Public Church

As we begin our annual series, we take a trip down memory lane to see the power of prayer in the lives of families who we prayed for last year. We celebrate miracles of Jesus putting families together through adoption and foster care! We also discuss John’s insights into a poured out life in 1 John 3:16-18. --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/apublicchurch/message

Sexual sin wounds far more than we realize. In this talk, we study 1 Thessalonians 4:1-8 and search for freedom from sexual immorality. --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/apublicchurch/message

Tonight’s 5:30 Gathering is our Worship Night, so we discussed the power of worship to prepare us for this special night. Through Paul’s and Silas’ story in Acts 16:23-34, we see how Jesus can use our worship as a liberating weapon in our lives and the lives of others. --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/apublicchurch/message

As we conclude our series, children from Sprouts & Roots join us at the beginning for a special story time with them. Then we are challenged by Paul’s actions in Acts 17 as he exemplifies what it means to be a Public Church by taking the story of Jesus and his resurrection to the marketplace. --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/apublicchurch/message

The context of the story of Amos is very similar to the U.S.A. in 2018 because Israel was a experiencing peace, prosperity, and even some international prestige. With blessing, comes responsibility to care for those who have less, especially if we claim to follow Jesus. Amos challenges his original audience and us to consider whether our actions crush or come alongside those with material needs. --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/apublicchurch/message

Today was very special as Todd Humbert, the lead pastor of the Greenhouse Church in Athens--a church that Public Church helped plant and continues to support--came to share the story of the Greenhouse. Then Todd Stevison led us to explore the story of Jonathan in 1 Samuel. In both these stories, we see people who chose to serve God’s dreams in others. Will we follow their pattern? --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/apublicchurch/message

What have you made your mind up about? Our guest speaker, Matt Moore, challenges us with this question because we often act like we know how the story ends. However, God is writing a story with unexpected twists and turns, so will we accept something new? --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/apublicchurch/message

During week 2 of our series, we dive into the story of Abraham and discover a tension between us and God: he is the God of the journey, but we are destination people. God invited Abraham, and he invites us to embrace the journey, so will we step away from our destination mindset to follow him? --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/apublicchurch/message

In the beginning…what an epic start to the Bible! To kick off our series, we discuss this story that was counter-cultural and paradigm-shifting to its original audience. In so doing, we rediscover the wonder of creation and see Jesus as the main character who creates and then recreates what is broken. --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/apublicchurch/message

At Team Night, our special guest, Matt Moore, challenged us to embrace the position God has placed us in. Too often we want to make ourselves more like Jesus through our effort. However, God positions us in a place to serve and speak words of life, which is such a powerful and needed challenge for all of us as we serve through our Teams. --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/apublicchurch/message

John 3:16 is the most famous Bible verse, and Jesus chose to give this truth in a conversation, not a talk. As we look at the context of this conversation and it’s impact on Nicodemus, we see that Gatherings are great but not enough. We also need Community Groups as environments where we can have uninterrupted conversations and ask the questions on our hearts. --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/apublicchurch/message

In part 2 of our series, we focus on the question, “Where are we going FOR our community?” We learn from Tabitha in Acts 9:36-42 about a lifestyle of serving flowing from her identity as a servant. If we will practice and commit to partnerships, then our community will know we are for them. --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/apublicchurch/message

Why is Public Church here? Where are we going? These two questions drive the start of our new series as we look to the future and discuss Ephesians 3:20-21. In these verses, we discover that God has plans that are immeasurably more than we could ever imagine. He sees no limits in our future. --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/apublicchurch/message

Evie West delivers a powerful talk from John 5:1-17 that revolves around this question: is it well with you? This talk was for the ladies of Flourish but the challenge is relevant to men, too, as we listen and wrestle with this question. --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/apublicchurch/message

To finish our series, Chris Walker and Jessica Brewster share their thoughts and experiences about reaching back to make disciples. Both of them are on staff with Fellowship of Christian Athletes at the University of Tennessee in Knoxville, and they discuss their own stories and deliver a moving challenge to engage in a lifestyle of disciple-making. --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/apublicchurch/message

This week we look at the stories of Eli and Samuel and their children to be challenged on what it means to reach back. Reaching back is taking an active, intentional, influential role in the lives of our children and in the lives of the children God places in our path. --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/apublicchurch/message

At some point all of us feel like the darkness is overwhelming us. In those seasons, we often wonder if light wins. Whitney Stevison faced these doubts when suicide forever changed her family and changed her life. In the midst of this tragedy, Jesus proved faithful and over time, she saw that the light really does win. Whitney shares her journey of Jesus leading her to a place where it is well with her. --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/apublicchurch/message

Jesus’ disciples ask a question that we have all asked at some point: who is the greatest in my area? Jesus doesn’t criticize their question; instead, he challenges them to turn and become like children because we need to learn from them. (Matthew 18:1-4) Jesus lets us know that reaching back is the only way to move forward. --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/apublicchurch/message

We began 2018 with our Bandwidth series, so we returned for a well check to see how we are doing when it comes to our personal capacity to accomplish what we set out to do. In Nehemiah 10 and 13, we see that accountability is key to us fulfilling our God-given vision and becoming the men and women he has created us to be. --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/apublicchurch/message

As we conclude our series, one word has emerged as a theme: trust. In Psalm 37:23-33, no one is asking us to have blind faith, but to listen to the experience of an older man who was the greatest king in Israel's history. Through his wisdom, we gain eyes to see why we should trust the Father's Heart. --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/apublicchurch/message