As we continue our series on being Encouraged to Encourage, we are going to talk about how important the words are that come out of our mouths. Scripture tells us over and over again on how to watch what we say, think about what we say, and use our words in the right way.

In our new series, E2E: Encouraged to Encourage, we are going to be looking at our role in the church. What does it mean to be a part of Christ's body? What does it mean to be someone who both needs to be encouraged, but also, is meant to encourage others? You are unique, gifted, and needed for the church to flourish!

All of this was leading up to this moment. The promise of Jesus fulfilled, the Holy Spirit WILL come! And He will fill you, and you experience the love of God and His presence and be empowered to live in and preach the Good News of the gospel!

After all the preparation Jesus did with the disciples, even sending them out to go preach the kingdom of God and make disciples, Jesus says, "WAIT!..." Wait in Jerusalem until the Holy Spirit fills you with power. How do we handle waiting seasons? Especially when we don't know how long they will be. What the apostles do between the ascension and pentecost gives us some great insight into how we can wait patiently for the Lord to move in our livs.

There comes a point in all of our training and schooling that our instructor says, "You can't stay here!" It's time to go into the world and use what you have learned. Jesus did the same thing. We call it the Great Commission, and it was the last thing He told the disciples to do when he ascended into heaven. So, what's that mean for us?

What's in a name? A famous question posed in a famous play. But the answer for them might not be the answer we have when we begin to look at the name of Jesus. It's entirely and wholly different than any other name! His name is the name above all names, and by no other name can we be saved!

This week, as we continue our series on Life After the Cross, we are looking at what it means to live in the finished work of the cross. Are we believing for something to come, or are we believing to experience what has already happened?

In our series, Life After the Cross, we are looking at what the disciples, and through their lives and examples, ourselves, need to learn between the time of Easter, Christ resurrected, and Pentecost, when the Holy Spirit is given to the church! Today we look at the important need to leave our past behind, so we can embrace our future!

In our New Series: Life After the Cross, we will look at what the early church needed to learn to live in the new way of life in Christ, and not fall back into the law! Jesus made a way once and for all.

On Easter Sunday we celebrate that not only did Jesus give his life for us, which he said was the greatest act of love, to lay down your life for others, but also, that He did not stay dead, proving he is Messiah, and He is God the Son, the savior of the world!

On what we call Palm Sunday we look at Jesus entering Jerusalem, riding on a donkey, as the crowds of people cheered - praising the Son of David, the King who would come to rescue Israel. What they didn't realize was that he was there to lay down his life, and had a much bigger plan than they could ever imagine!

Through the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ the Love of God is expressed to humanity! Jesus knew he was on a mission and nothing would stop him from fulfilling that mission. And that mission was because of God's love for you! Jesus, knowing what he would endure, set his face toward Jerusalem and went toward the fulfillment of why He came to earth!

What if God intended for us to experience His love, not just through Him, not just through the power of the Holy Spirit, like Romans 5:5 says, that the love of God has been poured into our hearts through the power of the Holy Spirit, but also through each other? We fully experience God's love when we learn to receive His love and love each other!

When we experience the love of God what is it that we are experiencing? Paul writes in the book of Romans that God has given us the Holy Spirit to fill our hearts with his love.

As we continue our series on the UnConditional love of God we need to look at one of the ways that we are held back in our relationship with God. What we believe about Him and His love for us. We are free, but that doesn't always mean we live that way! Let's learn to be free and live free in the love of God!

In our new series, UnConditional, we are looking at the love of God. It is eternal, unconditional, and available to us. And God expresses that love toward us in different ways through the Trinity: God the Father, God the Son & God the Holy Spirit. Come on the journey with us as we experience the love of God!

God is doing something. The Holy Spirit is active in the earth, always. And sometimes we see or hear about something special. What do we call it? Revival, renewal, an outpouring an awakening? The name is less important than the One who is behind it. It's always about Jesus and his love for humanity!

Part of being a Living Sacrifice is learning to do well with what God has given us. If being a Living Sacrifice is giving up our way to follow the way of Jesus, then we need to learn how to use the things He gives us in this life, whether that is our time, talents or finances!

Jesus IS the word of God. And He is still speaking! God speaks through scripture, but to think He will only speak through scripture leaves us missing a lot of what He wants to say to us.

The Bible says of itself that it is sharper than the sharpest two-edged sword. This means we need to learn to handle it properly. Understanding how to read the bible is so important in our journey of following Jesus!