How To Get Help
What is worse: asking for help, or struggling alone? It can be easy to think that we are all on our own, and that if we don't look out for ourselves, then nobody will. We take pride in knowing that we are strong, independent, and self-sufficient. Sometimes, when we feel overmatched, we are embarrassed to ask for help.
In today's message, Jesus tells a story of two men: one who needs help, and one who is quite sure that he doesn't. Within this story Jesus shares how he sees these two different attitudes, and why it has never been more important to learn the essential skill of asking for help.
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When we're young we start comparing ourselves to others. As we get older the comparison changes in some ways, but in many others it stays exactly the same. Instead of toys we compare homes. Instead of grades we compare jobs. Instead of clothes we compare how often we smile to how often they smile on Facebook, and it's a losing game.
To make matters worse, although we all struggle with comparison, few of us have taken the time to think about what comparison really costs. We compare, but we don't realize the price we pay every time we do.
Join us this week as we look into a story Jesus told about workers in a vineyard. Inside the story Jesus reveals exactly what comparison really costs, and, critically, why it costs us. Then we'll learn one simple question we can ask ourselves to break the cycle of comparison and stop paying such a steep price.
Sometimes we just do things without really thinking about why we do them. Every Sunday churches around the globe gather and sing. Have you ever wondered why? Why do we take time out of our busy schedules to sing a few songs together? Is it to fill time? Is it because we've "always done it"? Is it even important?
This week we'll explore those questions by turning to both the Bible and psychology. We'll learn why singing matters, why singing TOGETHER matters, and how we can use the simple, age-old tool of music to change our lives.
In the Bible there are some books that we tend to spend a lot of time in, and there are books we tend to overlook sometimes. One of those is a short letter from Paul to a man named Titus. But even though it's one of the shortest books of the Bible, Titus is far from short on meaning and impact.
This week we'll take a look at how Paul instructed Titus to lead the early church on the island of Crete. While the context, location, and date might be very different, the issues Paul was addressing are just as important today as they were two thousand years ago. In fact, mostly what Paul writes about is how the Cretans should live to make a difference in the lives of the people around them, and that's something we all want, even today.
In the Bible Jesus most taught in what are known as parables. These short, fictional stories are packed with deep, rich truth. By his own admission, Jesus taught this way so people would have to try a bit to get at the deeper meanings. What that also means is parables keep revealing more and more over time.
This week we're looking at one of Jesus' most famous parables. In it, Jesus describes four kinds of soil, but, as it turns out, Jesus isn't referring to soil. Rather, this quick story reveals why so many people live, but never truly live, by showing us the four ways we live our lives in relationship to the Gospel. And, even more crucially, we can learn how to identify what type of "soil" each of our lives is, so we can amend it and live lives that are truly fruitful.
What is worse: asking for help, or struggling alone? It can be easy to think that we are all on our own, and that if we don't look out for ourselves, then nobody will. We take pride in knowing that we are strong, independent, and self-sufficient. Sometimes, when we feel overmatched, we are embarrassed to ask for help.
In today's message, Jesus tells a story of two men: one who needs help, and one who is quite sure that he doesn't. Within this story Jesus shares how he sees these two different attitudes, and why it has never been more important to learn the essential skill of asking for help.
When you think of discipline, what do you think of? Your parents yelling at you when you spilled some milk as a kid? Being sent to the principle's office in front of your entire class? No matter who we are we all have images and moments that spring to mind when we think of discipline, and for most of us the images are images of punishment and pain.
But what if we have it all wrong when it comes to God? What if we should actually see ALL the painful things in our lives as God's discipline, regardless of if they're really his discipline or not? What if, for some of us, our desire to avoid discipline actually short circuits the ability to have the peace of God in our lives?
This week we're digging into Hebrews chapter 12 to gain a deeper understanding of not only how we should view God's discipline in our lives, but, why we should view everything painful in our lives through the lens of God's discipline. Most importantly we're going to learn why God's discipline is such an important part of our life and how to allow it to bring us peace and to help other people find peace, too.