Northplace Church Podcast

As we begin the Advent and Christmas season and end this year-long bible engagement journey, we want to finish it the way we started it: by pointing you back to the bigger story. And as we do, it not only helps you understand the whole bible more clearly, but you’re going to understand and appreciate the meaning of Christmas in a way you never have before.

Aristotle, immersed in the pantheon of Greek gods, thought it was totally absurd to think that a human being could be a friend of the gods. Aristotle said friendship was an impossibility because humans and the divine share absolutely nothing in common.Is it absurd to think that man could be a friend of God? Yes. But is it possible? According to scripture...Yes. It’s a beautiful absurdity...but a stunning possibility.And it’s only possible because the God of Christianity is very different from any other deity throughout all of history.

What does it look like to live a spirit-filled life? If we are truly empowered by the Spirit, shouldn’t that be noticeable in our work life, in our relationships, in our witness? If so, how?Far too many of us live lives that are too much like our friends and neighbors who don’t follow Christ. We’re living an everyday life when a supernatural life is available to us. We’re living beneath our privilege as sons and daughters of God.Project Rescuehttps://forms.ministryforms.net/embed.aspx?formId=fa9ab3d6-70fd-403a-ba47-fd5b63d77a8a

Over the last several weeks, we’ve been looking into various aspects that define the “church”, not just a particular local church but the Lord’s church globally (and eternally). In the Great Commission, you see an underlying principle recurring throughout the bible. Once we realize the depth of God’s grace that has been given to us, gratitude will overflow from our hearts. We will want to pay it forward. We will want others to know and experience what we now know and have experienced.Give to Project Rescue Herehttps://forms.ministryforms.net/embed.aspx?formId=fa9ab3d6-70fd-403a-ba47-fd5b63d77a8a

Over the last few weeks, we've been discussing the reawakening of our love for the church. Not the building, not a denomination, not a certain ministry, but the beautiful, complex, diverse, global, and eternal family of God. His Church.This week, Pastor Bryan brings clarity to misconceptions about heaven in order to come to a true, biblical understanding that would infuse a future-focused hope into our present journey through life.

Will you prepare your heart and your life to be a place where God dwells?There is something unique, powerful...even holy, and supernatural about the collective worship of God’s people when we gather. In week 2 of The Church Defined series, we will discover how worship is defined and lived out in the context of The Church.

Guest speaker and one of Northplace's teaching pastors, Scotty Gibbons, joins us this week with a powerful message about how to respond when life has not panned out the way we thought it would.

The church has been chosen by God the Father, purchased by Christ the Son, and empowered by the Holy Spirit. The church is a sacred family that should be cherished and recognized as “dear” by all who call her home. But referring to something as “dear” is not all that common in our culture...especially, when thinking about the church.The goal of this sermon (and the next few weeks) is to help all of us rediscover and reawaken our love for the church. If you’re struggling to value the church or see the beauty in it, these next few weeks are for you.

Last week, we focused on the previous part of chapter 12 and saw the practical advice the writer of Hebrews gives on “how to get” or “how to build” an unshakable life. But today, we want to back up and look at the earlier parts of this passage where the author compares and contrasts the shakable life from the unshakable.

Adversity reveals who you really are. When the earth gives way underneath you or when the storm rages around you. When the shaking starts, it’s going to expose you for who you really are. So here's the question: What will wash up on the shore of other people’s lives after the biggest storm of your life?There will be things shaken loose that scatter from the storm of our life that will invariably impact the lives of people we are in relationship with.

If we study the Gospel message from the Angel and the appropriate wayMary responds to it; it will help us determine if we are truly Christians.It leaves us with the question: Have YOU truly understood and appropriately responded to the gospel?Luke 1:26-38

When we read this description of Jesus' lineage, and see it the way God intends us to, it becomes a literal summation of the story of grace that has unfolded throughout the Old Testament. It’s like Matthew is kicking off the New Testament with this genealogy saying to us: Here is a summation of the story so far.The Gospel isn’t a story about how to live your life better. It’s not some “once upon a time” sweet little fairy tale about how to live a more moral life. It’s not advice. The Gospel is the announcement of what Jesus has already done. All we have to do to be saved is respond to that announcement. We must bow our knees to the king who fought the battle to save us.

If there is one thing God cannot do, is change. Changing his character, His ways, His nature, is not even a possibility. God’s promise to us is that He will never do that. And the promise of God’s immutability, His unchanging nature, is where we can anchor our lives in an ever-changing world of chaos, uncertainty, and ambiguity.

Join us with Dr. Oss, as we take a deep dive into the book of Psalms. 

There are going to be moments in your life when the lights go out. Where you’re having to follow God in the dark. When the promises of God you read in his word (or that He’s whispered into your heart) that at one time were so clear and certain. There will come a time when they will seem like an allusion. It will all seem like an impossibility.We spend so much of our lives living in that space. Where our God seems silent and our problems are very loud. Where God seems distant and obscure and our suffering is not.And if you’re in that space today, this is one more nudge of the HolySpirit calling you to stiffen your spine, stand firm in your faith, and trust in the faithfulness of your God.

Abraham is considered “Father Abraham”...the “Father of Our Faith” because of the radicle obedience referenced here in Hebrews 11:8. Every follower of Jesus can trace their spiritual ancestry back to this single step of faith. We’re sitting here today as followers of Jesus because Abraham made that courageous decision to honor God with irrational obedience.The defining moments of your life will usually come down to a decision between your personal comfort or your irrational obedience to God.

If, like many American Christians, you see God as a divine bellhop that can be ordered around at your whim, or a genie that’s simply supposed to grant your wishes or some type of Santa Claus that’s just there to fulfill your requests, you’re going to have a hard time processing the God revealed in the scriptures today.But, if you can learn to trust the character, the goodness, the sovereignty, and the timing of (this often-misunderstood God), that we see in the scriptures, your life will have far more peace and your spirit will be far more at rest, than the average churchgoer or person who claims to be a Christian.

Our culture is absolutely obsessed with appearance. There are even companiesyou can hire to help you manage your image. But God is not impressed by our image management. He couldn’t care less. He doesn’t judge a person by appearance, achievements, accomplishments, acquisitions, education, or wealth. He’s more concerned about the authentic internal you--the purity and integrity of your heart.If you have integrity, there’s not a church version of you and a different work version of you. If you have integrity, the Friday night (or vacation you) is the same as the “Sunday morning in church” you.Integrity means you don't pretend to be something you're not and you’re not always changing based on who you’re with at the moment.

Far too many people come to church on the weekends, raise their hands in worship, give, pray, even get emotional when they sense the presence of God, and yet walk out of here and be someone totally different at work, or at home, or with the girls on that night out, or with boys out on the town because they’ve compartmentalized their life to rationalize two sets of behaviors, and people who do that don’t have integrity. They're living duplicitous, double-standard lives. It’s almost as if this scenario is more normal than a Christian who is righteous, consistent, and lives a blameless life. It may be normal in American Christianity but it’s not the expectations set out in God’s word for his people.

He is the God who sees our tears, but do we see His tears for us?This week we are looking at one of God’s most forgotten aspects found in the book of Ezekiel … God as a lover.God comes and says I want to be the husband and lover of the church. God is a Smitten Lover, a Wounded Lover, and a Faithful Lover. This is why we need to understand that our sin is more than just breaking God’s law; our sin is what breaks God’s heart. You become a slave to what you love and seek.