Words are powerful. They can make your day or ruin it Words can make friends or create enemies. On a global level, words can start a revolution or bring peace. Now, think about how much more powerful God’s words are. Simply by speaking He caused the world to be created along with everything in it— mountains, oceans, thunderstorms, planets, the sun. His words caused nations to rise and fall, and people who were dead to come back to life. God’s words are the most powerful force in our entire world, but if we’re honest…most of us don’t think of them that way. We hear “God’s Word” or “the Bible” and think about an old dusty book, something complicated, outdated, or even boring. But what if it was never meant to be that way? What if we’re missing out by seeing it as simply a history book or something to study? As we take a closer look at God’s Word, we may be surprised at what we find. God is inviting us to hold, read, and experience the same Word that created everything we see. It’s more than a book. It’s better than a story. It’s alive.
Week 1: Out Of The Fish Bowl – Give God’s Word a chance to change you. What words come to mind when you think about the Bible? Exciting? Mind-blowing? Life-changing? If you’re honest, probably not. Even though we aren’t quick to admit it in church, many of us don’t feel all that excited about reading the Bible. Maybe for you it just seems like a history book filled with random facts about random people that don’t really matter. Or maybe it feels more like a foreign language textbook with lots of words and phrases that don’t make sense. Either way, it’s hard to see how an old book written by a bunch of dead guys about an invisible God could be relevant to anything we’re doing today. But that was not how it was intended to be experienced. Through a letter written to the Hebrews, we discover that the Bible is more than just a recording of the past. If we give it a chance, God’s Word has the power to change our present and shape our future. Join the conversation this Sunday morning at 11:00 am! Do you remember the prayer that many of us learned as little kids?
God is great, God is good. Let us thank Him for our food. By His hands, we are fed, Thank you, Lord, for daily bread. Maybe you've never heard it before. Maybe you've said it more times than you care to think about. So many times, perhaps, that you've missed how awesome the opening line is. "God is great, God is good." Does it get any better than that? If you tried to come up with a more simple definition of who God is, you couldn't. Each school year, we like to start off with a series that touches on the most basic premises of our faith. Last year, we opened with "What It's All About," where we covered some of the biggest concepts about being a Christian. This year, we're diving a little deeper into the person of God. If I could help someone understand only two things about God, it would be these two: that He is great, and that He is good. That He is all-powerful, and all-loving. He is all-knowing, and still gracious. That He there is nothing outside of His power, and no one outside of His love. That He is infinitely massive, and cares deeply about every intricate detail of our lives. Most of the time, we use a curriculum for our messages, but this series is hand-crafted. We are so excited to join in this conversation with our students and hear how the Almighty God has touched their lives in an intimate way. Join us on Sunday mornings each week and at Roots Sunday Night September 7! This has nothing to do with Frozen. I don't know if that makes you feel relieved or upset. Personally, I think I may go nuts if I hear that song one more time. My almost-two-year-old daughter, Josephine, has an insatiable urge to listen to that song on repeat. It's gotten to the point where Julia and I can't even say the words "Let It Go" in our home.
Thankfully, this has nothing to do with that. This is about forgiveness. “I just can’t let it go.” “They don’t deserve to be forgiven.” “It hurts too much to move on.” Maybe you’ve heard your students say something like this in the midst of pain, frustration and anger towards someone who has hurt them—or maybe you’ve said or thought something similar yourself. Choosing to forgive someone who has hurt us is never easy. So why does it matter so much that we do it? How do we know when we should do it? And how do we know we have actually healed from the pain an offense has caused? How do we simply let it go? Join us for the next few weeks at Roots Sunday School and join in the discussion! |
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