Journey RVA Podcast

Now is a powerful moment. Think about it: you can only enjoy things now. You can only love people now. The past is gone and the future isn't promised. All you have is this moment right now. If you want to experience the full life Jesus wants for you, you have to learn to be fully present in your life - fully present in this moment. So what keeps you from this moment and how can you maximize every moment?

One of the biggest obstacles of embracing the Wonderlifeis that we often feel a sense of embarrassment over what we like, love and care about. We start doing things that we are "supposed" to do rather than things we really like. Sure we fit in, but we totally lose out. But what are your passions, your interests? At what are you really good and not so good? God gives you your passions, gifts, talents, and skills. When you begin to understand how these things work together, you'll get a sense of his calling in your life. Don't settle for a lesser version of the youGod made you to be.

No matter how you feel about you, God delights in you! To say that out loud feels a bit awkward because we know how messed up our stories are. There are entire chapters of our lives that we would like to delete or pretend as if they never happened. But what if those are the very chapters that God wants to use most? God will heal and use whatever you surrender to him.

Life is hard and awesome and no one has it totally figured out. Why? Because life is made up of opposites. It is both sweet and sour; good days and disasters. Jesus said that he came to give us life to the full, and yet he also said that life would be filled with trials. Adequately answering the questions of identity and purpose will help us navigate the ups and downs we experience in life: Who am I? Why am I here?

When we face pain and loss, they change the story we had planned for our lives. They can end our dreams. But what do pain and loss look like when we try to see the world as God sees the world, and to do as God says?

Simple question: What affect does God's grace have in your life? Or asked a different way, how is your life different as a result of experiencing the grace of God? In this message, we will look at one specific impact that God's grace had on the early Christians and how this characteristic can and should be true of us, also.

When it comes to family, actions speak louder than words - they echo into the next generation. Your children and grandchildren may forget what you say, but they'll never forget what you do.

Raising children is one of the biggest challenges in life. It requires all of our strengths and talents. It makes us keenly aware of our weaknesses. In this message, Andy and Sandra Stanley tell you everything they know about parenting. This isn't everything there is to know, just what they know.

All children - that's you and me - long for the approval of their parents . . . especially their fathers. It's a longing that never goes away. It gets buried or transferred to other relationships, but it's there. And we underestimate its power. Every parent wants to be approved by his or her child - to be a hero, to hear, "when I grow up I want to be just like you." As that desire grows, so does a parent's insecurity. Buried beneath the hurt, disappointment, distance, or silence is a desire to be connected to our children and our fathers. It lasts a lifetime.

When it comes to family, the only thing we all have in common is conflict. Family conflict is like no other because when you win an argument in your family, you don't really win anything. The conflict is never fully resolved. What if there was a way to resolve family conflict by dealing with it at its source?