Mendham Hills

My wife loves to garden. To me, it seems like hard and dirty work, but she finds it relaxing. To me, the couch is relaxing. To my wife, crawling around in the dirt and breaking up the soil restores her soul. This Mother's Day, after you hit the Mother's Day Photo Booth, listen as Luke relates the story of a gardener, soil, seeds, and souls. Has your heart grown hard? Has your soul grown weary? Was there a time in your life when passion for today and vision for tomorrow was the norm, and now you are just trying to make it through the day? This Sunday, with a special nod to moms interested in sowing a heart for God in their kids, we take a second look at our soul and the seeds of life that need to be sown and grown.

I'm not sure how it developed, but there is an age-old question that all of us have been asked, or pondered ourselves: "Would you rather be deaf or blind?" In fact, if you "google it," there are nearly 700,000 responses. This Sunday, we wrestle with the same question. Luke recounts a story of Jesus and offers up a second opinion on what it is we think we see. At one point, Jesus asks a haunting question: "Do you see this woman?" I think He is still asking you and me that same question. How well do we see each other? Who do we see when we look in the mirror? This Sunday, we get a second opinion on our eyesight. Maybe, just maybe, you have been looking at things and seeing people - even yourself - incorrectly. May you have eyes to see.

Luke, the physician and author of the most detailed account of Jesus, continues to offer us a second opinion on life and faith. Ever feel like you have been sold "a bill of goods?" The product you sacrificed to save for and purchased, in retrospect, turned out to be so much less than promised. I have had vacations like this and cars like this - heck, I just got a pair of Groupon shoes like this! The product did not live up to the promise. This can be disappointing when it comes to cars, but debilitating when it comes to faith. Has your experience with Christianity not lived up to the promises you felt were made? Were you lied to? Want to know what happened? This Sunday, come and get a second opinion.

Oscar Wilde once quipped, "I can resist anything except temptation." We all know it, we have all felt it, and at one time or another we have given in to it - temptation. This Sunday, we kick off a new series with a focus on lessons we can learn from the book of Luke. Jesus no sooner starts his ministry and He is immediately led into temptation. Can you relate? Wilde would go on to say, "The only way to get rid of temptation is to yield to it." Is that true? What do all of our temptations have in common? How did Jesus overcome? How can you? It's time to stand up to temptation before it's too late - let's start together this Sunday at Mendham Hills.

In Part Two of our series, "Who Is This Man?" we take a look at a side of Jesus rarely discussed. Was He loving? Of course. Was He kind? Absolutely. Did He ever get angry? He sure did! The centuries have softened our Savior into what some would perceive to be a quiche-eating, sheep-petting lightweight. But, the truth is, being a pushover rarely gets people crucified. This Sunday, we take a look at what makes this man angry and how His justifiable anger changed the world. Will it change you?

An old saying postulates that "familiarity breeds contempt," the thought being that the more you know someone, the more you see their flaws and imperfections. There is some truth to that with regards to human relationships, but what about familiarity with regards to Jesus? In a culture where Christ saturates our history, is it possible that His ubiquity has bred a loss of reverence? Have we lost our appreciation for who He was, what He did, and what He is doing? This Sunday, we begin to take a fresh look at the inescapable Jesus and His millennials-long impact on our world. The real question is - has He impacted yours?

God is calling us into a place of uncertainty with this end in mind - it's for the sake of Jesus. It's not for the sake of accomplishing goals or of mission, it's for Him. What do our priorities look like when we filter them through this lens? In Luke 10, we are challenged to go into the world as "sheep among wolves," knowing that God's Kingdom looks upside down many people, and our very lives could be threatened. But if it's for the sake of Jesus, there is fulfillment and motivation for the mission, even in an uncertain world. This Sunday, come and hear about how we are a part of a bigger picture and how God is calling leaders here and around the world - for the sake of Jesus.

Why Am I So Afraid? - When It Comes To Fear, Nike's Right by Sunday Podcast

I recently went to a friends' house to see their new baby. When I arrived, the first thing we talked about was who the baby looked like. We said things like, "He has his nose," and, "He has her eyes." Have you had a similar experience? Parents will even be quick to say, "He got that from me!" But, as babies grow into kids, and then into teenagers, we sometimes quit claiming responsibility. Some of the things we have passed on are not what we intended. This concept stretches beyond parent/child relationships and into just about every aspect of our lives. What am I passing on to my spouse, friends, and co-workers? This week at Mendham Hills, we look at the questions - Am I passing on my faith? Or am I passing on my fear?

Fear is paralyzing. It keeps us in bad jobs, dysfunctional relationships, and firmly affixed to our couches. Trust, on the other hand, is incredibly liberating. Trust is what allows the little girl to jump off the pool ledge and into her daddy's arms. Trust is what undergirds strong marriages. Trust is what allows us to "walk on water." How can we move from fear to trust? Tired of fear keeping you stuck? This week at Mendham Hills, it's time to get out of the boat - it's water-walking time.

It's one thing to be afraid. Heck, some fear is good and for our protection. It's good to fear a pot of boiling water falling from the stove. It's good to fear the bees nest next to the swing set. Anxiety, however, is something quite different. It's like fear on steroids and it's exploding all around us. You may not have tasted it yet, but likely someone you love has. Deep anxiety and paralyzing worry are quickly becoming the plague of our day, robbing our children of their dreams and crippling the lives of many of our friends. What turns a healthy alarm into immobilizing anxiety? What is at anxiety's root? Is there something that can be done to put our minds at ease? Taming the beast of worry and anxiety - this Sunday at Mendham Hills.

Philosopher George Santayana penned one of academia's favorite quotes: "Those who do not learn history are doomed to repeat it." I know I have used it often when my kids are complaining about why they need to learn about the Whig Party or the Magna Carta. Could this same truth be applied to fear? What if we understood our history with it, where it came from, and what it has done? Could understanding the history of fear perhaps free us from the doom of its despair? A history lesson in fear, its source, its solution, and a ticket out of its vicious cycle - this Sunday at Mendham Hills.

The news is that North Korea is close to being nuclear. It looks like the Russian "bear" might be on the prowl again. The stock bubble seems ready to burst, and technology seems poised to steal all of our jobs. The planet is warming, the economy is cooling. The plague of our day - terrorism - begins with the word terror. It seems that anxiety and fear have taken out a hundred-year lease in our hearts and minds. Now, imagine your life wholly untouched by angst. What if faith, not fear, was your default reaction to the roller coaster of life? Jesus made it pretty clear: "Fear not." So, why am I so afraid? Join us, as together we discover the key to a life without fear.

We fear a lot of things. We fear bad guys with bombs, shootings in our cities, and terrorism in our towns. We fear finishing last, going broke, and being sued. We fear the mole on our back, the new kid on the block, and the new boss in the corner office. To the list of human fears, there is no end. Yet, there is this ONE - the BIG ONE - the Greatest Fear of Them All. We don't talk about it often. Most of the time, we just pretend it's not there. We have become a people well-trained in "whistling past the grave yard." Still, it lingers and it lies and it holds so many of us captive. If we could just be sure - if we could just be certain - then maybe we could really live. This Sunday at Mendham Hills, we learn to overcome the cornerstone of fear...the fear that comes from our final breath.

Promises to one another undergird most families. Husbands and wives have promised "to love and to cherish, to have and to hold, until death do us part." As we honor these underlying promises, they hold our families together. They serve to unify two individuals into one, they comfort children, and they ward off division. Promises spoken and promises kept are at the heart of every family. What about the family of God? What about the local church family? What promises should undergird our unity, comfort our children, witness to our community, and ward off division? This Sunday, in the final chapter of our New Year's series, we look at promises that we should make to one another - promises that we should not just make, but keep.

Ever been in one of those relationships where you just can't figure out what the other party wants from you? You bought flowers...they wanted candy. You thought Broadway tickets...they wanted a cozy night at home. At some point, perhaps in a moment of frustration, you might ask, "What is it you want from me?" Great question when it comes to our human relationships - profound question when applied to our relationship with God. This week, we discover what it is that God really wants from us.

You were created with great intent and purpose by God to be agents of His Kingdom - created to do good works in our families, homes, workplaces, and the world, which so desperately need hope and healing. Yet, so many of us wind up on the couch, kept on the sideline by fear, fatigue, and busyness. And while we suffer from feeling like people without purpose, those who need "Christ in us" the most suffer as we are taken out by the enemy. Join us this Sunday as we kick off our New Year's series on promises we should make...and keep. This week, we look at three very practical promises that are worthy of making to ourselves - promises that will help get us back in the fight for 2017.

The Unexpected Gift | 12 - 4-16 | Socks & Underwear by Sunday Podcast

Gift Returned | 12 - 11 - 16 | Socks & Underwear by Sunday Podcast

Living Letters | 11 - 27 - 16 | The Book Of Ephesians by Sunday Podcast