Generations Community Church Max Vanderpool

At some point in our adult lives, we develop a strong desire, a longing, to "go home again." It's a desire for safety and comfort, a desire to know and be known, a desire to things to be right and as they should be. Unfortunately, none of us can EVER go home again. So what's a person to do? What do you do with the gap between the way things are and the way things should be? Max Vanderpools starts off this study of Nehemiah and the desire we all develop (over our lives) to return home.

Historian Noah Harari says that "nations are built on stories." As Americans, we know this to be true. Think of George Washington and the cherry tree or Paul Revere and his ride through towns shouting, "The British are coming." And just as nations are built on stories, so are God's people (Israel and now the Church) and so are we as individuals. So what is the dominant story of YOUR life? What story do you live under? And what kinds of emotions does this story tend to evoke out of you? In this message, Max Vanderpool traces the ways in which Jesus reframes the story his disciples were telling in the wake of Jesus's death - from Luke 24 - and we have a better (and TRUE) story to tell.

You are going to have MOMENTS and SEASONS of your life when you are on the Road to Emmaus, when you don’t SEE Jesus on the road you're traveling. And you're going to be tempted to say that faith no longer works or that God isn't who you thought (loving, involved, etc.). So what do you? What do you do when you can’t see (or recognize) Jesus on the road? In this message, Max Vanderpool shares his journey of early 2024 - and what NOT to do when you can't see Jesus.

There are often small ways in which we physically reflect one or both of our parents. Hair color. Freckles. The way we smile (or laugh at a joke). Mannerisms, too, can put us in territory where someone will say to us, "Boy, do you remind me of your father." Part of what it means to be human is to reflect - or image - our Creator. But, as Scripture and experience teach us, we often choose to reflect other things - and those things and those reflections often bring about ruin and death. In this message, Josh Lanier unpacks why confession matters - and how honesty with one another can help us relect our Heavenly Father to each other and the world around us.

You actually give up a LOT to participate in a "stuck-ness" community (or tribe). You don't get to simply show up when you want, you don't get to define (necessarily) what's important. But you also GAIN so much more. Americans, however, are rugged individualists who make their own decisions and decide (for themselves) what's best for them. Which is why it's difficult for Americans to get what the Bible means when the Bible talks about or describes community. In this message, Amanda Duke unpacks the kind of "good stuck" you want to have in life and how that "stuck-ness" gets maintained.

Both the NIH (National Institutes of Health) and the CDC (Center for Disease Control) have released studies showing that LONELINESS is the single, biggest predictor of premature death...of all causes. Americans are lonely, isolated, and spending lots of time online - but they generally report feeling depressed, anxious, and disconnected. What gives? In this message, Ryan Hicks makes the case for why we are made for community - and practical steps we can take to "be together."