David: The Heart of a Shepherd

Jim Leffel

1 Samuel 22:1-2

David is on the run from Saul and finds refuge in a cave. Many people joined him there. We'll look at similarities of how hurting people were drawn to David in the same way that hurting people are drawn to Jesus as well as the Church.

David: The Heart of a Leader

Jim Leffel

1 Samuel 16:1-21

God calls David "a man after His own heart" & selects him as King. David's heart is for God. Despite circumstances of life, David is transformed by the Spirit of God and his response is compassionate, gracious and humble. All character qualities necessary for leadership.

God's Truth About the World's Oldest Oppression

Paul Herbert

Luke 7:36-50

When Jesus interacted with prostitutes, he showed mercy and compassion instead of contempt and judgement. This practice of prostitution still enslaves many women today, and in this workshop Judge Paul M. Herbert provides a different perspective on this practice. We must shift our perspective from drawing a hard line between human trafficking and prostitution, something we are able to do once we examine the stories and statistics behind women who fall into prostitution. This workshop ends with a testimony from one of the very women who found redemption from this lifestyle.

How to Keep Loving in Difficult Relationships

Bev DeLashmutt

2 Timothy 2:24-26

Christ's call for us to love another as he has loved us is not exclusive. He calls us to love even very difficult people, and to do that effectively, we need to bear several things in mind. First we need to gain insight into the lies and sins of difficult people to avoid getting hooked into their relational patterns. We must ensure our motive in responding to people is in line with Christ's love. And finally, we must implement strategies to effectively give both compassion and discipline simultaneously. With these things and the abundant help of the Spirit, we can love in a way that, even if it does not change the other person, it will change us.

The 6:8 Assignment

Derek Sanford

Micah 6:8

The Micah 6:8 assignment is to act justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with God. As a church, the 6:8 assignment means to redemptively engage the culture and to step into the mess. As an individual Christian, the 6:8 assignment means to overcome apathy, increase awareness, and take action.

Developing Compassionate Communities

Amy Moreno

Proverbs 27:5-6

Having compassion is a Biblical imperative for believers, but there are many things that get in the way of us carrying out this command. Through the Holy Spirit, however, God has provided us with the resources to have a dynamic spiritual community. Learning to develop this kind of compassionate community requires having the humility to face the truth about ourselves first in order to rightly see the areas in which we need growth.

Who is the Real Jesus?

Gary DeLashmutt

1 Timothy 1:14

Who is the real Jesus? Introduction to series on "The Essential Jesus". Shows differences between the canonical portrait of Jesus and portraits of him from other religions, current fiction writers, and gnostic gospels.

The Rich Man and Lazarus

Dennis McCallum

Luke 16:13-31

The Pharisees believed that wealth was a sign of God's blessing, so Jesus confronts their belief by telling a parable about a poor beggar named Lazarus and a rich man living in luxury. When both men die, Lazarus goes to heaven and the rich man ends up in hell, begging for the mercy he was unwilling to show to Lazarus during his life. Jesus shows us that God has great concern for the poor, and as His followers we should fight to serve the poor with our wealth.

Choice or Destiny

Ryan Lowery

Romans 9:1-32

Paul moves away from spiritual growth into the question of what happens to the nation of Israel. Paul expands on God's sovereign choice to use the nation of Israel. God's sovereignty is demonstrated in His willingness to use nations and individuals to bring about salvation through Jesus Christ and calls on the individuals within those nations to make a choice to receive his mercy or not. The implications for Christians are that we can use our free choice to have a deep impact for God.