March 17, 2024 • Trevor Harrison • Philippians 4:19–20, Romans 8:32
At one point or another all of us have asked ourselves, “Am I cut out for this?” Maybe you felt it in college or as you became a new parent or as you changed careers. Feelings of uncertainty like these can also be felt in our faith. In fact, maybe you don’t even feel like you’re cut out for this whole Christian thing. But why do we feel this way? Why do we assume that a real, active faith is out of reach for us? Believe it or not, Peter—the very same spiritual giant we’ve been talking about for weeks— probably felt the exact same way. God called him to some pretty big things, and it seemed like he might not have what it takes to do them. But then Peter had an encounter that changed the way he viewed not only himself, but also the God who called him. It was an encounter that activated a new understanding of faith. And as we look back one more time at Peter, we’ll see that this same life-changing, faith-building encounter is waiting for us, too.
ACTIVATE - Week 3
March 10, 2024 • Trevor Harrison • Colossians 3:13
When it comes to mixing chemicals, you don’t always know what will happen. One chemical might cause a huge reaction while another might deactivate the entire experiment. When you think about it, the same thing is true of faith. There are things in our lives that have the potential to either destroy or fuel our faith. And one of those things is doubt. Most of us have probably been taught that doubt is a bad thing because it deactivates our faith. But what if doubt could actually have the opposite effect? What if doubt became the thing that built up and activated our faith? Peter, one of Jesus’ closest friends and followers, dealt with major feelings of doubt. But as we’ll learn from Peter’s experience, our doubt doesn’t have to be a bad thing. In fact, it’s when we go to God with our doubt that our faith can be activated in a whole new way.
ACTIVATE - Week 2
March 3, 2024 • Trevor Harrison • James 1:5
When it comes to mixing chemicals, you don’t always know what will happen. One chemical might cause a huge reaction while another might deactivate the entire experiment. When you think about it, the same thing is true of faith. There are things in our lives that have the potential to either destroy or fuel our faith. And one of those things is doubt. Most of us have probably been taught that doubt is a bad thing because it deactivates our faith. But what if doubt could actually have the opposite effect? What if doubt became the thing that built up and activated our faith? Peter, one of Jesus’ closest friends and followers, dealt with major feelings of doubt. But as we’ll learn from Peter’s experience, our doubt doesn’t have to be a bad thing. In fact, it’s when we go to God with our doubt that our faith can be activated in a whole new way.
ACTIVATE - Week 1
February 25, 2024 • Trevor Harrison • Isaiah 43:25, Romans 8:1
Science is fascinating. Even if you hate doing science projects with your kids, you have to admit that the idea of conducting experiments is cool. It’s amazing how adding just a few drops of one chemical can create a reaction, adding a few drops of another can stop or deactivate the same reaction, and adding a few drops of a third chemical can make the whole thing explode! But what’s interesting is that you can’t tell by just looking a chemical if it’s an activator, deactivator, or neither. The only way to know is to test it out and see what happens. Believe it or not, this is something faith and science have in common. We all experience moments that have the potential to activate or deactivate our faith, and it’s hard to tell at first glance which is happening. This was especially true in the life of one of Jesus’ followers and closest friends, Peter. As we take a closer look at his ups and downs, we’ll discover that sometimes the very experiences that threaten to destroy our faith are the ones that can activate it in a whole new way.
