RIVER DEEP: Worship Our emotional, spiritual, and even physical health reflects where we invest our energy, our time, our money, and our hope. In short, our lives reflect what we worship. While most of us do not intentionally choose to worship our jobs, relationships, our mortgage, or our retirement fund, we may be surprised to realize how many things we allow to determine our sense of well-being and fulfillment before listening to the voice of the One who matters most. As we continue our new year series River Deep this week, we will be looking at how we cultivate a deep faith through genuine worship.

RIVER DEEP: Beyond the Banks of Shallow Faith Join us as we begin our new series in a beautiful passage from Ezekiel 47. Over the next few weeks, we will get a picture of the faith that God desires for us; one that saturates our relationships with God, our communities, and out to the rest of the world.

IN ____ WE TRUST: Generosity Though researchers unanimously agree that humans are hard-wired to learn language, those of us who have studied (and forgotten) foreign languages know that we are also prone to losing what we don’t use. As we see throughout Scripture and specifically in the life of Jesus, generosity is the language of the Kingdom of God. Generosity is how God expresses his character to us, and how he reveals his will for our lives. But like every other language, we can only grow in generosity by practicing it. This Sunday we are going to wrap up our series “In ______ We Trust” by looking ahead and exploring what it takes to make generosity a habit that lasts.

IN ____ WE TRUST: Get Rich God invites us to become generous givers because he gives generously to us. Consider how you can invest you time, talent, and treasure into others this month.

IN ____ WE TRUST: Being Rich It was supposed to be a magical tour, but seeing Violet Beauregarde swell to the size of a giant blueberry was not what they had in mind. One of five Golden Ticket winners in Roald Dahl’s Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Violet wins the opportunity to tour Willy Wonka’s chocolate factory with the candy tycoon himself. But along the way, her curiosity (or greed) gets the best of her and she snatches a piece of gum only to discover one very unintended consequence. While not in such an obvious way, our own desire to clutch on to things—our greed—changes us as well. Sociologists and researchers have confirmed what Scripture has long told us: greed warps the way we see ourselves, each other, and God. Today we are continuing our series “In ______ We Trust” by looking at the things we often fill the blank with. But just as our greed changes us, so does God’s grace, as he transforms us from people chasing riches to those who give richly.

IN ____ WE TRUST: The Test By all accounts, John Stuart Mill was a smart man. He was a writer, politician, social scientist, and considered one of the most influential English speaking philosopher of the 19th century. Yet for all of his contributions, there was one question he couldn’t find an answer to—Where does generosity come from? As a utilitarian, Mill believed that every human action was motivated by selfishness. But generosity didn’t seem to fit into this assumption. Today, commentators like Richard Dawkins believe that generosity is a learned human trait we have developed to build social bonds. But Scripture says it is because we are made in God’s image. His generous spirit is hard-wired into our DNA. God invites us to be generous because he is generous. Join us as we begin a brand new message series called “In What We Trust” and take a look at the relationship between our faith and our finances.

CHURCH IS DEAD: Church is Hypocritical Just as German philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche once proclaimed that “God is Dead,” we live in a culture that increasingly believes the Christian Church, and everything it represents, is dead.  I’m no philosopher, but I have to politely disagree.  That’s because this Sunday we have the opportunity to open the doors to another Flood Church campus in Encinitas, creating more space for our friends, family, co-workers, and neighbors to experience the living God.  I can’t think of a better way to conclude our series “To Those Who Believe Church is Dead."  Just as God is not dead, his family on earth, the Church, is alive and well when people like you and I listen and respond to him each day to bring his Kingdom in heaven here on earth.  I have been so encouraged by the thoughts, reflections, and questions this series has stirred at Flood and I’m so excited to celebrate the truth that God’s family is alive and well with you tomorrow.

CHURCH IS DEAD: Church is Shallow We all have experienced moments where things aren’t what they seem. In fact, one of the major reasons why many steer clear of the Church is because of experiences where those that claim to be followers of Jesus end up revealing a sever lack of spiritual depth. Join us tomorrow as we continue our series Church is Dead by exploring how we become people marked by a faith that is more than skin deep.

CHURCH IS DEAD: Church is Too Political "Church is too Political" is an opinion that too often keeps people away from the Church. This week we dive into that topic with a great message by Pastor Adam Klekowski.

CHURCH IS DEAD: Church is Discriminatory At the height of the Civil Rights Movement in the 1960s, Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. popularized a phrase that continues to stand as a challenge to the Christian Church: "Eleven o'clock on Sunday morning is the most segregated hour of America." While much has changed since the days of legalized segregation, the sober truth is that many of the divisions and tensions that exist in our society also exist in our church communities. And for many of us in majority cultures, we can often be blind to the lived experiences of our brothers and sisters from minority groups. We are excited for you to hear from Ed Barron this Sunday. Ed is a long-time friend of Flood and someone who is passionate about breaking down the persistent barriers within our culture and in our churches that prevent us from experiencing the fullness of God’s family.