River of Life Church Long Prairie (Audio)

A New Year - Pruning

Last week we looked at the passage from John 15, where Jesus uses the visual of the vine and the branches. We looked at the word used over and over again of abide and what that means. But there is more that Jesus talked about, he spoke about pruning. What is pruning? We all have experienced some type of pruning in our lives, but how did we view that season of our lives? Who and what are we allowing to shape our lives?

A New Year - Abide

Starting off 2024 we probably all have some things we want to do different this year than we did last year. We want to start this year with the idea of Abiding. It's not something to add to your schedule but more of a posture to adopt. What does that mean, and how do we begin to live this out?

Unmet Expectations

Headed into the new year, we all may have some resolutions, or maybe even expectations for the year to come. We have expectations for our jobs, our families those around us, and honestly we have expectations of God. We all want God to move in our lives, but what do we do when those expectations aren't met?

Christmas Eve

The Christmas Story, no not the movie, but the incredible story of how God chose to save the world. As we walk through this familiar story, we stop and think about how and who God chose to use in His plan. The trust he showed in Mary, Joseph, the shepherds, and the trust that He has in us to continue his mission so that all will know Him.

Be Like Children

Jesus saw children as valuable and as the greatest. We look at 2 interactions in the book of Matthew of Jesus interaction when it comes to children. What was it about children that Jesus wanted his disciples and us to learn? With what Jesus saw as valuable traits in children, how should this change how we approach Christmas?

Waiting

This week we want to take some time to just focus in on Christmas, to get the correct mindset, so that we are able to connect with God in this busy season. We may have all sorts of emotions attached to this season, but are we slowing down enough to connect to the roots of waiting on a promise?

Surrendering our Lives

This week we continue our fully surrendered series. We take a look at surrendering our lives in order to fill the role we play in the body of Christ...the Church. We talk about the church, how the world sees it. How we as Christ followers have messed this up. How do we fix it? We must surrender ourselves, our calendar, our time to commit to the Church and begin to step into the role that God has called each one of us to.

Financially Surrendered

Last week we talked and looked at what Jesus said it took to be fully surrendered to Him. We all have areas that we struggle to fully trust God in, one of those areas is in our finances. We say we trust God with our finances, and we say we trust that He will provide.  But does how we live and steward our money actually show that? So what does scripture say about our finances? How do we begin to fully surrender our money to God?

Fully Surrendered - Jesus Is Lord

What does it mean to fully surrender? When we proclaim "Jesus is Lord" are we showing that with how we live our lives or is it merely a statement? In order for us to fully surrender we need to take a look at what Jesus meant to surrender our lives and to follow Him.

What Am I Carrying?

This week we look at a well know story in the gospel of John, the story of the woman at the well. We look at her story, what she was carrying and how it affected how she heard what Jesus was telling her....which leads to us having to look at our own lives...what are we carrying that is holding us back from understanding who God is, and what he has for our lives.