Risen Church Nc

In this message on Discipleship, we learn how Jesus actively intercedes for all of His followers to stay faithful and true. John 17 is a record of the prayer that He prayed on the last night of His earthly life, but it serves as a reminder of the daily intercession He offers for us. We unpack four discipleship truths, which direct us in realizing our full potential as believers. Rest assured, Jesus does not lord over us with pressure, but rather champions and empowers us through the Holy Spirit. We have the capacity and are fully capable to receive His help. It comes down to our willingness to surrender and readiness to serve Him above all.

John summarizes the Gospel as being an invitation to a new, deeper, full brand of life. This begins with understanding why Jesus died, but it continues with being transformed by His resurrection. This series is about realizing our true purpose as Christians in becoming devoted disciples of Jesus. At the crux of this distinction is possessing a genuine love for Jesus. He said that if we love Him, we will obey Him. In this opening message, we answer the question, "How can we fall in love with Jesus?" If we come to understand all that He 's done for us, love will come naturally, and with it, obedience.

In Christ, we all have been set apart for God's work. This message is about pursuing God's anointing and being best positioned to receive all He has to offer.

Most of us see acquiring money and possessions as one of our goals in life. Jesus tells us that these things are actually tools to attain a much greater goal in the afterlife. He spoke of "true riches" that we can only receive if we are faithful with and properly leverage our temporary riches. In this message, we hear Jesus cast His vision for how we should handle our money and possessions, and look back through the Scriptures for even more insight. Listen as we learn about the origins of tithing, the 23 % three-fold tithing system of Ancient Israel, and how all of this translates from Old to New Testament. Ultimately, we realize that our earthly goods are only as good as we leverage them for eternity. When we understand why God gives us any measure of wealth, we will be moved to honor Him with all of it. Generosity is an overflow of love. Just as God loves and gives, when we truly love Him, we will be compelled to give, thus tethering our hearts to His Kingdom above.

The Pharisees were self-designated as the religious elite of Israel. In an age where everyone was desperate to hear from God, they believed they were best positioned to get His attention and earn His approval. They boasted of their superiority and manipulated the religious system to magnify others' sinfulness. Naturally, Jesus and His Gospel upset the establishment and threatened to dismantle the hierarchal system. In this message, we hear Jesus' strong words against their self-righteousness and learn how empty their religion truly was. We also examine the current church and discuss if and how Mark 7 still resonates to this day.

In this message, we study why Jesus left the scene so abruptly in the aftermath of one of His most famous miracles. We also discuss Jesus' intentions in sending His followers into a storm and why this shouldn't cause us to lose heart at all. Listen and uncover a truth that Jesus' original audience so often missed...

Easter invites us to "come and see" what God has done to change our world and our lives. Rest assured, if there's any part of us that wonders if we can rise above our sorrows and sin, Easter also reminds us that Jesus is well acquainted with our brokenness. Once we understand that everything we need to know God and find new life is provided through Christ's death and resurrection, we will have unshakeable hope and peace.

A walk through Matthew 27, where we see how Satan's attempts to destroy Jesus actually created the platform for the Gospel. The redemptive power of God is on full display, from how He leverages evil for our salvation and how Jesus was forsaken in our place, for our forgiveness.

When the Gospel accounts reach the events of Passion Week it's as if time slows to a crawl. Every last detail is included as the story nears its climax. Thursday night, the last night of Jesus' life, is no exception. Matthew shares with us everything that transpired from that evening until deep into the night. Every expression of our fallen world is on full display and we witness Jesus navigating it all, feeling the intense gravity of the moment. Listen as we breakdown the Passover meal, the New Covenant, the high stakes of Gethsemane, Jesus' arrest and trial, and much more.

Every generation knows what it's like to want a revolution. From politics, to culture, to moral issues - we've all hoped and advocated for radical change. 2000 years ago, the people of Judea were desperate for a revolution. Many would-be revolutionaries had come and gone, being unable to put even a dent in Rome's armor. In this message, we look at how many had high hopes that Jesus would answer their cry and deliver Israel into a golden age. Jesus had indeed come to change everything, but His sights weren't set on Rome or any other worldly kingdom. Listen as we see how Jesus identified a much more deadly enemy and provided true, lasting salvation.

The allure of power and authority has captivated every mind once or twice across life. For those with a real shot at obtaining such privilege, it becomes a mesmerizing possibility. For the few that ascend to such heights, they can't imagine ever losing it and spend most of their rule wondering how they may retain it. In this message, we consider how Jesus was truly a king like none other. He had within His grasp all that any man could ever want and He turned it all down. Not only that, He laid His down His supremacy and leveraged His power to arrange the most perplexing of realities: His own death. Listen as we marvel at Jesus' choice to decline the offer to be a king, choosing rather to sacrifice His life for something He valued much more.

Few chapters of the Bible speak to us all as powerfully as John 11. It contains deep theological insight and revelatory practical wisdom. As we walk through this famous account, we discuss: - How Jesus response/delay to a dear friend's need offers vital perspective for our own trials - Martha's willingness to trust Jesus without knowing all the details of His plan - Jesus' emotion in the face of brokenness offers us great comfort - Lazarus death and resurrection is commentary on our sinful condition and potential spiritual transformation

The Redemption Plan involved atonement from the very beginning. God initially warned Adam and Eve that rebellion would result in death. However, in His mercy and grace He chose an animal to die in their place. In this message, we chronicle God's promise to provide a substitute to pay our penalty from Genesis to Exodus to the Gospels. We discuss all of this and more: - The reason a sacrifice is required to atone for sin - How Passover was a display of God's Wrath and God's Mercy - Why sin deceives us into *thinking* we are independent and free only to set us up for shame - What makes Jesus the ultimate substitute for our sin

In this message, we discuss why the people of Nazareth dismissed the notion that Jesus might be more than just a ordinary man. Their rejection of God's revelation stunted their faith and shut the door on Jesus performing miracles in their midst. After being rejected by His own people, Jesus encourages His disciples to join Him on the mission field. Just as He pressed on in spite of challenges, He charges us all to stay focused and keep our eyes on God for motivation.

In this message, we consider what made Jesus and His movement so irresistible to His original audience and what the church could learn from His approach. We also look at some familiar stories, in which Jesus answers the desperate plea of a father and visits a woman who had endured an excruciating wait.

The Bible contains many promises from God, but all of them fall under a single, overarching promise- The Promise of Redemption. In this message, we take a look at the initial promise of our great redemption story and follow the thread all the way through the Bible. We marvel at God's boldness to make a promise that would bless "all the peoples of the earth", which no one could have possibly taken literally when it was originally shared. However, 4000 years later, the entire world has heard of this promise, or at least brushed up against the people of the promise. Listen as we learn about God's plan to redeem the world through Abraham's family and how His work of restoration continues to this day.

A message about Spiritual Blindness and how it often causes us to miss/resist what God is doing. - Learn how Jesus interprets suffering and promises all of us hope - See how one man's simple testimony carries tremendous weight - Contrast the Pharisees' arrogant skepticism with the Blind Man's authentic gratitude

In this message, we learn what it means to be transformed by the saving power of God. We don't just need to be freed from sin, but we need to be filled with the Life and Presence of God. We learn from two famous stories from Scripture about the longing within all of us for a real, authentic connection with God. We see what happens when we are filled with all the wrong things, and how only true, lasting satisfaction comes through Jesus.

In this first message of our "REDEMPTION" series, we discuss why we need to be reconciled to God in the first place. Romans 5 explains how sin entered creation, by contrasting Adam's rebellion with Jesus' sacrifice. We come to understand that all that is broken in the world stems from the Fall in Genesis 3. We also realize that the first temptation is a preview of the temptation that we face every single day. The first humans' sin caused a systemic fracture in Creation, setting all of us up to inherit a nature of sin and shame. The fallout from all of this? Well, we all own a piece of our broken world. We all fall short of God's standard. We all hide our sin in shame, until eventually we become defiant and even make excuses for our sin. This is just the beginning of our study on redemption, but even in this first message, we hear the Gospel's invitation to bring our sin to Jesus and find forgiveness. By confessing our sin, we can access and receive the gift of salvation.

In this special message, we look back at the story of Esther and learn about God's sovereignty over the nations and the unique responsibility He has given His people, which He has placed in the various kingdoms of the world. Esther tells of the only time in history where Israel faced oppression from the Persian kingdom. We discus why this is significant, especially in light of a prophetic passage in Ezekiel and recent real-world events. 2500 years later, on the eve of celebrating Purim, this story demands a fresh look...