Ekklesia | The Called-Out People of God

Who is the church, and why does it matter? This four-week study explores the Bible's images of the people of God, bringing clarity to the church's identity and inspiring renewed love for and commitment to our local church.

To help facilitate LifeGroup discussion, we'll be posting resources for each week of the series.

Week 1: Who the Church Is and Why It Matters

(Sermon) (LifeGroup Guide) (Sermon Outline)

Week 2:

(Sermon) (LifeGroup Guide) (Sermon Outline)

Week 3:

(Sermon) (LifeGroup Guide) (Sermon Outline)

Week 4:

(Sermon) (LifeGroup Guide) (Sermon Outline)

When You Pray

Jesus didn’t just tell us to pray—He taught us how. In this series, we’ll learn to pray by walking through the Lord’s Prayer, letting stories from the Gospels shape our posture, priorities, and trust in God. Together, we’ll discover prayer not as a formula to master, but a relationship that forms us as we learn to seek the Father’s heart.

To help facilitate LifeGroup discussion, we'll be posting resources for each week of the series.

Week 1: Approaching God as Father

(Sermon) (LifeGroup Guide) (Sermon Outline)

Week 2: Hallowed Be Your Name

(Sermon) (LifeGroup Guide) (Sermon Outline)

Week 3: Your Kingdom Come

(Sermon) (LifeGroup Guide) (Sermon Outline)

Week 4: Give Us This Day Our Daily Bread

(Sermon) (LifeGroup Guide) (Sermon Outline)

Week 5: Forgive Us Our Debts As We Also Have Forgiven Our Debtors

(Sermon) (LifeGroup Guide) (Sermon Outline)

Week 6: Lead Us Not into Temptation But Deliver Us From Evil

(Sermon) (LifeGroup Guide) (Sermon Outline)

Week 7: Persisting in Prayer

(Sermon) (LifeGroup Guide) (Sermon Outline)

Jonah | The Really Bad Prophet

The book of Jonah has captivated and perplexed audiences for generations. It’s often understood as “that story about a guy who got swallowed by a whale.” But truth be told, there’s so much more going on than that. At its core, Jonah is a story about a prophet who calls others to repent but refuses to repent himself. And ultimately, about a God who will go to extreme measures to try and change that about him.

To help facilitate LifeGroup discussion, we'll be posting resources for each week of the series.

Week 1: You Can’t Outrun God

(Sermon) (LifeGroup Guide) (Sermon Outline)

Week 2: The Pit and the Promise

(Sermon) (LifeGroup Guide) (Sermon Outline)

Week 3: Overthrown By Mercy

(Sermon) (LifeGroup Guide) (Sermon Outline)

Week 4: The Scandal of Grace

(Sermon) (LifeGroup Guide) (Sermon Outline)

Ecclesiastes | And the Power to Enjoy

In the book of Ecclesiastes, Solomon pulls no punches. Though he has access to more wealth, prestige, experiences–though he has more accomplishments than most humans ever will–he finds the end result of them all severely lacking. “Vanity,” he says. Meaningless. A striving after the wind.

In chapter 5, he notes there is a difference between having wealth and possessions and “power to enjoy them” (Eccl 5:19). The whole book seeks to answer the question, how do we, as finite humans who all face the certainty of death, get the power to enjoy the imperfect lives we have? 

The only answer, which we’ll trace through the major movements of the book, is to live with a perspective that is beyond the sun, rather than under the sun. To have our eyes set on the eternal, not the earthly.

To help facilitate LifeGroup discussion, we'll be posting resources for each week of the series.

Week 1: Is This It?

(Sermon) (LifeGroup Guide) (Sermon Outline)

Week 2: That Won't Fix You

(Sermon) (LifeGroup Guide) (Sermon Outline)

Week 3: Toil, Vexation and the Gift of Joy

(Sermon) (LifeGroup Guide) (Sermon Outline)

Week 4: Everything In Its Season

(Sermon) (LifeGroup Guide) (Sermon Outline)

Week 5: Two Are Better Than One

(Sermon) (LifeGroup Guide) (Sermon Outline)

Week 6: The Disease of More

(Sermon) (LifeGroup Guide) (Sermon Outline)

Week 7: Keeping the End in Mind

(Sermon) (LifeGroup Guide) (Sermon Outline)

Week 8: The End of the Matter

(Sermon) (LifeGroup Guide) (Sermon Outline)

After the Cross of Christ

Because of Jesus' resurrection, everything has changed. 

In our previous sermon series, we unpacked the significance of Jesus' atoning death on the Cross. For this series, we're shifting our focus to a short period immediately after Jesus' death and resurrection, and all that entails for us as we grow in following Jesus together.

To help facilitate LifeGroup discussion, we'll be posting resources for each week of the series.

Week 1: Breakfast on the Beach

(Sermon) (LifeGroup Guide) (Sermon Outline)

Week 2: The Road to Emmaus

(Sermon) (LifeGroup Guide) (Sermon Outline)

Week 3: The Ascension

(Sermon) (LifeGroup Guide) (Sermon Outline)

Week 4: Pentecost

(Sermon) (LifeGroup Guide) (Sermon Outline)

The Cross of Christ

It has been said that the Atoning work of Jesus is like a multi-faceted diamond. What Christ accomplished on the cross is massive, and its window into the heart of God is grand. In this series, we study the many things Jesus’ death and resurrection achieved as we prepare our hearts and minds for Good Friday and Resurrection Sunday.

To help facilitate LifeGroup discussion, we'll be posting resources for each week of the series.

Week 1: Substitution

(Sermon) (LifeGroup Guide)

Week 2: Expiation

(Sermon) (LifeGroup Guide)

Week 3: Redemption

(Sermon) (LifeGroup Guide)

Week 4: Adoption

(Sermon) (LifeGroup Guide)

Week 5:

(Sermon) (LifeGroup Guide)

Week 6:

(Sermon) (LifeGroup Guide)

JAMES

To faithfully follow Jesus, our faith must be marked by action. Our belief should lead us into good works and obedience. In the book of James, we are challenged by the brother of Jesus to examine the authenticity of our faith and to ensure that it fills each area of our everyday lives.

To help facilitate LifeGroup discussion, we'll be posting resources for each week of the series.

Week 1: Consider it Joy (James 1:1-12)

(Sermon) (LifeGroup Guide)

Week 2: When He Is Tempted (James 1:13-18)

(Sermon) (LifeGroup Guide)

Week 3: Be Doers of the Word, and Not Hearers Only (James 1:22-2:13)

(Sermon) (LifeGroup Guide)

Week 4: Is It Faith? (James 2:14-26)

(Sermon) (LifeGroup Guide)

Week 5: Taming the Tongue (James 3:1-18)

(Sermon) (LifeGroup Guide)

Week 6: What Causes Quarrels Among You? (James 4:1-12)

(Sermon) (LifeGroup Guide)

Week 7: You Are a Mist (James 4:13-5:6)

(Sermon) (LifeGroup Guide)

Week 8: Establish Your Hearts

(Sermon) (LifeGroup Guide)

Stand-Alone | The Purpose & Power of God's Word

Sermon by Brandon Clements on November 24, 2024.

We are often distracted many different things that gain our attention and focus.  This week we look at the Apostle Paul's words that show us 3 distinct benefits of focusing our attention on the Lord.

Stand-Alone | The Purpose & Power of God's Word | November 24

Brandon Clements

Philippians

SERMONS | READING PLAN | PRACTICES | RESOURCES

In 62AD, we find the apostle Paul bound in prison and disconnected from his friends and church family. Yet during his imprisonment, he’s able to pen what is considered to be the most joyful book of the Bible - the letter to the Philippians.

In this 12-week series, we'll take a look at how our church family can become people of joy as we slowly transition back into “normal” life, and how our joy can be a witness to our city that Jesus is alive.

SERMONS

To help facilitate LifeGroup discussion, we'll be posting resources for each week of the series.

Week 1: God Don’t Quit

(Sermon) (LifeGroup Guide) (Scripture Guide)

Week 2: The Unstoppable Kingdom

(Sermon) (LifeGroup Guide) (Scripture Guide)

Week 3: Joy in Life or Death

(Sermon) (LifeGroup Guide) (Scripture Guide)

Week 4: Live as Citizens of the Gospel

(Sermon) (LifeGroup Guide) (Scripture Guide)

Week 5: The Way of Jesus vs. The Way of Caesar

(Sermon) (LifeGroup Guide) (Scripture Guide)

Week 6: Joy in Our Perseverance

(Sermon) (LifeGroup Guide) (Scripture Guide)

Week 7: Gospel Friendships and Gospel Goodbyes

(Sermon) (LifeGroup Guide) (Scripture Guide)

Week 8: Surpassing Worth

(Sermon) (LifeGroup Guide) (Scripture Guide)

Week 9: You Got to Hold On

(Sermon) (LifeGroup Guide) (Scripture Guide)

Week 10: An Unsinkable Joy

(Sermon) (LifeGroup Guide) (Scripture Guide)

Week 11: The Skillful Management of Attention

(Sermon) (LifeGroup Guide) (Scripture Guide)

Week 12: Contentment & Giving

(Sermon) (LifeGroup Guide) (Scripture Guide)

READING PLAN

As God’s people, we want to be guided by His Word and empowered by His Spirit to fuel us to be a Jesus-centered family on mission. This reading plan is designed to ground you in God’s Word to better prepare your heart for the teaching you’ll hear on Sundays.

PRACTICES

As we launch new teaching series, we want to introduce new tools and practices that help you learn to be with Jesus and look more like Him.

For this series, we want to focus on a particular tool to help us learn to follow Jesus more closely. Given that the book of Philippians is one of the most joy-filled books in the Scriptures, our spiritual practice for this series is gratitude.

RESOURCES

For those wanting to dive further into Philippians, we’d recommend the following videos, books, and commentaries:

Philippians: The NIV Application Commentary

Paul’s Letter to the Philippians by Gordon Fee

Paul's Letter to the Philippians: A Socio-Rhetorical Commentary

The Other Half of Church by Jim Wilder and Michel Hendricks

Why I'm A Christian

The Christian faith is not a blind faith, but a rational faith that transforms what we believe about ourselves and the world around us. For this series, we’ll look at the evidence for the Christian faith to equip us as a church to be on mission.

During the Why I'm a Christian series, we want to know the concepts and ideas you that you wrestle with the most. If you have a question, text "LEXINGTON" followed by your question to 91011. On the final week of this series, we'll choose a few of the texts we've received to discuss and answer. We hope that through this Q&A time, we'll provide further insight and substance to our faith in Jesus Christ.

For this series we’ve created a website full of helpful books, videos and articles. Check them out at whyimachristian.com

To help facilitate LifeGroup discussion, we'll be posting resources for each week of the series.

Week 1: God (Sermon) (LifeGroup Guide) (Kids’ LifeGroup Guide)

Week 2: Jesus (Sermon) (LifeGroup Guide) (Kids’ LifeGroup Guide)

Week 3: The Bible (Sermon) (LifeGroup Guide) (Kids’ LifeGroup Guide)

Week 4: Doubting Your Doubts (Sermon) (LifeGroup Guide) (Kid's’ LifeGroup Guide)

Week 5: Q & A (Sermon) (LifeGroup Guide) (Kids’ LifeGroup Guide)