Community doesn't happen by accident. It tales intentional practices to build true community in a church. The early church gives us a model for how to build community in Acts 2.

We tend to mostly associate worship with music, but worship is so much more than music! Worship is rooted in offering our whole lives to God as a sacrifice.

What is worship for? Many times we are tempted to come to worship seeking some sort of spiritual experience, but this misses the point of worship. Worship is about praising God whether we feel like it or not, and whether we feel anything or not.

Sometimes we wonder what God is waiting for in our lives... Why does he take so long to answer our prayers or to move in our hearts? The Christmas story teaches us that God's timing is always perfect. He always shows up exactly when he means to.

Jeremiah--the Weeping Prophet--literally wrote the book on lament, a small book in the Old Testament called Lamentations. Jeremiah's lament focuses on the sin and brokenness in our world. Jeremiah's story teaches us that lament takes us to a messy middle where we both condemn the sin in our culture and identify with and love our people.

Almost no character in the Bible laments to God as much as David does. In the Psalms, David teaches us how to lament our enemies--both those who hurt us and ourselves when we are our own worst enemies. Through lament, David gives his enemies to God so he can see them as God does.

David cried. Job Cried. Jeremiah cried. Jesus wept. This month, we are looking at lament--one of the most overlooked and underappreciated parts of our Bible. As we encounter these characters in their authentic tears, we will see how their honesty allowed them to give their grief to God and receive his grace.

We live in an instant, impatient age and faith is not for the impatient. Moses shows us how to take a long view of faith that allows God to do his work in us and through us in his timing. A long view of faith also gives us faith beyond this life.

Faith is never just a personal thing. It is always passed from person to person and from generation to generation. Today we look at how to pass on our faith to our children, grandchildren, and spiritual family.

Sometimes God takes us through dark, confusing, or lonely times that test our faith in his presence or his plan. These tests of faith are meant to teach us something about who God is so that our faith in God grows. Our faith will not grow without tests.