Seneca Community Church Messages

Have you ever experienced déjà vu? If you have, how does it make you feel? What does it mean to you? Within the framework of the movie “The Matrix,” déjà vu is a warning. What should it mean to a Christ follower? Join us as we find out how David responded to yet another risky opportunity and what it means for us when we have "spiritual déjà vu." If you get a chance, read 1 Samuel 26:1-25 (page 203 in an SCC chair rack Bible).

Who is the wisest person you know? Not to be harsh, but do you know any fools (or people who have acted foolishly)? Last week, we saw that David took a risk and it turned out to be a God-given faith-building opportunity. This week, we'll see how Nabal, David, and Abigail reacted to the situation they were in. One of them acted like a fool, one acted rashly, and one acted with wisdom and was the hero of the story. Join us as we find out how having a rich relationship with God can help us be wise. If you get a chance, read 1 Samuel 25:1-44 (page 201 in an SCC chair rack Bible).

We have all come across opportunities in life that seemed risky. Sometimes we take them and they go south. Sometimes they turn out great! Sometimes we hesitate and miss out.  Join us as we look at 1 Samuel 24:1-22 (page 201 in an SCC chair rack Bible) and find out if David rushed, missed, or took a God-given faith-building opportunity.

God is faithful to make me faithful to Him. How do I respond to His faithfulness? Join us as we look at the parable of the talents (Matthew 25:14-30) to see what a faithful response to God looks like.

Faithfulness is a word we say a lot in Christian circles but it’s not just a Christian word. People use it in the context of relationships, work commitments, and more. But what does it mean? How does it change the way we see ourselves and how does it change the way we see God? Come find out as we explore Hebrews 10:19-25. Join us as Josh DePasacreta, our new Associate Pastor, explores the theme of faithfulness in scripture, which shows us (sneak peak) that we need a new heart and that God's heart is always faithful.

Congratulations, you've made it to the end of June! For many of us, this is an extremely busy time of year and we can wind up feeling depleted. When you feel “all used up,” where is the place you look to be refreshed? Back in the day, we were told to "Take the Nestea plunge!" (Look up "Nestea Plunge" on Youtube to find the old commercials.) While there is nothing wrong with a refreshing glass of iced tea when you are thirsty, we can look to the Bible for where to find real refreshment for our lives. Join us as we wrap up our message series, Life Hacks: When You Just Need a Better Way, with Part 10: Refreshed and hear about the ultimate life hack God has laid out for us. If you have the chance, prepare by reading Proverbs 11:25 and Matthew 16:25.

Maintaining sexual purity can be a significant challenge, especially in our sexually charged culture. It would be easy for us to think sexual purity is impossible or no big deal but fortunately God hasn’t left us as prisoners to ourselves or our environment. Look up and read 1 Thessalonians 4:1-8. What motivation and steps do these verses give us to combat this challenge? Join us Sunday as we continue our message series, Life Hacks: When You Just Need a Better Way, with Part 9: Set Apart and look at God's plan for sexual intimacy. Parents, this Sunday's message will contain some PG-13 content. This does not necessarily mean your child shouldn't listen to the message, but that this will be a good opportunity for discussion in your household.

How do you feel about Mondays? Most people love them or hate them. Do you think your opinion about Mondays reflects how you feel about your work? How do you think God wants you to view your work? Last Sunday we started a Life Hacks message about God's plan for work. Join us this Sunday as we continue with Part 8b: Who's the Boss. If you have a chance, prepare by reading Ephesians 6:5–9 (page 801 in an SCC chair rack Bible).

What was your first job? What did you like about it? What did you not like about it? How do you feel about work now? For most of us, whether we love our job or not, work is a necessary part of life. Join us as we continue our message series, Life Hacks: When You Just Need a Better Way, with Part 8: Who's the Boss and look at God's plan for work. Whether you are the boss or aren't, it all comes down to attitude! If you have a chance, prepare by reading Ephesians 6:5–9.

How do you feel about this statement: "How I relate to my parents will affect every other relationship in my life"? For the past six weeks, we've been looking at God's plan for different relationships in our lives. This Sunday, we'll focus on the child-parent relationship, especially how it changes as we age. Join us as we continue our message series, Life Hacks: When You Just Need a Better Way, with Part 7: The Great Role Reversal. If you have a chance, prepare by reading Ephesians 6:1-4.

What do vacuum cleaners and the dog house have in common? Actually a lot! Join us for Part 6 our message series, Life Hacks: When You Just Need a Better Way, as we see how vacuum cleaners can speak to the health of relationships, especially a marriage. What at first may seem funny or cute can open our eyes and then hearts to stronger relationships and better ways.

If you caught our Sunday service two weeks ago, you'll remember that we started a message that looked deeper into everyone's favorite topic, submission. (If you need to, catch up at senecacommunitychurch.com/life-hacks.) We didn't have time to finish it then, so we're picking it back up this week! This message isn't just for married couples, but for all Christ-followers no matter where they are on their faith journey.

This weekend, we celebrate mothers and all women who have made a difference in our lives! All ladies are invited to stop by the tables in the Commons on Sunday and choose a plant to take home as our gift to you and everyone is welcome to join us for light refreshments after service. Speaking of mothers and making a difference, most of us are in a position of influence over someone. Whether it's our kids, our grandkids, other kids in our families, kids at our jobs, or children's ministries, many of us interact with children or young adults regularly. I promise you, those kids are watching you! They are learning by watching how you treat them and others around you. What are they seeing when they watch you? Are you making following Jesus attractive? Join us as we continue our message series, Life Hacks: When You Just Need a Better Way, with Part 4: Walk This Way and look at parenting and discipleship. If you have a chance, prepare by reading Mark 10:13–16 (page 690 in an SCC chair rack Bible).

In every society that has moved towards a Christ-centered worldview, women and children fare better. What do you think about this statement? What causes the truth behind it? Why is not always accepted as true today? Ephesians 5:21 says, "Submit to one another out of reverence for Christ." Do we always follow that direction? If we did, would that affect what people think about Christians? Join us as we continue our message series, Life Hacks: When You Just Need a Better Way, with Part 3: "What Way? No Way!" and look at how following Christ involves submission. If you have a chance, prepare by reading Ephesians 5:21-24.

No matter where we are in our faith journey, we all face difficult circumstances - times in our lives when it would be easy for fear to cause us to lose sight of what matters most. Join us this Sunday as Josh DePasacreta, the candidate being presented as our Associate Pastor specializing in Youth Ministry, shares a message based on Hebrews 12:1-2, as we look at the question: "When I'm facing fear, how do I have faith?"

Last week, in the first installment of Life Hacks (Part 1: God's Best), we learned that awareness of time must be governed by being filled by the Spirit. (Refresh your memory by reading Ephesians 5:18b-21, page 801 in an SCC chair rack Bible.) Paul lists four expressions as examples of being filled: speaking, singing, thanking, and submitting. Why is that last one the hardest to wrap our heads (and hearts) around? Join us as we continue our new message series, Life Hacks: When You Just Need a Better Way, with Part 2: Submission, and look at how submission fits into the life of a Christ-follower.

The internet is full of life hacks, shortcuts, tips to make your life simpler or easier. Some are great ideas, some are silly, some are a dead end. But why do we seek them out? Why are they so popular? The answer is simple - we don't want to waste our time! Time is a precious commodity and we want to spend it on what is important to us. Join us as we start our new message series, Life Hacks: When You Just Need a Better Way, and look at how following Christ and wanting His best for our lives affects how we use our time. If you have a chance, prepare by reading Ephesians 5:15-21.

Have you ever been in a tornado, hurricane, earthquake, or really big storm? What happened? Would you consider that a good day or a bad day?  Join us for our final installment of Jesus Never Said That... - Part 4: "You won't have bad days." We will look at how Jesus never promised us that we would only have good days and how we can be thankful for that promise! If you have a chance, prepare by reading Matthew 7:24–29 (page 662 in an SCC chair rack Bible).

We're all familiar with the phrase, "caught with your hand in the cookie jar!" Has that ever happened to you - with an actual cookie jar or something else? What is your best "getting caught" story? Did you get what you deserved? The idea of getting what you deserve is popular in our society, isn't it? Think about a time when someone could have given you what you deserved, but they gave you grace instead. Then join us for Jesus Never Said That... Part 3, as we look at the Easter story and through Jesus' death and resurrection, see how God doesn't give us what we deserve.

3/29/2024 (Good Friday) - Jesus Never Said That... - Part 2: "Go do what makes you happy." by Dave Spencer