Speakers from Family Fest Ministry camps, retreats, and keynotes.
The Trinity is the most foundational dogma of Christianity: within God, there is three. God is community. God is Love. God's love is infinite and always raining down on us. He doesn't love us because we are worthy, we are worthy because he loves us. What umbrellas do you put up that stop God's love from raining on you?
Crucification is the worst way to die and yet it's the central moment of Christianity. We hold this painful story as the symbol of God's infinite love for us. The physical suffering that Jesus experienced was nothing compared to what he experienced spiritually. Salvation is a free gift but discipleship costs everything. Are you willing to take up the cross?
Evil is name we use to mean less goodness. There is no such thing as evil. Evil only exists as an absence of good. God is good and God created everything in goodness. He also gave us free will and as we make choices of less goodness, our world becomes "evil". Follow God's path for he always leads us in triumph.
Forgiveness is a decision of our will. We can choose to forgive or not. When we don't forgive someone, we are the ones that get hurt over and over. Unforgiveness is an open wound. When we choose to forgive other's failings, our Heavenly Father forgives us ours.
Forgiveness is not the same as reconciliation. Forgiveness is a one way street that is your will and reconciliation is a two-way street with another. Reconciliation requires the other person to come "eyelash to eyelash". You can forgive and not be reconciled. Often we need to suffer a little in order to be open to reconciliation.
Heaven awaits. This world is not our home for we are made for more. We don't know the how or the when so we need to prepare. We can use this life to practice for our life in heaven. We will improve on anything we practice. What are you practicing for in this life? Selfishness, forgiveness, centering Jesus?
Testimony Sunday morning by Aakash Chandarana
Andy Swanda - Saturday Evening Talk at Winter Weekend
Who are we? There are three "I am" statements: I am who others see me to be, I am who I see me to be and I am who God sees me to be. When we know who God sees us to be, when we understand that he chose us even before he created the world and that he delights in us, then those other two "I am" lies don't matter. God wants us to encounter him and live in the joy of his life. Prayer Journal and Additional Resources
What do we believe God to be? God gave up heaven and humbled himself to walk among us as Jesus. What did we do to him? We betrayed him with a kiss, we denied him three times. What do we do to hurt God in our lives? Jesus was proclaimed innocent yet he was killed on the cross. We are the guilty ones, yet he died for us. Even though we neglect him and mistreat him, God sacrificed his son, the innocent lamb, to set us free. Prayer Journal and Additional Resources
We are created for eternity but we live in a temporary world. We can experience God in the present moment when the Jesus in me encounters the Jesus in you. God exists in all time, past present and future. He can heal past pain, help with present struggles and we can trust him with our future. Prayer Journal and Additional Resources
Where do we encounter God. Where are we headed? We live in this temporary world but this is not our final destination. God knows where we are going, but he allows us to pick our path. The four Cardinal Virtues (Prudence, Temperance, Justice, Fortitude) can help us move in the right direction to be with God in eternity. Prayer Journal and Additional Resources
Why do we exist? Our life's purpose is to realize that we are beloved of God and to help others realize they, too, are the beloved of God. Each of us is a thought of God. Each of us is willed by God. Each of us is loved by God. Each of us is necessary to God. Prayer Journal and Additional Resources
Love. When we enter into a relationship with God, life becomes an adventure of love. Go out in the world and be love, show love. Prayer Journal and Additional Resources
Jesus is the visible image of the invisible God. He is slow to anger and abounding in love. As Jesus reveals himself to us, it will transform our lives. God wants to use us in other's lives and all we need to do is lean in.
True love offers a choice. God offers us a choice because he truly loves us. Sin is what separates us from God. We have choices.
Christ's crucification cleared the barrier to God. We now have a pathway to a relationship with God. We don't have to earn God's love, it's a free gift, given by the blood of Jesus, willfully and gleefully. All we need to do is surrender.
God wants each of us to know that he loves us infinitely. We can't earn God's love, we can only receive His love.
Kristina Sakaria shares her beautiful testimony here from Family Fest's Winter Weekend family retreat.
God loves you where you are right now. Also, God loves you to much to leave you where you are right now. He is always chasing and pursing us. We need to allow ourselves to be caught. In moments of faith confusion, we simply need to go back to our "Galilee" (the place we first encountered God) or simply pause and allow ourselves to be caught.
We are one body of Christ even though we live in a world surrounded by others. There are no ordinary people, we are all connected and impact each other in ways we realize and in other ways we can't possibly understand in the moment. We need to have the strength, the humility, the courage and grace to allow ourselves to die so that we can be left with the perfection of Christ shining though us.
We all have times when we don't feel close to God and experience desolution. When everything we believe is thrown up in the air, are we going to make a move of faith into the void, not knowing if we are going to be caught? What is the point of Fatih? God is slowly and sometimes painfully teaching us to love as he does- constant and never ending. God gives us himself. We give God our love because he is love.
What is the nature of Hope? Hope means we believe in the promise made by the One who always keeps his promises. We need to be people who want to choose God in this life so much so that we choose to be with God in eternity.
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