We all want to win. After all, winning is better than not winning. In a game a win is defined, but life is not a game. And winning in the most important areas of our lives isn’t always clear. So, how do we win?

The Christians in the first century were filled with joy, but their circumstances didn’t get any better as a result of following Jesus. In fact, their circumstances grew worse. Following Jesus and being identified with Jesus was costly for them. And yet … they had joy. They were optimistic. What was it that enabled them to have joy?

When life is chaotic and disruptive changes come your way, is it possible to have joy? When circumstances deflate you bringing frustrations and disappointments, how can you experience joy? Mary, the mother of Jesus, has a secret that can help anyone experience joy in spite of their circumstances.

Sometimes the power of the Christmas story is found in the strangest of places. Tucked away in the small letter the Apostle Paul wrote to the church in Galatia is a profound truth of the joy of what Jesus came to do.

At the announcement of the birth of Jesus, the angel described this event as one that would bring joy to all the people. When Jesus came, so did joy. Why would his birth bring joy to all the people? How is it possible to have joy that endures, even when the circumstances of life don't lend themselves to joy?

What goes around often comes around. The powerless often find themselves in a position of power and the people who hurt us may someday need us. In the moments when we’ve got those people right where we want ‘em, what we say will say as much about us as anything else. If our words are stones, will we choose to throw them, or use them to pave the way forward?

Our big mouths can be destructive, but they also have the power to build others up. What we say can impact the quality, and even the direction, of the lives of the people around us. How can we use this power for good? 

Like a small spark that has the potential to scorch an entire green forest, our tongues are untamable, with the power to control our whole bodies. We have a tool that can be used to build up those around us or tear them down in just a few words. What do we do with that kind of power? We can’t lock it away. But we can, by God’s grace, learn to control it.

We all know what it’s like to be hurt by someone who just couldn’t listen long enough to understand us. Maybe in their attempt to be right, they damaged a relationship that could have been saved with a little patience and curiosity. You’ve probably been on the other side of that coin too. Taking the verbal offense may have won the argument, but you lost relationally. What if we didn’t settle for being right, but tried to make things right instead? The longer we listen, the more we learn, and the better chance we have of protecting ourselves from our own big mouths.

Sometimes church people get confused about what it is they are supposed to be doing. Jesus, however, was very clear about what he expected — commanded — his followers to do. Getting and maintaining clarity on Jesus’s mandate for his followers is essential if we desire to fulfill his mission for us in this world.

God wants us to pray. He wants us to present our needs and requests to him. God’s desire for our prayers, however, goes far beyond simply presenting our needs and requests to him. God also has a strategic purpose for our prayers. 

Christians in the first century were not content with simply gathering in a holy huddle. From the beginning, they were on a mission to spread the Gospel of Jesus to anyone who would listen. Even though they were persecuted and martyred for spreading the Gospel, they would not stop. But why? What motivated them to a continue to call people to repentance and to surrender their lives to Jesus? What can we learn from their example?

Nero burned Rome in July of A.D. 64. Shortly thereafter, persecution broke out against Christians. The Apostle Peter wrote to a scattered group of Christians to encourage them and to instruct them on how to live in incredibly difficult times. What Peter wrote to these Christians is relevant to us today, more than 2,000 years later.

Christians in the first century were not only a minority group, practicing their faith was a challenge. Sometimes they grew discouraged and simply stopped engaging in the community of the Church. This is one of the issues the writer of the New Testament letter of Hebrews was addressing. What can we learn from their experience?

People who were not like Jesus liked Jesus, and he liked them back. Since the church is the body of Christ, people should be drawn to Jesus followers. Even if they don’t agree with the message of the church, they should like the church. So, why isn’t that true?

There is an assumption that good things happen to good people, and bad things happen to sinners. But clinging to that myth will cause your faith to eventually be ground into dust. 

We live in a world of conflict between nations, political parties, classes of people, friends, and even between family members. Jesus taught that those in his kingdom would be characterized as peacemakers. So what kind of peace was Jesus talking about, and how can we grow in this characteristic?

Of all the Beatitudes, the statement of Jesus about “the pure in heart” may be the most difficult. It isn’t hard to see ourselves as spiritually bankrupt, mourning, meek, hungering and thirsting, merciful, peacemakers, or even being persecuted. But being “pure in heart”? Probably no one goes around thinking of themselves as being pure in heart. So what does Jesus mean and how can we pursue this “purity of heart”?

Jesus said that people in his Kingdom will be merciful. This characteristic of disciples of Jesus makes Christianity attractive, for at one point or another we all need (and want) mercy. So, what is mercy and how can we grow more merciful?

Solomon, the third king in Israel, was one of the wealthiest people in world history. He pursued happiness in every way imaginable: education, work, sex, power, wealth, influence, architecture, agriculture, gardening, just to name a few. Yet he wrote that it was all vanity, or emptiness. It didn’t bring him fulfillment. So, where do we find fulfillment? Jesus promised fulfillment to those who pursued righteousness.

We aspire to be a lot of things in life: productive, loyal, honest, hard working, and generous, just to name a few. But one characteristic that is not very high on anyone’s list is that of meekness. What is meekness and why did Jesus include it as one of the defining characteristics of those in his Kingdom?

We live in a fallen and broken world where we experience loss, pain, and suffering. We appropriately respond to brokenness with grief and mourning. We understand this dynamic. What is sometimes missing is a grief and sense of mourning over our own sin and brokenness. The promise of comfort from Jesus in the Beatitudes is more directly related to this experience: brokenness over personal sin.

When it rains, it pours. You’ve probably been through a day (or a season) where you felt like whatever could go wrong, went wrong. What do you do when you feel like all sides are crushing in on you? How do you navigate through the storm? The small New Testament letter of James offers some straight-forward instructions for this very question.

It can be easy to see someone else self-destruct and think to ourselves, I would never do that. But truth be told, we’re all capable of ending up where we don’t want to be. Even Solomon's son—the heir to the throne of Israel—blatantly ignored a principle that we should all pay close attention to.

We can talk ourselves into anything. Our internal narratives justify our beliefs as well as our actions. But when those narratives are not true, they lead to destructive thoughts and behaviors. We can choose to carry around false but comfortable narratives—or we can look to destroy them.

We all face dilemmas in which circumstances point us in one direction, but our consciences point us in a different direction. At times, we ignore the tug of our consciences and sell ourselves on a questionable decision. King David found himself in such a position, and his example can help us navigate our own dilemmas.

How is your stress level these days? Are you on edge? Frustrated? Worn down? Anxious? Is your soul burned with cares? We’ve all been there. Some of us have sought the help of a counselor, psychiatrist, or doctor and have found a measure of relief from anxiety as a result. But even then, there are still things only God can alleviate.

You may not be able to avoid anxious thoughts from time to time, but you don’t have to live in the prison of anxiety. In Philippians 4:8, the Apostle Paul gives us another powerful tool that, when used, will help us rid our hearts of perpetual anxiety. 

To this point in our study of Philippians 4:4-9, Paul has been assuring us of God’s
character: his sovereignty, mercy, and presence. In Philippians 4:6, the conversation shifts
and now it is our turn to act on these realities.

Anxiety is nothing new. King David, Paul, and even Jesus experienced anxiety. While we live in a day when anxiety is on the rise, there are things we can do to lessen our anxiety. The Apostle Paul addressed this very issue and gave the church in Philippi instructions on how we can win.

We have hope that there is life beyond the grave. But it’s not just that there is life beyond the grave. The misery of this world is not the end … there is something way better!

When you are in the middle of a crisis that continues to worsen, a flood of emotions come over you. Uncertainty. Fear. Anxiety. Despair. How do you move forward when there doesn’t seem to be any light at the end of the tunnel?

When the world is chaotic, we wonder if God is still in control … if he really does have the whole world in his hands. But after a while, the burdens of a chaotic world are too much for us to carry and our thoughts quickly transition from the whole world to my world. Our burning question is, “Does he have me in his hands?”

When things aren’t going well, we tend to feel alone and anxious. When times are uncertain and it seems that things may get worse before they get better, what do you do? How can you maintain hope? 

People are reeling from the COVID-19 health pandemic. Our nation is grinding to a halt. Schools closing. Sporting seasons cancelled. International travel bans implemented. Healthcare system strained. Healthcare providers bracing for the worst. The public paralyzed with fear. But why?

Falling in love is easy; staying in love is hard. What do you do when the intense emotions of the honeymoon are over? How do you navigate through the different seasons of challenge every marriage encounters? What do you do when you’ve “lost that loving feeling?” 

Every marriage will end in one of two ways: through divorce or through the death of a spouse. The end of a marriage is always heartbreaking. What do you do when a marriage ends? How do you deal with the shock? How do you cope with the pain? How do you move forward?

People have a lot of different ideas about sex and human sexuality. Sex is a source of great pleasure, but it can also be a source of great pain. How can we avoid that pain and regret? Knowing and living according to the truth about sex will help you avoid pain and regret.

On the wedding day you blissfully pledge to be married “till death do us part.” But after a few months or years of marriage things aren’t so blissful any more and one or both partners begin to have “buyer’s remorse.” What do you do then?

All of us have received in-depth training in relationships. We constantly learn from our families, friends, and even strangers. Perhaps the most pervasive training we’ve received is from our culture: movies, magazines, YouTube, Netflix, books, reality TV, and advertisements. This week’s message identified our culture’s popular recipe and contrasted it with God’s recipe for lasting relationships. The good news is that you have a choice in establishing lasting, healthy relationships. 

You’ve accomplished a lot and had a lot of wonderful experiences. Why, then, does life sometimes seem so difficult and frustrating, even unsatisfying? Could the reason be that the “more” we are chasing doesn't fully satisfy is because we’re striving in the wrong direction?

It may be the first truth we learned about Christianity—so simple it’s the theme of Sunday school songs. But really grasping this truth can transform your life. Understanding that God wants to give you immeasurably more starts right here. Immeasurably more is possible for you, but not until something happens in you. 

When we’re kids, we dream big. Life’s possibilities seem limitless. As we grow older, setbacks and disappointments in our careers, marriages, and family life can wear us down and cause us to pursue contentment in all the wrong places. In this series, we’ll explore a passage in Ephesians that tells us how God’s plans for our lives are immeasurably greater than we can imagine. We only need to trust him.