Northgate Christian Community

Al and Deb Warner, guest speakers, worked out of the passage of Ezekiel 37. The message concerned people looking at a situation through the eyes of God rather than our own way of thinking and perceiving the world. They brought four main points to share with the congregation. 1) Love: to love the area you are planted in, the people you interact with, and the purpose God has given you. 2) Prayer: to pray for the area you are planted in, the people you connect with, and for the purposes God has for you. 3) Endure: to endure for the area you love and pray for, to endure for the people you love and pray for, and to endure for the purposes in your own lives and others. 4) Expect: to expect for the area you love, pray and endure for, to expect on behalf of the people you have contact with, and to expect for the vision and purposes God has for you, the region, and others.  

Romans 8:28 states: “And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose.” This verse lays out a foundational principle for how we should live our lives. Furthermore, Psalm 118 illustrates what an attitude of Thanksgiving should look like: “Give thanks to the Lord, for He is good; His love endures forever… The Lord is with me; I will not be afraid. What can mere mortals do to me?” (Psalm 118: 1,6). Perception was also discussed during the message. A person’s perception becomes their reality but true reality is found in Christ. This is best portrayed in Colossians 2:16-17: “Therefore do not let anyone judge you by what you eat or drink, or with regard to a religious festival, a New Moon celebration or a Sabbath day. These are a shadow of the things that were to come; the reality, however, is found in Christ.” In this season of thanksgiving, it is important to adhere to the instructions given by Paul in Ephesians 5:20: “always giving tha

Habakkuk 2:14 states: “For the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord as the waters cover the sea.” The focus of the message hinged on the understanding of the definition of glory. The secular definition of glory presents words such as fame, prestige, and honor. However, those words all fall short of the short of glory in God’s eyes. If glory is the goal of all things, it is the goal of our salvation; to be the manifestation of our relationship with God. Isaiah 6:3 further emphasizes the view of glory: “And they (angels) were calling to one another: “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord Almighty; the whole earth is full of His glory.” The glory of God covering the earth is a manifestation of the beauty of God and His character filling the earth, not in part, but the whole earth. You feel glory when you fall in love with His character. Pastor Tommy Reid expressed that as a pastor he wanted to help “make people hungry” then realized that everyone is already spiritually hungry. Other things in

  God’s kingdom is above any kingdom of this earth. In this time of uncertainty and turmoil, Jon reminded us of this verse: Isaiah 9:7…of the increase of His government and peace, there will be no end.”  Keeping that verse in mind, we need to put our hope in Jesus and be at peace because we know who holds the future. Regardless of whether or not we like the outcome of the election, we can be at peace because God’s kingdom is above all. Pastor Jon shared with us the story of David from the Bible and which points us David’s dependency on God. Dependency on the Lord is a vital part of our relationship with the Lord. Overall, we are dependent on a giving, loving, generous God. To illustrate this further, Pastor Jon invited Kate Vacanti of the Let Them Laugh Out Loud Ministry (LOL) to share her story. LOL recently built a new volunteer center next door to NorthGate. The LOL ministry helps provide clean water in Sierra Leone by drilling water wells. Along their building project, there were many moments in which Kat

Fran McGreevy served as a guest speaker and conveyed some of the material he uses in presentations in the secular school environment. He wove in biblical principles to emphasize God’s views on this widespread issue, Burnout. At the beginning of his message, Fran defined burnout as the dislocation between who people are and what they do. He mentioned that burnout could be caused by work overload and/or a lack of control, reward, and fairness. Another cause could be a breakdown of community. He also illustrated an example where he asked a teacher what they truly wanted. This teacher was so busy with her work, family obligations, and stress that she did not even know how to answer the question. Fran simplified the story into the basic wants that need to be fulfilled in order to avoid burnout: relatedness (we are hard-wired for relationships), competency (everyone wants to be good at something), and autonomy (people desire to make choices based on authentically who they are as people). He concluded his message by

Chris Parker introduced his message by walking through the concept of clichés and explained how clichés and mottos can be dangerous for Christians. He mentioned that many people in the world today are looking to get the most out of life, but will often explain poor decisions and behavior patterns through the motto “you only live once.” He also walked through a definition of “news:” something that happened in the past, which affects our perception of the present, and changes our expectations of the future. Chris elaborated on just how much Christ loved us through 2 Corinthians 5:13-21. He pointed out that all of our sins were put on the cross. Many people live their whole lives trying to rid themselves of sin to get closer to God, but the point is that it is already finished. The second point he mentioned was that God became our sin so that we are righteous. He did this to remove every obstacle between us and the Father. Chris concluded his message by urging us to embrace a new motto: “live life like we’ve bee

Jon Hasselbeck  

Jon Hasselbeck  

Chris Sullivan  

“Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us” (Hebrews 12:1 ESV). In Matthew 4:19, Jesus called to his disciples and said “Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men.” However, many times fear hinders our pursuit of the purpose laid out for us. Through digging into his word and repentance, Christ works within us to change the way we think so that we become more Kingdom minded and see past the lies and temptations of the enemy (Matthew 4:3-4, 17). As His disciples and a member of the body of Christ we have each been given a unique set of giftings and purpose in His Kingdom (1 Corinthians 12:1-31). Sometimes this purpose will push us out of our comfort zone, just as it did for Peter when he was called to walk out on the water (Matthew 14:22-33). However, we do not have to run this race alone – we have our brothers and sisters in Christ to help support us.

Jon & Yolande Hasselbeck Pastor Jon introduced the new semester of Lifenet groups by explaining real-world examples how we are better together. Pastor Jon opened with a simple question: “how can being part of a community change your life?” He then asked Yolande to share some of the things she learned from the book she has been reading called “The Happiness Connection”. Yolande explained that one of the key points of the book was that people who have endured hardships in their lives are more likely to overcome their challenges if they have a support system around them. She also described the fact that we are hard-wired for relationships, specifically we desire to be connected with one another. Genesis 2:18 references the fact that when God created Adam, He mentioned that man was not created to be alone. Yolande expressed that we are not meant to be alone in our homes, our neighborhoods, and our work environments and that we can all be the change agents in our environments. Pastor Jon concluded the message

Jason & Laura Stiffler

Chris Parker