Generations Community Church

Pharaoh (from the Old Testament) is both a person and a typology. And the system of pharaoh has been the DOMINANT economic system for most societies and nations since humans started farming. It's a system of more, more, and more - built off the backs of those who labor to the benefit of those who own or rule. And it's the same system - whether it's capitalism, socialism, or communism. But there IS someone who challenges the system of pharaoh - whose yoke is easy and whose burden is light. In this message, Max Vanderpool tackles the ways you and I can resist pharaoh at work.

What do you do when you're being asked to do something at work that you believe is wrong? Do you stay? Do you go? Do you remain silent? Do you speak out? Most Americans, when work becomes difficult or toxic, immediately look for the exit door. But what if God has something in you staying? How do you know? In this message, Max Vanderpool highlights how four different men handled difficult leaders and difficult circumstances. Some stayed. Some left. But all of them were faithful.

We're not smarter than people who lived 2,000 years ago. They KNEW that some things cannot be undone - which is why Jesus is so FASCINATING - because he does things that seem downright impossible. April's virtue focus is JOY: choosing to celebrate what God is doing.

How's your spiritual life these days? We can actually ask that question, and church-going Americans will have a sense of what we're talking about. That's because we tend to think about life in two categories: SPIRITUAL and SECULAR. Spiritual things have to do with God - you know, stuff like going to church, reading your Bible, praying, and going on mission trips. Secular things are everything else: work, shopping, walking the dog, sex, eating, and 95% of living life. Does this mean that spirituality really only has to do with 5% of our lives or LESS? NO! That's because Jesus saw no such distinction (between spiritual and secular). In this message, Max Vanderpool unpacks what it means to say everything is spiritual - and what that MIGHT mean for those of us who work.

Graduation speeches are full of platitudes and cliches: Follow your passion. If you can dream it, you can do it. Be true to yourself. And - the future belongs to you! But these platitudes are not helpful - nor do the represent the kind of life that MOST AMERICANS experience (over 150 million of them) as they work - week in and week out. So if graduation speeches aren't the best place to turn for job or career advice, where should you look? In this message, Max Vanderpool articulates how God calls and gifts EVERYONE - and how you can unearth your calling, even if it isn't something you're paid to do.

What comes to mind when you think of heaven? Is it a giant stadium where thousands and thousands of people wearing white robes are singing their hearts out to Jesus (sitting on a golden throne in the middle of it all)? If that's you, you're not alone. But THAT picture of heaven isn't exactly the whole story about what heaven is like. In fact, much of how we talk about heaven isn't really biblical at all. In this message, Max Vanderpool makes a case for why a "ticket to heaven" is actually round trip - and why WORK is something we can expect in the "life to come."

Humility - putting others first by giving up what you want.

Work can be incredibly frustrating! That's because you can work hard and set something up that's INCREDIBLE that the "next guy" tears down. And you can work hard and produce something truly GOOD and yet not succeed with it - because it doesn't capture the market. And you can work hard and experience something unexpected (like a tornado) that blows everything away in the wind. So WHY is work so hard? And what can we do to "buttress" the frustrating parts of work? In this message, Max Vanderpool makes a case for WHY work is broken and how you can I can navigate some of the frustrating parts of that brokenness.

There are two extreme perspectives about work in America today: (1) work hard and hustle and show up early and razzle and dazzle so that you can climb the ladder and reap the rewards - and retire like a king or queen, and (2) work ONLY as much as you have to and only do what is minimally required and take every sick day and personal day and vacation day you have coming to you - because life is short and you've go to live NOW and not later. Each perspective insists that they've got it figured out - a way to "win" at life. But both extreme views miss something important about work. Even if you HATE your current job with every fiber of your being, your experience does not mean that work, itself, is a bad thing. In fact, the Bible says otherwise. And so do the millions and millions of people who've done something, taken a step back, and been satisfied by it. In this message, Max Vanderpool begins to develop a theology of work - by looking at how the opening pages of the Bible talk about it.

If you do or say something stupid - something that YOU post online or something captured on someone else's phone and posted online, YOU are in serious PERIL. That's because nothing you do or say will cause the people of the internet to forgive you. They will DEMAND that you demonstrate the appropriate sorrow and humility - and that you are held accountable for what you said or did. But no amount of contrition will EVER be enough. In our world of vindictiveness - the call to forgive and to be reconciled is worth heeding. If anything, ALL of our relationships need more forgiveness and reconciliation - not less.

Love: choosing to treat others the way Jesus treats us! This February, our kids will be exploring what (real) love looks like - it looks like Jesus. Jesus shows us what love is, what love does, and how love treats others.

Our world is set up to compare ourselves to others and to get to the “middle” where all the power and influence and resources are. vThe problem is that when we play this comparison game it robs us of our hope and our true identity. It actually keeps us from being ourselves and from seeing others. And, while this comparison game (for most of us) STARTS in middle school, it carries on into our adult lives. Jesus, however, shows and models and invites us to a different way, a way of hope - a way that keeps us in the margins. Do we REALLY have to play the comparison game?

What do you do when all hope is dashed? If you're religious, you've probably assumed that, if you do your part, God will do His part. And so you try harder and harder to get God's attention and get into His good graces - so that the WORST won't (or doesn't) happen. But that's not how things work - and that's not the kind of God that God is. In this message, Brian Hull draws the parallels between those moments in our lives when we lose hope and what God's people experienced in the (Old Testament book of) Ezekiel. As it turns out, you cannot EARN God's love or favor - and that's a very good thing.

Commitment: Making a plan to be like Jesus and putting it into practice. And one of the BIG WAYS we do that is by TALKING about God - at church, at home, and with our friends and family.

Teens and young people are fun to watch. They have their WHOLE lives in front of them. And they are determined - that they will always or they will never or they will not be like their parents or they WILL be like their parents. Should we warn them? Should we tell them? Do they need to know that they are going to fail sometimes? That they are going to let people down sometimes? That the FUTURE version of them is going to need a lot of grace, mercy, and forgiveness? In this message, Max Vanderpool unpacks what it means to forgive yourself (and receive forgiveness) - because, in life, you're going to need it.

When someone has hurt you, betrayed you, or taken something from you - it's hard to see anything in them but a villain - a bad guy - a jerk - an adulterer - a deadbeat dad - a demanding boss - a Harry Black. But people are complicated - even the people who do terrible things. In this message, Max Vanderpool unpacks an often-forgotten aspect of forgiveness - re-humanizing the person who hurt us (even IF we decide to release the relationship).

Do you know anyone who's telling a grievance story? Chances are, you do. And the story they tell has a clear victim (that's THEM) and a one-dimensional villain - someone who hurt them, ignored them, passed them over, mistreated them, betrayed them, or took something from them they could NEVER give back. And this grievance story is told OVER and OVER again - to anyone who will listen. And you know something? They're RIGHT. They WERE hurt. What was done to them WAS wrong - but telling that story over and over again isn't helping them. Why? In this message, Max Vanderpool unpacks an important part of the process of forgiveness - learning to tell a BETTER story.

If you lend your car out to someone and they TOTAL it, but they have no insurance and no way to financially reimburse you the cost, what does it mean to forgive them? Is there a magic "car fairy" that shows up and provides you with the money to make up for what they did to you? Who (ultimately) bears the brunt of it? And what does forgiveness really mean? Does it mean you don't feel hurt? Does it mean you have to forget what they did? Does it mean you have to "kiss and make up" (and restore the relationship)? In this message, Max Vanderpool tackles the brain and heart aspects of forgiveness and why it's both a decision and a process.

In life, those closest to you have the capacity to hurt you the most. Your family. Your partner. Your "best friend." But we don't all respond to hurt the same way. Some of us verbalize it and tell everyone who will listen how we've been wronged - how we've been hurt. Others of us, however, bury it deep inside and pretend to be "okay," dismissing how we were mistreated with excuses. Both get it wrong. You cannot excuse the inexcusable, and you cannot forgive what is unnamed. In this message, Max Vanderpool outlines the FIRST STEP any of us should take when we've been hurt or wronged in life. It may not be easy - but, in the long run, it's worth it - because it's a step that leads to freedom.

Tucked away in the book of 1 Kings is the encounter between Elijah and the prophets of Ba'al. And in that contest, we are reminded of something very important: God can do the impossible.