The Outsiders

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When You See It

Take a look at this picture:

https://freedomhillcommunitychurch.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/family-portrait.jpg

Did you see it?

There are a lot of funny little things in life that we miss all the time. Like the 40 year old guy who recently posted a video of himself discovering the gas cap hook and wondering how he lived so long without ever seeing it before.

It’s easy to miss things, even important things. Sometimes I worry about what I should be seeing but am missing. Do you ever wonder about that?

In just a few weeks we’ll be celebrating Easter, and as I’ve been reading through Luke’s Gospel, one thing has stood out: Everyone missed it. No one saw Jesus for who He was and what He was doing. Not the religious leaders. Not the crowds. Not his disciples. Not even his closest friends.

I noticed that there are a few reasons why they didn’t see Jesus, and that they are the same reasons many people today don’t see Jesus. We’re going to look at these things that keep us from seeing Jesus, and hopefully learn to avoid making the same mistakes.

This is a great time of year to invite your friends and family to join us online, or at the church. I’m praying you will, and that they, and all of us, will see Jesus. Because when we truly see Him our lives will never be the same again.

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Watch Where You Stand

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Temptation

Some people like to say that the only certainties in life are death and taxes. Well, there’s at least one more: temptation. There’s a lot of confusion about temptation. Most people think it’s a test of their willpower: can I be strong in the face of [fill in your own temptation here]. What if temptation weren’t about your strength? What if the way we try to handle temptation was actually only sinking us deeper into its clutches? We’re going to spend three weeks looking at a battle with temptation that Jesus fought at his weakest point, at the ways he was tempted, and how he came out on top of temptation.

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Love God. Love Others. Make Disciples.

We start every year with a return to basics. Who are we? What are we about? What’s our purpose as a church? This year we’re answering that with three simple statements:

Love God.
Love Others.
Make Disciples.

These three foundations frame our identity, and guide everything we do. And for the month of January we’re going to explore how we can install them as life-shaping values in our hearts.

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Wonder

We live in a world of wonder.

We wonder about our children’s future, our job security, our government, our healthcare…

We wonder, “What’s going on!?”

And we wonder, “Where is God in all this disorder around us? What is He doing?”

We’re not the first people to wonder. The Gospel of Luke was written about and to people who wonder. Luke wrote it to give us an ordered account so that we can be certain about Jesus, even in the midst of our wondering.

As we journey through His story, our confused wondering will be transformed into the joyful wonder of admiration at what God has done.

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The Ministry of Reconciliation

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Digitally [Re]Mastered

Someone once said, “We make our decisions, and then our decisions turn around and make us.” When it comes to our relationship with technology, that’s never been more true.

We’ve decided to digitize almost everything about our lives: our entertainment, news, shopping, education, dating, friendships, communications, finances… And in return, we have been shaped by this new digital world. More than that, we are being remastered by it.

There is growing evidence that we do not have self-control when it comes to the digital world; it has an unhealthy grip on us. The evidence of this is found in our relationships. When the digital world becomes too central to our lives, we can tell by looking at our relationships with God and others.

Through this series we’re going to explore the different ways the digital world is remastering our relationships in harmful ways, and discover how God can make them new again.

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Reaching the World Beyond

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Reaching the World Next Door

One of the greatest musicians of all time, Keith Green, once said, “This generation of Christians is responsible for this generation of souls.”
He was right. We are. Jesus gave us the incredible task of sharing His story with our generation. And we all have a part to play in that.

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