Athens Church Podcast

The Easter story hinged on two unlikely characters, Nick and Joe. These two men's actions allowed first century Christians and eventually us today to be confident in Christ's resurrection. In this message, Andy tells the story of Nick and Joe's boldness in the face of great personal risk. The Easter story might never have made t out of the first century without them.

The church is the hope of the world because Jesus is the hope of the world. What an awesome privilege it is to take a portion of my income and put it into a church that is obedient to Christ. Will you accept Andy's challenge to tithe to the local church during 2013?

Most people experience anxiety and pressure in their financial world. One of the major reasons for this is that they believe "they" are responsible to acquire and handle "their" money. The problem is ultimately connected to a lie: it’s "my" money. But King David made it clear that everything in Heaven and Earth is God’s. "We" don’t have any money. We are simply managers of God’s money.

In the typical relationship, for every one compliment or encouraging comment, there are six complaints or criticisms. That explains why so many work environments are negative and dysfunctional. That explains why so many marriages are in trouble. Can a simple application of encouragement significantly improve the quality of our relationships?

One of the Bible's most famous verses states that "love always trusts." Always??!! Really??!! What do I do with all my suspicions?

Can resting be a spiritual exercise? Can taking a nap be one of the most spiritual things you do today?

The concept of confession conjures images of a veiled priest sitting in a confession booth ready to absolve you of your sins. Protestants have it a little easier; they can go directly to God and ask for forgiveness without involving a middleman. Regardless of the religious system, the outcome tends to be the same - a relieved conscience. However confession doesn't necessarily result in life-change. What happens if confession simply provides a license to sin again?

Holding a grudge is a guilty pleasure. We all love to think about how we would have just the right words to say at just the right time to make our enemies feel small in front of all the right people. But what if holding a grudge is more sinister than we think? What if the grudge is less about the other person and more about us? What if there is a better way to handle these kinds of situations?

Your doctor can prescribe the best medicine. But it does not help if you don't take it. You can own the sleekest pair of running shoes. But it does not help if you don't exercise. You can gather all the nutritional information regarding the foods you eat. But it does not help if you don't adjust your diet. Application makes all the difference.

This is a great time of year because we get the opportunity to start over in many areas of life. January is about fresh starts and new opportunities to make progress. Most of us have several areas of life where we'd like to improve, but we all have one area where we must improve. We call this our "one thing." If nothing else happens this year we need to make this area better. At the end of this year, we would like to be more than just "a little better" in this area of your life.

This is a great time of year because we get the opportunity to start over in many areas of life. January is about fresh starts and new opportunities to make progress. Most of us have several areas of life where we’d like to improve, but we all have one area where we must improve. We call this our one thing. If nothing else happens this year we need to make this area better.

This year you can do a lot of things. You will do a lot of things. But what's the one thing you need to do? What's the one thing that will make an extraordinary difference in your life? Begin to do it today.

Christmas is the celebration of the birth of Jesus. Jesus said He is the light of the world. We typically think of this in more global terms. But this week we were challenged to consider what it means for Jesus to be the light of our world personally. We said our natural tendency is to handle life on our own and keep control. But when we do this we tend to keep things hidden in the darkness, which ultimately leads to death. Even if we have trusted Jesus as our Savior, we still have a tendency to control certain aspects of our lives. We were challenged to allow the light of Jesus to shine on every aspect of our lives. His light leads to life and maximum satisfaction.

We are all tempted to place our faith in money. We are tempted to believe that if we make enough, we will be able to control our circumstances and create a better life for ourselves. The problem with that view is that the more we place our faith in the money, the more it controls us. Scripture challenges us to look at our money differently because our lives are better when we place our trust in the One who richly provides. Viewing wealth through the lens of eternity loosens our grip on it and its grip on us.

For many of us, our problem isn't that we are not rich (if you make $45,000 per year, you are in the top one percent of wage earners worldwide); our problem is that we do not feel rich. The desire to feel wealthy causes us to place our hope in money instead of in God. But the Bible describes a different way of thinking about and using our wealth.