Verve City Church: Weekly Messages

When Jesus chose disciples, he invited them from all over the political spectrum. Their allegiance to Jesus transcended their opinions about how the world's governments should be run. How do Christians make a positive difference in the places they live while remembering that their primary citizenship is in the Kingdom of God?Series Overview: Verve City Church won't tell you who to vote for. We won't tell you which policies to support or which politicians to be outraged at. But we need to have an entirely necessary and honest conversation about politics. For some, politics has become their religion. Others have lost relationships with friends and family members over a difference in political opinion. This is a great series to invite someone to sit with you. Let’s explore together: How can followers of Jesus thoughtfully maintain their Christian witness in a fractured political environment?

Perhaps you've heard someone say, "I just don't know how someone can be a Christian and a Democrat." Or, "I just don't know how someone can be a Christian and vote for that candidate." Embedded into those statements is the critical issue: there's something they don't know. In week five of Party Crashers, Verve City Church will explore why different Christians vote differently while deriving their values from the same Christian faith.Series Overview:  Verve City Church won't tell you who to vote for. We won't tell you which policies to support or which politicians to be outraged at. But we need to have an entirely necessary and honest conversation about politics. For some, politics has become their religion. Others have lost relationships with friends and family members over a difference in political opinion. This is a great series to invite someone to sit with you. Let’s explore together: How can followers of Jesus thoughtfully maintain their Christian witness in a fractured political environment?

Christianity once had more cultural influence in the United States than it now does because more people identified as Christians. What happened? Why did people start walking away from Christianity in the 1990s? While the answers to that question are complex, the Church's grab for political power played a significant role. The Church wasn't silent; the Church was loud about the wrong things.Series Overview: Verve City Church won't tell you who to vote for. We won't tell you which policies to support or which politicians to be outraged at. But we need to have an entirely necessary and honest conversation about politics. For some, politics has become their religion. Others have lost relationships with friends and family members over a difference in political opinion. This is a great series to invite someone to sit with you. Let’s explore together: How can followers of Jesus thoughtfully maintain their Christian witness in a fractured political environment?

In our polarizing times, faith and politics seem to be leading more to rage than actual change. It's discouraging, disheartening, and disappointing. But Sarah Bauer Anderson believes it doesn't have to stay this way. Civility is not a pipe dream. Nuance is not unrecoverable. Peace is possible. And it can all start right here, right now, with us.Series Overview: Verve City Church won't tell you who to vote for. We won't tell you which policies to support or which politicians to be outraged at. But we need to have an entirely necessary and honest conversation about politics. For some, politics has become their religion. Others have lost relationships with friends and family members over a difference in political opinion. This is a great series to invite someone to sit with you. Let’s explore together: How can followers of Jesus thoughtfully maintain their Christian witness in a fractured political environment?

When political division shows up not only on the campaign trail but also at our dinner tables, we wonder: Can we be part of a better way? Michael Wear says "yes," offering a distinctly Jesus-centered approach to politics that results in healing rather than division, kindness rather than hatred, and hope rather than despair.Series Overview: Verve City Church won't tell you who to vote for. We won't tell you which policies to support or which politicians to be outraged at. But we need to have an entirely necessary and honest conversation about politics. For some, politics has become their religion. Others have lost relationships with friends and family members over a difference in political opinion. This is a great series to invite someone to sit with you. Let’s explore together: How can followers of Jesus thoughtfully maintain their Christian witness in a fractured political environment?

Was the United States founded as a "Christian nation?" Can any nation be a "Christian nation?" Exploring the teachings of Jesus and the history of "Christian" imperialism, we'll discuss the incompatibility of the way of Jesus and the way of Empire.Series Overview:  Verve City Church won't tell you who to vote for. We won't tell you which policies to support or which politicians to be outraged at. But we need to have an entirely necessary and honest conversation about politics. For some, politics has become their religion. Others have lost relationships with friends and family members over a difference in political opinion. This is a great series to invite someone to sit with you. Let’s explore together: How can followers of Jesus thoughtfully maintain their Christian witness in a fractured political environment?

"I can't." "I should." "Nobody likes me." "I'm such an idiot." "I'm a dumpster fire." For many of us, the negative talk in our lives is focused less on other people and more on ourselves. While it's healthy to understand our strengths and weaknesses, constantly disparaging ourselves can become a self-fulfilling indictment and a confidence killer. How can we be humble without being humiliated? How can we think of ourselves less without thinking less of ourselves?Series overview: Remember the time that person said that thing to you and that was twelve years ago and you occasionally think about it and it still makes you feel bad? That's the power of words. What we say to one another, what we say about one another, and what we say to ourselves have the power to build, destroy, or overly inflate our egos.

The way we see and experience others reveals less about them than it does about us. And when we “call it like we see it,” what we say is a reflection of our soul. We can laugh at ridiculous one-star reviews, but don’t we all fall into the trap of spreading negative gossip sometimes? How can adjusting our mindset change the words we say and restore a sense of calm and peace in the midst of our chaotic lives?Series overview: Remember the time that person said that thing to you and that was twelve years ago and you occasionally think about it and it still makes you feel bad? That's the power of words. What we say to one another, what we say about one another, and what we say to ourselves have the power to build, destroy, or overly inflate our egos.

Our words hold surprising power to shape our identity, our environment, and our friends. We get to decide whether to wield that power well or to wield it haphazardly. The words we choose, the tone we use, and even our body language can intentionally or inadvertently build up or tear down. So, how do we become people who are filled with words of grace, truth, and gratitude in a world that's so often cynical and despairing? Series overview: Remember the time that person said that thing to you and that was twelve years ago and you occasionally think about it and it still makes you feel bad? That's the power of words. What we say to one another, what we say about one another, and what we say to ourselves have the power to build, destroy, or overly inflate our egos.

Celebrated at Easter, Jesus’ resurrection is a central event for Christianity… which means Jesus’ death is also at the center of our faith. But why did Jesus have to die? And what does the answer reveal about God?