Posts with the category “growth-resources”

In Galatians 6:2-5, the Bible teaches us to help one another and carry each other's burdens. This means that when someone is going through a tough time or facing difficulties, we should be there to support and assist them. We can pray for them, offer a helping hand, lend a listening ear, or provide encouragement. By sharing their burdens, we show kindness and love, just as God wants us to.  By car...  Read More

We all deal with stress.  In this broken world, it is inescapable.  That's why the Bible is filled with teaching to help us not only deal with the struggles of the world but do deal with the battle within our minds.  While many of us (me included) struggle with anxiety, God's Word, in 1 Peter 5:7, reminds us to have hope and to put our hope in the Lord by casting our cares upon Him because He care...  Read More

As we see the story of Daniel and his friends unfold, one thing can't be missed. Obeying God was more important than life. They knew that fearing God was always better than living in fear of men or women.17 If we are thrown into the blazing furnace, the God we serve is able to deliver us from it, and he will deliver us from Your Majesty’s hand. 18 But even if he does not, we want you to know, Your...  Read More

Our battle is an unseen one with very seen consequences so we must stand with COMPASSIONATE CONVICTION. The evil influence of our world is only hurting those it’s influencing. We must respond with COMPASSION. Sin multiples and worsens with every generation so we must have CLEAR CONVICTIONS. The most loving thing we can do is to know and live our convictions in a way that doesn’t attack but helps the hurting.  Read More

When times are the toughest, we need to know that we have others in our corner. People who are with us and for us. That's why the call to be encouragers is a needed one. Today, we live in as polarized a society as ever before. Everyone runs to the extremes and takes shots, throws stones, and attacks the other extreme. We have become experts at tearing others down and have become novices at building encouraging relationships.   Read More

Ask someone their picture of the good life and you'll probably hear about long walks on the beach or fishing on the bay.  Perhaps you will hear about a comfortable retirement full of travel and grandkids.  You may also hear stories of a happy marriage full of love, fun, and romance.  We all have a perfect picture of the good life in mind.But what if the perfect picture of the good life is not only...  Read More

Listen to influencers and it seems there is one extreme or the other when it comes to work.  One side says to say in the grind.  Do all you can for as long as you can no matter what is expected.  The other says that your work should be passive.  You can make a living without working on it if you do the right things.  The problem is either extreme will leave you lacking.   Neither can answer the pr...  Read More

Set an address in Google maps and you will get step by step directions to the desired location.  Then, as you pull up, Google announces, "You have arrived."  There is a sense of pride in the map's automated voice.  Because everyone wants to arrive.  Everyone wants to feel like they've made it.  We all want the sense that we are successful and secure.The problem is many people see security in what ...  Read More

Moral gray areas have always existed for believers (see Rom. 14:1–23). New technology and modern social issues certainly provide unique manifestations of gray areas, but Christians have always needed to exercise wisdom and discernment in myriads of life situations.  Read More

To live the good life that we all dream of, pray for, and work for, it requires a starting point.  That starting point is our faith in Christ, because it's our faith that transforms our lives starting with our minds.That's why Romans 12:2 teaches us to no longer conform to the patterns of this world but to be transformed by the renewing of our mind.  Our minds are powerful influencers because our ...  Read More

From Faith Gateway Have you ever found yourself struggling to meet your spiritual new year's resolutions?  What if we told you that resolutions don’t work, but better habits do? I recently started listening to the audiobook Atomic Habits by James Clear after it was mentioned by my pastor in a sermon, and while it’s not a Christian book, his recommendations on building better habits have become ver...  Read More

How much faith is enough faith?  The answer to this question is counterintuitive.  Logically, to trust God for big things, we need to have big faith, but that's not exactly what Jesus taught.  Read it for yourself.He replied, “Because you have so little faith. Truly I tell you, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move. ...  Read More

Have you ever taken the time to consider what faith means? If you had to write a definition of faith what would you include?  Read More

From Christian Parents I will never forget holding my precious, beautiful daughter in my arms and tearfully confessing to my friend, “I think I’m a bad mom.” At that moment, I meant it with my entire heart. She was my third baby in three years and I was exhausted and full of hormones. I felt like I would never be able to manage it all. How would I raise all my kids? How would I remember all the ap...  Read More

100 billion. That’s a big number. As teenagers, we rarely think of a number that huge. Trust me, a million is a lot for my mind to grasp.  Thankfully, we have a God who loves big numbers.One fact I learned recently is that we have 100 billion neurons in our brain and 100-1,000 trillion synapses.  While this might seem like some fancy fact you learned in science class, this statement is actually pr...  Read More

I wonder if when Jesus said not to let our hearts be troubled and not to be afraid, he also meant, “Hey, I know you will feel trouble and fear. Feel it and do not be it.” There is a difference between feeling our emotions and being our emotions.  Read More

from re|engage It’s a phrase I’ve heard many times, often from people who have cheated on their spouse or committed some other sin that hurt their family. It can be a massive weight, suffocating you with guilt and shame and preventing you restoring oneness with your spouse. You may spend your days obsessing about how to overcome the past, desperately searching for a way to somehow “forgive yoursel...  Read More

Through this story, we also learn something powerful about God's love and the difference between acceptance and approval.   Read More

Memorizing Scripture is an excellent strategy for spiritual growth. It allows you to have gospel truths ready at all times, whether your day brings you temptation, heartache, or a friend in need of encouragement.  Many thousands of people have shared that this system was what finally worked for them after years of trying other approaches.If you are inspired to memorize Scripture but aren’t sure wh...  Read More

From Desiring God In the beginning, God created rhythms. He spoke on day four,Let there be lights in the expanse of the heavens to separate the day from the night. And let them be for signs and for seasons, and for days and years. (Genesis 1:14)When Adam entered Eden two days later, he stepped into a dance of day and night, month and year, winter and spring and summer and fall. And then, between t...  Read More

From time to time, I'm done preaching and I think, "Man, I wish that I had said this or said that."  While I prepare for weeks for each message, there are still truths left on the table.  I still have things I wish I said.This week, I wish said the truth about this statement:  Salvation is free, but discipleship is costly.  You may have heard this in the past.  I may have even preached it in the p...  Read More

One of the most dangerous ways that a Christian can live is by becoming comfortable with things in their life that God is uncomfortable with.  In essence, in these areas of life, we are choosing our wants and desires over God's perfect Word and plan for our life.  When we do this, it will always come back to bite us.  That's why we need to stay uncomfortable.The disciplines of confession and repen...  Read More

From Desiring God Permission to slow down — perhaps that’s what you’re aching for again. Maybe you tasted it for a few weeks, or even months, when the pandemic hit, as event after event was cancelled. But now, with vaccinations in arms, and the collective rush to return to life as “normal” (as much as that’s possible), you’re feeling the need again for life to move slower than the modern world see...  Read More

One of the big takeaways from Sunday's message is that we should forget what God has forgiven. Paul put it this way in Philippians 3:13-14.   "Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do:  Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesu...  Read More

If you’re anything like me, you often face a classic conundrum when it comes to how you’ll spend your time, asking: “Should I prioritize the important or the urgent?”And, ya know, if you’re like me, urgent matters often win. Gotta get the kids out the door, dinner on the table, work assignment turned in. Log a few hours of sleep, wake up, and repeat again tomorrow.But then, dare I say it, if you’r...  Read More

Kick off the New Year with a new or renewed commitment to reading God's Word every day.  We have some great plans to help you get started.New Year New MerciesForward to a New YearNew Year New HopeChronological Reading PlanBible in a Year...  Read More

Tuck the story of Christmas deep in your heart and lead your family to do the same by worshiping with us this December and by reading the story of Christmas in the Bible.   Read More

From Desiring God In Christ, God made our hearts to burn for him. Though our affections rise and fall, and our zeal boils hotter on some days than others, coldness is not the Christian’s heritage. We are those who walk on the Emmaus road, our souls catching fire as Christ opens, again and again, the Scriptures that speak of him (Luke 24:32). We belong to the fellowship of burning hearts.Yet we als...  Read More

Do you know the difference between compassion and Biblical compassion?  Random House defines compassion as “a feeling of deep sympathy and sorrow for another who is stricken by misfortune, accompanied by a strong desire to alleviate the suffering.”  By this definition, compassion is a combination of feeling and activity.  This definition is good, but incomplete when compared to Biblical compassion...  Read More

It happens every day. A husband refuses to forgive his wife, because she just can’t see all the sins he ascribes to her. A wife won’t reconcile with her husband until he fully endorses her view of reality. A marriage teeters on the brink of ruin because one spouse has marked the other’s motives as irredeemable.Some use the marriage escape hatch, calling it “irreconcilable.” It’s so sad, but they h...  Read More

All living things grow. With human beings, we watch babies learns to crawl, to walk, to talk. We grow from total dependance on our parents to eventually being parents are ourselves. The maturing process is a journey to independence.Our spiritual journeys are just the opposite. We start off in rebellion against God, thinking we are fully independent from Him.Spiritual maturity, then, is the process...  Read More

“Relationships make life rich!” That is true always but now more than ever, we need the richness that relationships bring.  Read More

From The Fierce Marriage The path toward repairing and rebuilding trust is neither easy to find nor quick to travel. Your heart hurts and your relationship seems like it will never be the same again. Could it be that God wants to use this difficult time to show you more of his mercy, goodness, and grace? Could it be, that this could make your marriage better than ever before? Listen in as the Fier...  Read More

From Lifeway People often use the word “encourage” without thinking about what it really means. “Be encouraged, it could be worse,” we are told. “Don’t be discouraged; hold your chin up,” we tell others. But what does it really mean.Encourage comes from the Old French en (make, put in) and corage (courage, heart). Literally it can be understood as “make to be heartened” or “put courage into.” It i...  Read More

From Fierce Marriage Relationships are complicated, aren’t they?As a single girl navigating the murky waters of dating, I’ve found myself crying on my bed more than once over the years, asking, “Why is this so hard?” From a breakup that shattered my heart, to getting ghosted by a guy I admired, to the daily decision of seeking God for contentment and joy in the midst of singleness— I know how comp...  Read More

From Fierce Marriage When things are in alignment, everything runs smoothly. But when one piece of the puzzle is missing— or one moving part of an engine is out of place— the whole system becomes compromised. My husband and I hit rock bottom in our marriage before we recognized that our priorities were way out of alignment.  Perhaps you feel this in your own marriage right now.  Maybe you have no ...  Read More

From XO Marriage Work is a necessary part of life, and it’s a huge blessing when we love our work and our workplace. Naturally, we spend a lot of time there, and how we conduct ourselves and the boundaries we have—or don’t have—in place will either protect or end up hurting our spouse and marriage. So, we need to be aware of the pitfalls, so we can avoid them. Here are 5 common workplace habits th...  Read More

“Adventures are important for fathers and sons because they create a bond like nothing else.”  Read More

Every opportunity is not God’s opportunity. Sometimes you need to make decisions based on what you know of God rather than just what we see as a golden opportunity.  Read More

When you think of God’s will, what comes to mind: a formula, a connect-the-dots picture, or a relationship?  Read More