Elements City Church Podcast

God desires to strengthen and grow our faith in Him, so we can have an ever-expanding confidence in Him. The biblical and practical teaching of the Scriptures has a profound impact in our journey with God. The Bible has been given to us so we know about God, understand His truths, and so we can relate with Him. The application of God's truths will transform our lives. God desires us to have the best possible kind of life.

Our culture is fascinated by BIGGER, BRIGHTER, LOUDER - but frankly that doesn’t necessary catch God’s attention. God seems much more interested in the little things. The spiritual life is about living the little things for God. Our little bit + His power = BIG impact! May you embrace the life of living the little things out as worship for your Creator. May you have the eyes to see the opportunities God opens around you and the courage to step forward.

All of us have sinned and fallen short of God's perfect standard. But our loving Heavenly Father did not leave us in this hopeless state. He sent his son Jesus to die in our place and rise again so that we could have life with God forever.

In order for Elements City Church to not leave people on 3rd base and make it home, everybody has to do their part. Be the church. Bringing the hope of Jesus to the heart of the city takes ALL of us!

Is your life a living sacrifice to God or do you just keep Jesus in your pocket and take Him out on an as needed basis? Do you only come to church on Sundays and blend into the world like Mystique or turn into the Hulk the rest of the week?

We all will face hardships, struggles and problems in life, but we never STAND ALONE as we face them. We stand side by side with our SAVIOR…and that changes things! God can use problems because ultimately God wants to refine you and shape you. He can supernaturally recycle them for our good. We might struggle at times, but God will never let our momentary problems permanently sink us. He has us in our here and now and securely for eternity!

t was said by A.W. Tozer “What comes into our minds when we think about God is the most important thing about us.” Many people have tried to capture the character and nature of God in metaphors or images. Jesus gets on the scene in history, he has one predominant metaphor that He uses to help people get their minds hearts and lives around God: FATHER. Friends, that matters!

It’s much easier to maintain faith when our lives are going well. But what happens when our circumstances take a turn for the worst? How do we keep pressing on in our faith? Hebrews 12:1-3 shows us that when we set our sights on our Savior, we find the strength to persevere.

We talk about faith a lot as Christians. But what is faith? Is it just believing that God exists? Or is it something more? Hebrews 11 shows us that faith actively changes the way we live. That’s because faith is confidence that God is who he says he is and will do what he says he will do.

A life of faith will always begin with a decision of faith - a moment where we cross the line from fan to FOLLOWER. Then it's a lifetime of following, continued each day with renewing and realigning our commitment for the journey with Jesus.

Our culture craves and promotes comfort at all costs. It's not that comfort is a bad thing, but could it become dangerous to have too much comfort? Jesus invites us to pursue the way of the cross over the way of comfort. Comfortable Christianity wasn't the primary goal for the crucified Christ. Friends, Jesus is much more interested in getting us into a growth zone than comfort zone.

Not a Fan 03 – May 15th 2016

Jesus extended the invitation to be his follower not to the elite, but to everyone and anyone. He got rid of the long list of prerequisites; he did away with the standard application process. And friends - the Church should do the same. In eliminating the qualifications, Jesus also got rid of all the excuses. He calls to anyone, but He asks for everything.

In every healthy relationship, there comes moments where we assess, evaluate and make decisions about the future. Some call it the DTR - define the relationship moment. There were a couple such moments where Jesus had similar conversations with his followers. Tonight, we examine them and allow them to challenge us to whether we've settled in to just being a fan of Jesus or a follower.

We conclude our series all about the CHANGING work that God wants to do in our lives. It begins with a change only God can do and then it's the ongoing work of God we get to lean into. Tonight, we'll examine a picture of what a changed life begins to look like as the Apostle Paul unpacks some markers to look for in Romans 12.

There comes times in our following Jesus where we may feel like we stall out in our spiritual journey, in those moments, keep going to keep growing. Spiritual growth is not meant to be stunted or stall - it IS about making progress. Progress > Perfection. Find your next step and then take it with God empowering you.

Tonight we launch our new series all about the CHANGING work that God wants to do in our lives. It begins with a change only God can do and then the ongoing work we get to lean into. Real spiritual change begins with new life and is a process, not a destination.

Tonight we conclude our series in the Gospel of Luke looking at Jesus And YOU. The entire book of Luke has been building to the greatest crescendo in all of history. The resurrection of Christ marks the moment where God made a way for us to have relationship with Him! The greatest miracle in history wasn't pronounced with fanfare and glamour - it was declared one small introduction and invitation at a time. What if Easter has always really been about Jesus And YOU?!

In our culture, most people know the historical fact that Jesus was crucified. But why did he die on the cross? Why did an innocent man willingly lay down his life and endure such a brutal form of execution? Luke shows us that Jesus died so we could be in a right relationship with God and enjoy him forever.

Jesus invites us to see money from a new perspective. What if we saw money as a tool and saw ourselves as managers vs owners? Jesus is trying to teach his followers – borrow a lesson on shrewdness. Be determined and deliberate to recognize you have a little bit of time on this earth, you have a little bit of opportunity to leverage your temporary stuff for an eternal purpose and impact! Be Trustworthy. Be Devoted.