Leaders

Life often feels overwhelming when we try to keep everything under control, but Jesus invites us to come to Him for rest. Throughout the Bible, Sabbath teaches us to stop striving and trust that God is in control. That rest is ultimately found in Jesus, who is gentle, trustworthy, and cares for us.

This week we are talking about creating a rhythm for reading your Bible more regularly! We will spend time talking about some of the benefits of reading your Bible, while also giving students a few helpful tools that they can use while reading (SOAP method, etc)! It is our hope that students see the benefits of reading their Bibles and connecting with their Creator, and make an effort to start a habit of reading their Bible daily!

We see this story in Acts when the disciples Peter and John perform a miracle and get negative attention from the religious leaders. Peter shows great courage when told to stop healing and preaching, declaring that he cannot stop sharing the Good News of Jesus. They refuse to disobey God’s command to make disciples of all the nations. Each of us has a story about Jesus that needs to be shared with others, so that all people can know of Jesus’ great love.

This week's teaching focuses on why and how we pray. We pray to connect with God. God doesn’t care if we use the right words or have the proper format, He just wants us to talk with Him to grow in our relationship with Him.

Tonight we will see that Romans 10:9–15 shows that salvation is simple to receive; that is to believe in your heart, confess Jesus as Lord, and the best part is that it's available to everyone! Also, once we’ve received that hope, God calls us to share it so others can hear and believe as well. God chooses to work through ordinary people, like us, to share Christ to the world.

In life, there’s a lot you can’t control, but your mindset is something you can. Romans 8 teaches that your mind is always leading you somewhere: either toward the flesh or toward the Spirit and life. God’s goal isn’t just to change what you do, but who you become; to make you look more like Jesus. We want to help students begin to choose to fix their minds on Christ, letting His Spirit shape their thoughts, peace, and direction.

Tonight we will talk about how everyone faces hardship, and how we respond—whether we vent, stuff it, isolate, or distract—reveals where our hope truly rests. Paul writes to believers in Rome who were suffering deeply and reminds them that real hope isn’t just a feeling or a slogan like “Just trust God.” It’s something solid, anchored in two unshakable truths

Tonight we will see that Paul reminds both the Jewish and Gentile believers that no one is righteous on their own — everyone has fallen short of God’s standard. We can’t fix our brokenness by comparing ourselves to others or pretending everything’s fine. However we know, it is only through faith in Jesus, not by our own efforts, we’re made right with God and given a new kind of life that rests in His grace, not our performance.

Tonight we’ll be wrapping up our Ephesians series, “Blueprints,” by diving into Chapter 6. In this chapter, Paul makes it clear that believers are in a spiritual battle—but he also gives us the strategy for how to stand strong in it. He reminds us to know and live out the truth: that even in the middle of our battles, we already have victory in Christ.

As we turn the corner to the back half of the book of Ephesians by entering in to chapter 4, 5, & 6 our focus changes. In the first three chapters our attention is upon the spiritual blessing be have in Christ. But starting in chapter 4 our focus shift towards instructions towards right Christian living. Within tonight’s message Paul will show us the things we do are “because of” the love he has shown to us, not “for” or to earn his love and acceptance.