Today we are going to introduce the beginning of how to have a personal relationship with Jesus. We are not talking about church attendance or religious activity. We are talking about the kind of relationship that can transform you. Over the next several weeks, we will get more detailed about being in a relationship with Jesus. For example: What do you do when you have been deeply wounded in your past? What do you do when life is . . . Read More »
10 Reasons Your Christianity Isn’t Working
A couple of weeks ago I asked, ‘How is your Christianity working?’ I wanted you to think through your relationship with God. In your relationship with God, are you being transformed, or do you feel like you are pretending that things are better than they actually are? Maybe for you, Christianity isn’t working. If that’s the conclusion you have come to, that’s the reason we are walking through this series. Last week, Sam gave us a ferocious verse. . . . Read More »
We All Must Answer This Question
So last week was a pretty special weekend. We started a new series and it’s a very important one on Emotionally Healthy Spirituality. Then Sunday afternoon we headed to Messiah College for what is probably my favorite service that we do each year which is our baptism service. It’s so meaningful to watch people make a public commitment to God, and for me it’s an amazing experience to listen to them share what God is doing in their . . . Read More »
Is Your Christianity Working?
Today I want to open with a quick question for you to think through. How is your Christianity working? I don’t think there is anything more frustrating that when you buy something, bring it home, and it doesn’t work. My neighbor bought a new snowblower last year. When I snowed eight inches, he was pretty excited to fire that thing up. The only thing was, he started it and the belt broke. All he could see was eight . . . Read More »
The Busy Season Survival Guide
Well it seems official; summer seems to be coming to an end…the party is over in so many ways! School has started…which really seems to scream summer is over in the Hepner house. I will just say I had to grab my emotions this year taking the first day of school picture in front of the house as I realized this was my oldest daughter’s LAST first day of school picture…that was a bit of a moment for . . . Read More »
The Greatest Form of Discipleship
So this summer we have been having a lot of fun here at MRC. We have been working through a series on the church. If you think about what we have been doing with this teaching, we have been asking some pretty specific questions about the church and how you answer these questions is very, very important. The way I see it if we take a step back and look at this series the big questions look something . . . Read More »
Did God lose track of you?
Have you ever felt like God has lost track of you? Maybe you feel like God doesn’t seem to care about your problems. Or maybe God is being unfair with you? And because God doesn’t seem to care, we struggle going to God. Why would I go to a God who doesn’t care? That doesn’t make sense. We may have concluded that there is no joy in God. God doesn’t refresh my soul. God is an empty attempt . . . Read More »
I Would Crawl on My Knees If…
This summer we have asked a lot of questions for you to wrestle with. What is God up to? When God enters earth, what do we see Him doing? How can we join God in what He is doing? Why do we do church? What is church all about? What is our role in church? We said the God of the universe, for thousands of years, has been running to people to redeem them. We see this when . . . Read More »
The Chicken and The Egg
So this summer we have been having a lot of fun here at MRC. We have been working through a series on the church. If you think about what we have been doing with this teaching, we have been asking some pretty specific questions, and these questions are a really big deal. Actually, these questions aren’t really that big of a deal at all but how you answer these questions is very, very important. The way I see . . . Read More »
What We Believe #3 God is Pushing Back the end of Time
As we continue in the sermon series about where to find God and how to actually act out being the church, I’ll bring you today’s message about the mission of Christ being so important that God is literally pushing back the end of time. I don’t know about you, but any time I had heard Ken or Sam speak about God pushing back the end of time, I thought of it as a big picture, end of the . . . Read More »