Orchard Hill Church

Jesus began his public ministry proclaiming the good news of God, saying “The time has come, the kingdom of God has come near. Repent and believe the good news!” (Mark 1:14-15). The "kingdom of God" was Jesus' favorite teaching topic. Join us as we explore Jesus' invitation and vision for living in his Father's world - the good news that Jesus said is not just a future promise but also a present reality. We'll explore what kingdom living looks like, what makes it good news, and how we can best move in by "moving out" into the world to demonstrate, seek and share God's kingdom with others.

Jesus began his public ministry proclaiming the good news of God, saying “The time has come, the kingdom of God has come near. Repent and believe the good news!” (Mark 1:14-15). The "kingdom of God" was Jesus' favorite teaching topic. Join us as we explore Jesus' invitation and vision for living in his Father's world - the good news that Jesus said is not just a future promise but also a present reality. We'll explore what kingdom living looks like, what makes it good news, and how we can best move in by "moving out" into the world to demonstrate, seek and share God's kingdom with others.

Jesus began his public ministry proclaiming the good news of God, saying “The time has come, the kingdom of God has come near. Repent and believe the good news!” (Mark 1:14-15). The "kingdom of God" was Jesus' favorite teaching topic. Join us as we explore Jesus' invitation and vision for living in his Father's world - the good news that Jesus said is not just a future promise but also a present reality. We'll explore what kingdom living looks like, what makes it good news, and how we can best move in by "moving out" into the world to demonstrate, seek and share God's kingdom with others.

For most of us, our family is the most important thing in our lives. We love our spouses, our kids, our parents and relatives more than anything else in the world. But our love is not perfect. Often times we do not live in love, but rather fear. And there are real reasons to fear; fear of getting it wrong, fear of our marriage failing, fear of our kids going astray, fear of shame and vulnerability and on and on and on...

For most of us, our family is the most important thing in our lives. We love our spouses, our kids, our parents and relatives more than anything else in the world. But our love is not perfect. Often times we do not live in love, but rather fear. And there are real reasons to fear; fear of getting it wrong, fear of our marriage failing, fear of our kids going astray, fear of shame and vulnerability and on and on and on...

For most of us, our family is the most important thing in our lives. We love our spouses, our kids, our parents and relatives more than anything else in the world. But our love is not perfect. Often times we do not live in love, but rather fear. And there are real reasons to fear; fear of getting it wrong, fear of our marriage failing, fear of our kids going astray, fear of shame and vulnerability and on and on and on...

For most of us, our family is the most important thing in our lives. We love our spouses, our kids, our parents and relatives more than anything else in the world. But our love is not perfect. Often times we do not live in love, but rather fear. And there are real reasons to fear; fear of getting it wrong, fear of our marriage failing, fear of our kids going astray, fear of shame and vulnerability and on and on and on... But God does not want us to be ruled by fear, but rather love. In 1 John 4:18 John writes, "There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love." It makes sense to us, but yet is difficult to put into practice. God's perfect love casts out fear. But remember, this does not mean our families won't face hard times, or danger or even death. But even in the midst of those hard times, we can still live in God’s power and love. To live in families without fear, we cannot do it alone. We need others to h

Remember the excitement and the anticipation you felt as a child waiting to tear into the present wrapped up under the tree with your name on it? You’d waited for days, weeks, maybe even all year for one special gift you wanted more than anything and believed would bring happiness, joy, maybe even change your life. Now imagine if you or your family had been waiting for such a gift for 5 years, or 50, or 500. Chances are - you may have forgotten what it was or why you even wanted it in the first place. Two thousand years ago, angels announced “Jesus’ arrival on earth. Many who heard this message had been waiting expectantly for hundreds of years to receive this “good news of great joy.” But many others had long ago lost hope it would ever come, forgotten what they really longed for, or even exchanged their desire for something else. Advent is a season for remembering what it is we most want and why we need so desperately for someone to bring it to us. It’s a time for renewed hope, restored desire and expect

Remember the excitement and the anticipation you felt as a child waiting to tear into the present wrapped up under the tree with your name on it? You’d waited for days, weeks, maybe even all year for one special gift you wanted more than anything and believed would bring happiness, joy, maybe even change your life. Now imagine if you or your family had been waiting for such a gift for 5 years, or 50, or 500. Chances are - you may have forgotten what it was or why you even wanted it in the first place. Two thousand years ago, angels announced “Jesus’ arrival on earth. Many who heard this message had been waiting expectantly for hundreds of years to receive this “good news of great joy.” But many others had long ago lost hope it would ever come, forgotten what they really longed for, or even exchanged their desire for something else. Advent is a season for remembering what it is we most want and why we need so desperately for someone to bring it to us. It’s a time for renewed hope, restored desire and expect

Christmas Eve 2015: Turning off the Darkness by Orchard Hill Church

Remember the excitement and the anticipation you felt as a child waiting to tear into the present wrapped up under the tree with your name on it? You’d waited for days, weeks, maybe even all year for one special gift you wanted more than anything and believed would bring happiness, joy, maybe even change your life. Now imagine if you or your family had been waiting for such a gift for 5 years, or 50, or 500. Chances are - you may have forgotten what it was or why you even wanted it in the first place. Two thousand years ago, angels announced “Jesus’ arrival on earth. Many who heard this message had been waiting expectantly for hundreds of years to receive this “good news of great joy.” But many others had long ago lost hope it would ever come, forgotten what they really longed for, or even exchanged their desire for something else. Advent is a season for remembering what it is we most want and why we need so desperately for someone to bring it to us. It’s a time for renewed hope, restored desire and expect

Remember the excitement and the anticipation you felt as a child waiting to tear into the present wrapped up under the tree with your name on it? You’d waited for days, weeks, maybe even all year for one special gift you wanted more than anything and believed would bring happiness, joy, maybe even change your life. Now imagine if you or your family had been waiting for such a gift for 5 years, or 50, or 500. Chances are - you may have forgotten what it was or why you even wanted it in the first place. Two thousand years ago, angels announced “Jesus’ arrival on earth. Many who heard this message had been waiting expectantly for hundreds of years to receive this “good news of great joy.” But many others had long ago lost hope it would ever come, forgotten what they really longed for, or even exchanged their desire for something else. Advent is a season for remembering what it is we most want and why we need so desperately for someone to bring it to us. It’s a time for renewed hope, restored desire and expect

Remember the excitement and the anticipation you felt as a child waiting to tear into the present wrapped up under the tree with your name on it? You’d waited for days, weeks, maybe even all year for one special gift you wanted more than anything and believed would bring happiness, joy, maybe even change your life. Now imagine if you or your family had been waiting for such a gift for 5 years, or 50, or 500. Chances are - you may have forgotten what it was or why you even wanted it in the first place. Two thousand years ago, angels announced “Jesus’ arrival on earth. Many who heard this message had been waiting expectantly for hundreds of years to receive this “good news of great joy.” But many others had long ago lost hope it would ever come, forgotten what they really longed for, or even exchanged their desire for something else. Advent is a season for remembering what it is we most want and why we need so desperately for someone to bring it to us. It’s a time for renewed hope, restored desire and expect

The Bible is clear. God loves it when followers of Jesus Christ give to His work cheerfully, instead of reluctantly or under compulsion. Intentional giving to the work of God on earth is a privilege for those who follow Jesus. This 2 week series will focus upon the “why” and the “how” to get our minds and hearts set for cheerful and generous giving to God and to His church.

The Bible is clear. God loves it when followers of Jesus Christ give to His work cheerfully, instead of reluctantly or under compulsion. Intentional giving to the work of God on earth is a privilege for those who follow Jesus. This 2 week series will focus upon the “why” and the “how” to get our minds and hearts set for cheerful and generous giving to God and to His church.

We were created by God to worship him and to love him above all. But in the Garden of Eden, we broke this natural order and started to worship things other than God. This is what the Bible calls idolatry, and in biblical days it involved worshipping self-created gods, or even a statue of wood, stone or gold. Seems silly to us now … But we are as much idol worshipers as were our ancestors. We just worship different kinds of idols, things like comfort, control, significance and money. Tim Keller defines an idol as “anything more important to you than God, anything that absorbs your heart and imagination more than God, anything you seek to give you what only God can give.” What is so tricky about modern day idols is that they often start out as good things; gifts from God, even. And then we twist them and elevate them and give them a status they were never meant to have. When this happens, they become very dangerous things indeed because they threaten to displace God from his rightful place. Idols are dange

We were created by God to worship him and to love him above all. But in the Garden of Eden, we broke this natural order and started to worship things other than God. This is what the Bible calls idolatry, and in biblical days it involved worshiping self-created gods, or even a statue of wood, stone or gold. Seems silly to us now … But we are as much idol worshipers as were our ancestors. We just worship different kinds of idols, things like comfort, control, significance and money. Tim Keller defines an idol as “anything more important to you than God, anything that absorbs your heart and imagination more than God, anything you seek to give you what only God can give.” What is so tricky about modern day idols is that they often start out as good things; gifts from God, even. And then we twist them and elevate them and give them a status they were never meant to have. When this happens, they become very dangerous things indeed because they threaten to displace God from his rightful place. Idols are dangerou

We were created by God to worship him and to love him above all. But in the Garden of Eden, we broke this natural order and started to worship things other than God. This is what the Bible calls idolatry, and in biblical days it involved worshiping self-created gods, or even a statue of wood, stone or gold. Seems silly to us now … But we are as much idol worshipers as were our ancestors. We just worship different kinds of idols, things like comfort, control, significance and money. Tim Keller defines an idol as “anything more important to you than God, anything that absorbs your heart and imagination more than God, anything you seek to give you what only God can give.” What is so tricky about modern day idols is that they often start out as good things; gifts from God, even. And then we twist them and elevate them and give them a status they were never meant to have. When this happens, they become very dangerous things indeed because they threaten to displace God from his rightful place. Idols are danger

Jesus’ early followers were eager to be on mission with him. But before they really got going, Jesus left them. Having spent 3 years with Jesus, they knew they wanted to keep his movement going. But how? And how could they possibly lead others on this journey? There was still so much they didn’t know or understand. Jesus had the answer – the Church. He sent the Spirit and the church was established to lead, equip, encourage, and empower Jesus’ followers to continue advancing God’s mission. The book of Acts tells the story of the beginning of the church. This historical account reveals 4 primary pathways used by the disciples to grow and help others grow in their knowledge and experience of God’s abundant life and love and share that same life and love with others. As members of the church - we are Christ’s hands and feet. This series identifies and explores how we can “Jump In” with the Holy Spirit today, at Orchard, into these same 4 streams and be immersed in God’s river of life and love that is his miss

Jesus’ early followers were eager to be on mission with him. But before they really got going, Jesus left them. Having spent 3 years with Jesus, they knew they wanted to keep his movement going. But how? And how could they possibly lead others on this journey? There was still so much they didn’t know or understand. Jesus had the answer – the Church. He sent the Spirit and the church was established to lead, equip, encourage, and empower Jesus’ followers to continue advancing God’s mission. The book of Acts tells the story of the beginning of the church. This historical account reveals 4 primary pathways used by the disciples to grow and help others grow in their knowledge and experience of God’s abundant life and love and share that same life and love with others. As members of the church - we are Christ’s hands and feet. This series identifies and explores how we can “Jump In” with the Holy Spirit today, at Orchard, into these same 4 streams and be immersed in God’s river of life and love that is his miss