Palm Sunday Service

(Our apologies, we had technical difficulty, and only the tail end of worship was recorded) The body of Christ should be a community. As a community, we should look different from the rest of the world. This can be so hard to swallow, but as Believers, we should be setting ourselves apart. Our community, our mindset, should be different from any other community or people. Today we really unpack what it means to align ourselves with other Christians, and how we should live with one another, serving one another, and bringing light to the darkness.

Communication is key. This is the epitome of any healthy relationship. But often times we find that one person talks more than the other, or one is always complaining about an issue in the relationship, but nothing is ever quite resolved. Isn't that how it can sometimes look with God? One of us is always talking, trying to "resolve" issues in the relationship, but we never do the second part of communicate which is listen. We have to sit, we have to listen, we have to make sure we are understanding what God is telling us. join us today as we dive into a study about what it means to have good communication with God and not just at God.

Today we have special guest speaker, Susan Stoppenbrink bringing a word on Prayer. Prayer is such a vital piece of our walk with God, but it often gets missed. We bring our cares to Him when we need Him, but any other time, we just leave Him alone. But we're missing a key part of a relationship with God when we do this. There are so many ways to communicate and spend time with Christ, and today, Susan shares some of her testimony and some amazing ways to communicate and spend time with Christ.

A habit that we often miss is communication with God. We may read our Bibles, or journal, we may even pray. But how do our prayers look? Are they just requests to God or is it communication? God wants to talk with us, He wants to communicate. Instead of approaching Him with an "I need or I want" mentality, let's approach Him with open hands and open hearts, bringing Him the truest version of ourselves. He knows us fully, so let's fully give ourselves to Him today.

We have direct passage to God. We don't have to talk to a priest, or go through someone in order to communicate with our heavenly Father. But often times, we don't even communicate with Him. We talk to Him when life is hard or when we need something, and then we remain quiet until the next issue in life. Here's the thing, we often feel like when things are challenging that God does not speak, but why would He speak to us and guide us if we aren't pursuing Him? We want to flip the script, we want to pursue quality time with Him, praying, talking, and pursuing the Word of God.

Spiritual Maturity. We often hear this term in church and it can sometimes sound confusing. But it is quite a simple definition, and it is Being Like Christ. Simple, right? Not exactly. How does maturity work? It often involves a lot of growing, changing, working hard, and this is a process. Maturity is not automatic, it does not happen overnight. It takes time and work. This is the first week of many where we will dive into a deep study of what it means to be spiritually mature, what it will take, and the practical steps we can take. Join us as we study the Word together!

Setting goals can be so important for our Christian walk. Setting goals like reading our Bibles for 30 minutes every day, reading through the New Testament in a year, setting aside prayer time with Him. These things are so important to our walks! It can be easy to forget them, but as we step into this new year, our goal is to keep to these things. Standing alongside and encouraging one another to stick to the goals we have set up for the year. Join us as we dive into the word today!

We often think that parents are raising their children, but we need to change this. Parents are not raising children, but are raising adults. If they did not raise adults, we would a lot more adults crawling around asking to be fed and changed. When God designed us, he did not intend for us to remain infants in Christ. He wanted us to grow up, to be able to chew solid food, and walk on our own. He designed us so we could deepen our relationship with Him, and go beyond the first few years of our Christian walk. God designed us in so uniquely. Just as babies start out not being able to walk and talk, and then growing into running toddlers who climb on things, and begin picking up new things and learning about the world around them. We are to continue growing just as these little ones do. Not remaining stagnant in our faith, but learning how to walk and talk with Jesus, learning how to pray, and to study the Word of God. Join us today as we dive into the message on Becoming Mature in the Lord.

Going into a new year, we want to be sure we are seeking God and His Kingdom. We can get very caught up in the love aspect of seeking Him. And loving the Lord is so important, just like we love our friends, spouses, children, and family. But we also need to take time to spend with them, doing an activity they like to do, reaching out to someone to get a coffee to catch up. We SEEK God, we long and desire for Him. Once we do this, our attitudes change. Our hearts change. They become more attune to Jesus because we are actively spending time with our Maker. Join us today as we dive into this New Year and study the importance of seeking Jesus.

There is a time for everything, a time for weeping, a time for rejoicing. This verse explains our lives here, doesn't it? Life seems to throw good things and can also bring hard things. It brings joy and sorrow. It brings rest and busyness. We are going into a new year and it can bring mixed feelings about how we lived and how life looked over the past 12 months. Today service looks a little different, as we invite a few people to share some hard things and good things about their year. We are so encouraged by these things as we hear how God has moved in our brothers and sisters lives. Join us today as we praise the Lord and ring in the New Year together.