Seneca Community Church Messages

No one likes to have regrets. Often they are just too painful or are a reminder that we fell short in an area of life. What if the pain of regrets could actually be a catalyst for something good in our lives? What if we could leverage our regrets to bring change in our life that produces something beautiful in our life? The apostle Paul expresses it this way: Distress that drives us to God... It turns us around… We never regret that kind of pain. But those who let distress drive them away from God are full of regrets… 2 Corinthians 7:10 MSG Join us as we talk about seeing our distress in relationships as something that can move us towards God rather than away from Him. We will hopefully find ourselves in a better place, a place where we can say genuinely, "I have No Regrets!"

As we continue on with our series Leftovers, we will be looking at "Why we need to direct desire that was designed for intimacy" with Part 3. For some, this message will be very timely, while for others it will be good for helping them to stay the course they already are on. It doesn't take much for any of us, at any stage or age, to find life mired in the hurt and mess of intimacy gone wrong. This is a PG-13 message - all that means is that Parental Guidance is strongly recommended, making this message a gift for parents to have age-appropriate conversations with their kids. Please don't miss that opportunity!

Last weekend, we began our series Leftovers with the statement, "Either you love leftovers or you don't!" For some, this week's message may feel fresh and not like a leftover, while others will have "tasted" it before. Whatever your age or stage of life, as we look at two core Symbols of the Christian faith, Baptism and Communion, we hope you find the "meal" tasty and energizing as we look to follow Christ.

In this message, we are going to enjoy a Leftover called Blended. This leftover will have us diving into how blending two lives, and sometimes two families, can work so that we would call it a SUCCESS.

This is Us - Part 6: Sharing Life by Dave Spencer

Keep calm and pretend that today is Monday. Do you know that most people dread Mondays? Research shows that on Mondays, 50% of employees are late to work, productivity is at its lowest, and the average person doesn’t smile until almost noon! Why is it that so many dread Mondays so much? Imagine if we could turn the most dreaded day of the week into a day full of purpose and impact. We were made for so much more than just 'surviving' our work week. We were made to thrive in it! What if we could all move to the place we discovered that we were Made for Mondays?

In this message, we’ll look at another challenging subject for parents and others trying to influence the next generation - Correcting Kids. Before you stop reading, especially if you believe influencing kids is outside your wheelhouse, realize that all of us, at every age and stage of life, need to first look at our own relationship with our Heavenly Father before thinking about correcting kids. As a Christ follower, it all starts there! Even if you don't consider yourself a Christ follower, there is a basic question that needs to be answered, “What do you do with correction in your own life?” We need to think about how we process that answer before we correct anyone else's life. Join us as we look at what it means to Correct Kids and what the implications are for us, no matter what our stage or age is. We will begin with a letter written to the Hebrews. The Hebrews lived in a difficult world similar to ours. This is what the writer says: …have you forgotten how good parents treat children, and that Go

Resources for this series include messages from Life Church, North Point Community Church, Saddleback Church, and Mecklenburg Church.

This is Us - Part 3a: Family Life by Dave Spencer

No one likes feeling set up by someone. When it does happen, we often feel embarrassed that we fell for it. What about when we set ourselves up? Sometimes we are walking ourselves into a setup and don't even realize it. This can be disastrous when it happens spiritually, especially when we don't understand the difference between a promise and a principle in the Bible. For example: A gentle answer turns away wrath... Proverbs 15:1 NIV When you expect this Proverb to be a promise, you can be hurt, discouraged, and even disillusioned with God when you give a gentle answer and it doesn't turn away wrath. If you take it as a principle, you'll normally expect a gentle answer to turn away wrath and you have a direction for difficult conversations, something to try in a heated moment. In this message, we will take a look at another spiritual principle that when taken as a promise can be spiritually dangerous.

It may seem like a bold statement, especially to someone who is thinking about what being a Christ-follower means for themselves, but the starting point for healthy relationships really does begin with your understanding and connection with God. There comes a day for all of us when we see that our world can be a dry place and what looks like a lush oasis is actually a mirage. Our response in those times makes all the difference. David from the Older Testament comes to a place where he realizes that thirst can only be satisfied in God. He writes: God, you are my God. I am searching so hard to find you. Body and soul, I thirst for you in this dry and weary land without water. Psalm 63:1 ERV

When did you get your first cell phone? What kind was it? What did it do for you? For many of us, our cell phones have come a long way since that first one. Somewhere along the way, those phones we went from just making calls to doing almost everything BUT making calls. Subtly, they have taken over to the point where many of us get a little nervous if we leave the house without it. That brings us to the question, "Do we use our phones (technology) or do they use us?" "Have our devices become our vices?" We could make the point, by experience, that if we are not intentional with technology, it will steal from us our margin physically, mentally, emotionally, relationally, and spiritually. Margin will be subtlety eroded until your back is against the wall with no space between your load and your limit)! Join us as we wrap up our series Margin: Making Room For Life with a hard conversation on technology. Don't worry we won't be asking you to go back to a flip phone, but we will all hopefully come a

In this message and the next, we wrap up our series "Margin: Making Room for Life." Our working definition is: Margin is the space between my load and my limits. Some of us will be really into talking about Part 5: Community, while others will be a little hesitant from a bad experience or feel it just isn't how they are wired. The reality is that a majority of Americans experience something called “crowded loneliness” when margin is absent.

It's not always easy to spot the Jesus followers in our culture today. When we compare the values of our culture with the values of Jesus, it becomes clear why that's a problem. Followers of Jesus should stand out - and not always for the reasons why we sometimes DO stand out.

Most of us hate it when others do this respectable sin. But if we’re honest, sometimes doing it ourselves makes us feel good. We feel important, connected, and well-informed. It’s a small but damaging sin, and unless we understand it, we may not escape the fallout it creates. Join us as we learn about the power of this small but deadly sin, and how God has given us the power to rise above it to have healthier relationships.

Complaining - something we all do. Life stinks sometimes, therefore we complain sometimes. It’s just part of life, right? But what if complaining is a bigger deal than we make it out to be? In this message, Rick Cramer from Berean Bible Church will put complaining under the microscope and reveal what it exposes in our hearts as well as the secret for turning it around.

Sometimes we need to lighten the loads in our lives. With too much load, we can easily “run out of gas” emotionally, spiritually, relationally, financially, mentally, or physically. For example, relationships can drain us and stress can create too much load; we need time for regular emotional and spiritual renewal. We often don’t allow enough time to refuel. Are you tired of being tired all the time? In part 4 of Margin we will discuss how to keep the gas tanks of our lives filled as we make room for life.

Sometimes it seems like the only way to keep up with all the demands on our lives is to run at maximum capacity and then some. Yet, our "take it to the limit" world leaves us full and empty all at the same time. Here's the good news: God never intended for life to be that way! There is another way, one where we have room to breath and space to respond to what life brings us. Starting this Sunday, July 11, during our 6- part summer series, you'll get the chance to explore what it means to live with MARGIN and make room for life- the real important stuff!

Sometimes it seems like the only way to keep up with all the demands on our lives is to run at maximum capacity and then some. Yet, our "take it to the limit" world leaves us full and empty all at the same time. Here's the good news: God never intended for life to be that way! There is another way, one where we have room to breathe and space to respond to what life brings us. Starting this Sunday, July 11, during our 6-part summer series, you’ll get the chance to explore what it means to live with MARGIN and make room for life - the real important stuff! Resources for this series include messages from Saddleback Church, and Oaks Chase Community Church.

Why?, Margin: Making Room For Life 1, July 11, 2021 by Dave Spencer