Some of us think of God as being angry with us, so we need to serve and please Him in order to please Him. In today's message, our guest speaker, Daniel Olson, encourages us to think of God as a God who meets our needs and then, relating to God in that way, share with others how God can meet their needs.

By nature, we are enslaved in using our lives, relationships & resources in ways for which they were not designed by God, so our lives need to be put under new management. Jesus came to give us life in the Kingdom of Heaven as a free gift. It costs us the privilege of ruling over our own lives, but when we see the true worth of life with Jesus as our king, it is a trade that we readily make.

We could be the most gifted, knowledgeable, faithful, sacrificial person around, but if we don’t have love, it all amounts to nothing. It is through a Life With God that we experience what love is really like.

We live in a world where chaos can erupt from surprising sources and change our lives forever. But the Good News is that Jesus came into this world to bring us a hope that is stronger than the chaos around us and in us.

Human beings frequently use religion to try to gain control as a response to their fears. A religious posture like this is actually faith in ourselves and our abilities. But Life With God points to a different kind of faith where we let go of faith in ourselves and trust in God’s skill and faithfulness to give us a safe landing in the end.

This Sunday some of our young people confirmed that the Christian faith into which they were baptized is indeed their faith. Included in this podcast is a sample of the personal testimonies of faith that they shared that day.

In an effort to deal with our fears by trying to gain control, humans often resort to religious postures of relating to God where our activity is the basis for us trying to get what we want from God. But God invites us to relate with based on relationship, and as we treasure, unite with and experience communion with God, we will experience the rich and satisfying life that Jesus came to give to us.

Our values are very important because they guide our decision-making. We often have values that lead us away from life with Jesus, but God pursues us with His love and transforms our values. As life with God becomes our greatest value, God gives us opportunities to share the gift of life with God with others.

Part of God’s plan for renewing all things is for His People to live lives that attract others to God. But this can only happen when we rest in God’s love and embrace the fullness of the Good News of what He has done for us through God the Son, Jesus Christ.

Sometimes we experience public rejection and humiliation in our personal social space, and the results can be devastating. Through His death and resurrection, Jesus experienced ultimate rejection so He could be the Cornerstone of our unconditional acceptance. Accepted and forgiven, we serve as God's royal priests who share His love with a broken and hurting world.