The Story - Matthew 5-7; 9; 14; Mark 4-6; Luke 10; 15; John 6: No ordinary man. C.S. Lewis has become legendary with his comment that you can't conclude that Jesus was just a great teacher or a good moral man … He was either who he said He was (Lord) or a deceptive man (liar) or a crazy man (lunatic). This weekend we'll look closer at the extraordinary nature of who Jesus was and what He came to accomplish. We can embrace the amazing reality of who Jesus was and live a remarkable life … or we can minimize the truth of His life and live a pretty mediocre life. The choice is ours. Come and join us this weekend and consider why we should never settle for an ordinary Jesus. Come and celebrate the wonder of Spring this weekend at Foothills. Grace and joy to you! Pastor Ian - Lead Pastor

The Story - Matthew 11; Mark 1-3; Luke 8; John 1-4: One of the interesting themes that has surfaced over and over again throughout The Story is that God longs to get up close and personal with those He made in His image. In fact, ever since things went sideways way back in Eden, God has made all kinds of attempts to do just that. He sent angelic messengers to Abraham and Sarah; He appeared to Moses in a flaming shrub; He displayed His glory to the newly freed Israelites on Mount Sinai; He had them build the Ark and the Tabernacle to assure them of His presence; He raised up Judges and Prophets, appeared in dreams and visions, gave them the Law and the Temple. But the ultimate way God got up close and personal with humanity was by sending His one and only Son, Jesus – to walk and live among us – as one of us. Come this weekend to discover how our lives can be forever altered when we encounter Jesus up close and personal. Pastor Scott

The Story - Matthew 3 & 4: I'm so excited about this weekend as we move into the New Testament in our journey through The Story! All of the Old Testament has been pointing towards God's redemptive plan for the world, and now we will begin to discover more perfectly the heart of this plan. For God so loved the world (you and I) that he gave His one and only Son … Even while we were still sinners (living independent of God and His will for our lives) … Jesus died for us. The only thing God asks for in exchange for our sin, and the punishment we deserve for it, is our allegiance; our trust; our love. We'll talk about the defining moment in the commencement of Jesus' public ministry (his baptism) and all that it means for us today. Who knows? This weekend might just be a defining moment in your spiritual journey … an opportunity for you to go public in your walk with God! You have to be here this weekend! It's going to be amazing! Pastor Ian

The Story - Ezra 7; Nehemiah 1-2; 4; 6-8; Malachi 1-4;: It's my favorite book in the Bible (assuming we're allowed to have favorite books!), Nehemiah. Everything we face in life shows up here. Conflict - fear - disappointment - discouragement. But overlapping all those realities is hope and grace and joy! This weekend, we complete the Old Testament portion of The Story and be reminded of God's faithful intervention in our lives. We'll reflect on prayer and the role it plays in our stories. We'll bring our brokenness and places of vulnerability to the One who loves perfectly and restores gracefully. It will be a fantastic weekend! So look forward to being together. Grace and peace to you, Pastor Ian - Lead Pastor P.S. Just a reminder, I am only speaking Sunday morning from Nehemiah. Saturday night, we have a guest speaker from the Faith Beyond Belief Conference, who will be speaking on the subject of Can we trust the Story? It might be a great weekend to come to the Church twice or to catch us on Livestream.

The Story - Esther 1-9: Right place … right time. We all have stories about divine encounters that shape our stories. We probably have a few wrong place - wrong time tales to tell too! What is the role of circumstance in our lives? What role did it play in the unfolding wonder of God's divine story? From the life of the beautiful Queen Esther and then from the Lord's amazing table, we will be reminded that God's timing is always perfect. Solomon said it this way: He makes all things beautiful in His time. Come and be encouraged with the trustworthiness of God and how He prepares us for such a time as this. It will be a great weekend! Grace and peace to you, Pastor Ian

The Story - Ezra 1-6; Haggai 1-2; Zechariah 1; 8: Sovereignty. It's a big word. It can be a confusing word. Is God really sovereign over all my life? Can He be trusted all the time? What about when things go sideways? What about life in the land of exile? This weekend in The Story we pick up with the Israelites, God's sovereign hand upon them, and the journey to re-connect with the Holy Land that God had promised them. It was a tough 70 year journey in exile … but God's good purposes are never ultimately thwarted in our lives. He's good. He's kind. He's at work. We need to trust Him and the evidence to do so is remarkable! I look forward to worshiping with you as we celebrate God's sovereign reign over our lives. See you on the weekend!

The Story - Daniel 1-3; 6; Jeremiah 29-31: Legendary UCLA basketball John Wooden is arguably remembered as the greatest coach in the history of sports. He was always about teaching his players more than just basketball skills. He mentored those he coached. Perhaps my favorite Wooden truth are his words: Be more concerned with your character than your reputation, because your character is what you really are, while your reputation is merely what others think you are. This weekend in The Story, we find ourselves encountering Daniel and his famous friends. We'll talk about prayer and courage and conviction but at the end of the day, the focus will be character … who we are when no one is looking. It will be a great weekend and we might even have a very special guest join with us! Bless you all! Pastor Ian

The Story - 2 Kings 21; 23-25; 2 Chron 33; 36; Jer 1-2; 4-5; 13; 21; Lam 1-3; 5; Ezek 1-2; 6-7; 36-37; Rom 2:1-10: Our neighbors to the south are experiencing a very different kind of leader and all the implications of this change. As The Story progresses, we move from a godly leader to a series of very different leaders. With one exception, each of them fell down. Ultimately, the nation of Judah fell too; they were exiled into captivity. When we see their stories we can see our story in their lives and how we too can fall down. We, like the people of God, can also experience exile, displacement and feelings of hopelessness. Yes, all fall down. Yet as far as we fall, there is always hope, there is always a way back, the story of your life is still being written! Pastor Clint

The Story - 2 Kings 17-19; Isaiah 3; 6; 13-14; 49; 53;: Ebbs and flows … ups and downs … we're all familiar with but who, really, prefers down to up! Downward … downtrodden … downturns … no one likes those words! Upward and onward is so much more appealing! Israel's history is filled with all kinds of highs and lows but there was a common factor in all of them: The loving presence and intervention of God. In all of our stories, we face great moments and not-so-great times. But God is in the midst of them all and we'll see that powerfully again this weekend and we consider more the role and voice of the prophet in directing the people of God. If you are facing some challenging times, this weekend will provide much hope and help for the journey. If life is good and great right now, you'll be inspired to stay on that path. Chapter 16 of The Story may seem a little discouraging, but there are fantastic moments of truth and hope that prevail.

The Story - 1 Kings 17-19; 2 Kings 2; 4; 6; Hosea 4-5; 8-9; 14; Amos 1; 3-5; 9: Every once in a while, life has a way of overwhelming us. We get busy. We get distracted. We feel inadequate. We lose hope. Sometimes, we even feel like we’ve lost God in the journey. What do we do then? This weekend, from chapter 15 of The Story, we encounter the reality that we are a pretty distractible people living in a pretty distracting world. We all have limits to our capacity to pay attention to God but we’ll wondrously be reminded that God is with us, God is for us, God still speaks to us and God still intervenes. God is here. God is enough.