Langdon Palmer

Some of us are tempted to withdraw from relationships and isolate ourselves from the messiness of people. We are tempted to live like hermit crabs, withdrawing into our own private Idaho – where no one can hurt us. Instead of spending time looking into a good friend’s eyes, we stare into the dark glass of our smart phones. Others are tempted to do the exact opposite – to jump into unhealthy relationships with people who are no good for us. Today we look at the second sure fire way to avoid happiness – settling for loneliness or toxic relationships. We look at practical advise from Jordan Peterson’s “12 rules for life” and then compare that to the ancient wisdom of the scriptures. We study three different stances we take that cause us to sabotage our own happiness instead engaging in the rich personal relationships God intended for us. We flesh out rule #2 for living life well: “Don’t be the hermit crab, make friends with people who want the best for you and those who will draw you closer to God.”

How often do we end up sabotaging our own happiness ? Today we begin a sermon series on “9 Sure Fire Ways To Avoid Being Happy” which looks at the ways we bring misery upon ourselves and compares them to 9 biblical truths for living life well. We draw from the practical of wisdom of Jordan Peterson’s book “12 Rules for Life” and then we go beyond it to the revelation of Jesus Christ. Today we look at Peterson advice to “Stand up straight with your shoulders back.”

Who wants to hear warnnings ? Who wants to hear bad news ? No one. But what if the only way to get to the good news is to face the bad news ? The entire book of Zephaniah is a warning - crying out to people to turn from the way they are going and turn to God. In the midst of this dire warrning comes one of the most hopeful, inspiring, joy producing verses in the entire bible: Zephaniah 3:17.

Join us as we study the sweep of the book of Zephaniah in order to grasp what this famous verse actually means.

How do deep personal worship, pomegranates, economic systems, worry, and what I ate for breakfast this morning go together ?

Today we look at what appears to be a simple phrase in the Lord’s Prayer: “Give us this day our daily bread.”

It turns out that with this phrase Jesus gives us a crib sheet where every word opens up for us crucial biblical truths for how to live life well in the middle of broken lives in a broken world. Join us as we jump into his teaching and discover both the joy and the responsibility of being creatures in time.

What is the Kingdom of God ?

Is it here now, or is it something that comes at the end of the World ? If its here now, how come so many things are still so messed up ? If it’s real, how come we can’t see it ? While there are a lot of serious issues when it comes to the need for justice and righteousness in this world, why is it that one of the primary images Jesus uses again and again for the kingdom of God… is a joyful party ?! Join us today as we dig into this powerful teaching of Jesus when he prays “Thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in Heaven…”

There is a crucial tension between the two phrases “Our Father” and “Holy is your name.” Jesus uses the first two lines of The Lord’s Prayer to help us see the true beautiful nature of the God who is. Join us today as we discover how we declare the name of God with every breath we take. And when we do, we find that we are ready to leave the town we have been living in for far too long – the town known as “WhatEver-ville.”

We often say familiarity breeds contempt. It certainly tends to breed indifference and a sort of blindness. Consider a the beauty and power of the Colorado river pouring through the Grand Canyon. If you saw it every day of your life, it would become familiar. Over time you might take it for granted, begin to become indifferent to its beauty and dangerous power. The same can be said of the Lord’s Prayer. Many people grew up saying it repetitively in church services. For some it is so familiar we can just go through the motions of saying it. But when accessed correctly, the Lord’s prayer opens us up to the beauty and the power (and the danger) of living life everyday with God. Today we begin a 9 week series on “Living the Lord’s Prayer” Join us for the journey!

What happens after we die ? Is that just the end, or is there an after life ?

Are Heaven and Hell myths or reality ?

If they are real, how could an all loving, all powerful God allow anyone to be in Hell ?

What we believe about eternity will drive the priorities and stance we take towards our lives here and now. Today we jump into difficult waters and try to get some grasp of eternity. We draw from multiple scriptures and the picture painted in C.S. Lewis’ The Great Divorce (in chapters 9, 13 and 14) to try to understand what awaits us on the other side of death.

Do we have control over our fate ? If God is completely in control and has already decided how everything is going to work out, do we really have choice, do we really have free will ? Do we make choices, or do our choices make us, or does God make both, or all of the above ? These are not idle, speculative questions. How we answer them, what we really believe, will effect how we live our lives, it will have a profound impact on our futures and who we become. Join us as we delve into the deep waters of Free will, predestination, and the beautiful revelation of scripture of the God who loves us!

What will be your legacy ?

We only get one shot at this life, and when your is done, what do you hope people will say about you and how you lived ?

Today we look at two very different people who ended up with two very different legacies.

We join C.S. Lewis as he encounters the Dwarf and Sarah Smith.

And we turn to the book of Colossians Chapter 1 to find the kind of life that leaves an eternal legacy.