Hard Times & Suffering

This Christmas, let’s reframe the familiar phrase, “Jesus is the reason for the season.” While it’s true that Jesus is the central figure of Christmas, there’s a deeper layer we often miss. What if we told you you are the reason for the season?

What if the secret to unshakable peace, joy, and confidence in life—no matter how messy your circumstances—was hiding in plain sight?

Have you ever felt like your life was too messy for God? Remember God works in the mess, and the mess is why God sent the Messiah. The mess of Christmas reveals the depth of God’s love for us. Discover how the glory of Christmas shines brightest in the mess we try to hide.

If you’ve ever felt that God is silent in your own struggles—whether in your marriage, job, health, or personal journey—we want to offer encouragement. Discover how the silence of Christmas can actually be a promise of God's faithfulness!

Life is messy. Whether it’s spilled coffee, sick kids, or deeper struggles that seem to have no end, we all know what it feels like to be caught in the chaos. And let’s be honest—when things get messy, the last thing we want is someone giving us advice on how to fix it. But what if, in the middle of our mess, God is trying to say something to us?

When temptation strikes in the form of Potiphar’s wife, Joseph faces a choice that many would have found impossible to resist. Yet, his response is nothing short of remarkable. Dive into the story of Joseph's resilience and learn how his unwavering faith in God leads him through temptation, betrayal, and hardship.

What would it really mean to accept Jesus?

Change must happen. Christians can't turn a blind eye. They must participate in God's mission to redeem this world.

When we choose to see things from God’s perspective, we can persevere through the most difficult trial or temptation, which develops maturity.

How often have you heard "God will not give you more than you can handle"? In truth, you will be given more than you can handle

God’s character matters for how we understand and interact with Him, and how we view His promises and actions.

Because God is unchanging, we can trust His promises of salvation, hope, access to God, comfort, and redemption.

Even as this life experiences difficulties, suffering, and trials, we can confidently live knowing God is for us, evidenced by our salvation even if nothing else is apparent.

How can we be concerned without worrying? What tools does God give us to combat worry and anxiety?

In a world where we often encounter "bad", how can we find joy?

What is joy vs happiness? And what practices can we add to our lives to give us joy?

Parables have the unique ability to transcend space and time. You see, in Jesus’ stories, you don’t just encounter characters, you are a character. You’re not just reading “a” story, it’s “your” story. A parable takes something abstract and makes it concrete.

Have you ever been in a season of life where something or everything was up in the air?

Don't mistake Jesus as being passive. The Ascended Jesus is present with us.

There are lots of reasons why people walk away from their faith, but what I believe to be one of the biggest ones is that they don’t feel like they have permission to have unanswered questions and doubts.

Have you had a mountaintop experience and then your world came crashing down?

It’s really hard to love your neighbor well, if you don’t have the breathing room to care for yourself.

Kids bring joy all year long including in the Christmas story. But in a world full of darkness and difficulty, we need more than a baby in a manger.

As we look beyond a simple reading of the events surrounding Jesus’ birth, we see there was much more than a peaceful nativity scenes and serene Hallmark cards.

Worship is a response to God's revelation. But when do we worship?

What's the big deal about living good lives? Because we're going to suffer for following Jesus, we need each other to help us get through.

God wants to remind you today that He is fighting your battles.

How do we find joy when things aren’t going our way?

How can you trust God in difficult and bad times? How can you use scripture to encourage you when you are down? Hear Jacki's story of struggle and faith.

When the spirit of God is at work in your life, it gives you the ability to respond and not react in temporary moments.

We’re no better than our response but our response can make it better.

Expressing gratitude is critical to our physical, emotional and spiritual health.

The lies we believe disrupt our lives unless we actively do battle with them.

Like instruction manuals, Jesus’ interactions with His disciples can serve as a manual of sorts – putting it all out there, so they’d know what to do.

Jesus uses questions to address our fears and invite us into an incredibly deep level of faith and trust - even in the face of the worst life throws our way.