Zootown Church

Is God yelling at you like HULK HOLGAN or does he simply wish you would believe that he is good? Pastor Bryce speaks about faith, anxiety, dinner time and looking to our Father for provisions in times of uncertainty.

Lent is a season of reflection, re-centering, and refocusing on hope. It’s also a time we examine our lives and move forward in our journey of sanctification. This week we start the Lenten season with a look at the finished work of Jesus Christ which was directly correlated with the Tabernacle in the Old Testament. Each station of the tabernacle represented a finished work Jesus did on the Cross. The Old Testament was a shadow of the one to come and Jesus fulfilled every requirement of God. Now we walk in his footsteps and prepare our hearts as we enter the Holy of Holies -- our souls.

In this two-week series called “Participation” we look at what Kingdom living now looks like. Due to end times theology, Christians often are waiting for the destruction of the world instead of waiting for restoration. Jesus talked about a narrow gate that leads to life and a wide way that leads to destruction. What is the narrow way? Is it about Heaven and the afterlife? Is the wide road simply a highway to hell? Or is it about much more? Spoiler alert. There's a lot more going on. 

In this two-week series called “Participation” we look at what Kingdom living now looks like. Due to end times theology, Christians often are waiting for the destruction instead of waiting for restoration. What has Jesus called us to do? It is clear that Christ is in the process of restoring all things to its original creation. What a glorious day that will be! However, this is a process, ages of time, and he has called us to be partners with him in this. There are simple things Jesus has asked us to do, but these simple things will have a profound impact if we unite.

In this one-off series, Pastor Scott takes a sports approach to our lives. Every sport has a Hall of Fame of its best and most accomplished athletes in their field. Every one of them is different, and they all found what worked best for them but also what they weren’t good at. We also have a Hall of Fame in the book of Hebrews of those who went before us. The key is that they weren’t perfect people -- in fact many were totally screwed up. Yet that never stopped them from having faith and that is what God is looking for. Out of all the New Year’s resolutions that come and go, the disciplines that produce faith last eternally. God is not looking for perfect people, he is looking for faithful people.

This year is a special year because the 4th week of Advent lands on Christmas Eve. So if you’re listening to this, you are actually listening to our Christmas Eve Service. Amazingly enough, it lands on the most important subject we can possibly seek after…God is love. This is what the incarnation is about: Love. That he loved us enough to become us. That he loved us enough to take on all of humanity and release us from our false views of God. Pagan gods demand sacrifice to be loved, pagan gods demand words to be loved, pagan gods need appeased to be loved. Not Christ. He is the true God, and he showed us what true love is.

In week 3 of Advent we look at something CS Lewis said was “A Christian's greatest weapon.” Why do we buy things? Why do we long for things? Why are experiences so important to us? We are longing for and created for joy! If you ask anyone on the street if they want joy they will say yes, but ask them how, you’ll get a million different answers. Yet joy is something Jesus said he gives us! However, do we feel it? One of the reasons why is because we want Jesus without his way, but his way is the way of joy. This week we look at what that way is and how we can fully participate in the joy of the Lord.

In Week 2 of this Advent season, we look at something the world so desperately needs…Peace. In the prophecy of Isaiah, it says the Messiah would be the Prince of Peace. That’s who he is, that’s what he desires, and that is what he will accomplish. The issue is so many of us are waiting for the other person to make peace, but we can’t control other people. There really is nothing we can do to change world history or the chaos that ensues, but we can have peace in the middle of the carnage. Advent is a time to recalculate where we need to change in our peacemaking abilities.