So we are here, school is out and it’s summer time! Which has everyone super excited because that means that we are now full go into our big summer series where we are studying Jesus’ famous “Sermon on the Mount!” We are calling this series “Foundations” because Jesus really is giving us the foundational teaching needed to live life as His disciple and I’m just going to come out and say it, when it comes to living life . . . Read More »
There Really is a hell and a loving God
God sent Jesus to establish His kingdom on this earth. How? By transforming our hearts. And that is what the Sermon on the Mount is all about. Jesus, in three chapters, gives us a picture of what God’s kingdom looks when we allow Him to transform our hearts. It’s a picture of what being a disciple of Jesus looks like when we have 100% faith in Him. As great as that sounds, we had to give you a . . . Read More »
The Challenge of Real Love
It is hard to believe that we are already coming to the end of our big spring series on Emotionally Healthy Relationships. Spring seemed to take a little longer to sprung than we would like but here we are in our last talk in our spring series before heading into our big summer study of Jesus’ famous teaching, The Sermon on the Mount. I have to tell you this series has meant a lot to me for many reasons. First the . . . Read More »
The Formula: You + ? = Happiness
Have you ever heard of the Golden Rule? Or the Lord’s Prayer? Have you ever heard of the Beatitudes? Have you ever heard the phrase, ‘Love your enemies’? Do you know where all these things came from? The Sermon on the Mount. The Sermon on the Mount is three chapters long. It takes about twenty minutes to read through and it’s loaded. Actually, it’s so full, we are taking the entire summer to break it down verse by . . . Read More »
Everyone’s Favorite…Conflict
So we have been rolling right along now in this series on Emotionally Healthy Relationships which is so important for so many different reasons. If you think about it, this series is so important is because life isn’t easy and what makes this life so challenging is the fact that we do life with people. Can we just say it, life with people is not easy…and frankly it’s not something you can avoid. Every day of your life . . . Read More »
To Love …Costs Deeply
Today we end the relationship series. Let’s do a quick recap of what it was all about. Week 1, we can’t love others well if our hearts grow cold. Have you seen this in yourself? You are busy doing all the right things in life but in the area of relationships, you are becoming more selfish or judgmental or critical. Week 2, we can’t love others well if we make assumptions. The moment we make assumptions, we create, . . . Read More »
Being You In Every Environment
So we have been working our way through this Emotionally Healthy Relationships series, which has been such an important thing for us discuss as we build into and start our church here in Gettysburg. There are couple things that I believe all Christians really need to wrap their minds around when it comes to relationships. The first thing is that you actually were designed to be with people by God. I know, I know for some of us (and I would . . . Read More »
Engaging Relationship Conflict
Experiencing God radically transforming our hearts with the result being, loving others well, that’s the point of a relationship with God. Our relationship with Christ, when it’s real, always softens our hearts towards others. Here is why. When we see our need of God, we can connect with the needs of others. We don’t conclude we are better than others. We no longer have to compete with others. We don’t have to treat others like objects who are . . . Read More »
A Divided Heart is a Wounded Heart
The core of Christianity is to love others well. Does that sound like most Christians you know? Maybe. Maybe not. But that’s the point. The reality is, going to church and experiencing God can be easier than going into life and sharing that love. Loving others isn’t automatic. Loving others well requires two things. First, that we have a meaningful connection with God. Secondly, it requires that we grow up into emotionally healthy people. Stop and think about . . . Read More »
He Felt It Too
So we are walking our way through a series on Emotionally Healthy Relationships which has been really meaningful to me…and I wonder how you are doing with all of this stuff so far? I think for so many of us we maybe wouldn’t make the connection between our emotions and our spiritual journeys but it is so important. This is why Pete Scazzero would go as far as to say that you cannot ignore your emotions and grow . . . Read More »