Imagine you are in ancient Israel, during the celebration of lights. A gigantic candelabra stands 75 feet high, illuminating the city at night, and a great teacher gets up at the festival, next to the candelabra and says "Hey guys, this festival is actually all about me, I Am the light of the world." What would you do?

We begin our series studying the "I AM" statements of Jesus. When Jesus says "I AM" it hearkens back to the burning bush with Moses, he is claiming to be the God of the Old Testament, but he's revealing more of himself this time. As the bread of life, Jesus sustains us- giving us all we need, do we actually treat him like he's everything we need?

have you ever felt like you're too messy for God? Like you need to get your life together before you can come to him? Pastor Joel shows us how the gospel counteracts these beliefs that keep us from coming to Jesus

When Jesus was on the cross, the disciples panicked. Everything they though was about to happen, all the hopes they had placed on Jesus, weren't going to happen. He was going to do something far better, but during the days between his death and resurrection, the disciples' world was crumbling around them. How do we deal with the unknown and anxiety?

Pastor Joel continues Jesus' road to the cross by looking at Jesus' trial and Peter's denial. In the midst of being falsely accused and abandoned by his followers, Jesus is still looking for Peter, not to condemn him, but to remind him he's still wanted and loved.

Jesus felt anxiety too, so much that he sweat blood before the events leading up to his crucifixion, but in the end, he let his love for the Father and desire to reconcile humanity to himself trump his fear of pain. Will we allow our love for the father to trump our fear of the loss of control?