Casas Church

In scripture, Jesus says, "Come follow me." What does that look like for each of us as we walk through life following Jesus? This series will look at some common steps we take in our Christian walk and what they mean within the context of following Jesus. In this second week, Ryan used scriptures in Genesis and Corinthians to illustrate our need to be a part of the church. We need others and they need us.

In scripture, Jesus says, "Come follow me." What does that look like for each of us as we walk through life following Jesus? This series will look at some common steps we take in our Christian walk and what they mean within the context of following Jesus. In this first week, we explored scriptures about baptism and the common questions often asked surrounding it.

How do we build an honest faith into an honest life? We go to church, have faith, read the Bible, and try to make good choices that align with all of it - yet, bad things still happen. We are human. Bad things will still happen. The truth is honest faith in God won’t keep bad things from happening, but it means we will not suffer alone. You can ask yourself three questions: 1. Is there room for pain, hardship, and struggle in my faith in Jesus? 2. What does it change when I do struggle if I know that Jesus is with me? 3. What comfort do I draw from knowing that my God has suffered, struggled, and knows pain the way I do? If we wrestle with those questions now, there will be an anchor in the difficult moments life brings.

Having faith doesn't mean we won't have questions, which can make it complicated to walk by faith. Faith also doesn't mean we won't have negative experiences, but how do we know God is with us through them?

Having faith doesn't mean we won't have questions, which can make it complicated to walk by faith. Faith also doesn't mean we won't have negative experiences, but how do we know God is with us through them? This new series looks at the simple ways to follow Christ that will be helpful when faced with big questions about what faith means and how we practically apply it to our lives.

God is partnering with all of us to keep sharing our mission of acceptance, love, and freedom in Jesus. You make a difference. Whether you directly participated in the event or helped support Love Our City financially, we celebrated what our partnership organizations do in Tucson daily to love people in our surrounding community and how that love continues to cascade outward.

In the first week of this series, we looked at an example of a difference-maker in the story of Ruth. Then last week we realized through the story of David that despite any obstacle, God can use us as a difference-maker. This week we learned that there might be moments where we are prepared to make a difference, we have our expectations all set, and then God turns the situation to another way. This can cause tension in us. In looking at 1 Timothy we can see how even when the situation changes, we are still making a difference in those around us. God is still at work through us and uses us in amazing ways.

We can often struggle with the idea that we’re all difference-makers. If we look at the life of David who was one of the most revered kings in the Bible we see that from when he was first anointed to be the future king to when he became king - 15 years passed. This teaches us that it sometimes takes a while to be the difference maker we want to become. However, God can use us. He is with us and for us and we can love people well while we wait for our moment to be the difference maker we want to be. We are all equipped for it because we love Jesus and He loves us - we have been changed by that so why wouldn’t we want the world to know it?

If you reflect on your life, who was a difference maker for you? Who was the person who you’ve been positively influenced by? Throughout scripture, there are difference-makers. People that God has used for His purpose in amazing ways. In this series, we’ll learn more about what it is to be a difference maker. This first week we looked at Ruth and dived into why Ruth was an influential person and made a significant difference in the lives of those she cared about.

Our emotions are an indication of what’s going on in our hearts. We often experience strong emotions before fully understanding what’s happening. This can have more of an effect than we realize. In the book of Jonah, we learned that Jonah kept running from the emotions he needed to address. He did not address the source of the smoke. Smoke is an indicator of something deeper happening. How can we acknowledge what is going on in our lives and our emotions more healthily so we don't miss God's grace?

Sometimes we get on the ride of the shame rollercoaster. There is always an opportunity to return to the story of Christ in us. That is your story and who you are. Your identity, worth, and value are anchored in Christ, leaving no space for shame. Christ canceled any shame you are trying to carry. You are ultimately meant to be free and alive in Jesus. Paul encourages the church in Colossians 2 that no one passes judgment on anyone. Let who you are be anchored in Christ and that you’re with Him and base your life on who He is. The moments that we fail in life don't define us.

In this series, we’re exploring all the different moments that come our way and how we can approach them differently so we don’t get caught up in a ride that we don’t want to be on. This week we dove into Titus 3 and we asked, “What if Christ is the answer that makes the difference in our lives so we don’t engage situations in the same way?” If Christ is in us, with us, and works through us - shouldn’t that make a difference in our daily lives and the circumstances we experience?

Wouldn’t you love to have a year where you were connected to where God is leading you then with people who are on a ride you don’t want to get on? Proverbs gives us a lot of insight on how we can pursue that. If we’re aware of different mindsets that people are coming from we can have a new level of awareness and change how we interact with them, which helps us with all the types of relationships we experience.

Let's begin the New Year by spurring one another on to love that is action as it says in Hebrews 10. Let's continue to be in a community together and hold on to the hope of God. We have access to a relationship with God because of Jesus Christ so let's embrace it. There are some good and beautiful things coming in this New Year. We pray for God to help us have His heart and love others with the love that He shows us.

This week we concluded our Advent series leading up to our Christmas at Casas celebration. We loved having you with us these weeks as we centered around the hope we have in Jesus, the joy we experience in life with Him, and prepared our hearts for the wonder that this season brings.

This week we continue our Advent series leading up to our Christmas at Casas celebration. We can't wait to see you these coming weeks as we center around the hope we have in Jesus, the joy we experience in life with Him, and prepare our hearts for the wonder that this season brings.

This week we began our Advent series leading up to our Christmas at Casas celebration. We can't wait to see you these coming weeks as we center around the hope we have in Jesus, the joy we experience in life with Him, and prepare our hearts for the wonder that this season brings.