Thrive Harbor

The opposite of loneliness is belonging—to feel totally safe and at home. In this message on 1 Peter 1:22-2:10, Michael Bouterse, Thrive’s local director, explains how the gospel speaks to this basic human need, enabling us to belong to God and to His family, the church.

We’ve all met hypocrites—people who speak one way and act another. And religious hypocrisy can be worst of all. God’s solution to rescue Christians from hypocrisy is to make them holy: to change them from the inside out so that their lives and behavior resemble Jesus. In this message on 1 Peter 1:13-21, Michael Bouterse, Thrive’s local director, describes what holiness looks like and how God makes people holy.

Scripture passages cited in this message include John 20:31; 2:11; 4:53-54; Mark 8:34-36; Matthew 20:26-28; 24:45-51; 1 Peter 2:11-12, 19; 3:1; 5:10, 12; Philippians 1:6; 3:7-14; Hebrews 11:10; Genesis 23:4, 6; 13:12; 14:12; 19:1, 9; 2 Peter 1:3; and 2 Corinthians 5:10.

According to our culture, the good life consists of comfort, success, and personal fulfillment. But the Bible casts a different vision of the good life as one of cross-bearing, suffering, and discipleship. How can this be? In this opening message in Thrive's series on 1 & 2 Peter, Michael Bouterse, Thrive's local director, offers three reasons from 1 Peter 1:1-12 that God invites us to reinterpret suffering as a grace disguised. 

Scripture passages cited (or alluded to) in this message include Acts 2:9-11; Luke 22:31-32; John 17:3; and 2 Corinthians 1:3-6.

Radical faith produces radical Jesus followers. But where does faith come from? Andy Abramson, founder and national director of elementum, explains that faith comes from falling in love with God in this message based on Hebrews 11.

Jake Chambers, pastor and church planter of Local Church, walks through Psalm 101, an invitation for believers to be deliberate and intentional in pursuing Christ, despite the siren calls of our culture.

God has a plan, and he’s let us in on it! In this message, Michael Bouterse, Thrive’s local director, turns to Matthew 13:1-52, where Jesus gives his disciples a “big reveal” about the future of his kingdom. On the one hand, Jesus teaches the disciples that the kingdom has arrived. But it’s arrived in a much different form than they’d expected! During this present age, the world is living in rejection of Jesus, the king. For now, therefore, the kingdom exists in a provisional, spiritual form, till one day the king returns and reigns on earth, bringing the kingdom to its consummation.

Scripture passages cited (or alluded to) in this message include Matthew 9:3, 11; 12:24; Mark 4:11-12; Daniel 2:44; Revelation 21:4; John 3:16; and Ezekiel 36:26.

“Scary,” “weird,” “confusing”—these are common first impressions of the Book of Revelation. In this message, Michael Bouterse, Thrive’s local director, gives an overview of this last book of the Bible, which reveals how history will come to a close. And the best part? Jesus gets the final word!

Scripture passages cited (or alluded to) in this message include Revelation 1:1-3, 9, 17-19; 4:1, 11; 5:9; 7:9; 11:2; 12:1-4; 13:5; 20:11-15; 21:1-4; 22:7, 10, 18, 19; Genesis 37:9; 2 Thessalonians 2:1-2; 2 Peter 3:10-12; 1 John 3:2-3; Jeremiah 32:1-15; and Matthew 24:8.

Jesus is coming again—and soon! Yet today the Second Coming is often given little attention. Offering an overview of what Christians ought to know about Jesus' return, guest speaker Michael White zeroes in on what Matthew 24 says about the Second Coming, incorporating other material regarding God's plan for the ages from throughout the Scriptures.

D'Vante Rolle of One Hope Church walks through Psalm 51 in a powerful message on the importance of repentance in the life of a Christian.

Jake Chambers, pastor and church planter of Local Church, gives four talks at Thrive’s Fall Retreat on the theme of “learning to be with Jesus together.” In this final talk, Jake walks through how the Gospel of Mark describes the Kingdom of God. God's Kingdom is a kingdom of life, love, hope, and healing, and as we learn to be with Jesus together, God causes that Kingdom to overflow to a lost and broken world. 

Scripture passages cited in this message include Mark 1:14-15, 21-42; 2:1-12; 1:17; and Revelation 11:15.