Jesus

Stand-Alone | Celebration Sunday 2024

Celebration Sunday sermon by Jake Blair on November 17, 2024.

Our church family spent Sunday together celebrating baptisms! Videos from the Gathering and this week's LifeGroup Guide can be found below.

Baptism Stories

Hebrews | Christ & the New Covenant

Near the tail end of our Year of Biblical Literacy, we come to the rich, dense book of Hebrews. It’s full of callbacks and history, threads pulled from all across the Old Testament. The author assumes intimate knowledge of the old covenant –the sacrificial system, the tabernacle, the promised land–and then shows that they were incomplete, only “copies and shadows.” 

Each is an arrow pointing to Christ, who himself becomes the mediator of the new covenant–the perfect high priest, the meeting place between God and man, the source of eternal rest for those united to him.

This series is part of our Year of Biblical Literacy initiative.

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

Week 1: Christ and the New Covenant

(Sermon) (LifeGroup Guide) (Sermon Outline)

Week 2: The Descent and Ascent of Christ

(Sermon) (LifeGroup Guide) (Sermon Outline)

Week 3: Christ the True and Better Moses

(Sermon) (LifeGroup Guide) (Sermon Outline)

Week 4: Today, If You Hear His Voice, Do Not Harden Your Hearts

(Sermon) (LifeGroup Guide) (Sermon Outline)

Week 5: Christ the Perfect Tabernacle, Priest, and Sacrifice

(Sermon) (LifeGroup Guide) (Sermon Outline)

Week 6: Hold Fast Your Confession of Hope

(Sermon) (LifeGroup Guide) (Sermon Outline)

Week 7: The Hall of Faith (and the Vision Required to be There)

(Sermon) (LifeGroup Guide) (Sermon Outline)

Week 8: A Tale of Three Mountains

(Sermon) (LifeGroup Guide) (Sermon Outline)

Check out our Year of Biblical Literacy site for more articles, podcasts, and book recommendations.

BOOKS | COURSES | ARTICLES

Throughout the year, we want to know the concepts and passages you wrestle with. We'll answer some of these questions in podcast episodes throughout the year.

To submit your topic or question, text "DOWNTOWN" followed by your topic to 855-855-0655.

The Gospel | The Kingdom of God is at Hand

SERMONS | RESOURCES | TEXT-IN QUESTIONS

How would you summarize Jesus’ teachings? Depending on who you ask, you’re likely to get different answers. However, Jesus’ summary statement is actually one of his first statements in the Gospels: “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” 

In other words, Jesus’ life and teachings are all about ushering in God’s loving rule and reign on Earth as it is in Heaven. So what might His kingdom look like in our city, and how do we faithfully follow Him in our time and place?

Join us for five weeks as we examine Jesus’ teachings and consider how we can experience more of His kingdom in Columbia as it is in Heaven.

This series is part of our Year of Biblical Literacy initiative.

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

Week 1: The Kingdom of God Is at Hand

(Sermon) (LifeGroup Guide) (Sermon Outline)

Week 2: The Acceptance You’ve Always Wanted

(Sermon) (LifeGroup Guide) (Sermon Outline)

Week 3: The Power of Forgiveness

(Sermon) (LifeGroup Guide) (Sermon Outline)

Week 4: The King Wants Your Heart

(Sermon) (LifeGroup Guide) (Sermon Outline)

Week 5: The Pursuit of Greatness

(Sermon) (LifeGroup Guide) (Sermon Outline)

Check out our Year of Biblical Literacy site for more articles, podcasts, and book recommendations.

BOOKS | COURSES | ARTICLES

Throughout the year, we want to know the concepts and passages you wrestle with. We'll answer some of these questions in podcast episodes throughout the year.

To submit your topic or question, text "DOWNTOWN" followed by your topic to 855-855-0655.

Stand-Alone | Easter Weekend 2024

Good Friday sermon by Adam Gibson on March 29, 2024.

Our church family spent Good Friday looking towards the cross and Easter Sunday celebrating our Risen Savior! The Good Friday sermon, baptism videos from the Easter Gathering, and this weeks LifeGroup Guide can be found below.

Baptism Stories

Jesus &

Jesus Christ controls the universe with His power. He is supreme, and how you view Him changes how you view everything else. But Jesus is also intimately personal -  what does Jesus have to say about you? What does He say to you in your hurt? What does He have to say to you in your doubts? What does He have to tell you when you screw up?

For this series, we’ll spend seven weeks looking at how Jesus interacts with different types of people in Scripture and what He has to say to us too.

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

Week 1: Jesus & the Bully

(Sermon) (Transcript) (LifeGroup Guide)

Week 2: Jesus & the Outcast

(Sermon) (Transcript) (LifeGroup Guide)

Week 3: Jesus & the Little Ones

(Sermon) (Transcript) (LifeGroup Guide)

Week 4: Jesus & the Doubter

(Sermon) (Transcript) (LifeGroup Guide)

Week 5: Jesus & the Hurting

(Sermon) (Transcript) (LifeGroup Guide)

Week 6: Jesus & the Jealous

(Sermon) (Transcript) (LifeGroup Guide)

Week 7: Jesus & the Prideful

(Sermon) (Transcript) (LifeGroup Guide)

The Family Guide resembles the weekly LifeGroup Guide and is designed for a family to do together once a week.

It has the same familiar elements (Catch Up on Life, Sermon Discussion, Engage the Heart, Review the Mission) and is meant to be a 30-minute family rhythm.

Stand-Alone | The Parable of the Wonderful Father

Sermon by Ryan Rike on June 18, 2023.

In Luke 15, we find one of Jesus' most famous teachings. It is often called "the Parable of the Prodigal Son" or "the Parable of the Two Sons." While the two siblings have much to teach us, perhaps we are also invited to understand this passage through a different lens: the Parable of the Wonderful Father. In this passage, Jesus radically upends what many believe God is like and invites us to recapture the wonder of His love and grace.

Stand-Alone | Easter 2023

Sermon by Adam Gibson on April 9.

Our church family spent Easter Sunday together celebrating our Risen Savior! Baptism videos from the Easter Gathering and this weeks LifeGroup Guide can be found below.

Baptism Stories

Upon This Rock

Finding your way toward spiritual health in the chaos of modern life can prove quite difficult. When you survey the mental health landscape in our culture, things don't get any rosier. It can feel like solid ground to stand on is hard to come by, so we are taking a season to study and meditate on five simple verses that offer a robust Christian worldview--a place to stand against the winds and lies around us--not only so we can stand, but so we can provide much-needed hope and stability to those in our neighborhoods and workplaces.

These words are from the Apostle Peter, who himself went through the agony of failure, and felt the throes of instability around and inside of him, only to come out on the other side standing firm, offering these words of life to us so that we might stand on the truth they convey as well:

6 Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time he may exalt you, 7 casting all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you. 8 Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. 9 Resist him, firm in your faith, knowing that the same kinds of suffering are being experienced by your brotherhood throughout the world. 10 And after you have suffered a little while, the God of all grace, who has called you to his eternal glory in Christ, will himself restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish you. 11 To him be the dominion forever and ever. Amen.

1 Peter 5:6-11

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

Week 1: Upon This Rock

(Sermon) (Transcript) (LifeGroup Guide)

Week 2: Humble Yourselves

(Sermon) (Transcript) (LifeGroup Guide)

Week 3: Cast All Your Anxieties on Him

(Sermon) (Transcript) (LifeGroup Guide)

Week 4: Watch Out for the Lion

(Sermon) (Transcript) (LifeGroup Guide)

Week 5: Resist Him, Firm in Your Faith

(Sermon) (Transcript) (LifeGroup Guide)

Week 6: Know You are Not Alone

(Sermon) (Transcript) (LifeGroup Guide)

Week 7: The Bad Won’t Last Forever

(Sermon) (Transcript) (LifeGroup Guide)

Week 8: Forever and Ever, Amen

(Sermon) (Transcript) (LifeGroup Guide)

We want to focus on tools to help us learn to follow Jesus more closely. Therefore, we'll do a couple of things for this series to help us in our spiritual formation.

The first is to memorize 1 Peter 5:6-11. In LifeGroups, we'll tackle one verse at a time each week.

Second, we want to focus on one of the five spiritual practices below. Each is proven to improve mental health. Just click on one of the practices for tools to grow in that area. We're asking everyone to spend the next five weeks focusing on that particular practice.

Fruit of the Spirit

Do you ever feel like there are two competing forces waging war within you as you try to follow Jesus? Do you ever feel a gap between what you want your discipleship to look like and the actual lived reality of your day-to-day life? 

Galatians 5 gives weight to this battle within us, telling us about these two competing forces with competing desires - the Spirit and the flesh. And the invitation for all of us as followers of Jesus is to crucify the flesh and cultivate the fruit.

This series will take nine weeks to walk through the Fruit of the Spirit we are called to cultivate, as we examine the life and teachings of Jesus and how the Fruit of the Spirit was evident in His life.

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

Week 1: Love in a Time of Self-Interest

(Sermon) (Transcript) (LifeGroup Guide)

Week 2: Patience in a Time of Irritability

(Sermon) (Transcript) (LifeGroup Guide)

Week 3: Peace in a Time of Anxiety

(Sermon) (Transcript) (LifeGroup Guide)

Week 4: Kindness in a Time of Polarization

(Sermon) (Transcript) (LifeGroup Guide)

Week 5: Faithfulness in a Time of Compromise

(Sermon) (Transcript) (LifeGroup Guide)

Week 6: Goodness in a Time of Brokenness

(Sermon) (Transcript) (LifeGroup Guide)

Week 7: Gentleness in a Time of Harshness

(Sermon) (Transcript) (LifeGroup Guide)

Week 8: Joy in a Time of Cynicism

(Sermon) (Transcript) (LifeGroup Guide)

Week 9: Self-Control in a time of Self-Fulfillment

(Sermon) (Transcript) (LifeGroup Guide)

In Christ

The terms “in Christ,” “in Him,” and “in the Lord”  are used in the New Testament over 150 times to describe what it means to be a Christian. For the biblical authors and the early church, this concept was foundational in understanding who we are with God and with others. So, what does it actually mean to be “in Christ”? 

For seven weeks, we will unpack this theological concept and its practical implications for our lives. As a church family, it’s our hope that as we do, we can further meditate on what Jesus has done for us and enjoy Him more.

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

Week 1: Enjoying Our Union with Him

(Sermon) (Transcript) (LifeGroup Guide)

Week 2: From In Adam to In Christ

(Sermon) (Transcript) (LifeGroup Guide)

Week 3: Adoption

(Sermon) (Transcript) (LifeGroup Guide)

Week 4: Imputed Righteousness

(Sermon) (Transcript) (LifeGroup Guide)

Week 5: Sanctification

(Sermon) (Transcript) (LifeGroup Guide)

Week 6: New Creation

(Sermon) (Transcript) (LifeGroup Guide)

Week 7: Restored Honor

(Sermon) (Transcript) (LifeGroup Guide)

For this series, we want to focus on a particular tool to help us learn to follow Jesus more closely. Given that this series is helping us further meditate on what it means to be in Christ, our corporate practice is Gospel Fluency.

For those looking for additional reading to go along with our series we recommend checking out the following:

Stand-Alone | Easter 2022

Sermon by Adam Gibson on April 17.

Our church family spent Easter Sunday together celebrating our Risen Savior! Baptism videos from the Easter Gathering and this weeks LifeGroup Guide can be found below.

The Suffering Servant

Jesus comes to Earth as a king, unlike any other. He ushers in the rule and reign of God not by political power or might but servant-hearted love. Culminating on the cross, the servant-heart of Jesus is one of the defining features of His ministry. In the same way, those he calls to follow Him are to embody the same servant-minded way of living - full of compassion and self-sacrificial love - that signals God's coming kingdom far and wide.

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

Week 1: An Unexpected King

(Sermon) (Transcript) (LifeGroup Guide)

Week 2: Unexpected Compassion

(Sermon) (Transcript) (LifeGroup Guide)

Week 3: An Unexpected Table

(Sermon) (Transcript) (LifeGroup Guide)

In Columbia As It Is In Heaven

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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.

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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)

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To view more reading recommendations, go to our online bookstore.

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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 In Columbia as it is in Heaven Reading Plan.



Worthy | There Is None Like Him

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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.

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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 Eternal & Immutable (Sermon) (LifeGroup Guide)

Week 4: He is Omnipresent (Sermon) (LifeGroup Guide)

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

Week 6: He is Omnipotent & Self-sufficient (Sermon) (LifeGroup Guide)

Week 7: He is Sovereign (Sermon) (LifeGroup Guide)

 
 

To view more reading recommendations, go to our online bookstore.



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Columbia, SC