When you begin following Jesus, you may feel a wonderful sense of peace and freedom. But you may also find yourself remembering things from your past and wondering whether God has really forgiven you. Perhaps there are things you regret. Maybe you have hurt someone, made choices you wish you could change, or carried guilt…
Day 1: Pay Attention to the Fruit Devotional Jesus moves from the image of two roads to the image of fruit. The road we walk will eventually produce something in us. This means discernment is not merely about first impressions, persuasive words, or outward appearance. Over time, fruit becomes visible. Jesus begins with a warning…
Kingdom Wisdom | Part 8 Knowing Jesus, Not Just Serving Him Matthew 7:21–23 From Pastor Steve We are in a series called Kingdom Wisdom, looking at the wisdom Jesus gives us for living in the Kingdom of God. Last week we talked about fruit and how what is happening inside a person’s life eventually becomes…
Deciding to follow Jesus can be a meaningful moment, but it can also leave you with questions. What exactly happened? Did God really receive me? Am I supposed to feel different? What happens now? You do not need to understand everything that happened in order for your relationship with Jesus to be real. Following Jesus…
WHAT IS LIFE ABOUT? Can the Bible Be Trusted? The Bible has shaped cultures, communities, and individual lives for centuries. But being influential is not the same as being trustworthy. Is there good reason to take it seriously? The Bible makes remarkable claims. It speaks about God, human nature, good and evil, the meaning of…
WHAT IS LIFE ABOUT? Why Has Religion Hurt So Many People? Religion has sometimes been connected with compassion, courage, and extraordinary good. It has also been connected with hypocrisy, abuse, division, and real human suffering. How should we make sense of that? For some people, questions about Christianity are not primarily intellectual. They are personal….
WHAT IS LIFE ABOUT? Can I Believe in God and Still Have Doubts? Faith does not always come with complete certainty. Sometimes believing and questioning exist in the same person at the same time. Some people imagine faith as the absence of doubt. You either believe or you question. You either have faith or you…
WHAT IS LIFE ABOUT? Can Science and Faith Fit Together? Do we have to choose between taking science seriously and believing in God? Perhaps the two are asking different kinds of questions about the same reality. Science has transformed the way we understand our world. It helps us understand everything from distant galaxies to the…
WHAT IS LIFE ABOUT? What Happens After We Die? Death is one of the few things every human being eventually faces. What happens afterward is one of the questions we cannot help asking. Most of us can go for long stretches without thinking very much about death. Then something brings the question close. Someone we…
WHAT IS LIFE ABOUT? Why Do Bad Things Happen to Good People? We expect life to have some relationship between goodness and what happens to us. Yet often the world does not seem to work that way. There is something in us that expects life to be fair. Kindness should matter. Honesty should matter. People…