Northplace Church Podcast

define Culture is “The way we do things here.” It’s the unwritten but understood and agreed upon way things work in a family, an office, a church or your life for that matter. The importance of culture is often overlooked because the things that make up culture are intangible. The things that make up the culture of your life…or of the culture of the organizations you’re a part of…are under the surface. So…we often ignore culture. But here’s what we said last week: Culture is the foundation of vision. If the culture of your life is toxic, unhealthy or undefined, it really doesn’t matter how powerful your vision for your life is, it will never flourish in a toxic culture. One of those key ingredients in our culture is generosity, and we believe that generosity is one of the most important components to the Northplace culture.

ulture is the foundation of vision. The culture of your life is the foundation that your life’s vision will be built on. If you have a weak, toxic, or undefined culture, your vision doesn’t stand a chance. It’s true in an individual life and true for any organization.The culture of an organization is a difficult thing to define in concrete terms because there are so many intangible things that make up a culture. For a church it’s a complex blend of beliefs, attitudes, traditions, and practices that end up defining the congregation. Every church has a set of beliefs, they may even have great vision and value statements beautifully displayed on their website or hanging in the halls of their buildings, but far too often what they say they believe is inconsistent with their actions.This is why Culture is more powerful than vision.Just as soil quality influences the potential outcomes of a field, the culture of a church establishes the environment that often predetermines the effectiveness of God’s work within tha

There’s a big difference between generational patterns and generational curses. While it may sound like a subtle difference in terminology, the end result in our lives is not subtle. The way you label and what you believe about the sins, habits and hang-ups in your life will determine the level of freedom you live in (or don’t live in).Here’s the definition of the word curse:A solemn utterance intended to invoke a supernatural power to inflict harm or punishment on someone or something.Then that would mean that a generational or ancestral curse would be something that previous generations of your family did that assigned a supernatural power to inflict harm or punishment on you. Something you were destined to live with; something that wasn't your choice.It leads us to this question, "Why are people so ready to buy-in to the concept of a generational curse?" So many people are ready to buy-in to the concept of generational curse, because it’s easier to blame somebody else than take responsibilit

Your situation may be difficult. It may be tough. You may deserve to be treated a certain way. Oftentimes, we miss the opportunities that God presents to us to show his glory and show his power because for many of us, that sense of entitlement, that sense of demanding my own way,  gets in the way. We feel like we've got to fight for our rights. We feel like we've got to fight for what we deserve. And yet what the book of Esther teaches us over and over again, is that you and I, don't have to fight for ourselves. We don't have to demand our own way. We don't have to force people to know who we are and what we're all about. The book of Esther teaches us that we serve a God who is big enough that even when the world is against us, even when circumstances are overwhelming, He is fighting for us.A message from Randy  Freeman Northplace Durban, South Africa, Campus Pastor.

Here’s the setting: Jesus is a few hours from his crucifixion and his disciples are still clueless as to what’s about to happen. On the calendar, it was the Jewish celebration of Passover. So, Jesus calls his disciples together to celebrate the Passover meal. This would be His “last supper” and would become the model for us every time we come to the Lord’s Table to take communion. There’s a set order to the Jewish Passover meal. It progresses through certain foods, and certain cups with specific scripture readings and hymns in between each selection of food and drink. Jesus would have been following that protocol as we come to Matthew 26. Let’s look at it.Matthew 26:26-30 NLT26 As they were eating, Jesus took some bread and blessed it. Then he broke it in pieces and gave it to the disciples, saying, “Take this and eat it, for this is my body.”27 And he took a cup of wine and gave thanks to God for it. He gave it to them and said, “Each of you drink from it, 28 for this is my blood, which confirms the covenant

This message is titled "Come Home Crippled Prince," because that was the invitation David gave to Mephibosheth and it’s the invitation the King is offering to you today. The title is intentionally worded as an invitation because we believe there are some crippled princes and princesses who are watching this message who need to find the covering of grace at the Father’s table. There are some crippled sons and daughters watching online that need to find their way back to the Father’s table. No matter where you’ve been, no matter what you’ve done…just come home. Visit our website for the video of this message.  Northplace Church on FacebookNorthplace Church on InstagramPastor Bryan Jarrett on FacebookPastor Bryan Jarrett on InstagramPastor Bryan Jarrett on Twitter

Romans 16 is the last chapter in Paul’s Magnum Opus; his greatest gift to us, his masterpiece. The book of Romans is the book of books in the Bible. More details are given in the book of Romans regarding the transformed Christian life and what living for Christ looks like in the real world, than any other New Testament book.The 16th chapter is easy to overlook because it is a list of greetings to people with hard to pronounce names. After reading through the weightiness of the first 15 chapters, Chapter 16 feels like an insignificant - easy to skip - list of personal salutations. But if you skip it, you miss looking through a window into the soul of the early church. It gives you a glimpse of what life was like when Christianity was in its purest form - before it was stained by institutions, politicians, egos, heresies and religious corruption. Studying Romans 16 - not just skimming it - is like getting in a time machine and traveling back in time. And if we can go back, we can learn what a gospel-centered ch

Is it possible to persevere through pain? Follow along on this message from guest speaker Scotty Gibbons, as he shares his story of pain.The Apostle Paul in 2 Corinthians 12:8-9 TLB says: "Three different times I begged God to make me well again. Each time he said, “No. But I am with you; that is all you need. My power shows up best in weak people.”"  Here are three main takeaways from this message: 1.  Don’t allow what you don’t understand about God to keep you from trusting what you do understand about him.2.  Refuse to waste your pain.3.  Think long term.Visit our website for the video of this message.  Northplace Church on FacebookNorthplace Church on InstagramPastor Bryan Jarrett on FacebookPastor Bryan Jarrett on InstagramPastor Bryan Jarrett on Twitter

Does the Bible talk about laughter? What does laughter mean to the Christian life? What does laughter mean to life in general? Laughter is a subject that isn't always discussed in church and ministry. Have you ever heard any anybody deliver a sermon on the value of laughter?But as we find in scripture, surprisingly, there’s more information on this topic than we can have time to share in one sermon. There may very well be a part “2” to this message. Most people don’t put humor and church in the same universe. Religious people are often so pious, staunch, and somber that they insinuate that laughing is sacrilegious; and yet one of the evidences that you have genuinely come to Christ is the presence of joy in your life. Listen to what Paul says to the Galatians:Galatians 5:22-2322 But the Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, and self-control. There is no law against these things!Visit our website for the video of

When the prosperous no longer recognize the source of their prosperity, they become ungrateful. And their ingratitude eventually evolves into greed. By eliminating God from our national conversation, we eliminate our ability to publicly recognize the source of our prosperity. This arrogance will ultimately eat away at our national conscience; our national sense of OUGHT and OUGHT NOT. Why? Because when we eliminate God from the national conversation, we lose our conscience as a nation. Every man will do what is RIGHT in his own eyes. If there is no God.  There’s no one to be grateful toward. There’s no one to be accountable to. If there is no moral accountability, there is no moral consensus regarding right and wrong. When we as a nation believed in God and his word, our laws where established and interpreted from his principles. But when we, as a nation, stopped following his word; we began passing laws that aligned with our whims and pleasures and those laws started replacing our national conscience.Visit o

How do I know if I’m a citizen of God’s kingdom?What are my responsibilities as a citizen of God’s kingdom?Are there any rights or privileges to being a citizen of God’s kingdom?The best place to answer these questions is by looking at one of my favorite portions the New Testament: Ephesians 2, where Paul defines in detail the nature of the church and what it means to be a citizen of the kingdom. Here's what he says in just few short verses:Ephesians 2:18-22 NIV18 For through him (Jesus), we both have access to the Father by one Spirit. 19 Consequently, you are no longer foreigners and strangers, but fellow citizens with God’s people and also members of his household, 20 built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the chief cornerstone. 21 In him the whole building is joined together and rises to become a holy temple in the Lord. 22 And in him you too are being built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by his Spirit.Visit our website for the video of th

Years ago we made a decision to challenge men on days like father's day, but also honor them. It’s not that we're ignoring the statistics. It’s been proven over and over again, that passive and absent men have long-lasting, generationally-impacting, devastating consequences on children, on churches, and on nations. And while it seems like every societal problem we face is traced back to some dude not doing his duty, that negative reality points to something incredibly positive for men: influence. That reality speaks to the limitless influence men wield; for the good or the bad, sir, you wield a lot of influence.  It’s an influence most men don’t even realize they possess, or at least they underestimate the power of the influence they possess. Gentlemen, instead of berating you today, I want you to rediscover the unlimited power of your influence over children, families, churches and nations. You have to be aware of it, and then you have to be committed to stewarding that influence.Visit our website

We know that many of you come from backgrounds that are unfamiliar with the work of the Holy Spirit or even in some cases you were taught against it. Our hope is that this talk brings fresh insight, recommend resources for further study, and invite you on a journey to experience the active power of the Spirit at work in your life.There’s also a danger for those of you who grew up in an environment that celebrated the work of the Spirit. We often bring a certain paradigm or expectation of what we think it’s supposed to look like when the Holy Spirit is active in our lives and in our church. And we often have a tendency of trying to force God and everybody else into our box of experience. We can’t let nostalgia, culture, tradition, or denominational expectation set the parameters for the work of the Spirit. The word of God must always set those parameters. Here’s what Paul says to the Ephesians:Ephesians 2:22 NIV22 And in him you too are being built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by his Spirit

There is a liberty and freedom found in walking in obedience to Christ that can’t be found any other way. But there are so many competing and conflicting views in our culture that would argue with that. So let’s back way up and have a conversation about truth. Before we can talk about obedience we need to talk about the truth we’re supposed to be obeying. Those of us who are Christ followers believe that God’s Word is something that checks throughout. It’s perfectly consistent. It’s completely trustworthy and cannot let us down. But if you would’ve asked Leonard Bernstein: Do you believe there's a God who has spoken and given us truth? He would have said, “no”. He found consistency and faithfulness in the one area he knew best: music. For Bernstein, music was something that checks throughout. It’s absolutely consistent. You trust it and it will never let you down. The most plausible reason why Bernstein felt the way he did - why we all feel the way we do - is because we’re all longing for something outsi

Memorial Day began in the years immediately following the Civil War. But until World War II, most people knew it as “Decoration Day.” It was a day to decorate the graves of fallen soldiers with flowers and flags. It was a time to remember those who had given, as Lincoln beautifully said, “the last full measure of devotion” …to defend their nation. It was a day to remember what the honored dead had died to defend.It’s been 154 years since General Lee surrendered to General Grant at Appomattox, Virginia… effectively ending America’s Civil War…a national nightmare that filled over 625,000 American graves with dead soldiers. Since then, other international nightmares in Europe, North Africa, the Pacific Rim, Asia, and the Middle East have ravaged the world and put more than 650,000 additional Americans into war graves. Memorial Day weekend is an important national moment. Its significance is far greater than long weekends and barbecues. We would be wise to remember the great price so many have paid to preserve th

Mat_16:24-25 NKJV"(24)  Then Jesus said to His disciples, "If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me.(25)  For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it."What does this mean? How does this work? If what it takes to keep your life is losing it; it is important to understand what it means to lose it.Visit our website for the video equivalent of this message.  Northplace Church on FacebookNorthplace Church on InstagramPastor Bryan Jarrett on FacebookPastor Bryan Jarrett on InstagramPastor Bryan Jarrett on Twitter

While on the surface…a message on the power of forgiveness…may seem better suited for another day…this may just be the perfect day. The majority of the unforgiveness, bitterness, and deepest offenses in our lives come from relationships within our families and those closest to us. With that mind…please understand…the application of this message isn’t just for mom’s or even those struggling with honoring their moms. This is a challenge to all of us…in every area of our lives…and I believe our response to this message will determine whether we find freedom or remain in a prison of bitterness and unforgiveness.Visit our website for the video equivalent of this message.  Northplace Church on FacebookNorthplace Church on InstagramPastor Bryan Jarrett on FacebookPastor Bryan Jarrett on InstagramPastor Bryan Jarrett on Twitter

Your sense of self is that durable core that defines who you are regardless of the situation. You wear a lot of hats, you have a lot of roles in life, you find yourself in a lot of different situations, but your “sense of self” is the part of you that is the foundation…the durable of core…of who you are that doesn’t change, regardless of your hat, your role or your situation. On the other hand, your sense of worth comes from the things that make you feel significant, worthy and confident in your value. This combination of your “sense of self” and your “sense of worth” is how you get your identity.Visit our website for the video equivalent of this message.  Northplace Church on FacebookNorthplace Church on InstagramPastor Bryan Jarrett on FacebookPastor Bryan Jarrett on InstagramPastor Bryan Jarrett on Twitter

Shame is the painful emotion caused by a consciousness of guilt or shortcoming or impropriety. Shame can be to your soul what pain is to your body. Regardless of the source of you shame - if you shame is curse or cure - there is a remedy in God’s grace.Visit our website for the video equivalent of this message.  Northplace Church on FacebookNorthplace Church on InstagramPastor Bryan Jarrett on FacebookPastor Bryan Jarrett on InstagramPastor Bryan Jarrett on Twitter

Traditionally the church has taught the Christmas and Easter stories as if they are two distinct and separate stories. We compartmentalize them. The Christmas story is the story of Jesus robing himself in human flesh. We call it the Incarnation; which simply means “to put on flesh”. In the Incarnation, God took on human skin. Jesus Christ, the Son of God, became Jesus Christ the Son of Man - He became one of us.On the other hand, Easter is the story of the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus. And while our celebrations of these events are only separated by a few months, they seem to be miles apart in our minds. But the story of God is one congruent story and when you disconnect the parts from each other, you end up missing something. So, let’s think about them as one complete story. Let’s look at Easter through the lenses of Christmas.Visit our website for the video equivalent of this message.  Northplace Church on FacebookNorthplace Church on InstagramPastor Bryan Jarrett on FacebookPastor Bryan Jarrett