Adventure Christian Church Podcast

Jesus didn't just teach His followers what to think, He taught them how to think. From that place they carried the movement forward as a family on mission.

We have 2 guests join us to talk about HOW to invest our financial capital. Shane Armstrong works with Christian Financial Resource partners and helps churches and individuals invest in kingdom initiatives. Scott Lopez is the head of ACC's finance team and oversees how our church invests our financial resources in the kingdom.

When Knowledge (information...what we know) collides with Understanding (application...who we know) it results in Transformation.

In order for us to invest our Time, Energy, Health, and Presence we have to live in the rhythm of Abiding (resting) and Bearing Fruit (working).

In Kingdom Oikonomics, one of the most important investment strategies has to do with leveraging the currency of Friends and Family to advance the kingdom.

Jesus disrupts the Spiritual Capital market by making it possible for anyone and everyone to become wealthy in Spiritual Capital. Today we talk about what it takes to say yes to Jesus' offer.

There's an ache and a longing within us for "something more," a yearning for the "good life." The truth is, our longing and yearning for something more is a good thing. The issue is, when it comes to our pursuit of the good life, we usually end up looking for the wrong thing, in the wrong place, in the wrong ways.

Because of Jesus there are 2 deals on the table when it comes to life. But these deals don't just deal with what happens after life is over, they each present us with a way to live NOW that will determine what the future holds. The choice is up to us.

Jesus knows that our DOING (what we do) comes from our BEING (who we are), and our being is formed from our BELIEVING. So if we believe in Him and His Kingdom, in light of all of that, who we are and what we do should look different. This week Jesus addresses our attitudes and our actions when it comes to being judgmental and offering correction in the lives of others.

There's a (not so) strange connection between our wallets and our worries. Jesus not only sheds light on why this is the case, but He also reveals the truth about a new Kingdom economy that steps away from stress and anxiety in order to step into faith and faithfulness.

Jesus teaches us a simple but powerful way to pray.

Jesus invites us into His Kingdom where we have the opportunity to live authentic lives through Spiritual Disciplines and Discipleship.

Jesus talks about sex, not because it's bad, but because it's sacred. Sex and sexuality are intended to image and reflect something so much greater than just a physical act or something to be consumed for self.

Our kingdoms tend to only care about and focus on the actions of the hands. Jesus cares about what happens in our hearts, because what happens on the inside will always make its way to the outside.

Jesus makes living in a new kingdom possible. When we shift from old patterns and old ways of life into Jesus' kingdom way of living, we can expect to stand out and be unique.

We find true fullness in life when we believe in an empty tomb.

Jesus calls Himself "the good shepherd"...but what does that really mean? Shepherds in Jesus' day were some of the fiercest and most fearless people on the planet.

The pursuit of being pure in heart means that we root all of our "being" and all of our "doing" in Jesus alone.

Mercy is all about what we offer and how we treat people that are hurting, have made a mess of their lives, are in the wrong, and especially those who have wronged us.

Being hungry and thirsty for righteousness is all about what we desire. The question is, do we deisre what comes only from God or do we deisre to try and do it ourselves?

We become more like Jesus when we put our strength under His control.

Becoming more like Jeusus means that we move toward the deep feeling of mourning instead simply living on the surface. When we move toward mourning, we allow mourning to move us to action and in that place Jesus promises us comfort.

The starting point for becoming more like Jesus is becoming people who are poor in spirit. But what does that mean? It means that we realize that we're hurt beyond what we can heal on our own, that we owe more than we could ever pay on our own, and the only way that anything gets fixed or dealt with is for Jesus to show up.

When Jesus blesses people it changes who they are. We become "the blessed ones" and are no longer "throw away people."

Jesus makes being in a relationshiop with God possible through His perfect life, sacrificial death, and victorious resurrection. When it comes to Jesus, we need ALL of Him...not just the parts we pick and choose.

Sin at its core is unbelief. It's NOT believing that God's word or God's work are good. That leads to action that's rooted in unbelief. Sin always leads to death.

The gospel begins with God's heart for realtionship with us. We were created on purpose, with a purpose: to reflect Him and what He is like to the world He created.

Hope in the Old Testament comes from a mash up of 2 words that when put together mean: "Waiting in tense expectation." We don't like tension...especially tension with open/ended and uncertain resolution. Yet the hope we find in the bible looks back to what God has done, believes in what He's doing now, and trusts that He will do what He says in the future.

At the end of the day we have to ask ourselves: what does faithfulness do? When we see the kind of faithfulness that comes from the WITH GOD LIFE and compare that with the "Faithfulness" that our world tries to pawn off on us, we can see that there is a better way to be faithful. Faithfulness in the WITH GOD LIFE lands in a place of redemption and restoration, not because we're good enough, but because God is.

Faithfulness at some point will require obedience. Obedience isn't conformity or compliance. Obedience is the love language of The Father, because it says: "I love you and trust you enough to do what you say, because I believe you want the best for me."

Something happens when our faith fueled faithfulness meets God's unique brand of faithfulness. That collision results in GRACE. Grace puts us on the receiving end of what we NEED instead of what we DESERVE or perhaps even think we want.

What do we do with faith and faithfulness when it doesn't look like we'll get anything out of it? Can we cling to the lost causes in our lives and expect God to work in them and sustain us at the same time? What if we are the lost cause ourselves? Today we find hope for lost causes.

Job's story ends with God restoring him. Whether it's on this side of heaven or the other...we can believe that God restores EVERYONE that believes in Him.

When we endure the storms of suffering it's critical to know what we HAVE and what we NEED, epsecially when faith and faithfulness are at stake.

There are moments in our lives when the circumstances we're dealing with, cause our heads and our hearts to disagree. What do faith and faithfulness look like when life feels undone? We need to be equipped to have resilient faith. That comes through: Prayer, Perspective, Patience, and Persistence.

When faith and faithfulness come under fire in our own lives as well as in the lives of others, knowing who we need to be and what we need to see can be complete game changers.

Can faith and faithfulness survive the landslide of pain, suffering, and loss? It all depends on they're based on. Do we love God for who He is or for what we can get out Him?

What happens to faith and faithfulness when it comes under fire and under the pressure of pain, stress, and loss? Do we strive for faithfulness, in seasons of blessing, when life is clicking, as intesnely as we do when things fall apart? Job is a lot like us...he's a man, doing his best to take care of his family, lead a good life, and stay in a close relationship with God. Through Job's story we will learn what to do when faithfulness and suffering collide.

This is the EPIC conclusion of our series: God Has A Name. Our assumptions and misconceptions about God being a crazed, angry warlord that gets satisfaction from our suffering are simply NOT TRUE. God leads with and offer of limitless love and unconditional forgivness. I we don't take Him up on that deal...we're left with justice and judgement.

Faithfulness and loyalty have degraded over time. In today's world faithfulness and loyalty are almost purely sitiational and circumstantial. When things get hard...we quit. When things aren't fun...we leave. This applies to relationship, marriages, jobs, school, etc. God's faithfulness and loyalty is everlatsting. His "I will" is greater than our "I won't."

God's name is more than just a descriptor, it's the truest thing about who He is. When God describes His character, it's more than just what He does or what He's like...it's WHO HE IS.

Faithfulness that says or sounds like "God and _____" isn't actually faithfulness, it's calle IDOLATRY and it's really and truly being unfaithful. But what if the things that we are faithful to are ACTUALLY spiritual? What if, without even knowing it, we were worshiping something like it was God...even thought it's not?

We show faith (what/who we believe in) by actively being faithful (how we live). Let's just be honest...it's easier to claim faith by saying we believe in God than it is to truly be faithful to Him. But what if we could truly get to know God? What if God didn't mind if we asked Him tons of questions about who He is? What if God actually wants to be known?

We cannot truly live the WITH GOD LIFE that Jesus offers if we're unwilling to live the WITH GOD LIFESTYLE that Jesus lived.

Roots Preview August 2020

When fighting against the storm of the hustle and hurry culture, we must remeber that Jesus can bring peace and stillness to the chaos.

We begin our series on Rest by looking at the rhythm God established in creation. Sabbath means "to cease from creation." For us it means that we take a day, just like God did, to cease from work and to celebrate His unique goodness in our lives.

What happens when the transformational relationship with Jesus makes its way from the inside to the outside. Jesus' hands told a story about who he was. He was a forgiver, a healer, and a friend to the broken, hurting, and disqualified. Our DOING is rooted in our BEING. What we DO with our hands on the outside, refclects who we ARE on the inside. What story do your hands tell about you?

The one thing that can derail the process of being made new is a hard heart. We're not born hard hearted...we learn through painful experiences to wall up and fortify our hearts. God promises to remove our hearts of stone and give us new hearts, but we need to bring down the walls first. The way to do that is to forgive...which is way easier said than done.

Today we're going to hear from a couple guys from Epek International, that are working in 2 of the hardest hit areas on the planet when it comes to the impact from the Coronavirus...New York City and Afghanistan. To learn more about Epek please visit www.EpekInternational.org

Today we're unpacking how to thrive in the upside down coronavirus reality, for those of us that are single or live alone. We're also going to talk through how to help our older kids deal with the disappointment that comes with not having graduations, proms, etc. And, we're talking about navigating the tension that exists in handling our extended family relationships during this time.