Articles Tagged 'Struggle'

Tough Times Toughen

Wow, tough times can be hard, but is there a payoff to them?

Tough times, even when they are filled with temptation can help us grow and better appreciate good times when they come.

Eternity: Beyond Separation to Hope

When this life-altering grief and separation invade our worlds, we are left with many challenges, some seem insurmountable.

Gene Vance shares insights from his book, 'Transition to Eternity' to help us find great hope and anticipation of Eternity with Jesus!

Sky, Dirt, and Dreams Unfolding

Buried deep in the earth of our hearts, God has buried dreams and hopes. While they lie under the surface, they ARE there.

Melissa Troyer shares her insightful, home-loving momma whose meditations about life, family, and faith help us grab what is most important in life.

Jesus Comes in the Storms

Do you feel too far from the shore, too long in the struggle, and too small against the waves, with Jesus is nowhere to be seen.

Max Lucado reminds us that we are not alone in our storms, but Jesus comes to us in the storms before he stills the storms.

ToGather: Eyes on Jesus (April 3, 2022)

As human beings, we live where we look: Our lives follow the focus of our hearts.

Demetrius Collins and Phil Ware share a powerful virtual worship in Scripture, songs, and communion focused on Hebrews 12:2 and our need to fix our eyes on Jesus to continue with perseverance and endurance as we follow Jesus and seek to become like him.

Starting Over Having Learned Lessons from the Past

We AREN'T enough, but He is. It is the goodness of the Lord that brings us nose-to-nose with our desperate need for Him.

Melissa Troyer combines her journey through motherhood, her realization of inadequacy, her belief in God's sufficiency, and the willingness to teach using our own failures.

Our Chorus is the Gospel

'The verses are the blues, the chorus is the gospel.'

Patrick Odum picks up a line from a Bruce Springsteen interview and helps us understand the need for being real about our struggles but also celebrating our hope in the gospel.

Life Happens!

No one is exempt from life’s challenges.

Brian McCutchen uses the journey of Asaph in Psalm 73 to remind us that life happens to everyone, but God is with those who love him.

The Promise in the Crown of Thorns

There is more to the crown of thorns Jesus carried than meets the eye at first glance.

Max Lucado reminds us of the grace and love shown to us in the crown of thorns Jesus wore to the cross.

Honesty with God on Our Journey of Faith

Thankfully the Bible is honest about the flaws of our heroes so we can know that we can be a person of faith useful to God, too!

James Nored and Phil Ware remind us that Abraham's journey of faith wasn't easy, his life was not perfect, and his questions for God were real.

Simple Oil Changes

Why is it so hard to let our Father help us?

Max Lucado reminds us that God wants to help us through our hardest challenges.

The Struggle to Find Faith

I do believe; help me overcome my unbelief!

James Nored and Phil Ware look at C.S. Lewis and his struggle to find faith and our own challenges in believing.

Ancient Wisdom, Today's Grace: Finding God's Will

Throughout the Bible, we find great examples that can help us sort through our challenges today.

Phil Ware begins a series for church leaders and congregations in transition which uses Paul's experiences in his ministry to Macedonian churches to help us in our struggles today.

Finding My Story in God's Story

Life's ultimate questions need answers. Do you know where to find them? Do you know how to share them? Do you know how your story fits into God's big picture?

James Nored begins to share his great video series on the Story of Redemption, entitled Finding Your Story in God's Story.

When Life Takes You Off Guard

We need to remember that hardship and family dysfunction and unfairness are not new for God's people and are the backdrop of their courageous lives of faith.

Rubel Shelly reminds us that the heroes of scripture had to endure many of the same kinds of challenges we do, that is what makes their witness so powerful.

Good News for Christmas

In the dark night of the soul or caught in the foggy haze of confusion, is there good news for me?

Rick Brown writes a beautiful story on the background of Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer and a reminder that Jesus came for all of us misfits so we could know we fit in.

The Gift We Really Need

So watcha asking for this Christmas?

Cathy Messecar reminds us what we need most at Christmas and that only God can give us what humanity and our broken world cannot give.

The Rhythms of the Kingdom

In the ups and downs of church life, is it good to be on a plateau?

Tim Woodroof continues his series on change in the book of Acts and the changes facing the church today.

The Discipline of the Wilderness

So is there anything good that can come from our time of challenge and hardship?

Mark Frost of http://www.interimministrypartners.com shares part two on the journey through the wilderness during the interim and how God is preparing his people for great things.

The Truth about Hypocrites at Church

They are why some won't come to church, but the truth about hypocrites is not what you think.

Hypocrites intentionally act different from what they say. That is not true about Christians.

More than a Gamble over Clothes

Is there a higher gamble that one can make in life?

Phil Ware shares some thoughts on the soldiers who gambled over Jesus' garments as he died and then later came to faith.

Community and Mission

Looking around can help us find our way forward!

Phil Ware continues the http://interimministrypartners.com team series on a church finding its mission and living it out so it can grow and be vital and make a difference.

Discovering the Character of Your Church: Personal vs. shared Values

Why can't we just do it the way I see it?

Phil Ware continues the series on values and leadership, especially conflict in the leadership because they cannot discern operational, personal, strategic, theoretical, shared, and other types of values.

The Prize

Why keep getting up?

Terese Bell Kindred shares a story of a friend she admires and compares her to a prize fighter because she keeps getting up and going on after bad things and cancer.

Handwritten Message from Heaven: I AM

Is Jesus claiming to be God?

Phil Ware begins a series of messages on the "I AM" sayings of the Bible.