During this time of the year can bring up many difficult situations. We can feel overwhelmed and 'Walled-in" to our issues. It can even feel like God is ignoring us when everything seems to be coming at us all at once. We need to hold fast to our Savior and trust that he will bring us out of everything and see us through to clearer times.

One of the most pivotal points in history is the list of Christ. He linked the old and new testaments together and fulfilled most of the prophecies. He is the gateway to the last Tree in God's plan. Only through Him can we have any hope of making it to the end of God's journey for us.

God calls us to be stewards of our lives and his kingdom. Stewardship comes from both faith in God's plan and his practical purpose for us here on earth. The scriptures help us to understand and have faith in God's plan for being stewards of his kingdom, as well as it lays out a set of practical applications on how we maintain this. One of those areas is related to our finances and giving back to His Church, which is the topic of this midweek lesson. Andy Winje outlines how we practically implement this plan in respects to our budge and Steve Morici shows us the heart we need to have behind our giving and how God will always honor it.

(We apologize for the audio quality). Life doesn't often go the way we planned. Things can frustrate us and cause us to do things that we would normally not like. The Israelites were sent into exile for many years. We can often feel "out of sorts", however God always has a plan. Sometimes the circumstances we are in are according to his plan so that we can grow and even humble ourselves. Do we have the faith to believe in His plan and follow him through all the "chaos"?

The Isrealites started out in Egypt as high in the social structure. Hundreds of years later, the Pharaoh feared them and thus, enslaved them. God used specific situations to not only free them from slavery, but also tried to humble Pharaoh, whose heart was too hard to listen. Through Jesus, God gave us the same freedom to live as God wangted us to.

While the first tree, Eden, was largely a lesson of how sin takes us away from God, the second step is Abraham and how God used his incredible faith and righteousness to create a whole nation of people. Eden relates to a loss of our relationship with God, Abraham represents God bring his people back to him.

The Bible begins and ends in a Garden, Genesis with the Garden of Eden and Revelations, describing a Garden City. We are currently in the time between these two great "trees". Eden started it all and was the birth place of humanity. God intended it for Him to live with us forever, however Satan was able to temp Eve and Adam, dooming humanity to be apart from God, until we are reunited with him again in the Garden City.

Several brothers and sisters share about what worship means to them, including Joe Perez, Elaine Johnson, Davita Fountain, and Andy Winje. Brian Craig also delivers a powerful sermunion about God's holiness, and how through his Spirit, we are made holy as well.

Annual Harvest Fest for 2017. Reyn and Nancy Hornwood share their testimony and what brought them to Christ, as well as what helps sustain their relationship with God and each other.

Often times, its easier to "prefer" things a certain way, rather than have them be about their actual purpose. Christianity can be all about preference, however Jesus has a specific purpose for all those that have been called by him. Will you go the easier route and do what you prefer, or be about the purpose that God has called you to?