The Well Church of the Nazarene

Our Advent/Christmas series this year centers around the idea of disruptive innovation. The word "disruptive" doesn't always mean something negative. It's simply a break in our normal course. And as we've seen with computers, cell phones, and Henry Ford's assembly line, innovation can radically alter our lives.

Christmas is a disruptive innovation, changing the lives of ordinary people. Life will never be the same.

This week we're looking at the life and ministry of John the Baptist, and learning how God invites us to life change, not religious observation. We fully experience life in God's Kingdom by turning from sin and trusting Him, not through perfect religious performance. What is holding you back from starting in the right direction?

This month we've been focusing on Psalms, using them to fill in the blank: "I have a reason to sing because ______." The goal is to remember that while life may not be perfect, we have a reason to sing.

This week we're looking at Psalm 56. "I have a reason to sing because... God gives life.."

In this week's edition of The Podcast (for lack of a better name for now), Josh, Mara, and Paul expand on Sunday's sermon by discussing what it looks like to live a lifestyle of forgiveness. 

Forgiveness is a common theme in the Psalms. What role did forgiveness play in David's identity as a man after God's own heart? Are there conditions to forgiveness? How important is confession in our relationship with both God and others? Is there a difference between forgiveness and reconciliation? And, how can we model this lifestyle of our forgiveness to our children?

Lots of good nuggets from this week's conversation--we hope you enjoy it!

It's easy to get lost, right? Even with a GPS. In regard to navigating life, however, how do we choose God's direction? What does that look like? And when you decide to change direction according to God's will, does that mean you have to go back and undo or fix every wrong single turn you've made in the past? No! 

God's given us his Word. His direction. What we have to do is make the next right choice. Sometimes that's difficult and we like to ask ourselves why things are so hard. But maybe we should be asking why we expect doing the right thing to be so easy?

This is a great discussion to carry over and share among your family--including kids and teens!--and we encourage you to keep the conversation going at home.

This month we're focusing on Psalms, and using them to fill in the blank: "I have a reason to sing because ______." The goal is to remember that while life may not be perfect, we have a reason to sing.

This week we're looking at Psalm 119. "I have a reason to sing because... God gives us good direction."

The Psalms invite us to sing, to praise God, even when life's not perfect. This week's focus teaching centered on Psalm 23, in which we've been able to explore some of the many parallels between a shepherd and his sheep and God and his people. 

Watching this discussion between Mara, Josh, and Paul, you'll learn a lot about sheep you may not already know--a lot of which we can relate to. It can be quite humbling to acknowledge that we are sheep in need of a shepherd, but it's important to note that not only do sheep thrive in community, they can learn to discern the voice of their shepherd. 

What does this mean for us when we face times of discontent, or when we find ourselves "in the valley of the shadow of death," and culture is pulling us away from our faith?

This month we're going to focus on Psalms, and using them to fill in the blank: "I have a reason to sing because ______." The goal is to remember that while life may not be perfect, we have a reason to sing.

This week we're looking at Psalm 23. "I have a reason to sing because... God is with me during every period of my life."

Our praise may look different in different seasons, but nothing that we're going through--good or bad--changes who He is. We always have reason to sing.

This week, Josh, Mara, and Paul look at Psalm 139, which we talked about on Sunday along with the idea that God fully knows us and loves us anyway. This psalm isn't unique. There are all kinds of songs throughout scripture that demonstrate the different reasons we sing. But there are some intense-but-beautiful truths in this passage that we encourage you to digest and then continue the discussion with your family, because let's be honest--there are times when we don't feel like singing happy songs. 

In those seasons of our lives, how can we apply this passage and continue to lift our praises regardless?   

This month we're going to focus on Psalms, and using them to fill in the blank: "I have a reason to sing because ______." The goal is to remember that while life may not be perfect, we have a reason to sing.

This week we're looking at Psalm 139. "I have reason to sing because God fully knows and loves me."

This week was the conclusion of our Amazed series, where we've talked about the life of Elijah. It's important to remember that it's not necessarily Elijah himself that was particularly amazing, but what God did in and through him. Pastors Josh, Mara, and Paul recap the highlights and takeaways from this series in today's discussion.

Elijah waits, he listens, he goes, he finishes. What does a life look like that's lived well with these ideas in mind? Are you ready for whatever God asks you to do, regardless of what season you're in?