Better Together

Over 4 weeks we’ll be discussing how God has created us to be a relational people, a people meant for community and a people of faith who are better together. The truth is we need God and we need one another. We are created for relationship. We were made to love God and one another.

Glorifying God Together

August 29, 2021 | 1 Peter 4:8-11 |

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Do you want to glorify God with your life? You can’t do it by making life about you. When we make life about us, we attempt to steal the glory, the credit, the praise, for ourselves. But when we make life about loving and serving one another, according to the power and gifting of the Holy Spirit, God gets the glory.

In Peter’s first epistle to the Church scattered in Asia Minor, he gave them instructions on how to glorify God together. We can obey these instructions to glorify God together.

Staying Together

August 22, 2021 | Ephesians 4:25-32 |

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How many of you have felt the pain of a troubled or broken relationship? If you’ve been breathing for even a couple of years, then you’ve felt the hurt that comes from conflict between you and your parents, your siblings, your friends, your neighbors, your spouse. How many have said, “I can never forgive him!” Or, “What she did was unforgivable!” Or, “This is the end of our friendship or marriage. There is no hope of reconciliation!” But it doesn’t have to be this way. We can learn how to reconcile and stay together!

In the apostle Paul’s letter to the Ephesians, he gave the church instructions on how to rightly treat one another and stay together as one body in Christ. We can stay together as one body in Christ.


Parenthood

Let’s admit it. Parenting can be very scary! Many of us, as parents, have felt that with even more intensity over the last year. Some of us became homeschool teachers overnight. We probably spent more time with our kids last year than any time before. And that likely revealed both some joys and some pains. The fact is that parents often not only feel afraid, but angry, frustrated, exhausted, and even at times, a desire to escape. Parents feel overwhelmed and under-qualified. In this series, we’re going to learn the 3 “Rs” of Parenting: Receive, Raise up, and Release.

Release Your Child to the Lord

August 1, 2021 | 1 Thessalonians 2:7-12 | parenting

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Parents have questions… Practical questions like: How and when should I discipline my child? How do I get them potty trained? And spiritual questions like: When is my child old enough to confess faith in Christ? What about baptism and the Lord’s Supper? How can I be sure that they are saved? In answering these questions, we have God’s Word as our guide, but we must also take into account the child’s level of maturity. Have you noticed that every child is unique? No two are the same. And as they grow, they change. So the parenting style that seemed effective when they were small, doesn’t work when they’re older.

Godly parents recognize their call to be leaders who make disciples. If we want to be effective, we have to match our parenting style to every child’s situation. In his first letter to the Thessalonians, the apostle Paul told them that he had discipled them like a parent according to their situation, sometimes gentle and affectionate like a mother and sometimes strong like a father in order to release them to live up to God’s calling. We can parent our children following God’s Word to match our child’s situation with a goal of releasing them to the Lord.