Northplace Church Podcast

On Easter weekend we launched a brand new series called Terminal: Live Like Your Leaving. I think many of us became more aware of the brevity of life. For the first time and a long time we actually started thinking about how short this life really is compared to the “forever” of eternity. We have intentionally played off of the double meaning of the word “terminal”. Everything has been set up to feel like an airport terminal…to make you aware that you are about to board a flight. In a way, life is like an airport terminal. Based on the decisions you make here, you decide what gate your going to depart from…you decide what journey your going to take in the after you die. In these moments together we are trying to address the reality that nobody wants to talk about. We are all “terminal”. As they say, two things in life are certain…death and taxes. Let’s hope only one of those happens this week…taxes. For more information visit http://northplacechurch.com/

Today we are beginning a brand new series that has the potential to change all of our lives in an incredibly profound way. The series is called Terminal: Live Like Your Leaving. Today and over the next three weeks, we are going to examine how our lives would be different if we recognized this inescapable truth…Our time on this earth very limited. We have intentionally played off of the double meaning of the word “terminal”. From the Easter invites that were designed to look like a boarding pass, to the sights and sounds when you walk in today…everything has been prepared to feel like an airport terminal…to make you aware that you are about to board a flight. In a way, life is like an airport terminal. Based on the decisions you make here, you decide what gate your going to depart from…you decide what journey your going to take in the after life. Over the next few weeks, we want to address this reality that nobody wants to talk about. We are all “terminal”. Every person in this room that has had a beginning is going to have an ending. And when you look at our lives in the big picture of history…the time we have is extremely short. For more information visit http://northplacechurch.com/

You probably know that the tone of Palm Sunday is celebratory. This is what is now the first day of Passion Week. This is the day the crowds are surrounding Jesus as he rides in to town on the back of a donkey. They are worshipping him singing and lifting their voices declaring “Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.” But in a few short days, this same crowd that is praising Jesus because they believe him to be their long awaited messiah…will cry “crucify him”. In such a short time, how do people go from praise on Palm Sunday to “crucify him” on Good Friday? The answer to that question is simply… Palm Sunday is day of unmet expectations. For more information visit http://northplacechurch.com/

Believe it or not we are two weeks away from Easter. The staff here at Northplace has been working tirelessly for the last couple months getting ready for this Easter season. First, because it’s the first Easter we will ever celebrate together in this new facility. Second, and most important, the Easter season is the most opportune time in the entire calendar year for people to come into relationship with Jesus Christ. More people will return to a church or visit a church for the first time on Easter weekend than any weekend this year. We are culturally predisposed this time of year to be more spiritually aware. People who would never accept an invitation to church are most likely to come on Easter. People who would never normally have a meaningful religious conversation are more likely to engage in that kind of dialogue this time of year. With all of our scurrying around…planning and preparing to seize the opportunity of Easter weekend the Lord keeps reminding me of something…something I believe he wants me to remind you. We are in a spiritual battle for the eternal destinies of men and women. For more information visit http://northplacechurch.com/

As believers, we at some point in our journey with Christ we tapped into the Spring of living water and it was good. But, somewhere over time we let a root of something, find it’s way through a crack or loose joint in our system, in our prayer time, in our worship, in our family, in our mind, in our heart, in our journey to a great life in Christ, we’ve let something in. For more info visit http://northplacechurch.com/

The comparison game is a dangerous game to play. Pastor Robert encourages us to stop looking at others for comparisons, and instead focus on what we were specifically made to do. For more info visit http://northplacechurch.com/

I want to make a statement that may strike you as awkward. It may even offend you for a moment but let it sink in and let’s talk about it. “Sometimes the Lord has to hurt us to heal us.” I don’t mean that He intentionally sets out to cause us harm. But in love he will confront us. He will put is finger on our sin. We have all heard the phrase... “The Truth Hurts.” When we are confronted with truth…even when spoken in love…the truth can be painful…but the pain is necessary for us to grow. For more info visit http://northplacechurch.com/

Unless you’ve been living under a rock over the last couple of weeks you are well aware of the 21 Coptic Christians from Egypt who were kidnapped and later brutally beheaded by the extremist group…the Islamic State. If you have been a part of Northplace Church for any length of time you know that God has turned our hearts toward the persecuted church, the suffering believer, and those areas closed to the Gospel of Jesus Christ. For more info visit http://northplacechurch.com/

Love is a Promise that Endures…. To understand this kind of love, we must look to its source – God. He didn’t wait until we cleaned up to offer us salvation. “While we were yet sinners,” (Romans 5:8) God demonstrated His love for us through Calvary. He didn’t wait until we came crawling back to Him before He reached out to us. Instead, He came “to seek and to save that which was lost.” (Luke 19:10) For more info visit http://northplacechurch.com/

This week Pastor Bryan talked about Prayer…Passion… and Promise and how these three things intersect with each other. There is so much available to us as sons and daughters of the King. If we could only grasp for a minute what we are missing by not prevailing in prayer…it would compel us to pray. For more info visit http://northplacechurch.com/

This is week four in our series entitled The God First Life. Yesterday was the last day of our 21 day God-First fast. It truly has been a rich time of spiritual growth for me personally and for our entire church. It’s been a true joy to watch you grow…to see you passionately attend 6 am prayer and worship nights. It’s been special. Something that is very unspiritual but very special to me…I had a bowl of honey nut cheerios at 4:45 this morning and they were amazing! As I’ve reminded you each week…we are framing conversation around four main thoughts from Stovall Weem’s book titled The God First Life. Today, as I have been over the last several weeks, I’m going to interweave Stovall’s insights from the book with my own thoughts and ideas and attempt to give you some practical biblical insight on structuring your life around God’s ways…God’s priorties…God’s kingdom This entire series is anchored in this statement of Jesus: "But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well." Matthew 6:33 NIV We are learning from four main ideas from that statement: A New Priority… “seek first” A New Family…. “seek first his kingdom” A New Life…….. “seek his righteousness” A New Freedom… “all these things will be given to you” For more info visit http://northplacechurch.com/

The series we started few weeks ago is an excellent resource for those of you who are new to faith or returning to faith. It’s also an excellent reminder to the rest of us of some foundational principles that we tend to forget. We framed the conversation around four main thoughts from Stovall Weem’s book titled The God First Life. Today and over the next couple weeks I’m going to interweave Stovall’s insights from the book with my own thoughts and ideas and attempt to give you some practical biblical insight on structuring your life around God’s ways…God’s priorities…God’s kingdom For more info visit http://northplacechurch.com/

The series we started last week is an excellent resource for those of you who are new to faith or returning to faith. It’s also an excellent reminder to the rest of us of some foundational principles that we tend to forget. We framed the conversation around four main thoughts from Stovall Weem’s book titled The God First Life…Uncomplicate Your Life God’s Way. Today and over the next couple weeks we're going to interweave Stovall’s insights from the book with my own thoughts and ideas and attempt to give you some practical biblical insight on structuring your life around God’s ways…God’s priorities…God’s kingdom This entire series is anchored in this statement of Jesus: Matthew 6:33 NIV 33 But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Last week we jumped into the God First Life series by talking about our New Priority. We talk about doing life God’s way. When you live your life structured around God’s order…His priorities…blessing flows. When you align your life around God’s ways…life functions as it was meant to. Today, we talk about the amazing privilege of being adopted into God’s family. Listen to what Paul has to say about it: Ephesians 3:13 and 19 NIV 13 But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far away have been brought near by the blood of Christ. For more info visit http://northplacechurch.com/

This is message today and this entire series that we are launching today is a great introduction to faith for those of you who are starting or restarting your faith journey. It’s also an excellent reminder for those of us who’ve been doing this so long our relationship with God has grown stale, boring and habitual. At first glance today’s message is a very familiar one at the beginning of the year. Pastor’s all over America are preaching on “priorities” in the first few weeks of this new year. On the surface, this will sound like a familiar message on priorities but it’s deeper than that. This is more than me yelling for 30 minutes telling you to get your priorities straight. This message (and this entire series for that matter) is a message about order…divine order. It’s more that a reminder to check your priorities. It’s a study of the laws and principles of God. It’s a way to organize and live your life. And here is the promise from Scripture…when you live your life structured around God’s order…blessing flows. When you align your life around God’s ways…life functions as it was meant to. For more info visit http://northplacechurch.com/

So we start with guns blazing, reading 10 chapters a day, praying through every need on our prayer list, reading through 3 or 4 different devotionals. The first few days feel amazing. We feel like we are doing what we should have been doing all along. Then life happens and we miss a couple days and reading 40 chapters to catch up seems daunting. We start feeling like failures. Guilt piles on because we don’t measure up...so we quit. But the truth is: It is the little things we continue to do over the course of our lives that make the greatest difference.  For more info visit http://northplacechurch.com/