a turn for the worst? How do we keep pressing on in our faith? Hebrews 12:1-3 shows us that when we set our sights on our Savior, we find the strength to persevere.

We talk about faith a lot as Christians. But what is faith? Is it just believing that God exists? Or is it something more? Hebrews 11 shows us that faith actively changes the way we live. That’s because faith is confidence that God is who he says he is and will do what he says he will do.

A life of faith will always begin with a decision of faith - a moment where we cross the line from fan to FOLLOWER. Then it's a lifetime of following, continued each day with renewing and realigning our commitment for the journey with Jesus.

Our culture craves and promotes comfort at all costs. It's not that comfort is a bad thing, but could it become dangerous to have too much comfort? Jesus invites us to pursue the way of the cross over the way of comfort. Comfortable Christianity wasn't the primary goal for the crucified Christ. Friends, Jesus is much more interested in getting us into a growth zone than comfort zone.

Not a Fan 03 – May 15th 2016

Jesus extended the invitation to be his follower not to the elite, but to everyone and anyone. He got rid of the long list of prerequisites; he did away with the standard application process. And friends - the Church should do the same. In eliminating the qualifications, Jesus also got rid of all the excuses. He calls to anyone, but He asks for everything.

In every healthy relationship, there comes moments where we assess, evaluate and make decisions about the future. Some call it the DTR - define the relationship moment. There were a couple such moments where Jesus had similar conversations with his followers. Tonight, we examine them and allow them to challenge us to whether we've settled in to just being a fan of Jesus or a follower.

We conclude our series all about the CHANGING work that God wants to do in our lives. It begins with a change only God can do and then it's the ongoing work of God we get to lean into. Tonight, we'll examine a picture of what a changed life begins to look like as the Apostle Paul unpacks some markers to look for in Romans 12.

There comes times in our following Jesus where we may feel like we stall out in our spiritual journey, in those moments, keep going to keep growing. Spiritual growth is not meant to be stunted or stall - it IS about making progress. Progress Perfection. Find your next step and then take it with God empowering you.

Tonight we launch our new series all about the CHANGING work that God wants to do in our lives. It begins with a change only God can do and then the ongoing work we get to lean into. Real spiritual change begins with new life and is a process, not a destination.