Verve City Church: Weekly Messages

If you've ever experienced regret, then this week's message will HIT HOME! Field of Dreams is a movie about baseball, and family, and dreams coming true... but above all, it's a movie about wishing we could have a "do over" and how we can experience freedom from our past mistakes.

Jurassic Park is about a lot of things: dinosaurs, evolution, technology, survival. But at it's core, Jurassic Park is a film how our desire for control can sometimes lead to our ruin or to the ruin of others. This week we explore the power Jesus demonstrated for us when he willingly gave up control in order that we might be rescued.Next week At the Movies: Field Of Dreams!Plan a visit here: http://inlandhills.com/planavisit

Each year we revisit the vision of Inland Hills Church and what it looks like to connect people to Jesus in a post-Christian culture. How can we as a faith community meet our friends, families, and neighbors in the places they are while living out the vision God has for our lives?

Present experiences can lead to future transformation. This is a message both about youth and about you. The next generation is wrestling with many questions, but are these questions so different than the ones we are asking ourselves?

Our human desire for “greatness” can lead us to do some pretty crazy things! What’s Jesus’ idea of greatness, and how can we follow His teaching and example of loving God and loving others? A personal journey through foster care offers one lens for understanding how we can put “both/and” loving into practice.

Heart conversations can be hard conversations, but they are necessary to confront the false statements and narratives we tell ourselves. You can not change what you do not confront.  When we are not transparent with our words and our thoughts, they become a hiding place and create disconnection. 

When we're freaking out about something, we often want other people around us to support us by freaking out too. But the presence of calm doesn't mean the absence of care. Jesus was often calm and walked at his own pace, even when those around him were not. Our fears pressure us into wanting more control. But the opposite of fear is love, not control. God loves you, and he has good surprises for you.

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