If I have to produce I am unable to receive. On the first Christmas God had a message of hope for unlikely characters. God shows us to the ancient equivalent of Christmas Vacation's Cousin Eddie, and says he has good news. Will we allow ourselves to receive the hope that comes with good news or will we try to produce hope on our own?

What do you do with the gap between where you are and where you want to be. Many of us feel we can't be hero makers without getting our lives perfectly in order. But Paul tells us we just need to start.

Paul tells the Thessalonians church to stay away from sexual sin. What is he talking about? What does the Bible teach about sex?

What are you capable of?

Do you want to break a generational pattern of anger?

Do you feel God is calling you to take a risk but you feel fear?

How do we maximize our capacity? One answer is suffering. Suffering maximizes our capacity, and most of us avoid suffering? Hero makers show us love while we suffer. Love makes us brave and gives us the strength to endure suffering, which maximizes our capacity.

Suffering disorients us. Traumas cause us to forget. Hero-makers remind us who we are. In 1 Thessalonians 2:13-20 the Thessalonians forgot who they were. Paul is quick to remind them who they are: his glory and joy.

We are like kids learning to ride a bike. We can only see the fall, but the hero-maker sees the formation.

Lacking purpose usually doesn't show up as a big crisis, but as subtle symptoms that eat away at us over time: Feeling restless, aimlessness, anxiety about the future, numbness, and cynicism.

What if these symptoms are a sign that it's time to make a shift. To move from being the hero of our own story to being a hero maker: helping others be the hero in God's unfolding story.

Today we talk about 2 ways to be a hero maker: vulnerability and reminding others who they are.

We're going to be looking at 1 Thessalonians 2:1-12.

How do we truly live out the calling to be Hero Makers? How do we step into a life of flourishing, presence, and purpose? In the second week of our series through 1 Thessalonians we see that the answer isn't trying harder, but instead it's experiencing what it means to Belong?

How do we truly live out the calling to be Hero Makers? How do we step into a life of flourishing, presence, and purpose? In the second week of our series through 1 Thessalonians we see that the answer isn't trying harder, but instead it's experiencing what it means to Belong?

Why are so many churches shrinking? We are persuaded churches are shrinking because too many churches see themselves as the hero in their own story. A church that sees herself as the hero cares about: getting more people to join, growing their platform, and being respected.

No wonder most churches are in decline!

What if churches saw themselves as launching pads instead of platforms? There is something better than being the hero in your story, it's being a hero maker.

Does Jesus’ teaching really seem all that wise? “Turn the other cheek”? “Go the extra mile”? Most of us hear those words and think, "that’s a recipe for being taken advantage of." Who actually lives like that?

In this episode, we dig into the heart of Jesus’ wisdom. What if his teaching on forgiveness isn’t naïve or passive but subversive? What if Jesus isn’t calling us to weakness, but to a strength that exposes injustice without replicating it?

When we see what Jesus was really saying, we discover that forgiveness isn’t foolish. Forgiveness is God's gift to a broken world. Forgiveness sets us free which is the most skillful way to live. Join us as we explore why wisdom and forgiveness belong together.