The Church

Speaker: Pastor Aaron Perry

We wrapped up our series called "Family" by talking about the Church aka the family of God. Our goal was to answer four questions: 

What is the Church? The word “church” is a translation of the Greek word ekklesia, which is defined as “an assembly” or “called-out ones.”

Why is it like Family? Language, function, and shared values + Mission.

What's it’s mission + Purpose? Love people, share the Good News, embody the Kingdom, and make Disciples

Why Does it matter? It’s about people and people matter to God.

We as the people, the family of God, must try to love others well. Just has Jesus said in the Gospel of John, "A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another.  By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.”
May the way we love lead many others back to The Father.

Practical ways to engage in The Family of God (Church)
-Attend regularly
-Find a way to use your gifts (Serve)
-Find a smaller circle
-Give to help fuel the mission
-Invite others
-Pray for the body often

South Creek
Raising the Next Generation

Speaker: Pastor Aaron Perry

We continued our series called "Family" in which we are exploring this idea of the family of God and how God uses family to spread His Good News. We had dived into our call to raise up the next generation! Jesus calls all His followers to be part of the raising up of the next generation. We are called to raise resilient disciples of Jesus. If we want to raise resilient disciples, we have to give them TIME.

  • Teach

  • Invite

  • Model

  • Encourage



We must teach the next generation about the REAL Jesus. We must invite the next generation to follow Jesus and live out the purpose He Has for them. We must model what Christ-like living looks like. We must encourage them to be who God created them to be.

So, if you have a next gen person in your life, give them meaningful and consistent attention. Give them meaningful ways to work out and live out their faith. Don’t hide or compartmentalize your walk with Jesus.

South Creek
Family: Marriage

Speaker: Pastor Jeff Matas

We continued our teaching series, Family. Throughout this series, we’re exploring what it means to be part of God’s family and how that shapes us as followers of Christ.

We had the blessing of having Jeff Matas our state pastor with us to explore a key part of family, marriage. Below are a few key takeaways from the message.

  • Don’t make an idol out of marriage.

  • In marriage expect constructive conflict.

  • The model for your marriage is Christ and the church.

May we bring sacrificial love to every relationship we are in, married or not. May the way we love and serve others, point people to Jesus.

South Creek
Committed to Community

Speaker: Pastor Cole Maxwell

We kicked off our new teaching series, Family. Throughout this series, we’re exploring what it means to be part of God’s family and how that shapes us as followers of Christ.

We looked at God’s promise to Abraham and how, through his lineage, He brought redemption and hope in Jesus. We saw how God has always used relationships as a vehicle for healing and love in a broken world.

Key Takeaways from the Message:

  • We were never meant to do life alone. We are created for relationship—with God and with one another.

  • The Church (not the building, but the people) is God’s primary way of bringing healing, salvation, and transformation to the world.

  • Healing happens in community.

Let’s be intentional in the love we show—toward our families, our church family, and everyone we encounter. Let’s reflect the heart of God in the way we love!

South Creek
Developing Discipline
Audio Block
Double-click here to upload or link to a .mp3. Learn more

Speaker: Pastor Aaron Perry

We continued wrapped up teaching series called Made For More, in which we are looking at the lives of Daniel and Jesus to learn principles and purpose of our life. We looked into the story of Daniel and the Lions Den and how a key to Daniels deliverance was his discipline because discipline helps deepen devotion. Below you will find some key takeaways from the message in which our primary focus was on living courageously!

  • Discipline develops in us devotion.

  • Discipline will often deliver us from disordered desires.

  • Discipline helps develop deeper connection to Jesus.



When it comes to creating disciplines in your life that will lead to greater connection to Christ, remember to keep it simple, keep it consistent, and keep it going. Keep showing up to see Him at work because you were Made for More!

South Creek
Courageous Living

Speaker: Pastor Aaron Perry

We continued our teaching series called Made For More, in which we are looking at the lives of Daniel and Jesus to learn principles and purpose in our lives. We looked into the stories of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego being thrown into the fiery furnace and the story of Jesus and Peter walking on water. Below you will find some key takeaways from the message in which our primary focus was on living courageously!

  • Fear cannot fortify where faith is the foundation.

  • Everyone can be courageous with God’s help.

  • Courage comes when conflict and conviction collide.



So, remember to be courageous. Define your values and convictions. Create boundaries and rhythms to live out those convictions. Do it in community. And most importantly, keep your eyes on Jesus.

South Creek
Holiness

Speaker: Pastor Aaron Perry

We continued our new series called Made For More, in which we are looking at the lives of Daniel and Jesus to learn principles and purpose of our life. We primarily focused on what it looks like to live a life of holiness as a follower of Jesus. Holiness means to be set apart, meaning we are to live differently than the rest of the world. Below you will find the four things we can do to help us live a life of holiness as Jesus followers.

  1. Remember - Remember who you are by remembering whose you are.

  2. Repent - Repentance is mostly about what we turn to because the gift of repentance is Jesus.

  3. Reject - What we don’t do is as important to our formation as what we do.

  4. Remain - Accepting and abiding in your true identity is a great act of resistance against the enemy.


So, friends remember, you are not made to be like everyone else or liked by everyone else. You were made to be holy. You were made for more!

South Creek
What's My Purpose?
Audio Block
Double-click here to upload or link to a .mp3. Learn more

Speaker: Pastor Aaron Perry

We began a new series called Made For More, in which we will look at the lives of Daniel and Jesus to learn principles and purpose of our life. We primarily focused on what it looks like to have purpose and live with purpose as a follower of Jesus. We talk about how sometimes our purpose can get derailed or we can be distracted by things like problems, pains, pleasures, and philosophies. Below you will find the four things we can do to help us find and stay focused in and on our purpose as Jesus followers.

  1. Communion with God.

  2. Connecting with others.

  3. Carrying The Gospel.

  4. Cultivating the Kingdom of God.

If we do these things we will experience life to the fullest that brings us exceeding joy and mean.
So, try to live into these things by spending time with God by getting in the Word, by spending time with others by connecting in relationship and by spending time praying for those far from Jesus and take opportunities to love them.

Remember, you were made for more. You were made on purpose and for a purpose. You were made for love, by love, and to love.

South Creek
Hope vs Despair
Audio Block
Double-click here to upload or link to a .mp3. Learn more

Speaker: Pastor Aaron Perry

We wrapped up our teaching series for Advent called "Upside Down Christmas" in which we are exploring what Jesus' vision for Christmas is verse our vision for Christmas. We believe Jesus wants to turn your vision of Christmas upside down, because our desires and expectations of Christmas have been turned into things Jesus didn’t embody or desire for us to long for. Our modern vision of Christmas does not lead us to what Christmas is all about. We looked at how even though at the core of Christmas is hope, that sadly many people experience and feel lots of despair and discouragement. Below are a few key takeaways from Sunday.

- Hope is not about a feeling, it is about a perspective and a posture.
- Discouragement and despair, deceives and distracts us from the hope that we have in Christ.
- The heaviness of life does not have to lead us to a hopeless life.
- Isolation is the island where hope dies.

So, try these four things we encouraged you to do on Sunday, to experience hope.

  1. Hold on To Jesus.

  2. Open Your Eyes to See Him at Work

  3. Pursue Community

  4. Expect God to Move

South Creek
Calm vs Chaos
Audio Block
Double-click here to upload or link to a .mp3. Learn more

Speaker: Pastor Aaron Perry

We continued our teaching series for Advent called "Upside Down Christmas" in which we are exploring what Jesus' vision was for Christmas is verse our vision is for Christmas. We believe Jesus wants to turn your vision of Christmas upside down, because our desires and expectations of Christmas have been turned into things Jesus didn’t embody or desire for us to long for. Our modern vision of Christmas does not lead us to what Christmas is all about. Christmas has become about consumerism and comparison which leads to chaos, when the true meaning of Christmas is about The Prince of Peace coming to be with us. Now here is the thing, traditions are not bad, but they also are typically not transformational because they aren’t centered on Jesus. We focused on how Christmas can be very chaotic which is the opposite of what God desires for us, He is a good of peace and wholeness. Below are a few key takeaways from Sunday.

- Peace is not dependent upon your plans, preferences, or predicaments. True peace is dependent on the
presence of God.

- God doesn’t desire or develop chaos in our lives.


As we are in the midst of the Christmas season and we desire to experience peace, try these three things.

  1. Surrender - When life feels chaotic, surrender center yourself on Christ.

  2. Slow-Down - Our peace is tied to our willingness to be present with God and others, which only happens
    when we slow-down.

  3. Submit - Submission to Jesus will produce shalom in your life.



We hope and pray you keep your eyes on the greatest gift, JESUS.

South Creek
Freedom vs Debt
Audio Block
Double-click here to upload or link to a .mp3. Learn more

Speaker: Pastor Aaron Perry

We continued our teaching series for Advent called "Upside Down Christmas" in which we are exploring what Jesus's vision for Christmas is verse our vision for Christmas. We believe Jesus wants to turn your vision of Christmas upside down, because our desires and expectations of Christmas have been turned into things Jesus didn’t embody or desire for us to long for. Our modern vision of Christmas does not lead us to what Christmas is all about. Christmas has become about consumerism and comparison when the true meaning about it is just Christ. Now here is the thing, traditions are not bad but they also are typically not transformational because they aren’t centered on Jesus. We focused on how through comparison and sending, our modern Christmas often pushes us to debts (whether financial or otherwise). Below are a few key takeaways from Sunday.

- If Jesus came to set us free from our debts maybe going into debt is not the best way to celebrate or honor that.
- Comparison tends to determine our desires and our desires tend to lead us to debts or despairs.
- We were created for freedom and Jesus paid it all so we could be free.

As we are in the midst of the Christmas season to guard yourself from being enslaved to things that won't bring joy and peace to your life, try these things.
- Make a budget and stick to it.
- Guard yourself from the comparison trap.
- Keep Jesus in mind in all you do.

South Creek
Hope vs Despair
Audio Block
Double-click here to upload or link to a .mp3. Learn more

Speaker: Pastor Aaron Perry

We began a new teaching series for Advent called "Upside Down Christmas" in which we are exploring what Jesus vision for Christmas is verse our vision for Christmas. We believe Jesus wants to turn your vision of Christmas upside down, because our desires and expectations of Christmas have been turned into things Jesus didn’t embody or desire for us to long for. Our modern vision of Christmas does not lead us to what Christmas is all about. Christmas has become about consumerism and comparison when the true meaning about it is just Christ. Now here is the thing, traditions are not bad but they also are typically not transformational because they aren’t centered on Jesus. So to pursue an authentic Christmas that honor's Jesus and forms us into His imagine, we challenge you to do these things below.

-Strive to love people with real presence not just lots of presents. Presence is more important than Presents.
-Don’t make an idol of the ideal. Embrace the real. Fake will never bring you freedom.
-Make Jesus the center of your Christmas.

South Creek
Jonah

Speaker: Pastor Aaron Perry

We are continuing our teaching series "The Word: The Stories in The Story" in which we are on a journey looking at the overarching story of scripture by focusing in on some stories within this big story. You see The Bible is not merely an ancient book of rules. It is a library of different stories telling one unified story of love and redemption. It is foundational, formational, and functional.

We focused in on the book of Jonah which is a book about the journey of a prophet named Jonah who ran from God, repented, and then still missed what God's heart was all about. Below you will find a few key take aways from the message!

-God’s grace is bigger than we imagine and we don’t truly understand it until we’re willing to give it to others.
-Sometimes mercy feels like punishment when we don’t have proper perspective, and we aren’t following God’s plan.
-Love of enemy is the truest mark of a heart changed by God.
-No matter how far you run and how deep you sink, God’s grace will find you.
-God’s love is for all people, we are not the gatekeepers of God’s grace.
-Grace is messy.

We hope that you lean into these truths and that you spend time in your journal doing the daily devotions in them.

South Creek
Grace for Yourself

Speaker: Pastor Cole Maxwell

We talked about having "Grace for Yourself." The big question we asked was, "Does peace with God require us to have peace with ourselves?" If we look at Ephesians 2:8-10, we see that God created us, and we are His masterpieces.

Some of the points and quotes from the sermon are below:

Sometimes we can be so busy trying to make peace with everyone else that we forget to make peace with ourselves.

    * We receive our value and our worth based on who God says
       we are and how He sees us.

God says our value and worth are not based on what we have but on who we are in Him.

    * God uses others to remind you to give yourself the grace you need.

‌As we try to have more grace for ourselves, we are praying that you know how much you are loved and valued by our creator. 

South Creek