When it comes to spiritual warfare, most Christians fall into one of two extremes. Either they give Satan too much credit. These are the people who see Satan's work behind anything bad that happens in their lives. The other extreme is to not give him enough credit. These are the ones who may believe in their heads that Satan exists, but they don't really think it's that big of a deal. In this teaching we'll dive into a lot of Scripture as we seek to find balance.

We all have bad days from time to time. What does the Bible say about our response to not only trials and suffering, but also to spiritual attack?

In part 2 of our series on suffering, Joe Currier leads us to look at the connection between Christ's baptism and his time in the wilderness.

Suffering is one of the most counter-cultural messages in all of the Bible. We are conditioned today to seek comfort and do all we can to avoid suffering, but the Bible says something very different. In this message we'll look at God's purposes for suffering.

Happy Easter! In this message Bill Ganus joins Robert to discuss the parable of the two prodigal sons (Luke 15).

In this message we seek to answer one of the biggest questions of Christianity: "Why did Jesus have to die?"

We see signs of God's Kingdom everywhere we look, yet we also know that things are not as they were meant to be, and as they one day will be. There is a tendency among Christians to see God's reign (The Kingdom of God) as either a present reality or a future reality. Our challenge, however, is to see that it is both.

We've said that God's Kingdom runs counter-cultural to our world today, and this is none too true when it comes to work and rest. In this message we look at the fact that we were created to work with God, which is amazing in of itself. Yet this working with God can only take place after we've found our rest in God.

Jesus was often asked the question, "What is the Kingdom like?" In this message we'll look at two of the characteristics of the kingdom.

In this message we begin a series within a series on the Kingdom of God. As an introduction, we will take a look at four words found in Mark 1:14-15. Those words are: Gospel, Kingdom, Repent, & Believe.

In this message we look at one of Jesus' most famous parables. Normally this parable is read in the context of evangelism, where we are the sower, the Bible is the seed, and the hearts of our friends is the soil. Going back to the theme of this series, though, we're going to look at it in a different context: God is the sower, his word is the seed, and our hearts are the soil. Jesus once again inserts the phrase, "He who has ears to hear, let him hear" into this parable. Will we be a community that has ears to hear the things that God wants to say to us?

This week marks Neighborhood Church's second anniversary. We've included the recording of the entire worship gathering. Enjoy!

If you're Jesus, and you're building a team for your mission, who are you going to choose? The choices that Jesus makes are a bit baffling. In this message we'll look at the story of one of those chosen, the reasons why he was chosen, and why this is good news for us.

As we wrap up this section in Luke's gospel on money, we want to get practical and address some of the tricky passages. In this message we'll look at the following questions: 1. Should I give my money away to anyone who asks? 2. Is saving money wrong? 3. Is it ok to spend money on things that I enjoy?

As you've been reading Luke, you've no doubt discovered that Jesus talks a lot about money. In fact, other than the Kingdom of God, it's his favorite subject. In this message we look at why this is the case.

In this message we look at one of the many parables Jesus told about money. The theme is stewardship. At the end of the message you'll hear about the Kingdom Assignment.

How does God's economy differ from the world's economy? For the next few weeks we'll be addressing this question. In this message Darin Petersen takes us to Proverbs 11:10 and asks the question, "Does our city rejoice when the righteous prosper?" If not, why not?

Here we have the story of Jesus' first recorded sermon. It's his manifesto, his public declaration of intentions. He chooses for his Scripture passage Isaiah 61, which is a favorite for the congregation gathered that morning. Yet Jesus reinterprets the passage in a way that utterly astounds them.

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?".

Christmas, the time to gaze at the wonderful salvation God provides for us through Jesus Christ! Enjoy this service as we turn our mind’s attention and heart’s affection to what the birth of Jesus means. Join with us as we worship, sing and hear from the Scriptures. Christmas must not be isolated from the rest of the story; Christmas must be strongly connected to Good Friday and Easter. To divorce one from the other three is like reading or watching one part of the Lord of the Rings Trilogy with no reference to the others. The meaning is cut short, incomplete and incomprehensible. What we see throughout the New Testament is Jesus “fulfills” and makes complete the rest of God’s story. The Old Testament is full of whispers of the reality to come. Have you ever wondered how those Old Testament “prophecies” spoke of Jesus: his exile in Egypt, his birth from a virgin mom, and his ministry in Galilee? Matthew brings this up in his gospel at least 15 times, and in chapter 4 of his gospel he roots the coming of Jesus and his ministry to historical events: the unlikely defeat of Midian’s army of 120,000 by Gideon’s 300 soldiers (Judges 6 + 7) and the deliverer he will provide for Judah as the Assyrian army approaches (Isaiah 9). Doesn’t sound touchy feelly enough for a Christmas message? Well, hold on, because all of that is really talking about Jesus!

We have spent the last couple of months looking at what it means to be the Church. We've heard what the Bible says about topics such as: church leadership, biblical confrontation, baptism, and communion. This week we look at who God is calling us to be as a local church, at this time and in this location. At the end of this message Robert presents the Membership Covenant.

We often hear messages about the need for reconciliation, but few times do we hear about the process for reconciliation that Jesus spoke about. In Matthew 18 we address the questions that many of us have--isn't "judging others wrong? who am I to confront others when I have so much sin in my life? Hasn't church discipline hurt others? When understood in the light of the whole chapter and in light of the cross and God's work in us, discipline and confrontation can be a wonderful way to see God's grace at work. Be mindful, though, that mercy, grace, gentleness and humility are much needed.

In order for us to truly experience the Advent Conspiracy, we first have to enter into the conspiracy that was the first Christmas.

In part 2 of this series on stewardship, we look at practical money matters found in the Scriptures. We look at what the Bible has to say about Making Money, Spending Money, Saving Money and Giving Money.

The Bible has a lot to say about the topic of money and stewardship. Jesus believed and taught that there was a relationship between a person's heart and what he or she believed about money.

Jesus loves his bride, the church, and knows the best way to serve and protect her--through qualified biblical leadership. In this sermon 1 Timothy 3 is the core passage and we see that leadership within Christ's church is organized into two groups--male elders, male and female deacons, all of whom exemplify servant leadership.

Jesus said in Matthew 16, "I will build my church." He is faithful! We have come to the place in the life of this church plant to begin talking about what it means to be a member of the church. This sermon is the first in the Church Series, in which we will talk about the key indicators of a true Church. Scripture says that the Church is the bride of Jesus and in this sermon we look at a key passage in our understanding of that metaphor. In Ephesians 5 Paul, through inspiration of the Holy Spirit, refers talk of husband and wife, Jesus and the church, and Adam and Eve. This brilliant passage sheds much needed light on the nature of the church and how Jesus cares for his beloved.

The Gospel will eventually renew the whole world and all of creation. This is the third part of the definition of the Gospel that Jason laid out for us a few weeks ago. In this teaching we will look at the issue of Infant Mortality in Memphis and determine if the Gospel has a response to it.

After Stephen's murder, the church scattered. Satan thought a major victory had been won, but God had other plans. As the church was scattered, ordinary men and women shared about Jesus. What does it mean for you and I to be missionaries today? What does it mean for us as a church?

Abraham was a man just like you and me. He believed that God would do what He said He would do. In this message we look at the life of faith, as evidenced by Abraham's story.

Why did God choose Noah? Why did God bring about a destructive flood? Was the flood local or global? Should this really be children's book material? Were the people really that bad? Hear about the sheer grace of God who saves and uses us, not because we are good guys, but because he is gracious, kind and long suffering.

Evolution? Creationism? Chance? Perennial issues when we read Genesis 1. How do we engage is these conversations without missing the point? Genesis is the beginning of all things. Chapter 1 makes that very clear, as God is the subject and everything else is the verb. Hear a comparison of God's work in creation and his wonderful work in us through Jesus, making us a new creation. Oh, and the scientists that Jason couldn't remember is Alcmaeon of Croton. He lived 2,200 years before Eustachi.

Can the Bible be trusted, understood, and depended upon? Absolutely! God has given us the Scriptures so that we may know him above all else. So, as we read our Bible, what four things should we keep in our minds? SCAN and see!

We often hear, "Jesus is the reason for the season!" That is true, but the following is just as important: if Jesus is the reason for the season, then what is the reason for Jesus? We often isolate Advent, the arrival of Jesus, from the rest of the story. We take a deeper look at the promise of Jesus, his character, his call and his work on the cross for us, which proves that God so loved the world that he gave us his son!

Christmas was meant to change the world! How does our current consumer-driven holiday experience compare with the first Christmas story? We invite you to join with us as we seek to experience Christmas in a new way this year.

We all have a deep and enduring hunger within us. We all want to grow spiritually, emotionally and relationally. Jesus is God's provision for us like the manna in the desert was for Israel. Jesus tells us that he is the way out of spiritual malnutrition and that if we take him into ourselves we will live forever.

What does God think of me? We all have assumptions about that question. The religious professionals who confronted Jesus did too. We take a look at Jesus' response, which reveals God's desire to reconcile us to himself, like the father in the parable of the prodigal son. We also emphasize how God's heart continues to remain open to us through the great love and harsh death of Jesus.