Family Fest Speaker Podcast

Jo Rathmanner - WWF15 Talk #2 - God’s Desert University

Our desert experiences look different for each of us. It could a person, a difficult situation, a challenging time of life. The desert is the place where God gets our attention. It is in the desert where we are willing to listen. When we’re stuck in the desert and  have no options, we call out to God. It is in the crying out that we learn to trust him.

Scripture: Psalm 13

Jo Rathmanner - WWF15 Talk #3 - I'll be right over

God calls us to do great and small things but, often, we are reluctant. We don't believe we are the right person or capable of doing what he asks of us. Even Moses argued that he couldn't do what God asked of him. As with Moses, God will work through us and send us helpers along the way but we have to take the first step. We have to say yes.

Paul Petterson- WWJ15 Talk #1 - You are fearfully and wonderfully made.

We have one grand divine purpose in life and that is to reflect the glory of God upon the world. We're stronger together than we can ever be on our own as a member of the church. Prayer is opening an avenue so God has a possibility of reaching us.

Scripture: Psalm 139

Paul Petterson - WWJ15 Talk #2 - Ezer: Powerful Assistance

In our lives, God provides messengers and God provides us as messengers to others. As servants of Jesus Christ, we are meant to provide powerful assistance to those who come to us, who fall down beside us.

Scripture: Hebrews 13: 1, Genesis 2

Paul Petterson - WWJ15 Talk #3 - The wildernesses of life are many

The goal of parenting is for your children to grow larger than you. Parenting is a willingness to have your heart torn apart so that God might plant his love. When God opens doorways for you, you must walk through, regardless of your fear. Your growth and your strength are gifts that God needs of you.

Paul Petterson - WWJ15 Talk #4 - All of God is grace

God loves you as you are. Nothing you do could cause God to love you anymore. We have to proclaim this over and over because we only hear it when we are ready to hear it. We don't have to get it all right. We don't have to be perfect. God loves us anyway.

Tiger McLuen - SS14 Talk #1 - Loved, valued and not alone

We’ve been entrusted with the gospel and our job, as adults, is to pass that on to the next generation. We need to love our children, to value our children and to help them know that they are not alone. God wants us to do this together as parents, as grandparents, as friends, and as members of the church.

Scriptures: 1 Thessalonians 2:6-8, 1 John 4:9,19

Tiger McLuen - SS14 Talk #2 - Building a faith that will stick in the lives of our kids

When we are done with the child that God has given you, what are you hoping is built into their life? Tiger gives us 7 factors to use as parents to raise our children in the church and to turn hope into strategy.

Scripture: Deuteronomy 11, John 10: 10

Tiger McLuen - SS14 Talk #3 - As parents, we are untrained, tired and scared.

God created two institutions, one is the church and the other is the family. They're designed to work together to build the faith. God desires families to have five functions: to shelter, to love, to teach, to develop and to send out.

Tiger McLuen - SS14 Talk #4-Personal looks, Performance, Popularity, Possessions

Our society tells us the path to happiness lies in the 4 Ps: personal looks, performance, popularity, and possessions. We need to know we are loved, valuable and not alone and the 4 Ps get us close to that yet because they are external, do not lead to happiness. Instead, we should base our value on what God tells us, that we've been fearfully and wonderfully made from the beginning. When we connect to the one who created us, then we have a possibility true happiness.

Scriptures: John 10: 10, Psalm 139