Closer to God: Gratitude and Hope (Chris)

Our series this season is exploring three universal parts of the human experience: grief, gratitude, and generosity.  This week, we will consider gratitude.  "Thanksgiving" is a constant theme in Scripture.  Like us, however, our forebears in faith were not always celebrating success and good fortune.  They faced adversity and difficulty, and yet maintained an attitude of appreciation for God.  We will reflect on their experiences and the lessons we can apply in our own lives. 

Listen to Gratitude and Hope
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The Seven Holy Feast Days (Bob Daffer)

Bob Daffer begins a two-part lesson on the Seven Holy Feast Days of the Lord and how they relate to Christ's first and second coming.

Listen to the Seven Holy Feast Days

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Closer to God: The Gift of Gratitude (Randy)

In our Closer to God series, we contemplate “The Gift of Gratitude.” We’ll explore why gratitude is so challenging in our modern, self-focused world and why many people feel thankful without truly understanding whom they’re thanking. Scripture reminds us that gratitude is not just good manners or an abstract feeling, but rather a proper response to grace.

Listen to the Gift of Gratitude

Closer to God: Grieving Well (Chris)

Following up last week's program on "Lamenting," we will review examples of good grieving and not-so-good grieving from culture and the world.  We then will consider how the ultimate example of both grief and overcoming grief came through Christ and the cross.

Listen to Grieving Well
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Closer to God: Lamentation (Chris)

We begin a new series called Closer to God: Pathways Through Grief, Gratitude, and Generosity. Each of these experiences is common to every human life. They touch our deepest joys and our deepest sorrows, and always force us to ask big questions of God: Where is he? What is he doing? How should I respond? In this series, we’ll see that in suffering, God meets us in the valley; in gratitude, he teaches us to see his hand in all things; and in generosity, he calls us to reflect his own heart.

This week continues our series (we neglected to record the first lesson). The Bible offers a special process for grieving known as “lamenting.”  We’ll explore what it means to lament and how doing so provides hope as we face suffering and sorrow.

Listen to Lamentation
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Christ in the Old Testament (Bob Daffer)

Bob Daffer led us in a special lesson called "Christ in the Old Testament: A Study of Prophecy, Mysteries Hidden in Scripture, and the Full Gospel of Jesus Christ," beginning with the very first word of Genesis.

We do not have a recording, but you can find his resources below.

Christ in the Old Testament teacher notes
Jewish Feast Day Schedule
Birisheet Prophecy

Following the Way: Resurrection Love (Chris)

This is the final lesson in our "Following the Way" series.  Just before his crucifixion, Jesus told his followers that loving each other as he loved them was his last and main commandment.  Christ then delivered perfect examples of love in seven episodes between his resurrection and ascension.  We will explore each as inspirations for our own discipleship.

Listen to Resurrection Love
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