Our New Life locations in Peru are a vital part of what we're doing as one church in multiple locations! Chuck, our missions and care pastor, shares his heart for Peru and spreading the Gospel to these unreached people. How can you get involved? Pray, Give, and Go!

Some strange things start to happen when Jesus begins his ministry. This week we're looking at the story in Mark's gospel of Jesus calling out a demon. This story is crazy for a lot of reasons, but aside from the event itself, Mark's story shows us some important things about Jesus, namely that he isn't satisfied with leaving us the way we are. What is Jesus asking you to take out of your life so he can fill you up?

Throughout the gospel of Mark we see stories of discipleship and what it truly means to follow Jesus. This week we're looking at the story of Jesus calling the first disciples to become "fishers of men." Mark's account of this instance begs us to ask ourselves, am I following Jesus? Following Jesus means doing things his way—it opens our eyes and shifts our perspective. When we truly follow Jesus we can also know for sure that his promises are always greater than any sacrifice we might have to make to follow him. Because ultimately, following Jesus isn't about sacrifice at all, it's about mission.

2020 has been quite the year, to say the least, but even in a "normal" year we're constantly moving through different seasons of change. The prophet Malachi shows us that we have two choices: we can either fear these seasons and events that may come to pass, or we can have a healthy fear of the One who's always in control no matter the changes that may come our way. God created us to fear something, but when we are the most afraid, those are the moments when God can take full control of our lives and hearts.

We can learn a lot about serving from the story of Mary and Martha. Mary's service is relationship-based, while Martha is more of a doer (sound familiar to anyone?). Even though their approaches to serving are different, we need both attitudes for the church to thrive. Here at New Life we serve with an end goal in mind. That end goal? To introduce people to a savior who is so worthy of their affection. Is that the end goal to your service?

The last book in the Old Testament, the book of Malachi, offers us some vital truths about what godly marriage and relationships should look like today. Godly marriage is a covenant, not a contract—taking 3 to make the 2 become 1. Marriage is hard enough when you both love Jesus, but when you see it as a contract instead of a covenant, marriage is almost impossible.

The story of Job poses the question: "why do we follow God?" This important question isn't just for Job, it's for us, too! Do we follow God because of the things He gives us, or because of who He is? When we go through suffering and trials, this question comes into play. But the good news is this: God is wise in the midst of our suffering. He is there, and He is still good, even when life is anything but.

The story of Habakkuk may be short, but it's packed full of wisdom for where we're at right now. Through one man's questioning of God we learn that what you tell yourself fundamentally matters. We may never understand why every storm takes place, but we can change how we think about those storms of life. What if this storm wasn't just taking you somewhere, but it was also making you into someone?

Habakkuk sounds more like a Star Wars character than a person in the Bible, but Habakkuk's story isn't about something far, far, away, instead it still applies to us right here today. Habakkuk asked the question "why?" to God, and through his asking we learn that even though faith might not always have all the answers, it always trusts the one who does. We may ask "why God?" a lot in our lives, but the good news is God is still on the throne, today and every day.

Elijah's story is all about overcoming fear with faith. It doesn't take a lot for us to go from a place of faith to a place of fear in life, and that's exactly what happened to Elijah. But through his fear he realized God still shows up, He still sends out, and He still draws His people close to Him.