Ever wonder what "church" is? Who God is? What it all means and how it all works together? Yeah, us too. Check out our video series and see what the Bible has to say about relationships and restoration, emotions and how they work for (and against) us, or living out faith at work and at home. Our 301 "classes" are our most in-depth look into how God speaks and works in our lives. If you feel like you're ready for the deep end, come dive in with us! And if you're not sure, or if you have any questions, email Pastor Cliff at cliff (at) newenglandchapel.org.

The Bible in '5-ish Minutes

Why is God so Different Than Jesus?

Why Does The Church Exist?

What is The Real Story of Christmas?

How can I Improve my Relationships?

Where is God in The Workplace?

How can I Bring God Home?

How can I Better Deal With my Emotions?

Not Sure

The Bible in '5-ish Minutes'

The Bible isn't that hard. It's just telling one, continuous story:

God loves you

Christ died for you

God's Spirit is working inside you to bring you back to himself

That's it! Pretty easy, right? Well, no, there's a little more to it. Watch Laura explain the whole story--the world's story, your story--in six easy-to-understand "Acts." Think of it like a roadmap. God has a goal and a destination set aside for you! C'mon hitch a ride!

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Two Gods

How to Make Sense of the God of the Old Testament and the Christ of the New

Why does God seem so mad in the Old Testament, but all about love in the New Testament? Why all the rules in one, and all the grace in the other? Why so much death, and then so much salvation? Does the Bible have two irreconcilable books? Does it have two irreconcilable Gods?? If you want to better understand how the God of the Old Testament and the Christ of the New Testament make sense together, watch as Greg Handel, Cliff Winters, and others knit two seeming stories--of two seeming Gods--together into the story of the gospel. If the first half of your Bible never made sense to you, you won't want to miss this!

Prophetic Metaphors

You ever notice how the Old Testament is hard to understand? It wasn't always that way. Originally even uneducated ancients could comprehend God's word effortlessly. Why are the Old Testament books so hard now? Watch as Pastor Cliff describes a neat little trick to understanding the Bible: Prophetic Metaphor.

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Apologetics

Sounds like the science of saying "sorry," right?? 😁 But "apologies" (explanations, defenses) have been a genre of literature for thousands of years--including within the Bible itself (think, "Mars Hill.") We need to be able to explain why we believe what we believe, if only to ourselves. This series will explore ten of the hardest questions of the faith: Why do the good suffer? Do miracles really happen? Why do we believe the Bible? Is Christ really the "only way"? If you've ever asked yourself these questions, you won't want to miss this series!!

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Why We Believe What We Believe

We don't need to defend God. He's all set. But we do sometimes need to defend why we believe what we believe, even if only to ourselves! If you want to learn how to answer some of the harder questions of faith, check out this 301 video. Cliff and Greg won't give you the "answers" (as if we could!) But we may find some points of agreement... And people coming to agreement? Yeah, I think that's something God wouldn't mind at all...
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Creation & Evolution

Why does the Bible say that God created the heavens and the earth in six days when like everybody else says it took 14 billion years? Did God make us or did we evolve to be what we are? Greg Handel will help us answer this, the first serious question of our faith. Spoiler alert: it may be that these two accounts aren't so very far off as we thought!
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Violence in the Bible & Church History

God's a God of love, right? I mean, God IS love! Why is he so violent, then? Why is the Bible (and why is church history) so full of violence, wrath, and destruction? Can we really believe both that God loves us and that God hurts us? Something's gotta give... To figure out what that "something" might be, watch as Pastor Cliff leads us through one of the most emotionally-charged (and personally experienced) questions of the faith... Oh, and God totally loves you...
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Judgment & Hell

It isn't fair! Jesus tells us not to judge, but it looks like God's judging all the time! If judging is bad, why does he do it? And if it's eternal... it's who he really is and how he really feels about us, right? That's the opposite of what a loving God should want, or am I missing something?? [Dude, yeah--you're totally missing something! ] ...
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Christianity among the World Religions

Christianity is the only way? Seriously? I guess it's just good luck that I was born in the right country and in the right century! Why do Christians say, "Christ is the only way"? Is there no truth in other world religions? Do they not also have access to God? To heaven? Believe it or not, this is not one of the harder questions of the faith! Hear Cliff explain why our faith isn't a my-way-or-the-highway kind of faith, but is still pretty excited about what Christ did.
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Do Miracles Happen

Miracles seem to be the thing for kids and Christmas movies but are they real? Do they really occur, does science corroborate them or are they just coincidence? Should I pray for them to happen? Hear Mike explain the why behind miracles and the risk of not believing they are possible.
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Why Suffering?

If God loves us and can do all things, why does he allow us to suffer? Why does He feel so far away when I’m in pain? See what the Bible has to say about these questions as Dr. Greg Handel attempts to tackle these issues.
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The Reliability of the Bible

Why do we call the Bible "God's Word"? Why do we believe it's true? Aren't there inconsistencies in it? Isn't it the result of human processes and human memory? How can I use it as a guide to life and practice today when it's 2000 years old? All very good questions! For some (hopefully) good answers, hear Pastor Cliff talk through what may actually be the first and biggest question concerning the Christian faith: how we can trust scripture.
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The Problem of Sin

We conclude the series on "Apologetics" with the so-called "Problem of Sin." If God is in charge, shouldn't everything be going his way?
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The Gospel

There is news, and it is good! The church throughout its history has been centered on one proposition: that Christ died for us. That is the "gospel," the good news of our salvation. But "salvation" from what? What does "news" mean? And what kind of new life can we expect because of what Christ did (and when)? Come hear how God loves us, Christ died for us, and the Spirit sets us free--good news indeed!!

The Gospel, the Father, and the Fall

The gospel uses pretty easy words--sin, salvation, birth, death, life--but the concept that we are separated from God, and why we are, and how that condition may be remedied is a little harder to understand sometimes. If your spiritual life could use a little reminder of why we got into this "faith" thing in the first place, watch as Pastor Cliff starts us out on a new series on "the good news"... that is as old as the church itself!
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The Gospel and the Son

The Gospel is a promise of New Life, a new life in Jesus Christ. But what does this mean exactly? What is the nature of this new life? How does it impact the way we should live? Hear Dr. Greg Handel open up the scriptures to look into these and other questions in this 301 series of “The Gospel.”
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Love does. The Bible thinks that love is active in the world. It changes things! The word "gospel" implies that God has done something very specific on our behalf: he has adopted us and made us his own. In Christ and through Christ, we become the children of God! Laura Laird leads us through this, one of the most important and engaging truths of Scripture.
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The Gospel and the Holy Spirit

The church (rightly) talks a lot about God’s plan to restore the world to himself, and Christ’s role in that restoration through the cross, but have you ever wondered, “That’s great, but what does the Holy Spirit do?” If you want to discover what the third person of the Trinity—the Holy Spirit—has to do with the gospel and our salvation, watch as Wayne Pitts leads us through the final installment of THE GOSPEL series!
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Prayer

Prayer is the engine of the spiritual life--without it, we just aren't getting anywhere. This 301 series will investigate what prayer is, who it is for, who it is with, and how we can live it out in the day-to-day. If your prayer life could use a little high-octane boost, watch!

Prayer in the Bible

"Prayer" is not a word the general public uses anymore. What does it mean? What did it used to mean? How do we do it? Why do we do it? If you want to discover the biblical foundations of prayer, watch as Cliff tries to make sense... of a pretty common-sense word...
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Intercessory Prayer

We all want to pray for loved ones that are facing trials and challenges, right? God agrees! He asks us "to bear one another's burdens" and "pray for each other"--in other words, to "intercede" for one another. But it can be hard--hard to do, and hard even to understand. If you ever wondered why God calls us to pray for one another--and how He wants us to do it--this Sunday, March 31st, we'll be learning the why's and how's, the in's and out's, of one of God's favorite topics: intercessory prayer.
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Meditation Prayer

Christian Meditation is a way God has given us to learn about him, experience his presence and respond to him in a time of quiet. In this 301, we'll find out about Guided Christian Meditaion and then experience a short meditation.
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Pray without Ceasing

We often can feel guilty because we don’t pray enough. But, how often should we pray? In scripture the apostle Paul said we should, “Pray without ceasing,” but how can we possibly do this and live practical lives? Are we doomed to a guilt-ridden life unless we do nothing but pray all day?
Dr. Greg Handel walks through the scripture to resolve this issue and learn how to live a life of continual communication with God.
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Love

Jesus says the greatest commandment is "to love God and love each other." That's great! Wait... how do I do that? If the core ethic of Christianity is love, we gotta get a better handle on what it is, how it works, and to whom it applies (spoiler alert: it applies to everybody!) Watch as a star-studded series of speakers investigate how to follow Christ's most important command.

Love & Family

What is love? And how does it apply to family - to the people you live with and the people that you are genetically or matrimonially bound to? Are crazy Aunt Mary and rude cousin Joe even lovable? Heather Kempskie, Family Ministries Director, and mother and daughter and sister, discusses God's design for family, what love looks like and what it doesn't look like when it comes to one of the biggest blessings and craziest challenges God has given us: Family.
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Love & Community

In Matthew 22, Jesus tells us that His greatest commandments are to love God, and love our neighbor as ourselves. What does loving our neighbor look like in the context of community? How do we as a church love people beyond our walls? Colleen Flaherty, EPIC leader and coordinator for Safe Families for Children, discusses how to have grace filled relationships, and how to use biblical hospitality to radically live out the mission of the gospel.
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Love & The World

Jesus says the greatest commandment is "to love God and love each other." That's great! Wait... how do I do that? If the core ethic of Christianity is love, we gotta get a better handle on what it is, how it works, and to whom it applies (spoiler alert: it applies to everybody!) Laura Laird investigates how to follow Christ's most important command.
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The Church &...

Church & the Bible

The Bible "does" a lot of things. It's a tool for instruction, a help in hard times, a reminder to prioritize God and others. But it's also a constitution. In fact, it is THE constitutional document of and for the church--the centerpoint around which the family of God gathers. If you want to better understand it--how it makes us a family, holds us together, and mobilizes us for ministry in the world--check out this series... Video Slides

Church & the World

God loves the world that he has made, but much of it is sundered from him. So, in order to fix it and bring it back to himself, he constructed a most unlikely tool: Us. If you ever wondered what the whole point of "the church" was, check out what Pastor Cliff has to say on the topic of THE CHURCH AND THE WORLD.
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Church & the Holy Spirit

Who is the Holy Spirit? How does he work in my life? How does he work within the church? Come this Sunday as Dr. Greg Handel explores how the scriptures answer these questions and examine what relevance the answers have to our everyday life.
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Church & Worship

What is worship? When do I know if I'm doing it well or not? What role does it play in the Christian Life for us individually and the Church corporately? Watch as Dr. Greg Handel explores the answers to these questions through the scriptures.
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The Real Story of Christmas

Did you ever wonder what the holiday was originally for? What it meant? And who the guy in the red suit was? Start Advent out right! You might find that the ways that you've always celebrated Christmas have more meaning than you thought...

The Real Santa Claus

Big, generous, and jolly.
Santa's reputation precedes him, but his actual history rarely does. Who was this St. Nicholas? When did he live, what did he do, what made him a "saint," and what echoes of that good man have carried down through the centuries to our modern figure of Santa Claus? Come hear pastor Cliff reveal some of the most important events in the history of the church, and how a crucial role in them was played by "The Saint Who Would Be Santa Claus!" 🎅
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The Real Nativity

We hear a lot of unusual words during the Advent season. What does "incarnation" mean? What does "immanuel" mean? And what do they have to do with the birth of Christ? If we can better understand the "nativity" (another unusual word!), we may come across a whole new meaning of "Christmas"! Come explore with Greg Handel as he leads us on a search for: THE REAL NATIVITY!
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The Real Joy

What is "joy"? Why is this called "the season of joy"? And why can it be so hard to find? Come let our own Dr. Greg Handel walk you through the ups and downs, the ins and outs, the reality of joy. Maybe you'll learn something that will help to make the season... a little more bright. :-)
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The Real Advent

“Advent” means “arrival,” and we celebrate the arrival of far more important things than presents...
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Relationships

Nothing is as important to spiritual health as healthy relationships! Cliff Winters, Heather Kempskie, Lisa Hanson, Todd Sanislow, Lisa Pisano, and Greg Handel teach on a different aspect of... what might be the most important (and complex) subject of all! We're made to need each other, so why is it so hard to get along?? We'll help you better navigate your most important relationships by exploring:

The Purpose of Relationships
Your Family of Origin
The Relationship Toolbox
Sibling Rivalry
Finding Peace in Failed Relationships
Men and Relationships
Our Relationship with God

Explore how God fixes us, heals us, challenges us, and grows us through other people. Don't believe me? Check out the videos of each class!

The Purpose of Relationships

What do healthy relationships look like? Why did God make us to need each other? And where do they take us? What is their purpose? This Sunday's 301 class is going to explore:

Why God made us for himself and for each other
How relationships should (and actually do) work
How to model God in them.

We may find that loving like God loves is not a bad life-skill to have. :-)
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Family of Origin

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Toolbox for Relationships

Relationships can be the most important and fulfilling blessings in our lives. But they also may be the source of our greatest pain. Particularly when they do not work out. They may leave us feeling like failures or inspire us to achieve great feats. Does the Bible have anything to tell us about how to make relationships work? Can they also help us when relationships end? Come to the NEC Small Chapel the next two Sundays and see as Dr. Greg Handel opens up the scriptures to examine the tools that they give us to interact well in relationships and how to respond when relationships fail.
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Brothers & Sisters

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Peace Following Failed Relationships

Relationships and Friendships

Relationships and friendships are essential for everyone. Why is it that men, especially those working in the marketplace, are too often isolated and alone, distracted and often overwhelmed? Join in a discussion with Todd Sanislow (NEC Elder) on developing a deep and abiding friendship with Jesus, and lasting and transparent friendships with each other.
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Our Relationship with God

We're supposed to have a relationship with God. He loves us. He doesn't want to be separate from us. But how? It's easy to have a relationship with the shopkeeper or the guy next-door or the cat. God... that's not so easy.

Find out what the Bible has to say about your most important relationship: The one with your heavenly father. You might find that it's maybe not so hard after all...
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Faith@Work

We all have "work friends," right? You know: folks that we hang out with at the office or on the job. Watercooler friends. (God help us) cubicle friends. They tell the well-timed joke, listen when we need to blow off steam, and just get us through the day. What if God were one of those friends?
Some of the greatest challenges to faith, life, and health you will face this week will be faced at work! If you want to talk through how faith can work for you in the workplace--how God can help you build and restore healthy working relationships, how to be free from the rat race, and how to live authentically in an image-is-everything kind of world-- FAITH@WORK is for you! Hear the real-life stories and advice of three professionals who are on that same journey.

Tracey Myers

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Chris Paine - Leading with Integrity

We spend so much of our life at work and, as a result, in relationships day in and day out - sometimes with people we like, sometimes with people we are ‘less fond of’, but hey – we’re stuck with them as co-workers. What happens when on Sunday you hear a sermon about ‘resolving conflict well,’ or ‘serve each other’ and the first thing that pops into your mind is… “that makes sense with my friends and family, but no way do I want to do that with my co-worker”? If you struggle with this, and would like to participate in a discussion about engaging in healthy relationships at work even when that’s the last thing you want to do.
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Kelly Cannon - Your Job, Your Calling

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Faith@Home

How can we intentionally seek out and find God in our daily lives? How can we intentionally bring him into the lives of our kids? Doing faith at church is pretty easy. Doing faith at home is not. If you want to workshop how to invite God home, so do we! Laura Laird, Kevin Kempskie, and Cliff Winters talk through how to open that door... and keep it open.

Emotions

They can be our best friend or our worst enemy. They can help us soar to great heights or throw us down to very dark places. Do the scriptures have anything to say about emotions? Can they help us to know whether to accept or reject them? How can they help or hurt our relationships both at home and at work?. Can scriptures help us manage or emotions in our every day life?
Dr. Handel, licensed psychologist and elder at NEC, takes a biblical trek through scriptures with actual case studies that may enlighten us on how emotions can be allies and not enemies.