Holy Spirit as a Person

Start your Sundays with Sarah as she continues her series called Short Sunday Sermons! These will be short inspiring nuggets cut from Sarah’s sermons!

Thermometer or Thermostat?

What’s the difference between a thermometer and a thermostat?  I never really grasped the importance of these unique instruments until I made a really big mistake.  When I was first married, we lived in Kansas City. In January, we took a trip to Florida, and being a frugal person, I turned the thermostat to “off” so that we’d save money on heating while we were gone for a week.  Upon returning to our house, I observed the important difference between the thermometer, which had been well below freezing for several days, and the thermostat, which regulated the temperature in the house.  This lesson became massively expensive because the pipes in our house froze and broke. When we turned up the thermostat, the water in the broken pipes unthawed and began to pour out of the broken pipes, and we had lots of damage to the drywall, carpet, cabinets, etc. 

Table Talk with Jesus: Ultimate Sacrifice

Hey! Come join me as continue my series on “Table Talk With Jesus”. I will be talking about the ultimate sacrifice in our lives, most of which Jesus has done for us.

Reverent’s Conversations

Start your Sundays with Sarah as she continues her series called Short Sunday Sermons! These will be short inspiring nuggets cut from Sarah’s sermons!

Tares, Terrors and Tears

These three words, tares, terrors and tears, all sound the same and have some interesting commonalities.  We have all had tears in our clothing, ripped jeans, or holes in our socks.  And we have also experienced terror in our lives from something very scary.  In relation to tares, this is the word that Jesus uses in one of His parables to identify a weed that was masquerading as wheat. 

Fear Factor

I think that all of us have varying base levels of fear in our lives, and some of us are more prone to fear than others.  To be sure, I think it’s good to have a little bit of basic fear so that we have a reasonable perspective on the frail nature of our existence and the reality that we are not bullet-proof.   As an example, based on the concussion that I had from snowboarding some years ago, I now have a healthy outlook that I’m not invincible.  Having some fear related to my physical frailty isn’t a bad thing for me as I’m now in my early 50’s.  And it’s also good to have the fear of the Lord which is spoken about a lot in Proverbs.

Table Talk with Jesus: Come and Dine

Thanks for checking out my newest series “Table Talk with Jesus”! Today I’ll be teaching on Matt 22:1-14 and the importance of having room for anyone and every one at your table!

Jesus’s Relationship With You

Start your Sundays with Sarah as she continues her series called Short Sunday Sermons! These will be short inspiring nuggets cut from Sarah’s sermons!

Are You Comfortable?

hummingbird feeders to make it all the more pleasant. My porch can be a wonderful oasis resting place for me, but there’s also a downside. Sometimes, I can sit on my porch and get so comfortable that I don’t clean my house as well as I should. Or I can enjoy my porch for too long and do a dinner scramble which can be less than tasty. 

Room at the Table

I’ve thought about this phrase, “room at the table,” in relation to making space for people to enjoy the banqueting table that God sets for us. This reminds me of Jesus’ parable about the wedding feast and inviting people from all walks of life to come to His feast, in Matthew 22 and Luke 14:7-14. In these verses, we read that the invited guests didn’t come to the feast, so the master of the feast told his servants to go out and invite anyone and everyone who would come. There’s plenty of room at the table.

Highlight for Sight

Start your Sundays with Sarah as she continues her series called Short Sunday Sermons! These will be short inspiring nuggets cut from Sarah’s sermons!

Subtle Help

“Help” can feel like a four-letter word, maybe similar to a cuss word, when we resent the need for external assistance. For me, sometimes “help” can feel like weakness, inadequacy, instability, uncertainty and disadvantage. When I was younger, these descriptions were entirely repulsive to me because I wanted nothing to do with anything that could create dependence. I prided myself on being independent when I was young, and I still prioritize this value even as I continue to age.

Obstacles with Holy Spirit

Start your Sundays with Sarah as she continues her series called Short Sunday Sermons! These will be short inspiring nuggets cut from Sarah’s sermons!

Recalculating

I think there’s really good value and very helpful course corrections if we take some pauses from time to time and inventory what we are doing. I’m bringing this to your attention because we’re a little over halfway through this year and maybe you made some resolutions in the New Year that need some attention and possible recalculating. Perhaps you tried to start some new habits or stop some old ones and it might be helpful to look at these goals and consider your progress, along with obstacles, distractions or momentum drains.

Who Holy Spirit Is

Start your Sundays with Sarah as she continues her series called Short Sunday Sermons! These will be short inspiring nuggets cut from Sarah’s sermons!

Preparing For Pentecost

Enjoy these full-length sermons from Sarah Bowling! I hope they encourage you and fill your spiritual cup!

Kids and Parents: Follow the Footsteps God has for You!

Hey Hey! Join me for my new series on Kids and Parents! I have been reading in the Bible about kids that did not follow in their parent footsteps. It is important to consider that God may have a different plan for your children than what you have laid out for them. Let them follow the footsteps God has for them!

Kids and Parents: What Do You Want for Your Kids?

Hey Hey! Join me for my new series on Kids and Parents! I have been reading the book of Samuel and the relationship he had with his sons. If you have kids, what do you want for them? Samuel wanted his sons to follow his footsteps and rule as Kings but they did not walk in Samuels ways. We always want what’s best for our kids but that might not always be what we expect.

Three Strategies for Expectations Gone Awry

We all have hopes and expectations, and it’s nice when they come to fruition, but that doesn’t always happen. In Proverbs 13:12, it says, “Hope deferred makes the heart sick, But desire fulfilled is a tree of life.” I suspect that your life has been a combination of expectations that have been fulfilled and hopes that haven’t happened. While we love to revel and celebrate with satisfied hopes, what are some constructive ways to navigate life when our expectations don’t get met or resolved? Here are three strategies that might be helpful:

Is Holy Spirit Important?

“ . . . And do not take Your Holy Spirit from me.” Psalm 51:11b

These are some of the words that David wrote in Psalm 51 when he was pouring out his heart to God after being confronted by his sin with Bathsheba and killing her husband, Uriah. At this time in his life, David was well established in his kingdom; his family was taken care of, his military conquests had given him big respect among the surrounding nations and his life was generally smooth. Maybe because there was an absence of crisis or because he wasn’t at war, maybe that’s how he was distracted with Bathsheba’s beauty and his subsequent downward-spiral choices.

What Are You Looking For: #Looking

Hey Hey! Join me in the last video in my series on ‘What Are You Looking For?’. I hope this series has helped you understand that no matter what we do we must seek Jesus first to find what we are looking for. Join me next week for a brand new series!

Your Friendship with Holy Spirit, Part 2

Join Sarah as she teaches from her new book Your Friendship with Holy Spirit. You will develop strategies, which will strengthen and guide you in your relationship with Holy Spirit.

What do I want with Jesus?

Start your Sundays with Sarah as she continues her series called Short Sunday Sermons! These will be short inspiring nuggets cut from Sarah’s sermons!

Your Friendship with Holy Spirit, Part 1

Join Sarah as she teaches from her new book, Your Friendship with Holy Spirit. You will develop strategies, which will strengthen and guide you in your relationship with Holy Spirit.

The Nots

Does it seem like we’ve drastically shifted into summer? Here in Denver, we are in the midst of having a change in temperature, kids getting out of school and vacation stuff starting to get into our summer schedules. I’ve been thinking about all of these transitions. And for me, it feels like a sudden lurch into summer with dramatic temperature warming, longer days because of daylight savings, kids doing summer jobs and my total favorite, porch time!

What Are You Looking For: #Lost

Join me as I continue my series on What Are You Looking For? I just want to encourage you to continually seek Jesus especially when you are feeling lost.

We All Start Somewhere

Start your Sundays with Sarah as she continues her series called Short Sunday Sermons! These will be short inspiring nuggets cut from Sarah’s sermons!

Kids and Parents

Being a kid can have lots of great things along with some not so bueno experiences. To that end, I remember from my childhood, enjoying long bike rides in the Summer. I also recall throwing up on my friend’s arm in first grade, which stigmatized me for some of the years in elementary school.

Compassion > Judgment

I recently read the story in the Bible (1 Samuel 1-2) about a priest, Eli, who saw a woman, Hannah, in the temple whom he thought was drunk. He confronted her, and she explained to him that she wasn’t drunk but rather pouring out her heart to God in petition and great anguish. After her explanation, Eli told Hannah to go in peace, and he hoped that God would grant her petitions.

What Are You Looking For?: #Relationships

Join me as I continue my series on What Are You Looking For? I just want to encourage you to seek Jesus in every relationship you have, whether its a friendship, spouse, sibling, or even a coworker.

Navigating Pain

Someone once told me that pain is a good thing because it makes us aware. I didn’t really like that observation because I think pain is bad, almost always. However, they explained that pain could kind of be like a stoplight, raising our awareness so that we don’t continue in the same path, helping us to avoid collisions and bad stuff. Pain can also tell us that something is hurtful, something we should consider avoiding, something that could be wrong in our bodies or a situation.

What Are You Looking For?: #Pursuit

Join me as I continue my series on What Are You Looking For? Today’s episode is on pursuit. I want to encourage you to seek Jesus first to find what you are looking for!

Jesus is our Prince of Peace

Start your Sundays with Sarah as she continues her series called Short Sunday Sermons! These will be short inspiring nuggets cut from Sarah’s sermons!

Inside Job

I think the term “inside job” is interesting to consider in relation to what is happening in our interior life. This is worth consideration because not everything we exhibit externally reflects what we’re thinking about or what’s happening in our souls. To this end, I think it’s important to talk about the “Inside Job.” It’s also helpful to think about our interior so that we don’t get stuck in the bait and react trap. This happens when someone “pushes our buttons,” and we almost mindlessly react.

What Are You Looking For: #Fulfillment

Join me for my new series on What Are You Looking For! Are you looking for affirmation? Are you looking for fulfillment? Consider what you are looking for and identify what you truly desire. When we go after Jesus as our ultimate desire we have stability and peace in our hearts because He is our prince of peace.

Routines and Rhythms

“Show me your habits, and I’ll predict your success!” I’ve often thought about these words in light of my habits, which can be positive or negative. Since I want to have success in my life, it becomes important to consider my habits and things that I do with repetition. There are endless examples of people who continually practice, integrate daily habits, maintain steady routines, and capitalize on their natural rhythms to cultivate specific successes.

Renegades and Reverents

Start your Sundays with Sarah as she continues her series called Short Sunday Sermons! These will be short inspiring nuggets cut from Sarah’s sermons!

Different People

I’ve been around heaps of different people. Some of this comes from growing up as a pastor’s kid. To that end, different people whom I remember include:
The Cross-Dressing Greeter: When I was around 10 years old, in the late 1970’s, we had a greeter in our church who was a crossdresser. I asked my dad about this person since he had a full beard and wore a dress to greet people on Sunday mornings. My dad explained that everyone needs Jesus. Reflecting back now, I think my dad was a few decades ahead of his time.
Cranky Alice: She was a tough old bird. I’ll never forget when she read the riot act to a guy who was being sketchy with me, a 4th grader at the time. Alice was prickly and sour, but for whatever reason, occasionally, she had a soft spot in her heart for me.
Hungarian Csaba: This guy was part of the Hungarian revolt against the Soviet occupation in 1956, and he came to our church when I was a teenager. He was wiry, insightful and very intense with piercing blue eyes. Unfortunately, he died too young.

Peace: The Umpire of Your Heart

Is peace the absence of conflict? I think that we need to acknowledge that there is conflict in the world around us and internally inside of us. With Jesus we can have peace in our soul no matter what is happening around us. He can guard your heart and mind.

Why Jesus Came

Start your Sundays with Sarah as she continues her series called Short Sunday Sermons! These will be short inspiring nuggets cut from Sarah’s sermons!

Family Values

There is lots of concern in our modern world about “family values,” and when I use this term, it can evoke strong feelings, reactions, disagreements, moral evaluations, memories, pain, righteous indignation, etc. We seem to have plenty of ideas about what family values should be and how these should be employed in our modern world.

Who Jesus Comes For

Start your Sundays with Sarah as she continues her series called Short Sunday Sermons! These will be short inspiring nuggets cut from Sarah’s sermons!

Palm Sunday With Hands

Enjoy these full-length sermons from Sarah Bowling! I hope they encourage you and fill your spiritual cup!

Peace: Do You Want Peace?

Do you want peace? Life can seem turbulent and uncertain but we cannot let adversity ruffle our feathers. Peace means wholeness, soundness, and welfare in many different languages. It is not just the lack of turbulence but your wholeness as a person. A lot of things can disturb your peace externally and internally but this series will help you find peace through Him!

Simplicity and Influence

Enjoy these full-length sermons from Sarah Bowling! I hope they encourage you and fill your spiritual cup!

Looking For the Living

How was your Easter? In what ways was Easter this year different than Easter last year? For me, Easter this year was heaps better than Easter 2020 because of the whole lockdown and COVID thing. Last year, Easter didn’t feel very “Easter-ish,” so I think I was all the more grateful and excited for last Sunday!
Of course, we celebrated Easter in 2020, not only as a day on the calendar, but we tried to remember that it was Resurrection Sunday.  We did an online Easter service at our church, in a mostly empty room with some gracious camera operators and wonderful volunteers.  I remember trying to coach my mental game for Easter 2020 using my self-made mantra, “Empty tomb more than empty room!”

Ruffled Feathers

Jesus needs a donkey. If I were to use the more common vernacular for the word “donkey,” you might get your feathers ruffled. Nevertheless, these were Jesus’ words in Luke 19:31, when He gave His disciples instructions about getting a donkey for Jesus to ride when He came into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday.

Help! I Lost My Mind!

How do you feel when you lose something? Have you ever lost your car keys, driver’s license, wedding ring, important papers, etc.? In our household, it’s not uncommon to misplace stuff, and I frequently hear, “Hey mom, do you know where the __________ is?” I get asked the location for boots, batteries, hats, shoes, celery salt, screwdrivers, dish detergent, corn starch, and heaps more random things. It’s nice when I know where stuff is, but the key to all of these questions is this axiom: a place for everything and everything in its place.

What Do You Need?: Take Action With Your Needs

Do not be passive with your needs! You need to take action and bring your needs to Jesus which can be a conversation starter with Him! Step into your conversation with Jesus and TAKE ACTION!

Who is Us?

Start your Sundays with Sarah as she continues her series called Short Sunday Sermons! These will be short inspiring nuggets cut from Sarah’s sermons!

The Non-Event

What’s the weather like where you live? I live in Denver, Colorado and as a native, we often say that our weather is bi-polar. This means that if you don’t like the weather now, wait a few hours and it will change. Having lived here for close to fifty years, I can certify that the weather in Denver is very unpredictable and unstable.

Grow in Jesus!

Start your Sundays with Sarah as she continues her series called Short Sunday Sermons! These will be short inspiring nuggets cut from Sarah’s sermons!

The Outside, the Inside, or Both?

I have a friend who routinely teases me (in a really fun way) about how I’m always cleaning my kitchen. She’s asked me several times about playing pickleball with her, and I’ve had to decline because I was cleaning my kitchen. Sometimes, she’ll call and ask what I’m doing, to which I reply, “Cleaning my kitchen.” She says that when she comes over for dinner, my kitchen will be so clean that she plans to eat off the floor!

God’s Fingerprints

Do you ever struggle to find God’s involvement in your life? Does it ever seem like you have more problems than divine help? Does it feel like life is overflowing with struggles and quandaries? I know that we can go through seasons when the days, weeks, months, and maybe years are stormy and cloudy, devoid of sunshine. Maybe you keep looking for a rainbow in these stormy seasons, and tricky to find some silver lining in all the clouds.

The Wisdom Factor: What is Heavenly Wisdom?

What is Heavenly Wisdom?
James 3:17, “But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, reasonable, full of mercy and good fruits, unwavering, without hypocrisy.”

Who Are Jesus’s Relators?

Start your Sundays with Sarah as she continues her series called Short Sunday Sermons! These will be short inspiring nuggets cut from Sarah’s sermons!

What Do You Need?

I just got a call from the car repair dude who works on my car, and he told me a list of things my car “needs” with a very disconcerting price tag. This conversation reminds me that “needs” can be very disturbing, and they often force us to figure out ways to resolve these needs. In contrast, needs don’t seem to be disconcerting for Jesus. For example, when I look at the conversation between Jesus and His mom, in John 2, at the wedding feast in Cana, Jesus seems to be pretty relaxed about the “need” for more wine. In contrast, Jesus’ mom seems to be more uptight about this need than Him.

The Wisdom Factor: What is Flesh Wisdom?

What is Flesh Wisdom?
James 3:14-16, “But if you have bitter jealousy and selfish ambition in your heart, do not be arrogant and so lie against the truth. 15. This wisdom is not that which comes down from above, but is earthly, natural, demonic. 16 For where jealousy and selfish ambition exist, there is disorder and every evil thing”

Talk With Jesus!

Start your Sundays with Sarah as she continues her series called Short Sunday Sermons! These will be short inspiring nuggets cut from Sarah’s sermons!

Don’t Squint

When I drive, there are times when I squint because the sun is shining directly into my eyes from a sunrise, sunset or a really bright reflection. Squinting is my attempt to cut back on too much sunlight, so I can attempt to see the road in front of me along with preventing a car wreck. On the other hand, if I’m sitting by my picture window at my house and the sun is coming up, I don’t squint. Instead, I discover the unique beauty of each sunrise, taking in the splendor, colors, light contrasts, slow changes, peek-a-boo horizon and the sun lifting into the sky. Truly, this can be a very worshipful experience and I love it!

Who is Wisdom?

Start your Sundays with Sarah as she continues her series called Short Sunday Sermons! These will be short inspiring nuggets cut from Sarah’s sermons!

The Wisdom Factor: Ask For Wisdom

Why should you ask God for wisdom?
James 1:5, “But if any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all generously and without reproach, and it will be given to him.”

Shift the Sift

Have you ever sifted flour? When I grew up, we had a sifter in our flour bin, and it made this fun scratchy sound, like rubbing sandpaper. It was all the more curious because it looked like scissors connected to a big tin cup, and when I squeezed the scissor handles together, the flour would shake through the little grate at the bottom of the tin cup in a fluffy flour cloud. When I was really little, this sifter contraption was fascinating to me. I loved sitting on the kitchen counter with the flour bin and sifter, trying to figure out how it worked and make flour messes until my mom intervened with a plate and mess prevention instructions.

Jesus In Skin: The Language of Love

Lets be attentive to the language of love! Today I will teach on Luke 15 verses 22 and 24 on the father of the renegade son and the religious son. The language of love communicates with both sides! No matter which way you are leaning love will speak to you and Jesus will reach you!

Wisdom in the Weeds!

Start your Sundays with Sarah as she continues her series called Short Sunday Sermons! These will be short inspiring nuggets cut from Sarah’s sermons!

Jesus in Skin – Part 2

This teaching has been stirring in my heart for a couple of weeks. I am so excited to share how Jesus was human and the perfect example for living genuine love!

Three Requirements for Success

Success isn’t a lucky, one-time, swing-for-the-fences, grand-slam home run windfall.  Last week we talked about current definitions of success, benchmarking them against God’s definition of success, found in Jeremiah 9:23-24.  I believe these verses are the time-tested definition of success, providing us the foundation for truly being successful in life. So what could be some practical pointers that we could consider that would be important ingredients in the success journey?  I’m listing three main things below that I consider to be significant levers to making success integral in our lives. At the end of each main thing, I’ve included a Bible verse for your consideration, as I’m hopeful that you’ll pray this verse for whatever point is the biggest struggle or shortfall for you. 

Do You Want Success?

What is success? Before we think about how to succeed, we would be wise to understand what we think success looks like. If we define success as a financial goal, then I’d suggest that our fulfillment in life might be thin and elusive. If we define success as achievements or reaching goals, then we will likely need to keep setting goals to achieve so sustain our significance quotient. If popularity (YouTube subscribers, IG or Tik Tok followers, etc.) is our definition of success, then we give the keys of this pursuit to fickle crowds. Another popular definition of success is image – how we look and our physique. In my opinion, these are common indicators of success, easily observed in our daily living.

Jesus in Skin – Part 1

This teaching has been stirring in my heart for a couple of weeks. I am so excited to share how Jesus was human and the perfect example for living genuine love!

Be With Jesus!

Start your Sundays with Sarah as she continues her series called Short Sunday Sermons! These will be short inspiring nuggets cut from Sarah’s sermons!

Focus Factor – Part 3

Join Sarah Bowling for her NEW series on The Focus Factor! Today Sarah teaches on Hebrews 12:2, fixing our eyes on Jesus!

Upheaval, Uncertainty, Turmoil

I suspect that you might be going through some upheaval and uncertainty. If you don’t have that in your life, then it’s easy to find turmoil in the news and events happening in our nation. In my current life, there have been some big ups and downs with various COVID exposures, quarantining, testing, etc.

I like riding actual rollercoasters, but I’m not keen on doing life in a rollercoaster mode, with everything in the extreme undulation setting. This mode is disconcerting and I find it difficult to navigate and make wise decisions when so much around me (and in my interior) seems to be in the peaks and plummets setting.

Make Gratitude a Lifestyle!

Start your Sundays with Sarah as she continues her series called Short Sunday Sermons! These will be short inspiring nuggets cut from Sarah’s sermons!

The Lay of the Land

Here’s an understatement of the recent weeks: it’s an interesting time in the United States. In many respects, it feels like our country is very un-united and unsettled across many contexts to include politics, economics and race to name a few examples. The tensions and conflicts can be easily seen in the Facebook interactions, road rage, domestic abuse increase, mental illness uptick, neighbor squabbles and lots more. It’s a challenging time in which we find ourselves and we would be wise to think about how we should behave and communicate; with the highest priorities going to our values, how we think, and our perspective.

Focus Factor – Part 2

Join Sarah Bowling for her NEW series on The Focus Factor! Today Sarah teaches on Matt 14:30-32, Peter gets distracted (loses focus) on the winds / waves!

Express Gratitude!

Start your Sundays with Sarah as she continues her series called Short Sunday Sermons! These will be short inspiring nuggets cut from Sarah’s sermons!

Race, Rhythm, Rest

Life can be a rat race sometimes. We run around trying to get stuff done, be important, prevent disasters, be helpful, meet deadlines and keep the gerbil wheel spinning at fever speed. No doubt, there are seasons in our lives when life is in sprint mode. Let’s also appreciate that an alternative to sprinting could be doing life from a more rhythmic perspective; with the pace being a little slower, but more sustainable in the long run. I think that doing life in rhythms is more restful than doing life in race mode.

The Focus Factor – Part 1

Join Sarah Bowling for her NEW series on The Focus Factor! Today Sarah teaches on Jehoshaphat’s prayer in response to invasion from Moab and Ammon.

Looking Back!

Join Sarah Bowling for her New Years Eve teaching!

Resolve

I hurt my knee and I’m hoping that it resolves itself without medical assistance. I also have lots of resolve when it comes to protecting my kids and wanting them to be healthy and do well. And of course, I’ve made many New Year’s resolutions to varying degrees of success. When I think about the word, “resolve,” it has lots of daily applications. Along with daily usage, resolve is particularly relevant coming into a new year when we often assess the preceding year and make resolutions for change with the calendar changing.

Be Born Again!

Start your Sundays with Sarah as she continues her series called Short Sunday Sermons! These will be short inspiring nuggets cut from Sarah’s sermons!

Finding Jesus – Part 3

Join Sarah Bowling for her seasonal Finding Jesus series! Today Sarah teaches us lessons with her favorite co-host, baby Jesus!

Treasure Hunt Part 2

When I was growing up, I used to explore the canal behind my house and find all kinds of wonderful treasures. Such treasures could include tadpoles, giant crawdads, a rusted pocketknife, frogs and lots more. I loved the adventure and discovering treasures, along with unexpected surprises.
One such surprise happened when I brought home a tadpole to keep in the aquarium in my room. I was mesmerized by this slippery little sprig of life that was changing right before my eyes a day at a time.

Your One Thing

Start your Sundays with Sarah as she continues her series called Short Sunday Sermons! These will be short inspiring nuggets cut from Sarah’s sermons!

Treasure Hunt

Have you ever done a scavenger hunt? I like the imagination, work, creativity, skill and planning that it takes to pull off a challenging and successful scavenger hunt. It’s fun to create these adventures and it can be even more fun to participate in such an escapade. If you’ve ever been the designer for a scavenger hunt, you know the importance of considering who will be doing the hunting, along with their skill sets, some of their thought processes and willingness to go the extra mile.

Similar to the concept of a scavenger hunt, a treasure hunt can be all the more alluring for the simple reason that a “treasure” could be the outcome of the hunt.  Maybe in some way, God created a “treasure hunt” for the wise men when they set out to find “the King of the Jews,” as we read about in Matthew 2. 

Finding Jesus 2020 – Part 2

Join Sarah Bowling for her seasonal Finding Jesus series! Today Sarah teaches us lessons with her favorite co-host, baby Jesus!

In Going We Receive

Start your Sundays with Sarah as she continues her series called Short Sunday Sermons! These will be short inspiring nuggets cut from Sarah’s sermons!

Christmas Traditions

What are some of your annual Christmas traditions? Do you attend an office Christmas party? Do you decorate your apartment or house to enjoy the holiday vibe? Do you make Christmas cookies? Attend special Christmas events? Enjoy the Christmas playlist on your phone? Do you go caroling? Drive around at night to relish the lights and decorations people put up to celebrate Christmas? Do you have special foods that you look forward to eating during the Christmas season?

Finding Jesus 2020 – Part 1

Join Sarah Bowling for her seasonal Finding Jesus series! Today Sarah teaches us lessons with her favorite co-host, baby Jesus!

The Gratitude Factor – Part 2

Join Sarah Bowling as she continues her series called The Gratitude Factor! Today Sarah teaches on being grateful for provision (bless what we have rather than curse what we lack)!

Finding Jesus

I lost Jesus recently and didn’t realize I’d lost him until I started looking for Him.  How could I lose Jesus?  Particularly in December, it’s difficult for me to lose Jesus because during this month because I do a series in my blogs and YouTube channel related to finding Jesus.  I started doing this series over five years ago when I stole Jesus from our church’s manger scene and took pictures of Him in creative places. 

Continuous Conversation

Start your Sundays with Sarah as she continues her series called Short Sunday Sermons! These will be short inspiring nuggets cut from Sarah’s sermons!

The Gratitude Factor – Part 1

Join Sarah Bowling for a new series called The Gratitude Factor! Today Sarah teaches about gratitude and how it is integral for healing!

Shortcuts

I like shortcuts. I like to find quicker ways to get things done, faster ways to get to a location, streamlining my workflow to be more productive and using strategies to increase my successes. So on this snowy morning in Colorado, I was driving to work and seriously considered pulling out into traffic (on slick roads) to save a few seconds and get to work earlier. Then I thought about the likelihood that I’d get in a wreck and that would take me hours to resolve, in my attempt to save a few seconds.

Categories of People

Start your Sundays with Sarah as she continues her series called Short Sunday Sermons! These will be short inspiring nuggets cut from Sarah’s sermons!

The Boomerang Thang

When I first heard about boomerangs, I thought it was kind of hooky that I could supposedly throw a stick away from me and it would come back to me. Someone explained that a boomerang wasn’t just any stick but rather a smoothly crafted piece of wood at an approximate 90 degree angle. Additionally, the boomerang is thrown with great force and will return to the person who threw it, or in close proximity. As a side note, there are also “non-returning” boomerangs if you want to explore this topic more thoroughly. From what I can see, boomerangs originated with the Aborigines in Australia, which reminded me of Crocodile Dundee, for those of us on the “more seasoned” spectrum of aging.

Connection Through Conversation!

Start your Sundays with Sarah as she continues her series called Short Sunday Sermons! These will be short inspiring nuggets cut from Sarah’s sermons!

Conversations with Jesus

Enjoy these full-length sermons from Sarah Bowling! I hope they encourage you and fill your spiritual cup!

Extracting Venom

“I hate snakes!” These were the words from Indiana Jones in Raiders of the Lost Ark, when he fell into an ancient room overflowing with snakes. I’m in complete agreement with Indiana Jones but not merely from a fictional experience. When I was growing up, I had a friend who rang our doorbell and when I opened the door, she had snakes slithering everywhere. She had snakes in her hair, coming out of her shirt, writhing around her arms and slipping through her fingers, everywhere. I freaked out and slammed the door so hard that our house shook. Snakes are no bueno for me, full stop.

So the snake talking with Eve in the garden of Eden is very perplexing to me. Eve didn’t seem to mind talking with the snake, but his venom through their conversation was deadly. The snake didn’t do his venom through fangs but rather through the dialogue with Eve. If we think about Satan being a snake, using words for venom, then it would be helpful to identify the venom or words that he uses for poison, similar to Satan slipping venom into Eve’s outlook through his slithery words.

Step into Jesus through Suffering

Start your Sundays with Sarah as she continues her series called Short Sunday Sermons! These will be short inspiring nuggets cut from Sarah’s sermons!

Elections, Winners, and Losers

Did your candidate win? Did the local ballot initiatives and amendments turn out like you wanted? How are you feeling about the recent election and politics in general? I’m hopeful that we aren’t headed in a similar path with the presidential election of 2000 between Bush and Gore with the hanging chad challenge that seemed to drag on endlessly.

With that said, politics is often an interesting subject that can bring people together, create exclusivity, foster anxiety, accentuate conflict, facilitate dialogue and lots more.  With democracy, it would seem that citizens have more influence and input with politics in contrast to dictatorships, empires and kingdoms.  I’m making this observation because politics in Jesus’ day didn’t have democratic underpinnings.  Instead, the politics during Jesus’ lifetime were a complicated cobweb of power plays with King Herod, the Emperor in Rome, religious leaders in Jerusalem; and among soldiers, tax collectors and the average person trying to scratch out their daily existence.

When We Don’t Understand Jesus

Have you ever struggled to understand Jesus? Maybe you read something in the gospels that didn’t make sense to you. Perhaps you’re going through an experience that is very difficult and perplexing, causing you to question Jesus. There are seasons in our lives that can be very challenging, when we ask why, look for purposes, try to discover meaning or endeavor to cobble together value from hardships or horrific events.

Resurrection and Revelation!

Start your Sundays with Sarah as she continues her series called Short Sunday Sermons! These will be short inspiring nuggets cut from Sarah’s sermons!

Politics: Fire, Flood and Flurry

How do you feel about politics? This can be a really loaded question, depending on when it’s asked and what we’re going through at that time. As I write this blog, we are moving into the home stretch for the Presidential election in 2020, on the backdrop of this massively bizarre and challenging year. It seems to me that there’s no shortage of emotion, intensity, opinion, conflict, concern, nor angst about this election. The debates on TV have evoked strong reactions, the issues being decided are very important and it’s sobering to think about the impact on the future this election could have, not only for our nation and the world but also for our local communities.

Want More Jesus!

Start your Sundays with Sarah as she continues her series called Short Sunday Sermons! These will be short inspiring nuggets cut from Sarah’s sermons!

Red Letter Lives – Series

Enjoy these full-length sermons from Sarah Bowling! I hope they encourage you and fill your spiritual cup!

Praying and Doubting

Have you ever prayed for something and it didn’t happen? Have you struggled with doubt when you pray? While I like praying, it can be really challenging and stretching for my faith when my prayers go unanswered or even seem to backfire. I don’t think I’m the only one that’s wrestled with this conundrum and it’s likely you could struggle with reconciling prayer, doubt, the lack of answers, etc. If you know someone who is doing this wrestle, feel free to send them this blog, as it might be helpful.

Let God Name You!

Start your Sundays with Sarah as she continues her series called Short Sunday Sermons! These will be short inspiring nuggets cut from Sarah’s sermons!

Behind the Scenes

Stuff that’s behind-the-scenes can sometimes be even more interesting than an actual event or presentation. For example, I really like the movie Ford v Ferrari because it kind of gives the backstory for Ken Miles racing in the Le Mans car race in France in 1966. I recognize that Hollywood takes a lot of liberties to make the big screen a financial success, but the backstory is nonetheless very compelling.

Accept Your Divine Design!

Start your Sundays with Sarah as she continues her series called Short Sunday Sermons! These will be short inspiring nuggets cut from Sarah’s sermons!

Wrestling With God

Enjoy these full-length sermons from Sarah Bowling! I hope they encourage you and fill your spiritual cup!

Samples or Source?

Have you ever bought something from the grocery store because you tasted one of the samples and liked it so much that you wanted to get more? Pre-COVID, my friends and I joked about getting lunch at Costco from all the samples they used to have, a veritable rainbow of bites and tasty treats. We see these kinds of bite size meals demonstrated in a delicious reality through various cultures! There are several cultures that have appetizers as meals, like tapas in Spain, dim sum in Hong Kong, pikilia in Greece, kemia in Morocco and lots more!

Let the Holy Spirit Change You!

Start your Sundays with Sarah as she continues her series called Short Sunday Sermons! These will be short inspiring nuggets cut from Sarah’s sermons!

The Peach Problem

What’s your favorite fruit? And when is the best season for that fruit? My mom likes Rainier Cherries (the white cherries), but they have a really limited season. My favorite fruit is peaches. When they’re in season, I enjoy eating several a day with very great satisfaction. When they’re out of season, it’s a bummer because the peach flavor stuff is a poor substitute for the real thing.

Live Big – Ps 135:15-18

Join Sarah Bowling as she continues her series on Living Big! Today’s episode is on Ps 135:15-18!

Weeding Your Heart!

Start your Sundays with Sarah as she continues her series called Short Sunday Sermons! These will be short inspiring nuggets cut from Sarah’s sermons! Today Sarah teaches on how to keep your heart in the Word of God!

The Fear Thing

It seems to me that fear is a universal experience for being human and I’m sure you can think of your own situations when you’ve been afraid. I also think that various groups capitalize on the power of fear to influence and even control our thoughts, conversations, behaviors and outlook. In particular, this year seems to have lots of fear related to COVID, the news reporting, the upcoming presidential election, racial tensions and conflicts, rioting, protestors, travel restrictions and lots more. What do we do with fear, given how much it seems to be saturating this year?

Closed Doors

Do you ever feel like you are hanging by a thread? Join Sarah today for a powerful teaching that will help you recognize the open and closed doors God has placed in your life. Rest and be blessed in the knowledge that Jesus is your Door!

Open Doors

Do you ever feel like you are hanging by a thread? Join Sarah today for a powerful teaching which will help you recognize the open and closed doors God has placed in your life. Rest and be blessed in the knowledge that Jesus is your Door!

What is Jesus Saying?

Start your Sundays with Sarah as she continues her series called Short Sunday Sermons! These will be short inspiring nuggets cut from Sarah’s sermons! Today Sarah teaches on how to read and re-read parables and learn from them!

Story Time with Jesus

Enjoy these full-length sermons from Sarah Bowling! I hope they encourage you and fill your spiritual cup!

Live Big – Jehoshaphat

Join Sarah Bowling as she continues her series on Living Big! Today’s episode is on Jehoshaphat!

Meal Planning

Have you ever been in the middle of making a meal and discovered that you’re missing a key ingredient? This happens to me fairly regularly because I’m not very good at planning. In contrast, I have a friend who is really good at meal planning and I’m always super impressed with her! She thinks about what she wants to eat for the week, gets the groceries for those meals and makes everything on Saturday. She puts these meals in storage containers and pulls out a container each day for her meals. She personifies meal planning and I’m massively inspired by her!

How to Pray Using Verbs!

Start your Sundays with Sarah as she continues her series called Short Sunday Sermons! These will be short inspiring nuggets cut from Sarah’s sermons! Today Sarah teaches on a new idea for prayer!

Pickle Juice

Have you ever seen someone who looks like they drank pickle juice? They might look like their lips are puckered, eyes squinted, face contorted and they could seem like they are not very social or much aware of the people around them. Or have you seen someone who is pickled from drinking too much or hazy from smoking lots of weed? Being pickled or drinking pickle juice, are metaphors used to describe people in diverse conditions, affected by various things taken into the soul and stomach.

Walking into Hope

Do you find yourself in something hopeless or do you know someone who is going through a hopeless season? Sometimes life is very difficult and it can seem like we’re sloughing our way through quicksand and endless goop. It’s all the more challenging when we are trying to do everything right, with integrity, but nothing seems to result in positive outcomes.

Live Big – Mary

Join Sarah Bowling as she starts a NEW series on Living Big! Today’s episode is on Mary!

Get in Front of Jesus!!

Start your Sundays with Sarah as she continues her series called Short Sunday Sermons! These will be short inspiring nuggets cut from Sarah’s sermons! Today Sarah teaches on how Jesus can help everyone!

Should You Wrestle with God?

As I think about the wrestling thing, my mind conjures up pictures and memories from watching WWE, UFC, MMA, boxing and even some recollections of the men in my family wrestling each other. All of these competitions are very physical, with one person exerting their strength and muscles against the other, trying to overcome them with both brains and brawn. If you watch any of these competitions, they’re extremely intense (even if the WWE has some theatricality to it).

Jesus is the Center!!

Start your Sundays with Sarah as she continues her series called Short Sunday Sermons! These will be short inspiring nuggets cut from Sarah’s sermons! Today Sarah teaches on how Jesus steps into the center of controversy and changes it for the better!

Jesus is the Cure

Enjoy these full-length sermons from Sarah Bowling! I hope they encourage you and fill your spiritual cup!

Conflict, Complement, Compete

How can that be??? In our house, we have an axiom: the more smoke alarms that go off, the better the meal will be. This could seem counter-intuitive and you might think that I’m actually burning a meal rather than cooking it. But alas, in our house this axiom is very true, along with it’s opposite: no smoke alarms makes for a less-than-tasty meal. The smoke alarm might seem like a competing interest with a well cooked meal.

Has God Disappointed You?

Recently, I was in a Bible study and we were talking about Jesus’ words in Luke 11:9, where Jesus says, “So I say to you, ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you.” One of the ladies in the group was really vulnerable when she shared how she’s unhappy with God about this verse. She explained that it seems like God is setting us up to be disappointed because God hasn’t given her the things for which she’s asked. And I totally agree with her.

Jesus Has Compassion!

Start your Sundays with Sarah as she continues her series called Short Sunday Sermons! These will be short inspiring nuggets cut from Sarah’s sermons! Today Sarah teaches on how Jesus heals many and cares for all!

Is There A Quarantine Cure?

The COVID-19 pandemic has been the central attention for news reporting this year, and it’s been quite the year! Wherever you are reading this blog, it’s likely that you’ve experienced some kind of quarantine, shelter at home, possibly a COVID-related death in your family or friend circle, maybe you’ve contracted and recovered from COVID and maybe it’s impacted your income, health and perspective. I suspect there’s not a person who is reading this blog that hasn’t been impacted by COVID-19.

Love is Freedom!

Start your Sundays with Sarah as she continues her series called Short Sunday Sermons! These will be short inspiring nuggets cut from Sarah’s sermons! Today Sarah teaches on how love can break bondage!

The Moths Are Gone

I keep finding moth carcasses in my house – under chairs, in corners, beside walls and in window tracks.  These are not the treasures I like to find.  On the plus side, when I slide open the back door for my porch, I’m not as concerned as I was a few weeks ago about letting moths in the house.  For longer than I like, I’d slide open the back door and close it super fast, hoping to let in only one moth rather than the seemingly Egyptian plague of hordes, waiting to make their residence in my house as if they belonged.

Sketchy People – Judas

Join Sarah Bowling as she continues her series on Sketchy People in the Bible! Today’s episode is on Judas!

The Freedom Factor

Enjoy these full-length sermons from Sarah Bowling! I hope they encourage you and fill your spiritual cup!

Don’t be Hostage to Fear!!

Start your Sundays with Sarah as she continues her series called Short Sunday Sermons! These will be short inspiring nuggets cut from Sarah’s sermons! Today Sarah teaches on how you can’t run from fear, or it will dominate your life.

The Hope Factor

A hopeless person can be very dangerous and we are living in a time when hope might seem to be getting increasingly scarce. Indeed, when I read or listen to the news on COVID, police brutality, partisan politics, economic woes, international instability and intrigue, police reform, along with racial tensions and observing heated exchanges between some of my neighbors, it can be challenging to keep hope vibrant and flourishing in these challenging times. But hope is very important, so let’s consider where we can get a steady supply of sturdy hope and not just empty or frothy hope.

Sketchy People – Saul

Join Sarah Bowling as she continues her series on Sketchy People in the Bible! Today’s episode is on Saul!

High Octane Living

Genesis 50:17, “When their message came to him, Joseph wept.” Reading these words caused me to pause and think about their significance because it’s uncommon to see a grown man and world leader weep. What would cause Joseph to cry? Let’s consider that when Joseph wept, he was the second most powerful man in Egypt, his dad had just died and his brothers had sent word that their dad had asked Joseph to forgive his brothers for treating him so horribly. The message Joseph’s brothers sent him was the cause of his weeping. This message was Joseph’s father asking him to forgive his brothers.

Sketchy People – Samaritan Woman

Join Sarah Bowling as she continues her series on Sketchy People in the Bible! Today’s episode is on the Samaritan Water Well Woman!

Jesus Reveals Himself to Us!

Start your Sundays with Sarah as she continues her series called Short Sunday Sermons! These will be short inspiring nuggets cut from Sarah’s sermons! Today Sarah teaches on how Jesus reveals himself to connect others!

Are You Free?

Happy Independence Day celebration! This weekend, we celebrate America’s separation from being a British colony and decision to be an independent and free nation. There were lots of sacrifices, decisions, activities and individuals that participated in the efforts to achieve freedom from British so it’s a great annual holiday to celebrate freedom!

Sketchy People – Zaccheus

Join Sarah Bowling as she starts a NEW series on Sketchy People in the Bible! Today’s episode is on Zaccheus!

Live In We!

Enjoy these full-length sermons from Sarah Bowling! I hope they encourage you and fill your spiritual cup!

JESUS Fosters Conversation!

Start your Sundays with Sarah as she continues her series called Short Sunday Sermons! These will be short inspiring nuggets cut from Sarah’s sermons! Today Sarah teaches on how Jesus lived in the tension of us versus them and how he fosters conversation!

Shady People – Nebuchadnezzar: King of Babylon

Join Sarah Bowling as she continues her series on Shady People! Today Sarah teaches on Nebuchadnezzar: King of Babylon, and how we should choose to love / believe in God regardless of power, wealth, and influence.

Just Practicing

My baked chickens have been notorious with my family for being dry, tasteless, rubbery and boring on a good day. My solution was to let everyone pour salsa, gravy or some helpful seasoning to make the rubbery chicken go down the gullet with a little more flavor. In my thinking, gravy or salsa covers a multitude of kitchen failures and sins.

The good news, is that I’ve discovered a recipe for baked chicken that is no longer dry, flavorless, rubbery nor dull. It’s taken me a few attempts to get comfortable with the recipe and process, but it’s well worth the effort! And lots of practice can make for lots of success.

JESUS is with US!

Start your Sundays with Sarah as she continues her series called Short Sunday Sermons! These will be short inspiring nuggets cut from Sarah’s sermons! Today Sarah teaches on how Jesus provides for us and nourishes us even in the midst of the enemy!

Shady People – Saul

Join Sarah Bowling as she continues her series on Shady People! Today Sarah teaches on Saul, and how we cannot let fear make our decisions!

Not the Apocalypse

All the shops were shuttered, hallways vacant, escalators were moving and only a smattering of people were seen, mostly keeping to themselves. This was my experience recently, doing my first venture back into the travel world and navigating a few airports. What has been bustling, busy, focused and populated now feels vacant, eerie and empty. It didn’t help that I saw someone on one of my planes in a full-blown hazmat suit, complete with safety goggles, booties for her shoes, gloves and duct tape around her ankles and wrists. Clearly, she preferred not to chat with me. I suspect she has a medical condition and was flying at great personal risk, so I prayed for her.

Distribution Agents

Enjoy these full-length sermons from Sarah Bowling! I hope they encourage you and fill your spiritual cup!

What’s Your Mom’s Background?

Start your Sundays with Sarah as she continues her series called Short Sunday Sermons! These will be short inspiring nuggets cut from Sarah’s sermons! Today Sarah teaches on motherhood and how their background influences how they mother us!

Us and Them

How do you feel about wearing face masks? Do you want everyone to wear them to minimize the possible exposure risk to COVID? Do you resent someone telling you to cover half of your face and deal with struggling to breathe through a mask? Does it tick you off that you wear a mask and other people in the grocery store don’t? Or do you think that people who wear masks are over-reacting?

How about the racial stuff that’s overtaken the news headlines in the last few weeks? Are you angry that white people are insensitive and entitled? Are you upset that minorities are speaking out about injustices in police systems or judicial experiences?

Shady People – Lot: Abram’s Nephew

Join Sarah Bowling as she continues her series on Shady People! Today Sarah teaches on Lot: Abram’s nephew and how we must learn the lesson of making better quality choices and not just wealth choices.

JESUS Has Something For EVERYONE

Start your Sundays with Sarah as she continues her series called Short Sunday Sermons! These will be short inspiring nuggets cut from Sarah’s sermons! Today Sarah teaches on how Jesus heals us both physically and emotionally!

Race, Riots, and Religion

The attention and concern we gave to the COVID pandemic have largely been replaced by the outrage and upheaval from George Floyd’s senseless and brutal death in Minneapolis last week. I was appalled by what I saw. A week later, I’m still very disturbed by this atrocity. Furthermore, our nation has exploded with protests, demonstrations and outrage, some of which has been peaceful and some has been violent and destructive. The religious establishment (archbishops, the Pope, denominations, etc.) have responded by condemning racism and calling for peace and reconciliation.

Choose to WALK With GOD!

Start your Sundays with Sarah as she continues her series called Short Sunday Sermons! These will be short inspiring nuggets cut from Sarah’s sermons! Today Sarah teaches on what choices we make and how we can walk with God!

Are We Talking??

I recently had a fun email dialogue with a friend about a writing project and I was asking for her help with this project. In her reply to my request, she asked if I wanted to chat by phone, in person or by Zoom. I chuckled when I read her reply because the COVID stuff has helped me get more creative on ways to communicate. In general, I feel like I’m relatively creative with communication because of doing lots of international travel such that I’m good at texting, wifi, international cell phone coverage, etc. All of these communication methods cause me to think about the variety of ways that God communicates with us.

God’s Friend – Part 4

Join Sarah as she finishes her series on God’s Friend! Make sure to subscribe for a brand NEW series next week!

Jesus Restores Your Soul!

Start your Sundays with Sarah as she continues her series called Short Sunday Sermons! These will be short inspiring nuggets cut from Sarah’s sermons! Today Sarah teaches on all that Jesus gives us!

Love Is: The Good Shepherd

Enjoy these full-length sermons from Sarah Bowling! I hope they encourage you and fill your spiritual cup!

How God Works

My daughter and I were making dinner together last night and I really enjoyed not only the time together, but also the shared work, productivity, conversation, tasty outcomes and all of her help. It’s not the first time we’ve cooked in the kitchen and it’s really pleasant for me when we work together because it feels a little bit like a symphony.

God’s Friend – Part 3

Join Sarah as she continues her series on God’s Friend! Remember God always wants to be your friend so invite Him into your life! Experience His genuine love TODAY!

Pandemic Reaction: Are You Frustrated, Frightened, Fulfilled?

“I’m frustrated with this whole COVID thing and how it’s making life needlessly complicated and stressful!”

“I found the lock-down time to be really fulfilling, as it gave me an incredible opportunity to pause and level-set my priorities, connect more deeply with my family and I caught up on some major house projects!”

These are some of the reactions I’ve heard as they relate to COVID and its impact in our daily living. For myself, I’d have to say I’ve experienced all of these reactions over the recent months, depending on the day. So maybe it would be helpful to look at each reaction and see how Jesus might reply.

God’s Friend – Part 2

Join Sarah as she continues her series on God’s Friend! Remember God always wants to be your friend so invite Him into your life! Experience His genuine love TODAY!

Choose to LIVE in the PEACE of JESUS!

Start your Sundays with Sarah as she continues her series called Short Sunday Sermons! These will be short inspiring nuggets cut from Sarah’s sermons! Today Sarah discusses choosing to live in the protection and love of Jesus!

The Transformation

For several weeks, my hair has been moving in the skunk direction, as the white streak on my part is growing more and more conspicuous. In full disclosure, which doesn’t bother me in the least, my hair is entirely grey if not altogether white. I inherited the pre-mature grey thing from my dad, discovering my first grey hair when I was 13 or 14 years old. And someday, in the not very distant future, I’m going to let my hair grow out and revel in the grey, but not quite now.

God’s Friend – Part 1

Join Sarah Bowling as she starts her new series on God’s Friend! God always wants to be our friend with no hidden agendas or distortions, He is genuine. Ask God to be your friend and let Him into your heart today!

JESUS Is Genuine LOVE!

Start your Sundays with Sarah as she continues her series called Short Sunday Sermons! These will be short inspiring nuggets cut from Sarah’s sermons! Today Sarah discusses on getting yourself in front of Jesus, who is genuine love!

Lockdown Lessons

How’s the lockdown/quarantine thing going for you? Do you find that some days are better than others? Have you undertaken some home projects, like cleaning out a closet or organizing the pantry? Are you running out of things to do & hoping this adventure comes to an end sooner rather than later?

What To Do In A Crisis – Part 3

Join Sarah Bowling as she finishes her series on What To Do In A Crisis! Always remember to stay strong when everything else is going wrong!

Why Do This?

Enjoy these full-length sermons from Sarah Bowling! I hope they encourage you and fill your spiritual cup!

Love Is: Bread Of Life

Enjoy these full-length sermons from Sarah Bowling! I hope they encourage you and fill your spiritual cup!

Take Aways About Jesus, Feed Your Spirit!

Start your Sundays with Sarah as she continues her series called Short Sunday Sermons! These will be short inspiring nuggets cut from Sarah’s sermons! Today Sarah discusses the take aways from her sermon!

What To Do In A Crisis – Part 2

Join Sarah Bowling as she continues her series on What To Do In A Crisis! Always remember to keep your faith above your fear! He is ALWAYS with us!

The COVID Adventure

“Adventure” usually means doing something, possibly risky, with an unknown outcome. I really like adventures, normally, and the unknown outcome or possible risk doesn’t often bother me. However, this COVID adventure is a bit different because it seems to have a very long timeline with bad results all along the way. I don’t want to enumerate what the bad results could be, because I’d prefer to encourage your faith from a helpful Bible example.

Have a PERSONAL Connection With JESUS!

Start your Sundays with Sarah! Short Sermon Sundays will be short inspiring nuggets cut from Sarah’s sermons! Today Sarah teaches on having a personal connection with Jesus!

What To Do In A Crisis – Part 1

Join Sarah Bowling as she starts her new series on What To Do In A Crisis! With the unique opportunity this time gives us we can use it to nestle into God and prayer like never before!

Thoughts on Quaren-Teens

Do you feel trapped? Stuck at home? Tired of the shelter at home mandate? Do you have some cabin fever? Concerns about how all this plays out for our economy? Have you been laid off work and nervous about making ends meet? Has the term “quarantine” taken on a whole new meaning to you?

Good Friday

Happy Good Friday to you! I always feel awkward when I say that because I struggle to reconcile “happy” with Good Friday, when Jesus was crucified. At first glance, it seems like there’s nothing happy nor good about the day when we remember Jesus’ crucifixion.

Come to Jesus For Access!

Start your Sundays with Sarah! Short Sermon Sundays will be short inspiring nuggets cut from Sarah’s sermons! Today Sarah teaches on coming to Jesus for access, let Jesus be your door!

Good Friday!

Join Sarah for a special program on Good Friday! With Easter right around the corner lets rejoice in Jesus’ resurrection and remember He suffered because He loved US!

Palm Sunday

Enjoy these full-length sermons from Sarah Bowling! I hope they encourage you and fill your spiritual cup!

Love Is: Light

Enjoy these full-length sermons from Sarah Bowling! I hope they encourage you and fill your spiritual cup!

Jesus Is The Door

Enjoy these full-length sermons from Sarah Bowling! I hope they encourage you and fill your spiritual cup!

Praying With Holy Spirit

Enjoy these full-length sermons from Sarah Bowling! I hope they encourage you and fill your spiritual cup!

Scrutiny of Genuine Love

Enjoy these full-length sermons from Sarah Bowling! I hope they encourage you and fill your spiritual cup!

The Gift of Peace

Enjoy these full-length sermons from Sarah Bowling! I hope they encourage you and fill your spiritual cup!

Trust

Got a minute? Join Sarah as she shares some daily inspiration! Today’s topic is on “Trust.” In times like these, we need to keep our faith and nurture our spirit!

Health and Sanity Check

The COVID-19 pandemic has come to the US and lots of us are required to stay at home for at least a few weeks. I suspect it could be difficult for you for various reasons, such as financial struggles, health challenges, social dynamics, future uncertainty and probably more reasons than I could list. I also think that we might generally be ok with this stay at home requirement on some days and on other days, it might not be so good. In order to stay healthy in these weeks, here are some key areas to consider…

What Are You Doing?

“What are you doing here?” This was the question asked by the angel of God to Elijah, as he hid in a cave, gripped with fear, anxiety and uncertainty. Seems to me that maybe some of us might relate to Elijah, given the recent collection of coronavirus (COVID-19) events: shut downs, alarming news, hoarding, toilet paper shortages, contagion and empty shelves at grocery stores.

Prayer

Got a minute? Join Sarah as she shares some daily inspiration! Today’s topic is on “Prayer.”

Led Into The Wilderness #2!

Join Sarah as she continues her series on Conversations with God. Today Sarah teaches us that we must avoid temptation from the enemy!

Love Vision – Part 4

Join Sarah as she finishes her series on Love Vision, seeing through the eyes of love! Like my videos? Let me know what you want to see next!

Love Vision – Part 3

Join Sarah as she continues her series on Love Vision. We must also remember by building our faith we can fight fear! God is greater and his love for us is everlasting!

Love Vision – Part 2

Join Sarah as she continues her series on Love Vision. Today Sarah teaches on genuine love! Like my videos? Let me know what you want to see next!

Love Vision – Part 1

Join Sarah as she starts her NEW series on Love Vision. Today Sarah teaches on using genuine love as a filter! She also reminds us that what’s inside us can blur how we see out!

Virus Alert!!

I would suggest that there’s a more lethal virus than Corona spreading throughout the world at lightning speed. This virus is even more contagious and changes our actions, conversations, attitudes and outlooks. Furthermore, every human is susceptible to this virus no matter the precautions we take by drinking extra water, avoiding human contact, beefing up our vitamin C intake and regardless of where we live or the access to modern medicine.

MAKE JESUS YOUR ENDGAME!

Join Sarah as she preaches on finding fulfillment and making Jesus a priority in your life to find true happiness and wholeness. MAKE JESUS YOUR ENDGAME!

Changing Lanes

I’ve come to appreciate the mechanics for safely changing lanes all the more now that we’ve been helping our teenage children learn to drive. Maybe God has some similar thoughts toward us when we try to drive or live in someone else’s lane. Driving in the lane that God has designed for us, living according to God’s unique blueprint for us, is necessary as one of the ways that we honor God.

Meeting Jesus – Part 4

Join Sarah as she finishes her series on Meeting Jesus. Today Sarah teaches on lessons we can learn from Jesus and Peter while they fish! When we say YES to Jesus we can receive his GENUINE LOVE!

Window Washing

From my point of view, window washing is double work. When I look at my smudged and dirty picture window, I see the smudges on the inside as well as the dirt and dust accumulated on the outside from the Winter weather. This window cleaning necessity can be a parallel with my soul and how my interior can affect my perspective or point of view.

LOVE is the BREAD of Life! Carbo-load on Christ!

Start your Sundays with Sarah! Short Sermon Sundays will be short inspiring nuggets cut from Sarah’s sermons! Today Sarah teaches on our changing appetites and what that means in our faith! Carbo-load on Christ!

Meeting Jesus – Part 3

Join Sarah as she continues her series on Meeting Jesus. Today Sarah teaches on an interesting conversation between Jesus and Peter! Make sure to say ‘YES’ to JESUS to see amazing things happen!

1000 SUBSCRIBERS! THANK YOU!!

Thank you! Make sure to subscribe for NEW videos EVERY week! Stay tuned for some exciting new content! I love my YouTube community!

Why Do This?

Join Sarah as she discusses why we do this Jesus thing. Today Sarah teaches us that love is how to play the long game!

Meeting Jesus – Part 2

Join Sarah as she continues her series on Meeting Jesus. Today Sarah teaches on the story of Peter and Jesus! She also reminds us that Jesus meets us in our day to day living!

Walking and Talking

I revel in the encounters with God that have lots of supernatural experience, demonstration and high octane impact! It’s phenomenal when God does supernatural things like healing someone, giving a precise word of encouragement or insight, providing a supernatural funding or a colossal coincidence that could only be orchestrated by God.

What Is Love?

Do you remember the Valentine’s Day parties in Elementary school? I’m not sure why, but these parties stand out in my memory, not only for the candy or sugar hearts or oversweet punch, but for the cards and feelings that ranged from warm fuzzies to disappointment or indifference. I also enjoyed getting the themed variety mini-valentine cards that I’d carefully select to be friendly and lite, but not too sappy.

Meeting Jesus – Part 1

Join Sarah as she starts her NEW series on Meeting Jesus. Today Sarah teaches on the story of Peter and Jesus! She also reminds us that we always have Genuine Love through Him!

Led Into The Wilderness!

Join Sarah as she continues her series on Conversations with God. Today Sarah teaches us that we must trust God and let the Holy Spirit lead us!

Overcoming Worry!

Join Sarah Bowling as she continues with her freebie teachings! Today Sarah teaches us that through God we can overcome our worries and find peace!

Unconditional Conditions

For me to live out genuine love in my daily horizontal existence, it’s very helpful, even essential, to continually come back to God loving me for my default existence.

God is ALWAYS with US!

Today Sarah teaches us that the Holy Spirit is always with us even when are experiencing hardships. You are never alone because God loves you.

Next Level Spirituality

So what could going to the next level look like with spirituality? Maybe “next level spirituality” first requires an honest assessment of our current level. Who am I now? What are my present comfort zones? What do I naturally gravitate to? It’s hard to go to the next level if we don’t even know what our current level is.

Divine Provision

In relation to divine provision, it says in Philippians 4:19, “God supplies all of our needs, according to His riches in glory, . . . “ This verse can encourage us in several ways. To begin, it’s very helpful to establish and remind ourselves that God is our provider and the ultimate source for everything we need. To this end, we must consistently remember to see God as our provider and not our paycheck, job, intellectual abilities, relationships, physical strength, etc.

Taking The Conversation Deeper!

Join Sarah as she continues her series on Conversations with God. Today Sarah teaches on different ways we can take our conversation deeper.

Conversation Starter!

Start your Sundays with Sarah as she starts a NEW series called Short Sunday Sermons! These will be short inspiring nuggets cut from Sarah’s sermons! Today Sarah teaches on how we can start Conversations with God!

That’s Disgusting!!

Jesus engaged because they demonstrate to me that Jesus’ compassion factor is far more weighty and compelling than the disgust factor. And because I’m a Jesus junkie, I want to be more motivated by compassion and genuine love rather than disgust and revulsion. So how could this happen?

Connect with Christ – The Samaritan Woman

Join Sarah as she continues her series on Connecting with Christ. Today Sarah teaches on different ways we can connect with Christ through the story of the Samaritan Woman.

Connect with Christ – John The Baptist

Join Sarah as she starts her NEW series on Connecting with Christ. Today Sarah teaches on different ways we can connect with Christ through the story of John the Baptist.

New Day, New Year, New You!!

Before we leave this year and close the chapter on this decade, we would be wise to ask Holy Spirit to teach and show us lessons and mistakes so that this upcoming year and new decade can be better or at least different.

The Christmas Hangover

As we wrap up this Christmas season and begin to close out this year’s activities and responsibilities, let’s be sure to carry over Jesus’ life into our daily existence. We can do this by grabbing some time in the Bible (maybe read a Psalm per day or grab a daily Bible reading plan from a quick google search), making a playlist on our phone with our favorite Jesus songs, using red lights as reminders to look for Jesus when we’re driving, put a helpful Bible verse on the lock screen on your phone, make a pact with a friend to do daily reciprocal prayer for each other, join a small group at church and heaps more ways!

Find Jesus YEAR ROUND!

Join Sarah as she finishes her series on Finding Jesus. Today Sarah teaches on finding Jesus year-round, not just seasonally.

Let GOD blow your MIND!

Start your Sundays with Sarah as she continues her NEW series called Short Sunday Sermons! These will be short inspiring nuggets cut from Sarah’s sermons! Today Sarah teaches on the overflowing power of God in her sermon series on Conversations with God!

Proper Care and Feeding for an Introvert at Christmas

My daughter and I were talking about the whole introvert and extrovert Christmas experience and we both enjoyed chatting about these respective viewpoints and how we process Christmas. No matter if you’re an introvert, extrovert or ambivert, Christmas is the celebration and evidence of God expressing genuine love for humanity.

DINNER with JESUS?

Start your Sundays with Sarah as she starts a NEW series called Short Sunday Sermons! These will be short inspiring nuggets cut from Sarah’s sermons! Today Sarah teaches on Martha and Mary in her sermon series on Conversations with God!

Find Jesus in your INDIVIDUALITY!

Join Sarah Bowling as she continues her series called Finding Jesus in 2019! Today Sarah teaches on our ability to find Jesus in our individuality and to celebrate what makes us unique!

The Healing Journey

The blind man was healed by following Jesus’ directions, regardless of the time and difficulties he experienced, And let’s consider that our healing journey might go through some setbacks and take a little longer than we anticipate. But no matter what, let’s keep walking with Jesus into His magnificent healing in our lives!

Find Jesus in your DOWN TIME!

Join Sarah as she continues her series on Finding Jesus! Today Sarah teaches on finding Jesus in our spare time and how He can remain a constant presence in our lives!

The Prodigal Son – Part 4

Join Sarah Bowling she finishes her series called The Prodigal Son! Today Sarah teaches on the story of the prodigal son and his Father!

The Prodigal Son – Father

Join Sarah she finishes her series called The Prodigal Son! Today Sarah teaches on the story of the prodigal son and his Father!

That’s Shocking!!

When we receive shocking news, go through alarming experiences, or observe something that’s startling, how do we handle that? How can we do this with grace and poise while seeing God’s sovereignty in the midst of uncertainty?

The Jesus Thing

It’s easy for Jesus’ birth to get swallowed up in the season’s bustle, hustle, duties, celebrations, cookies, wrapping paper, gifts, decorations, glitz and glam. So I find it challenging to stay focused on Jesus in the midst of this hectic season.

The Prodigal Son – Part 3

Join Sarah Bowling she continues her series called The Prodigal Son! A teaching series on Family Relationships!! Today Sarah teaches on the story of the Eldest Son and the lessons we can learn from his attitude.

The Prodigal Son – Eldest Son

Happy Thanksgiving! Join Sarah as she continues her series called The Prodigal Son! A teaching series on Family Relationships!! Today Sarah teaches on the story of the Eldest Son and the lessons we can learn from his attitude.

Why Be Grateful?

Thanksgiving is when we’re supposed to be thankful and it’s easy to go through the customary gratitudes and “check the box” moving along into the Christmas frenzy. But I think we would be wise to pause and do some thinking about being grateful, not just because it’s Thanksgiving.

In the Moment

We will have good moments and bad moments in our lives. If we choose to live in the bad moments, we run the risk of getting sour and disillusioned, resulting in hurt to ourselves and others.

Let’s look to the story of Absalom for insight and guidance on how to respond to these moments of challenge.

The Prodigal Son – Part 2

Join Sarah Bowling she continues her series called The Prodigal Son! Today Sarah teaches on the story of the younger son and lessons we can learn from his greed.

The Prodigal Son – Younger Son

Join Sarah as she continues her series called The Prodigal Son! Today Sarah teaches on the story of the younger son and lessons we can learn from his greed.

I’m Convinced

It’s important to consider that many of our convictions are grounded in real life…Having said that, let’s be very purposeful to accept and embrace convictions that are grounded in the Bible and not only in our feelings, environment or experiences.

Get Some Air!!

When we’re hurt, it’s important to give some air and expression to the wound or injury. Similar to a cut on our hand, we need to clean out the cut before we cover it. So does this mean that when someone hurts our feelings that we make hurtful posts on social media and let the world know about our injury? When we’re hurt by someone, should we tell everyone including the injuring person about our pain? What should we do when we’re hurt?

The Prodigal Son – Part 1

Join Sarah as she starts a NEW series called The Prodigal Son! Today Sarah teaches on the story of the prodigal son, this series looks at each character & their relationship to each other.

What’s Enough?

When do we have enough money? Food? Success? Stuff? Time? Exercise? Entertainment? Power? Church? Influence? Energy? In my opinion, we humans can have insatiable appetites – we want more of what we like & it’s not uncommon that we can’t ever seem to get “enough.”

John Ramirez talks about being SAVED by the LORD

Join me for an AWESOME interview with my good friend John Ramirez! Hear his wonderful testimony of living as a satanist and being brought to the LORD and SAVIOR! You DONT want to miss this!!!

The Recipe for Answered Prayer

In our quest to get our prayers answered, let’s be committed to allowing God to change us and help us grow. Maybe the tasty outcome of God’s culinary efforts in our lives is the expression of genuine love, as we are wholly dependent on God’s presence yeasting into our core identity.

Evie Dawkins talks about BALANCING our LIVES!

Join me for an interview with my close friend Evie Dawkins!! Watch as Evie and I talk about balancing our jobs, motherhood, and faith! It’s going to be GREAT! You don’t want to miss this!!

The Ambition Factor

Are you ambitious? That’s a really loaded question. If we answer “yes” then we run the risk of being perceived as selfish, driven, neglectful, insensitive, demanding and lots more. If we answer “no” then we might be perceived as unmotivated, lethargic, non-productive, aimless and inert.

4 Keys to Intentional Living

These helpful keys, when applied into daily living, can prevent us from making impulsive & possibly foolish decisions. These keys can help us be intentional and more thoroughly aligned with God’s purposes and designs in our lives.

Be Explicit!

I need to use these symbols to replace the actual words spoken to me in an extremely coarse exchange I had with a person who was upset with me. “*&$)%^#@*&)^#**!!” Initially, I was a little taken aback with the vocabulary, but at the same time the explicit words helped provide abundant clarity for what this person was expressing.

Key Verses For Life – Part 6

Join Sarah Bowling as she continues her series called Key Verses For Life! Today Sarah teaches on Jeremiah 33:3 and how we can apply this verse to our daily Lives!

Key Verses For Life – Part 5

Join Sarah Bowling as she continues her series called Key Verses For Life! Today Sarah teaches on Matthew 6:33 and how we can apply this verse to our daily Lives!

Key Verses For Life – Part 4

Join Sarah Bowling as she continues her series called Key Verses For Life! Today Sarah teaches on Psalms 16:8 and how we can apply this verse to our daily lives!

Key Verses For Life – Part 3

Join Sarah Bowling as she continues her series called Key Verses For Life! Today Sarah teaches on Ephesians 3:18 and how we can apply this verse to our daily Lives!

Key Verses For Life – Part 2

Join Sarah Bowling as she continues her series called Key Verses For Life! Today Sarah teaches on John 13:35 and how we can apply this verse to our daily Lives!

Key Verses For Life – Part 1

Join Sarah Bowling as she starts a NEW series called Key Verses For Life! Today Sarah teaches on Jeremiah 9:24 and how we can apply this verse to our daily Lives!

Navigating Change – Part 3

How do we navigate change in our lives? JOIN SARAH as she talks about changing your life for long lasting positive effects!

Navigating Change – Part 4

How do we navigate change in our lives? JOIN SARAH as she talks about changing your life for long lasting positive effects in the last teaching of her series Navigating Change!

Navigating Change – Part 2

How do we navigate change in our lives? JOIN SARAH as she talks about changing your life, through the book of Peter!

Navigating Change – Part 1

HOW do we navigate change in our lives? how do we change when God is calling us to do something? Watch now as Sarah talks about Job, and his challenge as he hears God’s life!!

Holy Spirit Relationships – Part 5

Join Sarah as she completes her discussion on Holy Spirit Relationships with: community! How can a community of people get us closer to Christ? Watch now to find out!.

Holy Spirit Relationships – Part 4

How do we become more inclusive in our relationships? Join Sarah as she continues her discussion on Holy Spirit Relationships. Do we accept everyone? What does God say?

Holy Spirit Relationships – Part 3

How can we have a true relationship with someone when we lie? JOIN Sarah as she continues her discussion with truth in Holy Spirit Relationships!

Holy Spirit Relationships – Part 2

How can we let God define the relationships in our life? JOIN Sarah this week as continues her discussion on Holy Spirit Relationships. How can we build more lasting relationships with God by our side?

Holy Spirit Relationships Part 1

Join Sarah as she explores having a better relationship with God, through communication! Learn how the Holy Spirit can help us learn to communicate better with others.

Pentecost

Join Sarah as she has a special conversation about the meaning of Pentecost. Why is Pentecost so special to Christians? Find out today!

Post Easter – Part 2

Join Sarah Bowling as she continues her series POST EASTER . Today Sarah teaches on walking with Jesus, and learning to speak with him. From the times after the resurrection, to now, we learn how to communicate with the Lord.

Post Easter – Part 1

Join Sarah Bowling as she starts a NEW series called Post Easter Today Sarah teaches us about the events after Jesus’s resurrection.

Preparing for Easter – Part 7

Join Sarah Bowling as she finishes her series Preparing for Easter.
Today Sarah teaches us that we must focus on Jesus and not be affected by our weaknesses.

Preparing for Easter – Part 6

Join Sarah Bowling as she continues her series Preparing for Easter.
Today Sarah teaches us that Jesus will love us no matter what, and we should carry his spirit with us.

Preparing for Easter – Part 5

Join Sarah Bowling as she continues her series Preparing for Easter.
Today Sarah teaches us that when we walk with Jesus we walk in health.

Preparing for Easter – Part 4

Join Sarah Bowling as she continues her series Preparing for Easter. Today Sarah teaches us that we must let the Holy Spirit lead us.

Preparing for Easter – Part 3

Join Sarah Bowling as she continues her series Preparing for Easter. Today Sarah teaches us that we must live to promote Jesus.

Preparing for Easter – Part 1

Join Sarah Bowling as she starts her series Preparing for Easter.
Today Sarah teaches us about small-town Nazareth and Zechariah 4:10a, “Don’t despise small beginnings.”

Conversations with God – Part 3

Join Sarah Bowling as she finishes her series Conversations with God.Today Sarah teaches us we need to include God in our daily walk.

Conversations with God – Part 2

Join Sarah Bowling as she continues her series Conversations with God.
Today Sarah teaches us that praying is our way of having conversations with God.

Conversations with God – Part 1

Join Sarah Bowling as she starts a NEW series called Conversations with God.
Today Sarah teaches us how to strengthen our relationship with God.

Starting Over – Part 4

Join Sarah Bowling as she finishes up her series called Starting Over. Today Sarah teaches us that God can always help us when we need to start over.

Starting Over – Part 3

Join Sarah Bowling as she continues her series called starting over.Today Sarah teaches us that when we start over we must make God our foundation.

Starting Over – Part 2

Join Sarah Bowling as she continues her series called Starting Over. Today Sarah teaches us that when we start over we must be open and receptive to God.

Starting Over – Part 1

Join Sarah Bowling as she starts a NEW series called Starting Over.
Today Sarah teaches us that we must start the new year with healthy mindsets.

Essential Priorities

Join Sarah Bowling as she continues with her teachings.
Today Sarah teaches us how to prioritize our essential priorities.

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