Arise Church with Brent Simpson

The Return of Christ: Church of Sardis | It's the End of the World as We Know It | Part 6

While on a South Pole expedition, British explorer Sir Ernest Shackleton left a few men on Elephant Island, promising that he would return.

Later, when he tried to go back, huge icebergs blocked the way. But suddenly, as if by a miracle, an avenue opened in the ice and Shackleton was able to get through.

His men, ready and waiting, quickly scrambled aboard. No sooner had the ship cleared the island than the ice crashed together behind them.

Contemplating their narrow escape, the explorer said to his men, "It was fortunate you were all packed and ready to go!" They replied, "We never gave up hope. Whenever the sea was clear of ice, we rolled up our sleeping bags and reminded each other, 'The boss may come today.'"

Make no mistake, Jesus is also returning. Like Shackleton's men, it is our responsibility to be ready and awaiting for our Lord's return. In this message, Pastor Brent discusses the promised hope of the second coming of our Savior.

Repentance Changes Everything: Church of Thyatira | It's the End of the World as We Know It | Part 5

Have you ever had that pit of the stomach feeling of knowing you messed up? What will people say about you? Will you be rejected by others? Friends? Your job? Family? God?

 

Will they all mock you and not give you another chance because you have finally shown what a "mess up" you really are? What if there was a way to reach past the rejection of that moment? Would you take it?

 

Join us for this message as we talk about the Church of Thyatira and how they had messed up, but God was giving them an opportunity not to face rejection, but acceptance through repentance.

 

Join us as as we discover along with the Church of Thyatira how it is within the humility of the admission of wrong that we can find the foundation of being made right by God.

The Compromising Church: The Church of Pergamum | It's the End of the World as We Know It | Part 4

Great leaders understand that employees need recognition as well as training and development in order to optimally perform.

Great parents know that children need affirmation and direction to become the best version of themselves.

In the same way, the Lord who is the ultimate leader and parent is portrayed in Revelation as a having a doubled edged sword coming out of His mouth. It reminds us that He always knows when to encourage His children and when to rebuke them.

In this message we continue our current series by studying the Church of Pergamum. A church who was deserving of both sides of the sword.

We’ve heard it said that one can either be a great example or a really good warning. Together, we’ll discover who they were and will get to choose who we are going to be.

Preparing for Persecution: The Church of Smyrna | It's the End of the World as We Know It | Part 3

Ordinary carbon is formed into extraordinary diamonds while under tremendous pressure and heat. If these conditions do not exist, they are simply not created.

Heat and pressure have a way of taking ordinary things and making them extraordinary. Certainly, our world has turned up the heat and the pressure! But will we allow God to use these refining fires to turn us into diamonds?

We’ve heard it said, the only difference between a diamond and a piece of coal is pressure. In this message, Pastor Brent shows how the Church of Smyrna allowed the heat and pressure of their persecution and poverty to turn them into the richest church of Revelation!

Forsaken First Love: The Church of Ephesus | It's the End of the World as We Know It | Part 2

Your neighbors probably won't appreciate it if you open their personal mail... In fact, we definitely don't recommend reading someone else's mail... UNLESS...

Unless you're referring to the seven letters to the seven churches of Revelation! Because the letters Jesus wrote to these 7 churches were meant to be read, taught and applied by all of us. In this message we examine the letter to the Church of Ephesus (Rev 2:1-7) and discover that the message to them is still the message to us.

In our image based world of distractions, we must keep the Love of God burning in our hearts as the fuel for our works and mission.

Responding to the Crisis | It's the End of the World as We Know It | Part 1 | with Brent Simpson

Are we living in the end times? Is Christ’s return imminent? If so, how do we prepare ourselves? How do we respond? While we can debate whether this is the end of the world, it certainly seems to be the end of the world as we know it!

Join us for the first part of this new message series as we take an in depth study on the book of Revelation that is meant to prepare us for trials, persecution, and whatever comes next in America. God is revealing His revelations for those who will earnestly seek them.

Keep Moving Forward | Jumanji | Part 3 | Lives and Levels | with Tina Blount

In the movie, Jumanji, Dr. Smolder Bravestone makes this profound statement, “It’s a lot easier to be brave when you’ve got lives to spare. It’s a lot harder when you only have one life.”

Wow! Isn’t that the truth? It’s easy to be brave when you’ve got a backup plan, money in the bank and great people supporting you.

But what do you do when all of your security blankets are gone and you’ve been invited to go to the next level? What do you do when you’re invited to trust God with your whole life and you don’t understand what is happening or why?

In this message we continue our study of Joseph and together we explore how to take our faith life to the next level. Welcome to the Jungle!

Who Do You Choose to Be? | Jumanji | Part 2 | Choose Your Character | with Josh Cunningham

Choosing the right game piece for a board game is almost as important as playing the game itself. Choosing your character on a video game is also fun!

 

Right now the world is consumed with creating just the right Avatar on Facebook. Choosing our character is a part of life. It’s also part of the Christian life!

 

Listen to this message as we continue our Jumanji series. Together we will explore the thought that choosing our character is vital to winning the game!⁣ This message has some special moments for your kids!

A World Out of Control | Jumanji | Part 1 | Living in Jumanji | with Ken McAnulty

In the winter of 2017, Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle came to theaters. The movie follows 4 teenagers that are stuck in a game in the jungle known as Jumanji.⁣

 

Every day they are faced with level after level of attacks from everything from rhinos to hunters that are willing to take them out in search for a valuable jewel.

 

This year, we have been “sucked” into our own game of Jumanji. Over the past several months we have experienced everything from a global pandemic to murder hornets and everything in between.

 

The consequences to these situations have touched all of us in one way or another. Yet, in spite of the cards we have been dealt, we can walk in the confidence that we we can survive our Jumanji!⁣

 

Isaiah 41:10 says, “So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.”⁣

 

Join us for this kid friendly series as we learn how to survive Jumanji. ⁣

Defeating That Sly Fox | Mask Off | Part 5 | The Zorro Mask | with Brent Simpson

Who didn’t love Zorro?!⁣

 

He wore all black, and rode a beautiful black stallion in an era where good guys wore white hats! He would sword fight against bad guys instead of the typical 6-gun shoot-outs of most westerns!⁣

 

And he always left his infamous “Z” inscribed somewhere just to let everyone know he was responsible for winning this particular fight for justice!⁣

 

Zorro was sneaky! He would be here and then gone. Seemingly vanishing into thin air. In this way, Zorro was a sly fox… which is what Zorro means in Spanish, “fox.”⁣

 

You have an enemy who is a sly fox. He’s sneaky. He’s cunning and crafty. He’s studying you because he wants to leave his mark on you. He wants to devour you!⁣

 

You know him as Satan, but he doesn’t actually wear red, have horns, or a pitchfork… No, he is much more sneaky than that!⁣

 

Let’s learn how to take the mask off our mutual enemy, reveal his schemes, and overcome him together!⁣