Mountaintop Church

What is the mission that Jesus has called us to, and how do we accomplish it? It's time to get off the bench and follow Jesus into the arena where he has placed you. This is Life in the Arena. 

What is the mission that Jesus has called us to, and how do we accomplish it? It's time to get off the bench and follow Jesus into the arena where he has placed you. This is Life in the Arena.

What restores you? It’s important for each of us to figure out what restores our spirit – what renews our minds and hearts – and schedule it. It might not be the same day each week. Maybe it's Sunday, maybe it's not. Where are you creating that space?

Perhaps you’ve been disenfranchised how you’ve seen the church or Christians or pastors engage with politics. As humans, we’re enamored with “The Empire.” We're attracted to power and influence. We're fascinated with authority and control. Sometimes it’s been used for good and sometimes it's been abused for evil. But what happens when The Empire comes up against The Eternal? It turns out…they’re not even speaking the same language. 

Have you ever felt stuck? Are you clinging needlessly to the methods and instincts that got you stuck in the first place? Maybe you need someone to nudge you in the right direction… If you're feeling unsatisfied or if you're running on fumes, today’s story is good news for you. The character at the center of the story discovers the truth about her situation. History calls her the woman at the well, and if we listen closely to her interaction with Jesus, I believe that we too might discover a better way.

What are you going to do with your greatness? What is it going to be used for? How are you going to steward it? Who is going to benefit from it? Why are you striving for it? 

Today we are continuing our series called JESUS: The storyteller, and in this series, the storyteller is the Gospel writer John. Not to be confused with John the Baptist, about whom Matthew writes, “among those born of women there has not risen anyone greater than John the Baptist.” John (the Storyteller) writes about him too, and that's where we'll get to see John the Baptist in action. 

What is it about John 3:16? Some of you know it by heart. Some of you may only know the reference: John 3:16. For others, this is totally new. So let’s just read it together. For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. - John 3:16.

By the time we’re done today, I hope you’ll see this passage in a new light. I hope you’ll understand it’s more than a memory verse. You can know what a verse says and not live what it teaches. You can write it on a poster without it being written on your heart. 

If everyone has to look alike and think exactly alike, and if there’s no room for disagreement or nuance, we might be bowing to the altar of conformity. The next generation does not want a faith that is so narrow that they have to conform to secondary issues. That’s never the way it’s supposed to have been since the beginning, but even Jesus’ disciples struggled with this.

Deconstruction. Many people who once believed and had faith have made a decision not to believe, and often that decision comes as a result of what they have experienced around believing communities. In this series we'll talk about five reasons for deconstruction, and how a firm foundation can keep faith from crumbling.

Deconstruction. Many people who once believed and had faith have made a decision not to believe, and often that decision comes as a result of what they have experienced around believing communities. In this series we'll talk about five reasons for deconstruction, and how a firm foundation can keep faith from crumbling. 

More and more, American Christians are finding Identity in OPINIONS about politics. Their very sense of self is wrapped up in it. And a younger generation is looking at the Church and walking away from faith because of what they deem Political Idolatry. They don’t see a church that looks different from the world. They see Christians with the same rhetoric as non-believers, the same hostility as partisan politics, and the same talking points as 24-hour news channels.

Deconstruction. Many people who once believed and had faith have made a decision not to believe, and often that decision comes as a result of what they have experienced around believing communities. In this series we'll talk about five reasons for deconstruction, and how a firm foundation can keep faith from crumbling. 

Deconstruction. Many people who once believed and had faith have made a decision not to believe, and often that decision comes as a result of what they have experienced around believing communities. In this series we'll talk about five reasons for deconstruction, and how a firm foundation can keep faith from crumbling.  

Deconstruction. Many people who once believed and had faith have made a decision not to believe, and often that decision comes as a result of what they have experienced around believing communities. In this series we'll talk about five reasons for deconstruction, and how a firm foundation can keep faith from crumbling.  

Parenting with the End in Mind: One day, your child is not going to be a child. They’ll be an adult. They’ll pay their bills and hopefully be responsible. And they’ll come to your house to visit for the Holidays. They might need to take a call from work, and you’ll see them put their work hat on. You’ll see them in relationship with their spouse and watch how they parent. Perhaps they’ll go to church with you and you’ll see their faith in action. And you will love them no matter what because they are still your baby. But will you like them? Will you like your children if they’re just like you? 

You may be one decision away from a different destiny. You can have a lifetime of stubbornness and disobedience, and one decision can set a new course for your life. Your name can be remembered differently. How? Consider a man named Rehoboam whose selfishness divided the tribes of Israel…

Is your faith worth the risk of failure? When Ruth had to make a choice between doing what was normal and doing what was noble, she stepped out on faith, and her decision changed her life and her legacy in amazing ways she couldn't have predicted. She had no idea that her great-grandson, David, would slay a giant and become God’s chosen and anointed King over Israel; and she had no idea that her name would show up forever in the family tree of the Son of God.

We’ve all got some characters in our family tree. It comes with being part of a family. And everyone’s family is a little dysfunctional. But you wouldn't expect that to be the case with Jesus' family. You would think God would want the cleanest line. You would think Jesus would be born into a perfect family. But Jesus' family tree is full of broken people, just like yours and just like mine. And their presence is part of the beauty, because God creates beauty from broken things.

We do not exist FOR us. We do not serve and give generously FOR us. We exist FOR Birmingham (BHM). And that means several things around here. It means we partner with amazing organizations in our city and give a portion of everything we receive to the good work they’re doing for our neighbors in need. It means we host Serve Days in the spring and fall as ways to get off campus and truly be the physical hands and feet of Christ in our city. It means we encourage local business and community leaders on social media with a hashtag, #FORBHM. But the most important thing we do FOR BHM is a create environments where people meet the living God and empower them to take his love and grace into the streets of our city. We are called to be a beacon of Good News. We exist FOR this purpose.

Here at Mountaintop, we’re a church that invites and equips people to follow Jesus. So we’re always eager to welcome others. There’s always room for one more. In about a month, we will have completed our largest construction project in over 20 years, since we built our church on top of this mountain. This new facility will be completed, and we’ll have more parking than we’ve ever had, more check-in stations than we’ve ever had, more square footage than we’ve ever had, more kids’ classrooms than we’ve ever had. And we need it because we have more people than we’ve ever had. We’re making room FOR One more kid that you’re inviting, FOR Families we haven’t met yet and FOR Birmingham to know that we’ve created space for them. God has given us A Holy Burden FOR others, and that’s what this series is all about.

We believe that the work we are going to do together over the next decade will make an eternal impact in Birmingham and beyond for the next generation. One family at a time. We believe that is how you shape a generation, and so we are making room for one more family to be invited into our family here at Mountaintop. And by extension, to come to know what it means to be part of the family of God.

Here at Mountaintop, we’re a church that invites and equips people to follow Jesus. So we’re always eager to welcome others. There’s always room for one more. In about a month, we will have completed our largest construction project in over 20 years, since we built our church on top of this mountain. This new facility will be completed, and we’ll have more parking than we’ve ever had, more check-in stations than we’ve ever had, more square footage than we’ve ever had, more kids’ classrooms than we’ve ever had. And we need it because we have more people than we’ve ever had. We’re making room FOR One more kid that you’re inviting, FOR Families we haven’t met yet and FOR Birmingham to know that we’ve created space for them. God has given us A Holy Burden FOR others, and that’s what this series is all about.

Jake Davis, Digital and Creative Pastor

Here at Mountaintop, we’re a church that invites and equips people to follow Jesus. So we’re always eager to welcome others. There’s always room for one more. In about a month, we will have completed our largest construction project in over 20 years, since we built our church on top of this mountain. This new facility will be completed, and we’ll have more parking than we’ve ever had, more check-in stations than we’ve ever had, more square footage than we’ve ever had, more kids’ classrooms than we’ve ever had. And we need it because we have more people than we’ve ever had. We’re making room FOR One more kid that you’re inviting, FOR Families we haven’t met yet and FOR Birmingham to know that we’ve created space for them. God has given us A Holy Burden FOR others, and that’s what this series is all about.

“What do Christians believe…really?” Well, we believe in eternity. We believe in a forever Kingdom. We believe that what we do matters…FOREVER. We are not following Jesus because it will simply make our lives better, even though it will. Or that it will make our world better — it will! We’re doing this because we have an invitation to live forever. The creation God made in the beginning will finally be restored and renewed. He’ll make everything new, including you, and at that point, either your sins will be held against you, or your name will be found written in the Book of Life and they’ll be forgiven. We believe we’ll have to give an account for our part in the story. And our part in the story of what God is doing on earth and in eternity really matters. That’s why knowing what we really believe is so important.

Christians believe that the story of Jesus Christ doesn't end with his death on the cross or with his burial in a borrowed tomb. Christians believe that Jesus rose from the dead three days after he died on a cross, and it may be one of the most challenging beliefs of Christianity. Even Christ's disciples didn't believe it when they first heard the news. But it's a cornerstone of the Christian faith.

It’s hard to wait. Sometimes it’s painful. But waiting is a critical element of our faith, and we can learn a lot about it from Noah. In the story of Noah’s Ark, you may have heard that it rained for 40 days and 40 nights, but at the end of chapter seven, the Bible says that the flood lasted 150 days. The rain stopped, but Noah is just waiting! It couldn’t have been easy. Can you imagine the tension in the Ark? What is God doing out there? What is happening? Like Noah, you may have to wait to see how God works. 

God is working through the storms in our lives, and His mercy always shows up in our mess. We can have comfort in the chaos. The story of Noah should lead us to rest in God's invitation to take shelter in Him.

We’ve all had times when we wondered what God was doing or NOT doing. We’ve all struggled “When God Doesn’t Make Sense.” Noah's Ark is a story that children in churches know well, and you are probably familiar with the basics of the story, even if you’re not a church person. But it’s a story we probably haven’t actually read or studied in depth. In this series, we’re going to take four weeks to go through the story of Noah and we'll find that it is less about a man, his boat, rain and a flood; and more about what we are supposed to do When God Doesn’t Make Sense.

God is free and our human freedom is a part of His image which we bear. But you can give up that freedom. In fact, your entire purpose is wrapped up in the idea that your freedom is meant to be given up for something better. And if you don’t, your life will be incomplete…

VIDEO: https://youtu.be/Kv7H7RmEBpU

Desperate times call for desperate measures... In today's message, our Special Guest, April Farmer, tells the story of a desperate woman who turned to Jesus as a last resort and was healed by her faith! By turning to Jesus, she finds healing and freedom, and same opportunity exists for each of us.

As the United States barrels toward November elections, the topics that we've talked about thus far in this series are going to be used to divide us. Someone is going to try to convince us that THEY are the problem. “THEY” being the other side. And they are going to demonize the other side. Here’s the problem with that: When we demonize someone, we strip God’s image away from them. Politics makes us forget that they’re just people. But the truth is: Everyone who votes differently from you has as much of God’s image in them as you do.

Abortion is an incredibly complex issue. It’s a topic that is culturally and politically explosive, and it will be weaponized in a few months to try and sway your vote one way or another. But we’re not interested in political perspectives. We want to know what the Bible says about it, where the Bible says it, and what else the Bible says. We want to know how we can live out our faith in the midst of these complex conversations. 

When people sit down for a conversation and fundamentally disagree about what the Bible says, a complex conversation can get even more complicated. Perhaps there’s no issue in our modern culture (and even in the Christian church) that people disagree about more than homosexuality. It's complex. Truthfully, no one has all the answers on this side of eternity. All we can do is the best we can with what we have been given in God's word. Our framework for this series has been: “What the Bible Says,” “Where the Bible Says It,” “What Else the Bible Says,” and "What Now?" The “What Now” part is where the complex questions really start.

VIDEO: https://youtu.be/blRFWUMkRGw

How many times in your life, have you ended up somewhere for the 100th time and you don’t even remember getting there. You don’t even know why you are there at that same empty well, confused about why it’s not fulfilling you… Maybe, right now, you can feel a fresh wind blowing or a new fire burning… Maybe you're wondering, “What's next? Where do I go now? Because I can't go back to the status quo. I can't go back to something missing."

Jake Davis

Creative and Digital Pastor