“Stop being okay with running from God” Pastor Mike Francisco kicked off our Jonah series and explored what happens when we run from God. Jonah tried to escape God’s call to preach to Nineveh, and his disobedience caused a storm; not just in his life, but for those around him. Even in his rebellion, God’s grace and power were at work, calling him back. It’s a reminder for us to reflect: where are we running from God, or rationalizing sin in our own lives? The good news is that God is ready t...
"The Gospel turns off the dark for good." Mike Francisco talks about hard things because we all experience them. Sometimes it feels like dying, decay and darkness steal our hope, take our joy, and leave us feeling ready to call it quits.... because life is hard at times. So how do we navigate life's hardships while holding tightly to the message of hope and good news that the Gospel is? How do we turn off the dark today as Christ followers?
"The Gospel is more than good news, it's the greatest love story." We love a good love story. They draw us in, captivate our imaginations, give us hope, and leave us feeling warm and fuzzy inside. The greatest love stories that we can think of have nothing on the story of love found in Scripture and lived out daily. Pastor Mike Francisco gives us a big picture of the ultimate love story, the story God began before time and continues writing today.
"The ideal Christian is moved by obedience to live out love, hospitality, and service." Pastor Mike Francisco works through what baseline obedience should look like for a Christ follower. Using the words of Peter to the Jew and Gentile Christians scattered in Asia Minor, Mike lays out why our obedience matters and how it might impact the world around us.
"God's grace births your holiness journey" Mike works to identify what most people think the "ideal Christian" looks like while acknowledging that we'll fail to meet the standard every time. In fact, no matter how hard we strive, the boxes we check, or the self improvement plan we create... we'll never hit the mark. Which begs the question, how do I become holy? Or what do I do to be set apart? Maybe even, where do I begin?
"The clearest Gospel is seen before it's heard" Pastor Mike Francisco recaps Titus chapters 1 & 2 before unpacking the vision Paul has for the Cretan church and it's impact on society. Paul envisions a church where maturing, changed, and transformed Jesus followers stand apart from the culture of the day. They are living out the good news of the life found in Christ and it's attractive to others.
"The grace you've experienced should cause you to live differently" Pastor Mike Francisco works through Titus chapter 2 while reflecting on the local flooding that has left many people in need. As Paul writes to his friend Titus he tells him that the being different matters because it brings the good news to life. Paul reminds Titus that our experience of God's grace should cause us to live differently, towards good deeds and a servants heart.
"The Church can only be as healthy as her people." Pastor Mike Francisco begins a three part look at the book of Titus in a series called "Spot The Difference". This short book is a letter from Paul to his friend and co-worker Titus who is living on the island of Crete. Paul tells Titus things need to be reset, the church is unhealthy and has found itself in a place where it's not recognizable any longer. Titus' first task, raise up healthy leaders. Mike reflects on these words from Paul an...
Pastor Troy Cotton Jr closes out the Kingdom People series with a trip down the narrow road. Jesus tells us that the life of a kingdom person is a hard road to travel, a narrow path that few will take. Troy shares from his personal life and the road he's traveled and challenges us to be focused on the road Jesus invites us to walk as well.
"Kingdom People lead with love and extend extra grace to all." Pastor Colleen Francisco looks at Jesus' words on judgment in the Sermon on the Mount. Colleen references current events and major stories where we passed judgment and challenges us to re-posture ourselves to see all people as worthy and deserving of God's grace. She wraps up by encouraging us to read a few verses from Psalm 139 to reposition our hearts towards God and others
"Kingdom People fully trust that God is enough" Mike reflected on the real life worries that get to us. From things like wars and legislation, to natural disasters, violence and our kids. There's a lot to worry about in life but Jesus tells us "do not worry about anything". So what do we do with that and why does it matter?
“Kingdom life is about becoming (people who are) good news.” Pastor Mike Francisco breaks down the next section from Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount in Matthew chapter 6. As Mike unpacks who Jesus was talking to and what he was challenging, he digs a little deeper into the shows church people often put on. Ultimately, Jesus is calling out our inner motivations and challenging us to come back into alignment with the heart of God.
“Life in the Kingdom isn’t about rules, it’s about becoming more like Jesus.” Church Planter and friend, Troy Cotton Jr, explores the next section of Jesus’ “Sermon on the Mount”. Ultimately, Jesus wants us to be true disciples. Troy challengesus to check our ego at the door and take up a posture of humility. Jesus doesn’t want us to miss out on the relationship because of the rules.
“Kingdom People stand out, bring hope, and love our enemies.” Pastor Mike Francisco explored the qualities of Salt and Light and what Jesus was asking of Kingdom People when he commissioned them to like salt and light in the world. Ultimately Kingdom People are supposed to have an effect on the environment around them, bringing out the goodness and love of God. Offering hope, peace, and reconciliation to those who are hopeless, restless, and broken.
“A Kingdom person lives by a different set of values.” Mike Francisco worked through the first part of Jesus’ sermon on the mount where he outlines who will be blessed and inherit the kingdom of heaven. The blessings Jesus outlines don’t look much like the definition of blessings as defined by instagram and the world we live in. So what are we supposed to do? How are we supposed to live in this alternate, different, unique kingdom that Jesus invites us into? Mike unpacks that here.
“Kingdom People are led by Jesus, shaped by grace, and moved by love” Mike kicked off our summer series called Kingdom people by examining the context of Jesus’ announcement that the kingdom of heaven had come near. Jesus is about to give a vision and a mission for this kingdom that will shape us and move us to live as Kingdom People.
Pastor Mike Francisco looks at the competitive history between faith and science and asks us to consider that maybe they are actually collaborative. Maybe science helps us understand our faith?
“Your future is an exclamation point in God’s redemptive work” Pastor Colleen Francisco brought a Mother’s Day message not just for moms but for anyone that has a past. If you’ve ever felt like your history is too far gone, you’ve made one bad decision more than you should have, or you can’t seem to get life right… you’re future can still be an exclamation point in God’s eyes. Through the redemptive work of Jesus, our futures can be an exclamation point, a story of how God transforms and cha...
“Put your faith in Jesus rather than his followers” Pastor Mike Francisco shared a very personal reflection about being let down by a Jesus follower. He shared about the doubts, questions, feelings, and emotions that followed. And in the same way that we’ve all been hurt by hypocrites, we’ve also all been hypocrites. Hypocrisy is a lose-lose way of living. It upsets God and it hurts people. It’s through our own confession and healing others might become healed as well.
“God loves to use those who are overlooked.” On Sunday morning Pastor Mike Francisco shared about his own feeling of being an imposture and how that impacts his faith. He’s not alone in that feeling though as he showed us throughout Scripture. If you struggle with self doubt and insecurity, remember that God has gifted you uniquely.