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What It Means To Really Know Jesus
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The Big Idea: Jesus is the visible image of the invisible God, all of God in a human body. By the time we arrive at today’s text, Jesus had spent 3 ½ years teaching his disciples about himself, his plan, and their mission. Yet after 3 ½ years there was still a lot of confusion.…
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Words of Comfort for Troubled Hearts
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The Big Idea: Telling a person about Jesus will help them a lot more than telling them how to fix themselves. When you’ve been knocked off balance, the last thing you need is for someone to explain why you got it wrong. When your faith is under attack, the last thing you need is for…
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Remembering and Proclaiming Jesus
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The Big Idea: Only Christians would think to find strength by meditating on the death of their leader. You’re having a tough month, or a tough year. You are starting to feel like God has abandoned you. You know in your heart that’s not true, right? But that’s sure not what it feels like, is…
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How To Roll Like Jesus
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The Big Idea: Figure out the equivalent of washing feet and do that. The more you’ve learned about Jesus, the more you’ve grown to love Him, right? And the more you’ve grown to love Him, the more you want to be like Him, right? So what does that look like in practice? How did Jesus…
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Joshua: The Principle of Mission Success
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The Big Idea: God will not give you a mission without also equipping you with everything you need succeed. If God has ever called you to a great (or small) mission, then you know the ecstasy of getting started and the astonishment of finding out how hard it is to follow through. You feel like…
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Jesus: The Principle of Abiding in Christ
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The Big Idea: Meno is the one thing that will most lead to a vibrant relationship with Jesus. What is the one thing that will most lead to a vibrant relationship with Christ? Wow! Is it even possible to answer that question? Actually, it is. And you will feel a lot more confident about how…
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The Principle of the Power of the Holy Spirit
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The Big Idea: To walk in the power of the Holy Spirit is the one thing that will most accelerate the fulfillment of your mission. Do you sense God calling you to a great mission? If so, you’ve no doubt found yourself feeling compelled to act, yet not always sure about what comes next. Sometimes…
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The Principle of Discerning God’s Will
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The Big Idea: Don’t assume you’ve missed God’s will just because it’s hard. Do you have a major issue or decision that keeps you up at night? Maybe you know what to do. But what if you’re not so sure–even confused? Is there a way to be sure? There is. And that’s what we’re going…
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The Principle of Reproducing Yourself
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The Big Idea: Making disciples is God’s designated way to release the power of His gospel on every problem we face. Everyone knows we have a “men problem.” The collateral damage among women and children has been staggering–with no relief in sight. I know you care. Yet if you’re like most of us, you can’t…
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Ezekiel: How God Makes Men So They Can Complete Their Mission
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The Big Idea: God will never give you a mission without also giving you everything you need to be faithful. We live in a broken generation because, for the most part, people have been doing what seems right in their own eyes. They have exchanged the truth of God for lies, and the glory of…
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How Jesus Describes The End Times
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The Big Idea: Why be surprised that everything is happening just like Jesus said it would? Here’s a surprisingly relevant topic. Are we living in the last days? Can we know for sure? If so, then what should we expect to happen? When will the end come? And how should we live in the meantime?…
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What Does It Look Like To Be A Faithful Man Today?
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The Big Idea: God calls us to be faithful, not successful. Who doesn’t want to hear, “Well done, good and faithful servant.” But what does it look like to be a faithful man in this day and age? Join us and find out why the “if you really love God, you need to prove it”…
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What Does It Look Like To Follow Jesus in Practice?
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The Big Idea: What does it say about us if we don’t help a person in need when it is in our power to act? Imagine how the world would respond if every Christian man fully lived out his faith in Jesus simultaneously for the next 30 days. The results would be nothing short of…
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The Extremes To Which Jesus Will Go To Bring Us To Our Senses
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The Big Idea: Right now Jesus is grieving and interceding over every person who doesn’t get it. Has Jesus lost his cool? In today’s passage he delivers such a scathing critique directed at religious leaders that we picture the veins in His neck sticking out. It’s the climax of a conflict that has been brewing…
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Becoming a Servant Leader
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The Big Idea: The purpose of servant leadership is to help others while expecting nothing in return. The world is full of people willing to tell you what needs to be done, but not willing to lift a finger to help. Those were the kind of people in leadership who Jesus critiqued in today’s passage.…
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Helping People Who Are Mistaken About God
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The Big Idea: What’s your best way to help someone who is mistaken? All around us are co-workers, neighbors, family members, and friends who have mistaken ideas about God. Those ideas may be based on their feelings, something they read or heard, or bad teaching. For example, some Christians are not sure of their salvation.…
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The Dual Citizenship of a Christian
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The Big Idea: Precisely because we are Christians, we must become great citizens. Jesus said, “Render unto Caesar what is Caesar’s, and unto God what is God’s.” That’s poetic, but what does it mean as a practical matter? By what principle can we make secular decisions that also honor God? As Christians, we have a…
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How To Answer Questions About Jesus
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The Big Idea: Let’s win souls, not arguments. Christianity is so messy because it’s so much more inclusive that any other religion. In Christianity, we don’t reject sinners until they get their act together. Instead, we actually encourage them to get involved. We love sinners—the more the better! However, this takes a special kind of…
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What Can I Say That Will Make You Believe?
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The Big Idea: No matter what you say or how well say it, some won’t believe. But some will, so we speak. We’ve all had it happen. You’re talking to someone about the Christian faith. But they just don’t get it. They’re giving you nothing but grief. And you’re wondering, “What in the world do…
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The Only Approach That Really Draws Men To Christ
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The Big Idea: It is the story of Jesus—His life, death, and resurrection—that always has and always will draw men to salvation. Someone you really care about is walking in darkness. You’ve talked to them until you’re blue in the face. Given their resistance, what can you do that will really make a difference? The…
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Jesus Explains How Prayer Works
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The Big Idea: Let God “edit” your prayer to something you can really believe. Every one of us has prayed for something very important that hasn’t happened. Maybe you prayed that cancer would be healed, but the person died. Maybe you prayed to not lose your house or business, but you did. Maybe you pleaded…
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Jesus Gets Flash Mobbed!
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The Big Idea: I am part of a carefully choreographed mission to bring Jesus to the people over whom He weeps. Chances are you have wept over someone you love who doesn’t believe in Jesus. You’ve wracked your brain about how to get through, but nothing seems to work. Jesus went so far as to…
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Small Beautiful Things You Can Do For Jesus
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The Big Idea: Since no encounter is ever random, no good deed is ever wasted. If you’re like me, the more you get to know Jesus, the more you ache to do things that show how much you appreciate and revere him. But how can average guys like us do things that honor Christ and…
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Nehemiah: The Principle of a Passionate Calling
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The Big Idea: God makes men by turning what breaks our hearts into a passionate calling to help redeem some broken part of the world. What is your burden—the thing that is breaking your heart? It could be your family. Maybe you feel stuck in a job you hate. Maybe you ache for your church…
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Gideon: The Principle of the Unexpected Leader
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The Big Idea: God makes men by turning our weakness into strength in such a way that only He can get the glory. Has God presented you with a calling, task, or mission so daunting that it raises all kinds of doubts and fears? What you may not have realized is that these nerve- wracking…
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Joseph: The Principle of a Greater Good
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The Big Idea: God makes men by orchestrating even the toughest circumstances of our lives for a greater good. Nothing is more painful than feeling like you’ve been abandoned by God. You pray and pray, but nothing ever changes. In fact, things often get worse, not better. Who hasn’t thought, “If God loves me He’s…
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Peter: The Principle of Making Disciples
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The Big Idea: God makes men by a process of calling, equipping, and sending us so we can call, equip, and send others. We all know the problems–divorce, fatherlessness, domestic abuse, the explosion of pornography, racism, metal detectors in schools, rampage shootings, Wall Street corruption, apathy, the normalization of sin on TV, and poverty, to…
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Abraham: The Principle of Believing God Anyway
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Big Idea: God makes men by showing us how we can believe Him anyway in the face of what seem like impossible circumstances. We’ll be looking at 10 epic stories, 10 proven principles, and one huge promise for your life. First up… What is God calling you to trust Him for that makes you say,…
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No Man Left Behind!
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The Big Idea: Your system is perfectly designed to produce the results you are getting. We’ve made a strong case for why disciple-making is God’s designated way to release the power of His Gospel on every problem facing our men, marriages, families, churches, workplaces, and communities. We’ve explored, “What is a disciple, and how do…
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The Staggering Simplicity of Living for Christ
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The Big Idea: A man will feel most happy, most alive, & most useful once he learns how to do what disciples do: abide, love, & serve. A disciple is not only called to live “in” Christ, equipped to live “like” Christ, but also sent to live “for” Christ. Once a man fills up in…
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Guaranteed Ways to Build the Men Around You
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The Big Idea: Equipping is simply bringing men together around Christ and watching Him change the way they think and what they do. What Christian man hasn’t wondered, “Could I disciple other men?” Many men in our Bible study are already doing just that. Many more are eager to get started and just need a…
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Guaranteed Ideas to Reach the Men Around You
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The Big Idea: The bar for evangelism is quite low. Evangelism is simply taking someone as far as they want to go toward Jesus. Over the next three messages I’m going to teach you how to make disciples. Making disciples includes calling people to live “in” Christ, equipping people to live “like” Christ, and sending…
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The Next Ten Years
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The Big Idea: Making disciples is God’s designated way to release the power of the Gospel on every problem facing our city. Ten years from now, what do you want to look back on and say, “I was part of that?” Michael Harrington who runs Salem Radio News which airs on 2000 radio stations recently…
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A Fresh Movement Among the Men of Our City
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The Big Idea: A city of disciples must first be a city of disciple-makers. When God looks at our city, what do you think He sees? What is His agenda for this place? And, where do you and I fit in? We are certainly not the first ones to dream big dreams for our community…
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Nehemiah and His Not So Crazy Dream
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The Big Idea: A servant isn’t thinking, “What do I want?” He’s asking, “What does the Master need?” There are two ways to go. The first is to get bogged down insisting you know best, trying to control the situation, exerting your will, trying to get your own way, and coming out on top. Filled…
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Do You Know What God Expects From You?
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The Big Idea: What is my agenda? What is God’s agenda? Are we working on the same agenda? You have an agenda that animates you—a plan, goal, career, mission, vision, or a set of priorities. It’s why you get out of bed in the morning. God has an agenda too. It’s why He gets you…
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How To Do Something Great For God
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The Big Idea: A man can make a real contribution once he gets over wanting to be a somebody. Virtually every morning I wake up with a joyful ache to do something great for God. I’ll bet you do too. Yet I’m amazed at how easily an unselfish desire to serve God can morph into…
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Why Are We Still Talking About Jesus?
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The Big Idea: My worst day with Jesus has been infinitely better than my best day without Him. We’ve been in the series “Hanging Out With Jesus” for over five years now! We’ve taken our time and carefully worked through 70% of the four gospels in chronological order. So why are we still talking about…
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How to Lead While Following Jesus
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The Big Idea: Being a good leader is not primarily dependent on your ability to lead but on your ability to follow Jesus. What kind of leader will you be in 2013? You are influencing others – your family, your work place, your friends, your neighbors, or in your church. What kind of difference will…
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What is Leadership and Why Does it Matter?
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The Big Idea: Leadership is lovingly influencing people to pursue God’s vision. Every man has a leadership influence on someone. And every man is affected by the leadership of others. So today, just starting a new year, all of us are feeling the impact of the leadership crisis that we see in America. Too many…
Spiritual Leadership
Explore the core tenets of spiritual leadership, where faith meets action. This series covers how Jesus describes the end times, addresses the challenges of faith used for personal gain, and delves into the nature of God’s goodness. Join speaker series with influential leaders like Connor Jones and Brooks Cluxton, and dive into spiritual disciplines such as witnessing. Enhance your leadership by understanding spiritual truths and applying them to your life and community.