Transformation, not Christian Activity

This series is about how we walk in a personal relationship with Christ that transforms us. To be clear, it’s not about religious activity like: go to church, give your old clothes to the poor, and attend Sunday school class. We aren’t talking about that. We are talking about transformation. How do we experience a personal relationship with God that transforms our heart. For example. I felt rejection and depression was growing inside of me. But because of . . . Read More »

Breaking Free From Those Old Grooves

I don’t know if you have ever really thought about this but I seem to be a creature of habit, how about you?  I have things that I tend to do and keep doing.  Some of those things can be really positive and some of those things maybe not so much!  I can get up in the morning and without a lot of thinking I can end up right in front of the coffee pot without even really . . . Read More »

The Hardest Person To Forgive

You know if you have been anywhere near MRC in anyway, you probably have seen one of our favorite images.  It’s the image of an upside down turtle with this one very specific question on it; “stuck?”  We love that imagery and we use it on everything from our Facebook page, to our billboards, and our invitations to our church because it really says a lot about how a lot of us feel.  We can feel stuck in . . . Read More »

How Does God Heal Me?

Lisa Ryan I am second video. Scripture says: A healthy spirit conquers adversity, but what can you do when the spirit is crushed? MSG Proverbs 18:14 Does that connect with you? Have you noticed that the hurt you experience from people doesn’t just go away? It can stick to you? Have you ever walked with guilt or fear or worry for a long time? What does it do to you? It wears you out – doesn’t? The reverse . . . Read More »

The Big To Do List

It is really hard to believe that this series on Emotionally Healthy Spirituality is coming to an end.  I will say that this teaching, and these books couldn’t have hit my life at a better time.  So there are a lot of reasons that I’m sad to see this one go but here we are at the conclusion of this powerful series where hopefully you have had a chance to engage and bring some real practical handles into . . . Read More »

Going Backward to Move Forward

So today we are heading into the fifth chapter of the book Emotionally Healthy Spirituality and you are probably seeing by now that we are really starting to dive into the deepest parts of who we are.  Well today I think we are going to discuss something that we all have in common, and I think if we can face it, and engage this it can really get to the core of some huge challenges that we all . . . Read More »

It’s Not The Finish Line

You know by now that I have grown up around the church.  I spent my first few years on this planet as a Youth Group mascot and I loved it.  We went on missions trips.  We had the youth over all the time for sledding, and mud football in the farmer’s field behind my home in McAllisterville, Pa.  They would play baseball and basketball with me, and I grew up watching my father teach these young men and . . . Read More »

Peace In KNOWING Who You Are

So today we are closing down the Gratitude series, and you know for a lot of this, myself included a series on being grateful just couldn’t have come at a better time.  It’s amazing how as we get running through this busy and cluttered world, how quickly we can forget all that we have to be grateful for.  I think that is why so much of this series really nailed our hearts.  Because we live in a world . . . Read More »

What Are You Willing To Do?

So today we are wrapping up our series on joy, and if you think about where all this series has gone you may have an idea of where we are headed today.  We started with trying to understand what joy is and what joy is not.  We learned where joy is found.  It’s found in God.  We learned how Sabbath rest helps us connect to the source of joy which is God.  We looked at joy in our . . . Read More »

Why Can’t We All Just Get Along?

Hebrews 10:23 24 And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds. 25 Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another-and all the more as you see the Day approaching. NIV So why would the writer of Hebrews make a point to tell us to keep meeting together?  It sounds like some people are tired of meeting together . . . Read More »