In our modern western way of life, we all have on thing in common when it comes to authority: We don't life it. We don't like someone else being in charge of our life, our decisions, our happiness, etc. We think authority equates to a form of slavery, where we cannot rule our own personal kingdoms. But the Bible gives a very different depiction of authority.

God values authority, and He personally created systems and structures of authority so that we could be protected when vultures circle us, so that we could be corrected when our mistakes consume us, and so that we can be supported when adventure lies ahead of us. Check out this message from Pastor Kason on the value, role, and absolute need we all have for authority in our lives.

Augustine believed that evil was simply the absence of God's goodness. Anything less than God's truth is evil. We have all been duped into substituting God's truth for a lie at one point or another. One of the reasons many of us have chosen to follow Jesus was because we were tired of being duped by sin and lies. We wanted God's truth. So we decided to allow God to expose the darkness and deception in our hearts and show us a better way.

In this message, Pastor Rich challenges us to allow God to come in again and expose the sin in our lives. As a perfect and loving Father, God wants to correct us and save us from these self-destructive lies that creep in to our hearts.

Statistically, Millennials, often called the "nones," have drifted away from the practice of going to church, and have no problem being unaffiliated with any religious group. The next generation, Generation Z, has followed this pattern even further, drifting away from church and not practicing their faith in any traceable or visible way, if they are practicing it at all.

This forces us to go back and examine what Church really is supposed to be, and whether or not we all need to be participating in Church. What does church offer for younger generations today? Does God care if we're all a part of an actual local church? Can't we serve God without going to some physical building every week or being in a bible study? Guest Speaker Verna Reid challenges us in this message to take a hard look at the value of Church, and how we can address the change in religious practices among younger generations today.

When we drift away from the local church, we inevitably drift away from God too.

In this message, Mike Gabriel takes a hard look at how intertwined our Christian life and our relationship with Church really is. The Bible clearly tells us in Hebrews 10 that we should never give up meeting together as followers of Jesus. But what happens when we think we don't need anyone else? When we think we can figure out our relationship with Jesus on our own, or all that matters is our own decisions and our personal freedom to be a Christian however we want?

When we make these excuses, we cut ourselves off from the benefits of real relationships that challenge us and help us grow closer to Jesus THROUGH other people. So if you've been drifting away from church for a while, it's time to fight against that current are start making your way back to it!