Celebration Center

Have you ever wondered how God feels toward you? Join us as special guest, Pastor Kelly Armstrong from Center Church, shares with us how God''s arms are open wide no matter what mess you bring with you.

For some being generous is a struggle. However, for many Christ-followers, acts of generosity are second nature and, in some cases, have become commonplace & routine. This message unpacks the unseen & undiscussed issue of the potential of becoming distracted by generosity and losing sight of our primary role as Disciples of Christ… Making More Disciples.

Living a generous life starts with awareness, but that’s only step one. Being aware or a need doesn’t fill that need, we have to be able to take action on something. In scripture we see an amazing example of how Jesus himself walks through this process with his disciples, and we see just how we can take action and do this today!

Its easy to go through life and be so focused on our task at hand, that we can easily miss seeing the needs of those right in front of us. As we enter into the Thanksgiving season, it seems as if we can very easily miss the ability we have to be generous with others in various ways, because we haven’t trained ourselves to LOOK for opportunities to actually BE generous. Being aware of the people around you is an integral part of living a generous life.

When life comes at you, without a strong foundation you can “sink” into your problems. Wave after wave of life can come your way, and it takes a lot to float to the top and STAY on top. Paul urges us to become “Living Sacrifices” in our journey through the world, and doing so means says yes to some things and NO to others. Saying no to ourselves and yes to Jesus allows us to not drown in the world, and instead float to the top and see what He has in store.

Ever been the last kid picked for a game at recess? Sometimes we can feel like we live in a world where we aren’t wanted or aren’t chosen to be a part of fun or important things. Romans talks about how when we understand what God has done for us through Jesus, we can begin to understand that before we even knew who God was, we were already CHOSEN by Him!

The more we talk about the big sin problem and how we were rescued from it brings the question…What happens next? Once we have been forgive, do we just sit back and live life waiting to eventually meet Jesus, or is there more? How do we walk towards God and pursue the life He called us to when we are still engulfed in a world filled with sin? What does it mean when it says we are “dead to sin,” yet we still live in a flesh and sin filled world? We have an amazing resource at our disposal, sent by God to help in in our pursuit of righteousness!

Jesus wants us to know we are so much more than our mess. When we're going through struggles we need to hear, pursue, think about, and ultimately touch Jesus in order for our situation to change.

Paul says in Romans that we all have this big SIN problem, and that needed a big PERFECT solution. When God sent Jesus, it was for all people and for all time, even though we are unworthy of such a gift. Today we unpack just how perfect this gift was, and how God’s timing is everything, AND perfect!

We have a special treat today, as Pastor Ryan from Elim church joins us to bring us a special word from the book of Ecclesiastes. Pastor Ryan and Pastor Dustin both met in college in California and now have the privilege of pastoring churches just a few blocks from each other. Welcome him today as he shares and leads us this morning!

All to often we can take for granted the forgiveness that God offers and make a compromising decision. Then we may even say something like, “well, its not that big of a deal…” or maybe, “its nothing compared to ______...” Maybe we have even blamed politics, the laws of the land, or someone else for something we have done and we haven’t addressed the REAL issue behind the action. The root of so many problems is laws, people, or politics…it’s a sin problem. We all have a sin problem, and we all have an incredible sin solution!

This Sunday we have another special treat, as we get to welcome our very own Chris Hansler to share with us about how God can handle anything.

This Sunday we have a special treat, as we get to welcome our very own Tammy Swailes to share with us about her adventures as a missionary! Join us as we hear from her, and support her as she lives to spread the word of God in Ukraine.

Patience reveals a LOT of human nature. Are we self centered? Others Centered? God centered? How do we get it without going crazy when we have to practice it…do we really want it in the first place? James concludes his letter with a passage on patience, what we should do AND what we shouldn’t do with it! Now…the real question is, “Who REALLY wants it?

James chapter 4 hits heavy on the world, and the heart. God says that He wants our whole heart, and we live in a world that is constantly competing with our heart. If our hearts aren’t focused on Him, then it can cause pride, which leads to conflict, which ultimately leads to a life that is self centered and not Jesus centered. James talks about how to set the eyes of your heart on Godly things, and how to keep the main thing the main thing!

The Tongue can be an amazing thing for praise, worship, affirmation, and power…but it also can be poison, hurtful, poison, destructive… James outlines the power of the tongue and how as followers of Jesus we have an INCREDIBLE tool at our disposal, so let's learn how to use it the way God intended.

Faith without works is dead… That’s a VERY bold statement that James makes in James 2, but what does he mean? Is he saying that if you don’t do “works,” then you have no faith? Is he saying that you have to do something in order to be saved? Theologians have argued about this for years…why do we act on faith, and what does it mean if we profess to have faith but do nothing about it??? Today we will unpack what James is talking about in chapter 2 of his letter.

“Are you listening? Did you hear me?” At some point we have either said or heard this, and it is usually asked because an instruction was given…and then not followed through on. James addressed this type of behavior in scripture, and calls for people to be both “Listeners and Doers” of the Word. It’s one thing to read about scripture and hear from God, but are we ready to actually DO everything he tells us to…or what just feels comfortable to do?

The testing of our faith through trials, adversity, suffering, etc… produces in us a steadfast spirit and perseverance. And perseverance is an invaluable characteristic of those who follow Christ.

Religion often has a BAD connotation to it, but yet we often talk about being a part of a religion. What if we looked at what we do as a RELATIONSHIP instead of a religion? That changes everything! Today we kick off a study of the book of James, and we will look at what he means when he talks about having a “True Religion” in our walk with his half-brother, Jesus.