The central focus of this story is understanding the real heart of God the Father. It's not just about what we do in response to Him. It's about really understanding God’s inexhaustible love for you. His love will draw a center line down your highway for direction - and its guardrails will keep you from wandering off the road.

The older son in this story illustrates that when we expect to be rewarded for the good things we have done, we've missed the point. When we do good things with the wrong motives - thinking we deserve God's favour, we miss His free gift of grace. That's a gift you don't want to miss.

We all run… do we come home?

Okay, in this series we’ve learned that it’s clear that we can’t do anything if we’re not connected to Jesus: “I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.” — John 15:5. But then Jesus says that the Father, who is the Gardener, ‘cuts off every branch that doesn’t bear fruit’! This is confusing: if we get cut off, how are we supposed to bear fruit? And if we are bearing fruit, then we get to stay connected? Seems harsh. Doesn’t seem like the Father and Son we know who are full of grace. Then there must be something that we misunderstand here. In this message, we work to get some clarity.

So, guys, let’s just admit it: women are way, way, way better at helping each other and staying connected than we are. But for life to work — in any sense of that word — we need to stay connected to Jesus and to each other. This is our only hope for making a difference in our world. Jesus said, "Come on! Be the branch! Stay connected!" And the great news is that when we feel like we're dry and dying, He doesn’t gather us up and burn us like leaves, He picks us up and gives us all the strength we need to move forward!

Anguish. When all of darkness seems inescapable.
If you're experiencing this right now, please know, you're not alone. In the Bible, a man named Job is in the middle of an eclipse of life that leaves him questioning everything he believes in. His life was not working. And his friends were no help. Let's look at what happens when God shows up.

Most of us don’t realize that Moses struggled with anxiety, forcing God to kind of push him into the role of leadership. But when you see what he was up against, you can understand why he was afraid! Now, to deal with anxiety, you don't need to already be a hero where you’re strong, courageous and unyielding, and you don’t need to be fearless… let’s look at the story of Moses to see how God uses him despite his struggles.

If you trace anger throughout the Scriptures, it really doesn’t have a great reputation. Paul says, "Don’t let it sit inside and rot you from the inside out!" And yet, when our way isn’t working, frustration and anger can be our default setting. If that sounds like you... don't be mad. There is a BETTER WAY!

We all have expectations about what life will hold for us...especially when it comes to having children. That’s exactly where Hannah’s life hit the wall and dropped to the floor! In an Old Testament world where having kids proved your worth, Hannah’s lot in life left her deeply discouraged. Broken, even.
When our lives are not working it’s like our hope tank gets punctured. But God meets us right there.

Most of us have a formula for how our life should go — and, in general, it seems to work until it doesn’t! And when it doesn’t we have a few options:
1) We can just keep pounding ourselves against the obstacles in our path
2) We can pull a tantrum and blame others, God, our parents, our boss or anyone else who seems to be in our way
3) Turn to what Jesus said His disciples on the night before His death —on the night He handed His mission to them