STUDIO

In this week’s talk Pastor Eric shared about how the birth of Jesus is a moment in the larger story of what God is writing. What’s really remarkable is to see all the hints and clues that pointed to the birth of Jesus and what we would do for humanity, but did you know he would live in exile the first two years of his life?In Matthew 2:13 we read,Now when they had departed, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream, saying, “Arise, take the young Child and His mother, flee to Egypt, and stay there until I bring you word; for Herod will seek the young Child to destroy Him.”We often talk about the humble beginnings of Jesus but let’s not forget he lived in exile as well. From the very beginning he was on the outside of society and he lived as a foreigner. This experience shaped and formed him and it is also what enabled him to be the one who understood the plight of ones that were the outcast, rejected, shamed, alone and unaccepted.So remember that Jesus understands firsthand the human experience of being alone and on the outside. Our prayer for this Christmas as we celebrate his birth you would experience Jesus coming not only to earth but to you and your life and meeting where you are at right now in our life.For more info you can go to our website and also check us out on instagram and Facebook. If you want to support STUDIO financially you can do so here. Have a great week!

"If everything is beautiful in its own time then there is a purpose in what is happening today".Pastor Joezel shared from Eccl. 3:10-12 and encouraged us to realize when we get lost in trying to comprehend what life is or what life is not, to not lose sight of what life can be. God is the one who gives you the capacity to dream and we also have not seen everything with our own eyes and in this lies the beauty and mystery of eternity being placed in our hearts>For more info you can go to our website and also check us out on instagram and Facebook. If you want to support STUDIO financially you can do so here. Have a great week!

As we start the Christmas Season of celebrating the birth of Jesus. Let's take a look at how Jesus entry into this world was the hope of all humanity.You can tell the health of a human soul by its ability to hope. You can tell the strength of a human soul by it’s ability to hope in the middle of darkness. One of the great challenges of being human is to remain hopeful. What do you do when you have lost hope or even lost the ability to hope? How do we get on in this life and hold onto hope?As we celebrate the birth of Jesus, Pastor Eric takes a look at how Jesus came into this world was so under-the-radar and why this was necessary and important. How he came into this world, how he lived in this world and why he came reveals to us why He is The Great Hope. He understands fully what it means to be human and to be in this world.For more info you can go to our website and also check us out on instagram and Facebook. If you want to support STUDIO financially you can do so here. Have a great week!

An experiment was done in the 90’s in a man-made climate controlled dome named the Biosphere 2. It was a research tool so they could create any climate needed for testing. Even to this day it is still the largest closed ecological system ever created. It has a rainforest, ocean w/ coral reef, savannah, fog desert and wetlands. In the attempt to understand how to live in outer space they made quite a few discoveries along the way.One of the most profound discoveries made by the scientists had to do with the trees. The trees inside Biosphere 2 grew rapidly, more rapidly than they did outside of the dome, but they also fell over before reaching maturation. After looking at the root systems and outer layers of bark, the scientists came to realize there was one thing the environment failed to provide. It was Wind. There was no wind in Biosphere 2 and this led to a deficiency of what is called “stress wood” in the trees.The question we need to ask ourselves is, are we letting the storms in our life build resilience in us? Or are we spending more time trying to get out of the storms?For more info you can go to our website and also check us out on instagram and Facebook. We are also on YouTube. If you want to support STUDIO financially you can do so here. Have a great week!

This past Sunday, Candace shared the final part in our series “Strong Faith, Contagious Hope, and Enduring Love”. She spoke to the role that we all play in elevating those around us and contributing into the spaces where we live. God never meant for blessings to stop with us, but that we are to be salt and light wherever we go. In Proverbs 11:10-11 it says,When the righteous prosper, the city rejoices; when the wicked perish, there are shouts of joy. Through the blessing of the upright a city is exalted, but by the mouth of the wicked it is destroyed.As we think about and pray for our city, let’s ask ourselves:1. What do I have to GIVE? 2. What can CONTRIBUTE?3. What can I SACRIFICE?We live in an incredible area that is in the middle of it’s story right now. Let’s love our city well by being people who are willing to take responsibility, contribute, and are willing to sacrifice for those around them. We pray for our city, the people who live here, the land, and for wisdom and guidance as leaders establish vision, culture and values here. May you be blessed and prosper so that those around you experience the blessing and are lifted up!For more info you can go to our website and also check us out on instagram and Facebook. We are also on YouTube. If you want to support STUDIO financially you can do so here. Have a great week!

In this weeks talk, Pastor Eric challenged us that we need to rethink how and to walk out a more dynamic approach to our cities. An approach that goes beyond what benefits us personally and begins to lean into what benefits a city. Cities are organisms that move and have life. Humans build cities. Humans design cities. Humans shape cities. We collectively create the culture within cities. This very thing we build is also what shapes us.In Part 5 to our Strong Faith, Contagious Hope and Enduring Love series we looked at the story of Nehemiah. In Neh. 1:4, there is this moment where Nehemiah heard news that Jerusalem has been destroyed and his response was “he wept”. It’s a beautiful response and it’s indicative that Nehemiah had a deep love for his city. Our hope is that each of us would be moved to a place to deeply care about the city we live in and not just exist in them.As we learn with the rest of the story of Nehemiah he goes on to lead one of the most remarkable rebuilding projects. It is one that is inspiring and in this story are keys for leadership, engagement and what is possible.For more info you can go to our website and also check us out on instagram and Facebook. We are also on YouTube. If you want to support STUDIO financially you can do so here. Have a great week!

Pastor Eric did a talk titled “The Next”. Some things have taken place recently with Studio and in his life that indicate we are stepping into The Next. This is exciting and with it is an invitation to go on an adventure and take risk.We spent our time in 2 Kings 6:1-7. This is a story where the sons of the prophet Elisha go to him and tell him we need to build a bigger space for us. They recognized their canvas was too small, they had reached the limit and needed to create more space for what God was doing in their lives. Secondly, we shouldn’t be surprised when miracles take place. We have learned that when we are moving into the future with God, there needs to be space in our thinking and in our lives where we realize God has to show up in whatever we do. Lastly, when Elisha asked the man to pick up the ax head, he was having him participate in the miracle. There is a participation component to what God is doing. So instead of just watching be ready to participate. If you are ready to step into The Next, then listen to this weeks talk.For more info you can go to our website and also check us out on instagram and Facebook. We are also on YouTube. If you want to support STUDIO financially you can do so here. Have a great week!

Pastor Candace shared about the powerful presence and person of the Holy Spirit. God is so good and has provided everything for relationship, salvation, life, and freedom. God gave the gift of His Holy Spirit so that we can walk in power, boldness, and do the work of God. There are callings that we long to step into and it is His Spirit which enables us to walk in this. We pray that God will pour out His Spirit and fill us daily with this presence!For more info you can go to our website and also check us out on instagram and Facebook. We are also on YouTube. If you want to support STUDIO financially you can do so here. Have a great week!

Pastor Eric shares part 4 of the series Strong Faith, Contagious Hope and Enduring Love. The ability to trust, believe and have “faith” is evidence there are things we haven’t seen, heard or experienced. Faith is the vehicle that moves us to an unseen dimension; it also moves the unseen dimension towards us. Faith is what separates us from all other species, it is what makes us human. No other species has the ability to have faith, need faith or long for something more.In Mark 9:24 it reads - Immediately the boy’s father exclaimed, “I do believe; help me overcome my unbelief!” One thing we recognize is that part of our journey of faith is understanding there is a journey of also battling unbelief, doubt and fear. As we follow Jesus it’s vital to understand there are different frequencies. There is a frequency of fear, frequency of doubt, frequency of unbelief and a frequency of faith. We are surrounded by each of these frequencies and we get to choose which frequency we listen to. For more info you can go to our website and also check us out on instagram and Facebook. We are also on YouTube. If you want to support STUDIO financially you can do so here. Have a great week!

Our good friend Nate Edwardson did part 3 of our “Strong Faith, Contagious Hope and Enduring Love” series. He took us on a journey through Luke 24, where Jesus is walking with the disciples after he died and resurrected. The disciples are in a state of confusion as to the recent happenings of Jesus and yet they were unaware he was with them at this moment. It was here, Jesus was right there with them as they were walking away from Jerusalem. He was walking with the disciples who were going in the wrong direction. It’s amazing to see Jesus be willing to walk in the wrong direction with people. The question Nate posed to us is “are we willing to walk with others in the wrong direction”. One of the other powerful moments in Luke 24 is when Jesus opened up the scriptures to them. Nate shared that it was Jesus who opened up the scriptures to them and he encouraged us to not just read the bible but to do it with Jesus as he longs to reveal to us his Word. In this series we are wanting to see us be a people who are growing in our faith and one of the ways we do this is through the reading of his scriptures. Our prayer is your heart begins to be stirred to read and engage with the scriptures in such a way you experience the person of Jesus.For more info you can go to our website and also check us out on instagram and Facebook. We are also on YouTube. If you want to support STUDIO financially you can do so here. Have a great week!