During the month of February, the eyes of the world will once again be fixed on an Olympic Games. During these weeks of competition, a global perspective is recaptured as we hear stories of athletes from every corner of the world.

This perspective is sometimes absent from our Christian faith, but our God is the God of every nation, tribe and tongue. So throughout February, we will be taking a look at some global issues that are important to our faith and near to God's heart.

This week's message begins with one of the leaders in our church, Eric Hoppstock, sharing about journey of building paying off our church facility. Then Pastor Dan shared his heart about the state of our church and our hope for the future

More than anything else in the world, it is our tongues that get us into trouble. Words have the power to bring life, and the power to crush it, whether we say the wrong thing, say it the wrong way, or don't say anything when we know we should.

No man can tame the tongue, but God can redeem it, if you'll let Him. Learning this "hack" to life can save us from a lot of trouble and turmoil.

One of the greatest tragedies of the church today is people who profess Christ and yet do not live for Christ. Too many Christians profess Christ, are baptized, and attend church regularly, but they do not live righteous lives, nor do they commit to reaching the lost and needy of this world. Do they have genuine faith?

Life is full of challenges, and the spiritual life is no acception. We all look for shortcuts and hacks to simplify and make life easier.

There are no shortcuts in the spiritual life. But there are things we can do, as followers of Jesus, to give us the power to be more productive and fruitful in our faith. These are the hacks that empower us to live the kind of life God wants for us.

In the final week of the Christmas Time series, we will look at the complete and perfect redemption story of Jesus. We don't just celebrate Jesus' birth at Christmas, we celebrate the completion of a redemption story that began in Genesis, and was finally fulfilled in Jesus.

What makes Christmas the greatest time of the year? It's more than the food, presents, family and time off work. It is the redemption plan of God through His Son Jesus Christ.

Week three of the Christmas Time series takes a look at the story of Zachariah and his son, John the Baptist, the predecessor to Jesus, who prepared the way for His ministry on earth. This amazing story brings together prophecies and events in history that point to Jesus the Messiah.

It's obvious that the world needs Jesus. Since the beginning of time, God has worked in and through millions of men and women in order to get the message of salvation to those who need it. But, what happens when a perfect God uses imperfect people to spread the Gospel?

At just the right time, God sent Christ to earth to redeem and restore every man, woman and child. While the purpose of Christ's work is redemption, the result is sonship through adoption.

Paul urges followers of Jesus to embrace BOTH of these aspects of the Gospel, not just one, in order to experience the fullness of the Christian life.