Crossroads Week 1

This week we start a new series and look at Joshua. Who was he? Why does it matter? Everyone is afraid, it is time to trust God. Do you trust Him? Everything that happens to us is a part of His plan. I think this is something we don't really like, but that doesn't mean it isn't true.

Did you know that God KNEW that Joshua was going to be afraid when He told him to lead the people into the promised land? No matter where we go, God leads us and is always with us. He doesn’t scold us for not trusting Him, instead He encourages us. Imagine yourself learning to ride a bike, God running aside you holding the handlebars…He will never let you go! Even when you go the wrong direction, wander off the path, He is there!  *note, we had some technical issues with our sound system so you will not be able to hear the worship.

This week we are going to look at how we need to overcome the fear of not being prepared or equipped. Too often we forget that we are empowered by God to not be afraid. It is not what we can do, but what God can do! It is very possible that sometimes we forget that God is still in the miracle business and that He is just as powerful today as He was in the Old Testament. God wants to set you free, are you ready to be set free?

There are many times when it is very difficult to trust God, think about the people when Joshua told them to march around Jericho. When things do not make sense that is when we need to trust Him more! God has certainly earned the right for us to trust Him!

Do you fear God? After spend several weeks talking about not being afraid, what about a fear of God? In the Old Testament we would see God's judgment on the People of Israel and on their enemies. God has not changed, yet we are not under those same laws because of the Grace of God and the sacrifice of Jesus Christ. This by no means gives us a license to sin, repentance must be a part of our daily lives.

This week in light of the tragedy of Uvalde we look at why bad things continue to happen, try to address why fear always turns to confusion and doubts. Why God? Why does this happen? What can I do? What should I do? In times like this it is even more important than ever to reach out to God!

Just as the nation of Israel was guided and empowered by God, so are we. The same God that created the heavens is with you today. It is OUR choice to either live strong and courageous or to live in fear.

This week we are starting new series called "Greater Love." What is your favorite movie? What is the greatest movie you have ever seen? Why? What makes it great? For the most part I believe it is the characters from them. Well the story of the death and resurrection of Christ is most definitely the GREATEST story ever told. Each week we are going to look a different character from this story, this week we will be looking at Mary Magdalene. How does her story fit into The Story? How does your story fit into the story? Find out more!

What dominates the headlines doesn't have to dominate our hearts. There’s only one name that can bring the world together, and you won’t find it on a ballot. Are you ready to discover the hope and freedom we’ve been given Under God?

Instead of focusing on politics, this series will ask what it really means for Christians around the world to be under God. Below you'll find message resources and art for this series.

How many of you have ever doubted something? Have you heard of Thomas in the Bible? Ever heard of him referred to as "doubting Thomas?" Imagine being known forever for just one thing, one moment of weakness, one mistake. Thomas was so much more than that. True he doubted, but we ALL do! And that is okay, God still loves you. He can handle your doubt. 

Easter 2022!

This week we are finishing up our series called Greater Love. We will look at a couple of followers of Christ who had lost all hope. They found themselves walking back home after the death of Christ and had a special encounter with Him! He brought them Joy, He brought them Hope. Are you in need of Hope? Could you use some Joy in your life? These things come from Christ!

Life doesn’t always go the way we expect, and we pray to God for help and guidance. But sometimes it seems like even though we pray with faith, God doesn’t do what we've asked. We seek Him, but don’t feel His presence. We go through pain, but our cries for relief seem to go unanswered.  Sometimes, our lives just don't make sense. Please join us this week we are starting a new series so we know what to do when “God Doesn’t Make Sense.”

Sometimes it feels like God is late. Be honest, have you ever prayed and prayed and prayed...nothing....what now? God? And the answer might be not yet. This week we will look at the story of Lazarus, but more from the view of his sister Martha. She said Lord if only you would have made it here, my brother would not have died. Like us going, "God I know you could have healed my friend, fixed my marriage...and I don't understand why you didn't." But like Martha we have to trust God, trust that He does hear us and is in control!

This week we are finishing up our series. What do you do when you plead, beg God for something and the answer is no? Maybe you have prayed for something for years and He still has not answered it. Perhaps the answer is no, or not yet. What do we do? The temptation and honestly what most people do is turn away from God, but this is when we have to trust Him the most. We must learn that His grace is ENOUGH! Instead of asking God why? How about ask Him, what? What do you want to teach me in this Lord?

We have all heard sermons about loving other people, like "love your neighbor as yourself," etc. But there are some people that it is really, REALLY hard to love. What about them? Why? Listen to find out more, how we are called to love like Jesus.

There is no way we can change the World, right? I mean, what can I do? Jesus did not really mean, love my enemies, did He? Yes...and there we can do these things! While this may all seem like challenges bigger than us, we are called to love like Jesus, to help those around us. What if we start simpler, start with one person. Who can you help this week? Who is the one person in your life you can help?

This week we are going to look at why it is so hard to love others. There seems to be a point system in many of our minds, like this person is better than that person. But they are not! Grace evens the field, the Bible is clear that we are ALL sinners, saved by grace. We love others because Jesus loved us first.

This week we start a new series called "A Better Way." Have you ever thought about everything going on and felt like there has to be more? This can't be how I was meant to live, there has to be a better way? The answer is yes! There is a better way.

Have you ever found yourself saying, "there just isn't enough time in the day?" Or maybe "If I only had more time?" The answer is not more time, the answer is making room for more time that matters, to love and live the way that Jesus did!

Too often we find ourselves worrying about tomorrow, thinking "one day it will be better." "I can't wait until..." Yet Jesus calls us to live for today. This is the day that the Lord has made. Let us stop neglecting what is right in front of us and instead be present. Can you say you are HERE? If you believe in research, statistics would tell us that at any given moment over 47% of us are not HERE. Or better yet our minds are not where we are. Stop not being present, embrace today!

Do you believe in the power of prayer? Do you pray enough? None of us do, why not? Do we get distracted when we start praying? Yes! Do we sometimes not know how to pray? Do we sometimes feel like prayer doesn't work? There has to be a better way! There is, and it begins with us realizing that prayer is more than an activity, it is a lifestyle.

Everyone carries baggage with them. Too often we focus on carrying the wrong stuff and it doesn't give us room to carry good stuff. It is not that hard for us to realize in order to feel closer to Jesus we need to let go of some of that baggage. We need to stop holding on to those things that do not matter.

We all carry baggage in our lives, and we all need to get rid of some of that baggage. How about this week we all get rid of distractions! Distractions that keep us from getting closer to Jesus.

This wee we look at letting go of bitterness. Sometimes we think that it is no big deal to hold onto bitterness, but it grows and grows inside of us and reaches all parts of our lives. How do we get rid of bitterness, find out more!

Perhaps one of the most challenging things for us to let go of is control. We surrender parts of our lives to God but often we hold onto others. When things do not go as planned, when things seem out of control we try to control it more instead of surrendering. Remember we will not always have the power to control something but we will always have the power to surrender. We must choose to surrender today!

Most people have heard of the story of Samson, but did you know there are some amazing truths in the story that we can apply to our lives? What makes a person go from strong to weak? Attitude! Specifically lust, entitlement, and pride! God never intended us to be weak, what can you do to be strong?

Do you allow your emotions to control you? Think about it, when you get upset how do you respond? When we allow to be led by our emotions instead of being led by the Spirit of God we do and say some pretty dumb things. Find out this week how to get control of your emotions and let God guide you!

How does a person mess their life up? One step at a time! We are no different than Samson, this week find out how no matter how far we go from God, He is waiting for us to turn around and take a step towards him!

Have you ever felt like a failure? In today's message we find out that God does not make failures. In fact, remember this failure is an event, never a person. You are not your failures!

What are you afraid of? Snakes? Spiders? Cheetos? While most fear is not good, there are times when it helps to be afraid. Like a fear of moving cars so you don't walk out in front of traffic! We should be afraid of God, but not the kind of fear that cripples us, not a fear that God is going to "get us." He is not just watching us waiting for us to mess up so he can zap you. But we should have a fear that God is really who He says He is, a fear of what we are saved from. We should really believe what the Bible says and fear what happens if you do not make Christ your savior. Shouldn't our life reflect someone who fears God? Does yours?

Have you ever looked at your life and felt like things haven't gone the way you thought they should? Have you ever felt like God wasn't in control? Be honest...did you know that God NEVER breaks His promises to you. Listen this week as we look at the promises of God and how we are to live like be believe in them!

Listen, the law can not make you perfect...in fact if it could then why did Jesus need to come? This week we are going to look at how we are set free, how we are saved. Set free from trying to be good enough, saved from being alone in this World. We will never be good enough, but God's grace is MORE than enough!

Remember that the law does not make you perfect, you can not do it. So...knowing that none of us can actually live up to the law, why give it to us? Why did God give us something that we can not actually follow? Have you ever thought that He gave us the law to show us how much we need Him? None of us can ever hope to good enough, but the good news is that we were never designed to. From the beginning of time God knew that we needed Him. Surrender today and ask Daddy for help!

For too long we have tried to be good enough, tried to simply do more things hoping it will make us better somehow. Jesus came so that we could be set free from that! Instead of trying harder to be a good person, how about surrendering and allowing Christ to transform you?

Did you know that all sin was paid for once and for all when Jesus died on the cross? Have you ever felt like you were not good enough? Have you ever thought the world would be better without you? Have you ever felt like you were a failure? That all comes from the devil and not God. Jesus died for ALL of us, no matter what we think of ourselves. He loves us! There is nothing you can do to make Him love you more, you can stop trying to be good enough and instead work on loving Him more!

How many times have you just wished you knew what God wanted you to do? This week we look at three things we are told to do. Draw near to God, hold tight to the confession, and stir each other up! These things will transform us, these are the things that will change us! Remember this week to do more things that make you feel near to God and less thanks that make you feel far from God.

Did you know that discontent is foundational to faith. Think about when you hope for for something, what are you doing? You are not content in what you currently experiencing, you are not content in the situation. You hope for more. We all feel this, the problem arises when instead of drawing near to God we draw away from Him. When you feel like there is more, or like something is wrong, that is the time to draw near to God! When we draw near to Him and began to trust Him, that is when the absurd can happen!

Have you ever thought about what faith looks like? When we say we love someone, does that prove we love them, or do our actions prove our love? Our faith is a bit like that. God calls us to draw near to Him, to trust Him, to have faith. The natural response to faith is works. When we have real faith in God we can not help but act upon it. Faith is action, it is not stagnate. What can you do to share your faith this week? How can you show the love of Christ in a practical way?

It seems like every time something good happens to us we are very quick to give God the credit. "I'm so blessed," "God blessed me," etc. But when bad things happen we are even quicker to blame God, "how could you allow this happen?" "Do you even love me?" To understand God is to know that He allows ALL things to happen, good and bad, and that He uses ALL things. We normally do not understand why or how, but we must trust that He is in control of ALL things. God disciplines us, that discipline is not punishment but rather training us. Find out more in today's message.

As we finish up our series over Hebrews remember that we are called to share what we have. God has equipped you uniquely with gifts that are to be used. Ever wonder what God's Will is for your life? It is to share!!! Today look for opportunities to share Christ's love with those around you!