- As a church family, we have a tremendous role to play in the lives of the children and youth among us. The stakes are high, and the time we have to influence and show them God’s love is short - shorter than we like to think. In this inspiring message, NextGen Pastor Tim Simon encourages us - as parents and as Christian adults - to invest our time and attention in the lives of our youth - today.

- In the parable of the Laborers in the Vineyard, Jesus takes on the human notion that somehow our own labors cause us to earn our way into heaven, rather than His grace. As Jesus tells the story of those who received the same pay for working in the vineyard about 1 hour as those who started first thing in the morning, we all get this funny feeling that somehow the last-minute laborers are getting something they don’t deserve. But, as Jesus tells us, gaining entry into the Kingdom of God isn’t based on our sense of fair play - it is based on His crazy, amazing grace and love for us.

- As we work to subdue our old nature, the shadow man, we often find ourselves living in fear. But being fearful in life is not what God wants for us. Pastor Doug offers us a path to overcoming this demonic assault in our lives. When we put on a “garment of praise” we weaken and break through the devil’s foothold of fear.

- The question of who Jesus is has been answered in various ways by many people and organized religions around the world. Most of these explanations miss the point, either by denying the divinity or the humanity of Christ. The truth about Jesus is that He was both fully human and fully God. This uniquely qualified Him to reconcile God and mankind by giving His life as the perfect sacrifice for our sins. Just knowing who He is, though, is not enough; we need to come to a place where we know Him, just as He knows us.

- The Power of Words

Pastor Doug continues with his series on killing our shadow man, getting rid of our old nature. One way we can completely destroy our old nature is to watch what we say - because the tongue expresses the nature of the shadow man. Words have tremendous power, they can devastate and destroy, or they can connect us to blessings. Pastor Doug gives us three ways to help control our words and thoughts.

- Over a period of time, we tend to hear many sermons about faith, grace, or other standard topics. In this message, special guest speaker John Vereecken reminds us that much of our success as Christ followers is based on guts - the courage or determination to go all the way in serving God. If you just tighten up your belt and determine you are going to commit to whatever God has for you, you can accomplish anything He wants you to do.