Three God-fearing exiles, living in Babylon, who along with all the indignities of being a defeated, captured and enslaved people, also have the indignity of a forced name change. Their slave names if you will. Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego. If you’ve been raised in the church, you know the highlights of their story. They made the Hebrews 11 “Faith Hall of Fame”. But I wonder if many of us took away the wrong application from this amazing story.

For those whose ultimate prayer is a rescue from your circumstances, I believe there’s an even greater gift God wants to give you.

(oh… and by the way… who WAS that extra man in the furnace?)

Sometimes things can actually go from bad to worse. It may in fact be the most profound crisis of your life. When that happens we have some choices.

I'm sure you know those who got bitter, cynical... some who even abandoned their church community and their faith altogether.

In Chapter 2, Daniel is faced with one of those "bottom falling out" moments and he actually provides us a template of sorts on how to respond. It actually ends up being for our good and God's glory.

It's our Fall Kick-off and with that is a new Fall series which is in fact the foundational theme for our year.

What does it mean to live as spiritual exiles? To live with a minority philosophy and worldview in a majority culture that is either ambivalent, unaware or sometimes outright hostile to the life Jesus has called us to.

By walking through the book of Daniel, a template is laid out as to how to live with integrity and faithfulness as an exile.

What Pastor Jonathan really wants to share is more like a vulnerable diary entry of where God seems to be speaking to him about the future of the big and small "c" Church. A theme keeps emerging. It's come up in various words, verses and ideas but it has one commonality and it will direct us this year at NAC. It's not necessarily a popular idea. It's not without controversy. There may even be those who have to decide if this is indeed the church for them.

Pastor Kris shares some invaluable insights for parents in particular but really, for EVERYONE! We are excited as well to hear aspects of Kris's OWN story and testimony that may be new to most of us, as we get to see God's providence and calling in her life.

In this Summer Series called "This is my Story", Jonathan is excited to tell you one of the lesser-known stories from a lesser-known character of the Old Testament. It's a story of tragedy, battle, royalty and bloodlines that sounds right out of "Game of Thrones".

What's amazing though is how plainly applicable this story is to each and every one of us in 2023.

Jeremiah is a prophet during a time when God's people are not only a minority but living as persecuted exiles.

And while Jeremiah 29 is mostly known for its inspiring verse, the context around Jeremiah 29:11 - the verses before and after it - give an even richer context and instruction on how to live in these hostile times.

Crosslands Church and NAC joined together for a great service at Fairy Lake Amphitheatre

Are you searching for purpose and meaning in all the wrong places? In places that can never truly scratch that "soul itch"?

Pastors Fred and Jonathan - Pastors from their respective churches - believe true meaning CAN be found in an otherwise meaningless world.

As we spend this summer in a series called "This is my Story" it is only human nature to think of ourselves as the main player in the story - the "hero" if you will. So when we read Biblical accounts of Daniel or Paul or David or Ruth, we might be tempted to most relate to the protagonist. Nothing wrong with that.

Recently though I've been interested in the "bit players"... the "cameos" or "footnotes" in a story whose influence may not be obvious on first glance but whose role - no matter how small - is vital to the story God is writing.

So whether we "plant the seed" or "water it" what an incredible privilege to be even a minor part in the great narrative the "Author and perfector of our faith" is writing.

May we even have the humility to pray "Lord, make me a footnote"

** (due to Sunday's technical issues, we are missing the first 5 minutes of this great testimony) **

"THINGS I'VE COME TO BELIEVE AND LESSONS I'VE SORTA, KINDA LEARNED"

We believe that for the Jesus-follower, the stories that happen in our lives aren't just a random, meaningless string of events.

We believe there is an author at work in our story. That's where we get words like "providence" and verses like Jeremiah 29:11

But lest you think that's a promise of a comfortable or easy life, think again.

In fact, even if God is not the cause of many of the trials and hard things we face (as many of those can be traced back to our own bad decisions, our sin or the results of a sinful world), God in his grace can redeem those stories - perhaps use them in our ongoing sanctification and maturity.

Our difficult experiences have a way of either making us bitter or better.

And one of the reasons I love hearing our guest speaker Steve Briggs teach is because humility has been one of those hard lessons received in life... enough to say in fact, "Lord, I think this is what You're teaching me... I think this is why I've gone through this... but I remain open to hear Your voice and learn the lessons YOU want me to learn"