Verve City Church: Weekly Messages

This week: How Christians Can Shape CultureWe can condemn culture, we can critique culture, we can copy culture, and we can consume culture. But none of that changes it. The only way to shape culture is to create culture. Jesus did it. The early church did. We can do it, too.Series overview:Are you interested in learning more about the kind of life Jesus invited us into? Do the teachings of Jesus feel like they get drowned out or confused by all the groups, influencers, politicians, and churches that claim him as their spokesperson? Join us for an immensely practical series exploring the way of Jesus. We’ll discover it’s both counter to the secular culture we live in, and counter to the religious culture many of us are familiar with.

This week: How to Make Peace in an Anger CultureWe see it in airplanes, at ballgames, in social media feeds, and on political talkshows: people are angry. Increasingly, our culture is fed a steady diet of fear and outrage and we feel justified when we lash out at others. Jesus called his followers to be peacemakers. How can we shape the culture more than the culture shapes us?Series overview:Are you interested in learning more about the kind of life Jesus invited us into? Do the teachings of Jesus feel like they get drowned out or confused by all the groups, influencers, politicians, and churches that claim him as their spokesperson? Join us for an immensely practical series exploring the way of Jesus. We’ll discover it’s both counter to the secular culture we live in, and counter to the religious culture many of us are familiar with.

This week: How Nationalism Warps FaithAlmost every nation that has ever existed believed God, or the gods, was on their side. Powerful kings, queens, dictators, and politicians have consistently shown a knack for tapping into religious fervor in order to further a political agenda. How has nationalistic fervor warped the faith of Christians who came before us? And how can we keep it from happening again? Series overview:Are you interested in learning more about the kind of life Jesus invited us into? Do the teachings of Jesus feel like they get drowned out or confused by all the groups, influencers, politicians, and churches that claim him as their spokesperson? Join us for an immensely practical series exploring the way of Jesus. We’ll discover it’s both counter to the secular culture we live in, and counter to the religious culture many of us are familiar with.

This week: How to Lose a Culture WarIn 1991 James Davison Hunter wrote a book and titled it with a phrase for what he saw playing out in America’s fights over abortion, gay rights, and religion in public schools: “Culture Wars.” In 2014, CNN published an article by Rachel Held Evans entitled “How Evangelicals Won a War and Lost a Generation.” What does thinking Jesusly help us discern about the way Christians have engaged with American culture over the last 100 years? And how should Christians engage going forward?Series overview:Are you interested in learning more about the kind of life Jesus invited us into? Do the teachings of Jesus feel like they get drowned out or confused by all the groups, influencers, politicians, and churches that claim him as their spokesperson? Join us for an immensely practical series exploring the way of Jesus. We’ll discover it’s both counter to the secular culture we live in, and counter to the religious culture many of us are familiar with.

This week: How to Think JesuslyThe earliest Christians encouraged followers of Jesus to take every thought captive to Christ, to put on the mind of Jesus, and to have the same mindset of Christ. Which begs the question: how did Jesus think? What was unique about his thought patterns and worldview that might shape our own?Series overview:Are you interested in learning more about the kind of life Jesus invited us into? Do the teachings of Jesus feel like they get drowned out or confused by all the groups, influencers, politicians, and churches that claim him as their spokesperson? Join us for an immensely practical series exploring the way of Jesus. We’ll discover it’s both counter to the secular culture we live in, and counter to the religious culture many of us are familiar with.

This week: How Culture Shapes UsChristians say they want to live more like Jesus. Even non-Christians say that want Christians to live more like Jesus. So why don’t they? It’s time to explore two of the most challenging barriers to living the life Jesus has invited us into: the culture in which we live and the culture in which Jesus lived.Series overview: Are you interested in learning more about the kind of life Jesus invited us into? Do the teachings of Jesus feel like they get drowned out or confused by all the groups, influencers, politicians, and churches that claim him as their spokesperson? Join us for an immensely practical series exploring the way of Jesus. We’ll discover it’s both counter to the secular culture we live in, and counter to the religious culture many of us are familiar with.

Student Pastor Greg Morton offers thoughts on how our intentional moments with God and in connection with our faith community can shape us in the New Year ahead.

Week 3 - For many of us, Santa Claus embodied the magic of Christmas when we were children: a selfless, timeless being who rewarded good behavior with lavish gifts. But where did our modern-day understanding of Jolly Old St. Nick come from? And how is he perceived around the world? And what does any of that have to do with Jesus? Series overview -Ever wondered why some of our cherished Christmas traditions are so…cherished? It’s kind of weird that we put ornament-adorned trees in our homes and immerse our neighborhoods in lights and deck our halls with boughs of holly, all while waiting for a chubby old man ensconced in velvet to break into our homes via chimney. How did all of that start? And what does it mean? And why does it matter? We’re going to pull all of it apart and then put it back together in surprising and delightful ways as we spend this December Reconstructing Christmas.

Week 2- Bright whites, multicolored bulbs, incandescent string lights, icicle LEDs… Christmas lights strung from our rooftops are a sure sign of the season. One of the most famous fictional characters of Christmas even has a light-up nose that saves Santa! What if we could see all these lights as more than seasonal whimsy and, instead, a reminder of a beautiful truth that dazzles beyond anything we could create?Series overview - Ever wondered why some of our cherished Christmas traditions are so…cherished? It’s kind of weird that we put ornament-adorned trees in our homes and immerse our neighborhoods in lights and deck our halls with boughs of holly, all while waiting for a chubby old man ensconced in velvet to break into our homes via chimney. How did all of that start? And what does it mean? And why does it matter? We’re going to pull all of it apart and then put it back together in surprising and delightful ways as we spend this December Reconstructing Christmas.

Each Christmas season millions of Americans place trees in their homes — draped in lights, engulfed in ornaments, a bundle of beautifully wrapped gifts gathered beneath the branches. It’s a beloved tradition with a complicated origin. What if a guided tour of the Christmas story meant you’d never look at a Christmas tree the same way again?Series overview: Ever wondered why some of our cherished Christmas traditions are so…cherished? It’s kind of weird that we put ornament-adorned trees in our homes and immerse our neighborhoods in lights and deck our halls with boughs of holly, all while waiting for a chubby old man ensconced in velvet to break into our homes via chimney. How did all of that start? And what does it mean? And why does it matter? We’re going to pull all of it apart and then put it back together in surprising and delightful ways as we spend this December Reconstructing Christmas.