My Bad Religious Experience - Week #3

Have you ever been bored in a religious service? We all could probably relate. Maybe it was uninteresting, irrelevant, unhelpful, just unnecessary, or something outside the communicator's responsibility. Whatever the reason, the longer we are bored in a religious experience the more we begin to endure the religious experience. The longer we endure the religion the more likely we are to endure "god".

At that point, we probably don't have a completely accurate view of "god", but rather

• a pocket-sized "god"

• a religious checklist

• do's and don'ts

In Matthew 11:28-30, Jesus said some helpful words to an audience who were weary & burdened from enduring religion. They had been enduring a religion that was handed down to them through the generations. They had ten main laws that became surrounded by hundreds and hundreds of other laws meant to support the ten main laws. However, those extra laws made their religion so cumbersome it wasn't a relationship anymore. Jesus came to change that.

Some of the problem can come from religious aspects that are meant to help us with our relationship with God  - prayer, scriptures, serving & giving. Focusing on the relationship with not the responsibility to God can help.

Series adapted from North Point Community Church

My Bad Religious Experience - Week #2

Many of us have had a bad religious experience for one reason or another. For many people, the main cause of the bad experiences is judgment about their past. In some way the religion or church has judged, alienated or made people feel disqualified because of their past.

There are several reasons why this happens, but when we look at Jesus and the Bible, we see something different. In the book of Acts, we see Saul/Paul who had a very bad past - worse than all of ours! Yet Jesus chose to use Paul to spread His message around the world!

If there is hope for Paul, there is hope for ALL! Your past doesn't have to stop God using you. There are three ways to deal with your past:

1. Acknowledge it.

2. Deal with it.

3. Leverage it.

The second is where we can help. If you would fill out this form about your situation, we will contact you about ways to deal with your past and possibly allow God to leverage it to help other people.

 Series adapted from North Point Community Church

My Bad Religious Experience - Week #1

Religion is one of the taboo topics in our culture. However, unlike politics, sports, or technology, religion doesn't have the same type empirical evidence to support positions, arguments, or beliefs. Many people rely on their religious experiences to determine what or how they feel about religion. Unfortunately, all religions have created bad experiences that have pushed people away, especially Christianity.

One of the big obstacles for many people searching for "god" or meaning through religion is that it can seem like an exclusive club designed for exclusive people. There is a way things are done, disciplines to practice, routines to do, and expectations to meet. All of these can create an atmosphere where outsiders can't join or don't fit in. This isn't a problem if religion is all just kind of made up.

But what if God really did something in the 1st century for everybody? If we look at Jesus' life against the actions of the early church, we see that the church was becoming an exclusive club for exclusive people.  In Romans 3, however, Paul shows us that Jesus' message is for everybody so the church should be for everybody too!

Series adapted from North Point Community Church

My Bad Religious Experience

Have you had a bad religious experience?  

• Maybe it was boring.

• Maybe the group was unwelcoming.

• Maybe the people were hypocritical.

What if "god" is actually more than that, better than that, and bigger than that?

Maybe we should talk about it.  

The conversation begins Sunday, September 11.

Guardrails - Week #4

All of us regardless of our spiritual beliefs, have hopes and dreams for our future. For those of us who are Christians, we even believe that God could use us to positively impact the future. However, we all also have the potential to miss that future because of how we manage our appetites or desires.

There are many appetites beyond food like an appetite for progress, love, responsibility, or things. If we don't keep our appetites in check, we all know that disaster could be close by.

In Genesis 25 we learn from the story of Jacob & Esau that we shouldn't trade our future for a bowl of stew. Our appetites can cause us to sacrifice future opportunities and relationships. Re-framing the decision in light of how it could impact future is one way to handle this.

What appetite guardrails do you need to establish to protect the future God may have for you?