Northplace Church Podcast

Until a few years ago, Northplace had not focused that much on Advent. Traditionally, Advent has been something celebrated primarily among liturgical churches like the Anglican or Lutheran traditions. But for us Christmas has been commercialized, the word twisted to mean what it shouldn’t, and the season hijacked by materialism. We wanted something that anchored us in rich theology, biblical history, and the real story of God wrapping himself in human flesh. For the video go to http://northplacechurch.com/watch

Several weeks ago the Lord dropped something in my heart to share this weekend that was supposed to prepare our hearts for Thanksgiving. I started working on what I believed to be a spirit inspired sermon called The Discipline of Celebration. I had no idea the events that have unfolded over the last few days would happen. The Paris attacks where scores lost their lives… and the heightened terrorism risk here and around the rest of the world were not on my radar when I began thinking about this weekend’s sermon. As these events unfolded, I seriously questioned the topic. The mood seems somber not celebratory. I prayerfully asked, “Shouldn’t I be preaching something else this weekend?” But I kept feeling impressed to move forward with this conversation about celebration. The more I prayed, studied and researched the scripture the more I understood wanted God wanted us talking about this today…even with all these things going on. We are not having this conversation in spite of the recent devastation in our wor

Each week we have focused on one key piece that makes up the underlying elements of our culture. These things are what make us…uniquely us. Today I want to focus on our commitment to The ongoing work of the Holy Spirit…in our lives and in our church. As we said from the beginning of this series, one of the most important things a pastor can do, is create, cultivate, and contend for a gospel centered culture in the local church. Today we are contending for or reaffirming Our commitment to be Spirit empowered people who crave Spirit empowered environments. For the video go to http://northplacechurch.com/watch

This is week 7 in our conversation about the culture of our church. We have committed over the last couple of months to talk about those things that make us… uniquely us. Each week I have focused on one key ingredient that makes up a part of the culture of Northplace. We have talked about our commitment to generosity, courageous faith, biblical balance, missional focus, and doing less better. If you missed any part of this series, each message is available under the “Resources” tab of our website at northplacechurch.com/watch

We are in our sixth week of a very important conversation as a church family. We are reminding some and education others about the unique ingredients that make up the Northplace culture. Every place… whether be a school, a restaurant, a business, a family, or a church, has a unique feel or environment that becomes synonymous with that place. That familiar environment and that familiar experience you have when you go there is all a part of the culture of the place. At Northplace, we have been intentional in crafting our church’s culture. From the hospitality of the parking lot greeters… the size and layout of our expansive lobby… the choices of warm colors throughout the building…to the spirit empowered environment here in the sanctuary…we have been intentional in creating environments and experiences that reflect who we are as a people. Over the least several weeks we have highlighted one key ingredient of our culture that makes us…uniquely us. If you are just joining us and want to catch up on the prev

We’ve been defining the power of a culture and contending for the key ingredients that make Us…Us. We’ve said that the easiest way to define Culture is “the way do things around here.” We’ve also said… An unhealthy culture can suck the life out of vision, plans, and dreams. A healthy culture is the environment that causes all those things to flourish. Over the last ten years we have been intentional about creating culture at Northplace. Our pastors and elders take this culture thing seriously. We’ve addressed our commitment to Generosity, our commitment to living lives of courageous faith, our commitment to having biblical balance in our church in contrast to a world that worships extremes. Today, I want to talk to you about our commitment to Missional Focus. A missionally focused church is more concerned with reaching the outsider than accommodating the insider. People who live missionally focused lives are willing to spend their lives doing whatever is necessary to bring people into a relationship with

After 25 years of serving the local church, I would say that church culture is as bad or worse in its love of the extreme. I have watched what seemed to be steady, well-grounded people get caught up in some new fad that sweeps through the church. Before long they are so certain this “new thing” is the only thing…that they celebrate the new fad more than they celebrate Jesus and often look down with condemnation on those who don’t embrace the fad as passionately as they do. Those of you have been around a while can already start filling in the blanks of what those “fads” and “new things” have been during your church experience and you can probably start naming the people who fit the description I just gave. I could give you a list the names of people I’ve personally known…some ministry leaders… who were swept up in some fad…people who became self-righteous in their new found zeal…people who became critical of other Christians who didn’t share the same zeal for this “new thing”…people who after the fad wore off

Courageous faith sets miracles in motion. It’s comprised of sacrificial obedience, complete trust, and total surrender boldly displayed through tangible acts of faith. Courageous faith is what makes our church take risks. Courageous faith is what keeps us from settling for the status quo. It keeps us dreaming for what seems impossible and planning for things we can’t afford and believing for things that make other people think we have lost our minds. We are not sure, and it may cost us everything...but maybe...just maybe... if we risk everything to take this hill...the Lord will act on our behalf. That’s not the mentality of most Christians or most church cultures. We let fear dictate our decisions. We have a better-safe-than- sorry mentality. We live as if the purpose of life is to arrive safely at death. Maybe it's time for a paradigm shift. When did we start believing that God wants to take us to safe places, to do easy things? Here's a thought: The will of God is not an insurance plan. It&apo

Last week, we spent a great deal of time laying the foundation for a conversation about the culture of our church. Most of our time was spent defining the power of a culture. We said that the easiest way to define Culture is “the way do things around here.” We also said…An unhealthy culture in a church can suck the life of its vision, plans, and dreams. A healthy culture is the environment that causes all those things to flourish. The longer I serve in the local church them more I realize the importance of creating, cultivating, and contending for a gospel centered culture within the church. Our society tries to inject its culture into ours…and if left to us…we are by nature selfish and sinful…we will allow the church culture to become the same as us. We must create, cultivate, and contend for a culture within our church that reflects the heart of God. For more info visit http://northplacechurch.com

Today we begin a several week conversation that will attempt to explain what makes Northplace different. Notice, I didn’t say better. Our “different” is better for some and serves them well…but on occasions our “different” is not what is wanted or need in a persons life…and we get that. But those of you are apart of this family or considering making this place your faith family it is important for you to understand what makes the Northplace culture unique.Visit our website for the video of this message.Northplace Church on FacebookNorthplace Church on InstagramPastor Bryan Jarrett on FacebookPastor Bryan Jarrett on InstagramPastor Bryan Jarrett on Twitter

For more info visit http://northplacechurch.com

Over the last 4 weeks we have been having a conversation about Life Defining Moments. We are either facing one now or we are between them. Defining moments are as certain as death and taxes. These moments always force us to make decisions that will affect the trajectory of the rest of our lives. That’ why we label these moments as “defining”…the decisions we make or fail to make in these moments define us. Last week, my message was more introspective, informational, and contemplative. But the majority of our conversations over these last few weeks have been raw, honest, and personal. Today will probably be the most raw, honest, and personal. Each week, I’ve referenced a personal moment that defined my own life. So far…each of these moments have defined my life based on my own “right” decision, my own “wrong” decision or my own “indecision”. Today, I want us to look at the life defining moments housed in those experiences where something evil, unfair, or unjust is committed against us.

Two weeks ago we launched this 4-week conversation called Moments. Life is full of defining moments. Right now, you are either facing a defining moment or you are between defining moments. Defining moments are the landmarks on your life’s journey. In week one, I talked in a very raw and open way about my past of sin and addiction and the defining moment that REVERESED the downward spiral of my life. Last week, we talked about the Regret of Missed Opportunity. Today, I want to open up about another personal life defining moment. When I survey the last 41 years of my life, this experience has to rank in my top five life-altering moments. It all started after coming out of a season of great personal sacrifice. Here’s what I learned in that moment: Jesus…is…Enough. In this Life Defining Moment, I learned about the sufficiency of Christ. I heard another pastor say it this way: Jesus Plus Nothing Equals Everything or think of it as an equation… Jesus + Nothing = Everything. It all starts and ends with Je

Last week, we had a special weekend. We celebrated our one-year anniversary in this new facility. We launched our Saturday night worship experience. We had a record Non-Easter attendance. But the greatest news of all is that over 50 people committed or recommitted their lives to Jesus Christ! Last week, I talked in a very raw and open way about my past of sin and addiction and the defining moment that REVERESED the downward spiral of my life. At one of the lowest points of my life during a season of rebellion and addiction, I was confronted with a truth about life…my own mortality. Dealing with life and death issues made me deal with spiritual matters in a way I had avoided my entire life. In those moments I made a decision to cry out to Jesus. He graciously and compassionately responded. Today, I want us to continue to delve into the power of these seemingly insignificant—brief periods of time…that end up defining our lives. BUT… instead of looking at the positive outcomes of making the right decision in

Today we launch a 4-week series called Moments. We are going to look back on some moments in our lives…moments that, at the time, seemed unimportant and insignificant. But in hindsight, those little moments actually altered the course of our entire lives. There are moments in business, in relationships, in spiritual matters that seemed small at the time…but the influence of those brief moments have completely changed the trajectory of our lives…some for the good…some for the bad. When it comes to the good…even if we didn’t notice it then…when we look back, we see the fingerprints of God’s grace at work in those strategic little moments. But…I don’t want us to JUST look back in the past to find those moments. We need to start looking for those Defining Moments now. Life is full of defining moments. Right now, you are either facing a defining moment or you are between defining moments. Like landmarks on a map, defining moments are the key points along your life’s journey.

Today the feel of the message is going to be noticeably different. It’s less “prophetic” and more pastoral. I have a shepherd’s heart and feel as directed to share this very practical information from God’s word as I did the strongly prophetic messages of the preceding weeks. I want to talk to you today about the Sabbath. Over the last few months we have been preparing to launch our Saturday night services. Part of that preparation has been researching other churches that have started Saturday nights and we have gathered some really good information. We had several of those churches tell us… “Don’t do it! It will destroy the family lives of your pastors and staff and it will wear out your volunteers.” Of the several churches that we talked too who have sustained a healthy Saturday night service and kept balance in their staff families and health with their volunteer ministry teams…the one key is understanding what God has to say about the Sabbath. Let me say this…our goal for starting Saturday night se

In Revelation 21:6 God identifies himself as "Alpha and Omega." Alpha is the first letter of the Greek alphabet, and omega is the last letter of the alphabet. In our culture it would be like saying, Jesus is the A and the Z...In other words He is "the beginning and the end." But the emphasis here isn’t on alphabets. He is speaking of reality. God is absolutely the beginning and absolutely the end. Everything that IS originates ultimately in him. And everything that IS will somehow end with him.

Do you face a mountain…a seemingly impossible task? Finding a job. Caring for aging parent. Fighting cancer. Battling depression. Rebuilding a life after death or divorce. Seeking a new career. Starting a ministry. Finishing college. Overcoming an addiction. What mighty mountain looms before you? Some of you have a mountain of rubble in your life…a mountain of your own making due to disobedience or neglect…others of you stare at a mountain caused by the invasion of the enemy into your life or family…regardless of the reason…that mountain serves as a constant reminder of your past defeat and present bondage. It seems impossible and overwhelming and God seems disengaged or disconnected. Every time you step out to do something for God or make progress spiritually, the enemy will take you back to your mountain—and remind you of the past or point to the obstacles in your present trying blur your destiny. The very memory of your mountain is like a leech the sucks the life out of your faith and your future.

This morning we celebrate Servant leaders from our family of faith have taken the gospel "glocal". We have literally made a global and local impact this summer. We will examine what Jesus had to say about serving others and being compassionate. Take a look at what has transpired over the summer Challenge your thinking in regards to having an impact in your world.

Malachi 3:6 NIV 6 “I the Lord do not change. So you, the descendants of Jacob, are not destroyed. A lot is said in this short verse. One translation of this verse infers … if God did change the descendants of Jacob would have already been destroyed. They had been disobedient…and even blasphemous…they deserved judgment…but God had made them promises and given them his word. He is saying: “The only thing that is keeping you from being destroyed is the fact that I do not change. Even when you go back on your word…I do not go back on mine. There is a word that is rarely used in our vocabulary today that powerfully explains the nature of our God. That word is: Immutable