MEDIA ARCHIVE

Our culture says that love and romance will fill the deepest needs of our heart. For many people it becomes an endless pursuit that never delivers.

We are addicted to comfort…a continual quest for more stuff to make us happy. Come and learn the freedom that less is actually more.

What drive you? Our pursuits can sometime stand in the way of full surrender to God's agendal for our lives.

Power is intoxicating. Our desire to control and manage life can lead us away from trusting relationship with God.

Each of us possesses the power to build and to destroy… true wisdom is found in how we use this power.

In a culture that applauds achievement and position the church is called to a unique way of humility.

We live in a time that comfort and wealth are the desires of life...what is the call of God for those in need?

In a world where we value individuality and uniqueness God reminds us "no man is an island."

When light arrives in a dark room things change. How does the light of Christ shine through you? Does that light really change anything?

Trials shape us as a community of faith. They are not to be dodged but embraced.

The scripture is more than simply a guide book… We find life and transformation through it. What does it mean for us to be PEOPLE UNDER THE WORD – join us to find out.

In every setting we make judgments about others and attach different value to them based on our priorities... but how does God attach value to people?

What matters more – to know what is right or to do what is right… practitioners win out of theorists.

Saving the best for last… Jesus loves to take what seems to be weak and do His best work.

When Jesus speaks…everything changes. There is power in His words. What does that mean for us today?

Desperate times call for desperate measures… can we be wrong when we seek healing from our struggle? Is getting better the ultimate example of the kingdom of God?

This sign is about more than just food! Jesus is letting everyone know that he has come to bring us into fellowship with God. So what are you really hungry for?

In times of turbulence, we often feel like God has left us alone to struggle… what does Jesus walking on water speak to us in light of this situation?

What is behind our doubts and skepticism? Even after a man’s sight is restored they still don’t believe. Are miracles the best way to lead us to faith?

Is there a limit to Jesus’ power? Are there situations that are beyond what He can do? Places He cannot intervene? That is what many wondered in the midst of Lazarus death.

Do we grow spiritually as an act of individual transformation or does God call us to grow in Community? We will look together at what the scriptures say about our growing in Christ.

We have two tendencies in our spiritual growth: we either believe it is all up to us, or we believe God must move, and we do nothing but experience His work. Together, we want to discover how we “keep in step with the Spirit” towards growth in Christ-likeness.

How do our thoughts impact our spiritual lives? What role does our mind play in the transformation that Jesus calls us to?

Time has become the most precious commodity in our day. When it seems that life is so rushed, how can we redeem our time to grow in Christ-likeness?

There is a tie between relationships and growth. In fact the scriptures teach that we can measure our growth by the love in our relationships.

From the most mundane of tasks to profound events… God wants everything we experience to be transforming. How can our experiences bring transformation to us and others?

We finish another study… we learn more about what it means to become like Christ… but what is next? How can you and I make lasting changes?

Many people treat church like a club…pay your dues, abide by the rules, and enjoy your membership privileges. Maybe we need a new vision for the church as a grace filled community for the common good.

Most religions have some type of sacred book. It is easy to start believing they’re all equally valid and authoritative. Come and learn about the unique and powerful voice of God’s word.

Sometimes the various religions seem like food options at the Asian Buffet. I just pick and choose what looks good to me. Maybe we need to look a little deeper and understand how world religions deal with our sin and offer grace.

The opinions about Jesus are all over the place, but most people think he was an ok guy. What about you? Perhaps your perspective on Jesus is the key to finding true peace and fulfillment.

People have argued about when the world is going to end for centuries. Maybe the key question is not when, but what we all do with the time God gives us. Following Jesus is less about waiting for Heaven and more about bringing Heaven to Earth.

Only a full cup can overflow.

Don’t be ignorant of the gifts the Holy Spirit gives us… we will learn about the gifts in this series.

The gifts are not simply individual, but part of the whole – given to work together.

The gifts in process… seeking what matters most.

Where the gift really begins… given in it’s completeness – setting in motion greater gifts.

Tracing the path – from God with us to God in us… We must reflect on Christ coming to be with us in light of Him giving us His Spirit following His resurrection.

Love is compassion in action. It is taking a step towards someone in need, instead of walking by. Today we begin a six week study that calls us to bring the compassion of Jesus to a world in need.

Jesus reached out to people that others would abhor and ignore. He brought healing and compassion to them… how can we bring the gospel of touch to those isolated and sick?

Justice is what love looks like in public. God calls us to rescue those who are oppressed and bring change. When we fight for justice, the world begins to see what God is really like.

As citizens of an amazingly wealthy country we have been blessed with abundance. Jesus warns, however, that the more we have been entrusted with the more we’ll be accountable to help those in need.

God was displaying the wonder of Himself in the beginning of time through His creation. What does He call us to in caring for His creation and what does the gospel have to do with this earth that we are inhabiting? Come and find out…

Crazy Love comes from the Holy Spirit

Crazy Love must be experienced and understood

Crazy love transforms us and our world

Looking back and honoring where we’ve been… looking ahead to where we are going

We want to make a case for the value of Godly wisdom… why we seek it… IT IS BECAUSE WE SEEK HIM

He who walks with the wise grows wise, but a companion of fools suffers harm.

The hard side of wisdom – correction… This text responds to how we view discipline in our lives.

The way of wisdom sometimes calls us to go against the flow and make tough choices.

How much is enough? What would wisdom have us ask for from the Lord? What is the ideal?

God gives us dreams that He wants to bring to reality… often not the way we imagine them to be fulfilled

How will we respond when faced with opportunities that challenge our integrity and offer something for us?

What do we do when God seems to provide a way out only to have the door slammed in our faces?

Can God really take all that we go through to move His purposes forward and bring us closer to Him?

How do you think God responds to people who disregard and even snub God for an alternative?

How short of a fuse does God have when faced with oppositional responses to His love and direction?

When treated poorly and taken advantage, how strong is God’s love?

When faced with pure denial of God, can God forgive and still bring about consequence?

God is the creator of sex. It is a gift and designed for us… together we will look Biblically at the design

In the world we live in sexual abuse, misuse and confusion abound. We want to discover how God wants to bring healing to those hurt by sexuality.

The influence of pornography is growing rapidly in our culture today. It is a taboo topic inside the Christian world. It is time for the church to speak to this issue with love, honesty and hope.

We have abdicated our responsibility to teach our kids about sex to schools and media. It is time to reclaim our role in teaching our kids about God’s design and what sex can become.

In a world where sexual values, standards and lifestyles are changing dramatically, people are questioning whether the standards in the scriptures still apply. We will take a look at the scriptures regarding sexuality and see how it applies today.

Jesus would come in a way that would be unnoticed and seemingly insignificant.

Jesus would come and carry burdens that we could never deal with ourselves.

Jesus would endure unjustly at the will of the Father, for us.

How did God’s People welcome their Messiah and how do we welcome him into our lives.

We will take a look into the experience of Jesus on the cross and ask how will we respond to our Savior’s love for us?

We want to know the hope that we have in our Risen Messiah Jesus. We will celebrate Baptism on this most significant day in our year!

Are you all in?

How we handle our resources shows us what we think is important and is a great spiritual barometer. Growing in Christ happens through giving our resources.

If your heart changes, your hands will follow…

Does going All In, all at once, seem overwhelming? Even a mustard seed grows little by little. Grow like a mustard seed - take little steps of faith and see what God does.

We live in a culture that enables us to hunger for more stuff. When is enough enough?

The cost of storing up earthly treasures is great. Instead, store up treasures in heaven by living a life of reckless abandon for Him.

What would you do if God entrusted you with His stuff?

Let’s enter in together to a profound moment in history that we continue to celebrate today… the birth of Jesus!

This Christmas Eve come and learn THE REST OF THE STORY BEHIND CHRISTMAS… God’s timing, His heart, His incarnation coming when we need it most, and the dramatic beauty of how and when he came. It will bring hope to us in the most despairing circumstances of life.

Don’t miss the point of why he came.

As we begin another year… what might it look like for you to live IN CHRIST? Come and experience some practical practices to help cultivate your personal relationship with Jesus

Keeping to the story of Jesus brings freedom… adding to it brings bondage.

We tend to evaluate our goodness based on how we perform… is that the measurement of God?

Following the rules won’t set you free, it comes through one source alone.

Even when we become free we can be enticed back to our own prison

How do we sustain freedom once we have it? How does God help us and what does it look like to live this way?

We are called by God to help others find and sustain the freedom Jesus gives to us.

Jesus came to bring change, but he doesn’t promise us what the politicians do. Jesus came to bring a new vision of what the world should be. Come and discover a new platform for real change.

We live in a world that likes to get the job done through power and strength, but Jesus came armed with new methods of transformation. Come and learn the tactics of peace, love, and generosity.

The scriptures paint a fascinating picture of the Church. We are called aliens, strangers, and a peculiar people belonging to God…holy people on a mission to make the world a better place. Come and join the revolution!

People outside the church see Christ Followers as judgmental and unloving… Look with us at the kind of culture God calls us to be.

People outside the church see Christ followers as thinking we have all of the answers and discount struggle and doubt… look with us at the kind of openness Jesus wants us to have in the areas we have questions and doubts

People outside the church see Christ followers as pretenders – we portray a legalistic form of Holiness without honesty… Look with us at the kind of Culture God calls us to be.

People outside the church see Christ followers as stagnant – we say we believe that Jesus changes us, but those looking in say “what’s different” – look with us at the kind of call Christ following brings to grow in this thing called faith.

People outside the church see Christ followers as wanting them to have all the “right beliefs” before we will let them belong to us…look with us at the invitation Jesus gives to belonging before we even believe.

Take a look into the honest words of Jesus that invite us to look into the depth of our hearts and find our place of need.

How can this be true “Happy are the sad”? Take a look into this profound understanding from our Master Rabbi, Jesus

In order to gain everything, you must give up everything. It seems backwards… but in God’s economy it is the true equation.

You really are what you eat… so what are you hungering for?

How do we see the hearts and needs of those around us? What makes us extend mercy rather than judgment?

Does having the right motives matter? Why do those who cut corners, cheat the system seem to get ahead? What is the REAL blessing of being pure in our motives?

Imagine having the power to walk into a turbulent struggle, a friend in crisis, a wounded friend… and bring PEACE, actual peace. You can, find out how.

We can share in the cup of destiny that Jesus drank, and his followers have from the beginning of time.

This week our prayer centers on the words of Jesus praying to the Father to “make us one”.

We join in the prayer of Watermark for the church at large that God will make us useful. Each of us is called to be involved in being the church and reaching our community. What does it mean to “play our part” in this thing we call church?

We join in the prayer of The Deep for the church at large that God will make us relevant. In a time when people see Christians as hypocrites and church as irrelevant, how does Jesus speak to us about our role towards those in need?

We join together in prayer with Watermark and The Deep as we share our desire to live out the mission God has for His Church that Jesus spoke of in a moment of great passion and significance.

Come hear from Pastor Peter Yoshonis as he dreams of transforming our church and community.

Unless God moves . . . When you don’t know what to do; when you’ve exhausted your resources; when the game is over unless He plays . . .

When God is working to bring His Kingdom to earth He always raises up [unlikely] leadership to get things done – often in the most unusual, creative ways.

oin us next Sunday as we learn from the Prophet Isaiah about God’s creative heart for change and new beginnings. In a season of change let’s listen together to Isaiah’s encouragement and challenge to find God’s heart and hand as we move ahead.

More than anything else, we are to be marked as people of generous grace. Following the God of Amazing Grace is the key.

Ultimately the legacy of Spring Lake Wesleyan Church is not about us, but about those who come behind us . . .

I thank my God every time I remember you. In all my prayers for all of you, I always pray with joy because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now. Philippians 1:3-5

Jesus died and rose again...ok I get it, but now what? The secret to a compelling life is the transforming power of the ascended Christ who is alive and at work within us.

Saying no to things that over promise but under deliver. A compelling life has to deal with a core problem that we all face; sin. Sin slowly sucks the life out of us, but when we start to see it for what it is the appeal is lost.

Wish you could sit down with God and have a discussion? Wondering if there are answers? What do you do with those thoughts and wonderings?

The question has been asked over and over again. If the answer is that he is real, then who is he and can we know him?

Can we really trust the Bible? What about what seem to be discrepancies in stories and events that are beyond the natural? How did God use many different people over the course of history to reveal himself, his heart, will, and love for us?

This question is one that more and more of us are asking. Is faith like a buffet where we get to choose whatever option we like best? Let’s honestly look at what other faiths believe so we can see more clearly the uniqueness found in Christianity.

More people seek the answer to this question than any other. Let’s struggle together to find God in the midst of the struggle.

Why would I follow Jesus? What difference does it make? Could he really make a difference in my life?

What if we could all discover a sweet spot in building the kingdom of God? Could it actually be that there is special wiring of our lives that when connected with others makes an eternal difference?

Let’s discover – together – what it is to find that sweet spot that brings amazing joy, deep impact, and shapes and re-shapes a community and world.

What is it to have God gain a monopoly in our lives? What if he had exclusive control of everything? What would it look like if we tapped into the infinite wisdom of the God who gets it financially?

Generosity has a contagious quality about it. When we give to those in need God grace expands into our lives and the people around us. Then we will start to experience what God calls a “Cheerful Giver” and we discover the hilarious side of a generous lifestyle.

In our community where economics and resources scream scarcity, how can God be a God of abundance, generosity, overflowing liberality and surpassing grace? Discover how God wants to do more with less in us and through us… it really is indescribable!

REAL SIMPLE - PART 1: Reduce

REAL SIMPLE - PART 2:

REAL SIMPLE - PART 3:

REAL SIMPLE - PART 4:

FIRE - PART 1: Feeling the Heat. The God you want and don’t want to connect with - Why most of us don’t sense a closeness with God

FIRE - PART 2: Wet Wood. Most of us want to live close to God - to live near the fire. So why don't we? Today, we explore some of the factors that keep us from the flame.

FIRE - PART 3: Grace on Fire. It’s not about rules it’s about relationship – why the checklist will never satisfy the longings of our heart

FIRE - PART 4: Community on Fire. We aren’t in this alone – people are vital to following Christ.

FIRE - PART 5: Faith on Fire. The faith dilemma – why measuring your quantity of faith has little to do with Biblical faith.

FIRE - PART 6: First Fire. What it means to place Him first in all things.

FIRE - PART 7: Living in His Love, Following His lead

You are being called to serve your own community in radical self-sacrificing ways. The challenge is for us to bust out of our selfishness and reprioritize our lives so we can serve. Barbara will be sharing practical examples from around the country of what other churches and communities are doing to transform cities. You will be inspired by her stories of average and ordinary “street saints” who are making a dramatic difference!

Economic hardship is rampant throughout the Tri-Cities. Poverty can be an all consuming crisis that leaves us with little time or energy for anything else. This seminar will help give you a sensitivity to people in poverty and equip you to walk alongside them and share God’s love.

Economic hardship is rampant throughout the Tri-Cities. Poverty can be an all consuming crisis that leaves us with little time or energy for anything else. This seminar will help give you a sensitivity to people in poverty and equip you to walk alongside them and share God’s love.

God wired each of us up differently and we all bring our unique background and experience into the ministry. This seminar will help you discover where God is leading and get you headed in the right direction.

Adult mentors provide opportunities for today’s youth to learn needed skills, have someone else to count on, and learn about God. This workshop will include information on the types of mentoring you can become involved with, statistics and success stories demonstrating how mentoring makes a difference, and keys to building a successful mentoring relationship.

GLOBAL OUTREACH FOCUS - PART 1: Barbara Elliott: Street Saints Barbara Elliot from the Center for Renewal will be calling us to serve our own community in radical self-sacrificing ways. The challenge is for us to bust out of our selfishness and reprioritize our lives so we can serve. Barbara will be sharing practical examples from around the country of what other churches and communities are doing to transform cities. You will be inspired by her stories of average and ordinary “street saints” who are making a dramatic difference!

GLOBAL OUTREACH FOCUS - PART 2: Change: Moving from Stuck to Significant. Do you ever feel like your stuck in a rut and can’t seem to see how your life is really making a impact. This Sunday we will explore the places where the disciples got stuck and how Jesus moved them toward significant impact. Ordinary people can have an extraordinary impact when they understand and stay focused on the mission. Together will move from stuck toward significance.

CONVERSATIONS - PART 1: Dennis Jackson reports on his Sabbatical Journey

CONVERSATIONS - PART 2: Conversations In the Shade. Jesus connects with my doubts

CONVERSATIONS - PART 3: Conversations In the Night. Jesus connects with my spirituality

CONVERSATIONS - PART 4: Conversations at the Water Cooler. Jesus connects with my secrets.

CONVERSATIONS - PART 5: Pool Side Conversations. Jesus connects with my deepest needs.

Terri Stewart's testimony

SNAPSHOTS - PART 1: Have you ever wondered why God picked one nation? The birth of the nation of Israel gives us a glimpse of God’s heart.

SNAPSHOTS - PART 2: God uniquely placed His people at the crossroads of the world so they could impact the surrounding nations. Perhaps He has uniquely placed you to impact your world.

SNAPSHOTS - PART 3: Do you ever feel like you just don’t fit in and you’re not even sure if you want to? Daniel understood what it was like to be used by God in a hostile environment. The best place for us to be might just be in enemy territory.

SNAPSHOTS - PART 4: God made it clear that He has a special place in His heart for the hurting and lonely so we should too. Any community that says they believe in God must take a serious look at how they treat those around them who are less fortunate.

SNAPSHOTS - PART 5: It’s been said that a great church is not measured by its seating capacity but rather its sending capacity. Come and learn about a church that was serious about sending its best out.

SNAPSHOTS - PART 6: Watch the news and you’ll figure out real quick that our world is a mess. Jesus didn’t just “watch the news” he got others involved in making the world a better place. Come and join the team.

SNAPSHOTS - PART 7: Boil down your life’s mission and what do you find? God is always about restoring what has been broken and you are His secret weapon for getting the job done.

THE REAL SECRET - PART 1: Do you ever wonder how God is Father, Son and Holy Spirit? How this One God and Three distinct persons really operate? Is this concept of the Trinity really Biblical?

THE REAL SECRET - PART 2: How does God reveal Himself to us? Why does He want us to know Him? What part do we play in understanding His revelation? How does this change how we live?

THE REAL SECRET - PART 3: Have you ever wondered where real joy comes from? Jesus’ life, ministry and this prayer in (John 17) reveals a surprising secret to lasting joy.

THE REAL SECRET - PART 4: Comfort and safety are two values that Americans hold dearly. However, it might surprise you to learn that real comfort and peace in life comes from stepping out in faith and connecting to God’s work in the world. Getting a little uncomfortable is when we find real comfort!

THE REAL SECRET - PART 5: Are you often tempted to "go it alone"? Do you ever feel like you should just be able to suck it up, be strong and handle things on your own? Many of us so often avoid 'the secret of us" - the reality that God made us to lean on each other to make life work.

THE REAL SECRET - PART 6: Why does God reveal Himself to us? What does He want from us and for us?