Southland Weekend Message Series (Video)

Jacob swindles his brother Esau out of his portion of the inheritance. Sadly, greed threatens to divide most families and if we don’t plan well, it will. In this message we will focus on how to leverage our resources for the glory of God and the long-term good of others, including our family members.

God commanded Abraham to sacrifice his son Isaac on Mount Moriah. Every family will be tested by something-cancer, bankruptcy, divorce, unemployment. Learning to trust God when it isn’t easy is important for every family. In this message we will focus on why we can and should trust God when it feels like everything is falling apart.

Noah spent 370 days in the ark with his family along with hundreds of noisy and smelly animals. If there was ever a person who needed a break from the craziness of his environment, it was Noah! Unfortunately, Noah didn’t handle the stress well. Instead of honoring God the way he had before he entered the Ark, he chose to embarrass God, his family, and himself. In this message Derrick will help us see our need for rest in order to be able to lead and love our families the way God commands us to.

The first family didn’t get off to a good start. Adam and Eve laid the track for generational sin and every family ever since has been riding the crazy train. I will interview Ed Eason as a part of the sermon. Ed is the lead guitarist for Carrie Underwood’s band; he grew up in a fatherless home, and he now leads a ministry to disciple at-risk boys. Together, we will explore what it means to break the cycle of generational sin.

After his resurrection from the dead, Jesus appeared to a variety of people who offered a variety of responses. Thomas needed proof that it really was Jesus and a few scars did the job.

Mary felt comfortable enough to touch Jesus. It says more about Jesus than we realize. He is more than a name and more than a statue. Jesus was God in the flesh. A man we can relate to and worship all in one.

Jesus came to destroy the barriers that separate us from God and from each other. Sometimes those barriers are put up by other people and their perceptions about our race, gender, or qualifications. Other times, we put those barriers up ourselves because of our own sin. As we'll learn from the Samaritan woman, when Jesus destroys the barriers of sin and shame in your life, you can't help but tell everyone about it!

Jesus had a conversation with one of the smartest men of his day—a man named Nicodemus. And it was obvious that Jesus was trying to bother him in a good way. Jesus had a way of turning intellectual arrogance into humble pie.

Job struggled to hit the curveball that life threw his way. But before he could throw in the towel and give up on life, God intervened and helped Job regain his passion and purpose for living another day.

Everyone will feel restless at some point. As the king of Israel, Solomon had a lot of free time on his hands and he didn’t always use it wisely. Fortunately for us, he left behind his diary and offers us some great counsel on what to do when we’re bored by life.

For some, the glass isn’t just half empty. It’s half empty with a hole in the bottom of it! Elijah understands that mindset and can help us get out of bed on those days when the sadness feels too heavy and we feel too weak to carry it.

Few things ruin a person’s day like a negative comment. Replacing criticism, cynicism, pessimism, and sarcasm, with positive words has the power to defuse tension in any environment.

Let’s uproot the grapevine. Everyone needs a cheering section, a group of people who sit in the bleachers and yell and clap and believe in us. Replacing gossip with encouragement has the power to turn enemies into friends.

From politicians to Pinocchio, we no longer view lying as a dangerous behavior. Nothing erodes trust faster than a lack of honesty. Replacing a lie with the truth builds trust and helps our relationships thrive.

It’s one thing to level up in a video game, your airline miles, or the number of followers you have on Instagram, but that’s not what we’re talking about in this series. We want to look at what it means to level up in life. Specifically, we’re going to uncover some ways to level up when it comes to our relationships, our joy, our contentment, our character, and most importantly, our relationship and connection with God.