Many Christmas movies portray the season as one of hot chocolate, comfy slippers, and warm blankets. But the profound message of hope that Christmas brings, is a far grander and grittier story.

True hope is not merely about future outcomes but about experiencing God's goodness and strength in our everyday lives. A superficial understanding of hope can be dangerous, particularly if it invites complacency about our need for transformation.

By drawing on insights from Dallas Willard's work, The Divine Conspiracy, we see genuine change comes from a heartfelt desire for transformation, rather than just accumulating knowledge. We are reminded that hope is a sustaining force, capable of supporting us through both joyful and difficult times, and is essential for becoming the best versions of ourselves.

Takeaways:

• Honesty takes bravery, especially when reflecting on the true meaning of hope during Christmas.
• The Christmas story invites us to experience transformation rather than just information.
• Hope is essential for thriving, but it can also be a difficult concept to live with.
• True hope in the Christmas season is not about getting what we want, but about becoming who we are meant to be.
• We often confuse gathering information with personal growth, which can limit real transformation.
• Genuine hope is found in God's goodness, not merely in hoping for desired outcomes.

Empower yourself and your family to engage fully in God’s grand story. Subscribe to Hi(Impact) at Stephanie Presents for insights, encouragement, and practical resources!

Book Stephanie to speak to your women, parents, Christian educators, and students.

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Nurturing gratefulness in kids isn't easy. But it's not impossible, either!

Cultivating a perspective of thankfulness isn't just about making your home life more pleasant -- although that's a good enough reason. But the connection between faith and gratitude is significant, and the cost of ingratitude is extraordinarily high. (See episode 133 for a deep dive into that lesson.)

Get ten action items you can apply for kids of all ages starting today. Start with one or go all-in with all ten!

Empower yourself and your family to engage fully in God’s grand story. Subscribe to Hi(Impact) at Stephanie Presents for insights, encouragement, and practical resources!

Book Stephanie to speak to your women, parents, Christian educators, and students.

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The Old Testament book of Exodus includes a sobering story about the high cost of ingratitude. By default, we're at risk for repeating that mistake, but we can choose a different path.

We'll see the connection between gratitude and faith, thanksgiving and character. Drawing on Dallas Willard's work in The Divine Conspiracy: Rediscovering Our Hidden Life in God, we unpack five ways we can avoid the high cost of ingratitude.

Empower yourself and your family to engage fully in God’s grand story. Subscribe to Hi(Impact) at Stephanie Presents for insights, encouragement, and practical resources!

Book Stephanie to speak to your women, parents, Christian educators, and students.

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Are you concerned about the increasing number of children who are walking away from the faith? What if part of this is due to a lack of understanding the full Gospel?

While beliefs and behaviors is important, we must also include desires in our spiritual journeys. Yet so much of our teaching has been a "gospel of sin management," where our desires are are either ignored or indulged.

We can foster a deeper faith relevant to all of life by engaging children in conversations about their desires and discussing what we really believe about God. Do we see him as joyful? Interesting? Interested in us?

Get practical application on meaningful insights about the faith we practice and teach.

Empower yourself and your family to engage fully in God’s grand story. Subscribe to Hi(Impact) at Stephanie Presents for insights, encouragement, and practical resources!

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"Christianity is not about rules, it's about relationship," is popular. But it's also misleading and can also be harmful.

Too much of Christian teaching has focused on behavior and beliefs and left out the third critical element: desires. We need an entirely new perspective because rules and relationship are not enemies. We do not need to choose between them.

We continue unpacking key elements from Dallas Willard's The Divine Conspiracy and discuss the gospel of sin management. How this tends to play out in one of two ways:

1) a big set of "right" beliefs + a big list of "right" behaviors; or

2) a small set of "right" beliefs + a small list of "right" behaviors.

Yet the answer isn't to meet in the middle and have a "medium" sized set of beliefs and behaviors. It is adopting an entirely new approach.

Empower yourself and your family to engage fully in God’s grand story. Subscribe to Hi(Impact) at Stephanie Presents for insights, encouragement, and practical resources!

Book Stephanie to speak to your women, parents, Christian educators, and students.

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Navigating the complexities of today's culture is challenging for parents, educators, and anyone involved with young people!

We need all the help we can get, and the Axis organization is a great resource. Join the continued conversation I have with Kelli Rankin of Axis.org.

You can be proactive rather than reactive when discussing pressing issues such as mental health, school shootings, gender, and sexuality. With an emphasis on spiritual strength and emotional health, you'll be equipped with the tools necessary to foster meaningful connections with the younger generation.

Empower yourself and your family to engage fully in God’s grand story. Subscribe to Hi(Impact) at Stephanie Presents for insights, encouragement, and practical resources!

Book Stephanie to speak to your women, parents, Christian educators, and students.

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Identity theft is not only about stolen Social Security numbers or bank details. It begins with your innate desire to be seen as unique and significant.

This quest for significance can lead to a distorted sense of humility, where we equate being humble with playing small. Drawing from Dallas Willard's insights in The Divine Conspiracy, we discuss the importance of recognizing our God-given agency and the drive to count for good in the world is not rooted in sin but in being made in God's image.

Yet our identity can become stolen by false but seemingly "Christian" labels like "waiting for God" or "being faithful in the small things." These can be legitimate but they can also only appear legitimate while really stealing our identity.

Salvation is not the first step in God's plan to erase us but rather restore us!

Learn how your desire to matter is a foundational part of restoring a whole identity.

Empower yourself and your family to engage fully in God’s grand story. Subscribe to Hi(Impact) at Stephanie Presents for insights, encouragement, and practical resources!

Book Stephanie to speak to your women, parents, Christian educators, and students.

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Ever feel overwhelmed trying to keep up with the music, trends, movies, media, and lingo of the younger generations?

Want to have meaningful conversations with your kids and have at least some idea of what's going on in their world?

Fear no more! You have an amazing research assistant just waiting to help you?

The Axis organization is a storehouse of up-to-date research-based resources empowering parents, pastors, educators, and others to build a life-long faith in the young people they love, mentor, teach, and pastor.

How? One conversation at a time!

In the first episode of a two-part interview with Kelli Rankin of Axis, you'll hear about resources like:

• The Culture Translator -- a weekly newsletter keeping you up current on the music, movies, TV shows, and social media trends impacting youth

• Parent guides -- a powerful tool equipping adults with information and discussion aids on numerous topics including mental health, technology, bullying, and more

• The Culture Translator podcast -- an audio version of the weekly newsletter with additional roundtable conversation

• Conversation kits -- video series on subjects from Anxiety to World Religions to educate and inspire meaningful and ongoing dialogues

• Courses -- In-depth looks on significant and timely issues

You'll hear how innovative pastors, parents, and educators are using these resources to engage youth in substantive conversations on relevant topics from a Biblical perspective. If you want to help upcoming generations grow a vibrant, steadfast Christian faith, you'll find Axis a tremendous partner!

Empower yourself and your family to engage fully in God’s grand story! Get the weekly newsletter, Hi(Impact), packed with encouraging and empowering resources. Sign up at Stephanie Presents

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