If you’ve ever watched a movie set in high school, this probably sounds familiar:
Protagonist leaves her friends behind for a chance to get in with the populars. After securing a spot at the cool table, she quickly discovers being “in” isn’t all it’s cracked up to be. Turns out, her new “friends” are heartless back-stabbers in high heels. (Who knew?!) Enlightened to the value of true friendship, she dumps her jock boyfriend and begs her real friends to take her back. Cue happily ever after.
While we all find ourselves thinking Protagonist should’ve known better, are we really so different ourselves? Join us this Sunday as our upcoming message, “False vs. True Religion,” exposes what you and I are chasing to feel loved, happy, and secure. Could it be that what you’re searching for has been there all along?
Unlikely Ways, Unending Hope
June 23, 2024 • Jon Morales • Isaiah 44:24—45:25
Streaming services are filled with low-budget chick flicks telling the same old story.
From the millionth Cinderella story to the Prince of Who Knows Where falling for a small-town girl, these movies come and go without anyone blinking an eye. While the same-old and predictable are a dime a dozen, the films that top box offices and build franchises are of a different kind – original and unexpected. Among the greatest plot twists in cinematic history, this iconic line says it all: “No. I am your father.”
If we love unpredictability on the silver screen, why do we complain when things don’t go the way we expect in real life? Join us this Sunday as our newest message, “Unlikely Ways, Unending Hope,” challenges our response when God works in ways we didn’t see coming
Remember. Return. Redeemed!
June 16, 2024 • Jon Morales • Isaiah 43:22—44:23
April showers bring May flowers.
Whether you’re tending flower beds, sowing a vegetable garden, or wrangling a lawn that seems to grow a foot a week, you know what a difference those showers make. Without rain, you’d be left with nothing but a crispy patch of hay and some floppy zucchini.
Biblically, water is often used as a symbol of life. We understand this, so we’ve invented hoses, watering cans, and sprinkler systems to keep our yards healthy under the summer sun. But there’s a type of dryness – the kind the prophets warn about – that runs much deeper than our lawns.
Join us this Sunday as our upcoming message, “Remember. Return. Redeemed!” reveals why our lives so often feel barren, empty, and tired – and where to find Water that never runs dry.
A New Thing!
June 9, 2024 • Jon Morales • Isaiah 42:18—43:21
The 2018 film Beautiful Boy depicts the true story of a father’s struggle to redeem his son from the drug addiction that has torn their lives apart.
Viewers grieve for a dad willing to give everything for his son, yet powerless to save him. We ache as the hope we once held gives way to despair. And we long for the happy ending that never comes.
It’s stories like these that reveal a deep longing for our own happily ever after, and our yet-deeper fear that it won’t come. Join us this Sunday as our newest message, “A New Thing!” tells another true story—one of a different Father, and with a different kind of ending.
Stupidity of Idols, Supremacy of God, Satisfaction in Christ
June 2, 2024 • Charlie Koopman • Isaiah 41:21—42:17
“Prestige, power, privilege—at what price?”
The closing words of Psychology Today’s “The Problem with Rich Kids,” this question is a response to startling findings about the effects of affluence on the next generation. After more than a decade of research, the author reports disturbingly higher rates of substance abuse, anxiety, depression, eating disorders, cheating, and stealing among wealthy youth, as compared to their lower-income peers.
Studies like these beg the question, does money really buy happiness? Join us this Sunday as our upcoming message, “Stupidity of Idols, Satisfaction in Christ,” challenges us to exchange empty promises and cheap substitutes for the real thing.
Can Your Life Turn Around?
May 26, 2024 • Jon Morales • Isaiah 41:1–20
There’s power in a good pep talk.
A coach’s half-time huddle changes the course of the game. An officer’s rallying cry turns the tide of the battle. A politician’s address inspires a nation. And a father’s reassurance gets two skinned knees back up on the bike.
Browbeaten by fear and shame, there’s only one thing that gives us the strength to try again: Hope.
Join us this Sunday as our upcoming message, “Can Your Life Turn Around?” speaks a word of hope to the weary, anxious, and ashamed.
Shattered People, Rousing Word
May 12, 2024 • Jon Morales • Isaiah 40
We all know the kind of person who has to make their own mistakes.
Raised in a good home, they still manage to land themselves on the wrong path—one plainly headed for trouble. Our hearts ache to watch a person we love dig themselves into a pit of addiction, abuse, or suffering. We long for the day they’ll “wake up” and return to what they know is right…but will that day ever come?
Join us this Sunday as our newest message, “Shattered People, Rousing Word,” reveals what each of us have in common the ones who’ve lost their way. Together, we’ll discover a hope for the prodigal in all of us.
