Resonate Church

It's easy to have a vision of what our lives should look like, isn't it? We can see a picture of what we want to make, and we're holding all the pieces to build it. So why don't we? In the face of our future, it's easy to make excuses to keep ourselves comfortable with how things are. But to make a life that's built to last, we have to refuse the easy excuses, pick up our pieces, and start building.

If we're honest, we probably think we know what our lives should look like. We make plans and chart out the routes to take us to where we want to be, give us all the "blessings" we think we should have. And who knows, maybe God will come along for the ride, right? But what about when we don't end up where we think we should be, when the blessing we expect to receive looks more like a burden? What do we do when God puts a wide open door in front of us that doesn't look like the one we want to walk through?

We'd all like a "blessed" life, wouldn't we? Blessed families, blessed finances, blessed careers, the list goes on and on. There's not one area we wouldn't choose that for, or at least that's what we say. But do we really mean it? God offers us a choice. We can choose to tap into the way he designed the universe to work and end up with a life built on a solid foundation, one in which we see God's blessings in every area, or we can choose to build our lives on the shifting sands of our own ways of doing things.

What does a successful life look like? If we make an impact on those around us now, is that enough? Will that last? We can focus on changing the lives of people around us now, making a difference in "our time," only to have everything we've built crumble as soon as we let go of it. To make a difference that lasts, we have to be willing to invest in the future, and in the next generation of people who can carry our vision further than we can see today.

We live in a culture of instant gratification. We want what we want, and we want it now. It's easy to expect our growth to work like that too. We see where we are and where we want to be, and want to get there in an instant, but it just doesn't work that way. Anything really good takes time, and if we want real meaningful growth we have to be willing to wait through the process.

"Do as I say, not as I do." We've all heard it. We may have even said it. But do we really ever listen to that advice? Does anyone? It's easy to try to tell people what to do, how to live their lives, but it's something very different to live lives that reflect our words. Will we tell people to live one way while doing something totally different, or will we model the actions we advise for others?

Every Christian loves great stories of God giving his people victory. Stories like Joshua conquering Jericho and every other obstacle to lead the Israelites into the promised land. We love these stories because all want that kind of victory over our own problems. But where does that victory actually come from? Is it possible that there's just one simple key to consistently winning in our lives?

We all deal with insecurity from time to time. In the face of the future God calls us to, it's easy to focus on what we see as our failings. But while our feelings tell us to be afraid, we can move past our insecurities in ourselves to find security in God and the power he gives us to do what he's called us to.

If we're honest, we've all felt burnt out in life. We've run out of gas, and it feels like we just can't go on. It's easy to start on a trajectory in our lives with a lot of fire, but it's much harder to finish well. How we combat burnout and keep the fire of our lives burning?

It's only natural to want people to like us, and that's not necessarily a bad thing. But what happens when it goes too far, when the favor of people around us becomes the driving force of our lives? Guest speaker Stacey Tarrant from NewSpring Church breaks down what happens when we put the weight of our worship on people who were never made to be able to hold it.

"Just follow your heart." We've all heard it. Do what we feel, let our emotions guide us, and everything will work out, right? But does it really work that way, or can healthy emotions tell us where we are instead of pointing us where to go?

Once when Jesus and his disciples were heading into a city, they came across another group headed the opposite way. They were carrying a dead man from the city to be buried. What Jesus did next paints a picture of what he can do for our lives when we find ourselves at the gate between the city and the cemetery.

We can all agree that a Double Portion of God’s presence sounds pretty good, but sometimes God requires something of us. Sometimes we need to grab a shovel and start digging a ditch.

We all go through hurts in life, and most of us want healing. It’s easy to look for quick tricks to solve our problems, but no “Five Easy Steps” can heal us. For those of us who know Jesus, maybe we look even deeper. We ask God to heal us. But are we really ready to go all the way, to let Jesus get to the heart of the matter to experience real healing?

Storms in life seem unavoidable, don’t they? It feels like everything goes wrong, and amidst the wind and waves, it’s only natural that we take our eyes of Jesus.But even when our eyes aren’t on him, even when we can’t see him at all, his eyes are never off of us.