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We all know what it is to have a beast within us, one we can't quite control. How does the Holy Spirit enable us to overcome the Wolf within?

Related Topics: Holiness, Virtue, Character | More Messages from JR. Forasteros | Download Audio

From Series: "It Came From Within"

This is the season of the year when people start to think about monsters - ghosts and goblins and things that go bump in the night. We normally don't think of monsters having anything to do with the Church, but we'd be wrong. The reason people tell monster stories is that monsters are a safe way to talk about things we're not ready to admit about ourselves. We don't want to see ourselves as selfish, unforgiving, ill-tempered. So we tell stories. We create monsters. So today, we're going to shine some light in the cracks of our lives. Expose the monsters to the light. And hopefully it'll be fun!

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We all have "things" in our lives - habits or personality quirks - we know aren't good. But we excuse them as "just the way I am". In this story of the greatest wrestling match of all time, we see that God will not allow us to stay as we are. God will transform us - even if it hurts!

Related Topics: Spiritual Formation, Grace | More Messages from JR. Forasteros | Download Audio

From Series: "Road Trip"

This Summer, we take a road trip through the Old Testament. Along the way, we stop in with some of the more famous encounters and observe how their brief encounters changed their lives.

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We once again have access to the Tree of Life, whose fruit are for the healing of the nations. So how are we who follow Jesus, who participate in his death and resurrection fruitful? In Galatians 5, Paul lists several fruit of the Spirit. These qualities characterize all those who live a life marked by Resurrection. And today, most appropriately, we celebrate the first fruit: Love. Love is the very core of who God is. As Trinity, God loves "extravagantly" as one biblical author puts it. What are the Cross and Empty Tomb if not expressions of how far God's love goes? And the best news is that we too can participate in this unconditional, extravagant love of God.

From Series: "Tree of Life"

Jesus' death and resurrection freed us from the consequences of Sin and Death. Now, the Tree of Life is open to us again. But what's all that fruit for? This series explores what it means for believers to manifest the Fruit of the Spirit.

Our culture promotes an individualistic, Lone Ranger approach to life. But we weren't created to be alone. Just like eating a balanced diet, living in community with other Christians is vital to a full, healthy life. The Church is most fully the Church God designed when we are connecting with each other throughout the week, not just on Sunday mornings.

From Series: "Time to Weigh In"

Just like a balanced diet is essential to our physical health, connecting with others in small groups is vital to our spiritual health. And throughout history, humans have connected best around a table. So pull up a chair! We need YOU to weigh in!

We are told in Colossians 1:10 to "live lives worth of the Lord". For many of us, that's a defeatist statement: how can we ever possibly be worthy of God? Others of us read that and decide we must earn our salvation. Our good works can easily be motivated either by fear or obligation. But Colossians reminds us that our salvation is free. That nothing we do can earn OR repay God's favor. We live Christian lives as a response to God's generosity and goodness. We respond out of joy. Nothing more, nothing less!

From Series: "reNEW"

A new year means a new start. So what are the practices that are essential to a vital spirituality? We explore several opportunities for you to renew your faith in 2012!

We live in a world shaped by choices other people have made. We live in an inheritance that seems pretty broken most of the time. It's easy to feel trapped by what's been chosen for us. But God gave Ezekiel a message for the Israelite Exiles that we need to hear too. God says that we are responsible to choose God here and now, in our time. That we will be held accountable not for what others have done to us but what we choose. What's behind us doesn't define us.

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From Series: "This is Not the End"

We often look at the way our culture is headed and lament what we've lost. But God is preparing something new, something better. By listening to the voices of Israelites who lived after the Exile, we can learn how to hope in God's new thing. Because this is not the End!

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