The Jesus Christ Experience

In this sermon series, we are exploring the trichotomy of humans. As the scriptures explain, we are each made up of a physical body, an eternal soul, and an eternal spirit. How do these aspects of our existence work with one another? Who are we really and where does out identity come from for the Believer? 

This concludes our series on the principle of Seed, Time, and Harvest. What we meditate on and fill our minds with will at some point become evident in our lives. Different seeds that we have planted throughout our lives are constantly coming into a harvest season. We need to become more aware of what fruit we want coming from our lives and what fruit we want to forego. 

We have been exploring the principle of Seedtime and Harvest. In this episode we look at the role time plays in this process. Some seeds have a longer gestation timeframe than others. What do we do when we feel that we have been sowing good things into our lives and have not yet seen the fruit? Do we stop sowing? 

Last week we made the argument for the validity of the law of seedtime and harvest. This week we see what scripture says about what seed is and how it works. If you haven't listened to Seed Pt. 1, I would encourage you to go back and listen to it first so that you better understand what is being shared this week. 

The principle/ law of Seed-time-harvest is throughout the creation story and ongoing through the Bible. It predates man and is a direct contributor to our lives and those around us. What does the Bible say is seed in our lives? 

In this episode we continue talking about the balance of abiding in God's love and obeying His commandments. I believe that if we have a revelation of the love that God has for us, obedience will naturally flow from our lives. May this sermon bless you and make Jesus a little more glorious to you.

So much of the walk with Christ is comprised of a narrow road with 2 ditches on either side. To abide in Christ, we have to have a revelation of the love of God. Without this, we will struggle to try and earn the love of God which is impossible. God's grace and love is a gift. However, if we constantly live from a place of receiving God's love and grace, but we do not obey Him, we are not abiding in the love of God. How do balance this? What is needed to abide in the love of God...

In this episode we continue on in Ephesians 1 to explore more of the "In Christ" statements that Paul makes. Over the past few weeks, we have seen a progression of the expected blessings and life of the Christian that abides in Christ. We are now looking at the inheritance that the Christian has in Christ. Hope this message blesses you.

As we have walked through the first few verses of Ephesians 1, we see the phrase "In Christ (Him)" repeated. Paul is painting an elaborate and beautiful picture of the what is offered to those who live in relational connection to Jesus. We often times lump all the unique and wonderful blessings of God into the salvation experience. Do they all begin at salvation? Yes, I believe they largely do; however, each facet of what we acquire and lay hold of at salvation is an ongoing adventure and experience with God. We can too easily gloss over the promises of...

*A bit of context. The prop that I used in this episode to help people visualize my topic is a suitcase that has 'Predestination' written on the front along with Eph 2:10 as well as "God's Will". Inside are promises, not only from these verses, but also from Rom 8:29-30. 

The life we have in Christ is one of mystery, adventure and abundance. In this episode we look at what is predestination. What has God predestined for those who are IN Christ? Does He ultimately decide who is saved and who isn't? How can we k...

This week we discussed Ephesians 1:4 where it talks about God choosing us IN Christ. What does it mean that he chose us before the foundation of the world? Do we really have free will? As I share my beliefs and how I interpret these verses, I am well aware that many people smarter and more learned than me have argued these points for centuries. I am humbly sharing my beliefs. This is a pretty large and sweeping topic, so I hope you will be able to understand and follow what I am saying. 

Buckle up and come a...

In this episode we delve into what it means to be "blessed with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places." As we go through Ephesians 1 we are focusing on the "in Christ" statements that are speaking of the abiding life of the Christian. This week is Ephesians 1:3. The enemy has done a good job at creating confusion and hesitation when it comes to living in abundance and the blessings of the Lord. Yet God clearly intends for us to live in the blessings He has given us.....maybe we just don't understand what the blessings are intended for.......

This is a brief explanation of the power and purpose of being grateful. We are implementing a time of gratitude/appreciation before our regular service in order to incorporate a spirit of gratitude into our community and lives. I hope this challenges you and opens up your eyes to the power of gratittude!

We continued unpacking what it means to "abide in Christ". The life of God flowing through man is what the world is starved for, the enemy fears and the delight of God. If we want live from the life and grace of God, it requires that we keep the Gospel ever in our view. This "fuel" source for our lives is what the engineer of creation has designed our lives to run off of. It's not about arriving spiritually, it is about an ongoing relationship and connection with Jesus that produces the poem of our life God always intended...

Last week we talked about the eternal divine life that has been extended to us through Christ. If you missed out on the Easter Service, I would encourage you to go back and listen to have a better understanding of the background of this sermon. Our text is John 15 where Jesus is talking about being the vine and we are the branches. Why does Jesus emphasize abiding and remaining attached to Him when the modern Christianity often times majors on all the things we should/shouldn't do. Can we truly live by the life of Christ through a deep...

Come and experience the story of the eternal Life of God.

For Palm Sunday we talked about Jesus' triumphal entry into Jerusalem. While everyone is celebrating (other than the religious leaders) expecting Jesus to become the King of a new worldly empire, Jesus is humbly stepping into His place as the true Passover lamb. Do we still largely miss what Jesus came to do, and what it truly means to follow Him?

How do we view the command from Jesus to abide in His love? What does that look like? How do we hold in tension the Love of God for us and the subsequent obedience that He calls us to live in? How does this connect with Joy and our connection with one another? 

Come alone and explore with us the answers to these questions.

In this sermon I continue to talk about the glory of the Joy that the Father and the Son had before the foundation of the world. This joy was a type of glory that the Father and Son shared. Then in John 17 we see Jesus praying that the Father would share this same glory with us, the same glory as the intimate friendship and delight that the Father and Son share. Even in Job we see the clear connection of the delight in God's face towards us as the source of our joy. 

In this sermon, we continue to look at Joy, and how God is happy to be with us. We look at both the scriptures and brain science that explains how we are wired to live in joy. But, what is joy.....really? What is the source of joy? And can we grow more joy in our lives?

In this sermon we began to see how neuroscience and scripture can help us get a more complete picture of what joy is and how we are wired to live in joy. One of the most basic definitions of joy from a neuroscience viewpoint is, when someone is happy to be with us or when someone's face lights up when they see us. With this definition, can we find this concept in the Bible? The answer is a resounding "Yes". Come and see how God's face lights up to be with us!

Today I introduced the topic of Joy. Joy is supposed to be one of the markers of the Christian life, yet it doesn't seem very prevalent amongst believers. I know it wasn't for me. In this sermon we go over several key verses that give us a look at what Joy is and how thanksgiving and gratitude are tied to joy. At the end we did an activation with everyone that significantly raised the joy in the room. 

We continued exploring the humility of Christ and how He chose to become just like us....and even lower. Why would God choose to become not only a man, but a servant? Isn't the point of being a leader so that others will serve you? 

As we have looked at the Christ's humble nature it stands in stark contrast to our society and even the modern church structure. We need to ask ourselves, if I am not growing in humility, am I really following Christ? 

We continued with considering the humility of Jesus. From the Beatitudes to washing the disciples feet, Jesus embodied what true humility is. Our society has reframed humility to be self-loathing or timidity, but we see in the life of Jesus that it is bold, confident, and fully focused on dependency on God for everything. Just as Jesus fully depended in the Father, so too can we live from a place of humble dependency on the life and spirit of Christ in us!

When we begin to look at and be aware of the humility of God, it exposes the pride in and around our lives. Humility doesn't call attention to itself, yet it is the carbon atom of the Christian walk. To follow Christ requires that we take the lower path. It requires a heart that refuses to be self dependent and instead fully relies on the indwelling life of Christ to lead, guide and provide all we need.

In this sermon I share from my heart. The main scripture is 2 Cor. 3:18 "But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord." 

'we all' speaks of the body of Christ coming together to look upon Jesus and share that with one another. 'Unveiled face' refers to the veil of the Old Testament and the law is taken away in Christ, revealing the true heart and clear nature of God. 'Beholding as i...

I feel that God has placed Paul's prayer in Ephesians and Philemon on my heart for this coming year. He prays that the Spirit of wisdom and revelation would come upon the believers so that they might know (by seeing and experiencing) who God is for them and in them. Also, this prayer sets the backdrop for what we as the body of Christ need and the world......a real, genuine revelation of Jesus Christ.

"Keep your heart with all diligence..." is a timeless command that is more true now than ever. What we take in to our heart eventually comes out of our lives. The world is constantly vying for your attention. Whole companies and industries revolve around capturing your attention and.....ultimately your heart. The good news is, you may have problems, but it is your choice if you have issues. Just like David with Goliath and Joshua leading the children of Israel. Our problems become places where the size and power of the God we serve is tested. Is our God...

In this episode we get into the practical process of addressing spiritual/demonic attacks in the Christian's life. Since the spirit realm operates much like our legal system, we are able to systematically address and remove ground that we have given the enemy in our lives. Using our authority as believers and the name of Jesus Christ we can remove the enemy's influence and work in our lives. Below is the handout that I reference in the message.

Legal Process of Removing Demonic Influence and Oppression:

Confess  →  Cancel → Command → Commit <...