Danny and Sheri silk joined us for five services throughout the weekend sharing insights from Danny’s new book, “Unpunishable”. This is the first of the five sessions titled, “Humanity 2.0.” Danny walks us through two versions of humanity and how we can walk in the fullness of God through being “Unpunishable”.

In the continuing series of digging deeper into the foundations of New Life City, Pastor Alan spends time this week pushing us to return to our first love by returning to the actions that surrounded us falling in love. As a husband seeks to rekindle relationship with his wife by returning to the all-consuming attention he first gave to her while dating, we return to when we first fell in love with Christ through turning our minds and actions towards an all-encompassing immersion within him.

One foundation of New Life City is radical forgiveness and looking out at others and telling them, “You don’t owe me anything.” We forgive and seek forgiveness from all, not placing anything at others feet except for love and grace. As a result, communion and union, which is community and unity, is what we seek to live by through loving one another as we grow.

Everyone is created with a longing for Christ that has been put into us from the very beginning. Today, we have tried to satisfy that longing with a buffet of “Christianisms” that complicate the simplicity of the gospel by trying to appease greater society. We are not called to reflect culture; we are called to reflect God on this earth. The former cultivates convince, the latter obedience.

Brian Starley spoke on Saturday about how we often disqualify ourselves from what God has called us to out of fear, complaining, or stubbornness. Brian shared several stories of God moving through him in times he didn’t want to do anything but ignore the call of God. However, with each story, we hear how Brian stepped into God’s will despite feeling otherwise and we hear how God showed up each and every time.

Our identity lies within the fact that Christ indwells each one of us who lay claim to him. We have repented, been changed, and set free into a new life in Christ through the marriage of heaven and earth that pours the Spirit of God into and onto us. Therefore, we can be sure that God is who he says he is and we are who God says we are.

Following up our Vacation Bible School on the Legends of the Hidden Temple where our children learned that they are the temple of God, Pastor Alan spoke further about the temple that we are and laid the biblical foundation for us being the temple of God as image bearers.

We are recovering our first love by serving a God who wants to know us. We love because He first loved us and, as a result, God wants us to know him and love Him in the same way. How do we get to know God? The same way we get to know anyone. By spending time with Him and getting to know him in the power of His resurrection and walking alongside Him in His suffering.

Paul's first letter to the Thessalonians spoke of the church born and thriving. Pastor Alan walked us through the letter letting Paul speak to us today about a myriad of topics relating to the healthy function of the church body and showed us how to live according to these words today.

Jacob wrestled with the Lord and prevailed when Jacob was in the midst of strife and wandering. He didn’t prevail over the Lord because of strength but rather prevailed through contention in relationship with God. The Lord left Jacob with a limp as a result, but the relationship between Jacob and God was strengthened. We must likewise learn to contend with God through relationship as we also contend with and for others through relationship.