Verve City Church: Weekly Messages

When we first put our faith in Jesus we are usually hyper aware of our need for him. But as he begins to transform us there can be a tendency to forget where we came from and to begin judging those outside of the church who don't live like us. Sometimes we’re so thankful for who we are that we forget who we were.  Josh Crain kicks off our weekend teaching series, Voices: Practical Ideas for Leading a Jesus-centered Life

Today, Josh Crain closes out our teaching series called Bringin' Home the Bacon. Sometimes we need to stop and celebrate the things that God is doing in the midst of our community. Because of your generosity we have seen people commit to Jesus, lives transformed, and communities blessed this year. We celebrate today because your giving is changing lives. 

Two things are true: it’s your money. And it’s *not* your money. It’s your money, so you should find ways to spend it that delight you and make your world a more enjoyable place. And it’s also all a gift that you steward as it flows to you and it flows away from you. The great wisdom teachers found in the Scriptures are constantly giving us two paradoxical instructions about money: 1) grab hold of it because it’s yours and 2) let go of it because it’s not.Josh Crain

If we push past the discomfort of talking about money, we’ll discover a powerful truth: money is always teaching you. Money can act as a mirror, reflecting and exposing the narratives and resentments we have. If we shift our mindset around finances, we’ll discover there’s a wealth of wisdom and understanding to be found.

Jesus is usually admired as a good moral teacher even by those who deny his divinity. But is “good moral teacher” a category we can place Jesus in? Did he claim to be God? Is it possible he was crazy? Did his first followers radically alter the message that he preached? Did he actually rise from the dead? The goodness of God and the validity of Christianity hangs on the answers to these questions. 

The tragedy of the Uvalde shooting this past week, along with the recent shootings in Laguna Woods and Buffalo, are a horrific reminder of the brokenness of our world. Our hurting nation and communities need the message of Jesus more now than ever before... but has the institution of “the evangelical church” lost its influence due to its own leaders’ mess-ups and cover-ups? What will it take for the Church to lead a revival in our communities... and what role do we have as individuals to truly mimic Jesus’ humility, love, and grace as we seek to share the life-saving truth of the gospel?