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Jesus’ redefinition of marriage was so controversial that in his day even his own disciples said, “If this is how it is, then it is better to avoid marrying in the first place.” The disciples’ words echo the view many today hold towards marriage. Is marriage just an antiquated tradition from a by-gone age? What is marriage all about? What is God’s vision for marriage and why is it important?

We live in a culture where your sexuality has come to define your identity. Desire is sacred and ultimate. And anything that stands in the way of desire is evil. And yet the deep longing for intimacy persists and is left unmet. Could there be an intrinsic connection between love, sex, and God that we have missed?

“Behold, how good and pleasant it is when brothers dwell in unity!” Psalms‬ ‭133:1‬ We’re called to love one another, but what do we do when we are overcome with anger? This week as we continue our Controversial Jesus series, we’ll be taking a deeper look into what anger actually is and isn’t — and what we are called to do with our anger. How do we Biblically solve conflict in a way that leads to healthy resolution? Join us as look at anger through the lens of Jesus’ powerful words during the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 5.

It seems our country is more divided than ever with a growing polarization between Republicans and Democrats, Liberals and Conservatives. Hot topic issues like immigration and climate change are used as weapons to entrench each group in their proverbial corner. How are followers of Jesus to respond and engage when it comes to politics in these divide states?

To close the series, we go back to the passage before the famous “salt and light” passage in order to understand the implications of living this way. Jesus tells us we are “blessed” when others revile us “for your reward is great in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.” On MLK weekend, we want to think about what it looks like to live a prophetic witness, and what the implications might be for the church.

"You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.” Matthew 5:14-16

In Jesus’ day, salt was primarily used as a preservative for meat, it was ground and ingrained into the food in order to keep it fresh. In a similar way, Christians are to live “in the world but not of it”. How are we, like salt, to be “ingrained” in our culture and yet distinct from it?

Join us for a candlelight service on Christmas Eve at 4pm. As a reminder, there will be no Awakening church services next Sunday, December 30th. We hope you enjoy time with your loved ones!

We would like to think that those who desire peace would be promoted, but human history would tell a very different story. We do not naturally seek peace, nor do we naturally receive the truth of God. What happens when we dedicate ourselves to being “peacemakers?” We certainly receive the blessing of God, but what happens when we don’t receive the blessing from the world?

There is a way of life that is counter-intuitive and counter-cultural that brings about human flourishing. What if the path to flourishing was found in the mercy we give and not the money we make? What if happiness had more to do with ones character than their capacity? Jesus invites us to reconsider what we bless up that we might experience life to the full.

Our American culture says, blessed are the successful, the rich and powerful, the Instagram famous. Blessed are those who are able to do what they want, whenever they want. If this is true, why is it then that we as a culture are never truly satisfied or content? Could it be that what the world blesses up actually pulls us away from the flourishing life? In the greatest sermon ever given, Jesus flips the paradigm upside down for those who are truly blessed and flourishing. Join us for episode 2 of Bless Up as Jesus teaches us how to be fully satisfied.

Jesus Christ’s central message was the “good news about the kingdom of God,” which was all about flinging wide the doors to heaven. If the doors to God are wide open, and if our own order of the world doesn’t matter anymore, what does? Losing our own superiority and identifying our need for God will help us receive Jesus’ great blessing, which is waiting for all.

Being thankful usually comes after we have received something first. We tend to think that gratitude is a something we give to somebody else. In this standalone sermon we’ll explore the power of expressing thankfulness and how God uses gratitude as a gift in our lives.

Anytime you step up committing to do what God has called you to, you can expect to experience opposition. In our final episode of our Above and Beyond series, we will learn how Nehemiah not only faces both external and internal opposition but rises above to fulfill his God-sized vision.

Every great movement of God has a group of people who sacrificially gave of their lives to see the vision become a reality. In episode 6 of our series in Nehemiah, we discover the power of a personal commitment. There can be no real progress made until first there is a deep personal commitment.

We’re stoked to welcome Phil and Diane Comer to Awakening this morning! The Comer’s are longtime friends of Awakening. They are pastors, church planters, encouragers, writers, and disciple-makers. Many start out well, but few finish well. We all want to hear Jesus say, “Well done, good and faithful servant.” What does the path to staying faithful look like?

In the fourth installment of our Above and Beyond series we discover a vital yet often overlooked prerequisite to living above and beyond the status quo. For us to a life filled with significance we need a strategic plan. There is an old adage that says, “If you fail to plan, you plan to fail.” As we continue our study in the book of Nehemiah, we will learn how to develop a strategic plan so that we can live out our God-given purpose on this planet.

How do you move from feeling stuck in life to living out your God given purpose on this planet? In part 3 of our series Above and Beyond, we will discover how a single step of faith has the power to not only get you unstuck but position you to experience the power of God in your life.

A dependent spirit leads to an accurate view of God and an accurate view of ourselves.

In the next six sessions, we will examine the conditions that characterize those whom God strongly supports; those whom God uses to make a significant impact using the life of Nehemiah as our model.