When you hear the sermon on Sunday do you ever wonder how you can draw some of its ideas or challenges into your day-to-day life? Come and explore the spiritual exercises presented here to reflect on how you can physically walk the sermon out this week. Read through the suggestions and try one or more. Or, better yet, let them inspire you to create something even more in tune with how you personally meet God. Either way, use this space to become more deeply engaged with Christ, as you open up to the love of God, and listen to …
On Sunday, we were challenged to engage in spiritual conversations with our friends. As a first step, Jeff encouraged us to ask our friends,
"What would a church have to talk about for you to be interested in coming?"
Perhaps your friends have questions about God, faith or the church. Or maybe they are passionate about a certain subject or issue and would love to hear what the Bible says about it. Whatever the question, issue or topic, email it to us at feedback@southridge.cc. We want to take their questions and suggestions and turn them …
"What would a church have to talk about for you to be interested in coming?"
Perhaps your friends have questions about God, faith or the church. Or maybe they are passionate about a certain subject or issue and would love to hear what the Bible says about it. Whatever the question, issue or topic, email it to us at feedback@southridge.cc. We want to take their questions and suggestions and turn them …
Welcome to your space to Read. What you'll find here are two different kinds of reading recommendations, resources to read in order to encounter God's revelation of himself in more in depth and personal ways: a list of daily Bible readings to sustain your personal time with God throughout the week, and a few book recommendations to more deeply explore the themes we encountered in worship. "Your word is a lamp for my feet, a light on my path," (Ps. 119:105).
Daily Bible Readings for February 19-25, 2012
Faithfully follow this reading plan in 2012 and by the end …
Daily Bible Readings for February 19-25, 2012
Faithfully follow this reading plan in 2012 and by the end …
The 24/7 blog that we've called Resources is intended to be a multifaceted exploration of the Christian life. It is a place where we expand the conversation about what God is doing in our lives and in our community, and further reflect on what it looks like to live a life of full devotion to Christ, 24/7. This post is the first of a series of posts about interpreting the Bible. It was composed by Pat Beard, a longtime member of the Southridge community and Bible teacher in a variety of contexts.
In 1987, I attended a weekend men’s retreat …
In 1987, I attended a weekend men’s retreat …
When you hear the sermon on Sunday do you ever wonder how you can draw some of its ideas or challenges into your day-to-day life? Come and explore the spiritual exercises presented here to reflect on how you can physically walk the sermon out this week. Read through the suggestions and try one or more. Or, better yet, let them inspire you to create something even more in tune with how you personally meet God. Either way, use this space to become more deeply engaged with Christ, as you open up to the love of God, and listen to …
Welcome to your space to Read. What you'll find here are two different kinds of reading recommendations, resources to read in order to encounter God's revelation of himself in more in depth and personal ways: a list of daily Bible readings to sustain your personal time with God throughout the week, and a few book recommendations to more deeply explore the themes we encountered in worship. "Your word is a lamp for my feet, a light on my path," (Ps. 119:105).
Daily Bible Readings for February 12-18, 2012
Faithfully follow this reading plan in 2012 and by the end …
Daily Bible Readings for February 12-18, 2012
Faithfully follow this reading plan in 2012 and by the end …
This post is the first of a new feature of our 24/7 tools, a blog called Resources. Resources is intended to be a place where we expand the conversation about what God is doing in our lives and in our community, and further reflect on what it looks like to live a life of full devotion to Christ, 24/7. This post was composed by Ron Esau, a longtime member of the Southridge community and Bible teacher in a variety of contexts.
As we heard this past Sunday, in John 4 Jesus decided to do the unthinkable as a Jew and headed straight through &…
As we heard this past Sunday, in John 4 Jesus decided to do the unthinkable as a Jew and headed straight through &…
When you hear the sermon on Sunday do you ever wonder how you can draw some of its ideas or challenges into your day-to-day life? Come and explore the spiritual exercises presented here to reflect on how you can physically walk the sermon out this week. Read through the suggestions and try one or more. Or, better yet, let them inspire you to create something even more in tune with how you personally meet God. Either way, use this space to become more deeply engaged with Christ, as you open up to the love of God, and listen to …
Welcome to your space to Read. What you'll find here are two different kinds of reading recommendations, resources to read in order to encounter God's revelation of himself in more in depth and personal ways: a list of daily Bible readings to sustain your personal time with God throughout the week, and a few book recommendations to more deeply explore the themes we encountered in worship. "Your word is a lamp for my feet, a light on my path," (Ps. 119:105).
Daily Bible Readings for February 5-11, 2012
Faithfully follow this reading plan in 2012 and by the end …
Daily Bible Readings for February 5-11, 2012
Faithfully follow this reading plan in 2012 and by the end …
For the last couple years, our church's 24/7 resources have taken a relatively familiar shape, including...
Spiritual exercises (alternatively titled "Listen" or "Reflect"),
Daily Bible readings and their accompanying Bible study articles (called "Think"),
Life Group discussion questions (sometimes called "Conversation Starters" and sometimes simply "Talk"), and
Follow up resources (called "Read")
Now that the 24/7 resources have been moved online, consolidated into fewer, and more logical, features and categories, and retitled, we figured it was time to introduce something new into the mix, a brand new feature called... …
Spiritual exercises (alternatively titled "Listen" or "Reflect"),
Daily Bible readings and their accompanying Bible study articles (called "Think"),
Life Group discussion questions (sometimes called "Conversation Starters" and sometimes simply "Talk"), and
Follow up resources (called "Read")
Now that the 24/7 resources have been moved online, consolidated into fewer, and more logical, features and categories, and retitled, we figured it was time to introduce something new into the mix, a brand new feature called... …
This is an exciting week for our 24/7 resources. For the first time, you'll now be able to fully customize your 24/7 experience and better experience them on all your mobile devices by taking advantage of our brand new login feature of our website: www.southridge.cc.
Here's how to make the most of the changes that are taking place right now in your 24/7 experience and to fully optimize our website.
1) Start by downloading and following the instructions for creating your own, unqiue Southridge profile, by clicking here. For now, your Southridge account will enable you to comment on …
Here's how to make the most of the changes that are taking place right now in your 24/7 experience and to fully optimize our website.
1) Start by downloading and following the instructions for creating your own, unqiue Southridge profile, by clicking here. For now, your Southridge account will enable you to comment on …
Throughout our lives there are ceremonies that mark important occasions, draw lines in the sand of our lives and divide our histories into "before" and "after": graduation, weddings, and others, including baptism. Baptism is an ancient Christian ritual from before the days of Jesus that has been used to symbolize the start of a person's new life with God. Join us as we celebrate with several people who have chosen to mark off their new life with Jesus in the ceremony of baptism and take a moment to reconsider where you are with Jesus Christ, …
Of these three words—faith, hope and love—that became the early Christian shorthand for a well-lived life with Jesus, love is easily the most popular. We use the word love, in our world, to describe our affections for a puppy or a taco or something we "Like" on Facebook. We use it to talk about our sexual encounters and our encounters of genuine friendship. But we rarely use it to mean what the Bible means when it uses the word, "love": the willingness to give up everything we have to give everyone else …
Of these three words—faith, hope and love—that became the early Christian shorthand for a well-lived life with Jesus, hope is probably the most rare. Hope, in our world, is little more than a wish, a dream, a longshot almost destined to disappoint. But Christian hope is the absolute certainty that God is at work in the world, bringing restoration, joy, healing, wholeness and abundance in Jesus, by the Spirit, and through the Church, which he will ultimately complete at the return of Jesus. It is believing in God's promises with such absolute certainty that we …
Of these three words—faith, hope and love—that became the early Christian shorthand for a well-lived life with Jesus, faith is probably still the most common. We talk about a life of faith, a community of faith, the power of faith. Yet, what is faith? In the descriptions of the New Testament, faith seems to be a life of unwavering conviction about Jesus, unwavering confidence in Jesus and unwavering commitment to Jesus. It is a whole-person, whole-life orientation towards God that gives us something rock-solid to believe in. It is not blind, but an entirely …
Got a question about something you heard or experienced on a Sunday morning at Southridge? Have a story you'd like to share of how God spoke to you through one of our services? Want to encourage the staff and volunteers who make Sundays happen?
We would love to hear from you. We design every service with you in mind and your feedback encourages us, teaches us, motivates us and challenges us to bring our very best, Sunday after Sunday. We evaluate every piece of feedback, whether constructive or... (what's the word for positive feedback?) ...encouraging!
So, …
We would love to hear from you. We design every service with you in mind and your feedback encourages us, teaches us, motivates us and challenges us to bring our very best, Sunday after Sunday. We evaluate every piece of feedback, whether constructive or... (what's the word for positive feedback?) ...encouraging!
So, …
Happy New Year everyone! We just want to remind you that we will be hosting a single service at 11:00AM at our Glenridge location only this morning. There will be no services in our North End or Welland locations.
This is an opportunity for us to be together as one church family in one location as we look ahead to what God might have in store for our lives in the coming year! So we hope everyone will join us for The Big Year celebration!
And for everyone who comes this morning, we will have a special treat for …
This is an opportunity for us to be together as one church family in one location as we look ahead to what God might have in store for our lives in the coming year! So we hope everyone will join us for The Big Year celebration!
And for everyone who comes this morning, we will have a special treat for …
When was the last time you took a mid-term exam? Did you treat it seriously, or just shrug it off as 'only' a mid-term, feeling the like final exam was really where it counted. That's often our temptation, where the whole purpose of mid-terms is to provide an intermediate encoruagement and accountability that prevents cramming and the last-minute chaos of only preparing at the end of a course.
Here at Southridge, it feels like this week we're preparing for a mid-term exam of sorts. Since September God's had us on a journey to share His love and …
Here at Southridge, it feels like this week we're preparing for a mid-term exam of sorts. Since September God's had us on a journey to share His love and …
Evangelical Christianity is not known as a Christian tradition deeply engaged in the life of the mind, either in its intellection openness to the complexities of either Scripture or science. It's hard to over-estimate the impact that his has had both on our ability to love God with all of our mind and our ability to meaningfully connect the good news with thinking people who don't know and love Jesus. But what if we devoted ourselves to being deeply engaged with the complexities and ambiguities of the Scriptures and especially their relationship with science? How would that affect …
According to the Barna Institute, 78% of young people outside the Church believe that the Church is "old-fashioned", more relevant to past generations. One only has to look at the Church's definition of the role of women in society, family and the church to feel the force of that accusation. But what if Jesus was actually inviting all women to step into their God-given destiny, to take their place beside the men, as full partners and equals, to bring God's kingdom to earth, for men and women across the globe? And what if it were the men …
It was one month ago today that we gathered at Southridge, wrote the names of our friends and loved ones on sticky notes and prayed for them. Later that evening, at Spotlight, many of you came forward to claim these sticky notes and commit to praying for the names written on them for thirty days.
Thirty days later, that journey has officially come to an end. The question is, how has this experience been for you?
If you wrote a name on a sticky note, have you had any opportunities to connect with that person in the last 30 days? …
Thirty days later, that journey has officially come to an end. The question is, how has this experience been for you?
If you wrote a name on a sticky note, have you had any opportunities to connect with that person in the last 30 days? …
37 When the people heard this, they were cut to the heart and said to Peter and the other apostles, “Brothers, what shall we do?” 38 Peter replied, “Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.
- Acts 2:37-38 [NIV]
Every once in a while I get asked—usually by someone who eagerly desires to be baptized, but who is terrified of recording their video story or getting wet in front of hundreds of people&…
- Acts 2:37-38 [NIV]
Every once in a while I get asked—usually by someone who eagerly desires to be baptized, but who is terrified of recording their video story or getting wet in front of hundreds of people&…
It's fairly obvious to observe that the Christian community and the LGBTQ (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgendered and Queer) community live at odds with each other. They're two "camps" each locked into committed beliefs about homosexuality, and strong passions with respect to each other. They are two camps that seeminglyfind it impossible to accept each other until they first agree with each other. But what if there was another way? What if both sides "lowered their weapons" to just talk? And what if that conversation elevated love ahead of truth? In what ways could we …
Many of us that have grown up in the church probably cringe at (and agree with) the charge that we've lived sheltered lives, separated from the world to live the holy lives Christ has called us to live. It's time for us to reclaim the kind of holiness that Christ dreams for us: being purified to be used for the purpose for which God created us, a holiness that demands that we go into the world, rather that coming out of it. Just imagine the healing that God could bring, if we would stop just trying to keep …
The world has rendered its verdict: Christianity is arrogant for claiming to be the only way to God. How do we respond, in order to win a hearing for the good news of Jesus? With humility, the kind of humility that is open to recognizing the truth and beauty demonstrated by other faith systems in our world, and the kind of humility that is respectful of the humanity and beliefs of others and is willing to engage in respectful, winsome dialogue about spiritual matters. It is only that kind of humility that truly reflects the person of Jesus and truly …
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Website Login... the Long Story
"Life Keys" Leadership Development Opportunity
Reflect: Conversation Starters (Feb 19, 2012)
Conversation Starters: feedback@southridge.cc
One Child At A Time
Southridge Now: February 19, 2012
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Website Login... the Long Story
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Reflect: Conversation Starters (Feb 19, 2012)
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Conversation Starters: feedback@southridge.cc
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Southridge Now: February 19, 2012
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Inspiration
Deepening our relationship with God.
Connection Strengthening our relationships with each other.
Action Engaging in relationships with those in need.
Participation Unifying our relationship as a church family.
Students Investing in our students from Grades 6-12.
Kids Investing in our kids from pre-school to Grade 5.
Southridge Now Stay in the loop on events and activities with weekly video news.
Twitter The current buzz about Southridge in Twitterland.
Prayer Wall Updates from our community Prayer Wall
Connection Strengthening our relationships with each other.
Action Engaging in relationships with those in need.
Participation Unifying our relationship as a church family.
Students Investing in our students from Grades 6-12.
Kids Investing in our kids from pre-school to Grade 5.
Southridge Now Stay in the loop on events and activities with weekly video news.
Twitter The current buzz about Southridge in Twitterland.
Prayer Wall Updates from our community Prayer Wall