Verve City Church: Weekly Messages

Easter brings fun memories of egg hunts, chocolate bunnies, and baskets of goodies. But beneath it all - is Easter true? Is the story of a man conquering death and offering us freedom worth believing? Listen to our discussion about why we choose to follow Jesus. 

We read in the New Testament that God is love, and then we read other stories in the Old Testament about God bringing punishment and death and plagues. So, how do we reconcile what seems almost to be a dual personality? Does God act like Jesus dying for his executioners, or is God more like the deity who allowed an angel of death to kill the firstborn children of Egypt? The answer to that question becomes more evident when you understand that God is like a Zippo Lighter.

During the Watergate scandal of the early 1970s, Senator Howard Baker posed the question during a hearing, "What did the President know, and when did he know it?" We intuitively understand that the specific knowledge people have and the amount of time they have it can either exonerate or implicate them. What does God know, and when does he know it? It's often said that God is "all-knowing," but what is the actual content of that knowledge? Do our choices matter, or is the future set in stone? Does prayer change things, or is everything destined to play out in a predetermined way? It turns out God is like Dr. Strange. 

For the last several centuries, a troubling philosophical question has haunted Christianity: If God is all good and all-powerful, why is there so much evil in the world? What's fascinating is that this question is never posed in quite this way in the Scriptures. How could Jesus and his followers expect the world to be filled with pain and still believe in a completely loving Creator God? Because they knew something we've forgotten: that God is like an empowering boss.

Honey badgers are relentless and fearless. They don't give up even when facing off against much larger animals, and they're wicked smart. When it comes to his love for us, God is like a honey badger. He will not be deterred. He keeps pursuing us and trying to help us even when we flee him, curse him, or deny him. We are invited into this ravishing love, and we are invited to share it. 

Does your job feel like a calling—or just a grind? Work isn’t just a paycheck—it’s a chance to find joy and bring God glory. Scripture is full of men and women who demonstrate that even ordinary jobs can become a platform for something bigger when we invite God in. How can their examples help us find joy and purpose in our daily grind? 

Our own brokenness and anxiety distorts our relationship to work and can frequently cause us to have an unhealthy relationship with it. But the Gospel of Jesus can transform HOW we work and how we THINK about work. This Sunday, we talk about how faith reshapes work, and why you were made for Monday.

Work is not just what you do—it’s who you become in the process. We live in a culture that either glorifies work or resents it. Hustle harder. Climb the ladder. Or—just survive until the weekend. But what if work was designed for something more? What if the sacred is found in the spreadsheets, the meetings, the endless to-do lists? In Take This Job and Love It, we’ll reimagine work through God’s design, not as something that drains us but as something that shapes us. Whether you’re stuck in a job you hate or obsessed with a career that defines you, there’s a better way. Work isn’t the enemy—it’s the opportunity. The only question is: will you step into it?This week, our message is about how our culture tends to either worship work or demonize work. There's very little in-between. So we'll look at God's design for work and how it fits in our lives to make us better and make the world around us better.

Perhaps growing up, you had a mischievous uncle or friend: someone who loved you in part by kidding around with you, playing innocent practical jokes, or giving you a non-painful noogie with a whimsical glint in their eye. That was Jesus. He occasionally used his miraculous power in funny ways. He seemed to intentionally confuse his disciples at times both to deepen their thinking and, seemingly, for his own personal amusement. He loved others deeply and with good humor. This week, we'll explore the lavish love of a playful savior. 

Pop-culture is saturated with superheroes, Jedi, hobbits, wizards, and things that go bump in the night. We love stories. A good story can help us make sense of our lives. A well-written character can inspire us, engage us, and make us feel like we belong. Jesus loved stories as well. His hallmark teaching device was the parable: he crafted illustrations to help us understand God and our place in God's world. This week, we'll explore the stories of Jesus that reveal so much about the person of Jesus.