The fifth strategic key of our SEE23 vision is NEXT GENERATION. At NorthernLife, we believe we must focus on passing on the Gospel to the Next Generation. In this message, Benjamin Shanks unpacks Psalm 145 and its vision of commending the Gospel generation to...
John 20:19-23 records the meeting of the disciples on the very night of the resurrection. After a tumultuous and chaotic week, the disciples gathered together on Sunday when the risen Lord Jesus appeared to them. The disciples were overjoyed when they saw the Lord! In...
"Rejoice in the Lord always... Do not be anxious about anything." In Philippians 4:4-7, Paul sets up a paradigm juxtaposing rejoicing and anxiety. Both are internal responses to external realities. How are we to rejoice always? To not be anxious about anything? Paul...
If you were to die tomorrow and stand before the pearly white gates of Heaven and an angel were to ask you why you should be let into Heaven, what would you say? Would you cite your long list of achievements and accomplishments in this world? No—you would plead the...
In Philippians 2:1-11, Paul exhorts the Philippians to unity through humility by looking at the example of Jesus on the cross. In this message, Benjamin Shanks teaches on the need for gospel unity through humility.
Repetition rewires the brain. It's the reason why you can easily brush your teeth, or drive a car, or play an instrument. It's also the reason why we believe lies if they repeated enough. Lies repeated enough creates ruts in our thinking, because repetition rewires...
In the Book of Deuteronomy, God commands the people of Israel through Moses to "not deprive the foreigner or the fatherless of JUSTICE." This message unpacks biblical justice—which is restorative justice that works to give power and a voice to the most vulnerable.
The story of Palm Sunday — Jesus triumphant entry into Jerusalem — contains three key elements: the RIDE, the ROAD and the WORD. In this message, Benjamin Shanks unpacks the story of Palm Sunday, encouraging you to receive Jesus with open palms, and to praise him with...
The Gospel sees the dead come alive, the lame walk, the leaper cleansed and the sinner forgiven, but for every Resurrection Sunday there is a Monday Morning where we learn that the Christian life is not easy—it is full of suffering, persecution and weakness. Why? In...
"The Son of Man came to seek and save the lost," (Luke 19:10). What does it mean to be lost? In this message, Benjamin Shanks unpacks the story of creation as humanity being lost apart from God, and how Jesus' mission is the Ezekiel 34 mission of God himself come to...
The Kingdom of God runs on an economy of exponential multiplication—multiplication of sacrifice. In 2 Kings 4, a man from Baal Shalishah brings a first-fruits offering to the prophet Elisha who God uses to multiply the bread to feed 100 people. This message will...
Thousands of years ago a baby was born in Bethlehem. His name was David, and though he rose to be Israel's champion, he sinned and let us down. Two thousand years ago, another baby was born in Bethlehem—Jesus. Benjamin Shanks preaches on the carol O Little Town of...
In Daniel 9:20-27, God gives Daniel the roadmap out of exile: 1. The word goes out 2. The world waits 3. The one comes This message explores the meaning of the number 7 in the Hebrew Bible, and connecting the theme of the 7x7 Year of Jubilee to the coming of the...
In chapter 2, Peter describes followers of Jesus as "living stones" that together form a spiritual temple built on Jesus as the cornerstone—the Church is alive! This message will challenge the way you view the role of the church in the world and the function of...
Jesus paid it all... yet all to Him we owe. This message looks at the 'all' that we owe to Him—our bodies as a living sacrifice.