January 25, 2009 ~ "What's the Point of the Church Anyway?"| Powerpoint | Sermon Insert
February 1, 2009 ~ "What's a Church? What's a Parachurch?"| Powerpoint | Sermon Insert
February 8, 2009 ~ "The Covenant of Life Together" | Powerpoint | Sermon Insert
February 15, 2009 ~ "Our Greatest Need. Our Greatest Ally."| Powerpoint | Pastor Cor Chmieleski

December 14, 2008 ~ "Hope: Where it All Begins!" | Powerpoint
December 21, 2008 ~ "Love: The Beatles said it's all you need..." | Powerpoint
December 28, 2008 ~ "Peace: Like A Wild Raging River" | Powerpoint
January 4, 2009 ~ "Joy: Biblical Pictures of Joy" | Powerpoint
January 11, 2009 ~ "Christ Candle ~ Jesus is Lord!" | Powerpoint
January 18, 2009 ~ "God Doesn't Make Trash or Mistakes" | Powerpoint | Letter | Stan Oawster - Elder

September 28, 2008 ~ "The God Who Creates - (Creation and Meaning)" | Powerpoint | Sermon Insert
October 5, 2008 ~ "The God Who Has Compassion On The Rebellious - (Hamartiology, Mercy)" | Powerpoint
October 12, 2008 ~ "The God Who Makes Promises - (Covenants Abraham to David)" | Powerpoint | Pastor Cor Chmieleski
October 19, 2008 ~ "The God Who Is Not To Be Mocked - (Wrath, The Rebellion of Israel)" | Powerpoint | Sermon Insert
October 26, 2008 ~ "The God Who Becomes Human - (Christology and Incarnation)" | Powerpoint | Sermon Insert
November 2, 2008 ~ "The God Who Is Just By Crushing His Own Son - (Trinity, Justice, Mercy, and Resurrection)" | Powerpoint | Sermon Insert
November 9, 2008 ~ "The God Who Saves - (Election, Grace, Justification, Imputation)" | Powerpoint
November 16, 2008 ~ "The God Who Sends His Spirit to the Church" | Powerpoint
November 23, 2008 ~ "The God Who Judges - Part One (Hell)" | Powerpoint | Sermon Notes
November 30, 2008 ~ "Believe" - A Special Thanksgiving Message | Powerpoint | Sermon Notes | Pastor Cor Chmieleski
December 7, 2008 ~ "The God Who Judges - Part Two (Heaven)" | Powerpoint | Sermon Notes

August 17, 2008 ~ "Where Are You, God? The Big Questions of Habakkuk." ~ Habakkuk 1:1-4 | Powerpoint | Sermon Insert
August 24, 2008 ~ "Fighting Evil with Evil? Huh?!?!" ~ Habakkuk 1:5-11 | Powerpoint | Sermon Insert
August 31, 2008 ~ "What Do You Do When You Don't Like God's Answer? ~ Habakkuk's response to God's First Answer." ~ Habakkuk 1:12-2:1 | Powerpoint | Sermon Insert
September 7, 2008 ~ "God Responds with Five Woes" ~Habakkuk 2:1-20 | Powerpoint | Sermon Insert
September 14, 2008 ~ "I Don't Understand, But I Still Trust You" | Powerpoint | Sermon Insert
September 21, 2008 ~ Special Message: "Our Defining Moment" | Pastor Ken Carlton, Providence Community Church, Crosslake, MN

July 13, 2008 ~ "Church - Why Bother? Part 1" | Powerpoint | Pastor Cor Chmieleski
July 20, 2008 ~ "Lessons From the Beattitudes" | Powerpoint | Mark Hintz - Elder
July 27, 2008 ~ "Church - Why Bother? Part 2" | Powerpoint | Pastor Cor Chmieleski
August 3, 2008 ~ "Communion: A Powerful and Spiritually Significant Meal" | Powerpoint
August 10, 2008 ~ " Baptism: Four Views" | Powerpoint

April 20, 2008 ~ "What is Sin Anyway? A Biblical Theology of Sin" | Powerpoint | Sermon Notes
April 27, 2008 ~ "Put to Death the Misdeeds of the Body" ~ Romans 8:13 | Powerpoint | Pastor Cor Chmieleski
May 4, 2008 ~ "Tell the Rhino to Leave" | Powerpoint | Sermon Notes
May 11, 2008 ~ "Pleasures of Sin vs. Real Life, Vigor, & Comfort" | Powerpoint | Sermon Notes
May 18, 2008 ~ "Sin: What It Is and What It Ain't" | Powerpoint | Pastor Cor Chmieleski
May 25, 2008 ~ "The Basis for Busting Up Sin" ~ 1 Peter 2:4-12 | Powerpoint | Sermon Notes
June 1, 2008 ~ "The Symptoms of Serious Sin" ~ Hebrews 3:1-19 | Powerpoint | Sermon Notes
June 8, 2008 ~ "The Most Graceful Thing You Can Know is How Sinful You Really Are..." | Powerpoint
June 15, 2008 ~ "Five More Particulars on Fighting Sin" | Powerpoint | Pastor Cor Chmieleski
June 22, 2008 ~ "God-Centered Sin-Killing" | Powerpoint | Sermon Notes
June 29, 2008 ~ "Whack-A-Mole! How to Dilegently Kill Sin Through Repentance" ~ Hebrews 12 | Powerpoint | Sermon Notes
July 6, 2008 ~ "Lethal Faith: How Jesus is our Silver Bullet!" ~ Romans 6 and 8 | Powerpoint | Sermon Notes

January 27, 2008 - "How To Waste Your Life" | Powerpoint
February 3, 2008 - "A Vision of God That is Worth Living (and Dying) For!" ~ Exodus 19 and Hebrews 12 | Sermon Notes | Powerpoint
February 10, 2008 - "Life is Like a Cigarette. Smoke it to the Butt" ~ 2 Corinthians 4 and 5| Sermon Notes | Powerpoint
February 17, 2008 - "Don't Waste Your Life 9-5" | Powerpoint | Bart Carey - Elder
February 24, 2008 - "Seeking the Welfare of Our City"~ Ephesians 2:1-10 and Jeremiah 29:1-14 | Sermon Notes | Powerpoint
Interview with R.T. Rybak and Pastor Steve in December 2007 asking the question, "How can a church be a blessing to the city of Minneapolis?" PART 1 | PART 2
March 2, 2008 - "Investing in the Kingdom" | Powerpoint | Pastor Cor Chmieleski
March 9, 2008 - "A Plea to Consider Going or Supporting" | Sermon Notes | Powerpoint
March 16, 2008 - "The Reward of Risking Your Neck for Jesus" | Sermon Notes | Powerpoint
March 23, 2008 - "Special EASTER Message: Boasting in the Cross and Resurrection of Jesus ONLY!" | Sermon Notes | Powerpoint
March 30, 2008 - "At the End, Will You Say You've Wasted It?" | Powerpoint | Pastor Cor Chmieleski
April 6, 2008 - SPECIAL MESSAGE: "Dating to the Glory of God" | Sermon Notes | Powerpoint

Messages you may have missed over break!:

January 20th, 2008 - "This Means War" ~ Ephesians 6:10-20 | Powerpoint
January 13th, 2008 - "A Transformed Life" ~ Romans 12:1-2 | Powerpoint | Andy O'Rourke, Church planter through Hope Community Church in North East Minneapolis in Spring 2008
January 6th, 2008 - "The Joy of Prayer" | Powerpoint | Ben Johnson, Elder
December 30th, 2007 -"A Missions Update" | Powerpoint
December 23, 2007 - "The Incarnation: It's Not Just For Christmas Anymore!" | Powerpoint

The Gospel According to Ruth: A Story of Love, Redemption and Faithfulness

"In the Beginning, God Created Them Male and Female... ~ Why?"
A Seven Week Look at What God Was Up to in Creating Us As We Are

Creation of Adam, 1510, Fresco, 280x570cm, Cappella Sistina, Vatican

September 16, 2007 - "The battle of the sexes! How did we get here?"| Powerpoint
September 23, 2007 - "What does it mean to be a real man?" | Powerpoint| Pastor Cor Chmieleski
September 30, 2007 - "Is there more to being woman than being 'hot'?" | Powerpoint | Offering Video
October 7, 2007 - "Singleness, Dating, Marriage: is there any way to live in harmony with the other sex?" Powerpoint
October 14, 2007 - "Sex: God created it! God calls it very good!" | Powerpoint
October 21, 2007 - "Sex: if it is so good, then why are there such issues in enjoying it God's way?" | Powerpoint
November 4, 2007 - "Men and Women in the Church: What did Paul Mean in 1 Timothy 2:8-15?" | Powerpoint

Gospel of John Message Series:

Special Messages

August 5, 2007 - "Where Was God When the 35W Bridge Collapsed?" Powerpoint
April 23, 2007 - Easter Service | Powerpoint | Sermon Notes

Generous Living: Sowing Seeds that Satisfy & Bless Others

The Healing Path of Difficulties (based on Romans 5:2-5)

The Pain of Sexual Immorality ~ why the apostles said to abstain from it in Acts 15

Why is "avoid sexual immorality" there?
In our study of the book of Acts, there was a curious decision made by the apostles. In a letter to the new non-Jewish people who were becoming followers of Jesus, the apostles asked them to observe the following:
"You are to abstain from food sacrificed to idols, from blood, from the meat of strangled animals and from sexual immorality. You will do well to avoid these things." ~ Acts 15:29, NIV
Now, the whole food issue is obvious - it would be offensive to Jewish Christians if these non-Jewish people "paraded" their freedom from food restrictions in front of them and would put a wall of hostility between Jew and Gentile Christian.
However, why do they include the phrase "from sexual immorality"? Why not greed, or lust, or the worst sin in the bible, pride? What is it about sexual immorality that is so unique that the apostles felt they needed to include this as one of the four things to "avoid"?
During this series we spoke frankly and honestly about God's standards for sexual purity, strategies to avoid immorality, as well as how to receive healing from past mistakes.