Northplace Church Podcast

We can't overstate the impact of attitude in a person’s life. Outside of our relationship with Jesus, there’s probably no other factor that will determine your success or failure more in life. And you’ve probably noticed that attitudes run in groups. In other words, individual attitudes attract people with similar attitudes. And you can often see certain attitudes passed down from one generation to another, so much so, that families are commonly known by their attitudes. We have the old story of the two fighting families… the Hatfields and the McCoys.Families have distinct attitudes. Businesses have attitudes, the same is true with restaurants, airlines, and churches.Romans 12:2 NLT2 Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect. Don’t miss what Paul is saying. He’s warning us. Don’t copy the world’s way of thinking. As a follower of Christ

Self-Discipline was far and away the most requested quality to talk about during this series. We didn't all ask for self-discipline because we're all so good at it; most of us recognize self-discipline, or the lack of self-discipline, as the most significant growth barrier between who we are and who we want to be.1 Corinthians 9:24-25 NLT24 Don't you realize that in a race everyone runs, but only one person gets the prize? So run to win! 25 All athletes are disciplined in their training. They do it to win a prize…  The minute we start talking about self-discipline, somebody's going to equate self-discipline with will-power immediately. If due to past failures, you've already labeled yourself as someone with no will power, you wrongly assume that a disciplined life is out of reach for you.If you struggle with self-discipline, you don't have a will problem, you have a reward problem. Paul said, the runners in a race run that they might win the prize. The value of the award fuels th

Romans 14:7 NKJV7 For none of us lives to himself, and no one dies to himself.In other words, our lives are forever woven into the fabric of other people’s lives. At work, with family, in the neighborhood, in our hobbies, at church: no man lives to himself. We live influencing others. And no man dies to himself. Even after our deaths, the ripple effect of our influence will impact generations that come after us. None of us lives to himself, and no one dies to himself.Our deeds, our actions, our word, or the words we should have said but didn’t; they’re all a part of our influence (for the good or the bad), that will impact people while we are alive and will continue to impact people after we are gone.We all cast a shadow, and that shadow can be one of healing or one of devastation.

Who you believe yourself to be, determines where you place yourself. You are a child of God.The knowledge that you are a child of God changes everything. It's not the fact of being a child of God, because you are, but knowing and acknowledging that you are indeed a child of God.The awareness of being a child of God tends to stabilize the ego and results in a new courage, fearlessness, and power. I have seen it happen again and again. - Howard ThurmanJohn 10:3 New Living Translation (NLT)3 The gatekeeper opens the gate for him, and the sheep recognize his voice and come to him. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out.

Throughout December, our Christmas and Advent theme has been: Joy to Your World, with an emphasis on “your” world. It’s pretty evident if you have any familiarity with the Christmas story, that the birth of Christ was a monumental event, both historically and spiritually. And that event was marked by incredible joy.On nearly every page of scripture that details the events of the Christmas story, there’s some reference to an expression of extreme joy. The central passage of the Christmas story is the announcement of the birth of Christ by the angelic hosts and the thesis, or the principal theme of that announcement is “great joy.” Listen to it:Luke 2: 8-7 NLT8 That night there were shepherds staying in the fields nearby, guarding their flocks of sheep. 9 Suddenly, an angel of the Lord appeared among them, and the radiance of the Lord’s glory surrounded them. They were terrified, 10 but the angel reassured them. “Don’t be afraid!” he said. “I bring you good news that will bring great joy to all people. 11 The S

We have this sense that God wants you to experience joy at a profoundly personal level. He wants to bring joy to your world, your life, to the people you love and care about. This can’t just be about the general “joy” of the season. It has to be felt and experienced on a personal level for it to impact our lives in a lasting way. Otherwise, we’ll pack up all of our goodwill, peace, love, hope, and joy when we put the Christmas stuff back in storage. The message of God becoming a man…the story of the incarnation…Christmas joy…is so real and so powerful…it has the potential to impact us far beyond December. It has the power to change us.In week one, we talked about Waiting in Joy. In week two, we talked about Receiving Joy. This week, we want to talk about Choosing Joy.To “take” something means you forcefully grab it. You make a choice. It’s intentional. You exert the effort. And to “take” something assumes it’s available for the taking. But to take joy? Really? Joy seems so intangible. So subjective. So fleeti

If you could understand the narrative of the bible, it would fill you with wonder. This righteous, all-powerful, and majestic God that has been continually rejected or ignored by mere mortals continues to pursue us. Not because we are worthy, but because we are wanted. He wants you. He wants me.He wants us so badly that he left the splendor of heaven and robbed himself in the frailty of human flesh. God became a baby. He became a tired fellow traveler with sore feet, so like Sarah, we would see him as gentle, approachable, and accessible.He's the hero from outside us that chose to put himself into the desperation of our human story. He became one of us that he might rescue us. But the wonder, joy, and laughter he promises to bring doesn't fade after you close the back cover the book or slip away in your drive home from the theater. It's a love that lasts, and laughter filled with wonder that springs from the deep places of the soul.

one that is finite. There is a set date on the calendar when the waiting will end, and we know that when we get to the end, we will find something desirable. But much of the waiting that occupies our lives is open-ended.  We spend much of our life waiting on a promise.The most challenging thing about waiting is not knowing when it’s going to end. Waiting brings questions without easy answers. When you’re in long seasons of waiting, you start asking questions like: Should I change course or hold out for my heart’s desire? Is my unfulfilled yearn an indicator of sinful discontentment or merely a blessing God hasn’t yet fulfilled in his sovereign time?All the feel-good Christmas movies intensify the hope of a happy ending in time for Christmas. The lonely find families and the lost make it home. But in the real world, Christmas often comes and goes without fulfilling the longings of our hearts.Advent is about more than anticipating Christmas. The word “advent” signifies “coming.” Yes, we remember that Jesus came

There’s a subtle but significant difference between gratitude and thanksgiving. Where gratitude is a feeling, thanksgiving is an action. The psalmist didn’t say, “enter his gates with gratitude (feeling).” He said, “enter his gates with thanksgiving (action).” There’s something significant about the act of thanksgiving that opens up access to the presence of the King.Gratitude is important. You can’t express genuine acts of thanksgiving without true feelings of gratitude. Otherwise, it’s just a show. It’s not authentic. Nobody wants a cold kiss, especially God. So, the sense of gratitude is essential, but it can’t stop there. We have to act on it. We have to turn our gratitude toward God into action. Thanksgiving is gratitude expressed.Through your words, your worship, your service, your generosity…act on your gratitude.You enter the gates with thanksgiving. Remember,  the gates were not only a place of access, but:A place of Wisdom on Counsel A place of justiceA place of renewalA place of preparation for bat

When we study the Bible from Genesis to Revelation, we can see that there are a lot of things that seem to bring pleasure to the heart of God; things that honor the Lord. We can't escape the thought that it looks like God's love language is seeing His people living a faith-filled life.God continually puts us in situations that require that we love him and serve him by faith. In Matthew, there's a story of a centurion who comes to Jesus and asks him to heal his servant. Jesus was amazed! Jesus was so amazed that the centurion believed Jesus had such authority that he said to those following him, "truly, I tell you, I have not found anyone in Israel with such great faith."Hebrews 11:6 says: "Without faith, it is impossible to please God." It doesn't say it's going to be difficult, it's actually going to be impossible. We like to say things like I walk by faith, not by sight. Yet, it is so challenging to walk by faith. There's often a breakdown between what

When we started this initiative several weeks ago, we wanted everyone listening to understand that the generations before handed our church family an incredible spiritual inheritance. This inheritance is almost 100 years of kingdom impact. Jesus said: To whom much is given, much is required.We need to be asking ourselves: How can we hand off our faith to the next generation? How can we go, give, live, and serve so that our ceiling becomes their floor?We have a call from God to leave them a legacy. We have a call to finish the unfinished task of covering the earth with the glory of God. That's what we want our legacy to be.The difference between Inheritance and Legacy is that: Inheritance is what you receive. Legacy is what you leave.Like Abraham, we have a divine call to leave an eternal legacy. Genesis 12 is to the Old Testament what Matthew 28:19 is to the New Testament. We have been blessed to be a blessing.Our ultimate prayer coming into a day like commitment Sunday was that the Lord would Burden our

We are nearing the end of our study of Abraham’s life, and we’ve left out as much as we’ve discussed. We could spend a year teaching on the historical and spiritual significance of Abraham’s life. The most prominent story of Abraham in the bible is probably the most troubling to modern readers. It’s the story of God asking Abraham to offer Isaac on Mount Moriah.If you summed the whole account up in one word, it’s a story of total and complete surrender. Most Christians know how the story ends. Abraham proceeds to Moriah, preparing an offering to the Lord. As he’s getting to a place of no return, an angel of the Lord stops him, and God provides a ram for the offering.God asked for Isaac, but He never really wanted Isaac. He was after Abraham’s heart. We don’t know to what depths, but somewhere deep within Abraham’s heart, there was a war over who was going to sit on the throne of Abraham’s heart: God or Isaac.God’s gift to Abraham was becoming an idol of his heart. And Abraham’s entire future, including all th

This weekend is our fourth time in as many weeks to come together and learn from Abraham’s life. So far, he’s taught us about legacy, trust, and honor. In our fourth installment in the life of Abraham, he’ll show us about transformation.In the dictionary, the word “transformation” means “a thorough or dramatic change.” But in scripture, when you see the word “transformation,” it takes on an even deeper meaning. For example, take Paul’s comments in Romans 12:Romans 12:2a NLT2 Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think.The Greek word for “transform” here is “metamorphoo,” which is where we get our word metamorphosis. The most common image that comes to mind when thinking of a metamorphosis transformation of a caterpillar into a butterfly: caterpillar—cocoon—butterfly.The transformation that God calls his people to IS “a thorough and dramatic change,” but it's more profound than that…it’s a metamorphosis…it’s you becoming some

At Northplace, we’ve become accustomed to using this statement: We honor up. We honor down. We honor all around. “Honoring Up” means we honor God and those in authority over our lives. “Honoring Down” means we honor younger generations. It means we honor those who serve us in some way, whether it’s the waitress at lunch, the baggage handler at the airport, or the person you pay to mow your yard. “Honoring All Around” means showing honor to your peers and equals.There are some incredible promises in scripture to people who understand and live out the concept of honor. God promises to reward honor. We continue to look at Abraham, but we’ll also look to the New Testament to see how honor invites God’s reward and blessing into our lives.

Abraham shows us how to trust profoundly and doubt with honesty. Trust is not the absence of doubt; it’s obeying God in the face of your uncertainties. And we’ll see from Abraham’s life, how God welcomes and embraces the doubter all while addressing their doubts. It’s titled: The Place of Doubt in Learning to Trust. There’s a big difference between believing and trusting.  You can believe in something but not be ready to put your full weight on it. You subconsciously think it is “belief-worthy,” but not trustworthy. That’s the way too many people approach their relationship with God; they believe in God, but they don’t trust him.Be careful; there’s a lot of preachers out there selling the benefits of walking with God. He will protect. He will provide for you. He will promote you. And the crowds are cheering: Webelieve! We believe! But those blessings don’t come through your belief. Those kinds of covenant blessings come through your trust. 

We begin our journey through the study of Abraham’s life, and I don’t want you to overlook the significance of this study. If you drive through a large US city and pass a church, a mosque, and a synagogue, the worshippers inside of every one of them see themselves as children of Abraham. Three of the world’s largest religions, the majority of the world’s population, look to Abraham as the father of their faith.Too often, when people study Abraham’s life, they see all these big things and the lasting results and residual of his life. That may be true, but there is something so much more significant that it always gets overlooked.Abraham was responding to the call of God. The call of God is what makes your life unique. It’s what sets you apart and marks you for something unique. Now don’t misunderstand what I’m saying here. In our circles, when someone here’s the phrase “the call of God,” we immediately assume the Call to pastoral ministry or preaching or missions.Pastoral ministry is not at all what I’m referr

God put you on this earth for two reasons: 1. That your life would bring him glory 2. That you would use your life fulfill his mission in the world. His mission is that none would perish but all would come to everlasting life. His driving passion is to be in a life-giving, eternity-altering relationship with as many of us as possible.People who are committed to God’s mission in the world can learn from Moses’ life and leadership. He shows us 8 principles that will keep us on mission.1. The credibility of the mission is not measured by the opinions naysayers.2. The journey is always more difficult than first perceived.3. Focusing on vision (the preferred future) does not devalue previous experiences.4. Attitudes and actions should never be determined by personal disappointment.5. God’s mission is indispensable…I am not.6. Gods assignment is not limited by personal deficiency.7. Failure is never final and victory is rarely instantaneous.8. Spiritual victory is a team sport.

Who’s on your team?Who do you have in your life to help you on this journey to pursue God’s mission in the world an honor him with your life? Who’s on your team?The Apostle Paul speaks about a very real conflict we face as believers. A conflict that has traditionally been called: Spiritual Warfare. I’m hesitant to even use the term, not because spiritual warfare isn’t real, but because a lot of people engaged in a lot of really weird, and even heretical things in the name of spiritual warfare. Which leads me to a point that the great Christian writer and thinker CS Lewis made a long time ago.Lewis said when it comes to Satan, the demonic, and spiritual warfare that believers will most often fall into one of two extremes. One, they will deny their existence. Or Two, they will become fascinated with them. Either one of these extremes misses what the bible has to say about this very real conflict.The bible was written to tell God’s story, not Satan’s. Any view of spiritual warfare that magnifies Satan’s power is

We don't know how this message finds you today. Maybe you're in a doorway and there’s a dormant dream that needs to be taken out of the box; maybe you find yourself in a long hallway that you’ve moved you stuff into and made it a permanent place; but you need to get up and keep moving. Maybe you passed through that season and you're looking back asking, what was that all about?!Be looking for your gateway, an open door.Go on, don't stop. Dream again. Just keep moving because there is a gateway at the end of the hallway that only God himself can orchestrate. God will not waste any season. Keep saying, God, I trust you. Dream again.

Courageous faith sets miracles in motion. It’s comprised of sacrificial obedience, complete trust, and total surrender, boldly displayed through tangible acts of faith.Courageous faith is what makes a church take risk. Courageous faith is what keeps us from settling for the status quo. It keeps us dreaming for what seems impossible…planning for things beyond our capacity…and believing for things that make other people think we’ve lost our minds.You can make a decision today, to be a person who takes bold steps of faith and fail; than somebody who lives their life with regret wondering “what if”. May God help us become a people of courageous faith.