Christmas is such a crazy time. Students are busy dreaming about what they want to get, and parents are shopping frantically for what they want to give. We all become consumed with malls and wrapping paper. It’s a Wonderful Life and How the Grinch Stole Christmas play on TV and Santa Clause poses for pictures with every excited (and screaming) child. At church we tell the story about shepherds, angels and a manger, but so often the significance of the story is lost because it seems like just one more holiday tradition. Or we’ve heard it so much that we don’t hear it anymore. Our upcoming series is going to tell the Christmas Story—but in a slightly different way by looking at Herod, Simeon, Zachariah and Mary.

The Rhythm series is a core series. It unveils the principles of a wonder, discovery and passion as we discuss how God created the world to function with a certain rhythm and how we can get out of sync with the song. In fact, sometimes our lives are like a bad American Idol audition (yeah, not pretty). But deep within each one of us, every person wants to experience a sense of wonder, discovery and passion. And we will find those experiences within our relationship with Jesus Christ, or we'll settle for a lesser version of them outside our faith.

What comes to mind when you think about God? Who do you believe God is? How do you believe God interacts with you personally and with your world? These are questions we are going to be addressing over the next three weeks. You see, every one of us has a Godview whether we think about it or not. For many of us, it’s just a vague impression formed when we were younger. For some, it’s an image of Someone against whom we have a strong resistance. For others, God is personal and mysterious, offering an adventure to anyone ready to pursue a relationship with Him. While we can never really know everything about God—because He’s that big and that mysterious—the things we can learn about Him shape the way we respond to whatever life brings. That’s why author A.W. Tozer said, "What comes into our minds when we think about God is the most important thing about us."

If you knew you only had one month to live, what would you do with your life? That’s the question we will explore in this 3-week series. This powerful question helps identify the values that define us, while also shedding light on parts of our lives that may be holding us back from living for God.

One of Jesus' most defining characteristics is his humility. In "2nd Place" we're looking at a new way in which the world works. No longer are we working to get as much as we can to get ahead or worrying about how much we have. A lot of "me first" mentality only results in gridlock. There has to be something better for us and that's what we're looking at. Jesus claims, "Giving, not getting is the way" (Mark 4).

It's a tough time, those junior high years. And realistically Middle School is one of the most overlooked transitional periods for students. This is the time when most students will first have their faith challenged, and when they'll first start to wrestle with the questions "Who am I?" and, more importantly, "Who do I want to be?"

In the "MADE" series, a bridge from the “Extreme Makeover” series, we will help our students understand how God sees them. Although they probably don't see themselves the way God does yet, it is important for them to know that God is making them into something special. This series will focus on three word-pictures that give students a tangible look at the mystery of becoming the young man or woman God has made them to be.

Confidence is something that we all have--and something that we all struggle with to some degree. In this two-part mini series, we present a way to biblically develop confidence. A lot of us base our confidence on our own experiences and what’s happened in our lives. But all that's in the past--there’s gotta be a better way! It’s not about what you’ve done, it’s about what God is doing.

Special combined Tsunami and Ripple Effect Easter service.

In this series we will look at how we as fallen humans, often feel like we’re missing something, that we’re not good enough. The world offers its answers in the form of external solutions—a new car, a new house or an improved physical feature. But God has a better picture of who you can be and it’s one that can’t be bought at any price.

There's no denying the "razzle dazzle" effect of Jesus' miracles. Turning water into wine in the middle of a wedding party. Slapping mud on a dude's eyes so he can see. Healing a paralyzed man. But I do think it is easy for us to get caught up in the marvelous and miss the message.

With this series, we will try to get a clearer picture of two things: who Jesus was and why he did what did.

What do Bill Gates, Angelina Jolie, Ty Pennington and Mohandas Gandhi have in common? Well it's not massive amounts of money, large lips sweet "soul patches" or bald heads . . . Give up? What they have in common is that in some way, whether they've meant to or not, they've shown a lot of what it looks like to put other people's needs ahead of their own. In this series we'll take a quick look at each of these well known figures and ask the question, "What Christ-like lessons can we learn from these unlikely people?"