Pastor Fran Leeman examines the popular modern view of the Cross, the idea that God poured out his punishment for our sin on Jesus, and shows that not only does the New Testament not teach this, but in the end it gives us a divided and distorted view of God. The beautiful truth is that the Father was in union with the Son at the Cross, suffering the weight of our sin and forgiving us to bring us home.

In the first message of this series Pastor Fran talks about how the modern church has had a one-dimensional understanding of the Cross, but the early church and New Testament writers understood the Cross as a mystery, a scandalous wonder layered with meanings that can change our thinking about God and human life, leading us ultimately to great hope and transformation.

In this mornings sermon, David Larson helps us conclude this series in the book of Matthew. He reminds us of Matthew 18:3. "Unless you change and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven."

In today's conversation, Pastor Fran Leeman and Leslie Zurita talk about how if we don't keep Jesus in the center of our faith, even though we're reading the Bible, we can get dragged horribly off track in our faith. In contrast with this, the New Testament writers tell us over and over to fix our gaze on Jesus, who is the Word God has spoken.

Taking this warning from the lips of Jesus, Pastor Fran explores the corrupted views of God and his Kingdom around us today, and calls us back to Jesus' own teaching about God and his Kingdom.

Leslie Zurita explores our longstanding notions about fearing God and contrasts those with the mercy we see in the ministry of Jesus, suggesting that perhaps fearing/respecting God means taking seriously what he value most, things like goodness, compassion, mercy, and restoration.

Today Pastor Fran explores what often feels like a tension between what the bible says about salvation being a free gift and Jesus' talk about taking up our cross and the cost of following him.  When we understand the gospel holistically, it makes sense, but to do that we have to stop thinking just about our afterlife destination, and more about God's desire and work to restore our humanity.

In today's message from Matthew, Pastor Fran shares how Jesus announced that he had come to preach the gospel, Good News, and raises the uncomfortable question of whether we modern Christians really understand the gospel that Jesus came to bring. This message will challenge your thinking about modern Christianity and call you to come back and sit at the feet of Jesus and hear what he has to say about finding the new way to be, and to see, and to live.

In this first message of a new series through the Gospel of Matthew, Pastor Fran teaches through the temptation of Jesus in the wilderness, and shows us how this story speaks to the very heart of the Good News, and what God seeks to do to make human beings whole and free and good.

Leslie Zurita interviews Pastor Fran to hear some of his personal thoughts about LifeSpring Church right now, about the shifts happening in the American church, and how Christians should navigate the realm of politics in this election year that is sure to be tempestuous.