Discernment performed alone can become delusion.
How can you tell if the voice in your head is from God or from a dark place?
In “Rock Bottom,” Dr. Mark Foster takes a look at the life of Jonah as an example of what God does, how God does it, and how to know if it is truly God or not.
The good news is we have a God of second chances and we have thousands of years of brothers and sisters in the faith leading us to the way that leads to life.
Direction without confirmation is delusion. How do we know what God wants us to do? How can we confirm what God is showing us individually and for our common mission?
In “Seeing 2020” Dr. Mark Foster draws from the teaching and practice of the early church in helping us see how to discern what God is showing us. God is always speaking. Our question is, “Do we want what God wants?” or do we just “Want God to give us what we want?"
Longing for light, we wait in the darkness, remembering that God does his best work in the dark: the darkness of a womb and the darkness of a tomb. God is always working for your good.
Mother Teresa said the hunger for love is much more difficult to remove than the hunger for bread. The love we all long for has arrived, and it has a name--Jesus. But to understand the love that Jesus brings, we first have to understand what love is not. Dr. Mark Foster shares what God's love is and is not, and how the love incarnate in Jesus changes everything.
Aim at joy and you’ll miss it. Joy happens while we are busy serving others, in the quiet of a forest, or in the prayer of thanks for another day of grace from Jesus. In this sermon, Dr. Mark Foster looks at joy as described in the Bible from the prophet Ezra through the words of Jesus and the actions of the early church. If you need joy, this message is for you.
We long to find peace in the midst of struggle, and not only as individuals, but in our communities and world as well. We are called to be people of peace in a chaotic world. The good news is Jesus makes peace in this life possible. Dr. Mark Foster explores the Bible's teaching and how to live a life of peace.
The season of Christmas lays bare the deepest longings of our heart, and in a world of violence, division, and suffering, we’re desperate for hope. In the 8th century BC, the prophet Isaiah spoke of the birth of a ruler who would establish peace and rule with justice and righteousness, and who continues to give us hope today.
Though we're familiar with the word, we don't think much about what it means to say "amen" at the end of a prayer. When we say "amen" to God's will in our lives, we may fear losing control, but we gain immeasurably more by allowing God's loving desires to be realized in us.
For some moments, "Wow" is the only word we can muster. Yet we find it difficult to stop and notice the beauty of the world around us. When we practice stillness with God and cultivate our sense of wonder, we can experience the glory of God that suffuses the world and gratefully pray, "Wow!"
We all want to be more grateful, but it's often difficult. Yet when we recognize that everything we have is a gift from God, we can't help but feel grateful. And as we develop a rhythm of thanking God, gratitude fills us with joy and changes the way we experience the world.