Search Results for: heart

Posted: 23 Sep, 2018 | Author: Steve Nelson

Proverbs 23:19 Listen, my son, and be wise, and set your heart on the right path. NIV11 Once, when I was a kid, my family went to church at a drive-in theater. My dad pulled up, put the speaker on his partially rolled-down window, and we quietly sat through the service. We were on vacation […]

Posted: 12 Aug, 2018 | Author: Steve Nelson

God doesn’t want to keep us in the dark. He is a loving father who wants to guide us down His good path. In this message we explore some of the ways he directs us and confirms His will. Download Handout: With blanks / Without blanks

Posted: 08 Aug, 2018 | Author: Steve Nelson

Our relationship with God is more than a list of dos and don’ts. God wants a deep, authentic, and committed relationship! He doesn’t want anything to get in the way of that. We’ll take a look at how that relates to this passage of Scripture: 1 Thessalonians 4:3-5 It is God’s will that you should […]

Posted: 04 Feb, 2018 | Author: Dove Cranson

There is a lot of information in this message.  First, Dove introduces a new series and explains why our hearts are so important in our lives and what God’s plan is for them.  He then explains the goals that we will be focusing on for the next 4 months, including instructions for a journaling exercise […]

Posted: 28 Jan, 2018 | Author: Steve Nelson

Jesus’ heart is that all the world would hear His message of hope and grace. Our call is to spread this message. We don’t need to feel guilty about how we’ve failed at this in the past, but it would be good to think about how we can take steps down this path so that […]

Posted: 10 Dec, 2017 | Author: Steve Nelson

Jesus gave instructions to be generous, promised blessings for our giving, and implied that giving impacts our hearts! Luke 6:38 [Jesus said, ] “Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will […]

Posted: 26 Nov, 2017 | Author: Steve Nelson

What does it look like to follow Jesus? In this message, Steve uses the story of Ruth to illustrate the devotion of a follower of Jesus. Ruth's heart was to follow Naomi into a completely new life. When we become Christians, we do the same. Baptism is simply our first step at following Jesus lead […]

Posted: 12 Nov, 2017 | Author: Steve Nelson

To embrace God’s call to love others, we must commit ourselves to loving those who are difficult, inconvenient, and uncomfortable for us. God is not simply calling us to love those who give us the warm fuzzies, but to love the unfuzzy. Mark 12:29-31 “The most important [command],” answered Jesus, “is this: ‘Hear, O Israel, […]

Posted: 05 Nov, 2017 | Author: Dove Cranson

Jesus said his followers should teach other followers of Jesus to obey everything he commanded.  So what did Jesus command?  What are we supposed to obey and teach others to obey?  This talk looks at what Jesus said was the first and greatest commandment: to love God.  How can we love the infinite God of […]

Posted: 25 Jun, 2017 | Author: Dove Cranson

In today’s episode we see that when a broken Sinner comes to Jesus, she is accepted and forgiven; and her heart of stone is changed into a heart of love.  Could we ourselves dare to be so vulnerable with God?  And could we be people who accept other people? Download

Posted: 09 Apr, 2017 | Author: Steve Nelson

Have you ever thought about the Day of Judgement—when Jesus addresses the masses of people who have lived since the beginning of the world? Will He be angry and condemning? Loving and compassionate? In this imagined account of Judgment Day, Jesus pours out his heart to those he loves—a jilted lover to those who rejected […]

Posted: 19 Feb, 2017 | Author: Dove Cranson

Dove shares about the opportunity to develop an ongoing, growing relationship with the living God.  He unpacks Jesus’ call in the beginning of Matthew chapter 6, to pray, give, and fast in secret—not for the approval of others but for God only.  When done with a desire to discover the heart of God, not just […]

Posted: 15 Jan, 2017 | Author: Steve Nelson

If God were to give you a special supernatural gift, what would you want? Would you like to speak in tongues? Know the deep mysteries of God? Heal the sick? Any of these gifts would be amazing, but there is something even more incredible. It’s love. 1 Corinthians 12-14 is the most extensive passage on […]

Posted: 01 Jan, 2017 | Author: Steve Nelson

The greatest disciples throughout history, from Jesus’ Twelve all the way to modern-day martyrs, have something in common. They don’t care. They don’t care about what others think, about their own personal gain, or even about their own lives. This one commonly held attribute allows them to live with abandon and care about the things […]

Posted: 14 Aug, 2016 | Author: Steve Nelson

When the people asked God, “Do you want us to keep fasting as we’ve done for 70 years,” God responded with, “You were doing that for ME?” It’s as if he was completely unaware of or indifferent toward all their spiritual activity. It makes you wonder about the spiritual things we do. Are they really […]

Posted: 07 Aug, 2016 | Author: Dove Cranson

The thing that matters more than anything else in the world is faith. The biblical David is a great example of someone who trusted God and God’s timing when his circumstances seemed to point to an easier course of action. In the long run, David’s faith was rewarded. We can follow God with that same […]

Posted: 24 Jul, 2016 | Author: Dove Cranson

God loves us passionately and wants a special place in our lives. He wants your heart given to Him and not to anyone or anything else. In this message Dove shares a powerful illustration that will help you understand the place God wants in your heart. Download Handout

Posted: 17 Apr, 2016 | Author: Steve Nelson

This is the first of a four-part series called “There is.” Our “There is” campaign is a rallying call, to not just be a group of people who meet together on Sunday mornings, but, to be one body with one faith, following one God. It is based on this verse: There is one body and one […]

Posted: 30 Jan, 2016 | Author: Steve Nelson

Now that we’ve wrapped our Disciple the Heart series, it can be easy to feel overwhelmed by the amount of effort it takes to live a life devoted to Jesus. In this message, Steve talks about how God thinks of us. Does our performance dictate whether or not God approves of us? Can he be […]

Posted: 23 Jan, 2016 | Author: Dr. Michael Parsa

In this second part of Dr. Parsa’s message on obedience (listen to the first), we take a look at what it looks like to live a life of obedience to God versus a life of selfishness.   Download Handout Disciple the Heart resource- Obey: Living with Integrity

Posted: 26 Dec, 2015 | Author: Steve Nelson

“All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting men’s sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation. We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making […]

Posted: 12 Dec, 2015 | Author: Steve Nelson

Merry Christmas from the Rio! In this message, Steve talks about how, before the first Christmas, the world eagerly waited for the Lord’s first coming—and also about how we now wait for his second coming to take us all home. “Wait for the LORD; be strong and take heart and wait for the LORD.” – Psalm […]

Posted: 12 Dec, 2015 | Author: Dove Cranson

“Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with that person, and they with me.” – Revelation 3:20   Download

Posted: 05 Dec, 2015 | Author: Steve Nelson

“For the moment all discipline seems painful rather than pleasant, but later it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it.” – Hebrews 12:11   Download Disciple the Heart resource 7 – Learn – Taking Correction Handout

Posted: 28 Nov, 2015 | Author: Dove Cranson

So often we make Christianity about a list of things to do or events to attend. And yet when Jesus walked the earth, he didn’t ask people to come to small group or prayer meeting. Instead he took his disciples on a journey of commitment and excitement. In this sermon, Dove speaks about how Christianity […]

Posted: 21 Nov, 2015 | Author: Steve Nelson

Our human plan for reaching the world is not working. However, God has a plan to reach the world, and we know that it does work. However, in order for it to work well, we have to be doing things God way. In this message, Steve takes a look at God’s way of reaching the world—through the […]

Posted: 14 Nov, 2015 | Author: Bruce Bradford

“God is not unjust; he will not forget your work and the love you have shown him as you have helped his people and continue to help them.” -Hebrews 6:10   Download Handout Disciple the Heart resource 4 – Serve – Give of Your Life

Posted: 07 Nov, 2015 | Author: Steve Nelson

In this message, Steve speaks about the importance of discovering God through His Word. “Take to heart all the words I have solemnly declared to you this day, so that you may command your children to obey carefully all the words of this law. They are not just idle words for you—they are your life. […]

Posted: 31 Oct, 2015 | Author: Dove Cranson

Dove’s message about repentance, both at the initial point of salvation and daily repentance in your walk as a new creation. “Repent, then, and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped out, that times of refreshing may come from the Lord.” —Acts 3:19 Handout Disciple the Heart resource 2 – Repent – […]

Posted: 25 Oct, 2015 | Author: Steve Nelson

In this first message in our series “Disciple the Heart,” Steve talks about the importance of committing to follow Jesus—not sometimes, not halfway, but all in. “Then he said to them all: “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me.” —Luke 9:23 Handout Disciple the […]