Glendale Christian Ky

Self-awareness is an important tool in growing up, especially in learning how to interact with others. However, sometimes our self-awareness can lead us to be self-conscious about ourselves, and can hold us back. Jesus calls us instead to innocence- to see ourselves and others through his eyes, as we keep our eyes on Him.

What are you PASSIONATE about? Our passions can define so much about us, driving us to grow. In the same way, apathy can kill our drive to grow. In our faith, it's important that we never settle into apathy, but rather, we should grow in our passion for God!

As we learn and grow in our faith, it can be easy to lose our sense of wonder towards God. When we make faith about facts and figures, we forget the very personal nature of God's love for us. We are called to learn about God, but don't forget - God loves YOU, as His creation. What a wonderful truth.

Learning to trust is fundamental to growing in any relationship. That's why it's so important that Jesus gives us a commandment not to live in worry, but rather to trust in the Lord. So how do we grow down in our anxiety, and grow up in our trust in God?

As children, we have almost no sense of privacy, because we don't fear the judgment of others. But as we grow up, we become more private as we want the world to see less of our mess. The church thrives on authenticity, not privacy. So how do we move back towards genuine authenticity?

Have you ever felt stressed? Yes, we know it's a silly question- everyone feels stressed at some point. Stress often comes as a part of the complexity of our lives. But growing down is a calling to simplify, and to narrow our focus in on one thing- Jesus.

The prevailing message of adulthood is that we should be entirely self-reliant. However, a life of faith calls us to dependence on God. So how do we live as adults who are also fully dependent on God?

Adulthood teaches us a few key lessons- to accumulate things and to become self-sufficient. But Jesus taught us the opposite - to empty ourselves and become fully dependent on God. Growing down in our faith requires us to unlearn the world's lessons in adulthood.

The message we often hear as we get older is to "grow up!" Essentially, act more like an adult! What impact does this message have on our faith? Do we try to become so independent that we stop relying on God? Instead of becoming self-reliant, Jesus challenged us to have "child-like" faith that relies fully on God.

There are some things in life we just shouldn't do alone, and our faith journey is one of them. As we end our "Going Deep" series, we talk about the importance of walking together in our faith.

When we work out our bodies, there's a common rule to keep in mind: calories in, calories out. The more we take in, the more energy we have to burn. It's important that our calories balance out if we want to stay healthy. Our faith is the same way - it's not enough to just consume, we have to work out our faith to grow.

When we first begin growing in our faith, we're a lot like babies - we need spiritual milk. Eventually, we need to move from milk (simple lessons on faith being taught to us) to meat (seeking deeper faith on our own). Our challenge this week is to pick up a fork, and start seeking out the meat of our faith in God.

The story of Jonah is a story about a lot of great things - a great storm, a great fish, a great revival, and more. But nothing in the story is greater than the God who appointed it all. As we close out this series, we take a look at the core truth of Jonah's story - God's mercy comes running after us.

The truth of the grace and mercy of God is that He has made it available to all people through Jesus Christ. This means that racism and elitism have no place in the church. As we continue through Jonah's story, we look at how prejudice led Jonah away from the heart of God.

We all love a good comeback story - a story about second chances. A second chance is exactly what God gave both Jonah and the Ninevites - a second chance to live for Him. God continues to give us second chances, and not just second chances, but countless chances through grace.

"On the other side of our waiting, God is preparing to do great things." As we are stuck in this season of waiting, it's difficult to see what good will come out of all of this. But as we learn from Jonah, our waiting can lead to a divine appointment with God, and He can do great things!

The story of Jonah teaches us that we can try, but we never will outrun our sin. It's important for us to realize that our sins are not without consequence, and they affect others. The good news is that there's an even greater power chasing after us - the power of God's grace and mercy!

Jonah was a man called to proclaim God to the nations, but instead tried to go his own direction. What he didn't realize was that he wasn't only running from God's calling - he was running from the power of God's mercy. As we explore Jonah's story, we ask ourselves the question - are we running from God's mercy?

Jesus is risen! That's the message of hope we have this Easter! As we close out our BELIEVE series, we hear John's final words on the life of Jesus, and the hope that his resurrection brings! Do you believe?

During Jesus' time on earth, he walked alongside everyday people, feeling what they felt. Nowhere is this more evident than in the death of his friend Lazarus. Jesus felt and witnessed the pain of loss, but knew that it would ultimately lead to something bigger- God's glory being revealed in our lives.