This Weekend's Message: Riveting From Beginning to End

One of the main reasons why Christians don’t read the Bible as much as they would like is that we aren’t quite sure how to approach it. Sometimes it seems like a rule book, but many sections of the Bible don’t fit this grid. Sometimes it seems like a collection of wise sayings (much like the collected works of Confucius), but again, this only covers part of the Bible. Sometimes it seems like a collection of stories that are meant to give us moral messages (much like Aesop’s Fables), but sometimes the stories in the Bible seem to fall short in the presentation of clear moral lessons.

The Bible certainly contains rules, but it is not a rule book. It contains wisdom, but it is more than a collection of wise sayings. It contains stories, but it is more than just an anthology. At its core the Bible is none of those things. It is something much different and much better.

Dan Franklin

This Weekend's Message: A True Story

Why should we believe the Bible? How do we know that the right books were chosen for inclusion in the Bible? How do we know that the Bible we have today is the same one that was originally written? Isn’t the Bible full of factual and textual contradictions? If we can’t answer these questions, we will never truly embrace the Bible. We can’t embrace a book that we believe is full of inaccuracies and corruptions, no matter how much it moves us on a heart level. We will only embrace the Bible on the deep level that it demands if we are convinced that it is, in fact, a true story.

Dan Franklin

This Weekend's Message: From the Author of Life

True Story: Joey, a nine-year-old boy, went to his Sunday school class and heard his teacher talk about how Israel escaped from Pharaoh and the Egyptians. When Joey got home, his mother asked what he had learned.

He said, “Well Mom, our teacher told us how God sent Moses behind enemy lines on a rescue mission to lead the Israelites out of Egypt. When he got to the Red Sea, he had his engineers build a pontoon bridge and all the people walked across safely. He used his walkie-talkie to radio headquarters and call in an air strike when the Egyptians were closing in on them. They sent in the bombers to blow up the bridge and destroy the enemy and all the Israelites were saved.”

“Now Joey, is that REALLY what your teacher taught you?” his mom asked.

“Well, no, mom, but if I told it the way the teacher did, you’d never believe me!”

We may find this story entertaining, but it does show an attitude that is common in our world today when it comes to the Bible. Many talk about the Bible as if it were based on myths and legends – some people question the Bible's historical accuracy while others merely ignore it as fiction and an invention of man. This week as we start our new series called “Bestseller,” we will start by examining the Bible’s authority, its author, and its relevance for the 21st century.

I hope to see you this week!

Also I want to extend a HUGE thank you to each of you who signed up to love and teach our kids this summer. All of our classes in our three services are now covered for the summer with many substitutes – our children can look forward to a spiritually important and fun summer because of you!

Gary Keith

This Weekend's Message: X-treme Team

In team sports, the greatest players know that they are unable to be successful on their own. Even the best player will hurt his team’s ultimate chances of greatness unless he trusts and relies on his teammates. And that trust and reliance will only pay off if his teammates step up and fulfill their roles on the team. Truly great teams are marked by an intense level of togetherness, trust, and dependence.

In the final section of Paul's letter to the Colossians, he reveals that even a "spiritual superstar" like him cannot fulfill his calling unless he has a team of people partnering with him. When we participate on the team and fulfill our calling, we benefit, the mission of Jesus benefits, and the whole team benefits. When we don't, the mission suffers, the team suffers, and we suffer. You may be on the team...but are you participating?

Dan Franklin

This Weekend's Message: X-treme Impact

The parent of a child who finally embraces the importance of honesty. The teacher of a student who suddenly understands what Shakespeare was talking about. The friend of someone who finds comfort in finally being heard and understood. What is the common thread? All three of these people are experiencing the joy that comes from impacting another human being in a powerful way. Despite all our efforts to be private people, we know that we were created for impact, and this is evidenced by the joy and satisfaction we get from the experience when it happens.

If you have embraced Jesus and been changed by him, that impact is not meant to be contained. It is meant to spread to those around you. Yet many of us keep our relationship with Jesus to ourselves. What does it take for our faith to go public? And, when it goes public, what kind of impact does it have?

Dan Franklin

This Weekend's Message: X-treme Work

Many people dream of being in charge. As we sit in our offices or cubicles or classrooms, we think about how wonderful it would be if we were the ones calling the shots. Every once in a while, we achieve our dream and we become the boss or the teacher or the CEO. Often, this is the exact point that we begin daydreaming about how wonderful it would be just to be a worker and not to have the burden of being in charge.

It’s tough to be under authority, and it’s tough to be in authority. However, the saddest part of authority relationships is that they often create segregation between the two groups. Paul’s message in Colossians 3:22-4:1 is that this doesn’t have to be the case. He seems to think that the gospel of Jesus solves this gap and equips both groups for selfless living.

Dan Franklin

This Weekend's Message: X-treme Parenting

You could fill a small city with all the books that have been written on the subject of parenting. There are books that tackle just about every angle of the subject, from discipline to nutrition, from education to hygiene. Television and radio shows from Dr. Phil to Dr. Laura regularly address hot topics with parenting. Many TV comedies center on the issue of parenting so that we can laugh at, and relate to, the scenarios in which the characters find themselves. There’s a reason why there is so much content on the subject of parenting: Parenting is really difficult. Many of us will take all the help we can get, and books, magazines, and shows provide options for strategies.

The Bible provides wonderful guidance when it comes to parenting. Its primary contribution, though, isn’t through giving us strategies. Through the Bible, God gives us something much more foundational when addressing the complicated and confusing relationship between parents and children. He provides for a new basis and foundation from which we can experience this relationship the way it was meant to be.

 Dan Franklin