First Champaign-urbana

Have you ever seen the bumper sticker: the man with the most toys at the end wins! We all want to enjoy life—which is good because God created us that way! But what if how and where we “play” was more than just for kicks and giggles? Listen in as we see how to approach our times of play with purpose in week 4 of Be the Church.

The saying goes, “do only what you love, and you’ll never have to work a day in your life.” Good advice—but hardly attainable for most people. What about making a difference with your work? In week 3 of Be the Church, we will see how to make an impact for the Church without ever working at a church.

What comes to mind when you hear the word “worship”? What if we told you that if you thought of singing songs in a church service, you were right - and wrong. Join us for our new series, Be The Church, as we start by laying a foundation of what worship entails.

When some people think of God, they imagine a meaner version of Santa, sitting in heaven, just writing down all the “bad stuff” people do. The truth is, the God of the Bible calls us up more than He calls us out. So whether this is your first Sunday or fiftieth, we believe God has big promises for your life that He wants to call you up to. Are you ready to embrace those promises?

Are you someone people love to be around? In some ways, we all want to be the type of person people enjoy being with. Let's learn how to be people others love to be around and why doing so is central to the way God designed us to be.

“Life is Good” makes for a good t-shirt, but not a lifetime reality. Even though Jesus doesn’t remove suffering or trials from our lives, he offers us Himself through it all. In week 3 of Fully Known, we see how followers of Jesus can become unusual people in how they handle the downs of life.

One of the most tried and true playground games, follow the leader, is usually only fun as the leader, and very rarely as the follower. So, what do you do when your faith asks you to be a “follower”? This week we look at how being a disciple means following Jesus’ example is the best way to live out our faith.

Sometimes it’s not until we see our reflection that we get a better picture of what others see in us. That’s why it’s up to us to decide the reflection we will give off to the world around us. This week we kick-off a brand new series by beginning to see how Jesus wants to be the life we reflect.

Would you describe yourself as a “half-full” or “half-empty” type of person? Either way, we all can agree that it’s not completely full - and we are all seeking fulfillment from someone or something in this life. That’s where addiction comes in. We long to be full, so we aim to feed that desire with anything from sex to alcohol to money. What if there was a different way to be full in this life? In week four of Love Handles, we see how Jesus’ love handles the tough conversation of addiction.

On April 4th, 1968, the world lost one of the greatest men to walk this earth—Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. The Reverend King lost his life as he boldly pushed back against the racial injustice of our country. His impact paved the way for monumental changes to racial relationships in our society, but the dream result is far from realized. In week three of Love Handles, we see how Jesus' love handles the tough conversation of race.

Caleb Kaltenbach is a pastor, author, and founder of The Messy Grace Group. In week 2 of Love Handles he shares about his life and his life’s work as well as how loving others doesn’t require shifting your beliefs.

It’s a normal thing for things to break in our lives. Often, the hardest part is knowing it won’t ever be “as good as new.” If we’re honest, the same could apply to our relationships, jobs, beliefs, identity and more. Brokenness is a real part of our lives, but living with the mess doesn’t have to be as challenging as we think. In week one of Love Handles, we see how Jesus’ love handles the tough conversation of the brokenness of life.

It’s the night before Christmas… and everyone is stirring, driving, wrapping, and cooking. Sounds sort of hectic right? While we know there is a lot to do as we prepare for Christmas Day, we would love for you to find time to slow down and reflect on the peace Jesus has prepared for us.

“Joy to the world, the Lord has come! Let earth receive her King!” Perhaps you’ve already sung this carol during this Advent season. But did you know that Joy to the World was not written as a Christmas song, rather a hymn to be praised year-round? For week three of Prepare Him Room, we unpack how the joy we celebrate during the Christmas season should not be seasonal, but a life-long goal.

Hope is a big word during the Advent season. We are reminded of the hope we see in the world through the benevolence of others. In other ways, we might lose a little hope because of how people act and respond during Christmas. Either way, hope is alive and all around us. In week two of Prepare Him Room, we are reminded of why hope was central to Jesus’ arrival on earth.

There’s a lot to love about the Christmas season: the music, the trees and lights, the hot chocolate, time with family, and much more. While we tend to love these things to varying degrees, there does exist a greater love for us. Listen in as we kick off our advent teaching series, Prepare Him Room, as we discover how God’s love impacts us all.

If we believe in Jesus, our mission should be to help other people believe in Jesus. But what does that look like when the people you're trying to reach, hate Jesus and everything He stands for? On Sunday, Vince Antonucci will help us learn why this can work. Vince is familiar with Champaign-Urbana because he attended law school at the University of Illinois. While there, Vince decided to try to prove that the Bible wasn't true. He ultimately failed that pursuit, and now his life is dedicated to teaching people about Jesus. Vince, his wife, Jen, and their two children now live in Las Vegas. They started Verve, a church for people who work on and live around the Vegas Strip—a church for those who don't like church. What was their primary way of reaching those lost?

Guilt, anger, greed, and jealousy are all little emotion monsters that rear their heads at the most unforeseen moments. Most of us would agree these emotions only get us into more trouble and we would rather express them less often. So is there a way to get it all under control and have a healthier heart? As we wrap up Enemies of the Heart, we will look at the habits we can put into practice to fight against the emotions that try to destroy us.

“Treat the source, not the symptom,” is a fairly common phrase in the medical field. It basically means to fix the actual issue, not just the symptoms. What if we applied the same truth to our lives and hearts? Instead of looking at the side effects, we opened up our hearts to see what the source of the problem might be. In week two of Enemies of the Heart, we will have a little open-heart surgery into the four emotional enemies in us all.

Ever have one of those, “where did that come from?!?!,” moments? Maybe you slipped and said a w*®d in front of the kids or found yourself negatively attacking another? Either way we have all been there and have found it can happen fast. Could it be, in those moments, there is something deeper going on inside our hearts? While your physical heart may be fine, all of our spiritual hearts need work. In week one of Enemies of the Heart we discover where and why our hearts get bogged down.