Refuge Church Atlanta: Recent Episodes
Ethan Seifried
Refuge Church exists to see the diverse people of Atlanta become family through the gospel. We do this by reaching people with the gospel, building them up as the church, and releasing them on mission.
For more information, visit our website www.refugechurchatl.com or follow us on social media #refugechurchatl
Psalm 31:19 70% of Americans say they are good people. Almost 50% go further in saying they're the nicest person they know! But are we legitimately good? Who defines what good is? If we look in God's Word for what he has to say about it,...
When there are needs around us, we assume someone else will meet them. Maybe we assume that it is not really our responsibility. Maybe we feel like we don’t have anything to offer or that someone can step up do it better than us anyway. We doubt...
We tend to intellectualize our faith. We're prone to engage God and his Word with our minds to the neglect of our hearts. We settle for knowledge of God without truly knowing him. But what our verses show us this morning is that an encounter with...
Apart from God we believe foolishness is wisdom and wisdom is foolishness. The wisdom of God and the “wisdom” of this world are complete opposites! As we'll see this morning, that's because the wisdom of God is revealed through the Spirit in...
Isaiah 40:1-11 “When Christ calls a man, He bids him come and die.” - Dietrich Bonhoeffer If you have been called by Christ, then you have been called to die. Entrusted with the message of the gospel, we must answer the call to give our...
We are so often afraid to share our faith because we won't know what to say, we won't be prepared for objections, or we won't have the answers to the questions that are asked. We feel like we are the primary part of the process and we talk...
Often times pride fuels our desire for greatness. Jealousy of others’ abilities and envy grows in our hearts. Comparing ourselves to others constantly or thinking we are better than someone else. Our pride causes us to be jealous and value...
We like to live on the mountaintop. Excited. Happy. To move from one epic experience to the next. Especially in our spiritual lives. But to follow Jesus is to behold his glory on the mountaintop and embrace suffering in the valley, and everything in...
Luke 9:1-17 It’s hard to believe we’ll have what we need. Whether starting a new business, going through financial trouble, finding good community and making deep friendships, or even just having our basic needs met. But what Jesus' sending out...
We regard God as an airman regards his parachute; it's there for emergencies but he hopes he'll never have to use it.” - C.S. Lewis So much of our lives are spent living as though we can save ourselves. But when the emergency hits, we are...
We are most comfortable when life is predictable. We are “creatures of habit,” we “live by our calendars,” we plan our days and work our plans. But following Jesus is rarely comfortable or predictable. Jesus’ rule upends life as we know...
Everyone is either going into a storm, is in the middle of one, or is coming out of one. This is the human experience. And it is in these storms that followers of Jesus are invited to trust his words more than the winds and the waves. Every storm is...
This life will steal your soul, choke you out, and tear you apart. Only Jesus can save your soul, give you life, and make you whole.
What story am I believing to be true about my identity, and who’s telling it? What could happen in me, and what could happen around me if my interior story changed? “We are not what we do, we are not what we have, we are not what others think...
Oftentimes, we reject God’s purpose for our lives when it doesn’t meet our expectations. The same was true in Jesus' day. But God rarely acts in ways that we might prefer him to. And the truth Jesus shares with his followers in our text this...
Our world tells us position and power determines our worth, that our status–social, economic, political, occupational, religious–makes us more deserving of God's blessing. But Jesus doesn't play these games. In these stories of healing, we see...
Christians are some of the biggest hypocrites you'll ever meet. Often judgmental or condemning, blind to our own problems, yet think we can see others' problems so clearly. Our actions often don't line up with our words. As Jesus closes out...
If life were fair, we’d all be in hell. If we all got what we deserve, God would have to separate us from himself forever because of our sin. But, God shows mercy. God is kind to evil people, and we should be too. With God, Mercy is greater than...
God’s reign disrupts and reverses the status quo. He ushers in an upside-down kingdom...though it’s really that things are upside-down already from the way he intended. So really, he ushers in a “Rightside-Up Kingdom.”
We all fear death. Whether it's fear of non-existence, fear of what our loved ones will do when we're gone, fear that our lives won't have meant something, or fear of loss of control, we all fear death to one degree or another. But the promise...
Our hope and our heart are not naturally tied to humility. We exalt ourselves, and what we don't realize is that it kills our peace. But by hoping in God, the humble can regain that peace.
Where do you take your shame, guilt, and fears for the things you’ve done? When you’re in “the depths,” where do you turn? When you sin, where do you go? Do you try to make up for it by doing more good than bad? Do you try to forget about it,...
Oftentimes persecution feels more present than God’s promises. All you can see is trouble. And it seems like it will never end, like the season will not pass. But there is good news this morning: trouble don't last always! God will deliver the...
If we're not careful, we become idle or make work an idol. God gave us both work and rest as gifts. But, it’s just like our sinful flesh and the devil to take a good thing and twist it to evil purposes. Rest, that deep assurance that God is in...
"I don't know what tomorrow holds, but I know the One who holds tomorrow." Where does your hope of security lie? In whom do you trust? In a world so full of chaos, it's hard to know where to turn. But when you don't know what tomorrow holds,...
Every one of us has struggled with going through the motions on Sunday mornings. We are so easily robbed of the the joy of worshiping together. But the truth we need to hear this morning is that worshiping together creates supernatural joy,...
Psalm 120Martin Luther famously said, "All of life is repentance." What does that mean, and is it as devastating as it sounds?
Luke 19:1-10 We often forget the needs of the person in front of us as we are consumed with today’s priorities. We forget that each person around us has questions and needs, many are hurting, and most of all that God has created us to meet them...
2 Corinthians 8:1-9 What if, when we imagined a future with more, we imagined more for others instead of ourselves? What if our first thought when we got more was not to say “What can I get with this,” but instead, “Who can I bless with...
Galatians 5:13 Our culture makes an idol of individual freedom. It says that true freedom is deciding what is true and right for yourself, and anyone who tries to limit that is stifling your freedom. But is that really freedom? Paul doesn’t...
Mark 3:31-35 We have a nearsighted view of the word “family.” We limit it to our biological relatives without giving much thought to what Jesus means when he calls his followers family. But Jesus’ words challenge our understanding of family,...
Hebrews 10:34-39 It’s easier to retreat to the comforts of our past than it is to embrace the uncertainty of the future. But with great risk comes great reward. How do we follow Jesus and leave it all behind? The truth we’ll see is when Jesus...
2 Peter 1:3-8 We all want to feel like we’re making progress. Whether it’s our health, finances, at our job, or in our spiritual lives, no one wants to be ineffective and unfruitful. The problem is, we want immediate success, a defining moment...
2 Corinthians 12:7-10To be human is to suffer. But why do we suffer? Is it our own fault? Is the Devil behind the bad circumstances in our lives? Is God punishing us?
Matthew 1:22-23 It’s hard to hold out hope when it feels like God’s not there. Sometimes it feels like it got too hard for him and he's just vanished, or that our sin has finally made him abandon us. Our prayers seem to go unanswered, like...
The world sits in darkness, unsure of what’s true and what’s right and what’s good. Sources of truth have multiplied exponentially since the recent proliferation of information sharing technologies. This only serves to complicate things. Wrong...
Isaiah 2:1-5 Humanity is trapped in an endless cycle of internal conflict and external chaos. Humanity has always failed to achieve world peace, so we begin to believe that war is inevitable and peace is impossible. At Advent we celebrate...
Isaiah 9:1-6 We all long for a hero to save us. To make everything better. It's why we have so many superhero movies. But every superhero has a weakness and needs to rescue over and over. That's because all our heroes are really just copies of the...
For most of us, our default approach to life is control. Especially when things feel chaotic. Whether that’s controlling ourselves or other people or both. Whatever situation it may be, when we feel out of control, our default response is to grasp...
The only constant is change. What’s cutting edge at one moment, is retro or vintage the next. And although things constantly change, people are, generally, resistant to change. N. T. Wright says, "Novelty is deeply threatening, especially when...
"Unforgiveness is like drinking poison and expecting the other person to die." So often we refuse to forgive because we need the offending party to prove they're sorry, or that they've changed. We think forgiveness needs to be earned. But...
What do you turn to in desperate times? What’s your go-to? Do you comfort yourself with food? Do you binge on shows? Do you engross yourself in the news? Or maybe you get consumed in your work. The truth is we all self-medicate with something. But...
Fixation on the temporary blinds us to the eternal. So often we miss what truly matters in life. But the temporary rewards of this life cannot compare to the eternal rewards of following Christ. There is nothing this world could offer you that could...
Today we have Pastor Darryl Ford with us we continue our series on the Gospel of Luke. Today we ask the question, Who is Jesus to us?
We want Jesus to act like we do, to condone our actions… We want him to perform for us, do what we ask for, act on what we pray about the way that we want him to… We want him to say what we want him to say…mostly talk about his love…and...
We are always chasing after transcendent experiences. New job, new city, new vacation. But as we chase these experiences, they always end up costing us more and delivering less. That's because only God is truly transcendent, and it's only through...
We are always changing. We let the ups and downs of life dictate our mood and our actions. We run away from God and run back to him. And even in some cases, we allow our circumstances to dictate our doctrine, what we believe about God. In...
When suffering hits we are tempted to believe that God doesn't know, can't do anything about, and it not with us through it. The reality is that we serve a God who is Omniscient, Omnipotent, and Omnipresent. As we see and remember those things it...
We like to live like we don't have limits. We act like we’ll live forever, like our days aren’t numbered, like we can have anything that exists. So, we try to force our way past our limits, instead of humbly receiving them from the God who is...
Did you know oceans cover almost 70% of the earth’s surface? And yet, according to National Geographic, over 80% of the ocean has never been mapped, explored, or even seen by humans. A far greater percentage of the surface of the moon and the...
We don’t usually think of spending money as a matter of the heart. It doesn't feel like an act of faith, or spiritual in most cases. But the reality couldn't be further from the truth. You give your heart when you give your money because faith...
When we think about our talent and ability, we usually think of how we can benefit from or the mark we want to leave on the world. We generally use our talents to glorify ourselves. But God has such a deeper, more lasting purpose for your talents!...
Our culture tells us to be takers, to get all we can and keep it for ourselves, to look out for ourselves because no one else will. But is that how God designed the world to work? Is that freedom? Proverbs 11:24 says, “One person gives freely, yet...
God's global mission is In the face of seemingly insurmountable obstacles, it’s only natural to ask, What can I do? What difference can I make with such an incredible demand? Surely my efforts are only a drop in the bucket! In God’s mission,...
Why would Jesus get baptized if He was sinless? Why would Luke give us so many names in Jesus' family tree? Genealogies can be helpful but sometimes they can also be hard. Sometimes the past can cripple us and we can get stuck trying to drive...
Our existence in this world is never neutral. We are always being influenced by something. Too often we are swept up in the current of this world. And if we're not careful, we'll slowly drift further and further from God's truth. How can we...
In Luke 3, John comes to prepare the way of the Lord. John did not hold back in preaching the truth and as crowds would come out from their cities and their jobs, into the wilderness. John called on them not to give just lip repentance, but to give...
Have you ever thought you lost something/someone very precious and wandered around frantically looking for it? What if that someone was 12 year old Jesus? Uh-oh. Even as a boy, Jesus was confusing everyone! He confused the religious experts by...
The gospel of Luke is filled with details that when observed carefully can be an invitation for us to examine something about our lives. In the cultural moment we find ourselves in, we are confronted with many different realities that lead us to...
The last couple of weeks have been devastating. It has reminded us of the famous adage “Evil prevails when good men do nothing.” And the most vulnerable among us suffer. When leaders use their position, power, and privilege to preserve their own...
Being on the margins of society can be humiliating, feeling passed over, expendable, forgotten, worthless. This is the situation in which Mary and Elizabeth (and so many of God's people at the time) found themselves. It's the situation many...
We all love the idea of faith until it costs us something. But everything worth anything costs us something. And because God is true, you can trust him with everything!
Join us this morning as we continue our series on The Gospel of Luke!
Waiting tempts us to question God’s power and faithfulness. Will he really do what he said he’d do? CAN he even do it? Does he see and hear me? Does he really still have me in his arms? But Luke opens his gospel narrative with the story of...
The world tells us faith in God is mindless, anti-intellectual, and not historical. Faith is a blind leap. Once you get smart enough, you leave all that childish stuff behind. The documents that make up the Bible would never stand up to the test of...
John 11:17-27. The resurrection is not just something to hope for one day but someone to hope in now!
We apologize for not steaming this week's service because of technical challenges. Here is the audio of the sermon. We plan to be back up and running this week! The sting of death is enough to break your heart and convince you that death...
We live self-sufficient lives. Or, if we don't, we aspire to it. We so often feel like we can do it all on our own without anybody's help. Independence is a chief American virtue. But living self-sufficiently ignores the fact that God made us...
A dominant approach to fear in our culture says that fear is something to be faced and conquered. But instead of facing, conquering, pushing aside, or sweeping away our fear; perhaps we ought to neighbor our fear. Join us this morning, as we...
How often does your pace hinder your purpose? Too often, probably. Most of us live at a pace that keeps us from being available to our neighbors. Where can we find margin in our crazy, busy lives? Join us this morning, as we continue our series...
Jesus sums up the entire law in a double command: love God and love your neighbor. That's it. It's that simple. But it's so hard at the same time. The painful reality is that most of us don’t even know our neighbors’ names, let alone love...
Our lusts of the flesh tempt us to objectify and abuse. Other image bearers are always the collateral damage when we give in to these temptations. But there is good news for us this morning: Jesus offers healing and restoration for the abused, and he...
We construct our identity through categorizing and dividing. We find our worth and value through it. Or, on the flip side you may have been made to feel inferior so often that you’ve started to believe it's true. You’ve been made to feel like...
"A society will be judged on the basis of how it treats its weakest members and among the most vulnerable are surely the unborn and the dying." - Pope John Paul II As a society, we act as though some humans are disposable. No where is this...
Genesis 1:26-31. In small and large ways, every one of us fails to honor the dignity of human life. We don’t understand or acknowledge what it means to be made in the image of God, and the inherent dignity and honor God has bestowed on every human...
Vision leaks and mission creeps. How can we stay on track and fulfill God's purpose and calling for our lives? God's Word. Only reading and meditating on God's Word can guard us from being deceived. God's Word has no substitute. Join us...
“In a bacon and egg breakfast, the chicken is involved but the pig is committed.” This is a popular business fable used to talk about one’s commitment to a project or outcome. Are you consulting, really, from the outside, at no potential risk...
Isolation kills. It increases rates of anxiety and depression, other mental health struggles, psychological stress, and even PTSD. And yet we live as though we can thrive in isolation. But God has made us to thrive in community. It's impossible...
The world around us constantly pressures us to conform and to compromise what we believe. And if we are not careful, the current of society will gradually pull us away from the truth of God in the gospel of Jesus Christ. That's why the church is so...
We naturally assign people value based on what we think they have to offer. But the church, the body of Christ must be different. Because in Christ, every single person is indispensable.
We live with split allegiance. We treat Jesus as a king in our lives but don’t give him full reign over our lives. And so we hide certain areas from his rule, choosing to ignore or outright oppose his kingship over the whole of our lives. But...
We prefer not to discuss the less logical aspects of faith in Jesus. It can be a little embarrassing perhaps to say that (in our very intellectual age) that we do in fact believe in miracles. That Jesus was both God and man. But at the center of...
For so many of us, Advent becomes a time of outward, manufactured identity. More often than not, we're concerned with outward appearances instead of inward realities. But at the center of what Advent was really meant to be is something much...
Oftentimes, the joy of Christmas feels hollow to us because it's hard to believe that God would become human to save me and to save this world. I know me. I honestly don't often feel worth saving. We all feel this way at some time or another. ...
It’s hard to be hopeful when it feels like the world is unraveling around you. When divisions are so prevalent and deep. When pain and sorrow persist. But as followers of Jesus, we must remember that we walk by faith, not by sight. We look not...
With sin comes grief and sorrow. And while grief over sin is necessary, it is not enough for true change and reconciliation to occur. In fact, grief over sin is deadly if it doesn’t lead to repentance, a change of mind and trajectory. A heart of...
Though anger and bitterness give us a sense of control for a time, unforgiveness hardens, embitters, and eventually controls us. Unforgiveness effectively hands the power back to those who have harmed us. It's only through forgiveness, releasing...
Oftentimes we fear the humility and vulnerability required for confession. We know the feelings of shame and guilt that come with confessing our sin to others. But confession is the only way to receive God’s mercy and healing. If we don't have...
“Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. We are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single garment of destiny. Whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly.” – Dr. Martin Luther King Jr, “Letter...
The American Church has forgotten how to lament. We'd rather move past the uncomfortable experience of suffering to victory and celebration. But lament is an essential step on the road to reconciliation. Because, as Soong Chan Rah says, “[Lament]...
n a time when there is so much division over race, class, and culture, many are hesitant to step in the gap because they're fearful of saying or doing the wrong thing. But the church must be the bridge to heal the divisions that exist among us. If...
The last year and a half has fundamentally changed many of our norms and behaviors. Crisis does that. We've all had to adjust quickly and regularly. Many of these adjustments have led to a drift in convictions, even from our core identities. The...
Oftentimes we reduce parenting to either controlling a child’s behavior or giving up entirely; in either case, we miss our child’s heart. We either make them do what we want, or end up letting them do what they want, without regard for what's...
So often we think getting our way will make us happy. And we carry this mentality into marriage, looking to our spouse to satisfy us. But this only pushes us further away from how God designed marriage to work, and the joyful life we were meant for. ...
Dating these days is a wasteland. We engage in physical and sexual intimacy that’s only meant to come from a spouse. We try to extract purpose and fulfillment that’s only meant to come from God. And we look to significant others for the...
1 Corinthians 7:32-35. Our culture treats singleness as a curse and marriage as the goal. But the goal is not marriage. The goal, whether single or married, is undivided devotion. Singleness is not a problem to solve but a calling to steward.
Making friends always seemed easier earlier in life. But what happens post-college? It just seems so much more complicated. It's the reason John Mulaney said, "The greatest miracle Jesus ever performed was having 12 close friends in his 30s." Too...
If there’s one thing that relationships are, it’s complicated. Whether community, friendship, dating, marriage, or parenting, it can be so rewarding, yet so messy at the same time. This is especially true after the last year and a half we’re...
Do we really understand God's mercy and how it is meant to affect us and his creation? The truth is we often receive God's grace yet withhold it from others. What we'll see in the book of Jonah today is that we were never meant to just experience...
Your purpose can only be fulfilled when it is wrapped up in God’s purpose for the world. In fact, aligning our purpose with God’s global purpose is how both are accomplished. When we align our heart with God’s heart. When we live as he has...
For so long the parable of the merciful Samaritan has been interpreted as a call to action to go help people who are half dead lying in a ditch. But Jesus' intent to his Jewish audience and to us today is that we learn to receive before we give. We...
"That's not fair!" It's the cry of every young child when they realize for the first time that not everything in life is equal for everyone. It doesn't take long to realize that life is not fair. But what about God? Is God fair? Find out...
What are you willing to risk your life for? Not just in a life or death sense. What offers a big enough pay-off that you're willing to risk it all, to go all in? Probably not much. Humans are naturally risk averse. We prefer comfort and ease over...
Forgiveness sounds great in theory, but it's a lot harder in practice. Especially when it's something really big, or when it's a repeat offender. Naturally, we all have limits to our forgiveness. But when we taste the mercy of God in the person...
We often look down on the smaller, insignificant things. We doubt God can use the feeble and unimpressive. But over and over God uses the ordinary to accomplish the extraordinary. God’s work is often hidden, but it’s always certain. Join...
We reserve grace for the “deserving”...or at least those we judge to be deserving anyway. We limit it. We keep a tally in our heads, and once they’ve crossed the line they’re done. Or we judge the people who need it, saying, “They probably...
Jesus’ parables are some of the most influential and well known stories in the world. The reason for this lasting impact is that stories are inherently interesting. Lectures are ok, if they hold your attention. Conversations are meaningful, if...
Why am I here? Why do I exist? Do I have a purpose? We all have an innate, unshakeable awareness that life is supposed to have a deeper meaning and greater purpose than what we see around us. And it’s that belief that drives us to search for...
It's impossible to overstate the significance of faith for our human existence. Everything that has ever been accomplished and ever will be accomplished is because of faith. Faith is the reason for every human discovery, innovation, creation--you...
Every single one of us, at some time or another has tried to bargain with God. "If you would just ____, then I promise I'll _____." It's funny, isn't it, we assume we have something God's wants, and that if we give it to him, he'll give us...
What's your greatest regret? For many of us, that question causes a flood of emotions. Guilt and shame probably play a prominent role in that flood of emotions, reminding us of the standard we failed to meet and those who looked on as it...
Every relationship has rules, whether unspoken or spoken. The biggest question is, What do the rules mean for the relationship? Does obedience make or break the relationship? For many of us, the church played a bit of a bait and switch. We're...
Our impulse when we do something bad is to make up for it by doing good. To fix it. We think we can do enough good to outweigh the bad. That we'll do better next time. That we can make it up to the offended party. To prove that we're not really...
John 8:2-11. Christians are some of the most condemning people on the planet. Are we all sinners? Of course. We all do things we ought not to and don't do things we know we should. But Jesus does not condemn; Jesus restores. It's why he came.
We were made to worship. Even if you wouldn't say you're necessarily spiritual or religious, we all worship something. Whether it's money, power, pleasure, control, comfort, others' approval, we all give our time and attention to something. ...
John 15:9-11. Ultimately, we all just want to be happy. Blaise Pascal said, "“All men seek happiness. This is without exception. Whatever different means they employ, they all tend to this end. The cause of some going to war, and of others...
Psalm 32:1-5. We fear the consequences of confessing our sins. 1.We fear that we will be judged by God and judged by others, they will give us the punishment we deserve if we are honest about our sin struggles. 2. We fear we will be rejected by...
John 13:12-17. If we're honest, we'd all rather be served than to serve. If given the choice, everyone would rather be waited on in a fancy restaurant than be the server. But according to Jesus, the truly blessed life is one of serving, not...
Mark 6:30-32. The French philosopher and theologian Blaise Pascal said, "All of humanity's problems stem from man's inability to sit quietly in a room alone." This statement, written hundreds of years ago, still perfectly describes our present...
Matthew 6:25-34. Our divided hearts make life so much more complicated than God intended. God made us to be single-minded. When God is in his proper place, so is everything else. Simplicity is not having less things or having more things, but...
2 Chronicles 20:1-30. Fasting isn’t a command, but it is an expectation. Fasting returns our gaze to God. Fasting brings clarity and direction. Fasting puts two things on display: our weakness and God’s greatness. Fasting of the body is food for...
1 Chronicles 16:11. Your prayer life will determine your spiritual health. Do you want to know why your spiritual life feels dry and boring? Or why you make foolish decisions that stretch you financially or break relationships? Or why you fly off the...
Psalm 63:1-8. The busyness of life leaves our souls empty, weary, and dry. It never truly satisfies. Only meditating on God’s goodness can satisfy our soul’s hunger.
Acts 17:26-27. We too often look to the next season of life rather than being fully present in the current. God has put you where you are for the time that you are—on purpose.
Acts 6:1-7. No one sets out to just get by.It would be a horrible stewardship and waste of resources to allow complexity to cause disunity, to allow growing pains to divide us, or to allow our acts of mercy and justice to become inequitable...if the...
Ephesians 4:7-16. Everything worth doing is better accomplished together. And the same is true for God’s purposes in this earth. It’s why he didn’t just have following Jesus be a one-time prayer asking Jesus into your heart and then living out...
Acts 1:6-8. Too often, we would rather follow a system than the Spirit. We prefer the comfort of routine over the uncertainty and risk of following the Spirit. But family, the Spirit-filled life is where the adventure is! That’s where fullness of...
Matthew 16:13-20. We've reduced church to a weekly experience. The foundation of the church is the confession that Christ is King. The church is followers of Jesus...
Galatians 2:20. We make resolutions because of a dissatisfaction with who we are. It doesn’t take a new year to be a new you. If you are in Christ, you already ARE a new you!
Luke 2:22-28. We trivialize Jesus at Christmas time. When Jesus’ story becomes your story, his purpose becomes your purpose. Is knowing Jesus and making him known enough for you?
Luke 2:1-21. We fall for the allure of the kingdoms of this world. From the start, God’s kingdom flips everything upside down.
Luke 1:57-80. We tend to lose hope when God is silent. Dwelling on God’s promises keeps hope alive. With God, silence is never indifference. God cares deeply about the big picture...and your small story.
Luke 1:5-56. It’s hard to celebrate because...2020. But we can rejoice because God favors lowliness and humility. Advent proves this. How God chose to come proves this. Who he came to proves this. And who he tells his story through proves this. God...
Ephesians 2:10. Our addiction to social media undermines our identity, redefines our purpose, and leaves us discontented. But we must remember we are God’s work of art, created with infinite purpose. And when we understand that, we are secure in...
Colossians 2:6-8. We are subtly taken captive by cultural ideologies and loyalties because we fear being “cancelled” by our tribe. Staying rooted in Christ prevents us from being taken captive by culture. If Christ doesn’t captivate you,...
Genesis 2:18; Psalm 19:1-2. Our misuse of technology leads to isolation and distracts us from the beauty of creation. Technology is a wonderful servant but a terrible master. God created humanity for connection with people and nature. "Wherever you...
Joshua 5:13-15. It's not my way; it's now your way; it's Yahweh. I don't know what tomorrow holds, but I know who holds tomorrow.
Matthew 11:29. We ignore healthy, God-given limits because we want to be more (or different) than we are. God’s love sets you free to be the best you that you can be. The words “I can’t” might be the most freeing words you ever say.
John 5:19; 12:49; Luke 5:15-16. How can I discover what I’m here for? What is my purpose? How can I discover God’s will for my life? We’re often too busy talking—or listening to something else—to hear God speak. We know God’s will by...
John 15:15. We sacrifice intimacy and vulnerability with a few for superficiality and performance with many. Jesus made intimate, vulnerable friendships. To be fully human, we must also. If you “succeed” without friends, you’ve failed.
John 11:35. We are taught to conceal our emotions, not to feel our emotions. But Jesus was fully human and he engaged his emotions. And likewise, we can't be fully human unless we engage our emotions.
Matthew 3:16-4:11. We live to be loved instead of living loved. We are God’s beloved children, in whom he is well pleased.
John 1:1, 14. In this season we often believe “No one knows what it’s like to be me.” But the incarnation assures us that God is closer to you than you are to yourself. Or the way Augustine, the 4th-century bishop put it: “You were more...
Genesis 6:11-14. God's mission is unfinished, and his means of completing it humanity. Is your life "distinct" for the sake of the gospel? Do you practice joyful morality, flagrant generosity, and unbiased love? What does following Jesus cost you,...
2 Corinthians 5:17-20. We spend so much of our lives sharing things that don’t really matter. We are ambassadors for Christ, entrusted with sharing the message of reconciliation. We are God’s plan A; there is no plan B.
John 3:16-17. American Christians are known for our condemnation. But the gospel is a message of love, not condemnation. We are God's witnesses, not his prosecutors.
Galatians 6:6-18. We give up so easily because we want immediate payoff. But everything in this life worth having takes endurance.
Galatians 5:26-6:5. Our selfishness and pride makes us blind to our need of others and to others’ needs. Spirit-filled living means seeing your need of others and meeting others’ needs. If everyone bears one another’s burdens, everyone’s...
Galatians 5:16-25. There is a war raging inside of us between the flesh and the Spirit. Life is a choice between the works of the flesh and fruit of the Spirit. Your fruit reveals your root.
Galatians 5:1-15. The chains of our past keep us from the freedom of our future. Jesus freed us for freedom. You need Jesus...and therapy.
Galatians 4:21-31. We fall for the old lie that says, “God helps those who help themselves.” God helps those who cannot help themselves.
Galatians 4:8-20. We turn back to idols that enslave us because they make us feel safe and in control. The cure for idolatry is the worship of God.
Galatians 3:26-4:7. Our enslavement to our appetites divides us. Faith unites us as family. “Jesus not only removed the curse we deserved, but he gave us the blessing he deserved.” - Tim Keller
Galatians 3:15-25. We tend to believe that love and law don’t go together. At the cross, love and law are united perfectly and satisfied completely. How does the law fit into the Christian life? It's a mirror, a check, and a guide.
Galatians 3:1-14. Faith + Spirit vs. Law + Flesh. Christ took what we were owed, so we can receive what he has earned.
Galatians 2:11-21. We try to justify ourselves by our good works. It is a natural human impulse to do enough good to outweigh our bad. But, when we try to justify ourselves we deny the grace of God.
Galatians 2:1-10. “If you want to go fast, go alone; if you want to go far, go together” - Igbo proverb
We too quickly choose division over unity. The gospel unifies where nothing else can.
Galatians 1:10-24. We are naturally people pleasers. You can please God or you can please people, but you can’t please both.
Galatians 1:1-9. We so quickly desert Jesus for another “gospel.” We lose the simplicity of that good news by believing that we’ve moved beyond that simple message. The gospel is the beginning, middle, and end of the Christian faith
Job 42:1-6. Suffering tends to make us nearsighted. And the trouble is, the emotions that often come with suffering can be so intense that we become really confident in our nearsighted perspective. God’s glory and our good is the big picture.
Job 23:1-12. God never feels more distant than when we’re at our lowest. God is always present, even when he feels distant.
Job 40:1-5. We often settle for surviving in our grief. But Jesus came to give us abundant life. To move from surviving to thriving, we must move from grief to lament.
Job 1:20-22; 2:8-13. We don’t believe it’s OK to not be OK. But in times of suffering, you can’t skip over grief. Jesus held it all together, so we don’t have to.
Job 1:6-12; 2:1-7. We often feel like we’re fighting a losing battle. Satan exists to question God’s goodness and destroy your faith. God is sovereign over Satan, humanity, and nature. Satan is a defeated foe. Satan may win some battles, but God...
Job 1:1-2:10. We believe blessing is God’s approval and suffering is God’s punishment. But, blessing is not God’s approval and suffering is not God’s punishment. “God is too good to be unkind and he is too wise to be mistaken. And when we...
Ephesians 2:1-10. We don’t even realize how much time and resources we waste on things that don’t lead to life. But through this pandemic, we’re starting to. The good news today is that God’s grace makes us alive in Jesus!
Ephesians 1:11-14. We all ache for something unshakeable in these shaky times. Our inheritance from God the Father has been purchased by the blood of Jesus and is guaranteed by the Holy Spirit.
Ephesians 1:7-10. We try to pay the debt of our sins, when in reality, we’re spiritually bankrupt. Only the riches of God’s grace in Christ can pay the debt of our sins.
Ephesians 1:5-6. Oftentimes we don’t feel like God would ever choose us. But the truth is, God is delighted to adopt us as his children. And it’s through Jesus’ sacrifice that we become his children. Jesus’ blood makes us blood.
"2 Corinthians 9:6-11. When we get more, we raise our standard of living. But God gives us more to raise our standard of giving, not our standard of living."
Philippians 3:17-20. Our spending shows that we live as though this earth is our home. But the truth is that we are citizens of heaven.
Matthew 6:19-21. We invest in the temporal rather than the eternal, such that the way we treat our finances often reflects a counterfeit faith. But as much as we may want to say we are Christians and not have it affect how we spend our money, the...
Matthew 28:16-20. We all tend to doubt God and fear people. But Jesus' authority empowers us to make disciples.
Micah 6:6-8. We want to do good to pay for our bad. But it’s only by humbly receiving Jesus’ sacrifice that we will rightly do justice and love mercy.
Matthew 20:20-28. We avoid sacrifice because we believe we're entitled to greatness. But in the kingdom of God true greatness comes through sacrifice. The way up is down.
Colossians 3:11. If we can divide over anything, we will. But in Christ, there are no divisions.
1 Corinthians 2:1-5. As Refuge Church we believe that the gospel is enough. It is enough to hold together this diverse family from totally different backgrounds, experiences, professions, neighborhoods and walks of life. And it is enough to see us...
Ephesians 3:8-10. Refuge Church exists to see the diverse people of Atlanta become family through the gospel.
Philippians 3:7-14. We have one calling on each of lives: the upward call God in Christ. Don't fall for a lesser call.
James 1:2-4. We often see “getting out” of the trial as the gift but very rarely do any of us see the trial itself as a gift, especially while we are going through it. For the Christian, trials mature our faith, if we let them. But also, through...
Revelation 12:1-17. Every great story has pretty much the same narrative arc. Whether epic saga, fairytale, or romantic comedy, every great story follows a pretty predictable pattern. And that's because they are all based off of the one great story...
This third week in our Advent series "Far As the Curse Is Found" deals with the in between time. Though believers in Jesus have been spiritually raised to life, the world still sits under the curse. Evil still seems to prevail. And at times, the...
1 Corinthians 15:20-23. In this second week of our Advent series "Far As the Curse Is Found" we see that this life leads only to death. No matter how much we try to squeeze life out of it, no matter our successes, achievements, or possessions,...
Genesis 3:14-24. In the first sermon of our Advent series "Far As the Curse Is Found" we return to the dawn of creation, where Adam and Eve rebel against God and bring down a curse on the serpent (Satan) and on the earth. Though catastrophic, we...
Exodus 31:12-40:38. "You're doing too much." "Stay in your lane." These are common ways of expressing to someone that they're being restless. And the reality is that for every one of us, our souls are naturally restless. Augustine once said,...
Exodus 24:12-31:18. Every child has felt like their parent only cares about rules. And we often feel the same way about God, like all he created us for was so he could tell us what to do and control us. But God's ultimate goal is not to tell us what...
Exodus 24. We believe our good is good enough to earn God's love. Even for Christians who would say they know better, the reality is our actions don't fall in line with that belief. But when it comes to the shame we feel when we do wrong, or if...
Exodus 19-23. Edmund Dantes, the Count of Monte Cristo, spares Jacobo’s life in a short scene on a beach not far from Dantes' prison. He gives him a second chance, redemption, even though he deserved death for stealing from his crew. And Jacobo...
Exodus 15:22-27. At one time or another, every one of us has been in a “desert” and wondered if God will provide for us. That's where Israel found themselves after being delivered from slavery: in the middle of a desert. Will God provide? Will...
Exodus 1-15. We all want to believe that God can and will deliver us from our bondage. Whatever it may be we struggle with or feel enslaved to: mental illness, bad decisions from our past, pornography, reputation, fear...the list is endless. But...
Amos 5:21-24. It’s easy to ignore a problem when it’s not your problem. Without doing justice, Christianity is incomplete.
1 Corinthians 9:24-27. We are far too disciplined with the temporary to be so undisciplined with the eternal. Being disciplined with eternal things pays off eternally.
Colossians 3:12-13. Our culture tells us we’re weak if we’re compassionate, kind, humble, meek, and patient. Because you are loved by God, you can afford to be thought weak by the world.
Mark 9:14-29. We believe doubt is the opposite of faith. Every doubt is an invitation to believe.
Galatians 2:11-14. We all naturally fear confrontation. Christians confront one another when the gospel is at stake. But how do I get the courage to confront others?
2 Corinthians 8:1-9. We always find a way to spend our money on ourselves...but for others…not so much. Christians should excel at giving sacrificially for the advancement of the gospel.
Isaiah 43:1-3. We all fear that God abandons people. But what Isaiah 43 shows us is that, for those who are in Christ, God has redeemed you and is with you--always.
1 Corinthians 13:8-13. If you were to die today, what would be your greatest regret? We waste our lives on temporary things. Love is greater, because love is eternal.
1 Corinthians 12:31-13:3. Christians are known more for our hate than for our love. Nothing is worth anything without love.
Psalm 119:97-104. Laws [rules, fences] usually annoy us, because we feel like they keep us from enjoying ourselves. God’s law is deserving of delight because it is for our good.
Psalm 116:1-14. “Is prayer your steering wheel or your spare tire?” - Corrie ten Boom. We don’t really believe in the power of prayer. God hears our prayers and preserves us. God's people's prayers are powerful.
Psalm 8:1-9; 139:13-16; 116:15. What is the value of a human life? We devalue human life. God loves life—every single one.
Psalm 46. We believe a change in our circumstances will give us freedom from the chaos in our lives. God offers us refuge from the chaos in our lives.
Psalm 146. What we do for others often depends on what they can do for us. “It cannot be denied that too often the weight of the Christian movement has been on the side of the strong and the powerful and against the weak and oppressed—this...
Psalm 138:1-8. We’ve all been lied to, hurt, and shamed. So we all have trust issues. God’s priorities are his name and his Word, so you can trust him.
2 Corinthians 4:16-18. It’s difficult not to lose heart when life is most difficult. Believers in Jesus don’t have to lose heart, if we look to God’s present help and eternal purpose.