Healthy relationships require hard work, good habits, and time spent together. That's why becoming spiritually mature involves drawing near to God every day.

If you got nothing else from the messages of the last couple of Sundays, hopefully there is no doubt in your mind that the purpose of our life with Jesus is discipleship.

Think of your spiritual life as a spectrum. On one end is the spiritual condition you were in on the day Jesus found you; the day you cried out to him to save you as Lord and Savior…

If nothing else, I hope you took from Sunday’s message the idea that there are many Christs, but you can only serve one…

Be opened.

Openness can be incredibly complicated in this day and age. It requires confidence and trust.

But shouldn't it be so much easier with God? After all, He already knows everything…

"And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose." Romans 8:28 (ESV) It seems in the last several months, I referenced the above verse on numerous occasions. While we understand the concept, it often remains a nebulous theory…

I come to you with a message from the future. Maybe you have heard this before. Maybe not. It is a message of sorrow. Yet, also, a message of hope.

By the time your children reach adulthood, you will have regrets..

The Christmas season has always been an exceptional opportunity to reconnect. This is true whether those in question are college students returning home for a break or families visiting for the holidays. If you play it right, and are intentional, it can even be an opportunity to reconnect with those you have been trapped in the same house with for months…

"This may be the perfect year for us to figure out what our family does best and stop worrying about the rest." I spoke, briefly, Sunday about how the observance of Advent can create personal space to disengage from all the distractions of the season. This is a valuable practice as, under normal circumstances, the holiday season can be particularly stressful…

"A study performed by LifeWay Research shows that across the country, Americans are much more likely to attend church at Christmastime. When asked the question: 'If someone you know invited you to attend church with them at Christmas, how likely would you be to attend?' Someone you know, many someones in fact, would like the opportunity to attend C3AK with you this holiday season.

Advent is all about waiting, and if there were ever a time when we truly understood waiting, it is now. It seems that, since March, life has been nothing but one baited breath following another.

For a better better understanding of the waiting of Advent, take a look at this excerpt from "Why Celebrate Advent In 2020" by Jessica Sanchez…

Gratitude is not something that just happens. The ruler of this world has orchestrated an environment in which it is so much easier to focus on the negatives, the wrongs, the slights. Why focus on what I have when it is so much more satisfying to fixate on what I do not?

"Before we eat, let's go around the table and name one thing we're thankful for."

"Did you see/hear what President __________ (fill in the blank with your preferred reference) did/said?"

By putting a little thought in ahead of time, you can initiate conversations that go deeper, have greater significance, and create more lasting memories…

When we prioritize God, when we actively, intentionally spend time in His presence, He begins to reshape our thinking.

Today, we enter into the final leg of the most contentious election season in most of our lifetimes. Passions have run hot, on both sides, for months. Perhaps years. And there is no reason to think those flames are going to abate any time soon.

Did you know that October is Adopt a Shelter Dog month? Or, Bat Appreciation month? Breast Cancer Awareness, National Applejack, Pasta, Pizza, and many more month.

It’s also Pastor Appreciation Month and I wanted to take this space to appreciate a couple of pastors who have meant a great deal, to me in my life.

Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger, but bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord. Ephesians 6:4 (ESV)

In the past - most recently during the series on the book of Mark - we have talked about the hardening of the heart.

"Nothing can separate us
There is no power,
below or above
Nothing can separate us
From His love"
~Al Denson

So I ask you, Christ followers, if your faith is not rooted in God's Word DAILY, what exactly is its foundation? Some random feeling? What someone else is telling you about the Word? Psalm 119:105 says,

"Your word is a lamp to my feet, and a light to my path."

If you are not interacting with His Word each and every day, what - exactly - is lighting your path?

If you’ve paid any attention to the in-person worship issues in the state of California, and how those issues have played out here in good old Anchorage, you’ve probably seen at least one person refer to the above passage from Hebrews as a reason why the church not only should, but MUST meet, no matter what government mandates say. I can understand the motives behind many good, loving Christian folks who have expressed their disfavor with pressures and mandates given by government leaders in the past several months.