Last week focused on how the Bible came to be, what it claims to be and what difference it should make in our lives. This week focuses on who has authority to interpret Scripture and what it means for us as Christians and as a community of Christians living the life of faith together.

The Bible is God's Word. But what does that mean, and how do we read it and apply it to our lives? This sermon explores how the Bible works in the lives of believers and how we live it out personally and in Christian communities. 

The Fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. But how exactly does fearing God help us to rightly order things in our lives so we live wisely? A right understanding of how awesome God is helps us to have wise values, priorities, goals, ambitions, and anxieties.

There are so many people in our world today who are struggling with loneliness and depression. When we read the Bible we learn they are not alone. In this sermon, Dante shares with us how Stephen could have felt alone but realized God knows how he feels, and recognizes and honors what he is going through. If God can see Stephen in his moment of trial then he can see us in our moment of trial as well.

This is the first in the Fear of the Lord series which explores how being aware of God's incredible power and holiness is the beginning of ordering all of life rightly. Moses and Israel truly experienced just how holy God is; a God who is good and in control but who isn't "safe."

So often we go to God in prayer to ask Him to change the world to be the way we want it to be. But if we learn to pray the Kingdom Prayer like Jesus taught his disciples then we will go to God in prayer so that we can begin shaping the world to look like God wants it to be.

So many churches are hierarchical in their organizational structure. But the church is called to be a "pnuematocracy," that is, governed by the Spirit. People should be leading and serving as they are gifted. This sermon explores how we are gifted and for what purpose. Are you using your gift or burying it?

After God created family he declared his creation to be "very good." When the disciples pushed the children away because Jesus had more important things to do Jesus welcomed them. We must now recognize that in our church, homes, and world we need to make sure we aren't doing "more important things" than welcoming kids so they can be blessed by Jesus. We also introduce a great new ministry to bless kids.

This week we focused on the good news of the Kingdom is incredible news, but it doesn't matter much if we only have belief without putting our faith into action. This sermon considers James 2 and other examples of faithful people changing the world through faithful action.

Jesus told his disciples that if they wanted to become the greatest they must become a servant of all. If they clothed the naked, fed the hungry, and served the least of these, they would in turn be providing those blessings and services to Jesus himself. Alton also shared how he encounters these blessings along the Highways and Byways every week.