Punishment, Pain, and Peace

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.

12Andrew ScholzAugust 27, 2023Summer At City North 2023Comment

The Cost of Comparison

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.

11Andrew ScholzAugust 20, 2023Summer At City North 2023Comment

Why Do We Sing?

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.

Part 10Andrew ScholzAugust 13, 2023Summer At City North 2023Comment

The Book of Titus

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.

Part 9Chris KingAugust 6, 2023Summer At City North 2023Comment

Good Soil

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.

Part 8Andrew ScholzJuly 23, 2023Summer At City North 2023Comment

Hope When Hope Seems Lost

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.

Part 7Rachel SomerfeldtJuly 16, 2023Summer At City North 2023Comment

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.

Part 6Kyle SomerfeldtJuly 9, 2023Summer At City North 2023Comment

The Showdown On Mt. Carmel

Epic stories have always gripped the minds and hearts of people. It's why movies like Gladiator and Braveheart are so popular. But what a lot of people don't know is that some of the most epic stories ever written can be found in the Bible.

This week we're looking at one of those stories – the story of the prophet Elijah and the prophets of Baal on Mt. Carmel. It's a story that is full of drama with a huge climax, just like every good epic. But most importantly it's a story that teaches a really important, and challenging truth about humanity. It's a truth Jesus himself taught some 800 years later during his life. Join us this week as we explore this incredible story and learn what it has to say to us today.

Part 5Andrew ScholzJuly 2, 2023Summer At City North 2023Comment

The Book Of Micah

About 2,700 years ago a man named Micah from a town called Moresheth spoke words from God that have endured through the generations. There were words of warning and words of encouragement. There were prophecies of destruction and prophecies of redemption. There were words of death and words of life.

In the Bible Micah's words are recorded in a book simply titled, "Micah". The question is what do the words of this prophet have to do with us, 2,700 years later, halfway around the world? What could this man possibly have to say to us who live in a completely different context, culture, and place?

What's incredible is that Micah's words are just as applicable to us today as they were to Israel when they were spoken. In fact, in many ways the book of Micah is just a summary of the Bible as a whole. Not only that but Micah speaks some of the most powerful, impactful, and important words in all the Bible about what truly matters to God. So dig in with us this week as we explore the book of Micah.

Part 4Andrew ScholzJune 25, 2023Summer At City North 2023Comment

When The Father Seems Unfair

Father's Day is a day filled with different emotions. For some of us it's full of a lot of fun, and for others of us it's full of a lot of pain and heartache. But for most of us it's a day full of both.

Unfortunately for a few of us Father's Day is a day that is so full of pain it's hard for us to imagine God the Father as being good. Maybe our dad was pretty bad. Maybe he did some things that were unspeakably awful. Maybe he taught us that father's aren't safe, father's aren't good, and father's are to be feared.

That's not the Father in the Bible. This week we'll explore who God the Father is through a story about two brothers named Cain and Abel. We'll see the truth about the goodness of God, and learn an important lesson about how we as people, and especially as dads, can live to show the goodness of God to our own kids.

Part 3Andrew ScholzJune 18, 2023Summer At City North 2023Comment

Changes

Changes can be good and they can be bad, but they can't be stopped. This week we'll learn how to make sure change works for our benefit by looking in the Bible at the life of a man named Paul who went through some major changes of his own.

Part 2John LieuranceJune 11, 2023Summer At City North 2023Comment

How To Live Without Regret

We all just want to raise kind, selfless kids, right? Is that too much to ask? Yet for every moment our kids act selflessly it seems they turn back around and just act selfish. It's like it's built into their DNA. So how do we raise kids that are kind and selfless when, well, our kids don't always want to act kind and selfless?

The Bible helps us understand how to give ourselves the best possible chance at this outcome, and it does it through one of the most problematic and challenging passages in the whole Bible. As we explore that passage we'll learn a principle we all know, but maybe didn't know was in the Bible, get some answers to a major challenge and take one more step toward raising great kids. Oh, and we'll also un-learn a physics principle we were taught wrong in school.

Part 1Chris KingJune 4, 2023Summer At City North 2023Comment

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