Today we begin a new series we are calling In the Room. We will consider why it is so vital to gather as God’s people, and the benefits we receive when we do. We each have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ, but personal does not mean private. Our lives are meant to be lived in community with others. Today we will take on the role of a reporter, examining a weekend event in the life of the early church to understand the significance of this experience.

As we ring in the New Year, we also want to ring in a fresh start. We want to be different, better. But lasting change doesn’t happen through New Year’s resolutions. Instead of trying to fix our bad habits, our flesh, we must begin submitting to the Spirit—only then will everything else fall into place. In this message, Nate Heitzig reflects on some truths we’ve learned in our Kingdom City series, sharing how we can change 2024 by becoming resilient disciples of Jesus.

Today we bring the series Kingdom City to an end. We have explored what it means to live as kingdom people, to be representatives of the King until He returns. We have examined the lives of people who influenced others with their kingdom-minded lifestyles. But today we consider the culmination of kingdom living, which is the future kingdom itself. There are four distinct experiences that sum up the announcement and inauguration of the coming future kingdom.

Last year, we studied the biblical prophecies on the end times and considered the promises of Jesus’ return and establishment of His kingdom. But until that awesome event occurs, how ought we to invest our time and resources? Did you know that our future position in the kingdom of heaven is largely determined by our faithfulness on earth? This section shows us four different responses to kingdom responsibility—four ways people live their lives in the light of Jesus’ coming kingdom.

From the Guest Speaker series at Calvary Church.

A dominating hallmark of the Christian faith is compassion. That’s because it is a prominent feature of the personality of Jesus Himself. In this passage, we observe that Jesus cared about His closest associates as well as the throngs of people who came to hear Him teach. Today in Kingdom City, we consider four levels of the King’s compassion and how to reflect it.

Christians often have questions about their role and responsibility to secular governments. These questions are even more pronounced when there is a government or political administration that appears to be at odds with their Christian convictions. As redeemed people whose “citizenship is in heaven” (Philippians 3:20), how should we discharge our responsibility to the state? Can we honor both God and Caesar? How do kingdom city residents properly balance these two realms?

As Christians get older, they sometimes tend toward compromise. The influence of their culture wears on them and they begin to shift in order to satisfy society. They are victims of the long haul! Their spiritual pace slows; their spiritual appetite weakens; their spiritual vigor abates. Today we examine a man who was faithful over his entire lifetime. His spiritual pace was steady; his spiritual appetite was strong; his spiritual vigor deepened. Daniel displayed four characteristics.

In our last message, we discovered how Daniel became a kingdom influence in Egypt. Today we will see how a woman named Esther influenced the kingdom of Persia—specifically how she rescued the Jewish people from a murderously antisemitic plot. Her courage has become an iconic reminder that one person can bravely change the future for an entire nation. Esther’s story reminded me of the woman in Proverbs 31:25: Strength and honor are her clothing….

After laying the groundwork for our calling to be kingdom influencers in our secular culture, we now consider the first of three examples of people who did just that. Joseph was one of the sons of Jacob. He came from a rural ranching family with humble beginnings, but he ascended to become the second most powerful man in the vast kingdom of Egypt. What caused this to happen?

Lee Strobel is the bestselling author of over twenty books, including Is God Real? As a former atheist, Lee is acutely aware of the arguments and internal struggle faced by those who don’t yet know the Lord. His compelling research and deft presentation of the facts surrounding the existence of Jesus have brought many to a saving knowledge of Christ.

A refugee is a displaced person, someone forced to leave his or her country and live elsewhere. The people of Judea were refugees living in Babylon. They’d been kidnapped and taken hundreds of miles away. So Jeremiah sent them a letter giving instructions on how to live as God’s people on foreign soil. We should take his words to heart since we too are displaced from our eternal home.

What will you be remembered for? What one thing will people think of when your name is mentioned after you die? Everyone wants to “leave his mark” on the world—to be acknowledged for some contribution made to society. Jesus wants us to do this as well—to leave a footprint on the path of life so others will say, “Hey, look! God’s kids walked here!” The analogy Jesus used for this influence was salt and light. These are the essence of transformation into a kingdom city.

Life is full of distractions. We can easily be sidetracked from our main objective as Christians. Rather than engaging in endless speculation over future events, we have a task to focus on. Yes, we believe in a coming kingdom. Yes, we are to be ready for the Lord’s return. Yes, the kingdom of heaven will be an awesome experience. But until then we have a message to proclaim and have work to do. In a nutshell, we are to have our eye on the sky but our hand to the plow!

What do the Hamas attacks on Israel mean for end times prophecy? With Skip Heitzig, Joel Rosenberg, and former IDF soldier, Steve the Tour Guide.

Donate to provide critical aid to families impacted by the attacks on Israel. https://cabq.us/aid

Donate to provide critical aid to families impacted by the attacks on Israel. https://cabq.us/aid

Levi and Jennie Lusko pioneered Fresh Life Church in 2007. The ministry includes locations in Montana, Utah, Oregon, Idaho, and Wyoming, and reaches around the world online. Levi and Jennie have one son, Lennox, and four daughters, Alivia, Daisy, Clover, and Lenya, who is in heaven.

What does it mean to be kingdom people? What is the nature of this kingdom? What is our responsibility to the world we find ourselves a part of? If Jesus is coming to bring His kingdom and to rule over the earth, can’t we just sit and wait for that to happen? As we consider this model prayer, especially the petition “Your kingdom come. Your will be done…,” we will seek to discover our responsibility as local representatives of the kingdom of God.

Today we will conduct a walk-through of every believer’s ultimate destination—the capital city of the eternal state, called New Jerusalem. Unlike New York, New Jersey, New Hampshire, or New Mexico, this future place will have the most unique environment ever. I will touch on seven highlights of this future cityscape that make heaven the world’s most interesting destination.

Our ideas about what heaven will be like may not necessarily be how Scripture describes our eternal home. After officiating hundreds of funerals, I’ve heard some pretty bizarre remarks about loved ones turning into angels or greeting St. Peter at heaven’s gates or engaging in their favorite hobbies. As we look at the final phase of heaven, what is called the eternal state, we read things that may be shocking to some, including that it will come complete with a capital city.

Contemplate the phrase the wrath of God. Most people who hear it think of God as some sort of annoyed deity—one who has a short temper and lashes out in uncontrolled rage. Actually, God’s wrath, including His judgment of unbelievers, is part of His moral integrity. God cannot just withhold judgment; that would go against His moral integrity. The final judgment of God will be His great complement to human freedom and choice. For those who choose to live without God, they will!

The phrase perfect government sounds like an oxymoron. Our world has never known such perfection, and Utopia seems to be the stuff of fairytales. But the Bible promises a coming kingdom on earth, ruled by the Messiah, Jesus Christ. These predictions are widely scattered through the Old Testament and reaffirmed in the New. But only in Revelation 20 are we given the duration of one thousand years. Today I want to share four marks of the governmental structure during the millennium.

Can you envision, or even imagine, a world without conflict or war—a peace-filled, fair, and just environment? This has been the stuff of dreams, fairytales, and fiction. Bumper stickers tell us to “Visualize World Peace,” yet we find it impossible to do so because of our own history. But it is actually scheduled to happen for an entire millennium! For the next two weeks, we will explore this theme of the kingdom age—an era dominated by righteousness, justice, and goodness.

The second coming will be the most important event in the world accomplished by the most important person in the world. It has no parallel. The second coming of Christ will be utterly unlike His first coming. The first time He came born in obscurity—unnoticed and unhonored. He shall come the second time in splendor and be seen by all. Billy Graham once said, “The second coming of Christ will be so revolutionary that it will change every aspect of life on this planet.” It will effectively end history as we know it and ready the world for a glorious kingdom age.

Dr. Frank Turek is a dynamic speaker, TV show host, podcaster, and award-winning author. As president of crossexamined.org, he presents powerful and entertaining evidence for Christianity. He is a widely featured apologetics expert and cultural commentator and has appeared on hundreds of radio programs and top TV networks including Fox News, ABC, and CBS.Alisa Childers is a lifelong churchgoer, follower of Jesus, former CCM recording artist with the Dove Award-winning band ZOEgirl, as well as an apologist and author.

Johnnie Moore is a businessman and itinerant pastor who is best known for his religious freedom advocacy all around the world. He is the author of seven books, including The New Book of Christian Martyrs. He is the recipient of many awards and honors, including the prestigious Medal of Valor from the Simon Wiesenthal Center in Los Angeles. He has been twice appointed to the US Commission for International Religious Freedom by the president of the United States.

The second coming of Jesus Christ is the moment we have all been waiting for—from the very beginning of human history until now. It is the capstone of God’s redemptive plan, and it is the only hope for the future. After history runs its course of rebellion, after Satan’s age-old retaliation, after God’s closing judgments on the earth, the end of the world as we know it will come. There are eight noticeable features of Christ’s second coming. Today we will cover the first four.

The very word Armageddon sends shivers through the soul! Most everyone has heard the term (or seen the movie). The word even gets mentioned from time to time by world leaders. Most everyone understands it to be a reference to some final battle. But today let’s drill down deeper than just a fictional Hollywood film about an asteroid destroyed by a warhead. Today we will examine five facets of this culminating military campaign, including what will bring it to an end.

The infamous number 666 has been the cause of fear and superstition for generations. If people spot it on a license plate or a grocery store receipt, they consider it a bad omen. It’s right up there with the number 13. Many good expositors differ widely when it comes to interpreting its meaning. Will it be an implanted chip? An ID card? A barcode tattooed into the skin or simply a mark identifying allegiance to Antichrist’s kingdom? Today we will consider three additional details of Antichrist’s coming influence and try to drill down on the meaning of the mark of the beast.

Freedom Celebration 2023 with Skip Heitzig from Calvary Church.

The subject of the Antichrist is one of the most speculated, debated, and ridiculed subjects in all of Scripture. Who he will be, where he’ll be from, and what he will do is the theme of countless books, movies, and dissertations, as well as jokes and memes. But this is a serious subject. There are over 100 passages in the Bible that describe this person. Revelation 13 is one of the more famous. Let’s consider six characteristics of this leader who will live up to his terrible name.

Since God has equipped us with resources and removed our excuses, our job is to keep our gifts active and growing as we live out God's will.

Everyone has a next step toward taking ownership of their family, church, and city. None of us can do everything, but everyone can do something. And if everyone does something, we believe we’re going to find that anything is possible. Write down your next step in each of the three areas of focus for our 2023 vision so you can join us in saying, “This place. These people. My privilege.”I. FamilyII. ChurchIII. City

Eric Metaxas is a New York Times best-selling author whose books have been translated into more than twenty-five languages. He is the host of the Eric Metaxas Show, a nationally syndicated radio program heard on 300 outlets. His eclectic career includes featured appearances as a cultural commentator on CNN, Fox News Channel, and MSNBC.

Just how bad will the coming day of the Lord be for the people of planet Earth? Is the tribulation period simply a scare tactic of doomsday fanatics who love to sensationalize everything? Today we consider an overview of this time period in the book of Revelation. We’ll see both the lowlights and the highlights of this coming seven-year time frame. Hint: some things might surprise you!

I admit that the book of Revelation can appear mysterious, full of curious symbols and imagery. But it’s actually more straightforward than you may think. If you hold to a grammatical/historical view, this book provides a chronological flow of future history. It presents Jesus evaluating His church, judging His world, proclaiming His gospel, saving His nation, and establishing His kingdom. For this week and next, we will consider the flow of the future.

Today we pay a special tribute to those unique individuals we call mothers. They have given us life on this earth, and their influence has transformed our lives. Here in this passage, Paul the apostle pays special tribute to two women who changed the world by seeing their duty as a divine mission. They raised a future leader who helped shape the early years of Christianity through tenderness, godliness, and boldness. These attributes are vital for all of us to have.

The subject of the end times is fascinating and should also be motivating. One thing it should not be is aggravating; it shouldn’t produce fear but rather hope. Some of the young believers in the church at Thessalonica were perturbed and afraid thinking they were facing the tribulation and that loved ones who had died had missed the rapture Paul told them about. Paul’s concern wasn’t just doctrinal but pastoral—he wanted to comfort the Thessalonians. Let’s dig deeper into this doctrine.

The phrase rapture of the church was a foreign one to me. I never heard it growing up and didn’t believe it was real until I read the Bible. Not only do I now believe in the rapture of the church, I believe it could happen at any moment! This passage of Scripture is what E. Schuyler English called “the first New Testament intimation of the Rapture.” Today we will be encouraged by Jesus’ own promise of it. Next week we’ll look more deeply at the timing of it.

These two chapters describe an event that will occur after Israel is restored to its land but before the millennial kingdom is established. There are so many remarkable aspects to this future battle. The list of nations (which today are forming alliances) is one. Another is how they will be overthrown. Other nations will watch but will not come to Israel’s aid. Only God will intervene. Let’s get some further details of this future invasion and how God will use it to bring glory to Himself.

I realize that my sermon title today seems like it could have been a headline from a Ukrainian newspaper in early February 2022. But it actually will be a headline in the Jerusalem Post at some future date. The role of Russia in biblical prophecy, along with a group of nations in strategic alliance with its leader, is noteworthy. Who will they attack? When will it happen? And what is their motivation for this major military incursion of such a tiny country like Israel? Let’s find out.

The land of Israel has been described as “the most important piece of real estate on earth,” “the geographical platform on which the story of the Bible is staged,” “the center of divine dealing with nations,” “the spiritual navel of the world,” and “ground zero for the end times.” Jerusalem has been called “the only city on earth not up for negotiations with anyone at any time for any reason.” Over and over again, God promised Israel “a future and a hope” (Jeremiah 29:11). Let’s again consider how and why Israel stands at center stage for the fulfillment of end-time prophecy.

One of the great questions that has persisted throughout church history has to do with the future of the nation of Israel. Is God finished with Israel as a nation? Will there be a literal regathering and spiritual restoration? Or is all that figurative and allegorical, meaning that the promises to Israel are now subsumed by the church? Today and for the next few weeks we will consider these questions. We begin with the Abrahamic covenant—God’s unconditional promises made to the nation’s founder.

Last week, we considered how God tells time as we explored the detailed timetable of Israel’s future, including the prediction of the Messiah’s coming and death. Today we will consider the final period of that time clock, the seventieth week. We typically refer to it as the tribulation, a period that is given the greatest explanation in Revelation 6-19. God achieved redemption for the world by the end of the sixty-ninth week through the death of the Messiah, but the overall goal will require the seventieth.

God inhabits eternity but reveals Himself throughout time. Moreover, He wants us to understand what He is up to and what His plans are for the future. Amos declared, “Surely the Lord God does nothing, unless He reveals His secret to His servants the prophets” (Amos 3:7). God gave to Daniel the prophet the most remarkable timetable for Israel’s future that would lead up to the coming of the Messiah, the tribulation period, and even the kingdom age. Daniel 9 has been called the Backbone of Prophecy. For the next two weeks, we will seek to unravel and understand it.

The Old and New Testaments include numerous references to the kingdom of the Messiah. It is one of the most frequently mentioned subjects in the Bible. Jesus Himself even taught us to pray, “Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven” (Matthew 6:10, KJV). But this subject has become a point of division throughout church history. Three major viewpoints have emerged. Today we examine them and consider the millennium’s chronology, theology, and necessity.

How could the return of Jesus Christ ever be a problem? It certainly won’t be a problem for anyone who trusts in Him. The problem lies in understanding its timing and manner. When and how will Jesus return? How can we say that Jesus can come back at any time and that we should always be ready for Him knowing He said certain signs must happen first? How do we reconcile all the prophetic signs the Bible predicts must happen (including the great tribulation and worldwide devastation) and yet say Jesus is coming soon? Hint: you already know the answer!

Welcome to a study of eschatology, or end times. In the next several weeks, we will be looking into one of the most discussed topics in all of Scripture—the last days and the end of the world. While this is not necessarily a lightweight or feel-good subject matter, it will actually make you feel good if you’re on the right side of it! Four words can be used to sum up the experience of this theme of the last days. These four words will form the basis of our studies in coming weeks.

It seems that everyone is an armchair theologian these days, expressing their opinion of what churches should (and shouldn’t) do! From declaring that churches should stay away from contemporary, especially political, topics to saying the church should just be concerned about social issues. But as Paul closed out his letter to the church at Colosse, he informed them—and us—of what churches should be focused on. These final verses give five directives for any church.

I admit I stole the sermon title from the 1967 Beatles song of this same name. That aside, the truth is we were never designed to do life alone! Isolation is the death knell of a productive and satisfying life. Someone once said that a friend is “one who walks in when the rest of the world walks out.” In this brief pericope, we gain understanding as to how Christian friendships should work.

God’s leaders have always leaned on others to support them in their work. Paul was no different. He didn’t operate a one-man show. Rather, he was a team builder who spread the load of ministry among others, many of whom were suspect and questionable. But Paul himself was once suspect and questionable. In these closing remarks, we get insight into what attributes make for strong, healthy, and effective relationships. Today let’s consider two guys who displayed four qualities.

Four out of ten Americans believe we are living in the end times, a topic often misunderstood, sensationalized, or ignored altogether. Next to the topic of faith itself, the theme of the second coming dominates the Scriptures, and as believers, there are aspects of our future we can be certain of—the prophecies of Scripture will be fulfilled. In this message, Skip Heitzig encourages us to prepare our hearts for Jesus’ return as we see “the beginning of sorrows” (Matthew 24:8) in the world around us.

Joseph and Mary were pushed into the night by the innkeeper, local shepherds went into the night to find the Infant who was announced by angels, and now the Magi were traveling westward into the night following a star. Who were these mysterious men and why had they come? How did they know to show up in Jerusalem and then Bethlehem? What prompted them to bow and worship this Child? Today we probe the familiar story to learn from their background and journey to Christ the King.

Experts tell us that breaking up your routine can be healthy and can help you to eliminate burnout. Predictability and monotonous activity can stifle creativity and even lead to depression. For a group of shepherds whose work was uneventful and often boring, everything was about to change from a nighttime encounter that shattered their routine and gave them a new sense of purpose. Their story is one of the best parts of the Christmas narrative. Let’s take a fresh look at their experience.

Robert Browning quipped, “Night conceals a world but reveals a universe.” Kids are often afraid of the dark, preferring a brightly lit room to the pitch black of night. But the Christmas story is shrouded in the darkness of the nighttime sky. Its events took place in a barely lit stable after the innkeeper had pushed Joseph and his very pregnant wife away from shelter and into the night. But God’s universal plan would be revealed through this humble birth. Today we begin this short series by looking at Christmas through the experience of this couple from Nazareth.

This teaching is from the series 10 2 Samuel - 2022 with Skip Heitzig from Calvary Church.

Communication is a basic human trait, and one of the most obvious differences between people and animals is our ability to form articulate speech. We can inform, persuade, instruct, motivate, and encourage. The Christian, in particular, is called upon to speak to God about people and speak to people about God. The “new man” (Colossians 3:10) has a new mouth and a new message. Let’s consider four ways that we as believers can communicate to God and others.

True worship of God is rooted in thankfulness. Thankfulness, not for what you have, or what your circumstances might be right now, but thankfulness in who God is and what He accomplished on the cross. Worship and gratitude are meant to be given to God from the highs and lows of life—when you’re at your best and your worst. In this message, Nate Heitzig shares how you can worship the God who created you with thankfulness even when chaos surrounds you.

This teaching is from the series of Topical Teachings with Nate Heitzig from Calvary Church.

Our faith in Jesus Christ not only changes us, but it also changes families and it changes communities. Or at least it should! Every corner of our culture should feel the “salt and light” that is created from the transformed Christian lives within it. Just as Paul had instructed wives, husbands, children, and parents within the home, he now instructs the servants and masters who make up the social world. We can glean much about what our actions and attitudes in the workplace should be like.

A four-legged stool can meet the contours of an uneven floor much better than a three-legged one, and it can handle the displacement of weight more efficiently. Life is much the same way. A bumpy world requires the stability provided by a family. If each family member is aligned with God’s will, the weight of life’s trials will be much easier to bear. The strength and solidity of a good and godly home is society’s greatest asset. Let’s consider four basic roles for a successful family unit.

Today I am grateful to Mr. Dean Sicking, an American inventor who invented the first energy-absorbing guardrail for US roadways to keep our cars on the highway. But did you know there are also guardrails to keep our lives in the lane of God’s will? After describing the character of the new man (the saved and transformed person), Paul turns to our conduct. He gives to us four guardrails that will keep our lives “between the white lines” of the will of God.

The global fashion market is a $1.55 trillion industry. It’s because everyone wears clothes! From birth to death, people cover themselves with apparel both for warmth and for style. The Christian believer should also have a spiritual closet filled with the right (and righteous) garments. Paul has been speaking about the “old man” versus the “new man,” and he does so using a fashion metaphor. In these three verses, he explains how every Christian can dress for success!

Levi Lusko is the founder and lead pastor of Fresh Life Church. He is the best-selling author of Through the Eyes of a Lion, Swipe Right, I Declare War, Take Back Your Life, Roar Like a Lion, and The Last Supper on the Moon. He and his wife, Jennie, have one son, Lennox, and four daughters: Alivia, Daisy, Clover, and Lenya, who is in heaven.

Levi Lusko is the founder and lead pastor of Fresh Life Church. He is the best-selling author of Through the Eyes of a Lion, Swipe Right, I Declare War, Take Back Your Life, Roar Like a Lion, and The Last Supper on the Moon. He and his wife, Jennie, have one son, Lennox, and four daughters: Alivia, Daisy, Clover, and Lenya, who is in heaven.

Levi Lusko is the founder and lead pastor of Fresh Life Church. He is the best-selling author of Through the Eyes of a Lion, Swipe Right, I Declare War, Take Back Your Life, Roar Like a Lion, and The Last Supper on the Moon. He and his wife, Jennie, have one son, Lennox, and four daughters: Alivia, Daisy, Clover, and Lenya, who is in heaven.

Today’s message title may sound suspiciously similar to last week’s message title. That’s because we are dealing with two different sides of the same coin. Paul began this chapter by focusing our attention on heaven in the first four verses. Now he brings us back down to earth where we are slugging it out in the trenches of sensuality and hatred. While on our way to heaven, we are still doing battle on earth. Paul tells us that heavenly citizens should take three firm steps while living on earth.

“Earth has no sorrow that heaven cannot heal,” said Thomas Moore. But if that is true, why don’t we think more about heaven? Why do we only think and talk about heaven at funerals? How can the reality of our future home motivate our activities right now? If you were to think about your life in terms of chronology, how much time do you have left on earth? Let’s look at three categories of truth that will help us aim at heaven while we are living on earth.

Karl Marx insisted that “religion is the opium of the people,” while Napoleon Bonaparte suggested that “religion is what keeps the poor from murdering the rich.” But within the broad category of religious belief are ideologies and practices that are dangerous and silly because they distract people from the essence of truth. God made it simple by having His Son do for us what we could never do on our own—reach God! Religion takes what is simple and merely complicates it.

Sitting in the choir loft one Sunday morning, Elvina Hall, inspired by a sermon, wrote in the flyleaf of her songbook the words to a now-famous hymn: “Jesus paid it all; all to Him I owe.” Paul expressed much the same thing in this paragraph. After telling his readers they were complete in Christ, he then showed them how that was so. Against the backdrop of false teachers, some of whom insisted on performing rituals, Paul showed exactly what Jesus had done.

Jesus Christ is the most controversial person who has ever lived! There are as many opinions about Him as there are religions, cults, philosophies, and church denominations. Though Paul had never met the young Christians in the church of Colosse, he was deeply concerned for them since attractive, man-made philosophies were making inroads. He wanted them to know the truth, to grow in their faith, and to be careful of any human ideas that diminish the place of Jesus Christ. I have summed up Paul’s concerns with three simple directives: Believe! Behave! Beware!

Serving Christ is the result of being saved by Christ. But the Christian life should carry a warning label: “Warning: Those who enter here won’t find it easy. In fact, at times it will be very difficult, but it will be the greatest adventure ever!” In this paragraph, Paul opened the curtain on his own personal life as a servant of Christ and shared five characteristics of his own ministry. Are they yours?

Today we come to one of the most important truths of the New Testament—that we have been reconciled to God. The gap that separates humans from their Creator has been closed by one person and one action. The results of that act are what brings God and His rebel creatures into a restored relationship. Let’s take a deeper dive into these magnificent realities and what they mean to us.

A popular college class in most philosophy departments compares the beliefs of major world religions, including Christianity. Jesus is presented as one among many options to believe in. He is typically explained as a poor Jewish itinerant preacher who resisted the religious system and got into trouble because of it. But the Bible doesn’t present Him that way. Scripture presents Jesus as the supreme One—the unmatched, superlative, preeminent progenitor of everything in existence.

Before theology must come knee-ology! Praying is one of the most basic activities of anyone’s spiritual life. Before Paul got into the nitty-gritty of the great theological heart of this letter (the supremacy of Christ), he prayed for the believers in Colosse. What he prayed for is a good template for us in praying for other Christians. It’s eye-opening to discover the items that are on his list. (Spoiler alert: He didn’t pray for their health, finances, or relationships—though there’s nothing wrong with that.) Paul’s prayer requests were more basic, more to the heart of core issues.

One of the best compliments you could ever receive is, “You are a great Christian.” Of course, there are no perfect people and thus no perfect Christians. But every true Christian is a great Christian because of five traits observed by the apostle Paul in this paragraph of Colossians. He was thankful for the work of Christ in their lives, which rendered them valuable (great) in the sight of God and for the purpose of His cause. Let’s explore them.

Father’s Day can carry mixed emotions for many of us, but our faulty view of a fallen world must not discolor our view of our heavenly Father. The parable of the prodigal son highlights a father’s love for his children. The lost son received his father’s love just as we receive God’s unconditional love and acceptance—not because of anything we’ve ever done or ever could do, but because of who He is. In this message, Pastor Nate Heitzig reminds us that no one loves like our heavenly Father because no one is like Him.

Some of the biggest questions people ask have to do with purpose: Why am I here? What is the meaning of my life? What is my purpose? The Bible of course answers all the big questions about life, these included. Today we consider the journey we take from pointlessness to purpose, especially as we engage in the work God has for us in His church. Since the church has always been central in God’s plan (see Matthew 16:18), our greatest sense of purpose comes by fulfilling our part in it.

Faithfulness can overcome the most difficult circumstances, resulting in a legacy of faith that ripples through multiple generations.

“People, like trees, must grow or die. There’s no standing still” (Joseph Shore). Spiritual growth is part of spiritual life, and the church is to be primarily about that. We are committed to life change—spiritual growth—and the catalyst for that growth is the Word of God. Scripture provides the primary means by which Christians develop and flourish in their relationship to God and to others. Let me share three basic principles for being spiritually fed and how you can grow.

To belong is to be accepted. To belong is to feel secure. Without belonging, we are isolated and alone. Our greatest desire as humans is to know and be known, to love and be loved, and to feel confident that those who know and love us will be there for us through thick and thin. Mother Teresa, the tireless servant in Calcutta’s slums, said, “If we have no peace, it is because we have forgotten that we belong to each other.” That is never truer than in the church. This new society that Jesus calls His church is where we find connection to God and a sense of belonging.

The resurrection of Jesus Christ is one of the most attested-to facts in history, and it is a fact that sets Christianity apart from every other world religion. For those who knew Jesus while He walked this earth, the road to discovering and believing that Jesus was resurrected started in disheartening confusion, but it ended in decisive confirmation. In this Easter message, Skip Heitzig shares five principles to help us relate to the risen Christ from the conversation Jesus had with two of His disciples on the road to Emmaus.

The resurrection of Jesus Christ is one of the most attested-to facts in history, and it is a fact that sets Christianity apart from every other world religion. For those who knew Jesus while He walked this earth, the road to discovering and believing that Jesus was resurrected started in disheartening confusion, but it ended in decisive confirmation. In this Easter message, Skip Heitzig shares five principles to help us relate to the risen Christ from the conversation Jesus had with two of His disciples on the road to Emmaus.

Although the final steps of Jesus' earthly life took Him from the courtyard where He was sentenced to death to Golgotha where He was crucified, Jesus' journey to the cross began with His birth and lasted thirty-three years. In this Good Friday message, Skip Heitzig takes note of the variety of people Scripture highlights throughout Jesus' final steps on the road to the cross. Pontius Pilate set Him on the road, Simon the Cyrene helped Him on the road, women mourned Him on the road, and criminals accompanied Him on the road. And in an incredible final moment of mercy, God heard Jesus on the road when He asked his Father to forgive them all.

Today, on Good Friday, and on Easter Sunday, we consider events that occurred while on the road. As Jesus approached the city of Jerusalem for His atoning death and glorious resurrection, He was met on the road by a crowd of worshiping supporters who laid their garments on that road as Jesus entered their city. This singular event, traditionally called the triumphal entry, displays four attributes of God’s personality reflected in Christ’s life and ministry.

The world is a cruel place because the effects of sin are virtually everywhere. The consequence is that people become broken, addicted, hardened, depressed, and unstable. Everywhere people go, they experience the coldness of rejection. Social, educational, and political institutions don’t help, but rather make things worse. The church of Jesus Christ could be and should be a place of healing—not by excusing wrongdoing, but by lifting people to a place of forgiveness and help.

The church—the gathering of people that Jesus Christ promises to establish, head, and protect—sometimes does not reflect to the world what He wants it to reflect. As a result, many people view church as a place of condemnation and rejection rather than a place of love and acceptance. In this message, Nate Heitzig teaches from James 4 about how our love for others, not our condemnation, can lead them to repentance.

Most people would say that church is a place for events, such as weddings, funerals, baptisms, baby dedications, or prayer meetings. But first and foremost, church (the occasion of God’s people meeting together) should be a place for change. In fact, did you know that the word repent carries the meaning of changing one’s mind? The last paragraph of Acts chapter 2 could be titled How the Church Changed Their City. Let’s examine how this change was a five-fold work.