We end 2009 by looking at John the Baptist's ministry, which is found in Luke 3. Through this story we will look at the biblical meanings of words such as judgment, sin, conviction, confession, and repentance, and the gospel's role in each.

The time has arrived for God's most magnificent plan to be fulfilled. In this sermon we will look at the birth of Jesus Christ, the Savior of the world! Merry Christmas!

This sermon is titled "God has a Plan." Now we all know that a plan presupposes a need for a plan, so we ask the question, "What was that need? What was the problem?" We will be in Luke 1, looking at some of the events leading up to the birth of Christ.

Tonight we are embarking on a four-month journey through the life of Christ, as told by Luke. In this sermon we will look at the background of this Gospel, as well as lay out the big picture of why we're going through this study.

In our final sermon in our worship series, Joe Currier takes us to the book of Isaiah to see that repentance is one of the most authentic markers of true worship. We contrast the holiness of God and his hatred of sin with His great love, mercy, grace and forgiveness. Repentance is the response of the soul who comes near to God.

This is the third year that Neighborhood Church has taken part in Advent Conspiracy. In this sermon Robert lays out the four themes of Advent Conspiracy, and we hear stories from within our own congregation on how Advent Conspiracy has helped to shape our Christmas experiences.

What does Biblical generosity look like? Why is it so important to God? Why does the Bible speak so much about money, economics, and generosity? Should I tithe? In this sermon we'll seek to answer these and other questions about money.

We have seen over the last few weeks that worship begins when God initiates. We then respond. So we ask the question, "What does an acceptable response to God look like?"

Worship is always a response to God's initiation. Before we can worship God appropriately, we need to know who He is and what He has done. In this sermon, Joe Currier takes us to an obscure passage in the Bible to help us better understand the God we worship.

Why is God so interested in being in the position of glory? Why does He insist on being worshiped? Tonight we want to look at Jeremiah 2 to find the answer to these questions.

"Worship is our response, both private and corporate, to God, for who He is and what He has done, expressed in and by the things that we say and the way that we live." Louie Giglio Tonight we begin a new series on the topic of worship, and throughout this series we'll be unpacking this definition. In this message we begin with the word "our", which may seem like an odd place to begin, but the truth is that it's a foundational word. Why? Because everyone worships. As we'll see in this message, it just depends on who or what we're worshiping.

For the past several weeks we've been looking at the vision that God has laid before Neighborhood Church. In this final sermon of the series, we want to focus on how this is worked out on a daily basis.

In this sermon, Matthew Watson shares his story of coming to understand God's love for cities. We pray, "God, let Your Kingdom come here in Memphis as it is in heaven," but the amazing thing is that God wants to use us to be the answers to our prayers.

Last week we looked at the mission that God has called us to when it comes to loving, serving and blessing our city. This week we’ll look at how God equips us for that mission. One of the ways that God equips us for His mission is by giving every Christian a spiritual gift. In this message we'll look at Paul's words to the church in Corinth about this subject.

This week we continue in our series, "Who is Neighborhood Church?" We've discussed what it means to be Jesus-centered, and we've talked about what it means to be true community. This week we look at what it means to be a church in a city like Memphis. In doing this we're going to go back in time 3000 years, to the story of God's people being sent into exile in Babylon.

Will we be a church that takes grace seriously, where everyone, no matter your past and no matter your brokenness, is welcome to come and see? Or will we be a church that takes sin seriously, that takes the holiness of God seriously? The sad thing is that we often do better at one than the other. In this message we will look at what it means to be a community that takes both grace and sin seriously.

Neighborhood Church is a Jesus-centered missional community in the heart of the city. The first part of this statement that we are going to focus on is "Jesus-centered." The question we ask in this teaching is, "What does it mean to be a disciple?" Using Matthew 28:16-20 as our primary text, we will look at Jesus' invitation to become His followers. ** The questions for this week's Community Group can be found on the blog.

In tonight's message we begin an 8-part series on the vision of Neighborhood Church.

In Ephesus we see God doing what only God can do. Men are trained to carry on the mission work that Paul has been engaged in for the last two decades, God's power is shown in remarkable ways, and, in the course of three years, all of Asia hears the word of the Lord (Acts 19:10). In this message we'll look at this great story, but then we want to fast forward to Revelation 2, where we have a letter from Jesus to this church.

Though we are separated by time, geography and culture, we have a great deal to learn from Paul during his time in Athens. In this sermon we'll look at several missionary principles for planting the gospel in a foreign culture. (Note: I "borrowed" this title from Roland Allen's great book.) http://www.gospeltruth.net/miss_methods.htm

In this message we look at the first major crisis of the early church. After Paul and Barnabas returned from their first missionary journey, in which the gospel was received by the Gentiles, men from Jerusalem began teaching these new believers that they had to become Jewish before they could become Christian. Paul and Barnabas debated strongly with them, and it was decided that the church in Jerusalem had to weigh in on this matter. Acts 15 is the account of this Council. As we look at this story, we will also be looking at the first New Testament letter: Galatians. Paul's purpose for writing these new churches was to warn them of the danger of adding anything to the Gospel. Though we may not be calling people to circumcision today, we too are often guilty of this. The remedy is daily repentance and a holding fast to the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

Seventeen years have passed since the church was birthed at Pentecost, and God's plan for reaching the ends of the earth is about to take on a new dimension as Paul and Barnabas are sent out by the Holy Spirit. Over the next 2-3 years these two men go to cities where the "Jesus" has never been heard. They proclaim the gospel, and the gospel does what the gospel is supposed to do: it bears fruit. The result is that lives are transformed and churches are started.

God's plan throughout history has been to reconcile ALL peoples to back to Him. Peter had been taught from an early age that it was a sin to even enter into the home of a Gentile, so the events of this chapter baffled him. Even so, he had to decide whether or not he would say Yes to God, even though it went against everything he knew.

After Stephen's death, all but the apostles fled Jerusalem. Satan's plan for wiping out the church seemed to be working. However, as these ordinary people were running for their lives, they encountered people who asked them why they had hope (or at least why they were running), and they were ready. They shared the gospel, and the Spirit of God continued moving powerfully. In this message we look at what it means for God to call ordinary people into His mission.

In this message we cover around four years. We see extraordinary things that God did, but we also see the beginning of persecution.

In the second message in this series on the book of Acts, we look at the birth of the first church. As we will see, this was in no way planned by any man. This was all orchestrated by the Spirit of God, and from here on, for the next 33 years, we see a group of ordinary men and women desperately trying to keep up with what the Spirit is doing.

Today we begin a 10-week series on the Book of Acts. Resources for the study can be downloaded on this site.

In this final sermon in our "Connecting with God" series, Joe Currier speaks on the importance of following God's fourth commandment: "Remember the Sabbath and keep it holy."

The goal for every Christian is spiritual maturity. In this series our hope is to provide practical help so that we can all make this our aim. In this sermon we look at the role that Scripture plays .

When asked by His disciples how they should pray, Jesus responded by modeling a prayer, which we often call "The Lord's Prayer." In this message we look at this prayer phrase by phrase. Prayer should remind us of God's faithfulness, provision, sovereignty, power, and love, and should direct our hearts towards praise and thanksgiving.

We are beginning a new series called "Connecting with God." In this introduction sermon, Joe Currier takes us through a story that Jesus told to His disciples. It's a story of preparation, and the lack thereof. The Upward Journey requires both preparation and intentionality.

Our guest is Pastor Billy Skinner. In this sermon he shares principles of communication, which he says is the primary key in maintaining healthy marriages

We've spent the last few weeks seeking to answer the question, "Why did Jesus have to die?" We've looked at three aspects of the Cross. Tonight we come to the culmination of Holy Week, and in light of what we've been learning from God, we now ask the question, "What is the significance of the Resurrection.

We continue to ask the question, "Why did Jesus have to die?" This week the bad news is that we're all sinners, and, as Paul said in Romans 6, "the wages of sin is death." The good news is that Jesus died in our place for our sins and paid the ultimate penalty for sin: death. He died so that we don't have to.

The Atonement is defined as "the work that Christ did in his life and death to earn our salvation." In this sermon we look at Leviticus 16, at the Day of Atonement. This day, the most important day of the year, was set apart by God as a way to deal with the Israelites' sin.

The problem for humanity is that we are all in bondage to sin and cannot escape on our own. The only hope is to have a Redeemer. On the Cross Jesus gave His life as a ransom and redeemed us from captivity.

Paul could rejoice in his sufferings because Jesus had died on the cross for His Bride and had called Paul to be a minister to Her. Paul's goal, therefore, was to preach Christ to the church and to call each member to spiritual maturity. In this section of the letter Paul urges them to grow in Christ, and reminds them that spiritual maturity doesn't come by being religious. It comes through a relationship with Christ. This is the mystery: Christ in you, the hope of glory!

Ruth Lomo and Sara Babb share about the work that God is doing through the Refugee Empowerment Program.

What happens when you discover that God's agenda is different than your agenda? We have two options: Become bitter, or Surrender. John 6 tells the story of Jesus drawing a line in the sand regarding whose agenda His disciples would follow. Many decided that His agenda was too different, and they couldn't follow Him. Peter, however, surrendered to Jesus' agenda. Where are you when it comes to Jesus' agenda?

You will never put your trust in God until you believe that He is trustworthy. There are two objections to this: 1. God can't handle it. 2. God doesn't want to handle it. Psalm 62:11-12 You, oh God are strong, and You, oh Lord, are loving. Four Practical Ways of Determining if God is Trustworthy 1. Read the Bible 2. Remember 3. Throw yourself into community 4. Talk to Jesus

There are times in your life when you are not going to feel the presence of God. You are going to wonder where God is and how God can be active in such a situation. Jesus himself faced this and was on the cross surrounded by people saying, "Where is God now?" It was the same for Abraham, Joseph, Job, David, and John the Baptist. It will not be so different for us. But as Martin Luther pointed out, the resurrection vindicates our struggling faithfully and vindicates the hope we have that is beyond experience.

In this passage Paul moves from thanksgiving to intercession for the Colossian believers. He asks God to reveal His will to them so that they would know how to please Him. He gives four ways that they (and we) can please God.

As we kick off this series on Paul's letter to the Colossian church, we will look at the background of this letter, than we will focus on verses 1-8 of the first chapter. In looking at the background, we will seek to answer four questions: "Who?", "Where?", "When?", & "Why?".