ONE GOSPEL: Week 6

SUNDAY, JULY 20th, 2014
Rickey McCreight, Aroma Leadership
"The Law & The Promise"

Tomorrow is an exciting day in the life of Aroma Church. One of our own, Rickey McCreight will be teaching and Ken will be leading worship. We're the latter half of chapter 3 talking about the Law and the Gospel. 

Week 6

ONE GOSPEL: Week 5

SUNDAY, JULY 13th, 2014
Ken Elsner, Lead Pastor
What's with the Confusion?

Over the years I've had the privilege of meeting with and talking with hundreds, if not thousands of Christians and one thing tends to be same. The majority of those I talk with talk about "working" for their faith. That they feel some sense of duty and guilt if they don't do work to maintain their relationship with Jesus. Somewhere along the way they got confused. Derailed from the truth of Gospel. I know that I've wrestled with those thoughts. Have you? Are you now?

Well, we're back in the saddle. We've had a couple weeks off from regular Sunday gatherings and it's time to dive back in to our series in Galatians, ONE GOSPEL. We're going to get back into what the Gospel really looks like, not what the rest of the world wants you to believe it is.

Week 5

ONE GOSPEL: Week 4

SUNDAY, JUNE 22nd, 2014
Walk The Line [Galatians 2 & 3]
Derek Brouwer

Week 4

ONE GOSPEL: Week 3

SUNDAY, JUNE 15th, 2014
UNITY [Galatians 2]
Ken Elsner, Lead Pastor

What does the word "Freedom" mean to you? Does it mean do whatever you want? Does it connect with the definition "the power or right to act, speak, or think as one wants without hindrance or restraint." Or, do you have no idea what freedom really means because you're so constricted by the rules and traditions that you grew up with?

We're in this ancient letter to an ancient group of people called the Galatians and that's exactly what they're talking about...their freedom AND their unity in said "freedom".

Want to know what real freedom means?

Week 3

ONE GOSPEL: Week 2

SUNDAY, JUNE 8th, 2014
ONE GOSPEL: My Chains Are Gone
Ken Elsner, Lead Pastor

What kind of story do you have? When people meet you and spend time with you, what comes across most? Generous? Approachable. Intimidating? Rude? Everyone makes first impressions. Everyone has a story that tells people who they are. The Apostle Paul had a story too and it was both scary and amazing. Both parts of his story are remembered in history. Both parts of his story were used by God to impact those around him and the world.

What do you want your story to say about you? Impact those around you or repel them? Sometimes we need a "come to Jesus" moment like Paul did to shake things up a bit. We're in week 2 of our summer series in Galatians. It's all about our stories. 

Week 2

ONE GOSPEL: Week 1

SUNDAY, JUNE 1st, 2014
No Other Gospel [1:1-9]
Ken Elsner, Lead Pastor

About 30 years after Jesus' Resurrection happened, a letter was written and sent to a group of churches in Galatia, a region of southern Asia Minor. This letter, written by Paul, was urgent and intense. Somewhere along the way, this group of churches began to listen to other teachers that were suggesting that Jesus' gospel wasn't entirely complete. That they need to add extra "practices" in order to be saved.

It's interesting to me that we are in a similar time. Whether it's the addition of extra steps of holiness or the over simplification and watering down of Grace, the gospel of Jesus is being compromised. So, for the next 13 weeks, we're going to immerse ourselves in this letter to the churches of Galatia. Hopefully we can walk away each week understanding Jesus' Gospel and maybe, just maybe grow deeper in our walk with him. 

Week 1

CRAZY: One Thing

Sunday, May 25th
Ken Elsner, Lead Pastor

There's a great scene in the movie City Slickers. Billy Crystal and Jack Palance are herding cattle. Billy's character asks Jack a question. "Curly, what's the meaning of life?" Jack responds with "It's one thing. If you get that right the rest of it don't mean _______!" I love that scene.What's your "One Thing?" This Sunday we're wrapping up our Crazy series and talking about the "One Thing" we all need to build into our lives. It's not about doing more. It's not about being better. Or being more spiritual. You should come and find out what "it" is.

Part 4

CRAZY: Parenting Kills

SUNDAY, MAY 18th, 2014
Ken Elsner, Lead Pastor

So here's the deal. Whether your a parent now. Future parent. Or have friends who are parents, this message is important. We've been sold a bill of goods. Somewhere along the way, we thought that we could be perfect parents. Parents who will stop at nothing to make sure that our kids are perfect and successful. Our lives have become about our kids and their every need and desire. Guess what? It's a total nonsense.

Part 3

CRAZY: Pride Kills

SUNDAY, MAY 10th, 2014
Ken Elsner, Lead Pastor

Every day we make choices. Choices that either help or hinder us. How many of those choices have been made with less than innocent of intentions? How many were selfish? Totally about you? Here's the deal. When it comes to being overwhelmed with life. Being Crazy! Totally out of control. Those selfish desires and ambitions will kill you. Why? Because Pride kills. Tomorrow morning. Regardless of weather, we're going into the deep end. We're going to talk about your pride. 

Part 2

CRAZY: Busyness Kills

SUNDAY, MAY 4th, 2014
Ken Elsner, Lead Pastor

We're starting a new series this Sunday called "Crazy:overwhelmed by being overwhelmed!" Our culture drives us to have very few boundaries with our time and energy. We're constantly on the go. Constantly on the move. Constantly tired and overwhelmed! 

Part 1

HUNGER PART 4: Baby Steps

Sunday, April 27th, 2014
Ken Elsner, Lead Pastor

Part4

HUNGER Part 3: Back Story "Easter"

Sunday, April 20th, 2014
Ken Elsner, Lead Pastor

Part 3

HUNGER PART 2: Time Keeps On Tickin'

Sunday, April 13th, 2014
Ken Elsner, Lead Pastor

Part 2

HUNGER PART 1: Empty Calories

SUNDAY, APRIL 6th, 2014
Ken Elsner, Lead Pastor

Ever gone grocery shopping when you were hungry? Did you find yourself migrating to the junk food aisle? And then, by the time you got home that bag of Salt & Vinegar chips was half gone already? No? Was that just me the other day? Maybe it wasn't chips, but it was something. When we are hungry we want to get fed. We want to have something that tastes good. That feeds the hunger. It's instinctual. Part of us. Built in to our DNA.

When it comes to our walk with Jesus, it's a bit different. We may be wired with a big giant spiritual hole in our lives, but our instinct is not to pursue God, it's to pursue everything else but God! We have to work on our journey every day. We have to become aware of what distracts us. What causes us to go the opposite direction. If we aren't aware...we end up in the junk food aisle eating empty calories. 30 minutes later...we're hungry again. 

Part 1

IRRESISTIBLE PART 7: Influence

SUNDAY, MARCH 30th, 2014
Ken Elsner, Lead

In light of recent events around World Vision this week, it's interesting that we're wrapping up our Irresistible series around the idea of Influence. Christians are so concerned about what we're against rather than what we're for. No wonder we have a terrible name. I appreciate Pastor Andy Stanley's tweet today "Imagine a world where unbelievers were critical of what we believed but envious of how well we treated one another."

I want us to come Sunday prepared to talk about Transformed Influence. We have the power through the Gospel of Jesus to change the world for good. The question remains, "Do we actually want to bring change through truth, or just hate?" 

Part 7

IRRESISTIBLE PART 6: Sent

SUNDAY, MARCH 23rd, 2014
Ken Elsner, Lead Pastor

Have you watched the news and it seems like everyone is more concerned about the rest of the world and not your own town? Ya, me too. Sometimes it really irritates me. What's the big deal about everywhere else? Why are their problems any worse than mine. Or why is that child more important than mine? Sometimes I just think it's easier to get motivated when there's a Tsunami or earthquake in a remote part of the world. But, we have problems here too? Right?

So here's where God comes in! Ya, I'm bringing God into the conversation. God has a incredible gigantic heart for the nations. ALL of them. If we think that we can wait to go to the world until our junk is figured out, then we're very, very misinformed. What does it mean to be both local and global? What does it mean to be "sent ones?" What does it mean to be Irresistible to the nations?

Part 6

IRRESISTIBLE PART 5: People

SUNDAY, MARCH 16th, 2014
Ken Elsner, Lead Pastor

I don't know about you, but I tend to lean towards being an introvert. Which means, when it comes to my neighbors or going out of my way to meet new people, it's challenging. I have enough to deal with in my life than have to worry about other people who aren't my family. Once you open the door a crack into someone's life, BAM, the floodgates tend to open. 

So here where the problem is. Jesus was all about people. I mean, he went all over Judea meeting people. Getting into their stuff. Their lives. He even went where no other self-respecting Jew would go. Samaria. Why did he do that? Why did he have to be so "loving?" Because people matter to God. And they should matter to us. Our neighbors should matter to us. Our coworkers. And yes, our extended family too!! 

Part 5

IRRESISTIBLE PART 4: Response

SUNDAY, MARCH 9th, 2014
Ken Elsner, Lead Pastor

When you get a gift what is your response like? Is it totally appreciation? Thankfulness? Gratitude? How we respond at those times speaks a lot towards the state of our heart. Do we find it hard to be thankful? Are we unsure of how to respond? Do we become uncomfortable? Maybe it's because we've never been taught how to respond. Whatever the case may be, we need to learn some new responses, especially when it comes to our relationship with God. 

Part 4

IRRESISTIBLE PART 3: News

Sunday, March 2nd, 2014
Ken Elsner, Lead Pastor

What kind of news do you like to receive? Bad or good? My guess is that you like the good news significantly more than getting bad news. I'm right there with you. I especially hate the line that I sometimes get which goes something like, "We need to talk!" It's especially awful when it's done over the phone and the person on the other end says, "in a couple of days." Ever get one of those calls? There's something about good news that can just make a day go by a little faster and a little brighter. The news of a baby being born healthy. A friend getting a promotion. Approval for that dream house. Whatever the "news" is, we like it when it's good. 

So what if there was news given that could change everything? How we see the world. How we live in the world. How we respond to the world. What would you do with it? Would you walk away and say that it can't be true, or would you run as fast as you can and embrace it? 

That's the direction tomorrow. We all need some encouragement. We all need to hear some good news for a change.

Part 3

IRRESISTIBLE PART 2: Love

SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 23rd, 2014
Ken Elsner, Lead Pastor

Ever been in love? So much so that it hurt? Have you ever loved someone so much that when you saw them in pain, you would do anything to make it go away? Love is complicated. It makes us do crazy and unspeakable things. Some good...some, not so much! But, when love is seemingly perfect, it's irresistible. It has power. It has pull. It's contagious.

As humans, we can't experience perfect love among ourselves. We're imperfect. Flawed. Broken. We can, however, experience perfect love apart from humanity. It's beautiful. Complicated. Breathtaking. Contagious. Irresistible. 

Part 2

IRRESISTIBLE PART 1: Beginnings

SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 16th, 2014
Ken Elsner, Lead Pastor

When you hear the word "church", what comes to mind? What do you think about? What kind of emotions are at play? The most common response is "a building." And, for many, negative emotions bubble up to the surface. Whether there has been abuse, failure or disappointment, to name a few, the idea of church means many things to many people.

A couple of thousand years ago, something happened so amazing and so radical that it changed the world. A movement happened. A way of life began. And a man named Jesus started it. He didn't come to start a religion. He didn't come to build another building. He came to change the world.

Wouldn't it be amazing to explore what that could be like today? To shed our preconceived notions. To toss aside our assumptions and have an open conversation about...wait for it...The Church.

Part 1

RESTART PART 6: Amazed

Sunday, February 9th, 2014
Ken Elsner, Lead Pastor

So last weeks blurb was around making deals with God and about belief. We definitely talked about not stopping believing, we didn't really get into the "making deals" stuff. That's where we're heading tomorrow. We've all done it. Every one of us. In the quiet. In the midst of anxiety. We've asked for a favor from Someone. "If you'll just change _______, then I'll do ___________ for You." There's a problem with this line of thinking. Unfortunately for most of us, we think that it actually works.

Part 6

RESTART PART 5: Believing

Sunday, February 2nd, 2014
Ken Elsner, Lead Pastor

Have you ever made a deal with God? Whether you have a belief system or not, have you ever been in a situation where you couldn't see your way out and you just blurted out something like, "God if you get me out of this I'll _________!" Ever been there? Maybe more than once? Here's the deal. All of us have a belief system. Really, we all do! The issue comes down to what that belief is. When the challenging times come, do you want your belief to be in something you made or in something much, much greater? That's it.

Part 5

RESTART PART 4: Guiltfest

Sunday, January 26th, 2014
Ken Elsner, Lead Pastor

Guilt is debilitating. Crushing. For many, a life ender both figuratively and literally. We don't know what to do with guilt. When we've hurt someone or made a horrible choice. The guilt eats away at us like a disease. What if there was an answer? What if there was a way to get past our guilt? Would you accept it? Would you take the Red pill or the Blue pill that Morpheus offers Neo? Not sure?

Part 4

RESTART PART 2: The "S" Word

Sunday, January 12th, 2014
Ken Elsner, Lead Pastor

Part 2

RESTART PART 1: Back To Basics

SUNDAY, January 5th, 2014
Ken Elsner, Lead Pastor

It's the beginning of a new year and what do we do?  We make resolutions.  We start things over, or we simply start.  New jobs.  New relationships.  New workout.  Whatever "it" is, there's never a better time than the start of a new year.  So what would it look like to take our faith, or our search for faith and hit the "restart" button? What would it look like to get back to the basics about what we believe or hope to believe and not simply rely on "that's what I've always believed," or "that's what the Bible says?"

Part 1