Guest Speaker Lisa Bevere brings a Special Message.

Effort is an important aspect in any worthy endeavor. And while we don’t earn our salvation, we are called by Jesus to put in some effort as we run the race He’s marked out for us.

We’re kicking off a series to address some of life’s biggest questions: Why am I here? Where am I going? What should I do along the way? Scripture uses the imagery of a race, to help us discover the answers to these questions. Let’s learn how to run the race marked out for us with freedom and fruitfulness.

True freedom isn’t found in striving but in receiving the transformation only God can give. Jacob spent his life fighting—grasping for control, running from his past, and wrestling with who he was. But one encounter with God changed everything. Like Jacob, we often resist surrender because we don’t fully see who God says we are.

Science reveals that giving is like a drug. We get an emotional high from giving, it creates a positive relational bond with those to whom we give and it can even be addictive! So why don’t we all do it more? Our resistance to giving is often rooted in our lack of freedom. Let’s learn how God set us free, so that we can freely give away what He’s given us.

Jesus didn’t offer us freedom from afar, but he won our freedom by making his dwelling among us. And now as His followers, we not only benefit from his redemptive move, but we’re called to do the same for others.

The year of Jubilee is one of the most significant and inspiring concepts we see in Scripture. The promise that debts will be cancelled for the good others isn’t just what Jesus eventually did for us, but what we’re called to do for one another.