Church In A Plague

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If you take a quick scroll through Twitter or turn on the news for all of two minutes during this time, you might hear something like the phrase, “This is an unprecedented time in human history.” And in many ways what’s going on right now in our city, our country, and our world does feel that way. None of us have faced a global pandemic like this in our lifetime. Many of us are still trying to adjust to new normals and others of us are still trying to figure out what to think at all.

The reality is that we are not alone. During these and many other times throughout human history, the Church was faced with a decision that we as Christians face every day - How do we love God and love our neighbor in the place, time, and circumstance where we find ourselves? In light of the coronavirus, we continue to ask this question and see how we can still be the Church in a Plague.

Week 1: Churches & Plagues (Sermon) (Worship Guide)

Week 2: God’s People In A Pandemic (Sermon) (Worship Guide)

Week 3: You Are A Mist (Sermon) (Worship Guide)

Week 4: Plagues & Idolatry (Sermon) (Worship Guide)

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Lent | Fighting the World, the Flesh, and the Devil

Traditionally, the season of Lent is a time for followers of Jesus to press into specific teachings and practices as we look ahead to Jesus’ death and resurrection.

As a church family during this season, we’ll be focusing on teachings relating to the three enemies that wage war on our soul - the world, the flesh, and the devil. During this series we'll learn how to fight together as a church family and see the victory that Jesus has made available to us.

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

Week 1: Fighting With Fasting (Sermon) (LifeGroup Guide) (Kids’ LifeGroup Guide)

Week 2: The Three Enemies (Sermon) (LifeGroup Guide) (Kids’ LifeGroup Guide)

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

Week 4: The Flesh (Sermon) (LifeGroup Guide) (Kid's’ LifeGroup Guide)

Week 5: The World (Sermon) (LifeGroup Guide) (Kids’ LifeGroup Guide)

Week 6: Fighting With Prayer (Sermon) (LifeGroup Guide) (Kids’ LifeGroup Guide)

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)

Following Jesus Together

In the Gospel of John, Jesus talks about the abundant life. This life radiates with love, joy, and peace with one goal in mind - to be with Him and look like Him.

This is the abundant life Jesus invites us into and makes available to us now.

FollowingJesusTogether.com

Sermons & Resources

Week 1: An Invitation to a Journey - (Sermon) (LifeGroup Guide)

Week 2: Doing What Jesus Did - (Sermon) (LifeGroup Guide)

|giv| 2019

Every year, we take 3-4 weeks to intentionally focus on growing in generosity. We take this time to think about how God has given us undeserved grace while we were still sinners and continues to grow us as his people. We like to call it our |giv| series.

During the series, we will walk through the first two chapters of Matthew to prepare our hearts to celebrate God’s greatest gift to the world: Jesus. As Christians, because it’s far too easy to just get caught up in everything else so we want to make sure that we approach this season thoughtfully. Each week, we’ll look at different aspects of Christ's coming that ought to shape the way we think, feel and react to the Christmas season.

LISTEN TO SERMONS & DOWNLOAD Resources

Week 1: Jesus’ Resume - (Sermon) (LifeGroup Guide)

Week 2: Jesus’ Mission - (Sermon) (LifeGroup Guide)

Week 3: Jesus’ Kingdom - (Sermon) (LifeGroup Guide)

1. Start Tithing

We want our first step of ongoing generosity to be towards the mission of our church. By financially supporting our church together, we set ourselves up for a stable and sustainable ministry for years to come. We are encouraging our family to set up a recurring tithe because the gospel transforms us not just to be generous around the holidays, but during all seasons of our lives.

2. SIGN UP FOR SERVE THE CITY WEEKEND

The gospel transforms us to be generous with not only our finances, but our time and energy as well. We are coming together to serve our seven partner organizations and their clients at Serve the City Weekend from January 18-20, 2020.

3. RAISE $22,000 FOR OUR SERVE THE CITY PARTNERS

We want to fund Serve the City events throughout the next year and continue to do things like feeding Epworth students each Wednesday night at Student Groups.

4. ATTEND THE PERSONAL FINANCE CLASS

We want to equip our church family to be spiritually healthy by stewarding the financial resources that God has entrusted to us. On Sunday, January 26, February 2, and February 9 from 9:00am - 11:00am at our Downtown church, we’re hosting a class that consists of practical training to manage your finances, pay off debt, invest well, and practice biblical generosity.

Celebration Sunday 2019

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Life of David

We often prop David up as a great hero of faith. When in reality, he was a regular person just like you and me. He trusted God and God did mighty things through him, yet he also ignored God and failed miserably. Whether you’re a long-time Jesus-follower or you think you’re too far away from Him, David’s life will have something to say to you.

For this series, we hope your trust in God matures and you are moved towards God's steadfast love as we dig into both the victories and defeats of David.

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

Week 1: David and the Crown (Sermon) (LifeGroup Guide) (Scripture Guide)

Week 2: David and Jonathan (Sermon) (LifeGroup Guide) (Scripture Guide)

Week 3: David and Saul (Sermon) (LifeGroup Guide) (Scripture Guide)

Week 4: David and Bathsheba (Sermon) (LifeGroup Guide)

Week 5: David and Nathan (Sermon) (LifeGroup Guide)

Week 6: David and His Children (Sermon) (LifeGroup Guide)

Week 7: David’s Inner Life (Sermon) (LifeGroup Guide)

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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. Our reading plan will help ground you in God’s Word and give you daily prayer prompts to better prepare your heart for the teaching you’ll hear on Sundays.

Click here to download/print our entire Life of David Reading Plan.

In Columbia As It Is In Heaven

The church is comprised of people following Jesus together. And while it’s easy to turn church into simply creating compelling events, Jesus reminds us that the church is about creating compelling people - people who follow Jesus and do the things Jesus did. This is Jesus’s means to bring His Kingdom to Earth.

For this series, we want to equip our church to be compelling Jesus-centered people who look more like Him because when we do, Columbia looks a little more like Heaven.

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

Week 1: Bringing Heaven to Earth (Sermon) (LifeGroup Guide)

Week 2: Abide (Sermon) (LifeGroup Guide)

Week 3: Fellowship (Sermon) (LifeGroup Guide)

Week 4: Confession and Repentance (Sermon) (LifeGroup Guide)

Week 5: Mission (Sermon) (LifeGroup Guide)

Week 6: Generosity (Sermon) (LifeGroup Guide)

Week 7: Serve (Sermon) (LifeGroup Guide)

Week 8: Gather (Sermon) (LifeGroup Guide)

For more reading recommendations, check out our online bookstore.

* indicates required

Enter your e-mail to recieve reading prompts directly to your inbox: *

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. Our reading plan will help ground you in God’s Word and give you daily prayer prompts to better prepare your heart for the teaching you’ll hear on Sundays.

Click here to download/print our entire In Columbia as it is in Heaven Reading Plan.

Worthy | There Is None Like Him

Everybody worships. The question is, “What do we worship?” Some of us worship our jobs, worship our families, worship our significant other. Some of us worship more obscure things like control, power, or comfort. And whatever we worship is what we will pour all our time, attention, and affections into.

So the question becomes, what is actually worthy of our worship? In this series, we’ll take a look at how God, above all things, is ultimately worthy.

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

Week 1: He is Worthy Part 1 (Sermon) (LifeGroup Guide)

Week 2: He is Worthy Part 2 (Sermon) (LifeGroup Guide)

Week 3: He is Sovereign (Sermon) (LifeGroup Guide)

Week 4: He is Eternal & Immutable (Sermon) (LifeGroup Guide)

Week 5: He is Omnipresent (Sermon) (LifeGroup Guide)

Week 6: He is Omniscient (Sermon) (LifeGroup Guide)

Week 7: He is Omnipotent & Self-sufficient (Sermon) (LifeGroup Guide)

For more reading recommendations, check out our online bookstore.

Stand-Alone | The Father Heart of God

Sermon by Brandon Clements on Friday, June 16.

Stand-Alone 2019 | Good Friday

Sermon by Adam Gibson on Friday, April 19.

Work

Work is more than your 9-5. It’s everything that God calls you to do.

Whether it’s clocking in at the office, attending classes, raising children, managing your budget, all of it falls under the category of “work.” And this work is actually all part of God’s plan to redeem all of creation.

Our aim for this series is to see our work as part of God’s bigger story. We want to see our work as actively partnering with God to help accomplish what He’s doing throughout the world.

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

Week 1: You Need A Story (Sermon) (LifeGroup Guide)

Week 2: You Need A Calling (Sermon) (LifeGroup Guide)

Week 3: You Need A Sabbath (Sermon) (LifeGroup Guide)

Week 4: You Need A Stable Identity (Sermon) (LifeGroup Guide)

Week 5: You Need A Mission (Sermon) (LifeGroup Guide)

Week 6: You Need Meaning For Your Frustrations (Sermon) (LifeGroup Guide)

Week 7: You Need Your Work (Sermon) (LifeGroup Guide)

RECOMMENDED RESOURCES

To explore more recommended resources, check out our digital bookstore.

1 Corinthians | Part 2

In 1 Corinthians, Paul addresses the brokenness within the church at Corinth and how only the good news of Jesus can unify and restore. We want this series to be an opportunity to celebrate all the goodness and beauty of the church while also being honest about the struggle and difficulty of being the church.

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

Week 1: Flee From Idolatry (Sermon) (LifeGroup Guide)

Week 2: 5 Meals that Changed the World (Sermon) (LifeGroup Guide)

Week 3: Gospel-Centered Ethics (Sermon) (LifeGroup Guide)

Week 4: Haircuts and Head-Coverings (Sermon) (LifeGroup Guide)

Week 5: Build Up the Body in Love (Sermon) (LifeGroup Guide)

Week 6: No Seriously, Build Up the Body in Love (Sermon) (LifeGroup Guide)

Week 7: A Loving Community (Sermon) (LifeGroup Guide)

Week 8: Supernaturally Life-Giving Words (Sermon) (LifeGroup Guide)

Week 9: Supernaturally Life-Giving Words Part 2 (Sermon) (LifeGroup Guide)

Week 10: The Reminder We Need (Sermon) (LifeGroup Guide)

Week 11: Our Resurrection (Sermon) (LifeGroup Guide)

Week 12: Change the World with People You Love (Sermon) (LifeGroup Guide)

Serve the City

One of our favorite ways to kick off a new year is to rally our family toward Serve the City Weekend. To do that, we’re spending these first two weeks focused on understanding why we serve. We want to learn from Scripture and see how God first served us. Our goal is that the ultimate act of service, the Cross, would motivate us to sacrificially love and serve the people around us.

LISTEN TO SERMONS & DOWNLOAD LIFEGROUP RESOURCES.

Week 1: Count Others as More Significant - (Sermon) (LifeGroup Guide)

Week 2: Death Defying Compassion - (Sermon) (LifeGroup Guide)

Week 3: Jesus for Shalom - (Sermon) (LifeGroup Guide)

SIGN UP FOR SERVE THE CITY WEEKEND

The gospel transforms us to be generous with not only our finances, but our time and energy as well. We are coming together to serve our six partner organizations and their clients at Serve the City Weekend from January 18-21, 2019.

RAISE $21,000 FOR OUR SERVE THE CITY PARTNERSHIPS

We want to fund Serve the City events throughout the next year and continue to do things like feeding Epworth students each Wednesday night at Student Groups.

Stand-Alone 2018 | An Unthinkable Descent

Sermon by Brandon Clements on December 16, 2018.

|giv| 2018

Every year, we take 3-4 weeks to intentionally focus on growing in generosity. We take this time to think about how God has given us undeserved grace while we were still sinners and continues to grow us as his people. We like to call it our |giv| series.

1. Start Tithing

We want our first step of ongoing generosity to be towards the mission of our church. By financially supporting our church together, we set ourselves up for a stable and sustainable ministry for years to come.  We are encouraging our family to set up a recurring tithe because the gospel transforms us not just to be generous around the holidays, but during all seasons of our lives.

2. SIGN UP FOR SERVE THE CITY WEEKEND

The gospel transforms us to be generous with not only our finances, but our time and energy as well. We are coming together to serve our six partner organizations and their clients at Serve the City Weekend from January 18-21, 2019.

3. RAISE $21,000 FOR OUR SERVE THE CITY PARTNERS

We want to fund Serve the City events throughout the next year and continue to do things like feeding Epworth students each Wednesday night at Student Groups.

4. ATTEND THE PERSONAL FINANCE SEMINAR

We want to equip our church family to be spiritually healthy by stewarding the financial resources that God has entrusted to us. On Saturday, January 26 from 9:00am-3:00pm at our Downtown church, we’re hosting a seminar that consist of practical training to manage your finances, pay off debt, invest well, and practice biblical generosity.

LISTEN TO SERMONS & DOWNLOAD Resources

Week 1: Mercy - Its Source & Motive - (Sermon) (LifeGroup Guide)

Week 2: Grace Givers - (Sermon) (LifeGroup Guide)

Week 3: A Test of Genuine Faith - (Sermon) (LifeGroup Guide)

Celebration Sunday 2018

We did not have a sermon during our city-wide Celebration Sunday Gathering on November 18, 2018, but you can grab the LifeGroup Guide and watch all of the baptism videos that played during the Gathering by clicking the buttons below.

1 Corinthians | Part 1

In 1 Corinthians, Paul addresses the brokenness within the church at Corinth and how only the good news of Jesus can unify and restore. We want this series to be an opportunity to celebrate all the goodness and beauty of the church while also being honest about the struggle and difficulty of being the church.

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

Week 1: Dissonance Theory (Sermon) (LifeGroup Guide)

Week 2: Unity Without Uniformity  (Sermon) (LifeGroup Guide)

Week 3: Silly Church Kids (Sermon) (LifeGroup Guide)

Week 4: Spirit-Led Maturity (Sermon) (LifeGroup Guide)

Week 5: Build So You Don’t Get Burned (Sermon) (LifeGroup Guide)

Week 6: Self-Forgetfulness (Sermon) (LifeGroup Guide)

Week 7: Covenant Breaking and the Sin of Tolerance (Sermon) (LifeGroup Guide)

Week 8: Death by Drama (Sermon) (LifeGroup Guide)

3-Week Mini-Series “Sex, Marriage, & Singleness”

Week 9: Nothing Is Just Physical, Especially Sex (Sermon) (LifeGroup Guide)

Week 10: Acting Out Your Wedding Vows
(Sermon) (LifeGroup Guide)

Week 11: Different Paths of Devotion
(Sermon) (LifeGroup Guide)

Week 12: The Demands of Love Pt. 1 (Sermons) (LifeGroup Guide)

Week 13: The Demands of Love Pt. 2 (Sermon) (LifeGroup Guide)

Stand-Alone 2018 | State of the Church

Sermon by Brandon Clements on July 15, 2018.