Church
5-Part Series on our Vision
GROWING
February 5, 2023 • Seth Bartal • Matthew 8:6–12, Mark 6:2–6, Luke 22:31–32
There are people we meet in life who have seemingly unshakeable faith. Regardless of what happens to them in life, they have a calm confidence in a God who is FOR them that allows them to face any storm that comes their way. It’s their confidence in God that drives their ability to stay connected to Him, and it’s that sort of faith that astonished Jesus during his time on earth. Thankfully, such amazing faith isn’t as outside of our grasp as we sometimes think; it’s available to those who strive to grow their confidence in God on a daily basis.
INVITING
January 29, 2023 • Seth Bartal • John 1:29–51
Invitations have the power to change our lives. Whether it was an invitation to sit at someone’s lunch table, the invitation to go out on a date, or the invitation to try something new - receiving and responding to invitations can change the trajectory of our lives. Seeing how powerful they are, it’s not surprising that invitations are also a part of our faith journey. Every person who is following Jesus today received an invitation at some point, and that one invitation was life-changing. For those of us who have been invited, perhaps there’s an opportunity to invite others.
GIVING
January 22, 2023 • Seth Bartal
We love being around generous people because we know there’s nothing they have that they’re withholding from us. We could ask anything of them, and they would give it to us in a heartbeat. The irony is, as much as we love generous people and are grateful for their generosity, many of us find it difficult to be generous personally. Rather than being quick to give of what we have, we come up with reasons why we may need it or why we don’t need to give it. So how do we bridge the gap between where we are and becoming the generous people God wants us to be?
SERVING
January 15, 2023 • Seth Bartal • Acts 6:1–7, Matthew 16:16–17
When we think of church, we tend to think of a building that holds weekly services. Whereas that’s one thing that happens within a church, there’s so much more. In fact, the church isn’t a building - it’s a gathering. And when we understand what the purpose of the gathering, we begin to understand what our role is so we can be a part of contributing to what God is up to in our world.
LIVING
January 8, 2023 • Seth Bartal • Genesis 2:16–17, Genesis 3:7–9, James 5:16, Hebrews 10:24–25, Galatians 6:1–3
No matter how hard we try, we all have gaps between what we want others to perceive about us and who we truly are. Whether it’s with your spouse, a friend, your parents, or your boss, there are times when people see our gaps, and we suddenly become aware of a terrible fear we all have: rejection. The fear of rejection is so powerful, it fuels our damaging behavior of hiding our gaps from others. The good news is, God knew of our tendency, and He painted a picture of how to overcome both our tendency and our fear for our own good and for the good of others.