The mission of Highland Park United Methodist Church is to help you become a deeply devoted follower of Jesus Christ. We believe that one of the biggest ways to grow closer to Jesus is by learning about him on Sunday mornings.

So to help usher in 2018, we gathered a few of the most-watched messages of 2017. We encourage you to grab your journal, a cup of coffee, and pick a message (or two) that speaks to you!

10. Identity Crisis: Better Than Rules

In this message, Rev. Paul Rasmussen examines the church’s tendency to boil Christianity down to a rules-based system of morality. The unintended result of believing we have to work to earn God’s love is that we end up using Christian legalism to exclude others. While good performance may get us good grades in school, it cannot earn us God’s love or keep us in good standing with God. Watch Paul’s full message to dive into a conversation on how the grace of God toward us impacts our posture toward others.

9. Making Change: Less is More

When it comes to money, most of us think more is actually more. We spend our days striving to make a buck, and we carry an imaginary number we use to fill in the blank: “When I have $_____ in the bank, then I’ll be happy.” We’re swept up into consumerism, the competition of having and getting, and we lose sight of what matters most. But more is not always better. Tune into this message to learn how you can make the kind of change today that makes your tomorrow even better.

8. Confidence

Have you ever lost your confidence? You thought you had something right, and then for various reasons, you feel like you absolutely blew it. Maybe you compare yourself to someone else. Maybe you fail to live up to the expectations you have for yourself. Somehow, you begin suffering from insecurity and a lack of confidence. Watch this message to learn the three essential things we need to do in order to keep our confidence.

7. Identity Crisis: Hijacked

This is the opening message in a series titled, Identity Crisis, that surveys the growing tension in the Christian brand. Paul shared about how the tension we feel today was not true for the early Christian church. In fact, early followers of Jesus lived a compelling and attractive life to outsiders. Listen to Paul’s message to dive further into the conversation.

6. The Good Life: Three Kinds of Peace (Part two)

In this episode of our series called, The Good Life, we explored peace with others. If the good life were only about peace with yourself, it’d be easy! But none of us live in a world by ourselves. We are in a relationship with our parents, siblings, friends – even the cashier at the grocery store. And a relationship with anyone likely means getting snubbed at some point, maybe even hurt. So what do we do when this happens? How many times do we forgive?

5. Family Feud: The Choice is Yours

Whether your family is totally normal, or completely wheels off, our bet is that you have at least one relationship that has kept you up at night. Maybe it’s your sister or your parent, your spouse or your child. How long do you hold on – and when is it okay to cut bait and run? In this message, Paul highlights the tension we all face when it comes to being right or building your relationship.

4. The Good Life: What is it really about?

Preachers have peddled these words to people for centuries, packed with the promise of wealth, security, and love - “the good life.” But what did Jesus really mean when he made this claim to offer life to the full? In this sermon, Paul teases out what Jesus didn’t mean: that the good life is not the abundance of a what. It might be the abundance of a who.

3. Family Feud: Why This?

There are no perfect families. Not even in the Bible! And yet family shapes us more than almost anything in the world. In this message, Paul takes a look at the “First Family” (no, not Donald and Melania) and those who followed, Paul outlines the three functions families were made to fulfill: to protect, to teach and to grow.

2. Damaging Power of Distraction

While many of us believe we are effective multi-taskers, the truth is multitasking reshapes your brain into a constantly distracted state. In other words, we become distracted when we attempt to accomplish various tasks at one time. In this message, Rev. Paul Rasmussen shares how distraction impacts our relationships, careers, and most importantly our faith.

1. The Good Life: Three Kinds of Peace (Part One)

In this message, Paul highlights a major characteristic of The Good Life: having peace with yourself. Think about it – people you know who live the good life just seem confident and at ease in who they are. But how do you get that kind of peace? Each of us has a reference point for determining our “okay-ness.” We’re all looking for something or someone to say, “Well done!” or “Good enough!” What, or who is your reference point?