Connexus Church Audio Podcast

How do you wait? 🌿Are you anxious when waiting? Do you get frustrated when you have to wait? Or maybe you're a patient person? ⁠

You've held out for hope this year. The hope of lifted restrictions, perhaps the hope of a vaccine, the hope of a healthy diagnosis, or just hope for some good news in your life. You know what it means to wait for hope. Maybe you are still waiting. The accounts of Christmas are a picture of humanity holding out hope. The hope of something more, something better. ⁠

Our founders, Toni and Carey Nieuwhof, shared lessons on life, leadership, and ministry they have learned over the past 25 years. A conversation on the highlights and insights from the early days of launching Connexus until today, plus a look ahead to the future as we continue to create a church that unchurched people love.

So you're attracted to the drama in other people's lives but resist it in your own. Agreed. It's so much easier to see the drama than it is to be the drama. It's also infinitely more disappointing and perhaps unfaithful. Moses knew that first hand. When God called him, he listed five reasons he wanted to stay out of the story. Five reasons he wanted out. He finally relented, and we're still talking about it thousands of years later. Lesson: God could use someone else, but what if you get to do it?

You probably have a picture of what God should be doing...the way the story should go. Except it never seems to turn out that way. As a result, a lot of people conclude God isn't real, or that God isn't all powerful or all loving. Is it possible to know how to have faith when it feels like God is losing? But what if, in the very moment you thought God was losing, he's winning? And what if that's true in your life too? You think God is losing...but he's winning. FOLLOW Connexus Church: Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ConnexusChurch/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ConnexusChurch/ Website: http://www.ConnexusChurch.com/

From the time you were young, you probably tried to avoid failure. Everyone does. But what if failure is exactly the thing you need to prepare you for what's ahead? So many people think God is absent in failure, but as Joseph learned when he met failure after failure, God is far more present than you think. Which means there's hope for you and for me.

Every great movie, novel and story features twists, turns, disappointments and failures, which is largely what makes the story gripping. You love it when you don't know what will happen next. ⁠ ⁠ Here's the strange part: you're attracted to that kind of drama in other people's lives, but you resist it in your own. ⁠ ⁠ Instead, you long for predictability and stability. You might even wonder if the presence of setbacks and failure in your life is a sign that God has left you. What if nothing could be further from the truth?⁠

What does it look like to live freely? What does spiritual freedom even look like? Why do I know I should live one way, but consistently find myself struggling to make a change? A relationship with God isn't just about getting to an eternal destination, but it's about transformation. As you aspire to leave your old roads, paths, and patterns behind and start new patterns that point to Jesus, where do you find the strength you need to make a change in your life? How do you live in freedom? What if God has a way to strengthen you to choose what's best? This week we are talking about the role of the Holy Spirit in our transformation.

Is there an easy way to master your emotions? When you find yourself in a 'situation' is your first response to respond emotionally or rationally? Think about these for a moment ... What is your response when your boss asks you to work overtime, again, yet they haven't even thanked you for the last time you stayed longer? When you find yourself late for the family photos because your spouse needed to change their outfit one last time to make everything 'perfect', what boils up inside of you? Emotions. The good and the not so great - we all have them. Let's dig into how to control your emotions together.

What does it mean to follow Jesus? Is it just about obeying rules and being a good person? Is it becoming the best version of yourself? Is the Christian life only about heaven and hell or is there more to it than that? What is the whole point of life on earth for those who choose Jesus? We'll be sharing God's ultimate goal for your life and what the road to finding it looks like.