Today we start a new series entitled “Fruitcake” which is about the fruits of the spirit. Galatians 5:13-26 is the passage in the Bible that we look at closely for the purposes of this sermon. The first two fruits that we examine in detail are joy and peace. In the New Testament, there are many examples of great joy that results in the discovery of what we have in the Lord. Joy directly relates to the grace of God. When we understand the grace of God in our lives and what we have inherited in Him in abundant and eternal life then we continually rejoice. The second fruit is peace. True peace only comes from the Prince of Peace. The true gift of every fruit is only found in Jesus himself. There is peace found in His provision, His purpose, and His power.

Today’s message looks closely at Luke chapter 9. It is where Jesus’s true identity is understood by the disciples and He spells out what He was really on earth to do. The disciples were hoping He was going to come into political power and establish a new kingdom. But instead, He calls them into a difficult journey to follow him in a life of suffering and rejection by denying themselves. Jesus is telling all of this because He wants them to change from a single minded personal focus to focusing on what God can do in their lives.

Today was the last part of the “down arrow” – looking at God’s incredible love for us. This message focused on the prophet Hosea, and showed the comparison of how faithful and patient God’s love is for us. There are other examples throughout scripture that remind us about how He will always love us even when we don’t deserve it. His love is also unconditional, meaning that nothing we do can make Him love us any less. To God, we are perfect; He loves us so much that He died for us.

Today’s message starts the Crazy Love series and coincides with the kick-off of our Growth Groups. The first sermon is entitled “An Indescribable God” and takes a look at ways in which God reveals Himself, through creation, His word, and his plans for us. Therefore, it is important for us to take time to enjoy creation, focus on the gospel, and remember that God is always with us to help up fulfill the plans he has for us.

Today’s message specifically looks at how words can be toxic in our lives. Proverbs 18:21 states, “The tongue has the power of life and death…” Our words can either strengthen, encourage, give hope, or they can put down, discourage or wound. There are two types of words – the ones we hear, and the ones we speak. We can’t control what people say, but we can control what we “hear” and put in our hearts. When it comes to words we speak, we need to speak positive things to other people (Ephesians 4:29). We can also speak positively to ourselves and to the things we have going on in our own lives.

This weeks sermon wraps up our Blockbuster series with a look at The Smurfs and how they must come together to get home safely after being pushed out of their village. Paul outlines in Acts 20:20 the gathering practices of the disciples of Jesus. We then take a closer look at what they did when they met in Acts 2:42-47. There were four main points that we get out these verses. Fellowship, stewardship, worship, and growth. These points we read about are the exact things we should be getting out of the church now.

This week’s sermon uses Captain America as a basis for the message. Just like the main character in the movie was transformed, Jesus tells us in Matthew 16 how God desires for us to make a total transformation. We then look at Romans 12, where Paul reminds us that if we deny ourselves, that we will be transformed to follow God’s will. We will always have a choice of going our way or God’s way, but He wants us to deny our own way and yield to His will for us. As a church, we are reminded that we have to live transformed lives. We can then communicate the hope of transformed life to others.

This message wraps up Heart 2 Heart with a look at the disciples in Gethsemene in Matthew 26. Looking more in depth into the verses, we see that the disciples have good intentions, but good intentions are not always a positive if there is no change. In comparison to our lives, there may be times that we have good intentions and never follow through, such as when we want to spend more time in prayer, but never seem to get around to it. The second part of the message deals with the instructions Jesus gave. He is reminding us that we need Him, and that without Him we are weak. Lastly, we look at the response of both Jesus and the disciples to what is about to happen. Jesus had spent His time in prayer, while the disciples had spent their time sleeping. It is a wonderful reminder for when we are preparing for something, that we should be focusing on God’s will for us, not what we want to happen.

We continue our series entitled Heart 2 Heart today with Paul’s prayer for Ephesus in Ephesians 3. Pastor Christopher breaks down the prayer into three parts. Paul begins the prayer with the address of Father – just the way Jesus taught them to pray. God answers prayers out of the heart of a Father because He created us, has our best interest at heart, and He knows our future. The second part is his prayer. It involves the power that is given to us through the Holy Spirit. Secondly, it is about the experience of Christ and His love for us. Lastly, Paul prays for the church. He realizes the struggle of faith is not an easy one, but he prays that the Ephesians can experience all that God can do for them.