Christmas is all about an amazingly generous gift from God to us—himself. And so advent has always included an encouragement to being generous ourselves. In this message, Pastor Julie explains what generosity looks like, how it’s rooted in God himself and how we take that serious at Res City.

Advent comes to us in what is the darkest time of year; the sun comes up late and sets early. It’s fitting that so much of the imagery of the season also has to do with light that dawns in the darkness of Jesus being born: “A people living in darkness have seen a great light” (Isaiah 9:2).

We live in a world where things often feel dark. What response might we have to the darkness we feel that can prepare us for the light of Christmas? Perhaps surprisingly, advent calls us to repentance. In this message, Pastor Julie explains how how we can deal with the darkness in the world and prepare our hearts for the coming of the light of Christ.

How much time do people spend preparing for a wedding vs. how much they spend preparing for a marriage? The stats show people spend a lot more time preparing for the wedding than what comes after—the much more important thing. The same question could be applied to us and Christmas? How much time do we spend preparing for the holiday part of Christmas vs. how much time do we spend preparing our hearts for the promise, hope, kingdom, and joy of the coming of Jesus? In this message, Pastor Julie explores what kinds of barriers might exists in our hearts to keep us from preparing for the coming of true royalty in Jesus this advent season.

If you’re a Harry Potter fan, you might remember Barry Bot’s every flavored beans.  The idea is that some “beans” are good flavors- strawberry, toasted marshmallow, while others are vomit or ear wax flavored. The tricky thing is you can’t tell by looking at the beans which one you are going to get- you have to taste and see- to your horror or delight. The idea of a mixed bag of good and bad jelly beans is good analogy for life. Life is a mixed bag of good and bad all jumbled together. Which means we need to be able to spot God’s goodness.

In this message, Res City Leadership Team member Krista Schroeder shares from Psalm 34 about what it means that God is good, and how the Psalm invites us ‘taste and see’ something that is far better than a bag of jelly beans—God himself!

The God of the Bible is described as an author, one who tells the greatest story the world has ever known, and one we’re invited to join into with our own individual stories. In Psalm 105 we read about one chapter in this great story, and Pastor Julie shares what it looks like for us to see our own story line up with the one told here.

It’s natural for us to praise or celebrate that which feels worthy. It can even feel delightful to do it sometimes. In Psalm 147, we are invited to see God as delightful to worship, and we see why as we read through its twenty verses. In this message, Pastor Joel unpacks the Psalm and shares three suggestions for how to build a sense of worth in our hearts for God.

In the Psalms, different parts of God’s nature and character are drawn out for us and when we really think about them, fill us with awe and wonder. In Psalm 90, the key idea is God’s timelessness, the way in which he is not bound by time in the way we are. It’s harder to wrap our heads around this idea than others, but very relevant and wonderful for us when we do. In this message, Res City worship leader Zach Dohmen explains how big God is, how small we are in comparison, and why both of these are good news for us.

It’s easy to get cynical in today’s world. It’s easy to believe that doing the right thing leads you nowhere. But Scripture wants to challenge us away from falling into this bleak way of viewing the world, and offer us one of hope and stability. In Psalm 18, we see that God’s character is righteousness, which speaks to his faithfulness to bless us when we walk in his way and wisdom. In this message, Pastor Joel breaks it all down.

It’s easy to get cynical in today’s world. It’s easy to believe that doing the right thing leads you nowhere. But Scripture wants to challenge us away from falling into this bleak way of viewing the world, and offer us one of hope and stability. In Psalm 18, we see that God’s character is righteousness, which speaks to his faithfulness to bless us when we walk in his way and wisdom. In this message, Pastor Joel breaks it all down.

In Psalm 18:1-19, God is depicted in a way we haven’t yet seen in this series: A fierce deliverer. He is a terrifying force, but his power is used for the purpose of delivering his servant, David. While we might see someone described like God is here as intimidating, it’s all about perspective. We are the ones God rushes to deliver. But what does God deliver us from? And do we want to be rescued? In this message, Pastor Joel examines all of these ideas.

**Note: There was technical difficulty during the live recording of the sermon, so the audio used here is from a re-recording.