Messages
2024
Making History
Since 2007, our Be Rich campaign has been making the world an even better place. After all, devotion to God is best demonstrated and authenticated through love for others.
Uncomfortably Close
Serving people with different lived experiences is one of the primary things God uses to fine-tune our worldview.
2023
Be Rich 2023
As we see in this interview with Hal Donaldson, sometimes difficult circumstances can inspire people to do something great.
2022
The Bridge Between Our Differences
We're not responsible to predict what God is up to. But we are responsible to help meet people's immediate needs.
2021
Can Do
We're not responsible to predict what God is up to. But we are responsible to help meet people's immediate needs.
2020
Be Rich
The right questions are not "Why did this happen?" or "Whose fault was that?" We usually know those answers. The better question: "How can we help?"
2019
Part 1: Better Done Than Said
Speaker: Andy Stanley
To the apostle John, following Jesus and being compassionate were practically synonymous. This is particularly true when it comes to our money and other resources. As Christians, we look for ways to do for others what in that moment they can't do for themselves.
Part 2: Free to Serve
Speaker: Danielle Strickland
If we’re honest, many of us tend to serve just to please others or perhaps to prove something to ourselves or other people. But if we are to serve without insecurity or arrogance, we must first understand our identity and our purpose.
Part 3: A Greater Story
Speaker: Sam Collier
Why? Many times we ask that question when we look at parts of our life stories. Today’s message is an emotional journey involving our guest speaker, Sam Collier, his family, and none other than Steve Harvey. How can your story be used to make someone else’s greater?
2018
Part 1: Now or Never
Speaker: Andy Stanley
Chances are good that if you’re reading this, you’re in the 1% club. By international standards, you’re rich! Of course, you may not feel rich, but the truth is it’s time to start giving while you’re living because what you’re holding is molding! This month we’re going to encourage each other to Be Rich by being extravagantly generous. After all, our extravagant generosity toward others is the most appropriate response to God’s extravagant generosity toward us.
Part 2: Hope Heals
Speaker: Jay & Katherine Wolf
Jesus told us, 'In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.' Katherine and Jay Wolf's extraordinary story shows us what it looks like to hold onto the hope of Jesus when life-changing trouble arrives without warning.
Part 3: God is Love
Speaker: Danielle Strickland
Maybe the most simple thing we’ve ever learned about God is also the most complex: God is love. It’s a hard truth for us to understand because we’re influenced by so many other views of him. So how does it work exactly? And what do we do with that transforming love once we recognize it?
2017
Part 1: Hands On
Speaker: Andy Stanley
At the heart of the Christian faith is this idea: in Jesus, God became one of us and dwelt among us. When it comes to those around us who are hurting and in need, the God who dwelt among us calls his followers to be hands on.
Part 2: Just Say Yes
Speaker: Andy Stanley with Jeff Foxworthy
When the church does good, God’s name is made great. This year, we want to continue the wave of Be Rich good deeds we’ve experienced over the past decade. We want to show people in our communities that God loves them. And we don’t want you to miss this opportunity to be extraordinarily generous.
2016
Part 1: Angry Jesus
Speaker: Andy Stanley
Anger is an emotion we try to get rid of or to manage. That's because we usually get angry about things like not getting our way. But did you know Jesus got angry too? His anger was different, though. It was about something more significant than his wounded pride.
Part 2: Your Serve
Speaker: Andy Stanley
Jesus calls us to do good to those who cannot or will not do good for us. During Be Rich, we have the opportunity to do for others corporately. We have the opportunity to help our communities see the church doing good.
Part 3: Being Great
Speaker: Clay Scroggins
It's in all of us to want to be great. According to Jesus, there's nothing wrong with that. He defines it differently than you might think and makes it more possible than most would imagine.
Part 4: Love vs. Everything
Speaker: Andy Stanley
We all assume that we can behave and confess our way into a barrier-free relationship with God. If we sin against someone, we can just pray for God’s forgiveness and we’ll be back in his good graces. But what if God wants more from us than vertical morality? What if he cares about our horizontal relationships?
2015
Be Rich
Christians should be the most generous people on the planet because of God’s generosity toward us. Let's show our communities that our faith is more than just sermons and songs.
2014
Be Rich
God wants us to do what he would do if he were us. We don't have to imagine what that might be. We can take our cues from Jesus. He used his power and position for the powerless and the positionless. We're called to do good for other people. Be Rich—our annual giving and serving campaign—is one way we can shine corporately.
2013
Be Rich: Do More. Give More.
No-strings-attached generosity was the hallmark of the first-century church. It should be a hallmark of the twenty-first-century church too. The apostle Paul told Timothy, 'Command those who are rich in this present world . . . to do good, to be rich in good deeds, and to be generous and willing to share.' So let’s Be Rich. Let’s do more and give more than ever before.
2012
Part 1: Good for Nothing
One thing about being a large church is we can make a large difference. When we come together, when we're generous, we can change our communities and the world. This year with our seven Atlanta-area churches and fifteen partner churches, we intend to make a big difference.
Part 2: Side Effects
Rich people live in denial. They won't admit they're rich. No matter how much you have, there's always someone who has more. But if you earn $40,000 a year, you are in the top four percent of wage earners in the world. If you earn $48,000 a year, that puts you in the top one percent of wage earners in the world. Most of us are rich. And one of the dangers of being rich is discontentment. The more you have, the more you want. Wealth has side effects. If you're rich, you're at risk. How do we avoid the pitfalls of wealth?
Part 3: Dollar Cost Living
For many of us, our problem isn't that we're not rich (if you make $45,000 per year, you're in the top one percent of wage earners worldwide); our problem is that we don't feel rich. The desire to feel wealthy causes us to place our hope in money instead of in God. But the Bible describes a different way of thinking about and using our wealth.
Part 4: Diversify
We're all tempted to place our faith in money. We're tempted to believe that if we make enough, we'll be able to control our circumstances and create a better life for ourselves. The problem with that view is that the more we place our faith in the money, the more it controls us. Scripture challenges us to look at our money differently because our lives are better when we place our trust in the One who richly provides. Viewing wealth through the lens of eternity loosens our grip on it and its grip on us.