Deep down inside, we all want to change. But change is always the result of good investments, not just good intentions. Paul wrote, “Physical training is of some value, but godliness has value for all things, holding promise for both the present life and the life to come.” Once you become a follower of Christ, you will begin to grow and change. It is a process that will take place throughout our entire lives.

In a culture where we are so busy and distracted, we can drift toward living very isolated lives, leaving us vulnerable to temptation and discouragement. There is a subtle, yet powerful, effect that comes from being in regular, close fellowship with a small group of believers. We all need a place where we can connect and have “positive peer pressure” in our lives. The quality of our friendships will determine the depth of our faith.

We live in a world where we’re constantly exposed to the newest innovations. But what if the key to change isn’t trying something new, but just doing some simple things consistently? Maybe we need to discover the power of “same.” Another word for "sameness” is faithfulness. The Bible says that Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever. God's faithfulness is what holds our world together. To be faithful means to emulate our Savior.

In this special New Year's Day production, Mark Stuenzi shares four simple ways we can have our Best Year Ever. We'll also hear from a family who experienced their own new beginning, right here at Parker Hill Church.

2000 years ago, the greatest rescue mission of all time began. God sent His Son, Jesus, into our world as a baby. Jesus went from heaven, to a manger, to a cross in order to rescue us and bring us home.

How do you think people will remember you when you're gone? Ebenezer Scrooge got to hear just what others thought of him when the Ghost of Christmas Future took him into his future. Unfortunately, for Scrooge, it was not the kind of legacy anyone would want to leave behind. The only way for us to live wisely is to live with the end in mind. Only Jesus offers the promise of abundant and eternal life.

It's easy to get caught up in busyness, isn't it? The trouble is, how do we keep from letting that busyness overwhelm our lives? Scrooge had allowed himself to become so distracted by his own work that he had become a selfish, uncaring man who showed little compassion to anyone. At Christmas, we celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ. His incarnation was the ultimate expression of love and self-sacrifice.

We all have things in our past that we sometimes allow ourselves to be prisoners of - whether it’s what others have done to hurt us, or the way we have hurt ourselves. Moses had his own list of past experiences that he struggled with. But as we see in the Bible, God still used Moses, despite the pain, short-comings, and failures. The same is true of us. God can and will use us, no matter what our past is like.

We all have things in our past that, at best, we're not proud of and at worst, we're ashamed of. But thanks to Jesus Christ, our history does not define our future. Paul said it this way in 2 Corinthians 5:17, "Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!" What a wonderfully comforting and encouraging label for us to embrace - new creation!

Many of us struggle with feeling the weight of a label that says, "I am unwanted." Adoption may be the best picture of choosing to love. There are a number of places in the Bible that tell us that God has adopted us. He not only chooses to love us, but he loves us so much that he treats us as though we were his own children. If God is your father, don't live like an orphan!