2 Corinthians 5

Everyone loves good news... so how much better to hear the best news ever. Our sin has separated us from God and we cannot fix it. So God did. Best news ever.

Where does it all start? All the big events in our lives and even many of the daily routines all begin with a blank page, including the grace God gives us to start fresh each day with a blank page.

Pursue Jesus. Completely pursue him. You will notice that while you are not religious, you are being drawn to a holy character and gracious compassion that religion longs to impart, but cannot! Phil Ware continues looking at the gospel of Mark and reminds us that Jesus isn't a patch on religion or a new joy to infuse old and stale religion; he is an altogether all new thing.

God does the unthinkable to bless us immeasurably, in Christ! Patrick Odum shares a clear message from God's word, 2 Corinthians 5:17-21, and talks about all God has done to make us worthy in Christ.

We have new life because Jesus gave up his. We have a fresh beginning because Jesus chose to submit to an earthly ending. Phil Ware reflects on the last tens days of Jesus' life before his crucifixion and points us to the hope of a new beginning found in Jesus' life ending.

Can we learn to center on what is most important? At the start of a New Year, let's make a commitment to remember the meaning of the Lord's Supper and Jesus' sacrifice.

A genuine disciple, and especially an apostle, follows the path of Jesus who gave up his life to seek, serve, and save the lost. James Nored in video, and Phil Ware using the Scriptures, remind us of the beauty and the cost to God of saving us and forgiving us, and giving us a new life.

For us to be 'cruciformed' means that we offer our hearts to be reshaped to be like Jesus' heart. It means we offer ourselves to be used by God to bless and serve others. Phil Ware begins a series on the central section of the Gospel of Mark that focuses on being "cruciformed" as the first step of being a disciple of Jesus.

You ready to reach out? Phil Ware talks about being mission-minded and outreach oriented and not letting other cultures, languages, ethnicities, races, or differences block us from sharing Jesus.

Sometimes when kids get it wrong, they get it right! Russ Lawson reminds us that kids can say something wrongly, but at the same time remind us of greater truth.

Wouldn't life be better if we could have a fresh start after making a mess of things? Phil Ware continues his series on Resurrection 2.0 focusing on Jesus' loving confrontation of Peter about his arrogance and failure and then restoring him back to ministry.

Why do we fuss and fight over such a wonderful time? Christmas has unfortunately gotten so caught up in conflict that we lose sight of loving folks the way Jesus came to do.

O God, make our hearts ache for them to know Jesus! Phil Ware continues his series on "The Andrew Effect" by focusing on connecting those we know with Jesus.

We're like the apostle Paul right before he was baptized: we can't see! Phil Ware concludes his 14 part series on how God values women and their importance in the life of His people.

Weren't we re-made for more than we're settling for? Phil Ware shares with us ideas about growth and how God has re-created us to be like Jesus and be full of life and growth, spiritually and physically.

Our message points us to 2 Corinthians 5:17 and Paul's promise that if we are in Christ, we are a new creation! Phil Ware and Demetrius Collins invite us to worship God and celebrate the work of the Holy Spirit as we are transformed to be more like our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ as we trust in God to give us a new fresh start in life because of Jesus!

So what, or who, really put Jesus on the cross? Phil Ware writes on this day after Palm Sunday about Jesus' ultimate destination in Jerusalem, with the triumphal entry, the conflict with the leaders, and his betrayal, death, and resurrection.

Imagine if we all came together at the same time and prayed for God to intervene and help us overcome our world's problems! Phil Ware explains the unified, simultaneous, hour of prayer on January 1 and December 31 as all the time zones gather together to pray.

Hope beyond our world's brokenness! Phil Ware continues his series on the value of woman in the eyes of God and how we incorporate that value into our belief system, roles, and treatment of women in our church culutures.

How can someone who is blind still paint beautifully? Tammy Ruggles is a legally blind artist, photographer, and writer who paints by faith and not by sight and uses her gifts to bless and inspire.

Can we really find something new and fresh in this season of commercialism? A man's conversion helps Phil remember that life can become fresh and new and he reminds us that the Christmas season can bring all of this to us if we are looking for it.

The year is new… are you? Being a follower of Jesus makes one's life NEW and notice the words that said old things have passed away. When you make that decision to follow Jesus and are baptized, then your "old things" do not matter to God anymore; you are NEW.

If you find that you are surrounded by dark clouds and wonder if you will ever break through, keep believing. Tom Norvell reminds us that our Pilot can land us even though we are surrounded by dark and ominous clouds.

Did we miss our chance to make a difference? The start of the New Year offers us a new start to do it better.

Jesus sees you, my friend, and he has a new version of you waiting to happen. Max Lucado reminds us of Jesus' power do fresh and new things if we will respond to his command to get up and do something.

How do you treat those that you don't have to be nice to? How we treat the folks we don't HAVE to be nice to reveals a whole lot about us.

Can you look beyond your New Year's resolutions? Real change, true transformation, will not occur in our lives until we relinquish control completely to the Lord and the power of his Spirit.

Few truths are more important to us than Jesus' promise to be at the Father's side interceding for us and presenting us to the Father as holy children of the King! Demetrius Collins and Phil Ware lead us in online, virtual worship through words and music using YouTube videos to remind us of the great assurance we have with Jesus as our advocate interceding for us and presenting us to God in his righteousness.

As we join together to honor Jesus as our Christ and Lord, we can lay every burden down and rejoice in the grace God has lavished upon us. Demetrius Collins & Phil Ware lead through worship in song, the Lord's Supper, a powerful message from God's word, and a closing blessing for worship from home with family and friends in a meaningful way - we can be assured our righteous was purchased by

Which color would you be? Alan Smith tries to remind us that our goodness comes from Jesus and not from ourselves.

How can these grave clothes speak of a better hope? Phil Ware continues his series that parallels The Story and he brings us to the resurrection of Jesus through the humiliation of his disciples and himself and tying his message to the garments of Jesus.

Why do we go through these hard and apparently unnecessary times? Max Lucado reminds us that the troubles of this present life are preparing us for something far greater.

How did Jesus have the strength to resist sin again and again and again? What strategies or tools did he use to overcome the schemes of the evil one? Phil Ware leads in our focus on being JesuShaped disciples by talking about the real power behind Jesus overcoming temptation.

Hope is an olive leaf — evidence of dry land after a flood. Max Lucado reminds us that the God of hope gives us fresh starts just as he did to Noah with the olive leaf and the dove.

What does life sound like in your world? Like a work of improvisational jazz, life is a journey from one new thing to another.

The final destination of our journey to faith often depends upon the orientation of our hearts. James Nored and Phil Ware challenge us to look at C.S. Lewis and his journey of faith along with a broken-hearted father and see how we might be able to find faith in our own lives.

Have you ever redeemed your time on an elevator? Ron Rose talks about redeeming elevator time and listening to the Holy Spirit about ways to minister and be a blessing to people.

Why do we hang on to it when it weighs us down? Light a stuck anchor prevents a boat from advancing or moving, so we often get stuck in our pasts and can't go forward until we get rid of the dead weight that weighs us down and holds us back.

Are you truly free? When we don't have to impress folks, we are free to live authentically.

What does God long to say to you? Phil Ware reminds us of the importance of baptism to Jesus as a new beginning and how that should be important to us.

Will turning the page on the calendar change your life? God can make our lives new, giving us a fresh start. He wipes out past mistakes, letting us begin again.

God drew near to us in Jesus, so why would we not come to him with our challenges, troubles, and trials? Max Lucado reminds us that Jesus longs for us to draw near to him in our times of troubles, problems, challenges, pain, and trials.

How long can you keep the newness alive? The newness wears off and we get bored and we lose interest and we give up.

How could God allow His Son to do it for us? It hurts to see our children experiencing pain so imagine how God feels about our pain!

How do you process things these days? Russ reminds us that we are to have the mind of Christ, our Jesus filter, through which we process the things in our lives and the way we look at people around us.

Jesus wasn't calling us to keep a list of do's and don'ts; he was challenging us to obey the Father from our hearts, in love. James Nored and Phil Ware remind us of Jesus' Sermon on the Mount and that he was not giving us a list of do's and don't do's, but was calling us to put into practice the way of God from the heart.

Don't you want more than something new? Katha Winther shares insights on the New Year, fresh starts, and God's work of salvation in us!

Why not listen to the old story and look for something fresh and new? Sometimes we trust too much in what we've learned in the past and things we have learned from our parents rather than seeking the truth ourselves and then living it.

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.

Who was the first apostle to the apostles? Phil Ware shares insights into Jesus' appearance to Mary Magdalene and how he commissioned her to go declare his resurrection to his followers.

Why not pray your way into the New Year? Rubel Shelly shares a prayer for the New Year as we begin 2008.

There is only one thing I really want my non-beleiving friends to do We are not asking you to adopt a moral code, go to church, or even "become a Christian." We are begging you to get back together with God.

Can we really start over? Ron Rose reminds us that influence and starting over and being a new creation is something God does all the time and we just need to begin.

After all that has happened, can we have a good marriage? Joe Beam answers the reader's question about having a good marriage again after all the hurt and sinfulness?

Sometimes life is like my coffee cup. Just as my coffee cup could be washed clean from the accumulated remains of my drinks, so can our lives become clean in Christ.

What can you learn about Christianity from watching new roofs? The correct way to put on a new roof is to first take off the old roof. That is the same way Jesus gives us new life. Take off the old, put on the new.

What are you praying for this year? This is simply a prayer for us to use the New Year wisely and well.

There is only person who can truely revise your history. Revisionist history makes us look better but changes nothing about our past. Jesus does.

What I learned about sharing Jesus from selling ads. A parable is a story that illustrates a spiritual point -- like selling phone book ads and making disciples.

What I learned about Jesus from Spiderman Spiderman is a story about new identity, new power, and the battle between good and evil. So is the Jesus story. And it is real.

Far too many of us let our past control our future. It does not have to be that way. Jesus makes all things new, including your past. The "good old days" are still ahead -- no matter what your past looks like.

Why do we often emphasize one, but forget the other? Phil Ware writes about the grace of God to save us from sin and for holy living.

Jesus rose from the dead, so we choose to live based on the conviction that this world is not our home, while we long for our lasting and more glorious one! Demetrius Collins and Phil Ware lead us in a virtual, DIY, worship through words and music using YouTube videos to glorify God as we remember the life-changing implications of Jesus' resurrection.

Can you think of a more noble vision or a more compelling mission for us, the Lord's people, than to be Jesus' bodily presence to our fractured and fragmented world? James Nored and Phil Ware challenge us through words and video to embrace God's mission for us as the bodily presence of Jesus in the world.

Rather than taking God's lavish grace for granted, we choose to offer ourselves to God and walk away from sin. Demetrius Collins and Phil Ware lead us in a virtual, DIY, worship through words and music using YouTube videos to remind us of all that we have received from God through grace and how we must say no to sin because we have been so blessed!

What would you change about your past? God gives us the chance to change the things we've done in the past, or at least make it as if we hadn't made the mistakes we did.

Don't give up on the changes that need to occur! Transformation, sanctification takes time in the real world of our lives, but God won't give up on us.

Living My Mission Under Social Distancing Phil Ware opens the New Testament and reminds of a great way to live out our mission while under social distancing, prayer because prayer has always been a virtual way of blessing others.

How in the world are you going to decide your biggest life questions? Sometimes we just have to make the decision and go on trusting God to guide you to where you need to be.

Jesus provided us the few simple words we need to return us to that place of righteousness in the eyes of our Father: “Forgive us our debts.” Phil Ware, with Chad Higgins, reminds us of the power of the simple words 'Forgive us our debts' and give us a daily practice to emphasize the power of these words.

Why should I excited about fearing the Lord? The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom and worship, but it is not a terror of the Lord, but an enraptured love-filled walk with a holy God.

Can you see God's signature on his masterpiece? Phil Ware reminds us that we are all God's gifted children and that God has put his signature on each of us in three different ways.

I want to invite you to join me in living beyond the horizon of our children's faith! Phil Ware writes about leaving a legacy with his children and grandchildren to pass on faith and be passionate disciples of Jesus.

Are we really willing to make Jesus the center of our life. Phil Ware reminds us that Jesus is the center of everything, our salvation, our time, our hope, but will we make Jesus the center of our lives?

Can you keep running and not grow weary? Burn out seems to happen more and more frequently, but when see why it happens, we realize that folks are losing sight of the goal and are often motivated for the wrong reasons.

What could change everything? Bill Sherrill writes about God's clearest message through Jesus on the Cross and through the Gospel of John.

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.

We've allowed our modern definition of faith to be drained of depth and turned into a shallow kiddie wading pool of little more than mental assent. Phil Ware reminds us that faith as understood in the New Testament was much more robust than what we often call faith today.

When you look in the mirror, what do you see? Phil Ware challenges us to look beyond the cosmetic image we see in the mirror and view ourselves as God does.