Risen Church Nc

Humanity has a shared experience of being lost. We get lost easily, in every area of life. We are so prone to getting lost or figuratively losing our way, that it's safe to assume that something's not right in our hearts. Pretty much everyone agrees that humans are bent towards imperfection. Within all of us is also a notion that we've missed the mark - that we've fell short of some standard of perfection. The Bible confirms and explains our lost condition. It also tells us why we have such a keen awareness of our shortcomings. We all share a creator, whose image we bear. We also share a common ancestor, whose sin we inherited. This is why "lost" is the perfect word to describe our condition, because we've all wandered away from our Creator God - our Heavenly Father. In this message, we come to an agreement about our lost condition and look at some foundational Bible verses explaining it all. Then we turn to Jesus for some Good News. Even though we are all a long way off, impossibly lost, Jesus promises

1 Corinthians addresses our lives across the board, commanding us to glorify Christ in our relationships and in every area of our lives. Paul's focus in chapter 7 is to fix our eyes on the purpose God has for us and has placed in us, so that we might maximize our lives for His Kingdom. So often we look for purpose on the other side of something happening or changing in our lives. We deflect what we might could now by claiming such and such has to happen to make it more comfortable or convenient to serve God. However, we learn in this text that we need not chase after purpose, but realize it is with us right where we are. Paul's message in 1 Corinthians 7:17, 20, and 24 is that we answer God's call over our lives in whatever state we may find ourselves in. No matter our circumstances or status, we all have a capacity to seek the Lord and His Will. Through contentment, we can find strength from Christ to endure hardships or escape distractions. Paul tells us in 1 Corinthians 7:29-31 that *now* is the appo

There is an undeniable, inescapable calling over all of our lives. As children of God, we are all sent into our worlds to serve Him and glorify Jesus with our lives. Thankfully, Jesus built the Church to help us navigate our callings and direct us in our commission. In the earliest days of His movement, He gathered His original followers and cast a vision over them and gave them a mission statement that would define the church for years to come. He compared us to and commanded us to function as salt, light, and refuge for our world. These things all naturally better and improve whatever they are applied to, and they do this without force. Salt is made to preserve. Light is made to brighten. Refuge is made to restore. What these three things all have in common is that they are intentional in their function and irresistible in their impact. This is what Jesus was calling the church - all of us - to be like. In order to fulfill our callings, we must develop and practice habits of intentionality and irresisti

The subject of sexuality and morality can easily be segmented away from our faith, and only talked about when addressing sinful lifestyles. However, in 1 Corinthians Paul addresses the Church about God's original design and desires for men and women, and how we conduct ourselves as single and married people. His aim is that the Church would model for the world what it looks like to reflect God in this area so core to our being and the very image of God. Paul is very clear, along with the rest of the Bible, that our sexuality can be a wild fire or a holy fire. If we don't involve God in our relationships and marriages, we will we drift away from His design and suffer loss spiritually and personally. Thus, the example we set for our world is no different than the mixed signals the world gives. However, if we allow our passion for God to influence and direct our passion in our relationships, we will burn bright for Him in a lost world. This will also lead to mutually healthy and beneficial relationships. Lis

We all know what it's like to be called upon by someone. We also know what feels like to be called to something. Some callings seem like obligations, while others feel like opportunities. Callings can leave us with a burden, a conviction, a sense of must. They drive us with more than just a "have to", but with a "want to". As Christians, we have an inescapable calling over us all, compelling us to surrender our lives to God and voluntarily pursue His plans for our lives. The callings He places over us and plants within us are greater than the highs we get from this world, and supplant any lows we face in this world. They push us forward, pick us up, and fill us with peace. In this message, we talk about the inescapable calling over and on all of our lives as followers of Jesus. We study the life of Isaiah, and see how God got his attention when he was otherwise discouraged and distracted. Isaiah went to seek the Lord one day, mostly for comfort and consolation, but left His presence with a calling. We t

In another look at 1 Corinthians 6, we hear about Paul’s approach to combatting the sexual perversion of the ancient world - which turns out to be very relevant for us and helpful in navigating our own world. We talk about God’s original design of humanity and sexuality and how all of us have been impacted by the breakdown and fallout of that design. We also hear how Jesus wouldn’t budge from these ideals, and discuss why His stance wasn't one of condemnation, but an invitation to receive restoration and healing. Finally, we turn to 1 Corinthians and see how Paul charges Christians to show God’s way of purity and morality to the world. In a world without a moral compass, God was using the Church to recenter the human conscious around His design and spark a much needed, sexual revolution.

In part two of our look at 1 Corinthians 6, we learn more about what it means to be lights in our world and how our witness has the potential to make a tremendous impact on those around us. In this message, we focus on how our own recovery from sin and resistance to sin proclaims the Gospel to our neighbors. We hear Paul emphasize that no sin should be underestimated and all of us should be communicating the power of God's grace through our new, Christ-like nature. Listen to how the Bible talks about what the resurrection of Christ does for us and in us, and how we cannot consciously allow sin to take hold in our lives.

In part one of our look at 1 Corinthians 6, we discuss the importance of our Christian testimony and witness. Paul begins by addressing how we should react to being sinned against. Listen as we discuss how he builds off of Jesus' radical commands that Christians should be the lights of their world, and how our detachment from the material and temporary should help us always react with grace and mercy.

In our final message in our "On Loan" series, we once more connect the dots between our commitment to God now and our capacity for all He has for us in the next life. We look one of Jesus' most famous sermons, where He reminds us that we all will lose this life one day, and He urges us to lose it for a purpose. This raises the question, if we know we're going to lose it one day, why not give it away for a cause that will make a significant, kingdom-difference? Jesus equates following Him to bearing a cross and having a willingness and an eagerness to give this life away. But what did He mean by "losing this life" or "giving our lives away"? Many were anxious to know, especially after He promised that those who follow Him gain early access into God's kingdom activity. Jesus made it very clear what it meant to bear our cross and surrender our lives to God. He made it all about loving God and loving others, as He would demonstrate with His own cross. He even said that our love for God is demonstrated by and v

Jesus instilled in the hearts and minds of the early church that the Kingdom of God was very near. We are all created by God and we are all headed back to Him. Our time on earth is just temporary. We are all like sojourners or exiles, awaiting our entrance into God's Kingdom. Our current reality is merely preparation for our eternal future. The early Christians took this framework and ran with it, and modeled their entire lives around it. The Apostle Peter wrote to the early church and couched his message and motivation around this idea of exile. He wrote that we are all strangers in a strange land, and will one day give an account for how we lived out our temporary stay. In this message, Peter calls on all of us to live each day with eternity in mind. He reaches back into the Old Testament and echoes the words of Moses, calling the people of God to consider His Will in every area of our lives. He invokes that there is a healthy sense of fear we all should possess so that we would not waste our one and only

We all respond to responsibilities in this life differently. Some of us take great amounts of pride in our work and are very possessive over that which belongs to us. In other cases, we are more passive and less concerned about what we should do. All of this falls under the presumption that we answer to no one for our lives and we can do as we please. But if our lives don't really belong to us... If all that we are and all that we have is borrowed and on loan from our Creator... then we cannot escape this eternal accountability and responsibility. The Bible makes it very clear, as creatures made by God, we are all called to be stewards of a life that is from Him and will one day return to Him. In this message, we discuss the subject of stewardship and what it means to be entrusted with God's gifts. The last sermon that Jesus ever preached deals with this very matter, as He looks forward to a judgement day to come, when all of God's servants will give an account for what they did with their lives. Will w

Having established how important the local church is to every Christian, Paul begins addressing some of the problems persisting within the church at Corinth. He's made it clear that every body has a vital role to play in the Body of Christ, and thus we cannot separate individual selves from the whole, and vice versa. Beginning in chapter 5, Paul admonishes the Corinthians how they ought to react to sin and respond to sinners within the Church. He confronts their apparent arrogance and indifference towards one individuals' sin, and identifies the proper response of a compassionate, sincere Christian. In this message, we unpack this and much more, and learn the right approach when caring for our brother and sister in Christ. We discuss the importance of our gathering in the power of the Spirit, and giving place to God to sovereignly tend to both the wheats and tares of His field. Our goal with this conversation is to have a sober understanding of sin, its effects on the us and our church family, and a commi

What would life be like if we lived from an understanding that everything - including us - is borrowed and on loan from God? What would life look like if we lived as if nothing really belonged to us, and would one day go back to God? In this introduction to a series all about this premise, we consider how all of our lives come from God, exist for Him, and will one day return to Him. The Bible has much to say on this matter, but we take our initial inspiration from the story of Hannah and her son, Samuel. They set a precedent for us all to follow regarding our beginning and our inevitable end. Listen and consider what life could be like back in the hands, resting in the hands, and led by the hands of the One who made you.

After addressing how each of us individually will be judged for our service to Christ, Paul tells us that we will also be held accountable for our participation in the Body of Christ. He calls us the New Temple of God, echoing the words of Jesus that the gathering of God's people becomes His dwelling place. How we treat God's Temple - Christ's Body - is crucial in our Christian service. From here, Paul teaches on the importance of every church member developing a healthy relationship with those in leadership over them. He stresses that a mutual trust and integrity across pulpits and pews is key for a healthy Church. Ultimately, it all comes down to everyone fulfilling their obligation to be faithful. In this message, we discuss what it means to be faithful to Christ's Body and learn to respect the institution and community that is God is building. If we are all faithful, the church can reach its full potential and be full of divine possibility. As we find our place and become rooted in Christ's body, and

What if our greatest weakness turned out to be our unexpected ally? What if God doesn't remove them because He chooses to use them to remind us of Him? While we often conceal our weaknesses, Jesus invites us to bring them to Him. In those moments we are discouraged, distracted, or tempted, we can actually be reminded of God's grace and power. It's in our weakest moments that we can be full of God's power. Until we are honest about our weaknesses, we can never take hold of this power. Jesus promises us that there is no weakness that He cannot provide strength for. From now on, as we face our struggles, we can embrace the grace and power of God. From now on, we can see every weakness as an unexpected ally.

In our look at 1 Corinthians 3 we discuss: - The Spiritual Nature vs the Fleshly Nature: There is a vast difference between God and everyone else. He is higher and greater and above us all. Apart from Him, we are helpless and hopeless in our sin. However, Jesus and His Cross bring salvation to us all. In Him, we can be revived from sin and regenerated by His Spirit. Our fleshly nature still lingers, but if we rest in Christ and rely on Him alone we can overcome and thrive. - What is our most primal expression of our fleshly nature: In Corinth, the people were held back by their spiritual immaturity and lack of growth. This is why there was a great deal of jealousy, animosity, and competitiveness amidst the church. We discuss how it is from this place that our flesh stunts our growth the most. - What's Now impacts what's Next: Paul implores the Corinthians to rest firm on their one and only foundation, and build towards eternity. He breaks down how we will all be judged for what we did with our salvation.

In our final look at Ezekiel's unique, unexpected, yet transformative experience with God, we step into the Valley of Dry Bones. In this vision, Ezekiel's difficult ministry met its most devastating scene yet. In spite of all the hope he had been given by God, how could Israel come back from this? How was he supposed to motivate the remnant after seeing this? At this point, nobody would've blamed Ezekiel for giving up. Much like our own struggles and losses, giving up seems like the only logical choice sometimes. However, God used this to instill an even greater confidence in Ezekiel. In the midst of this valley, God asked him if he was going to give up or look up. He asked Ezekiel if his faith was still alive, even if his previous dreams were not. Would he choose to believe that there was still hope? In this message, we wrestle with the difficult and challenges that many of us have faced in this life. We reflect on the times we've considered giving up, but collectively we look up and hear God's Word of

Paul made it clear in 1 Corinthians 1 that we all come to Christ, seeking God's glory and His Body's good. In the next chapter, he uses his own approach to preaching as an example for everyone to follow in their participation in the Church. He states that he always handles God's Word, and by extension, he conducts his life through the lens of Christ and Him crucified. Paul tells the Corinthians that his ambition is always driven by Jesus and His Cross. In this message, we discuss how this mantra should influence how we hear, read, and handle God's Word. As we extract truth from God's Word, we take on wisdom that can transform our lives. If we are seeking and savoring Jesus and learning the way of His Cross, we are gaining true, practical, spiritual power. We also discuss how this is often contrary to how many read and interpret God's Word, with their own agendas in mind. As the old hymn says, "The Way of the Cross leads home." God has given us everything we need in His Word to prepare us and empower us

Salvation often gets reduced down to an insurance plan, to being bailed out of trouble and whatever consequences that we may have coming. However, Christian Salvation is much more than that. Our salvation is a redeeming work of God. Redemption evokes buying something back that has been lost. In Christ, God has bought us all back from sin and desires to bring us back to life. Like with some things for sale in this world, we often question our own worth. In the eyes of God, we are worth a great price - and in the hands of God, we gain a great purpose. In this message, we consider the true nature of our salvation and discuss the hope and beauty of redemption. Our God doesn't waste anything and He is looking to redeem every aspect of our lives. What we may think has been a waste, God is able and willing to turn around for His glory. Like He promised Ancient Israel, He has a better plan than to simply keep bailing us out. He has a redemption plan. From Him, we can receive a new heart, a new spirit, and a new

The first item on Paul's lengthy agenda in 1 Corinthians is the subject of unity and division. He addresses this first, because the mission of the Church was so very contingent on the ambition of the Church. The people at Corinth were dividing up into factions, quarreling with each other over what made one right and righteous. Paul quickly reminded them about the Cross. Each faction was boasting of their beliefs and positions, but their posture and behavior were far from Christian. If we are to fulfill our role as the Body of Christ, we must always bear His cross. The way of the cross, is a lifestyle of humility and selflessness. This is where the power of God is found, because this is where Jesus is found. We cannot find our glory in what we know or what we bring, but rather in what God has done. If we all bow at the cross and bear the cross, we will live up to our name. If we keep the cross at the center of our church, if we unite together around the cross - we will constantly be reminded of the equal