Celebration Center

With God’s help, David was able to experience victory over the giant in his path. His enemy was defeated. But what does it look like to respond well to victory? Who gets the glory for it? Through the conclusion of this story, we once again see David’s posture on display.

We know David was chosen by God, even though he was an unlikely choice. And with God’s help, he defeats Goliath in battle with only five smooth stones and a sling. There were certain things David did to make his effort successful. And, if we can understand what David did, we will be better equipped to defeat the giants in our life as well.

When David fought Goliath, no one thought he had a chance. It was a miracle in itself that the King allowed David to represent the entire army in one fight! What made David so special, so poised, so confident? Here’s a hint…it wasn’t his size, age, or physical traits. It was something that only God could see, and that’s why after the fight only God could get the glory for the victory!

When Israel and the Philistines were at war, the Philistines sent out their giant, Goliath, to fight. But before he fought, he questioned, insulted, and instilled fear amongst the people. Today we have many Goliaths and they all do the same thing. Question, demean, and cause fear. David shows us how faith in God allows us to conquer ANY challenger that stands before us today, just like he conquered Goliath.

This Christmas, lets take time to remember that God came to be WITH us! Emmanuel, God with us means that he came to comfort, bring peace, redemption, AND get us out of our comfort zone. This Christmas, lets remember all the reasons that Jesus came, and lets celebrate the birth of the King!

The last name that Isaiah says Jesus will be called is the “Prince of Peace.” And this didn’t just mean to the government, it is a peace that rules over our entire lives. But how do we reconcile with that peace amongst the turbulent world…one that is constantly changing with mandates, government, politics, and just plain and simple life? Jesus brings peace in a number of ways, and the Gospels give us great examples of how His peace can be brought into our everyday lives.

People view God in many different ways. Punitive, judgmental, angry, or even view Him like Santa Clause, and often that relates to how our earthly father raised us individually. Scripture calls God the GOOD father, and the EVERLASTING Father. God was, is, and will always be, and His love is that of a perfect father.

Isaiah says that Jesus will be called “Mighty God.” That’s a huge thing to call a newborn babe, especially in times of captivity and problems. We may not be in captivity today, but we do have some mighty big problems! Jesus showed how mighty He was in just 3 years of ministry on Earth, but His might carries through to today. How can we rely on His might to get us through our Mighty BIG problems?

The book of Isaiah gives many names to Jesus, one of those being “Wonderful Counselor.” In biblical times however, a counselor was extremely different than what we refer to as a counselor today. Jesus broke the mold of what a counselor is by consistently going above and beyond what any counselor would say or do in those times, and this reigns true for us today as He is STILL our “Wonderful Counselor.”

Have you ever wondered how God feels toward you? Join us as special guest, Pastor Kelly Armstrong from Center Church, shares with us how God''s arms are open wide no matter what mess you bring with you.

For some being generous is a struggle. However, for many Christ-followers, acts of generosity are second nature and, in some cases, have become commonplace & routine. This message unpacks the unseen & undiscussed issue of the potential of becoming distracted by generosity and losing sight of our primary role as Disciples of Christ… Making More Disciples.

Living a generous life starts with awareness, but that’s only step one. Being aware or a need doesn’t fill that need, we have to be able to take action on something. In scripture we see an amazing example of how Jesus himself walks through this process with his disciples, and we see just how we can take action and do this today!

Its easy to go through life and be so focused on our task at hand, that we can easily miss seeing the needs of those right in front of us. As we enter into the Thanksgiving season, it seems as if we can very easily miss the ability we have to be generous with others in various ways, because we haven’t trained ourselves to LOOK for opportunities to actually BE generous. Being aware of the people around you is an integral part of living a generous life.

When life comes at you, without a strong foundation you can “sink” into your problems. Wave after wave of life can come your way, and it takes a lot to float to the top and STAY on top. Paul urges us to become “Living Sacrifices” in our journey through the world, and doing so means says yes to some things and NO to others. Saying no to ourselves and yes to Jesus allows us to not drown in the world, and instead float to the top and see what He has in store.

Ever been the last kid picked for a game at recess? Sometimes we can feel like we live in a world where we aren’t wanted or aren’t chosen to be a part of fun or important things. Romans talks about how when we understand what God has done for us through Jesus, we can begin to understand that before we even knew who God was, we were already CHOSEN by Him!

The more we talk about the big sin problem and how we were rescued from it brings the question…What happens next? Once we have been forgive, do we just sit back and live life waiting to eventually meet Jesus, or is there more? How do we walk towards God and pursue the life He called us to when we are still engulfed in a world filled with sin? What does it mean when it says we are “dead to sin,” yet we still live in a flesh and sin filled world? We have an amazing resource at our disposal, sent by God to help in in our pursuit of righteousness!

Jesus wants us to know we are so much more than our mess. When we're going through struggles we need to hear, pursue, think about, and ultimately touch Jesus in order for our situation to change.

Paul says in Romans that we all have this big SIN problem, and that needed a big PERFECT solution. When God sent Jesus, it was for all people and for all time, even though we are unworthy of such a gift. Today we unpack just how perfect this gift was, and how God’s timing is everything, AND perfect!

We have a special treat today, as Pastor Ryan from Elim church joins us to bring us a special word from the book of Ecclesiastes. Pastor Ryan and Pastor Dustin both met in college in California and now have the privilege of pastoring churches just a few blocks from each other. Welcome him today as he shares and leads us this morning!

All to often we can take for granted the forgiveness that God offers and make a compromising decision. Then we may even say something like, “well, its not that big of a deal…” or maybe, “its nothing compared to ______...” Maybe we have even blamed politics, the laws of the land, or someone else for something we have done and we haven’t addressed the REAL issue behind the action. The root of so many problems is laws, people, or politics…it’s a sin problem. We all have a sin problem, and we all have an incredible sin solution!