We are all being formed into something. Our schooling forms our thinking. Our friendships form our relational life. Our job forms our work life. Our relationship with Jesus forms our spiritual life. For millennia God’s people have been seeking His face, His presence, and His power to shape their lives.
But what about us? How is our fast-paced world forming us? Sometimes we get so caught up with vacation planning, our kids’ sports, graduation events, and work responsibilities that we neglect our spiritual growth. We tell ourselves it won’t be long, but days turn into weeks, weeks into months, and months into years.
The truth is, we were made to be in relationship with God. This summer at Coastline we are taking ten weeks to focus on spiritual formation. Spiritual formation is exactly what it sounds like. We’re going to talk about our relationship with God, look at prayer, see what fasting is really about, figure out how solitude grows our relationship with Jesus, and learn to hear from God.
On Sundays June 19 – August 21, we want to personally invite you to Coastline for Formed. This series isn’t only for you – it’s also for your friend, neighbor, college roommate, and more. This is a sermon series that is going to invite all of us to a deeper relationship with Jesus! We hope you’ll make it a priority to join us every Sunday at 9 or 10:45 AM.
In his groundbreaking writing of The Screwtape Letters, C.S. Lewis brings to life a fictional story of a demon trying to condemn a man to hell. The story is captivating and eye opening. It seems tough to grasp, but if you read Job chapters 1-2 we can see Satan trying to destroy the life of a man named Job. The picture in the first three verses of Job is of a godly, wealthy, fulfilled man. Job had a family who enjoyed the favor of God in his time. The book of Job is a reminder that Satan will do anything to destroy our faith. And, if he was given the opportunity, he would try to kill us. Listen in as Pastor Neal Benson teaches on Job 1-2.
The epic battle found in 1st Samuel 17 between David and Goliath helps set the tone for the war bound leadership reign David would have as he stabilized the nation of
Israel. The story is of Hollywood portion, but tucked into the details of the battle are principles that are helpful to everybody in the family of God. The great giant of mankind has been slayed through Jesus’ death and resurrection. Yet as we wait for the full promise of heaven, the enemy is consistently at work to steal, kill and destroy. Listen in as our guest speaker, Pastor Chase Feindel teaches us how in order to have the promised life to the full, we will need the principles for the battles that lay ahead of us as we fight for the faith.
The events in Genesis 3 disrupt the calm of Eden and are central to the story of what happens to mankind. The book of Genesis was most likely written by Moses to God’s people (the Israelites). In Genesis 3, we read what many people refer to as “The fall of mankind” and you will see why. Our passage has four voices: God, the devil, Adam, and Eve. Adam and Eve are in the garden when the serpent approaches them to plant a seed of doubt in their mind. The devil plays a role of deception against Eve that leads her and Adam to sin. Listen in as Pastor Neal Benson teaches on Genesis 3 and how the deceiver will cause us to doubt the goodness of God.
Many of us have had an unwanted spiritual encounter that felt dark. Typically, when people share these stories, they tend to happen at nighttime. In Ephesians 6, the Apostle Paul writes to the church in Ephesus about the unseen spiritual battle. He taught them about salvation by grace, Christian living, life transformation, and house-hold relationships. This thought might be the most important part of the letter because it applies to every aspect of what he’s written. Listen in as Pastor Neal Benson teaches from Ephesians 6:10-20 on how to stand strong in Christ, because you're in a battle against a cunning and merciless enemy.
In Hebrews 13, we are left with a number of concluding thoughts from the author. At first reading it almost appears as a number of short “tweets” that he is leaving us with. But upon further examination we see more cohesion. The author wants us have encouraging actions, figure out how to bless our leaders, live a lifestyle of worship, and live an equipped life. Listen in as Pastor Neal Benson teaches the conclusion to our sermon series on Hebrews.
The author of the book of Hebrews longs for the early church to thrive in their faith. In Hebrews 12:14-29 we see his passion for that. Listen in as Doug Meye shares three drumbeats that every Christ follower needs to regularly hear.
Discipline isn’t a word that most of us like to hear. In fact, we would rather lay in our warm bed than be disciplined to get up in the morning. When we think about discipline and the letter to the Hebrews we are reminded that the primary purpose of this letter was to encourage the early church. Some of the early believers were considering walking away from their faith and the author is encouraging them to stay strong in the Lord. In Hebrews 12:4-13, the author will encourage them to stay strong in their faith in three ways. He encourages them to be in God’s word, to endure discipline, and to persevere during our discipline. The author knows the peace that waits for them on the other side of their current discipline. Listen in as Pastor Neal Benson teaches on how following the Lord’s disciple leads to peace in my life.
Most of us have been distracted at one point in our life. We forgot our training, the power of those who’ve gone before us, and what we’ve learned. As we move into Hebrews 12:1-3, the author teaches us to remember those who’ve gone before us. He helps to draw our attention back to what is most important. He also exhorts us to throw off the sin that entangles us. Finally we are encouraged to keep our eyes on Jesus. So often we are distracted and fail to think of the great things in God. Listen in as Pastor Neal talks about keeping our eyes fixed on Jesus in a world full of distractions.
Hebrews 11 focuses on living a life of faith when we can’t see the outcome. Faith is growing all around us. The end of Hebrews 11 focuses on growing in our faith when we are faced with suffering. The author makes a unique shift here. It’s an interesting topic to study this because we avoid suffering at all cost. We don’t want to suffer. We like our comfortable lives but God meets us in times of suffering. Listen in as Pastor Neal Benson teaches on how our faith grows most in suffering from Hebrews 11:32-40.
We continue through the Hall of Faith in Hebrews chapter 11:7-31. In this sermon, we are encouraged to live according to God's Word, leaving behind a legacy of faith in the likeness of those who have gone before us. We are reminded that the "Faith Heroes" of Hebrews 11 aren't on some other level than us, but that they too lived everyday lives as we do today. Would we be reminded to know God's Word, and to respond to God's Word by faith in the way we live our lives.