First Champaign-urbana

Sometimes seeing the effects of something gives us the proof to believe. Think about the wind. You can’t see wind, but you can see the impact of the wind. As we wrap up our series on The Holy Spirit, we see how the Holy Spirit moves and works in the life of disciples and the church.

Why? - is such an essential and foundational question for a lot of things in life. Typically, when we ask why, we are seeking to know the value or purpose of something. So, why the Holy Spirit? What is the purpose of the Holy Spirit in the life of the Christian? In week 2 of this teaching series, we look at how Jesus answered why we were given the Spirit of God.

From microwaves to photosynthesis, many things impact our lives that we can’t fully understand or explain. So, what about our faith? Is it possible to believe in the power of something - Someone - without being able to fully understand? Join us for week 1 of The Holy Spirit, as we seek to get a foundation about who the Holy Spirit is in our lives.

Would you rather be around someone who is prideful or humble? Kind of a no-brainer, right? As we wrap up our series, Chasing Carrots, we look at how putting pride to death is a necessary step in following Jesus.

If someone asks you, “tell me about yourself,” what might be some of the first things out of your mouth? It may be things anywhere from where you work to details about your family. While those may be things about us, they never fully explain who we are. In week 4 of Chasing Carrots, we look at where we need to find our identity before everything else.

We’ve all been there before - Land of ER. You know—he is rich-ER, she is pretty-ER, they are funny-ER. If we’re not careful, a quick visit becomes a temporary residence. Join us for week 3 of Chasing Carrots to see how to achieve victory over comparison.

From fame or fortune to a career or relationship, we chase a lot of carrots in today’s world. But why and how do we know what we are pursuing truly matters? Maybe it is what we were taught or all that we know. This Sunday is Easter—a weekend to be reminded of the faith, hope, and love found through Jesus.

What really makes for a happy life? A dream job, a bigger house, or a new relationship? If you’re always hungry for the next big thing, but frustrated because it never seems to satisfy, you might be Chasing Carrots. It’s time to hop off the treadmill and chase after something real. This five-week series is about the things people commonly chase after that only bring fleeting happiness, fulfillment, or validation.

Have you ever seen the bumper sticker: the man with the most toys at the end wins! We all want to enjoy life—which is good because God created us that way! But what if how and where we “play” was more than just for kicks and giggles? Listen in as we see how to approach our times of play with purpose in week 4 of Be the Church.

The saying goes, “do only what you love, and you’ll never have to work a day in your life.” Good advice—but hardly attainable for most people. What about making a difference with your work? In week 3 of Be the Church, we will see how to make an impact for the Church without ever working at a church.

What comes to mind when you hear the word “worship”? What if we told you that if you thought of singing songs in a church service, you were right - and wrong. Join us for our new series, Be The Church, as we start by laying a foundation of what worship entails.

When some people think of God, they imagine a meaner version of Santa, sitting in heaven, just writing down all the “bad stuff” people do. The truth is, the God of the Bible calls us up more than He calls us out. So whether this is your first Sunday or fiftieth, we believe God has big promises for your life that He wants to call you up to. Are you ready to embrace those promises?

Are you someone people love to be around? In some ways, we all want to be the type of person people enjoy being with. Let's learn how to be people others love to be around and why doing so is central to the way God designed us to be.

“Life is Good” makes for a good t-shirt, but not a lifetime reality. Even though Jesus doesn’t remove suffering or trials from our lives, he offers us Himself through it all. In week 3 of Fully Known, we see how followers of Jesus can become unusual people in how they handle the downs of life.

One of the most tried and true playground games, follow the leader, is usually only fun as the leader, and very rarely as the follower. So, what do you do when your faith asks you to be a “follower”? This week we look at how being a disciple means following Jesus’ example is the best way to live out our faith.

Sometimes it’s not until we see our reflection that we get a better picture of what others see in us. That’s why it’s up to us to decide the reflection we will give off to the world around us. This week we kick-off a brand new series by beginning to see how Jesus wants to be the life we reflect.

Would you describe yourself as a “half-full” or “half-empty” type of person? Either way, we all can agree that it’s not completely full - and we are all seeking fulfillment from someone or something in this life. That’s where addiction comes in. We long to be full, so we aim to feed that desire with anything from sex to alcohol to money. What if there was a different way to be full in this life? In week four of Love Handles, we see how Jesus’ love handles the tough conversation of addiction.

On April 4th, 1968, the world lost one of the greatest men to walk this earth—Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. The Reverend King lost his life as he boldly pushed back against the racial injustice of our country. His impact paved the way for monumental changes to racial relationships in our society, but the dream result is far from realized. In week three of Love Handles, we see how Jesus' love handles the tough conversation of race.

Caleb Kaltenbach is a pastor, author, and founder of The Messy Grace Group. In week 2 of Love Handles he shares about his life and his life’s work as well as how loving others doesn’t require shifting your beliefs.

It’s a normal thing for things to break in our lives. Often, the hardest part is knowing it won’t ever be “as good as new.” If we’re honest, the same could apply to our relationships, jobs, beliefs, identity and more. Brokenness is a real part of our lives, but living with the mess doesn’t have to be as challenging as we think. In week one of Love Handles, we see how Jesus’ love handles the tough conversation of the brokenness of life.