On Sunday, March 15, 2020, Pastor Stuart Nice hosted a conversation on YouTube Live with Pastor Kim Nowlin and Grant Teagarden. They discussed what Christians should do in a crisis.
How God Uses Relationships to Form Spiritual Maturity
In the message for Sunday, February 9, 2020, Pastor Stuart Nice shares with us some principles on how we can grow in our spiritual maturity by emulating the example Jesus who showed us of His complete love through trust, service and communion with one another.
No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us.
1 John 4:12 (NIV)
Making Room for Jesus
In the message for Sunday, February 2, 2020, Pastor Stuart Nice shares with us some principles to help maintain and prioritize our focus on Jesus above all things. He is calling to us to simply sit at His feet and listen.
She had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord’s feet listening to what he said. But Martha was distracted by all the preparations that had to be made. She came to him and asked, “Lord, don’t you care that my sister has left me to do the work by myself? Tell her to help me!” “Martha, Martha,” the Lord answered, “you are worried and upset about many things, but few things are needed—or indeed only one. Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her.
Living Joyfully in an Anxious World
In the message for Sunday, January 19, 2019, Pastor Stuart Nice shares with us some principles to discovering peacefulness and joyfulness when faced with anxiety. To know Jesus is to know joy and by bringing God intimately into our lives, we will find peace.
Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done. Then you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus.And now, dear brothers and sisters, one final thing. Fix your thoughts on what is true, and honorable, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise.
How to Stay Anxiety Free in 2020
In the message for Sunday, January 12, 2020 Pastor Stuart Nice shares with us some principles on living an anxiety free life. When we run to God and put our trust in Him, our worries and anxieties suddenly seem insignificant. Our Heavenly Father cares for each one of us and asks us to cast our worries onto Him.
Give all your worries and cares to God, for he cares about you. Stay alert! Watch out for your great enemy, the devil. He prowls around like a roaring lion, looking for someone to devour. Stand firm against him, and be strong in your faith. Remember that your family of believers all over the world is going through the same kind of suffering you are. In his kindness God called you to share in his eternal glory by means of Christ Jesus. So after you have suffered a little while, he will restore, support, and strengthen you, and he will place you on a firm foundation.
Practicing "the" Priority
In the message for Sunday, January 5, 2020 Pastor Stuart Nice shares with us the importance of putting Jesus first and prioritizing His kingdom over our own. Instead of worrying over complicated futures and possibilities, Jesus offers a simple solution to living in the present.
So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the unbelievers run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.
Matthew 6:31-34 (NIV)
The Joy of Christmas
In the message for Sunday, December 22, 2019 Pastor Stuart Nice shares with us about the true joy of Christmas. The people had been expecting their Messiah but were not expecting His arrival would be so… ordinary. But that is the message of the Gospel, that God became man and lived a perfect life and sacrificed His life to save our sins. There is nothing we can do to earn this, it is a gift we freely receive.
And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord. This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.”
God With Us: Where?
In the message for Sunday, December 8, 2019 Pastor Stuart Nice shares with us on the meaning of the name Immanuel and why God is always with us, even when we doubt. Even through the darkness, through the battles and through the grief, Jesus entered into this world to save us and will always be with us.
All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet: “The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel”(which means “God with us”)
The Key to the Full Life: Gratefulness
In the message for Sunday, November 24, 2019 Pastor Stuart Nice shares with us some principles on how we can enjoy the fullness of life by choosing to encourage gratefulness through Jesus rather than giving into the ungrateful sin nature.
Enter his gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise; give thanks to him and praise his name.
How to Pursue Peace in Every Relationship: Part 2
In the message for Sunday, November 10, 2019, Pastor Stuart Nice shares with us some principles to living peaceably with those closest to us by taking a posture of humility for the purpose of restoration, reconciliation, and forgiveness.
Make every effort to live in peace with everyone and to be holy; without holiness no one will see the Lord. See to it that no one falls short of the grace of God and that no bitter root grows up to cause trouble and defile many.
Hebrews 12:14-15 (NIV)
How to Pursue Peace in Every Relationship: Part 1
In the message for Sunday, November 3, 2019, Pastor Stuart Nice shares with us some principles to living peaceably with those closest to us.
Make every effort to live in peace with everyone and to be holy; without holiness no one will see the Lord. See to it that no one falls short of the grace of God and that no bitter root grows up to cause trouble and defile many.
Hebrews 12:14-15 (NIV)
Rejoice in the Lord … Always!
In the message for Sunday, October 27, 2019, Pastor Jodi Van Rhee, from The Adventure Church in Salt Lake City, encourages us to rejoice in the Lord always by sharing her story of loss and grief and how the Lord brought her to a place where she could find joy through every circumstance.
Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
Philippians 4:4-7 (NIV)
The Anxiety Cure
In the conversation for Sunday, May 12, 2019, Pastor Stuart Nice encourages us to consider all that God, our Father, does for us and knows concerning us and to let that knowledge settle our hearts.
Then Jesus said to his disciples: “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat; or about your body, what you will wear. For life is more than food, and the body more than clothes. Consider the ravens: They do not sow or reap, they have no storeroom or barn; yet God feeds them. And how much more valuable you are than birds! Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to your life? Since you cannot do this very little thing, why do you worry about the rest?”
“Consider how the wild flowers grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you, not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today, and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, how much more will he clothe you—you of little faith! And do not set your heart on what you will eat or drink; do not worry about it. For the pagan world runs after all such things, and your Father knows that you need them. But seek his kingdom, and these things will be given to you as well."
Luke 12:22-31 (NIV)
Learning and Returning to Listen for God
In the conversation for Sunday, May 5, 2019, Pastor Stuart Nice leads us in a conversation about listening to the voice of God through the story of Samuel.
A third time the Lord called, “Samuel!” And Samuel got up and went to Eli and said, “Here I am; you called me.”
Then Eli realized that the Lord was calling the boy. So Eli told Samuel, “Go and lie down, and if he calls you, say, ‘Speak, Lord, for your servant is listening.’” So Samuel went and lay down in his place.
The Lord came and stood there, calling as at the other times, “Samuel! Samuel!”
Then Samuel said, “Speak, for your servant is listening.”
1 Samual 3:8-10, NIV
How to Secure Your Spiritual Foundation
In the conversation for Sunday, January 13, 2019, Pastor Stuart Nice led us in a conversation about implementing practices that will ensure we have a strong spiritual foundation. He also shared how our perspective regarding difficulties enables us to persevere when things get tough. Faithfulness when it sprinkles gives us strength when it storms.
“Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock. But everyone who hears these words of mine and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on sand. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell with a great crash.”
Matthew 7:24-27, NIV
The Ultimate Cure
In the conversation for Sunday, November 4, 2018, Pastor Stuart Nice reminds us that we are reconciled to God through Christ becoming sin for us and thus taking away our sin. Christ inoculates us so that we can share the immunity with others, enabling them to be reconciled to God as well.
Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, since God is making his appeal through us. We plead on Christ’s behalf: “Be reconciled to God.” He made the one who did not know sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. Working together with him, we also appeal to you, “Don’t receive the grace of God in vain.” For he says: At an acceptable time I listened to you, and in the day of salvation I helped you. See, now is the acceptable time; now is the day of salvation!
2 Corinthians 5:20-6:2 (CSB)
From New to Renewer
In the conversation for Sunday, October 28, 2018, Pastor Stuart Nice shares with us that we all have a superpower in Christ, the ability to bring reconciliation. This is a gift from God that changes our hearts so that our words and actions reflect God’s heart of love.
Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here! All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting people’s sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation. We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us.
2 Corinthians 5:17-20 (NIV)
Regaining Your True Identity, Part 2: Dream Again
In the conversation for Sunday, October 21, 2018, Pastor Kim Nowlin continues last week’s conversation about reminding ourselves to find our true identity in Christ and to believe what God says about us as a gateway to fulfill the dreams that God has planted in our hearts.
Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will. Romans 12:2 (NIV)
Sacred Reading 00:00-16:40, Conversation 16:40-56:55
Sacred Reading
A note about the recording of the Sacred Reading:
The reader will pause between each of the four readings. The pauses have been left in the recording so that the listener can experience the rhythm of the gathering and even participate in the reading. Below are the guidelines for each of the four readings of the practice.
Read: Read the passage and receive it as God’s message to you.
Reflect: Read the passage again and look for the word or phrase that the Holy Spirit highlights to your heart.
Respond: Take the highlighted words and make them a prayer.
Rest: Rest your heart on God’s promises.
Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will. Romans 12:2 (NIV)
Regaining Your True Identity
In the conversation for Sunday, October 14, 2018, Pastor Stuart Nice reminds us to find our true identity in Christ and to believe what God says about us more than what we or others say.
Therefore from now on we recognize no one according to the flesh; even though we have known Christ according to the flesh, yet now we know Him in this way no longer. Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come.
2 Corinthians 5:16-17 (NASB)
You are not who you think you are.
“They” are not who you think they are.
Regaining me for we.
Sacred Reading 00:00-09:08, Conversation 09:08-38:15
Sacred Reading
A note about the recording of the Sacred Reading:
The reader will pause between each of the four readings. The pauses have been left in the recording so that the listener can experience the rhythm of the gathering and even participate in the reading. Below are the guidelines for each of the four readings of the practice.
Read: Read the passage and receive it as God’s message to you.
Reflect: Read the passage again and look for the word or phrase that the Holy Spirit highlights to your heart.
Respond: Take the highlighted words and make them a prayer.
Rest: Rest your heart on God’s promises.
For Christ’s love compels us, because we are convinced that one died for all, and therefore all died. And he died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for him who died for them and was raised again. So from now on we regard no one from a worldly point of view. Though we once regarded Christ in this way, we do so no longer. Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!
2 Corinthians 5:14-17 (NIV)
How to Stay Focused in Your Faith Journey
In the conversation for Sunday, October 7, 2018, Pastor Stuart Nice gives an encouragement to keep our hearts focused on God’s love and purpose for our life, so that we can live a fulfilled life through loving God and loving others.
All this is for your benefit, so that the grace that is reaching more and more people may cause thanksgiving to overflow to the glory of God. Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.
2 Corinthians 4:15-18 (NIV)
Think Big Picture
Keep Exchanging
Return to the Future
Sacred Reading 00:00-10:32, Conversation 10:32-44:16
Sacred Reading
A note about the recording of the Sacred Reading:
The reader will pause between each of the four readings. The pauses have been left in the recording so that the listener can experience the rhythm of the gathering and even participate in the reading. Below are the guidelines for each of the four readings of the practice.
Read: Read the passage and receive it as God’s message to you.
Reflect: Read the passage again and look for the word or phrase that the Holy Spirit highlights to your heart.
Respond: Take the highlighted words and make them a prayer.
Rest: Rest your heart on God’s promises.
Abraham had faith. So he obeyed God. God called him to go to a place he would later receive as his own. So he went. He did it even though he didn’t know where he was going. Because of his faith he made his home in the land God had promised him. Abraham was like an outsider in a strange country. He lived there in tents. So did Isaac and Jacob. They received the same promise he did. Abraham was looking forward to the city that has foundations. He was waiting for the city that God planned and built.
Hebrews 11:8-10 (NIRV)