Vida Church Santa Maria

Gary and Kathy Howse continue in the series titled STRONG@home, learning from the Book of Nehemiah. We will take a quick look at chapters 5 and 6 this morning regarding Relationships Inside Our Homes and share ways to overcome the challenges we all currently face.

When their enemies were planning an attack, Nehemiah gathered the people and encouraged them with this: "Remember the Lord...and fight" (Neh. 4:14​)! And who did he say to fight for? Their families. Today we continue tracking the story of Nehemiah as we look specifically at how to fight for our kids — and we're joined by Ralph and Kathleen Hernandez, founders of BStrongLife student ministries.

God cares about your emotional wellbeing! Today we continue tracking the story of Nehemiah and learn how his enemies worked to bring confusion and fear to God's people (using the exact same tactics our enemy uses against us today!). We're also joined by therapist and university president, Angie Richey, to gain insight on how to rebuild emotional strength.

God has given us incredible minds to help protect us from becoming overwhelmed with the arguments swirling around us. But for some, the number of things they've had to process over the past year has been like rising floodwaters — just too much. How can we rebuild strong minds after they've begun to crumble?

The walls of our home (and our life!) are critically important. When they are cracked or lie in ruins, our strength is gone, our enemies can rush in, and even the good things we do have will leak out. But before we can rebuild, we have to do some home inspection to find out what needs rebuilding. Download your "inspection worksheet" here: https://bit.ly/sm4-home-inspection​

We've all found that home is the new hub for our lives! But if home-life isn't strong, it negatively impacts everything. In this new "Strong at Home" series, we're tracing the story of Nehemiah, who was used by God to rebuild the walls of Jerusalem. Along the way, we'll be discovering how to inventory our homes, then restore and rebuild anything that's started to crumble around us.

Life is full of distractions — especially over this past year! But God doesn't call us to live distracted lives. And he's given us his word to provide us with the direction we need to live on purpose. Pastor Gary unpacks five questions to help us see if we're directing our lives around God's word.

When faced with painful hardship — like a gut-punch to the soul — the temptation is to give up or give in. But the way of Jesus is to get after it in faith. And one of the most consistent ways believers over the centuries have chosen to "get after it" is with prayer and fasting. Fasting is a season of unplugging from other power sources to more fully plug in to Jesus.

This message is a call to join the Santa Maria Foursquare Church family in fasting and prayer for the next 21 days, from Monday, January 11 through Sunday, January 31. More resources are available on our church website: sm4.org.

At the start of a new year it's always good to ask: What should I be focused on now? Today we're asking that question through the lens of the Lord's Prayer — looking at what Jesus calls us to, and what he richly provides.

Beto and Amelia were headed for divorce. They were stuck in addiction and habits that had them bound up and miserable — until they invited Jesus into their story!

There's a longing in all our hearts for a place called home — where we know we truly belong. The strange thing about this crazy year is that we're stuck at home. And we're not happy about it! But what if we could make new discoveries from someone else who was stuck at home — new insights that could change our perspective and ignite a new appreciation for Christmas in 2020? Let's dive in!

In a year like 2020, where is there room for JOY? We could ask Paul the same thing when he wrote the book of Philippians. He was in prison and being persecuted — yet over and over he wrote about joy! Let's take a look at what he said and see if we can change our focus this Christmas.

In a year that's been filled with division, God's Word speaks of a different possibility, one where we're called to walk together in unity. And it's not that we're to all be the same or think the same — but when it comes to Jesus and his redemptive work, we're to be united.

In todays message Positively Content, Pastor Gary Howse speaks to us about how we can be content as we run to the Father in every situation that we come across.

Today Pastor Kathy Howse spoke on Positively Thinking. Positively thinking will bring change to our minds by aligning our thoughts with God’s thoughts.

Today Pastor Tim shares from one of the most powerful Scriptures about the peace of God. In Philippians 4, Paul wrote, "the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus." In that passage, Paul gives us four clues about how we can become people who experience God's peace.

We're in a year that can be described as absolutely UN-civil. People are cynical, angry, and even hostile. So why would God want his people to be civil? In Philippians 2, Paul answers that question and points to how we can be positively civil, even in times of real challenge and difficulty.

What does it mean to be Positively Humble? It sounds so counter-cultural — because it is! It's the way of Jesus; the way God's people are called to live for others. Discover how to be humble by following the example of Jesus from Philippians 2:5-11. He chose to serve, to take on a new identity, and to be obedient to God's call. And we can too!

Pastor Gary Howse finishes our series in the book of Acts by journeying with the Apostle Paul into his final season of ministry. Paul had been called by the Lord to head to Jerusalem even though he was told time after time that hardship awaited him there. Paul's life teaches us that faithful obedience will bring about a fearlessness that can't be stopped!