using my suffering to become more like Jesus

Jesus is holding everything together when it seems everything is falling apart

eagerly, giving as I understand, and experienced the good things I have received in Christ

avoiding arguments with a readiness to yield in genuine humility

longing to be with Jesus and learning to pursue Him

helped to live a devout and disciplined life that shapes me to love what is good

Northstar Church celebrating Christmas 2023

desiring to see Jesus so eagerly that my lesser desires cannot drive me

given a longing to be satisfied in God that surpasses my longings for worldly pleasures

cleansed and ready for the good works God has prepared for me today.

drawing on God’s resources to reignite my gift to advance His kingdom

fixing my Hope on the magnificent excellences of God that will never disappoint

 hoping in God to avoid the spiritual deafness that results from living to please myself

struggling to train myself to be nourished by and follow God‘s message of faith

seeking leadership to serve others rather than myself

Description: If you are feeling the weight of hopelessness or know someone who is, it's a good time to be reminded of the hope we have been gifted through Christ. Today's message unwraps the gift of eternal hope we have been given through Jesus!

praying for each person I encounter today

an example of God‘s great mercy by giving a failure like me the strength to do his work

giving up my rights to be an example of following Jesus

comforted and strengthened for every deed and word

grieving when I try to find my pleasures satisfied in the world

praying and giving thanks constantly

always growing in love

Description: As believers we are called to "always be joyful.” That may be an easy thing to say, but life is tough! How can we possibly be joyful all the time? Join us today as we unwrap the gift of awesome joy!

becoming more like Jesus, as I trust him to love others through me

undisturbed by the judgments of others, because I am seeking only to please God

empowered to turn away from idols to the beauty and worth of Jesus

 intensely focused on accomplishing what God gives me to do today

 doing everything wholeheartedly for God today

 looking to Jesus to nourish me, not the disciplines that help me to look to him

struggling to work, but relying on God’s power

Description: How can I be filled with peace when everything around me is falling apart? Today's message unwraps the gift of true peace and how we can access it.

content whether I get what I want or not

experiencing God, and knowing Jesus by dying to my appetites

enabled, to help others grow and experience the joy of their faith

becoming like Jesus by standing in his mighty power, and resisting the devil

carefully determining what pleases the lord so his light shines through me

renewing the goal of my mind by setting aside my fleshly desires

 A manner of life that joins Jesus in the lighting to do the Father’s will

living today as an example of the incredible wealth of God’s grace and kindness

filled with spiritual wisdom and insight and light, so that I see God and his goodness more clearly

sowing my human efforts, toward what pleases the Spirit, and trusting Him to grow

trusting God for the desires and resources to love

so profoundly grateful to be God’s Child that I seek to do good only to please him

never relying on my human effort to accomplish anything

Description: Sometimes the difficulties in life can really knock us down. How can we stay hopeful when the troubles just keep coming? Join us this Sunday to hear how God has given us everything we need to be filled with confident expectation.

trusting Jesus to live his life through me

seeking to please God out of love rather than the approval of people for validation

growing joyfully through difficulties with God and others

defeating any thoughts that would lead me away from sincere and pure devotion to Jesus

Pursuing God to unreasonable links

Description: How can my faith give me firm footing when the storm of life swells around me? Today's message gives practical application for anchoring into our faith when the storms of life are raging.

giving extravagantly because I am receiving even more extravagantly

grace to joyfully give myself unreservedly to God and extravagantly to others

breaking away from everything that keeps me from becoming the son of God he intended

patient in hardship, by grace to show God’s love

living for God instead of myself because of the resurrection

 focused on God’s unseen kingdom so I don’t lose heart

not adequate in myself, but in God

Description: Life can be pretty tough sometimes. How can I keep a strong faith when the troubles of life keep rolling in? Today's message teaches us how to have the right perspective when the going gets tough!

seizing every opportunity to share my joy with others

depending on gods power to live in the gift of his holiness

alert to do what is right with courage and love, trusting God to do what is good in His sight

thinking in a way that enables me to choose God over sin

receiving the grace to know what to do in the power to do it

empowered words that bring forth a sense of all toward God

helped to love God, keep his commandments and see his loving kindness

Description: What is the secret to greatness? It's so simple yet so many businesses, schools, organizations, or individuals just don't know how to achieve it. Join us Sunday as we discover together the secret to greatness.

loving enough that I do not demand my own way

empowered to do what will show others the reality of who God is

recognizing and rejecting apathy towards God and his work

empowered by God to imitate Jesus

 enabled to have a greater concern for others, and to do everything for God’s glory

relying on God for the way of escape from temptation

seeing the benefits of obedience, clearly enough to restrict myself

driven not by what I know, but by my love for God

using the things of this world for God, without becoming attached to them

resisting the enslavement of my desires and others expectations because I have been bought with a price

honoring God with my body by doing what is best rather than what is allowed

recognizing Satan‘s attacks as God’s tools against temptation

 a right view of myself, the frees me to lovingly warn people without shaming them them

planting God’s seeds in the grace God gives so that he will cause the growth

Description:
One of your deepest needs is to leave a legacy behind you. To make an eternal impact...To know that our life really mattered...To feel significant…..If you really want to do this, you need to know how. Listen today as Pastor Marty shares how we can make our life matter and make an eternal impact. 

 living by God’s grace because I recognize his strength over human effort

eyes opened to see the infinite value of what God has given

strength to believe and obey God

praying out of love given by the Holy Spirit

hope and encouragement through God‘s word to wait patiently for his promises to be fulfilled

living and dying in a way that honors Jesus

 ignoring everything that would distract from a conversational relationship with Jesus

remind able to test and prove God’s will to be good, pleasing, and perfect

living for God’s glory, relying on his power

knowing that God is working all things together for his good purpose

 never regretting trusting in God