Discipleship is becoming like Jesus. Our goal as followers of Jesus is to become like Him in His life (character) and ministry (calling). For the next twelve weeks we will study the lives of David and of Jonah to learn and apply principles of Biblical calling – hearing God’s voice and taking steps to obey.
12. Salt and Light
This final message in our calling series summarizes what we have learned this fall and concludes with the exhortation to be who we are in Christ: "the salt of the earth...and the light of the world." Jesus does not commands his followers to "do" slaty things and "say"...
11. The Heart of God
Isn’t God’s patience amazing? Jonah did everything exactly wrong, but God keeps pursuing him. Jonah’s heart was broken over a weed that grew up in one night. God used that sadness as a lesson to teach Jonah (and us) about His heart for people. We lament the loss of...
10. Divine Appointments
The story of Jonah is a roller coaster of emotion - a hurricane made calm; descent into a chaotic ocean followed by miraculous rescue; the heights of revival and the depths of despair. Jonah’s path from self-pity to despair is a warning to us of the danger of...
9. Surrender
This Sunday we are blessed to welcome Brian Sanders, the founder of the Tampa Underground which has become a network of Underground movements in 10 other U.S. cities and 5 other countries. Brian will preach in our current series, opening up Jonah 4 and helping us see...
8. Receive the Word
After running away from God’s call Jonah was given a second chance to obey. In Jonah 3, the prophet of the Lord fulfills his calling… rather reluctantly and resentfully. While the prophet is not a great example, the people of Nineveh show us how 1) to receive God’s...
7. Second Chances
As we come this weekend to Jonah 2, we are given a deeper look into the heart of Jonah. Chapter 2 puts a pause on the historical narrative and brings us before the spiritual nature of God’s prophet. Through the unique circumstance of being in the belly of the whale,...
6. Confronted
Like Jonah, we can all wander or sometimes rush off course. How does God intervene in the lives of His wayward servants? The first chapter of Jonah shows us four ways God works to get His people back on track: 1) intense situations (the storm); 2) insightful...
5. Sent
When the word of the Lord came to Jonah he knew exactly what God wanted him to do and rightly guessed why (see Jonah 4:2). Jonah had no problem hearing the Lord, his problem was obeying what he heard. And what kept him from obeying was the fact that he did not know...
4. The Hallway of Your Life
King David’s life is a helpful example to us of how God develops a person for kingdom service. We’ve seen how the Lord used David’s natural abilities (sling) and spiritual gifts (harp) to serve the nation and King Saul. We’ve seen how the Lord gave David a passion for...
3. A Passionate Pursuit
What are you passionate about? This popular question in our culture carries significant weight for the bigger decisions of life. But does our passion align with God’s passion? Does our passion lead us to great sacrifice or self-centered pleasure? Join us on Sunday as...