Just as the Narrow Way is about less, JOHN 15 is about less. God's purpose in pruning is to make room for continued and ongoing growth, forming us into a resilient community of resilient disciples walking out a resilient faith. He won’t stop tending to the process of formation into a fruitful people who look and love like Jesus.

“In a world that is counter to my growth into Christ-likeness, we must be aware of what is conforming or deforming us, and work to counteract it by actively pursuing formation into a people who look like Jesus and exhibit the fruit of our relationship with the Holy Spirit.” What is forming you, what is forming us? Therein lies the JESUS’ call to the NARROW WAY.

Join us as we discuss the question, 'What will you do with all that you have been given? Intimacy with God and understanding our identity in Him lays the foundation for a powerful and impactful life.

We dive into the topic of inheritance and what it truly means for us as followers of Jesus. We explore the idea that inheritance is not about money or possessions, but about the Holy Spirit coming and resting powerfully in our lives. Intimacy with God is the foundation of our inheritance, and how identity and inheritance flow out of that intimacy. We also examine the importance of renewing our minds and believing in our worthiness to access our inheritance and exercise our authority in Christ. We encourage you to embrace your inheritance and walk in the fullness of God's grace, knowing that you are not alone but have the presence and power of the Holy Spirit with you. Listen as we explore the transformative power of inheritance and how it impacts our lives and the world around us.

Join us as we explore what it means to be adopted, apprentices, and ambassadors of Jesus. We delve into the concept of adoption, where we are brought into God's home and heart, becoming children of God. Through the teachings of Jesus, we learn how to be apprentices, following in his footsteps and learning from him as our master. As ambassadors, we represent Christ's kingdom, living as diplomats in this world and inviting others to be reconciled to God.

In this teaching, we explore the importance of intimacy, identity, and inheritance in our journey with God. We are reminded that our identity flows from our intimacy with Him, and that walking in our identity is an expression of our deep connection with God. Through scripture, we learn that our true identity is found in Christ, and that we are deeply loved, completely forgiven, fully pleasing, totally accepted, and absolutely complete in Him.

Gideon was a man easy to overlook. In the book of Judges we learn the history of Israel when it was under oppression from surrounding nations, suffering from frequent raids. These raids were the consequences of turning their backs on God for years, but finally, the people were beginning to call out to Him for deliverance. God heard them and picked Gideon to lead His people to freedom in battle.

Many of us have hindered our relationship with God (and others) because we drag who we think He wants us to be (or who we think others want us to be) before Him, while withholding our TRUE SELF. This is what we mean by living in our FALSE SELF. And living in our FALSE SELF can become so normal/natural that we don’t even realize we are doing it!

If you missed last Sunday, we talked about how God is leading us as a community around giving and our finances. Please give it a listen and enjoy a fresh perspective from our Pastors, Ryan and Kate.

Join us as we explore the importance of relational intimacy with God, and how it impacts our lives and relationships. We share practical insights and personal stories, all with the goal of creating a safe and healthy community where love and forgiveness thrive. Get ready for honest conversations, challenging questions, and a whole lot of encouragement as we journey together towards deeper connections and a more meaningful life. So grab your headphones and join us on this adventure of growth and transformation.

Intimacy with God is a beautiful process, that requires a constant yes, and a willingness to travel with Him into the deeper places. Intimacy isn't about reaching "it" as a destination, it is all about the daily journey walking with him through hard things, trusting Him in every season, and being bold going after things in our lives that hold us back from Him. It is a beautiful journey, that requires entrusting Him with our heart. Allowing Him to restore it and make it a dwelling place for His presence. A repaired heart that gives love and receives love in ever increasing capacity.

Intimacy is the root of your life in Christ. It is this connection to the source of life from which everything else grows. Daily, you will be allowing the roots of your life and love to stretch into the depths of God’s presence. Tha love that is abundantly available to you. New life, new daily habits, and new goals start right now.

Isaiah 43:18-21 - "Remember not the former things, nor consider the things of old. Behold, I am doing a new thing; now it springs forth, do you not perceive it? I will make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert…for I give water in the wilderness, rivers in the desert, to give drink to my chosen people, the people whom I formed for myself that they might declare my praise.” God is not functioning based on our calendar, but He is at work within our rhythms and dates, and so for us, as a new year dawns, it makes sense that we would look to Him for a fresh direction, vision, or word for 2024. In another time and place, the people of Israel had been scattered - and God promised to rescue and save them for His honor and glory. As they waited for fresh direction from Him, this is what He spoke to them through the prophet Isaiah.

Join us as we continue Advent, centering our heart on FAITH as we wait on Jesus, preparing our hearts to celebrate His birth, while also waiting for his arrival in and around the places in our lives that need Him desperately right now. He is not far off, and is "near the brokenhearted" (Psalm 34:18). No matter where you are, or what you are walking through, Jesus is COMING.

We are continuing our journey through "The Ruthless Elimination of Hurry" this season and I am excited to be sharing with you this weekend on portions of the book that have been impactful and somewhat challenging, especially in a season that wants to push us to extreme limits. We will also move into the next week of Advent as we prepare our hearts to "receive" Jesus' LOVE into our homes and hearts, through communion and prayer.

Each Sunday and the corresponding week in this Advent season, we have a specific focus to help prepare our hearts to “receive” Jesus into our homes and hearts on Christmas as we honor and celebrate His birth. The process of preparation is to slow down, remain focused on Jesus in the middle of a hectic season, and fight the urge to get spun up or spun out by consistently and persistently returning to prayer and scripture each day. As a church, we are committing to the “Ruthless Elimination of Hurry” this Christmas season. Having just completed our “A Call to Prayer” series, we hope to continue “Redigging wells of PRAYER in our lives, homes, and our church” through this season of Advent and on into 2024.

There are definitely prayers I can look back on and I’m very thankful that God didn’t move on my behalf and do what I wanted the way I wanted, and I have to admit that His Goodness and Wisdom have brought me here WAY better than my plan ever could have… But often when I think back across my prayer life’s journey, the moments that rise to the surface are the disappointment, disillusionment, confusion, and frustration of THOSE TIMES God didn’t come through... Where passionate prayer is seemingly met by silence, and a God who Jesus himself said “everything is possible for you”...didn’t move. Didn’t intervene. Didn’t speak. So what are we to do with our unanswered prayers?

Prayer forms us into a vessel for His presence, but it doesn’t earn anything. It doesn't earn my our into His presence by jumping through prayer hoops. I was taught that prayer accesses what Jesus' life and blood poured out established for us.

John 10:12-13 - “The hired hand is not the shepherd who owns the sheep. So when he sees the wolf coming, he abandons the sheep and runs away... Jesus is the Shepherd who stays when the wolves of life come to huff and puff and blow our houses down. Mixing parables a bit, but the point remains: We HAVE a Savior who guards and guides our lives, and fights anything that desires to "steal, kill or destroy". What does that mean for us today? And, on a personal level, are there places in our own faith where we treat our own heart, body or mind like the hired hand treated sheep and retreat at the first sign of trouble? I hope you'll join us Sunday as we learn the Word together, honor the Word together, and allow it to refine us as we walk the way of Jesus!

The Parable of the Laborers in the Vineyard invites us all to examine our response to the extravagance of the Good News of Jesus. If you are like me, on first read you may identify with the laborers in some way or even struggle with understanding what Jesus is really trying to say. As we spend time contemplating this section of scripture, let’s invite Holy Spirit to examine our motives and heart postures so we can see Jesus clearly and why this story matters to us in our day.

John 10:10 is a scripture we often share, “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.” When Jesus said this statement, it was in the context of his description of Himself as both The Gate of the sheep pen and The Good Shepherd. While we may have an enemy who wants to “steal, kill and destroy,” Jesus is the One that both places us in the safety of his care and guides us as we follow his voice. This is where we are both kept and sustained so that in Him we “may have life and have it abundantly.” Watch Kim as she dives into the Kim dives into the Parable of the Good Shepherd.

Let's dive into Matthew 7:24-27, the simple parable Jesus taught about two men - one who trusted the words of Jesus, and one who ignored them. Let's open our hearts and lives to Jesus, inviting Him to establish all that we are on all that He is - until nothing in our lives is built on sand.

This week we have the privilege of having Sommer Bury give a message on The Parable of the Sower and the Seed.

"Therefore, the kingdom of heaven is like a king who wanted to settle accounts with his servants...” Matthew 18:23 How we receive God's mercy and grace, and how we impart it to others is vital to living in and under the Kingdom of Jesus.

Too often we read the Parable of the Good Samaritan as if we are the Samaritan, called by this story to help those in need, even our enemies. Is there more to it than a lesson to be kind to those in need; an additional and deeper Kingdom reality?

This week we are walking through the Parable of the Mustard Seed and the Parable of the Yeast. Jesus was a storyteller. He used stories to help people understand what he was speaking to them. As a storyteller, this is one of the ways I was drawn into the Word as a kid, and still love to dig in as an adult. Join me as I tell some stories out of the Word and other stories the Lord is reminding me of as I prepare for Sunday.

Have you noticed how religion and doctrine seem to complicate God? The pharisees and religious elite were consumed by busying themselves with religious to-dos and complex behavioral and cultural box-checking. Jesus lived in a culture whose primary mode of learning was oratory, and baffled the religiously educated with the parables He told to express God’s Kingdom. Story has a unique ability to express complex truth, simply. These parables of Jesus were a beautifully woven tapestry – complex interwoven themes that altogether formed a clear and powerful image displaying the heart of God. For those that had ears to hear, these stories opened and softened them. It invited a generation into a new way of thinking. Story is written on the heart of man. When someone tells a story, our imaginations are engaged and we begin to see with the eyes of heart. We can see and understand our own motives more objectively when we recognize ourselves in the form of another character. Jesus was a brilliant story teller. He knew that the pharisees and religious elite would try to trap him in His words and artfully shared the heart of God in metaphors and analogies just long enough for his underground ministry to take off and spread like wildfire. He allowed the greatest truths of the universe to be distilled down to simple people in ordinary circumstances- down to earth and very relatable! I am excited to dive deeper into the beauty of Jesus’ storytelling with you this week, as we continue to unpack the parables. I pray that you would be inspired and softened toward the heart of God in your journey here and now, and that you would more clearly see the story that Jesus is weaving in your own, beautiful life!

Listen to Drew as he gives historical cultural context surrounding the parable of the prodigal son and how we can apply it to our own culture.

Join us as we learn the WAY of Jesus together by diving into His powerful method of teaching and awakening hearts to His Kingdom: Parables. Parables are a powerful tool that Jesus used to invite his listeners into a whole new WAY of living, thinking and being.

Our Galatians key verse was: Gal. 3:3 - “How foolish can you be? After starting your new lives in the Spirit, why are you now trying to become perfect by your own human effort?” Why is this admonition important? Because it led into the entire section on the fruit (of the SPIRIT) in Galatians 5 and Galatians 6:7 - “God cannot be mocked, a person reaps what they sow…” But this fruit is not something produced through through our efforts. This fruit is what God produces in us (through the spiritual law of REAPING and SOWING), when they REMAIN in Him as Jesus states in John 15.

In Galatians Chapter 6, Paul challenges the church to be careful where they sow. There are two possible kinds of soil: the flesh or the spirit. He reminds us that once they had, they could not change the harvest. What is sown to the flesh will bring a harvest of corruption but the parts of their life they sowed to the Spirit will produce life. All that we do is either an investment in the FLESH or the SPIRIT. We WILL reap whatever we have sown, and we will reap in proportion to what we have sown.

In this teaching, we will be exploring the words of Paul inviting us to “keep in step with the Spirit” and stewarding our freedom in Jesus. We will celebrate together that Jesus is enough for every place of pain or temptation or struggle that we carry in this life. If you are feeling weary of religious efforts or the cycles of temptation - The Apostle Paul’s words are a powerful direction for us to lean into JESUS, the ONE who has the greatest empathy for our pain and weakness and also the greatest healing power to lead us into a life “abundant”.

Last Sunday was the 6th year anniversary being in our building. If you haven’t heard the miracle story of how we got here, we encourage you to watch. Join in on the story of what God is doing in and through our community.

As His children, filled with His spirit, we are welcome to come to him with whatever it is that we are walking through. He is going to comfort our hearts, listen to what we are saying and meet us with love and understanding. And He is ready to direct our hearts. What Paul had experienced and what he knew to be true, he was speaking in this letter to the churches in Galatia - and we get to look at our own lives as we read this and ask the question - Am I living as a son or daughter or as a slave? Is what is pouring out of my life a response to God, saying “Abba, Father”? If not, let’s get there!! If not, let’s bring what we are in slavery to Jesus and receive the adoption into the family that is ours!

Gal. 3:5 - "So again I ask, does God give you his Spirit and work miracles among you by the works of the law, or by your believing what you heard??" The Early Church saw a POWERFUL, TANGIBLE and SUSTAINED move of God's Spirit. How did this take place? It wasn't because they were following the Law. The Law was powerless. It was because of their BELIEF in Jesus! What can we learn from this? I believe this still holds true today as we remember this: Religion is unable to START or SUSTAIN the move of God we long to see in our church, homes and lives! Let's unpack Galatians 3 together!

A season of conflict doesn't have to spell the end of a relationship. What is God up to right now? How is he drawing us together and forward? How can we overcome massive hurt, offense, and frustration, like Peter and Paul had to work through?

In Galatians 2, we learn of an encounter between the two primary leaders of the Early Church, Peter, and Paul, that could have led to the end of their relationship. In his zeal to protect the purity of the Gospel of Grace, Paul confronted Peter openly and emphatically for being legalist and racist. How did Peter respond? What happened to their relationship afterward? Was this relational disconnect between leaders fatal to the Early Church? In a season where we have seen or experienced a lot of relational disconnects between friends, family, and believers, what can we learn from Peter and Paul that we can apply here and now? The God of redemption was at work in their relational disconnect, and He is at work in ours - mending, healing, convicting, reconciling, and restoring what the enemy has stolen. A season of conflict doesn't have to spell the end of a relationship. What is God up to right now? How is he drawing us together and forward? How can we overcome massive hurt, offense, and frustration, like Peter and Paul had to work through?

Paul, writing to a group of churches in a few different cities in what is modern day Turkey. He had already made a missionary journey through this region at this point. Now somethings have reached his ears and his love and passion for these people ignites a powerful letter. A group of “intruders” from Jerusalem most likely, came and began to spread a adjustment to the Gospel that Paul shared, in order to be part of the family, fully included in the salvation of Jesus, they must be circumcised and follow the customs of the Torah. These intruders call into question Paul, they call him a man-pleaser, carrying a secondhand version of the Good news.

A couple weeks ago, Ryan talked about not reading ourselves into the text of the Bible. It created a small stir when he said, “the Bible isn’t written about you, and the Bible isn’t written to you.” The Bible is a gift, and we need treat it as such. It doesn’t exist for us to know just ABOUT God, but for us to know God. WHEN WE STUDY THE BIBLE, we are not just pursuing information, or correct doctrine, but REVELATION and INTIMACY with and from God Himself. Which brings us to Galatians. It weakens the power and authority of Scripture when we pull them too quickly into our time and place and context without the humility of acknowledging the massive distance between when and why they were written and when and why we are applying them. Let's jump into this teaching from Ryan and see what we can learn from Paul's letter to the Galatians.

Kingdom over everything. Jesus said "seek first my Kingdom." He preached "repent, for my Kingdom is at hand!" What is the Kingdom? How do we seek it? How do we find it? How do we build it? These are vital questions as followers of Jesus This is no time to get our priorities mixed up! God's Kingdom is expanding and moving - Are we seeing, sensing and joining in?

Kingdom over everything. Jesus said "seek first my Kingdom." He preached "repent, for my Kingdom is at hand!" What is the Kingdom? How do we seek it? How do we find it? How do we build it? These are vital questions as followers of Jesus This is no time to get our priorities mixed up! God's Kingdom is expanding and moving - Are we seeing, sensing and joining in?

Kingdom over everything. Jesus said "seek first my Kingdom." He preached "repent, for my Kingdom is at hand!" What is the Kingdom? How do we seek it? How do we find it? How do we build it? These are vital questions as followers of Jesus This is no time to get our priorities mixed up! God's Kingdom is expanding and moving - Are we seeing, sensing and joining in?

Let's talk about this strange mystery of worshiping Jesus together in a gathering. Which in case you were wondering, is not perfect, or the best model, or style, or format. We could travel the earth at this very moment and hear and see the nations worshiping God in a million different ways together.

Intimacy, identity and inheritance are pillars that true worship is built on. In this teaching, Niesja will be talking mainly about individual worship. Your own expression of worship between you and God is something you don’t need worship band for. Did you know that You are your own worship leader? The Holy Spirit is the BEST worship leader- He is always confirming and affirming who Jesus is in us. John 4:23 “But an hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers shall worship the Father in spirit and truth; for such people the Father seeks to be His worshipers “ 2 Chron 16:9” For the eyes of the LORD roam to and fro throughout the earth, so that He may strongly support those whose heart is completely His.” He’s looking for friends to share His heart with.

All that God is, accessed by faith in Jesus Christ, and made manifest in us AND around us by the indwelling and empowerment of the Holy Spirit - which we steward for His purposes and glory. We have been made right with our Father through Jesus. And because we have a father? We have an inheritance. One of the most PROFOUND things that took place at the cross, and then in Jesus' resurrection and ascension into Heaven, is the fact that we become joint-heirs with Christ.

In order for us to walk in our God given identity, we must FIRST have an understanding of who He is. Identity is the EXPRESSION of our INTIMACY with God, and the revelation we carry of who He is. Our beginning point is a REVELATION of God and INVITING HIM into our reality - messy, broken, whatever - And discovering a God of LOVE.

When intimacy is the root, identity becomes the visible and internal structure of your life. A tree that grows from healthy roots. Who you believe you are will determine how you think about yourself and consequently, how you interact with others. You may struggle to take hold of the reality of being made perfectly new, entirely whole, completely righteous and lacking nothing through Jesus. We pray that struggle ends now! God desires that you would grow to full stature and maturity in your identity, knowing and living out who and Whose you are.

Our (broken) idea of prosperity is the accumulation of things, and a “better” life. Biblical prosperity that the life of Jesus brings us into is to prosper in the fruit of the Spirit. "This is to my Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples." - Jesus (John 15) To prosper is to grow HEALTHIER (mind, emotions, spirit, body) BY ENCOUNTERING and BECOMING more like Jesus, not to grow a larger bank account. Kingdom finances isn’t about ACCUMULATION, it’s about APPROPRIATION of RESOURCES and STEWARDSHIP!

THIS ADVENT SEASON IS A REMINDER that through all the repetition of life, the repeated mistakes, the habits of brokenness, the high places, the thin places - Jesus is the GOD who is continually coming towards us. He has promised the proximity of His presence AND He will not control us, instead He has sent the advocate to help lead us into daily practices that help us navigate all the channels of life, the high and lows, even the mundane and ordinary.

In the midst of the Christmas Season where seems to be a commingling of both joy and grief, we are reminded that God alone is our hope and our redemption. Let's settle that God is always working in our behalf and that there is not a detail that He is not mindful of and orchestrating for our redemption.

Throughout Scripture, Jesus is revealed as the promised One who would rescue and redeem humanity - our past, present, and future! This Christmas, we will be celebrating, remembering, and inviting Jesus to be revealed in and through our lives and circumstances as the true God who is WITH US in everything we are walking through this season.

When Jesus said in John 14:18 – “I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you…” He was speaking of the coming of God’s Spirit to abide with us and be in us. Why did the Spirit of God come on all flesh? So that we could be reconciled to our true Heavenly Father, healed and sanctified, experiencing what it’s like to LIVE as a son or daughter, fully aware of the Father’s Favor over us.

Jesus demonstrated love tangibly, clearly, and boldly. He has formed a unique and diverse people into a tangible, clear and bold demonstration of His love. Able to cross all borders, boundaries and divisions. The Body of Christ is a gift and a mission all at once.

The fruit that comes out of your life is a by-product of the vine you are connected to. Join us this Sunday as we talk about Abiding in Jesus and remaining in Him as our main source of life and wisdom.

From Community of Transformation to Kingdom Hospitality.

We finished our “Communities of Transformation” (Acts series). It was a powerful series that challenged us to be transformed in Jesus and carry the transformational reality of Jesus with our lives and within our communities. God met us profoundly throughout this series, and while we came and went from it a few times, I am so thankful for the opportunity we took to study the Book of Acts!

We talked about Paul living out what he wrote to the Philippians church: Phil. 4:11-12 - “... I have learned how to be content with whatever I have. I know how to live on almost nothing or with everything. I have learned the secret of living in every situation, whether it is with a full stomach or empty, with plenty or little.” Despite beatings, arrests, untrue accusations about his character, intentions and message…despite imprisonment, and being removed from a community of people he loved…despite prophecy (both corporate and personal) that nothing but trouble and death awaited his life…PAUL MANAGED DISAPPOINTMENT…and continued to live out the PURPOSE God had PLACED on his life.

Paul heard and was directed by God, and how that impacted how he carried himself through opposition, riots, physical attacks, arrests, trials and imprisonment. Hearing God clearly doesn’t guarantee smooth sailing and it does't insulate us from disappointment but it is about trusting God with the His timing and how it comes about. Let's see what we can learn from Paul in how he navigates this reality.

What are we looking for in Acts? Principles we can pull into our present as we observe what a transformational community looked like, and how it grew. They were transformed, to carry transformation. This movement was more like a seed that grew. There wasn’t a cultural or political revival or turning. It was a small “boom” (Acts 2) within a certain community but off the radar.

You can't be spiritually mature while remaining emotionally immature. Most of us avoid conflict in the name of Christianity; ignore our anger, sadness, and fear; use God to run from God; and live without boundaries. In this series we will learn biblical integration of emotional health and the spiritual practice of slowing down and quieting our life to experience a fully alive relationship with Jesus, with ourselves, and with others.

You can't be spiritually mature while remaining emotionally immature. Most of us avoid conflict in the name of Christianity; ignore our anger, sadness, and fear; use God to run from God; and live without boundaries. In this series we will learn biblical integration of emotional health and the spiritual practice of slowing down and quieting our life to experience a fully alive relationship with Jesus, with ourselves, and with others.

You can't be spiritually mature while remaining emotionally immature. Most of us avoid conflict in the name of Christianity; ignore our anger, sadness, and fear; use God to run from God; and live without boundaries. In this series we will learn biblical integration of emotional health and the spiritual practice of slowing down and quieting our life to experience a fully alive relationship with Jesus, with ourselves, and with others.

We are currently on a journey on emotional health in the context of our spiritual journey. This is based on Peter Scazzero's famous book Emotionally Healthy Spirituality. You can't be spiritually mature while remaining emotionally immature. Most of us avoid conflict in the name of Christianity; ignore our anger, sadness, and fear; use God to run from God; and live without boundaries. In this series we will learn biblical integration of emotional health and the spiritual practice of slowing down and quieting our life to experience a fully alive relationship with Jesus, with ourselves, and with others.

We are currently on a journey on emotional health in the context of our spiritual journey. This is based on Peter Scazzero's famous book Emotionally Healthy Spirituality. You can't be spiritually mature while remaining emotionally immature. Most of us avoid conflict in the name of Christianity; ignore our anger, sadness, and fear; use God to run from God; and live without boundaries. In this series we will learn biblical integration of emotional health and the spiritual practice of slowing down and quieting our life to experience a fully alive relationship with Jesus, with ourselves, and with others.

Are you taking hold of Jesus and moving forward in this race with Holy Spirit leading your life? What has Holy Spirit put on your heart to do? What is your life mission? Paul knew his life mission! He was called to encourage believers and to share his experience and truth of who Jesus is to everyone - even at the risk of his own life. What is your life mission?

If we want to be a community of transformation who walk in the authority of Jesus, we have to repent of the things that the Lord would be displeased, we have to be transformed from glory to glory into his likeness, we have to grow in our intimate relationship with God, and we have to remember that our fight is not against people.

One thing we feel the Lord is highlighting to us as a community from Acts 18, it's this: how do we live in the tension of culture and religion? How do we live adjacent in the culture of religion and religion between our culture? What does the third way look like?

When Paul went to Athens, he was met with a culture that was unfamiliar to Jesus, the mosaic covenant and any Jewish history. How did Paul bring the gospel to his audience and what principles can we learn as we engage our own neighborhood, school, nation to the truth of the Gospel?

Acts tells the story of how the early church was born, grew together, was scattered, and then spread the story of Jesus everywhere they went (Acts 8:4). We want Living Waters to be one big community of transformation, but how would that happen if our “big” community wasn’t also made up of a bunch of small, healthy, Jesus-looking groups of people passionate to know Him and make Him known? That’s how God used a small group of followers number about 150 people to change the world, and that’s how he’ll use YOU to keep it going!

Today’s message is not going to be a typical Father’s Day message. And truly it may seem like a very simple message. Since last Sunday, the Lord has been saying to me, “Follow Me”. I wake up in the morning and that is the first thing he says to me. As I go through my day - he keeps telling me to remind us all to Follow Him. If you have been in church at all, you know that being a Christian is to follow Jesus - but just because we know we need to follow Him, doesn’t mean that is what we are doing. This message today is for dad’s - but even if you are not a dad in this room today, I believe that Jesus has something for you too.

To be a COMMUNITY OF TRANSFORMATION, we must be Spirit-led. The early disciples were operating in GRACE (undeserved supernatural favor) because they HAD A DIRECTIVE FROM THE SPIRIT OF GOD. We must not discount the ways that God wants to speak to us, to you. He shows up for us - to lead and guide us. When we believe the Spirit of God is alive and active today, and we are CONSTANTLY IMMERSED (“baptized”) in Him, we must learn to OPEN OUR LIFE to being “SPIRIT-LED”.

This great outpouring (of God’s Spirit) - of boldness, power and presence didn’t coincide with everything “going well” for them. It was during government oppression and ongoing political and religious upheaval, confusion, loss, grief and direct persecution WHEN God poured out HIS SPIRIT (breath of life), and set a fire from the kindling of broken plans and people that is still burning today.

To be a New and Better Covenant People, because, in Jesus, God is creating a diverse yet united "one new humanity” (Eph. 2:14-16) that includes "every tribe, every tongue" (Rev. 7:9) - (Every race, nation, social and economic status, cultural background, and religious background). Jesus is our peace and has removed every wall of hostility, distrust, and division, so we ARE removing hatred, distrust, and division from our hearts, minds, and lives to be a COMMUNITY and a SPIRITUAL FAMILY that reflects what Jesus desired us to be as sons, daughters and a people set apart for Him.

Our heart is to be a place where we will continually believe for miraculous and supernatural healing in people’s lives – physical, emotional, relational, and spiritual. Listen as Drew unpacks what we believe in the area of Kingdom Wholeness.

Our heart is to be a place where those who have been overly churched, disengaged, disenfranchised, or deeply wounded – can heal, find hope and joy restored, and return their yes to Jesus – in an environment free from performance, judgment, coercion, comparison, or competition.

We believe that Scripture clearly and coherently teaches equality between men and women in God’s Kingdom, church, family and in marriage. This is a foundation of who we are at Living Waters. We believe women share equally in God’s image; Are equal recipients of Christ; Are equal recipients of God’s Spirit poured out; we are equal inheritors of the kingdom of God that Jesus inaugurated, and equal participants in the New Covenant.

The New Testament was written at a time when the Old Covenant was passing away and the New Covenant was just beginning, because of that there is a tension of a “mix” between these two realities that sometimes still finds its way into Church culture today including but not limited to our finances.

Join us as we begin a 6 week series on our collective mission and vision. We look forward to partnering with you as we delve deep in what God is specifically doing in us and through us a house.

I have one Easter message, WHAT DID/DIDN’T HAPPEN ON THE CROSS - Easter is about celebrating the resurrection but we would appreciate it EVEN MORE when we understand what transpired on THE CROSS. I will preach it on repeat gladly because it dismantles TOXIC CHRISTIANITY, challenges an unhealthy (but pervasive) picture of God, and invites people INTO FREEDOM IN JESUS. So tune in and get ready to get a clearer picture of what happened that day.

What happens when Jesus disappoints our expectations? The fickle nature of humanity, the people who cheered him were quite possible the same who cried out for his crucifixion. What do we cling to when we've lost faith in Jesus' promises, or we don't like the way things are turning out? Are we like the woman with bleeding issue who just grabs ahold however she could? Or are we like Judas, trying to manipulate outcomes our way? This Palm Sunday message, let's press in to the one who alone hold the Word of Life.

The Lord reminded me of the word He spoke over our house at the beginning of the year. He wanted me to bring us back to that word as we have now finished up our Intimacy, Identity and Inheritance series to remind us and also to encourage us to move out into all that He has for us. As we cultivate Intimacy with the Lord, know our identity as children of God and step into the fullness of our inheritance, we are going to be taking new territory this year and seeing the promises of God fulfilled in our lives. So let’s look back at what He said and move forward knowing His goodness and love for each of us.

God has designed your life and filled it with purpose. He is up to far more than you can comprehend, and He has placed dreams in you before you were formed in the womb. He is now calling them to life! It may scare you to death, but give God your yes fully and without reservation. Kill fear and excuses, comparison, and inadequacy right now! You have something unique to carry and release through as God fills and leads you!

The enemy, through circumstances, conditioning, self-doubt, comparison, and learned expectation, works diligently to program our minds to feel UNWORTHY and UNABLE to walk in the power of God here on earth...and to convince us that's normal. No one leaves here today with an UNCLAIMED INHERITANCE…or believing you have squandered the gifts, calls, and anointing that are on your specific life. No one leaves here feeling disqualified. Get up out of the mud. Sometimes it’s not how He pursues you…it’s how He receives you that changes your life. WHEN YOU COME HOME, IT’S NOT TO AN ANGRY FATHER. It’s for restoration. To an EMBRACE AND KISS. A ROBE, RING, SANDALS AND A PARTY.

Now, as joint-heirs, Jesus' victory is shared with us when we accept God's invitation to be His sons and daughters. In this way, His victory is our life source. The degree we are walking in victory is the degree we are accessing our inheritance on earth. Any area of our lives where we are not living in total victory is a candidate for His goodness and power to visit and set right.

We want to see a family of FULLY ALIVE believers experiencing deep INTIMACY with the Holy Spirit, who are secure in their IDENTITY in Christ, and who rise in their INHERITANCE (from the Father) to express the fullness of the Kingdom in every area of our lives. Knowing WHO WE ARE and WHO WE BELONG TO is our IDENTITY. Walking it out is OUR INHERITANCE.

Identity is the tangible expression of your faith. Identity does not come as a result of striving, it comes as a result of surrender. If “What comes to mind when you think about God” is the most important thing about you, then what comes to mind when you think about you is a close second. I can tell what you think God is like based on how you treat yourself when you fail, how you respond to others when they disappoint you and/or when life doesn’t go your way. Your view of self, your view of God - all of “you” is a composite of a lot of different factors that create many of your responses subconsciously. To take that a step further, what happened to you, or didn’t happen to you during your formative years, matters greatly. Wounds from our family of origin are a reality. In Christ our family of origin has shifted. But the wounds can still remain. Watch this week's teaching and find out how you can partner with God to break the wounds that are keeping you from fully stepping into who you truly are.

The true self refers to a sense of self based on authentic experience, the unhindered u, where at the core we feel truly present and alive. The “false self” is a defensive facade, behind which the person can feel empty, it’s behaviors being learnt and controlled rather than spontaneous and genuine. Listen to this week's message and find out how this connects with our true identity in Christ.

In Jesus, you ARE defined by God alone. He identifies you as his own. We get to live from this identity, not forever grasping and contending for identity. You are not defined by the opinions of others or by your circumstances. You are not defined by your successes or failures. How you look, what you’ve done, what you’re trying to do.

We do not earn God's love and affection as a wage, but receive it as a gift. We are not performing, we are resting in and enjoying His presence, unity with Him that we can access ONLY because of the completed work of Jesus Christ.

We believe that intimacy is the core and the place where our relationship with Christ is rooted and it's from intimacy that everything flows. So when we teach on intimacy, we desire that it would remind you of God's passionate pursuit of you, of his constant invitation to your heart to be safe, set free and satisfied in Christ. We want the power of his love and desire to compel you deeper into his presence to pursue him that nothing else would satisfy you, once you've had revelation of the length that he has gone in his love to be with you.

Intimacy is the root of your life in Christ. It is this connection to the source of life from which everything else grows. Allowing the roots of your life and love to stretch into the depths of God’s presence. That love that is abundantly available to you.

What do you look like FULLY ALIVE in Jesus? In John 10:10, Jesus told us that while we may have an enemy who wants to “steal, kill and destroy,” He came to “give life to the fullest, abundant and overflowing!” His heart is that you and I would be “fully alive,” in His infinite, resurrection life that springs from the everlasting well of God — right now and into eternity. As a church community, we set aside the first 12 Sundays of each year to explore what we believe are the three foundations of a “full life” in Christ. Our INTIMACY with God through the indwelling Holy Spirit. Our new IDENTITY through the resurrection life of Jesus Christ. The INHERITANCE we carry and release because we are reconciled to our Good Father.

As we step into this new year, there is anticipation and excitement starting to bubble up.  The question is, what is in store for each of us in 2022?     The last two years have held a lot for each of us.   We have gone through heartache and pain and have received new gifts, tools, and ways to approach life.  I believe that all that we have walked through over the past couple of years has set us up for what is to come this new year, 2022.  I also believe that God doesn’t waste a thing.  What has happened over the past two years, He will use in this new year. 

"Joy to the world, the Lord has come!" When Christmas time rolls around, this familiar refrain is heard with regularity. It's a classic line from Isaac Watts hymn, which was first published in 1719! As soon as we read the lyric "joy to the world...", it's difficult not to hum the rest of the song in our heads and hearts. You're probably doing it right now! While we know the lyrics, and they have become synonymous with our yearly celebration of the coming of Jesus into our world, a question must be asked: Do we sense, see, and share this joy? We would love the honor of sharing with you how we can be people of great joy this Advent season. We have come into a moment of human history where I believe that the joy of Jesus that you have is offensive to the dark and brooding hopelessness that is trying to drain peoples hearts and minds and lives of meaning, purpose and compassion. Not offensive in the sense that we are hurting people's feeling, but offensive in the sense that our joy is a weapon that pushes back the darkness around us, our families, and our communities!

As we gather this coming Sunday, we are in our second week of Advent and celebrating that Jesus is the Prince of Peace. Who He is and what His presence brings is Peace! This Sunday we are going to talk about the Prince of Peace and the truth that God is with us, even in the midst of what seems crazy, busy, and at times completely chaotic.

Thousands of years have passed since that first sin in the Garden of Eden, and with it the first of HUNDREDS of prophecies in the Old Testament was given promising the coming of the Messiah. As time has passed the history of God’s people, and the world surrounding them, time and time again have demonstrated the reach, the potency, and the devastating impact sin had on humanity. Over time, each prophetic word spoken pointed to the hope that God had a redemptive plan in place, and that he had not abandoned His people to ruin and destruction.

"Our world is filled with grief, uncertainty, and confusion. It can feel like we are being blown about the storms; like the light has gone out and the sun will never rise again. It can feel like we are chasing the sun, but it’s always just out of reach…someone told me, we have to stop chasing the light, turn around and walk through the night, and catch the sun on its way back up – that’s what lament is – it’s walking through the dark in order to get to the light." Watch Steve Mickel as he concludes our season of lament. He shared his personal story of grief, loss, and the power of finding Jesus in the darkness. Having Steve and Suzanne with us filled our hearts with hope for our personal and corporate journey in Lament.

We have invited Angie Richey, President of Life Pacific University in San Dimas, California, to speak this year at our women's conference but will also be speaking to us this Sunday. Angie currently serves as a member of the Foursquare Board of Directors and serves on the NextGen Sub-Committee of the National Church Committee. Angie with her husband founded the Gathering, a simple church network of house churches that continues strong after a decade. She has been married to business owner, pastor, and strategic executive coach, Lew Richey for 27 years, and they with two young adult children. She is also one of Kim’s childhood friends and is very trusted and loved by our team at Living Waters.

This week, we are honored to have Bo Stern-Brady. Bo is a friend of ours in ministry from way back. We have been loved and encouraged by her over the years, and we can’t wait for you to meet her! Bo is a pastor, speaker, and author (newlywed, mom, and grandma!) She has written three excellent books, “Ruthless,” “When Holidays Hurt,” and “Beautiful Battlefields.” “Beautiful Battlefields” is a great book and we cannot recommend it highly enough! She wrote it after her own fierce and unexpected battle when her husband Steve was diagnosed and later died from ALS. We believe that her walk with Jesus through those battles and the fires, in grief and loss, will speak directly to our communal and individual lament and infuse our hearts with hope that we are not alone, even amid the darkest moments.

Lament is exercising our ability to feel sadness and grieve by giving time, space, voice and expression to our deep sorrow over pain, loss, and disappointment. Lamenting is admitting that there are parts of ourselves and our lives that are undone, feeling them, and inviting God into them - because when God is with us in it, being undone does not mean we are unsafe or unprotected! Everything that we lament in this life is rooted in the fact that sin broke the world and it broke humanity and it broke the perfect relationship we have with our Father. When sin entered in, it broke the communal picture of what God intended for us. In this message, we will walk through recognizing lament in light of sin. Watch Drew as he unpacks this topic for us and how we should engage our hearts and minds with the Father.

Lament is exercising our ability to feel sadness and grieve by giving time, space, voice and expression to our deep sorrow over pain, loss, and disappointment. Lamenting is admitting that there are parts of ourselves and our lives that are undone, feeling them, and inviting God into them - because when God is with us in it, being undone does not mean we are unsafe or unprotected! We believe it's okay to be sad as we look at all the things we have been through as a church and community, and the things we have all been through individually. We are in this together, and that means we can grieve together. If you are feeling the intensity of this season and you'd like to join us in connecting with God in our pain, loss and disappointment before we head into a New Year, we invite you to engage with us the next several weeks. We will have lots of different types of daily content as well as guest speakers coming in to guide us along the way. But step one is to watch this introduction to a season of Lament from Ryan and Kate. We are with you as we embrace sadness, sit with it, gently and patiently find its source, and allow God to meet us.

In Acts 15, the early church was experiencing division from both Jews and Gentiles. Both groups were being challenged to step out of their familiar culture and change to meet together and build something new. The Jews were being asked to come out of their past “religious culture” and relinquish their demands and expectations on others to follow the Law and be circumcised. The Gentiles were being asked to come out of their past “religious culture” that included sacrifices to idols and sexual indulgence as part of idol worship. The new believers were spared from RELIGION, without being given LICENSE to do whatever they desired. Both of these exist within the “church” today, and and to function in community we must not let our pendulum swing into either LICENSE or RELIGIOSITY.

Despite continued trials, despite a variety of changing settings and situations, regions and people, despite opposition in the places they were, and opposition following them from the places they’d been – the Gospel flourished and the church grew. During Paul and Barnabas missionary journey, they ministered to a multitude of people with diverse nationalities and backgrounds, cities with different Governors, leaders and systems in place, powerful cities and poor cities, to religious people and non-religious people, to Jews and Gentiles…AND THE GOSPEL FLOURISHED IN EVERY CONTEXT.

Throughout the Book of Acts, there is a constant invitation to repent. Not the turn-or-burn coercion to believe, but a beautiful exhortation to return to the truth of who God says we are through the finished work of the Cross and reminds us what has been made right.

It is interesting how we can read a passage of scripture throughout our lives, but when reading it, it feels new and fresh and sometimes feels like something we are reading for the first time. This happened to me as I was reading Acts 12 and prepping my message for this past Sunday. Peter is the leader of the disciples, the chief spokesman for them in a very exciting but scary time of life. The gospel is spreading, and people are coming to know Jesus as their savior and are being filled with God’s Spirit, and the Jewish people are doing all they can to stop it.

This week's message was from Acts 10 and 11. It was the moment the gospel, and full inclusion into the Kingdom of God was given to the Gentiles. Cornelius and his family were the first ushered in, a shift that all of us reap the benefit of. But what we often forget is that this gift of inclusion to the Gentiles was promised by God, first to Abram (Abraham) well over 2000 years ago. There was a lot of smoke obscuring that promise by the time Cornelius and His family were filled with the Holy Spirit! Nevertheless, the promise was still there all along.

I have been hearing stories pop up everywhere of God inviting families, couples, single friends into sudden shifts in their life- and these shifts may be physically challenging but the YES to follow Jesus into the unknown is bringing them so much joy! There is a grace to experience sudden shifts in your mentality, your daily life.

As we are walking through the book of Acts, what we see is that Jesus ascended into heaven and the promised Holy Spirit fell upon all those waiting for the gift that the Father promised them. We read this in Acts 2. The Gospel of Jesus was being shared and people were following “The Way”, which meant they were giving their lives to Jesus and being filled with God’s spirit. Thousands of people were coming to know Jesus daily. So now they are living a new way of life - being led by God’s spirit in them. The fullness of the Holy Spirit residing in them and walking out each step they took with them.

Saul was an angry man. We can say that he was a terrorist - He is persecuting the church and people are afraid. Christians know about him. They know what He is doing and can you imagine how hopeless and how scared they must have felt in that moment. Their lives were in danger because of their beliefs and because of who they were following. So he is on this mission and the absolute impossible happens. Saul encounters Jesus!

Even in the most difficult circumstances, God is at work. What we are going through may not be ideal, but we can trust that God is holding, comforting, and strengthening us.

As we continue our Community of Transformation Series from the book of Acts, there are key lessons we can learn from Stephen as we navigate our time today as a follower of Jesus. Join us for chapter 7 of Acts.

Join us as we continue our series on Communities of Transformation.

Can a church model health and God's solutions where culture is struggling with racial, ethnic/national or political division? Acts is showing us a way to reclaim our places of influence in order to show the world what healthy community, connection and especially disagreement can look like. As we walk in the Spirit and tear down our own walls that want to divide us and keep us from becoming a a true community of transformation, God will use that to bring solutions to the problems that our wold it struggling with.

The gifts are for today just as much as they were for those written about in the Bible. Gifts like, prophecy, words of knowledge, gift of wisdom, gift of healing, gift of tongues - these gifts are given to us by Holy Spirit and partnered with Him in seeing the Supernatural take place in and around our lives! As we continue in Acts 5 - we are going to talk about the apostles that said yes to believing in Jesus - they believed that He was the son of God and that he died and resurrected on the 3rd day. These were the guys that were in the upper room on the day of Pentecost, when they were told by Jesus, before He ascended into Heaven, to wait in Jerusalem to receive the gift that was promised to them by the Father - which was the gift of the Holy Spirit.

Watch this short encouragement from Ryan and be empowered as you go about during our "Church Out" Sunday. When we have a “Church Out” Sunday, it isn’t a Sunday without something, it’s a Sunday with unlimited opportunity to engage God in a new and unique way! Read more about Church Out Sunday at our website.

Watch Drew kick us back into our series, “Community of Transformation.” Here, he challenges us to represent Jesus well not just in our words, but also in our affection and our actions towards people we might not agree with.

Within our STORIES lies the power we need to overcome. Some of us struggle to recognize the overcoming power in our own story, as so many of them still hold loose ends, moments of intense loss, or perhaps unanswered questions. Paul so beautifully reminds us that it is “in our weakness” that Jesus is seen and made strong – and therefore we can boast in our weakness! It is often our own stories of brokenness and pain that Jesus rides in with overcoming power. Are there parts of your story that feel unfinished, pending, or irredeemable? “What was that about God?” “Where are you in this?” Are there seasons of pain or loss that have yet to be filled with Jesus’ strength, comfort, and healing perspective? I want to share a piece of my own story with you regarding my journey with fathering. Father’s Day can be tinged with questions, memories and grief for so many of us and whether we had amazing or broken dads – we all feel the effects of our relationship with them on our connection with God. I want to share with you my raw journey of both pain and healing and let you in on the continually unfolding miracle of how Jesus has healed and met me. I pray that the Holy Spirit would meet you in a deep healing of places that still feel muddied or confusing in your own journey, and that His Spirit would ignite you with Hope for the story He is telling through your life. “And they overcome by blood of the lamb and the WORD of their testimony…” Revelation 12:11

ACTS is a call out of our individuality & independence, and dare I say sometimes “isolation” - to come together around Jesus, the one who is GREATER than anything that DIVIDES US. The quality & sustainability of our current REFORMATION in the “church” will be determined by what we REFORM around and I pray it is only Jesus.

Acts 2 is the CRUX of the Bible, the moment when everything comes together. The completion of the puzzle that allows us to finally step back and (with our finite minds attempt to) comprehend the mystery, sovereignty, wisdom and power of God to bring about His redemptive purposes.

The Book of Acts tells the story of how the church was born, grew together, was then scattered, spreading the story of Jesus everywhere they went (Acts 8:4). This series will challenge and commission us to continue the story they began in Acts...to lay down our lives as to carry Jesus to people right where they're at by living as a part of a Spirit-filled, transformational community of fully alive Jesus followers. Acts doesn’t have an ending...The implication being that we are God’s (Spirit-filled) people, and the expectation is that we are continuing the work God started through this small community of believers.

Have you ever found yourself in a place that you just couldn’t see the hand of the Lord working on your behalf? Or maybe the way the circumstances were playing out did not meet your hopes or expectations? You are in very good company! This week we are beginning our journey through the book of Acts. Acts is the powerful account of how the early church, filled with the power and the authority of the Holy Spirit, changed the course of human history and ushered in the advance of the Kingdom of God here on Earth. But in the opening moments of the book, we catch a glimpse of the final exchange between Jesus and His disciples before he ascends to heaven, and one final question is lingering in the hearts and mind of those whom Jesus is leaving His mission: Acts 1:6 Then they gathered around him and asked him, “Lord, are you at this time going to restore the kingdom to Israel?”

We are talking about the 40 days that Jesus walked the earth after the resurrection until he ascended into heaven - The Space Between. we are focusing on three of the disciples and their interaction with Jesus during that 40 days in the book of John in chapters 20 and 21. With all that our world is facing these days - with things going on in our nation and how divided it can feel - I really believe that as we take a look at these three disciples, there are some things the Lord just wants to remind us of and encourage us in as believers.

For forty days between the resurrection and His ascension into heaven, history was still unfolding through Jesus! As we move toward our series on Acts, understanding this period is vital as the groundwork is laid for DISCIPLES and FOLLOWERS of Jesus to carry the Good News of reconciliation to the Nations. Jesus' resurrection had changed everything, and while his followers were struggling to comprehend, Jesus faithfully shared what had, and would take place. A New Covenant had been established. A Kingdom had come. History had shifted, and an assignment had been given that followers of Jesus still carry to this day!

We are anticipating a powerful day - and praying for a shift to take place in our church as we shake off the dust of 2020 and embrace the fullness of HOPE for 2021! Hope isn't a feeling, it's a perspective that can only be found in the supernatural reality AND PERSON of Jesus that we celebrate on Easter!

Welcome to the beginning of a beautiful walk through the last days of Jesus' ministry on earth. We are setting a daily rhythm as we lead up to Easter, beginning with this message as Ryan breaks down the last days of Jesus in a message called "A Triumphal Tragedy".

We have been walking through the life of Joseph for the past few months, on this video we will conclude this series as we get to the key verse, Genesis 50.20, You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives. Joseph lived a life of forgiveness and because of that he was not distracted by or focused on what happened to him, but he saw what the Lord was doing and participated and partnered with the Lord in accomplishing all that God had set before him.

How did his restoration and rise happen? How did he do it? How could he walk from PRISON to the PALACE so easily? Is this how he envisioned the fulfillment of his childhood dream unfolding? The fact it is included in the text is to highlight that the reader would recognize the connection. How often does God give us a sense, or a direction, or a “dream”, and we imprint it with our circumstances and expectations? Join us as we worship and hear Ryan unpacks the "other side of the darkness" and what we can learn from Joseph's rise from prison to palace.

What do we do in the time gap between our promise and the delivery of that promise? What do we do when we feel like God has forgotten us? What do we do when the promises are not coming true? How do we posture hearts and character and our actions and spirits in contending for over a decade or more of pain and frustration and disappointment like Joseph? Watch Drew as he tackles these difficult questions and gives us practical tools on how to navigate the "some time later" moments of our journey between the promise and its fulfillment.

As I’ve studied this story, this is what I see that stands out: How his relationship with his father formed him, and his how his dreams gave him purpose. Joseph had an IDENTITY and a PURPOSE that stood the test. It’s one thing to THINK you know who you are when things are good, because it’s theoretical. But when a trial hits, the truth is revealed. Difficulty and testing reveal where our identity is rooted, but it also shows us what we’re LIVING FOR. Joseph carried a DREAM that God used to deposit PURPOSE in his heart, and it oriented him through all the storms he would encounter.

Joseph’s story is a STORY OF LOSS. He loses the protection and favor of his father. He loses the respect and love of His family. He even loses his position in Potiphar’s house. But what remained? His identity. Living as a son, even when distanced from his father and family. What was put into him remained intact…(What our father puts in us is unshakeable). Where we draw our identity is established in difficulty, but testing also reveals where it is rooted. For Joseph, he remained rooted in his. It’s one thing to know who you are when things are good, because it’s theoretical. But when a trial hits, the truth is revealed. Joseph was living in his father’s favor and resources, but the events that came against him required him to choose to continue to live in that identity, regardless of what was going on around him. Watch as Ryan continues our series, From the Prison to the Palace: A Series on the Life of Joseph.

In this message, Kim will be continued our series on the life of Joseph, focusing on the effects of JEALOUSY on his brother's hearts. Joseph’s brothers allowed their jealousy to grow inside them. They allowed the filter of how they saw life to be through this jealousy and it then grew to the point that they wanted to kill their brother. We may never get to that point - but the way we think of someone else or how we treat them can be just as bad. It is time that we kill Jealousy in our lives and walk with the Lord as He celebrates what is happening in those lives around us - and in our own life. Let’s choose to be aware of what is happening in our heart and bring it to the Lord. He wants to meet you in the exact place that you are in right now - and He wants you to be fully alive in this life! Watch this message and find out how to best counterattack jealousy in your life.

Today feels like a perfect Father’s Day message! It's all about the Favor of a Father and what it imparts to Joseph, and to us. At LW, we speak often of the POWER OF A FATHER...one who builds us up and calls us out into manhood, womanhood, and identity. (To be TAUGHT who we are, and TRAINED how to live it out). Watch as Ryan unpacks the Father's Favor from the story of Joseph.

Drew launched us into a new series, From the Prison to the Palace beginning with Joseph's family history. This is a 10,000 foot overview of the Family History of Joseph from Abraham to Joseph’s birth. When examining the historical narrative of Genesis 12 forward, we see the Lord offering his covenantal promises over and over again. And we see His people making choices that reveal their doubt, fear, disobedience, etc. Yet God faithfully uses every choice to fulfill His promises. The story of Jospeh is how God interacted with imperfect humanity in the backdrop of his perfect plan. And that story is also our story.

Knowing WHO WE ARE and WHO WE BELONG TO is our identity. Walking it out is OUR INHERITANCE. When we speak of inheritance, we are not talking about money or possessions; we are talking about the GOD’S SPIRIT coming - and resting so powerfully ON and moving THROUGH our lives that we will never be the same. All that God is, accessed by faith in Jesus Christ, and made manifest in us AND around us by the indwelling and empowerment of the Holy Spirit - which we steward for His purposes and glory. We have been made right with our Father through Jesus Christ. And because we have a Father? We have an inheritance.

What comes into our minds when we think about God is the most important thing about us” AW Tozer. What you believe about God will determine your relationship with God. It will also inform what you believe about yourself, and what you believe about yourself determines how you live out your faith. There’s nothing I want more than for my kids to know that they are loved, and to know who they are! I believe that’s true of God’s heart toward each of us…and why Jesus came.

Intimacy with the God through the Holy Spirit is our foundation.