Bent Oak Church: Recent Episodes
Pastor Chase Replogle
This is the sermon podcast for Bent Oak Church. Each week we preach through scripture, book by book. You can find more information about the church at bentoakchurch.org
Paul finally arrives in Rome. But for all the difficulty in arriving, the final image is humble. Paul does what he has done in nearly every city before. Instead of a dramatic ending, Acts concludes with an image of faithfulness and the promise that nothing can hinder the gospel from going forward.
Shippwrecked on the island of Malta, Paul still faced danger. Bitten by a snake, Paul was again saved by God's power and used it as an opportunity to bear witness to those on the island. Pastor Barry Kinzer walks us through the passage.
Paul finally set sail for Rome, but it did not take long for him to run into more trouble. This time it was a major storm at sea. Though experienced, the crew was overwhelmed and hopeless, believing there was no chance of survival. But Paul had heard from the. He and all who stayed with the ship would be saved.
Before Festus and Agrippa, Paul made another defense. But this time, Paul spent the majority of his speech explaining once again how he had encountered Jesus on the road to Damascus and how Jesus had called him to take the gospel to the Gentiles. Paul offers us two ways of looking at life: our own attempts to build the life we want and a submission to the leading and calling of God to follow his plans.
Paul had been told that he would bear witness before kings and rulers. As Felix was removed from power, Paul found himself transferred to the control of Festus, who was soon joined by Herod Agrippa II. Luke takes a whole chapter to set up the scene, complete with royal robes, processionals, and palaces. We see why that setting mattered to Luke and why it still matters today.
Held before Governor Felix, Paul once again offered a defense against the Jewish charges. But Felix made no decision. For two years, he held Paul, continuing the conversation. Felix even felt the conviction of Paul's preaching, but he would not decide. By contrast, Paul gives us an image of courage and faithfulness, motivated by his own clear conscience. We look at how courage and conscience are related.
A plot was discovered to assassinate Paul. But overnight, Paul was moved to Caesarea. His case would be heard by the Judean Governor. Paul must have wondered what God was doing as he found himself locked up in a Roman cell. But his suffering became a path to greater witness. While it's easy to draw conclusions in our own lives, faith teaches us to recognize more of what God might be doing. Who knows what God might be doing in our own loss, struggle, and discouragement?
Paul carried two callings. He felt called to preach the gospel in Rome, but he also sensed the Spirit calling him back to Jerusalem, where he would face suffering. Imprisoned by the Romans, it must have felt like Rome was further and further away. But Jesus appeared to Paul to give him courage and remind him that even in loss and injustice, God was still fulfilling his call.
Paul's plan failed. He was spotted in the temple by his opponents and quickly seized. I riot formed, and Paul was dragged out of the temple. But after the Romans intervened, Paul was given a chance to offer a defense. He did not defend himself but instead told the truth. God was extending salvation to the Gentiles. We look at Paul's courage and his willingness to risk his own safety for the truth and God's mission.
Paul finally arrived in Jerusalem. While the believers there celebrated his work, there was danger. Rumors were spreading that Paul was teaching people to abandon the Jewish law. Paul decided to go to the temple in an act of piety to prove them wrong. We look at Paul's arrival, the plan, and why it doesn't ultimately work.
On his return to Jerusalem, Paul stopped in to say goodbye to the church in Ephesus. He explained that they would not see him again, as the Spirit had confirmed that he would face suffering and arrest in Jerusalem. Luke records Paul's goodbye speech, and by it, some of Paul's most moving and impassioned words for the leaders of that local church.
On his return to Jerusalem, Paul stopped in for a brief visit at Troas. There he preached long into the night. But there was an ancient and a young man who died. Paul paused his service, raised the boy to life, and went back to ministering. We take a closer look at why Luke included this story and the unique way he narrates it.
While Paul was still in Ephesus, a major disturbance broke out. Led by a silversmith, the city was concerned that Paul's teaching was jeopardizing the worship of Artemis. But Luke recognizes a deeper concern. The town is worried it will affect their businesses and wallets. We take a closer look at our idolatry and false religion, which lead to greed and a self-interest that produces fear and chaos.
Word was spreading around Ephesus of Paul's ministry and Jesus' power. But Jesus was not like the gods the Ephesians worshipped and manipulated. It was a lesson a group of exorcists learned through error. By their humiliation, the church was turned toward deeper repentance and holiness.
Luke offers two stories of disciples who needed more: Apollos, who needed a better education in the word, and the Ephesian disciples, who needed the full baptism of the Spirit. We look at how these two stories offer images of the Word and Spirit and why it's the power of both at work in our lives that guides us into a better faith.
Luke's short summary of Paul's transition from his second missionary journey to his third comes in just a few simple verses. It's an easy passage to skip, but Luke sets up important events and helps us learn to recognize how God works in the seemingly unimportant details of this moment to prepare us for things to come.
As we come to the close of Paul's second missionary journey, we look at his ministry in Corinth. Paul stayed in the city for a year and a half. So much about his trip had been unexpected. The Spirit led him to go, and the Spirit led him to stay. We explore how God uses seasons in our own lives as well.
As we celebrate Easter, we take a look at Paul's famous speech in Athens. At the center of his message was the proclamation that Jesus had died and been raised. But the resurrection was not a popular idea in the ancient world. Still, Paul made it the focus of his preaching. We take a closer look at why the resurrection matters in a world that continues to reject its claims.
As Paul continued his missionary work in Macedonia, Luke records the response of two cities. The comparison gives us insights into why some respond to the gospel positively, and others respond negatively. It also offers a lesson in how we discern the truth and define success.
Having stirred up the city, Paul and Silas were thrown in prison, but even in their suffering, the Spirit was at work. Their time in prison would lead to the miraculous conversion of a prison guard, along with his whole family. Pastor Barry Kinzer shares from the passage.
As Paul and his companions set foot in Macedonia, they found themselves in a new position. They had no place to start. But the Spirit had called them and soon led them to their first convert. But where the gospel is preached, there is also opposition and disruption.
Paul began his second missionary journey with modest goals. His desire was to visit churches he had already planted. But while traveling, the Holy Spirit began to close doors and change Paul's plans. The Spirit also gave Paul a vision of greater work than he had previously envisioned. We take a closer look at how the Spirit leads us through our own open and closed doors.
Acts 15 contains one of the greatest depictions of church unity yet; Luke includes in the same chapter one of the most trivial disagreements of the New Testament. We look at what caused the separation between Paul and Barnabas and recognize how it helps us think about our own church experiences and the work God is doing.
Last week, we saw the churches gathering to settle disagreements. In this week's sermon, we're looking at the letter that emerged from their meeting and the requests the Jewish believers had for the Gentiles. Their advice turns out to matter far beyond just the First Century.
As the gospel continued to spread amongst the Gentiles, the church faced questions about how to welcome these new believers. Returning to Jerusalem, Paul and Barnabas helped guide the first church council and its celebration of what God was doing.
While the citizens of Lystra had seen a miracle and been moved to worship, it didn't take much to shift their passions to violence. As the crowd turned, Paul was stoned and left for dead. He used it as a chance to demonstrate the strength and faithfulness required to follow Christ and enter the kingdom.
As Paul and Barnabas continued on their first missionary journey, they came to the city of Lystra. After a lame man was healed, the town was convinced that Paul and Barnabas were gods. Paul pleaded with them to turn their attention instead to the living God and not to them or their idols.
As Paul's first missionary journey continues, they arrive in Antioch in Pisidia. Paul steps forward in the synagogue to speak. His sermon parallels earlier sermons in Acts. By this speech, Luke highlights the unchanging center of the church's message: Jesus.
Acts' first missionary journey begins with opposition as Paul and Barnabas take the gospel to Cyprus and confront a Jewish false prophet who resists the truth. Filled with the Holy Spirit, Paul exposes this deception and demonstrates that the spread of the gospel involves a spiritual conflict, not merely a clash of ideas. The episode establishes a pattern for the Gentile mission: God’s power overcomes resistance and opens blind eyes.
Before Luke records the great missionary works of Paul, he pauses the story to give us another summary glimpse of the church, this time the church and its leaders in Antioch. It is a short passage but teaches a lot about how the church can embrace the misison of God.
Before turning his attention to the church's missionary efforts, Luke returns to give us another story from Jerusalem. Under renewed persecution, Peter had been imprisoned by Herod. But once again, Peter would find a miraculous escape while Herod would meet his fall from pride and vanity.
Jance Mosley shares how God has been faithful to his promises over time and through faithful obedience.
Ella Braunberger shares how God has been faithful to her both in her sermon and special music.
Shane Logan begins our Christmas Immanuel series by sharing a testimony of God's faithfulness through his life.
Over the last few weeks, we've been discussing the need for an imagination, led by the Spirit for recognizing all that God is at work doing. In this passage, we get a closer look at Barnabas and how he models the kind of faith that allows him to recognize the genuine work of God.
When word spread that Peter had entered the home of gentile, it lead to criticism. Peter was called in to answer questions in Jersualem. But as Peter gave an explanation, his critics were moved. By the end of the passage, there was a new unity and a move of worship. We explore how Peter's message can help us find a similar unity and worship.
Having arrived at the home of Cornelius, Peter began to speak. But before he could reach the end of his sermon, the Spirit fell on the household of Gentiles. They were filled with the Spirit and spoke in tongues just as the Jewish believers had at Pentecost. We take a closer look at the importance of this event and how the Spirit and worship as responses to the word.
Peter had not planned to share the gospel in Caesarea. He had not planned to enter a Gentile home. But God was at work in ways Peter and the early church had not anticipated. God was making a way for all people into his presence, and Peter would play a critical role in that new opportunity.
Recorded between the dramatic scenes of Saul's conversion and Peter's calling to Cornelius are two unexpected miracles and a small detail about Peter's accommodations in Joppa. These stories play no major role in the plot of Acts, so why has Luke decided to place them between such major turning points?
As we continue to examine the conversion of Saul, we see his early ministry and the unique challenges he faced. In spite of new threats, the church continued to grow, and Saul found himself embraced by this new community. Luke records that a new peace came upon the church, a peace formed by their fear of the Lord and the comfort of the Holy Spirit.
Many are familiar with the famous scene of the Apostle Paul's conversion on the road to Damascus, but as we look closer at the story, we'll see how this conversion was really a calling and why all of our conversions to Christianity include a call to follow Jesus and participate in his kingdom work.
While Philip was leading the rapid growth of the church in Samaria, a messenger from God sent him far South on a desert road to meet an Ethiopian eunuch who was returning home. Read to explain the scriptures, the Eunuch not only received Christ but was baptised along the side of the road. We explore the power of the gospel and why it is good news for this man searching for God.
The martyrdom of Stephen set off a larger persecution in the city of Jerusalem. We take a closer look at how the church responded, and God used even the persecution to spread the gospel far beyond the city of Jerusalem.
The opposition had been growing in Jerusalem, even as the church continued to add new believers to its numbers. A conflict arose between Stephen and one of the synagogues. Through false witnesses, they dragged Stephen before the Jewish leaders, where he offered an insightful recount of Jewish history with a focused conclusion on Christ and his rule.
As the church continued to grow, it faced new challenges. Questions about money and fairness began to form lines of division. The apostles called all the disciples together to address the issue. As we look at Acts 6, we get not only a warning about the divisions churches face, but also a model for how the church can navigate those challenges.
The apostles and Christians continue to face threats. They had been commanded to stop speaking about Jesus, but they would not obey. Instead, they continued to meet in the temple and tell people about Jesus. And again, they found themselves arrested and threatened. But an unlikely voice provides a question that will frame the whole of Acts. "If these men are of God, you will not be able to stop them."
While the early church was marked by unity and the power of the Spirit, they not only continued to face external persecution but internal temptations. The story of Ananias and Sapphira reminds us that the same spirit that brings power also demands our humble honesty.
Having been threatened by the religious leaders, Peter and John returned to their friends. They gathered together to pray. But they didn't pray for protection or vengeance. They reminded themselves of God, his promises, and the work of Jesus, and they prayed for boldness to be faithful. Their prayer moved God as his Spirit filled them all again, and they went out speaking with courage.
As Peter and John's preaching began to draw a crowd in the temple, the Jewish rulers had them arrested and questioned. But Peter was not intimidated. He spoke the truth with a boldness and clarity that astonished the leaders. As we study the passage, we discover how it encourages us to live and speak today by the power of the Holy Spirit.
In Acts 2, Luke offered a summary of the first Christians worshipping together and seeing the Spirit work in miracles. In Chapter 3, Luke offers an example of one of those events, as Peter and John met a crippled man outside the temple. What follows is not just a healing but another sermon and the conversion of many.
While the opening chapters of Acts are full of spectacular moments, Luke is careful to conclude with a summary of the humble commitments of God's people. Having received the Spirit, they committed themselves to a particular set of acts that shaped them as the church.
Last week, we examined the coming of the Holy Spirit in Acts 2. We will continue this study this week by examining Peter's speech before the crowds. We'll see how the gift of tongues fulfilled Joel's prophecy that all God's people might become prophets.
As the disciples waited in the upper room, God's Spirit came down. We take a close look at what is one of the most important passages in the Bible and see how the events of Acts 2 shaped the disciples, the church, and us today.
Jesus asked his disciples to wait. But their wait wasn't wasted time. Waiting changed their perspective as they began, by the Spirit and scripture, to better understand what God was doing around them. Waiting also allows us to make room for what God is doing in our lives.
Acts begins at one of the most important moments in history. Jesus sent his disciples out to witness to the world. But before they could turn the world upside down, Jesus commanded them to wait. The work begins with waiting. We take a closer look at how this waiting shapes this story and our own lives.
In our final sermon of the Values series, we discuss the role of a local church in the broader work of the church's mission. Having a perspective on what God is doing around the world is crucial for the support and work to which we commit ourselves.
As we continue our series, guest speaker Donna Barrett, explores the importance of community and how our fellowship reflects the life and health of the church.
What is it that a church does when it meets together? In Acts 2, the church commits itself to teaching, fellowship, communion, and prayer. These have often been called the four marks of the church. We look at the importance of these marks and how they shape who we are as a church.
As we continue our series looking at the values of Bent Oak Church, we come to an unexpected value: the church as an institution. There are two temptations when it comes to the organization of the church. We are tempted either to make it an idol or to refuse participation. We take a closer look at why the institution of the church matters.
As we continue our series on the values of Bent Oak, Pastor Barry unpacks the importance of worship and why worship should be the response to everything the church does and receives together.
In the second part of our series on the values of Bent Oak Church, we take a look at how scripture and the gospel anchor in life. It was because the early church was dedicated to the teaching of the apostles that they could share all things in common.
In the first sermon of our values series, we're looking at what it means for a church to live life together and how the church should fit with our common life.
In our final passage of Luke, we take a look at Jesus's appearance to his disciples and the surprising details that Luke includes. Jesus told his disciples to touch his hands and asked them for something to eat.
Having found Jesus's tomb empty, his disciples weren't sure what to make of it. In their disappointment, two of those disciples set out for home. Their discouragement blinded them from seeing that it was Jesus who joined them on the road. We take a closer look at Jesus's first appearance after his resurrection.
On this Easter Sunday, we're looking at Jesus' resurrection and the disciples discover that the tomb was empty. Though Jesus had told them he would rise on the third day, his disciples still struggled to understand. The angels came with the message to remember. When they did remember, everything was changed.
Upon Jesus's death, Luke introduces us to a new and unexpected character: Joseph of Aramethia. A Jewish leader, Joseph, took a risk in requesting Jesus's body. Having received approval from Pilate, Joseph hurried to bury Jesus with dignity before the Sabbath. In our study, we take a closer look at Joseph and why Luke sees him as an important figure.
We have been working slowly through the arrest, trial, and crucifixion of Jesus. In this week's passage, we come to Jesus's final moments and his death. We'll also look at the responses of those gathered beneath Jesus's cross.
As we continue our study of Luke's gospel, we come to Jesus' crucifixion. We take a closer look at the two stories: the perspective of Rome and the Jewish leaders and the deeper story of what Christ was accomplishing. Through these two perspectives, we learn to understand better how God is working in our own lives and suffering.
The religious leaders sought Jesus's death, but they didn't have the power to carry out that sentence. They needed Rome. So they handed Jesus over to Pilate. Jesus's death came as the leaders of the world coalesced around his execution. We take a closer look at Jesus's interrogation before Pilate and Herod Antipas.
Jesus had predicted that Peter would deny him three times. Peter protested that he was ready to face arrest and even death with Jesus. But once Jesus was under arrest, Peter began his denials just as Jesus had predicted. We take a closer look at the passage and how it was Jesus' look that finally brought Peter back to himself.
The hour had finally come. Jesus made his way to the Mount of Olives, where he would face his betrayal and be arrested. We take a closer look at Jesus' prayer and how he models prayer for our lives and temptations.
Still at the Passover table with his disciples, Jesus began to speak of the testing that they were about to face. It would not only be that night, but also in the years to come as they continued Jesus' work. As was common, the disciples didn't understand Jesus's warning. The disciples reveal our own tendency to overestimate our abilities and faithfulness. But even in their failure, Jesus would be praying for them. He does the same for us.
The time came for Jesus to celebrate the Passover with his disciples. Jesus served them the meal, but his disciples' minds quickly shifted to which of them was the greatest. Jesus explained that leading in his kingdom is not like leading in the world. We take a closer look at the Passover elements and how they model Christ's kingdom leadership.
As Jesus' final hours approach, Luke prepares us with two stories of preparation. While Jesus' disciples prepare for the Passover meal, Judas prepares with the chief priests to betray Jesus and arrange his death. We look at both stories and discover how they offer us an image of true discipleship.
Having warned those worshipers in the temple of its coming destruction, Jesus turned his attention further into the future to warn of the last days but also to give his disciples hope of his return. We take a closer look at Jesus' words and how we should think about the end times.
The Chief Priests and elders sent spies to trap Jesus with their questions. They appeared to be sincere, but Jesus saw through their questions. He answered them with remarkable insight and then turned the crowd's attention to an image of true sincerity. We take a closer look at how our own lives can be disguised by false sincerity.
While Jesus was teaching in the temple, the chief priests, scribes, and elders confronted him. They wanted to know by what authority he taught and acted. But Jesus sensed they had already decided. They were not really interested in the truth. We take a closer look at how our own reluctance to know the truth can keep us from receiving what Jesus offers.
Jesus' triumphant entry into Jerusalem moved him to tears. Seeing the city and their indifference to his arrival, Jesus wept over the city of Jerusalem. As he came into the city, he went up to the temple and proceeded to interrupt the sacrificial system. Like an Old Testament prophet, Jesus was moved and acted out of the destruction that awaited them.
For several chapters, we've followed Jesus' trip to Jerusalem. With Chapter 19, Luke records his arrival. We take a careful look at how Jesus presents himself to the great city and how the groups around him respond to his coming.
Pat Ferguson offers her reflections on the meaning of God with us as a part of our Christmas Immanuel series. She shares examples of how God has faithfully guided her and how through prayer and his word, he will lead you too.
As a part of our Christmas Immanuel series, we heard from Buddy and Sarah Baumann this week about discerning God's leading in unexpected circumstances.
David Raley kicks off our annual Immanuel series with a reflection on God's faithfulness and the life of faith we are each called to.
Passing through Jericho, Jesus told the crowd a parable. He told them the parable because they believed his kingdom was about to appear. We take a closer look at Jesus' parable and how it contrasts the kingdoms of this world with Jesus' coming kingdom.
As Jesus enters Jericho, he is met by two men: a blind beggar and Zacchaeus, the tax collector. Amongst the pressing crowd, neither was likely to get Jesus' attention, yet Jesus took time to stop for both. We look at these critical stories and how they anticipate Jesus' arrival as king to the city of Jerusalem.
Many are familiar with the scene of Jesus welcoming children to his side, but Luke uses the image in a far more profound way than most recognize. Jesus commands us to become like those children to receive his kingdom; it is a call to radical need and vulnerability and a warning that our own self-sufficiency is prone to rob us of the gifts of God.
Pastor Barry Kinzer takes a look at Jesus' parable of the persistent widow and the prayers of the tax collector and Pharisee. He explores Jesus' models of prayer and how we should approach God in prayer as his disciples.
The Pharisees wanted to know the signs of Jesus' kingdom coming. His own disciples wanted to know where it would happen. What they all missed was the way Jesus' kingdom was present in their midst. We take a closer look at Jesus' predictions of his return and where true disciples should focus their attention.
Jesus has spent the last several chapters teaching and switching between the Pharisees, crowds, and disciples. In this week's passage, we'll take a look at how he summarizes that content in warning his own disciples not to be come obstacles but to serve as faithful servants.
The Pharisees continued to ridicule Jesus and his teaching. After everything they had seen and heard, they still could not understand what Jesus was teaching. Jesus recognized that though they appeared righteous, it was a question of the heart that blinded them to his words.
Joshua Kansiewicz takes a look at one of Jesus' most intriguing parables and helps us better understand how the shrewd manager shapes our lives as disciples and followers of Jesus.
Having offered the crowd one of his most challenging words, Jesus turned his attention to three parables, each describing something lost and found. Though Jesus calls his disciples to die to self, he also offers an image of God searching for those who are lost,
Having given a strong warning to the religious leaders, Jesus turned his attention to the crowd. They could not continue following Jesus if they were unwilling to count the cost of being a true disciple. A true disciple is called to the cross. We take a closer look at Jesus' hard words.
Barry Kinzer shares from Jesus' parable of the great banquet. He explores Jesus' warning to hosts and digs into those who reject the host's invitation. God will fill his banquet, compelling those in the streets to come in. We must be willing to not only hear his invitation but also to respond with determination.
Again, Jesus went into the home of a Pharisee, and again, they took offense at his work. But Jesus was watching them. And again, he saw what they could not see about themselves. Jesus told a parable to illustrate their self-obsession and their addiction to honor.
Jesus' description of his kingdom as a seed and leaven confused the crowd. Did that mean God's kingdom was small? Did it mean only a few would be saved? Jesus answered their question by turning it on them. Were they each striving for the narrow door to enter? We take a closer look at Jesus' answer and his compassion for the lost Jerusalem.
Jesus healed another woman plagued by a demon. And again, it caused controversy. This time, it was a leader of the synagogue who saw Jesus's healing as a violation of the Sabbath. It is a familiar story in Luke. The leaders continue to oppose Jesus, and the crowd grows more impressed with his miracles. But few recognize how the kingdom is actually at work. Jesus offers them the comparison of mustard seeds and leaven.
Having concluded a long teaching on fear and having called the crowd to repent, it must have been frustrating that they still did not understand. Jesus wanted to talk about their need for salvation; all they could think about was other people. The beginning of chapter 13 offers us a honest look at our own humanity but it also offers a remarkable view of Jesus's patience.
Jesus concluded his conversation on fear by discussing the coming judgment. For many people, the idea of judgment can create fear, but Jesus understood judgment as a revealing of what is true from what is false. We take a closer look at the images Jesus uses to explain the judgment of God.
Special guest Donna Barrett offers an exploration of the prayers in Luke's gospel and how they can shape a life or prayer for believers today.
In the middle of talking about fear, Jesus turned his attention to the fact he would one day be gone and would then return. He commanded his disciples to keep watch. We look at how the promise of Christ's return offers hope and peace in the anxieties of our world today.
While Jesus was teaching about fear and anxiety, a man from the crowd interrupted. He wanted Jesus to command his brother to share the inheritance. Jesus saw something deeper. He forced man to see his own covetousness, and Jesus warned us not to measure life and meaning based on the things we possess.
Before the crowd and the growing opposition, Jesus turned to his disciples and taught them not to fear those in power. Jesus explained that only the fear of the Lord can free us from the fear of this world. We take a closer look at his words and how they guide us toward courage today.
The Pharisees had often criticized Jesus, but it was not until chapter 11 that Jesus fully addressed what was wrong with the Pharisee's perspective on life and faith. We take a closer look at Jesus's warning and discover that the leaven of the Pharisees is still a danger today.
Having witnessed Jesus cast out a demon, his opponents accused him of dark powers, but the crowd asked for more miracles. Jesus answered their questions but also pushed the conversation further. They came to evaluate Jesus and his power, but he challenged them to evaluate their own hearts and their own eyes.
Jesus's disciples often saw him praying, and they recognized something he possessed in prayer that they did not. Coming to Jesus, on disciple asked, "Teach us to pray." Jesus answered the man's question, but he pushed the disciple further and shifted the question from how to why.
Many remember the familiar images of Mary and Mary, Martha busy with her work, and Mary sitting at the feet of Jesus. In this week's sermon, we take a closer look at why Luke has included this little story and how it fits into the questions Jesus was trying to answer. We discover there is more going on in this scene than most remember.
Jesus's story of the Good Samaritan is one of his most familiar teachings in the Bible. It's so familiar that it's easy to miss the true point. We take a closer look at the parable and the conversation that provoked it and discover the wisdom of Jesus's probing questions.
Jesus had been increasingly talking about suffering, but he also turned his disciples to the topic of joy. And Jesus chose to locate the source of true Joy in an unexpected place. Unlike the disciples who took join in their achievements, Jesus suggested that true joy came from the grace of having been included in his kingdom, with our names written in heaven.
Jesus's disciples continued to struggle to understand Jesus's talk of suffering. Again, they failed to understand the way of his kingdom. They were prepared to call down fire to destroy their enemies. But Jesus turned their attention to the price they would pay to be his true disciples. The hour had come for them all to go to Jerusalem and for Jesus to face the suffering that awaited him.
We've seen Jesus's disciples struggling to understand Jesus's increasing talk of suffering and rejection. But Jesus realized there was more going on in the logic of their hearts. We take a closer look at the disciple's struggles and how the temptations they faced are ours as well.
Having come down from the mountain of his transfiguration, Jesus was met by another crowd. This crowd was in chaos. A man came yelling, desperate to have his son delivered, and explaining the disciple's failure to help. Jesus used the moment to again speak of the suffering that awaited him and challenged the crowd for their lack of faith. We look closer at Jesus's hard words and the moment's importance.
Jesus often withdrew to pray. And it's surprising how often his disciples fell asleep praying with him. When Peter, James, and John woke from their sleep, they discovered Jesus had changed. We take a closer at Jesus's transfiguration and the important place of prayer in the story.
Jesus waited until the crowds were at their peak to begin discussing with his disciples what awaited. The Son of Man would have to suffer, be rejected, and die. It was a message the disciples were not prepared to hear. But Jesus went further. He explained that all his disciples must learn to bear their own crosses and die daily.
The crowds continued to grow around Jesus. And as they came, Jesus saw their need. The crowd was great and without food. Jesus, by his miraculous work, fed the crowd and continued to demonstrate his compassion for them.
Jesus's sending out of the twelve disciples marks a transition in his ministry. Having spent most of his time in the towns of Galilee, Jesus would increasingly turn his attention to Judea and the suffering that awaited him. It would be a hard lesson for his disciples to understand.
Chapter 8 of Luke's gospel recounts some of the most powerful miracles in Jesus' ministry. It also recounts one of the smallest. We take a closer look at the surprising compassion of Jesus and his willingness to see even those overlooked needs.
Having calmed the storm at sea, Jesus arrived at the far side of the Sea of Galilee. He was immediately met by a man possessed by a legion of demons. But the encounter does not develop as Jesus' disciples might have expected. The encounter gives us another opportunity to see how people respond to the revelation of Jesus' true identity.
As a part of our Easter worship, we take a look at Jesus' conversation with two disciples on the road to Emmaus. We discuss the surprise of resurrection and how this truth reworks our lives and future.
As they crossed the sea of Galilee, Jesus slept. Even through the storm, he did not wake. But as the boat began to take on water, his disciples woke him in a panic. We take a look at this familiar story and what it teaches us about faith and the storms we all face in life.
We have been looking at how various people respond to Jesus. In this week's sermon, Joshua Kansiewicz explores how Jesus uses common sayings to express spiritual truths, including Jesus' image of a light not being hidden from the world. Jesus final advice was to be careful how we hear.
Jesus continued to gather followers as he taught throughout Galilee, but those followers would increasingly recognize the crowd's and the leaders' rejection of Jesus. Warning them not to lose hope, Jesus offered them an everyday image—a parable—about seed and soil.
Luke has been trying to show us the kind of humility required to understand Jesus. That humility often came from unexpected people. In this week's passage, we get another example of humility but also a Pharisee who, though he appears to be humble, is revealed to be proud and unable to recognize Jesus.
Somewhat unexpectedly, Luke turns our attention back to the character of John the Baptist. John would die in prison, and he seems to have been confused by the news of Jesus' ministry in Galilee. We take a closer look at our own expectations of Jesus and how we can recognize his true identity.
Having finished his sermon on the plain, Luke records another two miracles in the region of Galilee. But these miracles stand out from those so far recorded in Luke's gospel. We take a closer look at the Centurion's servant and the widow's son.
As we finish our study of Jesus' sermon on the plain, we take a closer look at two images: the fruit tree and the house. Jesus explained that it is the good plant that produces good fruit and that only a house that has been built upon a solid foundation can withstand the flood.
We are taking a closer look at Jesus' sermon on the plain. Jesus's warning about judgment is perhaps among his most well-known words. But do we really understand what Jesus was saying? We reexamine this section of Jesus' sermon and heed his warning to pay close attention to the log in our own eye.
Having begun his sermon on the mount with the beatitudes, Jesus next turned his attention to the topic of love. And not just any love. Jesus commanded his followers to love their enemies. We take a closer look at how to love and Jesus' logic for the real source of loving enemies.
Jesus went up on the mountain to pray. Coming down, he gathered his twelve disciples and, before the crowd, laid out a surprising series of blessings and warnings. Jesus spoke with remarkable clarity, neither distracted by the crowd's approval nor by the scribe's opposition.
Controversy continued to build around Jesus. The Pharisees watched Jesus's disciples plucking grain on the Sabbath and asked why they did not keep it holy. The controversy grew worse when Jesus healed a man with a withered hand. But Jesus saw things very differently. Quoting from the scriptures, he explained that "the son of man was lord of the sabbath."
The Pharisees continued their objections. Jesus may have come to call sinners to repentance, but his ministry didn't look like one of repentance. Jesus's disciples were busy eating and drinking. So Jesus turned to the image of marriage and God's promise to restore his bride.
As Luke records the crowds continuing to grow and the Pharisees increasingly suspicious, he also records Jesus's recognition of certain individuals whom he called to be his disciples. We have seen Jesus's call of Peter who was cleaning his nets, in this weeks passage we look at Jesus's call of Levi who sat at his tax booth.
Frank Kendrick shares his story of God's faithfulness as we wrap up our Immanuel series this Christmas season.
David Roush kicks off our Immanuel series by sharing his testimony of how God has been with him even in unseen times.
Kristen Kansiewicz continues our Immanuel series by exploring what it means follow a "with us God," and how we can place our lives daily in his presence.
The crowds came because Jesus was doing miracles. Even the religious leaders came having heard about his power and authority. But Jesus turned their attention to sin and his desire to forgive sins. We take a closer look at our tendency to overlook sin and why it was central to Jesus's ministry.
Having been rejected in Nazareth and misunderstood in Capernaum, another crowd formed around Jesus at the sea of Galilee. But Jesus's attention quickly shifted to a few fishermen and their boats. Luke gives us the calling of Peter as an example of how true followers should respond to Jesus.
Having left Nazareth, Jesus continued teaching in the synagogue at Capernaum. There, he did many miracles, including casting out demons and healing the sick. Yet Jesus saw something in the response of the people, which caused him to raise another point of objection. Even after all they had witnessed, they did not understand why Jesus had really come. We take a closer look at Capernaum and the response of its people.
Luke records with a brief summary that Jesus was teaching and preaching throughout Galilee. He was being warmly received, that is, until he taught in his hometown of Nazareth. We take a closer look at Jesus's message and how his friends and family could shift from praising him to attempting his execution.
Jesus began his ministry by moving into the wilderness, where he was tempted by Satan. The passage gives us a sense of Jesus's faithfulness and the depth of his knowledge of scripture. Pastor Barry walks us through the passage and helps us think about Jesus's responses and our own.
Jesus was baptized in the Jordan River, and while the gospel writers recognize it as the start of Jesus's ministry, Luke draws our attention also to Jesus in the posture of prayer. It was while praying that Jesus received the Holy Spirit. In this week's sermon, we take a closer look at how Jesus was prepared for the work ahead.
Luke recognizes John as the voice in the wilderness preparing the way for Jesus. But John's preparation is one of warning. Jesus will come as a judgment; that is, he will come as one revealing hearts and motivations. Jesus comes as a sword, ax, and threshing fork. Still, for those willing to receive him, even that word of judgment comes as good news.
Luke narrates the growth of Jesus in a single story. From the infancy of the child to the emergence of his public ministry, Luke overs just one story. Jesus was lost. It took his parents three days to find him. When they did, he was in the temple discussing scripture. Like all parents, Mary seemed both relieved and frustrated by the situation. Jesus offered an unexpected answer. One Jesus's parents would have to long consider.
Mary and Joseph went up to the temple to present Jesus and to make their sacrifice of purification. But the Spirit had brought Simeon to meet them. Simeon came with a prophecy and also a hard word. Jesus would be a sign rejected, not even Mary would escape the sword of his words. We take a closer look at Simeon and Anna and their words about Jesus.
Perhaps the most striking thing about Jesus's birth was how unremarkable the event actually was. So far, Luke's gospel has been full of angels, miracles, and the Holy Spirit, but Jesus's birth comes like almost every other birth. Jesus has come into the world as we all come into the world. It is the shepherds in their fields that welcome us into the good news. They found Jesus wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger. That was their sign that a king had been born. God was with us.
Having heard of Elizabeth's pregnancy, Mary went with haste to visit. As she entered, John, just six months in Elizabeth's womb, leaped for joy. Central to the theme of Luke 1 is the work of the Holy Spirit. We take a look at the role of the Spirit and the joy and worship the Spirit initates.
Having announced the birth of John to Zechariah, the angel Gabriel next traveled to Nazareth, where he announced a second birth. Mary would conceive a child. He would be great and establish the throne of David for eternity. His name would be called Jesus. In spite of the complexity and uncertainty this announcement must have created, Mary responded with remarkable humility and submission. "Let it be according to your word," she responded.
Luke opens his gospel by placing the story in the time of Herod, but Luke also introduces us to the humble and righteous priest Zechariah. Those were two names that would not normally have been in the same sentence. Herod was known all around the Roman empire for his power, wealth, building projects, and violence. Zechariah was unknown. But God appeared to Zechariah, having heard his most desperate prayers. The Messiah was coming and Zechariah was the first to learn of it.
We begin a new series this week on the gospel of Luke. We explore the background of the book as well as Luke's introduction to the work. Luke wrote Jesus story so that we might have greater certainty and conviction about who Jesus is, what he taught, and what he has done for us.
As we conclude our look at Ezra and Nehemiah, we come across an unexpected chapter. The story does not resolve as expected. Nehemiah returns to Jerusalem to find the people slipping back into the same sins. His anger explodes, and the book concludes with the simple but poignant prayer, "Remember me, O my God, for good."
Having repented and renewed their covenant with God, the people gathered to dedicate the new walls of Jerusalem. They did so by worship. The city was filled with the sounds of worship, and it produced a joy that was heard far outside of Jerusalem. We explore how repentance has its natural end in a surprising experience of joy.
Having reminded the people of God's steadfastness and having repented of their own unfaithfulness, Ezra led the people in renewing the covenant. We take a closer look at God's covenant with his people and how the story of Nehemiah helps us recognize the covenant we have received.
Having celebrated God's faithfulness, the people were finally ready to consider their own unfaithfulness. On the twenty-four day of the month, they came together in sackcloth and ashes to repent before the Lord. But even in their repentance, God's mercy and steadfast love were at the center. Chapter nine offers a long prayer of repentance and remembering. It offers us a model for what our own repentance can look like.
Having completed the wall, the people of Jerusalem began to gather. They called for Ezra to return and read the law. As the law was read, they began to weep, but Ezra commanded them to stop. Instead, he reminded them that the joy of the Lord was their strength. We take a closer look at those familiar words and how they sustained the people of Jerusalem and how they sustain us as well.
Nehemiah had faced opposition before. He often faced threats and risks from the neighboring nations, but suddenly Nehemiah found opposition coming from within the walls of Jerusalem. We take a look at how Nehemiah responded to betrayal from friends and learn why God can be trusted in times of our own difficulties.
In the previous chapter, we saw a picture of unity. God's people shared the work, protected one another, and sacrificed to build a better city. But it didn't take long for things to fall apart. Soon they were taking advantage of one another in ways that aligned them with their pagan neighbors. It's a warning about how quickly we pick up the ways of the world and how naturally we justify it to ourselves.
Nehemiah and the people of Jerusalem began to rebuild the city. Each family took their section of the wall and built it together. But, as has been the pattern, opposition soon emerged. First, it was taunting and then the threat of violence. But the people did not give up. They guarded one another, encouraged greater faith, and committed to seeing the project through.
When Nehemiah learned of the disrepair of Jerusalem, his heart was broken. He longed to rebuild the city, but Nehemiah also served the king of Persia. His loyalties would be questioned, and his life would be at risk, but Nehemiah prayed, trusted, and sought to return to the city. We take a closer look at the man, his situation, and the complexity of the task.
As we look at the final chapter of the book of Ezra, we ask some hard questions about the book's final image. The book has taken us from the stirring of their hearts by the Spirit to men sitting in the cold rain negotiating the abandonment of wives and children. The final image of Ezra is a complicated question of our unfaithfulness, our need for a plan to fix it, and the tension of what we can never put back together on our own.
Having arrived in Jerusalem, Ezra discovered that many of the priests and leaders were marrying their foreign neighbors who worshiped pagan Gods. We take a closer look at the situation and Ezra's prayer of intercession. We consider why this sin continually plagued Israel and how Ezra builds our expectations for Christ's intercessions.
Having been introduced to Ezra and his plans to return to Jerusalem and teach the law, we are next given the details of his preparation. Though he returned with a group of Jews, they were small and worried about the dangers of their trip. Ezra wanted to turn their attention back to God. He called for a fast and prayer to overcome their fear. They needed to humble themselves to recognize the hand of God that was on them.
With Ezra 7, we begin the second story of Israel's return. This return would be led by Ezra, a scholar and expert in the Law. He was commissioned to teach the Jews the Law and to see that they obeyed it. No move of God or church project is complete if it does not include new attention to God's word and a commitment to live it.
With the support of the prophets and a new decree from the king, Israel completed the construction of the temple. They joined together in a new Passover feast that welcomed many of their converted neighbors. We are reminded of God's ability to turn the heart of the Persian king and also God's ability to fill his people with joy. There was gladness for their success, but real joy only comes as a gift from God.
With progress stopped, God sent prophets to speak to Israel and call them back to their task. We look at the role of the Old Testament prophets and how the words of Haggai and Zacheriah help us learn to respond to God's word in our own day.
After so much progress and celebration, the rebuilding of the temple grinds to a halt. The people became discouraged and afraid of the mounting pressure around them. We take a closer look at how the fear of man can cause us to withdraw from the work of God and how to find courage for our times.
Having arrived back in their land, Israel's first task was to worship. They came together in unity to rebuild the altar and begin the daily sacrifices. We take a closer look at that unity and the priority of worship in our lives and church.
Ezra chapter two is a list, a long list of names, and a tally of those who returned. The list may be long, but its total represents only a fraction of what Israel had been. It is only a remnant. But still, it is a remnant that has remembered who they are and who God has led them to be. They are a model for any who live through exile.
In our opening to the book of Ezra, we take a look at the background of the book and how God stirred the hearts of both secular rulers and everyday believers to fulfill his promises. Israel would return to their homeland to rebuild their nation and worship. God was stirring the hearts of people to go and take up the task.
On this Easter Sunday, we take a look at the way Jesus's resurrection impacts how we live in the days that follow Easter.
Jesus's entrance into Jerusalem was one of the high points of his ministry. The disciples expected rejection, but he was welcomed as king. Jesus wasn't so quickly impressed. He warned the crowds, as he often did, that to be a true faller would mean rejection, suffering, and death to self. This Easter we are reminded that to follow Christ often requires stepping away from the crowd and taking up our own cross.
In our final sermon of the serious, we look at Jesus's unwillingness to offend a tax collector and consider how Jesus calls us to avoid offending others. We are called to be stewards of his offense. Willing to risk the offense of the cross but never allow ourselves or our rights to become the obstacle of offense.
The night Jesus was betrayed, he warned his disciples that they would stumble because of him. They would see his cross and be offended by it. The cross is the central offense of human history, for in the cross we are forced to see our own need and his call to take up that cross and follow. Jesus had been using offense to prepare his disciples. He told the about the suffering to come so that they would not be offended by it.
Jesus's disciples were concerned he had offended the pharisee leaders from Jerusalem. The Pharisees feared Jesus was not keeping proper traditions of appearance and cleanliness. In the middle of their dispute, Jesus spoke one of his most difficult words to a gentile Canaanite woman. But in the midst of the conflicts, she possessed what the others couldn't. She had great faith and easily avoided christ's obstacle to display it. Jesus honored her above all the respectable and recognized leaders of the day.
Jesus's first miracle was quietly done to save a social embarrassment at a friend's wedding. At the center of that first miracle was a strange conversation with his own mother. A conversation that risked offense. Jesus often risked offense when talking about family and relationships. He pushed his followers to recognize that he must come first and only then could they steward the relationships of earth.
The rich young man that came to Jesus had everything we respect: youth, wealth, influence, and morality. He came with a deeply spiritual question. But Jesus saw through it. The young man collected good works like he collected possessions. He could not follow Christ without abandoning his need for control. It was an obstacle he couldn't overcome and he left grieving.
That Jesus would talk privately with a Samaritan woman at a well shocked not only his disciples but also the Samaritan woman. Immediately she brought up the divisions that separated them. he was a Jewish man, and she was a Samaritan woman. But Jesus didn't take up her language. He never used the world's labels. Instead, he pushed her to ask a different question. Who was he? It was Jesus's identity that mattered. To follow him, she would have to set down the identities of this world.
That Jesus would speak one of his harshest words to one of his closest disciples is a surprise. But Jesus recognized that Peter had shifted his eyes to things of this world and it had pulled him out of his position as a disciple. It's a reminder to all of us to fix our eyes on Jesus and his willingness to correct those he calls.
Jesus came to judge. Those were his words but most of us don't understand them. The judgment of God is a relation. Jesus described that he would make the blind to see and those who see blind. Jesus's judgment is an act of revelation, for in his judgment, Jesus exposes what is true. Jesus exposes our hearts. One of the tools Jesus used to reveal was his words of offense. If we are willing to hear them, offense can be a clarifying word of revelation. For what offends us often reveals what is most important to us.
When our idols fail us, we usually look for someone to blame or we look for someone to encourage us and reaffirm our desire. We want people who will tell us what we want to hear. That has long been a temptation for people and the church. Increasingly we trust our feelings as the measure of truth and collect teachers to affirm us. But the church must steward the full revelation of Christ, even when it is a word of challenge.
As we each pursue our desires hoping they will solve our insecurity, the consequences grow worse. Not only do we become more insecure, but a spirit of accusation turns us against one another. There is nothing like a finger pointed at someone else to draw our attention away from ourselves. When our idols fail us, we go looking for someone else to blame. We take a closer look at the conflict that emerged from the garden and how Satan's tactic of accusation is still at work today.
Our insecurities always cause us to fixate on a solution. Imagining some idol as the salvation of our fears, we awaken new desires in our hearts. We take a closer look at the emergence of desire in the temptation of Eve and see how trusting our heart's desires has become our culture's guide to truth. Christ risks offending us to offer us a better truth than desire.
As we continue our look at the Biblical topic of offense, we investigate how insecurity can lead us to feel offended. Before the serpent could tempt Adam and Eve to eat the fruit and divide the world into conflict, he first sought to awaken in them a sense of need. The serpent created insecurity and by that insecurity led them into sin. It's true for us as well, beneath our feelings of anger, outrage, and offense are lurking fears of insecurity which most of us live blind to.
In our first week of this new series, we take a closer look at how our culture has become increasingly obsessed with and sensitive to offense. But we ask a question rarely asked in our culture. Why? Why do we now find ourselves so easily offended, and what does the Bible have to say about the feeling of offense?
Daniel wraps up our Immanuel series by sharing about how God changes our hearts and leads us into acts of humility and self-sacrifice.
Todd Tolbert continues our Immanuel series by discussing God's grace and how he disciplines those he loves toward greater sanctification and joy.
As is our tradition, we'll spend the Advent season hearing from members of our congregation. Each share how God has been with them through challenges and seasons of life. This week, Elizabeth Lombardi described the challenges she's faced and how through it all, there is reason to worship.
As we finish up our series on the Bible, we take a closer look at how the word of God always moves us to worship. We have not fully experienced God's word if it has not done its work on both the head and heart. The Bible is fundamentally the story of what God has done for us, and our rightful response is gratitude and worship.
As we continue our look at the place of scripture in the life of the believer, we unpack James's advice to be not only hearers but doers of the Word. James described the scripture as the perfect law of liberty. We take a closer look at how the Bible leads us to freedom.
As we continue to look at the Bible, Pastor Barry Kinzer tracks the history of how this collection of 66 books came together. Looking at the history and providence of the scriptures, Barry helps us recognize how God's hand has been guiding the Bible's creation. The Bible truly is a miracle.
As we continue our look at the role of scripture in the life of the believer, we acknowledge that sometimes reading the Bible can be hard. Learning to study God's word is a skill that takes both time and commitment. But for those willing to wrestle with questions and meditate on them, the Bible offers innumerable riches.
As we continue our look at the Bible, we ask the question, is it true? Many people raise questions about the bible's accuracy and history. Can it be trusted? We explore the evidence and ask what it means for the Bible to be active and alive.
We begin a new series looking at the Bible and its place in the life of the believer. In this first message, we take a closer look at Paul's advice to Timothy to continue in what he had learned through the scriptures. We look at how the Bible is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting, and instructing toward righteousness.
As we wrap up the book of 2 Kings, the story doesn't seem to end well. The final events of this long story of Israel are destruction and exile. Jerusalem falls, and the people of Israel fragment and divide. But there is hope. It is small and perhaps unnoticed by some, but the final word of the book is that this still is unfished.
As we come to the end of 2 Kings, it's surprising how uneventful the fall of Jerusalem is. In the end, the king simply surrenders to Babylon. Far from a dramatic last stand, the life and identity of Judah just fizzles out. Their sin has stripped them of faith. They can no longer see the story of what God wanted to do through them. So, all is lost.
Josiah had led remarkable reforms throughout Judah and Israel, but upon his death, his son reverted back to idolatry in just three months. As God had spoken, Josiah would be spared, but judgment was coming for Judah. We take a closer look at God's wrath and his patience.
Having found the book of the Law, Josiah set out to lead spiritual reforms throughout his kingdom. The list of idols and temples he removed is overwhelming. It was a massive project and a remarkable achievement. But for all his success, scripture summarizes his work with a much similar commendation. Josiah loved the Lord with all his heart, soul, and strength.
After Hezekiah, Manasseh ruled for fifty-five years. He was one of the most wicked kings of Judah and unleashed decades of idolatry, violence, and human sacrifice. It would be nice if the good kings ruled long and the wicked kings were judged quickly, but 2 Kings reminds us that God is patient and the sun often shines on both the righteous and the unrighteous. God is faithful and patient even when we are not.
Hezekiah's rule marks one of the high points in Judah's kingdom. Hezekiah repeatedly shows himself to be a man of prayer, but when a prophecy for the future warns of destruction, Hezekiah struggles to engage what will not be his to bear. It is a clear warning that even the most devout and faithful life can slip into self-centeredness. We find the better him of Hezekiah in Christ himself, who interceeds for those not only in the future but those who oppose and persecute him.
With Israel surrounded and the Assyrians mocking their faith in God, Hezekiah prayed. The lord answered. He told Hezekiah not to fear. God can not be mocked, and God would respond to the boasts of the Assyrian king. The city of Jerusalem prayed, waited, and watched for what God would do. They witnessed an incredible miracle.
With Israel defeated, Assyria turned its attention to Judah and Jerusalem. But before they launched their assault, they offered the people a path to peace. They reasoned with them to side with Assyria. Given Assyria's power and skilled propaganda, it was a very real temptation.
2 Kings 18 helps us better understand the true nature of all temptations and why temptations can be so difficult to recognize.
In chapter 17, we read of the fall of Samaria and the exile of the Israelites to Assyria. But the dramatic event is narrated with a single sentence. Instead, 2 Kings puts its emphasis on why God would allow it to happen. God explained that Israel would not remember, did evil in secret, and ignored his warnings. We take a look at how our own lives are also at risk.
Chapter 15 records a quick succession of kings and with it a strike absence of the prophetic witness. You could conclude that God must have been silent during these years, but you would be wrong. This period was one of the prophets' most prolific. So why are they absent from 2 Kings 15?
The chapter forces us to ask the question of our own time. What keeps us from hearing God? What keeps us from recognizing how God is at work.
As we take a closer look at the succession of kings in Israel and Judah we are warned about drawing conclusions too quickly. God knows what each king and nation needs. For some, it is rescue, for others, it is a humbling of pride. How easily pride controls us, both in success and in despair. Chapter 14 gives us an image of how pride can keep us from recognizing the work of God.
Jehoash was given a prophetic promise. He would strike the Syrians and defeat them. Elisha commanded Jehoash to fire arrows out the window as a sign of his coming victories. Jehoash fired three arrows and then stopped. Elisha explained that his victories would be limited to three. Jehoash should have fired more arrows.
What keeps us from receiving all God has for us? What is it that stunts our faith and traps us in our own attempts at control?
To celebrate Father's Day, we combined services with Central Assembly. Dr. Jim Bradford and Pastor Chase Replogle discuss manhood and fatherhood.
Joash did what was right in God's eyes. He also repaired the temple and managed to avert war with Syria, but how did he pull it off? Joash used his wealth and the temple's. His actions raise a question How much of his faithfulness was based on appearances and how deep did his reforms go into the heart of Israel's worship.
For two chapters we watched the rise of Jehu. He was a king by military precious and decisive action. God used him to overthrow the house of Omri but he did not follow God. To the south, in Juda, another king came to power. But he did not rise by sword or plot. He came to power as a child, through a covenant, an anointing, and a testimony.
Jehu was anointed by God to be the new king of Israel. He even fulfilled long-awaited prophecies. But outward action alone should not be our primary evaluation of faithfulness. In the end, Jehu did not follow God nor obey with all his heart. His life is a warning about how easily we trust appearances and success and mistake them for genuine faith.
God had had enough with the kings of Israel. They had brutalized his people, killed his prophets, and refused to honor him as God. God would now replace the house of Omri with a new king. But hanging in the story is an important question. Is this peace? How does real peace come in a broken world?
Many see the Bible's prophecies of destruction as a fickle God prone to abandon his people, but for every page of destruction, there is page after page of his divine warnings. And where God's warning is given, his messenger also wept. Elisha wept for Israel. Jesus wept for Jerusalem. Our God longs to give us a better way.
2 Kings records the collapse of the Israelite kingdoms. As their kings continued to turn away from God that collapse came in military defeat but also in moral clarity. In this week's passage, we see the inability of kings to resolve those conflicts or unravel the complicated ethical complexities. But we also discover a God who is able to save, a god who is able to reverse things in spite of the compromised people at the center.
The Syrians thought they finally had Elisha surrounded. Even Elisha's servant began to panic. But Elisha saw what others could not. He prayed for his servant and his eyes were opened. He could suddenly see the heavenly army surrounding the Syrians.
Blindness and sight are recurring Biblical images. We come to recognize that though we see, we can be blind to so much of the truth. We pray for God to open our eyes as well.
We live in a time when almost nothing feels impossible. Technology has given us more than any previous generation could have imagined. But the tools we use to construct our world are not the only truth. Our tools break. Our projects stop. Our technology fails. We are left like prophets of Elisha not sure where to look but discovering something new and unexpected, an ax head that floats.
As we celebrate Easter we take a closer look at Jesus's conversations with two of his followers on the road to Emmaus. We discover how our expectations can blind us and how the surprise of resurrection empowers us to live differently.
2 Kings repeatedly demonstrates the wisdom of servants and the foolishness of kings. The kings appear undiscerning and hostile to God, while it's the servants who understand who God is and understand the reality of their moment.
That changes in 2 Kings 5 when a great general becomes a servant and a servant is overcome by greed. How easily we exchange what we have for what the world appears to. It is a trap, a trap that costs us far more than we receive in return.
Naaman came expecting healing. A man of his reputation was used to getting what he want. And Naaman came prepared to pay for it. What he didn't expect was the disrespect of Elisha sending a messenger with simple orders. Naaman was offended. It took a servant to finally help him realize Elisha had given him good news.
Having stood before kings, rulers, and officials Elisha next found himself in the company of two everyday women, both facing personal needs.
Their situation left them confused about God's intentions but in their moment of fear, they turned to God. They feared him and clung to him. They are models for us of what to do with our own questions, doubts, and fears.
The coalition of kings that marched on Moab was convinced that God was on their side. When things went wrong they decided to test that theory. They found Elisha and asked for God's opinion. What they heard was what they wanted to hear. It wasn't until their mission failed that they were forced to ask if they really understood what God was doing. It is a question for all of us as well.
In chapter 1, Ahaziah refused to submit to the authority of God. He chose pride and arrogance, but those aren't the only ways of rejecting the authority of God. In chapter two we see how others responded to God's voice through His prophet with skepticism and mockery. It is a warning to all of us to take the words of God seriously. For those who listen and respond humbly, there is the promise of life, living water, healing.
Ahaziah was more than just the king of Israel, he is a representative of every human attempt to control and manipulate by power. But the futile repetition of his actions reveals the truth of human pride, it goes nowhere. There is no real human progress, not in the things which matter most. Instead, it is the single man willing to humbly submit to God the breaks the cycle of human pride.
Having learned about the 5 masculine instincts, you might be wondering, what comes next? What should I do with what I've learned?
We'll take a closer look at Paul's advice to Timothy about how to watch your life and doctrine closely. We'll see how the Christian gospel offers a different path to character and why character is best infused into our life by the power of the gospel.
Shakespeare recorded man's fifth stage as a retreat. He uses the phrase, the world now too wide. He captured what is a natural instinct for so many men, apathy.
The longer we live the more we realize how little control we have. The world feels increasingly complicated and ourselves increasingly less capable of fixing it. We naturally begin to disengage and retreat into hobbies and comfort. Doubt and sin are certainly risks to faith, but rarely do we recognize the risk of apathy.
Through the story of Abraham, we'll look at the instinct of apathy and how God tested Abraham to keep him engaged with his faith.
Shakespeare described this fourth stage as the professionals. The man now dresses the part, cuts his beard, and says what is expected. By this point in his life, he has achieved some success and with it a reputation, a reputation he cares more and more about protecting.
That instinct is central to the lives of both Saul and David as they struggle to live into the expectations of their throne while remaining honest and true before their God. It is a question of integrity and their ability to confess.
We'll see how this instinct is at work in men today and how we keep it from leading us to the same ruin.
We live in an age of anger and outrage. It's never been easier to be stressed out and short-tempered. But Scripture calls us to be patient, putting off anger. Scripture calls us to be kind to one another.
Brad takes a look at Paul's advice in Ephesians 4 and why kindness is central to being a follower of Christ.
Ambition is certainly not a sin. It has helped many achieve great things. But left unchecked, it has a tendency to become obsessive and controlling. Ambition consumes us and causes us to lose perspective on others, on God, and on ourselves.
As we continue our look at the 5 instincts, we observe how ambition worked in the life of Moses, for good and bad. We also learn how sabbath rest can help us keep ambition in its proper place.
Shakespeare described man's second stage as the lover. He was describing a romantic view of life that is driven by a need for adventure, quests, and experience. Samson was driven by this romantic need for adventure. Restless and determined to find himself, he constantly wandered off to Philistia. Through his story, we come to realize how easily we abandon what God is doing looking for what we want. Real adventures are received not achieved.
In this week's message, we take a look at the first of our five instincts, sarcasm. Cain's struggle to receive God's lesson exposed his sarcasm as immaturity. We also look at practices by which we can check our own sarcasm and grow into something better.
As we continue our conversation looking at instincts and character we discuss the uniqueness of Christian character and how the men and women of scripture help us grow into it.
Men are not doing okay. Across a wide range of markers, men are failing, disengaging, and giving up. The whole conversation has become another cultural controversy. The consequences? Men have given up on getting better. In this first sermon of the series, we take a look at the challenges men face and why the pursuit of Christian character matters more than ever.
We continue our advent Immanuel series with a message and testimony from Kevin Weaver on how God is present and faithful throughout life.
Our Christmas readings usually include the angelic message to Mary and Joseph, the coming of the wise men, the worship of the shepherds, but the story of Jesus's flight to Egypt rarely fits well. In this week's sermon, we take a closer look at how Matthew uses the story to explain Jesus's identity and the promise of God's faithfulness to us as well.
We continue our advent Immanuel series with a message and testimony from Will Outzen on how God is present and faithful, even when we think we have things figured out.
We continue our advent Immanuel series with a message and testimony from David and Kristin Marshall on how God shows himself faithful when things are difficult.
We begin our advent Immanuel series with a message and testimony from Barry Kinzer on how God shows himself faithful when things don't make sense.
We finish up our series on Bent Oak Church by looking at how we relate to the outside world. How does the church fit in culture? How should we understand our responsibilities to our neighbors? How does the gospel compel us to bear witness as ambassadors for Christ?
It's long been said that a church is not a building or program, it's people. But it's often people who hurt us and let us down. Our world is plagued by a wave of isolation and loneliness. So how should we think about the relationships church forms? What should our expectations be for one another? Is church the place to make friends and find your relational needs met?
As we continue our look at who God has called us to be, we ask the simple question, what do we do when we gather?
Most of us know the formula: worship, prayer, sermon, but to what end? How should we evaluate our time together? What did God intend his churches to do when they gathered? We explore the book of Hebrews admonition to encourage one another.
We take a look at a simple question: what is a church? We also look at how the New Testament emphasized the importance of gathering together and why it shouldn't be neglected.
Peter must have thought no one noticed. Who had seen or heard his denials? Now that Jesus we resurrected, what difference did it make? But he still carried it with him. In ways both private and merciful, Jesus demonstrated that he did know. "You know all things," Peter acknowledged, "you know that I love you."
Peter captures the human experience. Even as followers of Christ, we fall sure. We deny and love. Jesus responded with a call to follow, to set aside the self-interest and live for something better, for others.
The resurrected Jesus appeared to his disciples again. They were restless and not sure what to do. Their night of fishing hadn't produced any results. But when a man from the shore told them to cast their nets on the other side, John recognized it was Jesus.
In one of the most moving post-resurrection scenes, Jesus cooked breakfast for his disciples and reminded them of the work ahead. He reminds us too.
John's resurrection account has none of the dramatic detail we want; it has people confused. An empty tomb, folded clothes, Mary weeping. But out of this confusion comes faith. John wont's us to see how the resurrection impacted those first witnesses of it.
Having been crucified, Jesus was removed from the cross and buried. Had it been left to the Romans he might not have been buried at all, but two unlikely men step forward to honor Jesus, a secret follower and the reluctant Nicodemus. John captures the irony and allows us to consider the source of true courage and bolness.
This week, we reach the story of Christ's crucifixion. John focuses on a particular set of details to remind us of who Jesus is and the reality of the cross. Jesus is Lord and Savior. Though many thought it was his defeat, and while others denied his rule, the cross reveals Jesus was the truth and even in death he maintained authority and control.
Pilate was not done with Jesus. After beating him and mocking him before the crowds, Pilate had a second set of questions. He explained to Jesus that he had the authority to save him or execute him. But Jesus saw more going on. Jesus recognized a higher authority. It's striking that the final conversation before Jesus's crucifixion was about submission and authority, topics in which our culture finds little value. We take a closer look at Christ's authority and the place of our submission.
Having been interrogated by the High Priest, Jesus was next handed over to Pilate, the Roman governor. Pilate alone held the power to order Jesus's execution. Their conversation was brief but exposed how different they were, and how different were their kingdoms. Jesus explains to the seemingly annoyed Pilate that his kingdom is not of this world but that he has come to bear witness to the truth. Pilate, in turn, commented, "What is truth?"
Arrested, Jesus was taken before Annas and Ciaphas. They were looking for anything that would allow them to request his execution by Rome. Jesus demonstrated that his work was not like theirs: manipulative, secret, and politically motivated. As Jesus gave his defense, outside Peter was denying him. We take a closer look at these men, their motives, and how Christ rises above it all.
Having concluded his last meal with his disciples, Jesus moved out of Jerusalem and onto the Mount of Olives to pray. John tells us he knew what was ahead. John also tells us that Jesus turned and step forward to meet it. Jesus would not run or fight, but as he told Peter, he would take the cup God was handing him.
Jesus concluded his longest discussion with the disciples with a prayer. He prayed for them knowing that he was just moments from being arrested and put to death.
But Jesus's prayer was for more than just those disciples, he prayed for all believers who would believe. He prayed, knowing that they would face a hostile world but that God would make them sanctified by his word.
Jesus concluded his upper room discourse with the promise that the Spirit of truth would help them overcome the world and receive peace and joy this world could not take from them.
Jesus's followers would suffer, face persecution, and even be put to death, but in all things, they shared in his power to overcome this world. The same offer is made to us as well.
Jesus continued to encourage his disciples not to let their hearts grow weary. He did so by turning to a well-known Old Testament image, the vine.
Jesus encouraged his followers to abide in Him, as the branches hold fast to the vine.
Jesus had instructed his fearful disciples not to let their hearts be troubled. He had given them reminders of why they could have hope even as they faced loss. But Jesus gave them far more than advice.
Jesus promised that there was a helper who would soon come to their aid. He promised them the Holy Spirit. In this week's sermon, we take a look at the identity and work of the Holy Spirit in their lives and in ours.
Jesus had informed his disciples that he was preparing to leave them and that where he was going they would not be able to go. After sacrificing so much to follow Jesus, the disciples struggled to accept or understand what Jesus was doing. Unnerved by his prediction, they were missing Jesus's point.
Jesus instructed them not to let their hearts grow troubled. But he also gave them images to help do that work. In this week's message we take a look at Jesus's command and those images.
Having concluded his public ministry, Jesus turned his attention to his closest followers. He gathered his disciples for a meal, knowing that this arrest was imminent. There was so much they must have had on their minds and wanted to discuss. But as they ate, Jesus got up and began to wash their feet.
John offers us two ways of responding to Jesus's action, Judas and Peter. By their reactions, we come to recognize how difficult it can be to receive what we too are being offered.
Jesus concluded his public ministry by explaining that now was not the moment of judgment but salvation, but he also warned that the truth he had given them would one day judge them. They had seen his miracles and heard his teaching. Many believed, but there were many who, knowing who he was, still would not follow. John tells us they loved the glory that comes from men more than the glory that comes from God.
Jesus came riding into Jerusalem on a donkey, the crowds showing save the king. His disciples must have felt overwhelmed by this public show of support. If ever there was a moment of glory surely it was this. But Jesus spoke of a different glory to come, a glory that could only be shown by his death.
Jesus teaches us to reconsider what glory means and why God's promise to glorify himself is so important to the way we measure things in this world.
Jesus doesn't act how we would expect, nor how others expected. Jesus fits oddly into that scene of mourners grieving the death of Lazarus. Jesus fits oddly into a world of death. For he is resurrection and life.
In the middle of Jesus's discussion with the Jewish leaders, he decides to change his analogy. Jesus decides to describe himself as a shepherd—the good shepherd and the shepherd's gate.
For us, that image seems quant and sentimental, but it was a prophetic indictment of the way in which Israel's leaders were caring for their own flock. Jesus offered the test of a truly good shepherd, he would lay down his life for his sheep.
In the previous chapter, Jesus had claimed to be the light of the world. Now, as he had healed the lame man when entering Jerusalem, he healed a man born blind as he left.
It served as a kind of parable to his claim. He could give light to a man born into darkness, but the bulk of the story is not the miracle. The story is as much about the blindness of the Jewish leaders to recognize what Jesus had done and what it meant. It exposed that their blindness was worse than the man's.
Jesus shocked the crowd by claiming to be the light of the world. Many were against him, but there were some in the crowd you began to beleive. Jesus offered them three tests of faith. He described how true disciples would abide in his word, bear his word, and obey it.
The story of the woman caught in adultery is well known and controversial. We take a close look at the text and recognize why it was placed in chapter eight.
Jesus uses the moment to reveal the universal depth of sin and to war those who find sin in others more quickly than in themselves. Ultimately, Jesus offers a new way of obedience. "Go and sin no more."
Increasingly, John portrays controversy around Jesus. He disappointed the crowd, confused his disciples, and offended the leaders. In John 7 we see people increasingly divided over who Jesus and what should be done with him.
It is no different today. Jesus divides the world.
Jesus's disciples were offended. They were offended by his talk of flesh and blood and by his unwillingness to meet their needs and expectations. Many abandoned Christ that day.
The truth is, Jesus often said or did things that offended. It was this possibility of offense that forced people to make a decision. They could no longer live in their delusions or expectations but were forced to deal with the real Christ in their midst.
Having witnessed and tasted Jesus's miraculous provision of bread, the crowd was ready to seize him and make him king. But Jesus slipped away. They eventually tracked him down in Capernaum where they began to question him. But Jesus sensed they were not there for the truth, they were there for more bread. Jesus explained that the bread they were really looking for was him.
Brad Lombardi shares from the familiar stories of Jesus feeding the crowd and walking on water.
Surrounded by accusations of blasphemy and law-breaking, Jesus worked to explain his power and authority to the Jewish leaders. It wasn't a formal trial, but the accusations were extremely serious. So Jesus did what any other accused in the first century would have, he called witnesses.
Jesus continued his conversation with the Jewish leaders by turning to the topic of the resurection. He had been given the power of life. Though Jesus spoke of the expected future resurrection, he also said that hour was now. Resurrection was here.
On this Easter Sunday, we take a look at what it means to live with the hope of a future and present resurrection. Practice resurrection.
The Jewish leaders confronted Jesus about his healing on the sabbath. But Jesus didn't buckle under their pressure; in fact, he doubled down. He explained that as the father had been working since creation, so too had he. Jesus went on to explain why all authority to judge and give life and been given to him. It makes a turn in John's gospel in which the Jewish leader decide that Jesus must be killed.
On arriving in Jerusalem for a festival, Jesus found a man who had been lame for 38 years and healed him. It was a miracle, but we quickly learn that it was also the Sabbath and Jesus had commanded the man to take up his mat, a violation of Sabbath law. The leaders were forced to make a decision, had Jesus violated the Sabbath, or was he the fulfillment of it.
Jesus returned to his home region of Galilee to a warm welcome. His hometown fans had seen his miraculous signs and were suddenly supports. Everyone suddenly claimed to beleive in him. But Jesus was skeptical and used the desperate request of an official to talk about true belief.
Most people have heard about the Jewish and Samaritan division. We understand the tension of a Jewish man sticking up a private conversation with a Samaritan woman. But most miss the bigger reality of Jesus' conversation. The language of division—gender, ethnicity, place of worship—is hers. Jesus instead offers something new and better—living water, Spirit, and truth.
John uses the word believe more than 100 times in his gospel. It is used on almost every page. But what does it mean? Many around Jesus misunderstood. We take a look at the importance of believing in Jesus.
Under the cover of darkness, Nicodemus came to Jesus. He had seen Jesus's signs and recognized Jesus had come from God. But Jesus pushed that conversation much deeper leaving Nicodemus confused and disoriented. At the center of the conversation was a question about faith. What does it mean to believe in Jesus?
Jesus's clearing of the temple was not an emotional outburst. It was another sign. A deliberate action by which Jesus revealed himself to his followers. The temple was not the future, not the physical one at least. Jesus, by His resurrection, would become a new and better temple.
John tells us that Jesus's first sign was turning water into wine, but he also gives us several other details crucial to understanding the significance of Jesus's action. He was not pressured into by his concerned mom, Jesus chose this miracle for its symbolic meaning. Jesus was the messiah who came to offer a better wine and an eternal banquet.
Jesus, realizing he was being followed, turned and asked the two men, "what do you seek?" It was a question that would change their lives and the world. Those men became some of Jesus's first followers.
John the Baptist was questioned by religious leaders from Jerusalem. "Who do you say you are?" they asked him. John wasn't interested in that question. He wasn't interested in himself. John was helping Israel see the one standing in their midst. "Behold, the lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world."
John builds our anticipation for who this word is. He takes his time to get to the answer, explaining the problem of our preferring darkness and the divine solution of the word becoming flesh. The result is that we have seen God's glory and finally, John reveals it is seen through the flesh of Jesus Christ.
John begins his gospel with a prologue. In the beginning, was the word...
Before we are introduced to John the baptist or to Jesus, we a reminded of what is at stake. The eternal word of God made flesh. This is a story that is set in the context of eternal salvation.
Destin Harrison shares his story of how God has revealed himself through a long series of "things not working out."
Paul finishes his letter to the Romans with a long list of names. They are people he knew and people he expressed deep gratitude for. It's amazing we still have these names. We know so little about them but they remind us of the central place of people in following Christ.
Paul longed to visit the believers in Rome and to continue on to Spain. Spain was still unreached and Paul's deepest passion was to take the gospel to unreached places. But Paul's dream would not come true. So many of our's don't either. Romans 15 offers a look into Paul's life and how he handled failed plains.
Special thanks to Brad Lombardi for bringing us a word from Romans 15 on the abounding of peace through maturity in our fellowship together.
Paul had a difficult problem to address. Apparently, arguments and disputes were threatening the unity of the church. Worse, the arguments were causing people to take sides and change their behavior not motivated by the gospel but by fear, anxiety, and social pressure. Paul needed to push the conversation deeper. It's an important lesson for all of us.
It is election week, and as millions participate in voting for key government positions, we ask the question, what does Paul mean that Christians should submit to the governing authorities? How do we submit in 2020 when we are given the privilege of participating in those decisions?
Paul now transitions to the implications of the gospel for how Christians live. Paul argues that in light of the mercies of God, the most reasonable thing is for us to die to ourselves and to surrender our past, present, and future to Him as a living sacrifice.
Paul looks towards the future and his hope for the nation of Israel. But he admits these things are a mystery. Our rightful response is not pride or arrogance but faith, worship, and fear of the Lord—fear that frees us from the anxieties of this world.
Paul continues to explore the anguish he feels over his own people disbelieve. What does Paul make of Israel's refusal to acknowledge Christ. Romans 10 is an explanation of that question but it is also an expression of the hope and trust Paul has in God. As he quotes Isaiah, "I was found by those who did not seek me."
Paul anticipates that many may feel like God is abandoning his promises and history with Israel. Paul wrestles with the question and acknowledges that for him, this topic comes with great anguish of heart. Paul longs for all of Israel to receive Jesus as their messiah.
But Paul acknowledges that God's ways are above ours. Even reflecting on their own history, who could have predicted or planned what God had done.
Paul concludes Romans 8 with his strongest words of assurance. What can separate us from the love of God? Nothing. We explore the culmination of Paul's word of assurance for believers.
Paul continues to build his case for the assurance we have through the Spirit. Previously, Paul said that our ability to pray, "Abba, Father," was proof of the Spirit working in us. But now Paul adds that even when we don't know what to pray, the Spirit prays for us.
Paul turns his attention to this new life in the Spirit and he connects the two images of a debtor and a child. It is a part of a bigger topic for Paul, how can we be assured of this new way? How can we be assured of our salvation?
Paul draws his discussion of the law to its final conclusion. "Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death?"
Paul explains how the law brings us to that final conclusion. We are in need of a savior.
Paul was willing to use any analogy he could to help clarify the relationship between Christ and the law. In Romans 7, Paul turns to the image of marriage.
Slavery is a common way the Bible depicts sin. It does so with the knowledge of Israel's long history under Egyptian slavery. But Paul takes the image further. He explains how believers are now a slave to righteousness. What does he mean?
As we near the end of our psalms of ascent, the pilgrim's attention is turned to the community ahead—a nation worshiping together in Israel.
It can all seem like our accomplishment: our journey, our success, our worship. But Psalm 133 teaches us that community is never an achievement. Psalm 133 teaches us to receive.
Psalm 131 remembers the faithfulness of David through difficulty—suffering inflicted by others and his own personal failures. Still, David persevered on.
The Psalm also recounts the faithfulness of God. It teaches us the relationship between remembering and obeying, that faithfulness is always marked by a memory of God's faithfulness.
Psalm 131 is a maintenance psalm, a kind of soul pruning for our hearts and eyes. The psalm teaches us to have hope in God, a kind of hope that leads us to a deeper rest and contentment in him.
It is a lesson many of us need to be reminded of. As the world seems to unravel, we focus our hearts and eyes on what matters most. Hope in the Lord, now and forever more.
Psalm 129 is about the reality of trials and suffering. God's people can always speak of their trials. It is a part of this journey. Even today, around the world, brothers and sisters of faith continue to face persecution and trials. But Psalm 129 interjects an equal reality. God is righteous.
Psalm 128 describes what it is like to fear the Lord, but it's images are surprising. Fearing the Lord requires a recognizing of dependence, but with that recognition comes the opportunity to receive: food, family, and health.
Psalm 126 is about perspective. The Psalmist teaches us to look back on the amazing things God has done for his people, to realize God is good in the present, and to anticipate all that God has in store. The effect is gladness and joy.
God promises he will do good for his people. He promises not to let wickedness rule over his people as to tempt them to wickedness. The faithfulness of God's goodness motivates us to continue doing good.
Had God not been for us we would have been swallowed alive.
How did Israel survive? How after invasions and enslavement and assimilation did God persevere a remnant? Because God was with them—form them. Psalm 124 looks at the miraculous gift of God's Faithfull perseverance.
Not everyone thought the psalmist's pilgrimage to Jerusalem was a good idea. The psalmist admits feeling the disdain of others. So he turns to God in prayer. Show us mercy. As we fix our eyes on you, turn your attention to us.
As we continue our way through the psalms of ascent, Psalm 122 looks ahead to the final destination—Jerusalem. The psalmist anticipates the joy of passing through her gates and being a part of Jerusalem's community for worship. The psalm concludes with a series of prayers for peace.
If there is one psalm that might be most associated with our current crisis, it is surely Psalm 91. With its specific reference to protection from a plague, it’s not hard to see why.
But Psalm 91 says something more—something better. We’ll attempt to see the whole psalm and how its promises build toward things we would never have had the boldness to request.
As we continue on the path, guided by the Psalms of Ascent, the psalmist begins to worry about all that can go wrong: accidents, weather, evil. Psalm 121 asks a very practical question. Where will our help come from?
This week, we begin a new section of the psalms known as the Psalms of Ascent. They were often read by travelers as they approached Jerusalem for one of Israel’s religious festivals.
They have long been used by other believers as an analogy for their own pilgrimage toward God. They teach us to reflect and pray about things we otherwise might not have considered.
Psalm 23 is one of the most well-known passages in the Bible. But that familiarity comes with a challenge. Its images and ideas can pick up a sentimental nostalgia that keeps us from feeling the real impact of its message.
Psalm 23 offers us the remarkable realization that the valley of death's shadow can be the very place the shepherd leads us to find green grass and calm water.
Happy Easter! The stone the builders rejected has become the cornerstone. There was no amount of power or money that could cover up his resurrection. Jesus was alive.
It was all as he had predicted. And in predicting his vindication, Jesus turned to Psalm 118. It is a psalm of worship which captured the remarkable reversal of God's blessing on those men had rejected. It may have been this very psalm that was on Jesus' mind as he headed to the cross and that first morning of his resurrection.
David had accumulated everything a person could, wealth, power, position, but the rebellion of his own son Absalom left him devastated and fleeing for his life. It exposed how little control David actually had, how little control any of us have.
Psalm 62 is David's reflection on this devastating time and how he urged himself to still trust in God's power and steadfast love.
The Bible is never sentimental about our suffering. It never peddles easy solutions or gimmicks. It is honest about the ways suffering leaves us feeling isolated and in darkness. But there is a kind of mercy in that this psalm even exists—that the Bible is willing to be this honest. That mercy trains us for our own days of suffering.
Psalm 88 is known as an imprecatory psalm. It is one of the most extreme laments in the psalter. Yet it too has been a part of believer's worship for centuries.
The Psalms are characterized by frankness and honesty. And they don't imagine that believers escape the experience of human emotions. Instead, the Psalms catalog the human experience and instruct us on how to pray through our emotions. David's fearful prayer of Psalm 56 is a perfect example.
Having established how believers had received justification and reconciliation, Paul turned his attention to the power of sin.
If god's grace is free and more abundant where sin abounds than should Christians even worry about sin? Should we go on sinning so more grace will abound?
Paul describes how believers have shared in the death and resurrection of Jesus. How can those who have died to sin now live in sin?
Having addressed how Jesus' death and resurrection had made a way for humanity to become righteous by faith, Paul next turned his attention to the problem of sin. If we were now reconciled to God and if God was making us righteous through Jesus, why do we still experience sin and particularly sin's consequence of death?
Having explained how God is welcoming humanity into his covenant through faith, Paul next turns to explain the implications of what this reconciliation means. We now have peace with God, access to his presence, and the ability to rejoice in the revelation of his glory. Even in suffering, we are compelled to hope.
Paul often anticipates the objections of his audience and in chapter four, he not only anticipates their interest in Abraham but uses this Old Testament character to deepen his point about faith. Abraham's faith grew stronger as he gave glory to God, hope against hope.
By the end of chapter three, Paul had finally reached the culminating point of his explanation, Jesus. Though humanity was lost in sin and no one was searching for God, God had now intervened.
After three chapters of discussing sin, Paul reached his final conclusion: no one is righteous.
For Paul, that is best described by the phrase, "all are under sin." Sin is not just mistaken choices or wrong decisions. Sin is a force that influences all of who we are. This is the problem facing humanity. The power of sin's influence.
Paul knows that what he has been writing could be misunderstood or intentionally manipulated. In what is one of the most complex passages of scripture, Paul answers objections to the points he's been making. Is there any advantage to knowing the revelations of God?
Having described the way that sin distorts our thinking and desires, how we suppress the truth, Paul now turns his attention to those who know the truth. But as Paul will soon point out, possessing the law isn't enough. Those who know still fail to do.
Before Paul addresses specific questions in Rome, he turns his attention to leveling the playing field. In chapter 3, Paul will declare that no one seeks God. He works his way there by explaining how the human heart suppresses the truth and refuses to give thanks to God. For Paul, a lack of gratitude is at the heart of sin.
In this introductory sermon, we take a look at the historical background of Paul's letter, both in Rome and with Paul. We also look at how Paul consistently approaches challenges with the gospel. As he put it in this first chapter to the Romans, "for I am not ashamed of the gospel."
Join us for our annual Christmas Eve service as we reflect on the meaning of Christ's birth and the significance of how Christ was born into the world—a divided world.
Dan Boever shares his personal testimony and explains how God has proved himself to be present even through challenging times.
Jonathan Lopez shares his personal testimony and explains how God has proved himself to be present even through challenging times.
KyAnne Weaver shares her personal testimony and explains how God has proved himself to be present even through challenging times.
Paul Smith shares his personal testimony and explains how God has proved himself to be present even through challenging times.
This week, we kick off our annual Immanuel series. We look at the promise in Isaiah that one day a virgin will give birth to a child and his name will be Immanuel.
For several weeks we have been comparing the growth of a church with the growth of a tree. But trees are rarely alone. They grow in the surrounding of other trees—woods. It's easy to focus too much attention on our church and miss that God is working in churches across the street and around the world. God calls us to a perspective broader than ourselves.
The most visible life of a tree is its leaves. They are a sign of health and often the first to signal sickness. For a church, the most visible sign of life is how a community of believers cares for one another. As Jesus pointed out, "they will know you are my followers by the love you have for one another."
What is it that a church does when it meets together? In Acts 2, the church commits itself to teaching, fellowship, communion, and prayer. These have often been called the four marks of the church. We look at the importance of these marks and how they shape who we are as a church.
"They love Jesus but not the church." We've all heard it and sometimes felt it as well. But for thousands of years, the church continues to exist with its traditions, structures, and history. What's wrong and what's right with the church as an institution?
This week we look at our third value—worship. What does it mean for the church's primary purpose to be worship and how does this value impact everything else the church does?
Every church exists in a particular place with particular people. A church is not abstract and neither is the gospel. God's kingdom comes not just into church services but into office cubicles, bedrooms, and around dinner tables. But like a tree growing roots into the ground, the gospel often does its work slow but faithfully.
1 Kings ends with the final appearance of Ahab. He is determined to attack Syria and reclaim his land. Enlisting the king of Judah, things seem to be coming back together. Could Ahab have finally found his way, God's way?
But soon enough, Ahab reveals his true self. He is doing everything he can to avoid the word of God and his prophets.
This week we continue with Ahab's story, but this time the story turns more personal. Ahab is frustrated by his inability to purchase a nearby vineyard. His frustrations reveal more of his character and the concluding prophetic word links his character with his idol worship. We become like what we worship.
Chapter 20 turns our attention to Ahab. He has been characterized by passivity and timidity, constantly tossed around by other's advice. That pattern continues into war, but through God's miraculous victory, Ahab appears to find new courage.
But an unnamed prophet soon exposed his courage for the same underlining fear. The prophet shows us the character and source of true courage.
How could Elijah go from running in optimism to running in fear? Elijah became so frustrated that he abandoned Israel and prayed that God would end his life.
It's remarkable that the Bible offers us inside looks at the struggles of these remarkable Biblical heroes. Elijah was a man just like us. And God would not abandon him. Elijah would soon discover that he was not alone. He never was.
Elijah's showdown with the prophets of Baal is one of the most familiar stories from 1 Kings. But there is more to the story than we may have realized. Elijah's prayer was that Israel might recognize that God was changing the hearts of his people.
After three years of drought, Elijah was called back to Israel. But before his dramatic showdown with the prophets of Baal, Elijah meets Obadiah.
While Elijah had been faithful in obscurity, Obadiah was attempting a similar faithfulness in the halls of power. But Elijah's appearance creates a temptation for Obadiah, one he finally overcomes.
Out of the long line of degenerating kings steps the prophet Elijah. His boldness makes him the target of Abab and one of the most important voices in Israel. But he is on the run. And God sends him to the most unlikely place for help. Elijah must be saved by a widow and her son.
Chapters 15 and 16 are transitions between the stories of David, Solomon, and Reheboam and the coming stories of Elijah. The chapters seem to be summary statements about a line of Israel and Judah's kings. But upon a closer look, each king is evaluated by a single feature. It is not their achievements, wealth, or power. They are evaluated by their heart.
We've seen how Israel's kings continue to grasp for control. And we've seen how the more they attempt to maintain control the more God thwarts their attempts. But these kings live like we so often do. When their lives fall apart, they go on pretending everything is perfectly under control.
Just after learning of Israel's division into two kingdoms, we are given the strange story of the two prophets. It's a puzzle, a kind of parable. It suggests, that the Bible is not naive to the puzzle of our own situations. But there is always a discernible thread, the words of God.
Solomon had left his kingdom ready to collapse, and upon his death it did. How could the great kingdom of Israel be so deeply divided? Surprisingly, through the voice of a prophet, we discover that God is its cause.
For ten chapters, Solomon has appeared to have success after success. But as his story continues, he becomes less the center of his own story. Though Solomon imagines he has everything under control, he is less in control than ever—and that is a good thing.
Solomon's wisdom expresses itself in not only wealth but also in the respect of foreign kings and queens. Even the Queen of Sheba would glorify Israel's God because of Solomon's success. But like so much of 1 Kings, the attention will prove more than Solomon can handle.
Solomon had finally finished the temple. An in an event fitting for its achievement, Solomon dedicated the temple before all of Israel.
Yet in his accomplishment, God continued to speak to Solomon. Each time he offered the same message—obey.
The temple is one of the greatest achievements in Israel's history. And Solomon is remembered for his leadership in having completed it. Solomon appeared to be fulfilling all of Israel's greatest hopes. The temple was the new garden of Eden.
But not all things are as they appear.
Having established his kingdom and secured peace, Solomon turned his attention to doing something great for God. Solomon would build a temple for God. It's hard to imagine anything could be negative about a project that focused on the glory of God, but once again, there is more to this story. Solomon's project is a warning about the ways we lose God in the process of doing things for God.
Having received God's gift of wisdom, we jump to the conclusion that Solomon's administrative success must be the outcome of his blessing from God, but there are signs of more complex things beneath the surface. Success is not always an indicator of success.
Solomon's character continues to be questionable. By chapter three, we are wondering if he is fit to be king. We wonder if God could find someone better. But when we least expect it, God demonstrates kindness and paitence in a way we wouldn't expect.
Before his death, David offered Solomon his final advice. Much of it sounds like the God-centered encouragement we would expect from the author of the psalms, but David quickly slips into vengeful self-centeredness. Solomon will soon find himself pulled in by the same force.
As David prepares today, questions of succession began to spread amongst his family. Adonijah seems the frontrunner, but Solomon will take the crown. But where is God in this process?
Many are familiar with Paul's famous line, "I can do all things through Him who strengthens me." But what catches our attention is "I". Paul was not describing a superhuman ability that Jesus grants us, he was describing how the glory and riches of Christ so shifts our perspective as to change the things that matter most to us. What we are left with is a deep contentment.
As Paul reaches the end of his letter, his attention turns to known people and the reality of existing conflicts. But Paul turns those involved inward to consider their own anxiety and our struggle with finding peace.
In the second half of chapter 3, Paul continues to describe how knowing Christ is more valuable than all of his previous accomplishments. Paul turns now to an analogy of a runner pressing for the finish line. Paul calls the Philippians to continue pressing to know Christ.
Having urged the Philippians to sacrifice their self-interest for one another and having shown them how Christ was their example, Paul now turns to his own life and offers the Philippians his greatest desire: that he might know Christ more.
Brad Lombardi shares a special Easter message with us as we reflect on the death and resurrection of Christ.
Paul has offered some of his most moving language to describe the incarnation of Christ and his own willingness to sacrifice his life. But Paul also wants to offer the Philippians examples of how Christ's humility can be lived ou tin the everyday world of Philippi.
Paul offers them the examples of Timothy and Epaphroditus.
"It seems to be a fact that you have to suffer as much from the Church as for it but if you believe in the divinity of Christ, you have to cherish the world at the same time that you struggle to endure it.” — Flannery O'Connor
Paul knows how difficult Christian community can be. Our tendency to reach for our own benefit constantly poisons the possibility of true friendship and love. But Paul offers another way.
Paul offered the Philippians the example of Christ, who didn't count his Godhood something to take advantage of but humbled himself to take on the most humbling of human experiences. This is what Paul calls the Philippians to work out, their salvation offered through Christ's self-emptying.
Chris Lamberth takes a look at Paul's call for the Philippians to live "worth of the gospel."
Chris helps us understand how the gospel reshapes our motives and how it teaches us to deny ourselves and live for him.
In this introductory sermon, we cover the background of Paul's letter to the Philippians as well as his prayer for this church.
We have finally reached the end of Acts, but it's not what you might have expected. Luke seems to stop the story without an ending.
It is a freeze-frame, Paul proclaiming the Gospel in Rome with boldness and without hindrance. As a reader, we are left to decide how this story should end. We are pulled into it. Participants in the kingdom's work.
Paul makes his final defense before Festus and King Agrippa II. Luke draws together the developing themes of Paul's three speeches into a dramatic and poignant final moment.
For Paul, his message is clear. Jesus suffered and was raised from death as the first of a great resurrection to come. This message is the light which had transformed Paul's life and was now being declared to Jews and Gentiles. but that message was not received by Agrippa or Festus. One saw it as madness the other wasn't so quickly convinced.
Under threat of assassination, Paul was transferred to Felix where he would again face Jewish accusations.
Paul again shows himself courageous even in the face of an unjust ruler and court. Paul places his confidence not in his citizenship, his case, or the judge but in the hope he has in God.
The Roman tribune was attempting to gather information about Paul. He decided to gather the Sanhedrin.
Things deteriorated quickly. But Paul shrewdly navigates the political and debate to reveal the truth, he is hardly the instigator.
Paul finally reached Jerusalem and as expected, there were those unwelcoming to his return. Paul's attempts to go to the temple are met with a mob and public beating, eventually interrupted by the Roman Tribune and his soldiers.
Paul reminds us that our Christian faith rarely fits into the powers and politics of our world. Yet still, Paul manages to demonstrate that far from being an enemy, he is much like the Jews and the Romans who beat him. We are in this world but never of it—citizens of heaven.
Paul continues his trip to Jerusalem. As he goes, he is continually warned about what he faces.
Still, Paul is determined, driven by the Spirit, compelled to give. Josh walks us through the passage and helps us recognize how each of us is called and the inevitable sacrifices that calling requires.
Before Paul arrives in Jerusalem, he stops in Miletus and gathers the church leaders of Ephesus. There he says his final goodbyes. He offers them final words, knowing that they will never see each other again.
Paul's final words are striking, a summary of the way in which he had served, ministered, and lived among them. It is more blessed to give than to receive.
Paul has begun his journey back to Jerusalem. he knows that what awaits him is the risk of riots, arrest, and possibly execution.
As a reader, we assume that what follows will be Jerusalem, but Paul stops in at Troas. At Troas, we are introduced to Eutychus, a young man who drifts off to sleep during Paul's sermon. Asleep, he falls from a third story window to his death.
Paul, speaks life over him, passes out communion, and goes back to preaching until sunrise.
God's with us finds its first promise in Isaiah, to a king terrified by the prospects of war. The radical message of Christianity is that God would go to such lengths to reveal himself to us, to give us a sign of his presence.
Josh Havens shares his personal story and how Immanuel requires us to be honest about who we really are.
Chris reminds us that God proves himself most with us not just in the conclusion of life but all along the complex narratives of living.
Christmas is the season of Advent, a time of waiting and anticipating. So too, all of life is Advent: a careful watching and waiting for Christ's return and the restoration of all things. Between Christ's birth and his return, we are not alone. We are given the spirit, made a temple of his presence. God with us.
Justus Boever begins our Christmas series by describing his heart for missions and how Christmas is a missionary event, the God who came into the world to reveal himself and save even the one.
Luke chooses Ephesus as the final image of Paul's missionary work.
It proves to be fruitful and frustrating with miracles, converts, riots, and persecution. Luke uses the stories to give us a picture of how we respond to the gospel. It's an important final perspective.
Paul was finished with his second missionary journey and on his journey back to his home church in Antioch. But Luke takes us back to a new character, Apollos.
Apollos is a common name in the New Testament but a relatively minor character in Acts. It's puzzling why Luke would take the time to introduce us to him without him ever being mentioned again in Acts.
Eventually, Luke's reasons come through. For as prominent as Paul is in Acts, this is not Paul's story. This is the story of how Jesus is continuing his work through the Spirit. Luke leaves no room for celebrities in his story.
Corinth is Paul's furthers point from home on his second missionary journey. It's also a time, in his own words, of fear and trembling.
Paul had been beaten, stoned, jailed, isolated, smuggled out of towns and drug before rulers. Arriving at Corinth, Paul was alone and worn down. He couldn't have imagined how his time in Corinth would have proved so encouraging.
Paul arrives in Athens. The great church apostle is in the great city of Greek philosophy.
The Greeks weren't too impressed with his preaching. They taunted him as a babbler and after listening to his message mocked his hope in the resurrection.
It is hardly the first time accusations have been made against Paul or the church. From the beginning, Christians found themselves defending their faith before religious leaders and politicians.
But unlike the great speeches of Peter and Stephen, these accusations against Paul go unanswered. They are left hanging—left for us to consider. Wherever the gospel is preaching, the world is turned upside down; Christ is king.
No sooner had the church reconciled its disputes at the Jerusalem council than we discover another dispute, this time in the most unexpected place—Paul and Barnabas.
Two of the church's most prominent leaders ended up in sharp disagreement, and this time there was no reconciliation. Frustrated, the two friends split and each when their own way.
Luke is careful not to take sides, but he doesn't white-wash the embarrassing moment. He wants us to see how easily our personalities drive wedges between friends. He also hopes we will see how God works even the worst of our personalities for his good.
No one likes talking about conflict, but we all experience it. For all of the early church's successes, they weren't exempt from conflict.
Paul and Barnabas are surprised to find teachers from Jerusalem teaching their congregations in Antioch that without circumcision, you can't be saved. Paul adamantly disagrees. The dispute leads to the first church council in Jerusalem.
It's not a blueprint for handling conflict, but paying attention to their conversation helps us learn about how to better handle our own.
The crowds are becoming a major theme in the book of Acts. From Pentecost to the preaching in the temple, from the mob of the Sanhedrin at Stephen's stoning to the frenzy of the crowd at Lystra, crowds play an increasingly important role in the narrative.
But look never presents the church as a crowd. Christians never take to the streets to make their points. Instead, we are given the stories of individual lives: Ananias, Cornelius, an Ethiopian servant, Dorcus, Joseph, Rhoda.
Paul and Barnabas were becoming used to persecution. They were frequently being run out of town. But not at Lystra. At Lystra they were declared Gods.
The Bible routinely warns us of the temptation to play God. Paul and Barnabas recognize it. They go running into the crowd, tearing their clothes, and declaring, "we are men just like you." In what ways are we tempted to be God? What does it mean to be human?
Where the gospel is preached there is confrontation. When the Lord called Saul, he called him to be an instrument to preach before Kings and Gentiles. He also promised that faithfulness to that calling would bring suffering.
It doesn't take long for that suffering to begin. But the confrontation of the gospel begins first in Saul's calling itself. The gospel always confronts us before it confronts others through our message.
Acts 12 begins the transition away from the Jerusalem church and to the missionary stories of Paul.
That makes this final image fo the church so significant. The world around them moves under the control of political manipulation, but the church gathers in prayer. By their prayers, they are more in touch with reality than all the kings and crowds.
Acts makes it clear that it was the Spirit that pulled the church into the world.
The challenge the church faces is how to recognize what God is doing and join in that work. Paul will describe this process as "walking in step with the Spirit." But that process isn't easy. To recognize the Spirit means facing our prejudices honestly.
Peter and Barnabas become models to help us learn that process.
Peter and Cornelius could not be drawn in stronger contrasts. One a devout Jew and leader of the Jerusalem church who had never broken the food laws; the other a military man, a cog in the occupation force of Rome.
Yet both receive visions from God and drawn together under one room by the Holy Spirit. As they talk, it becomes clear that neither Peter nor Cornelius is leading the conversation. God is.
It is our prejudices—our pre-judgments—that often keep us from recognizing how the Spirit is at work around us. As we go about drawing conclusions about people and experiences, we deeply stunt our ability to recognize a God who is at work in places and ways we often write off.
The conversion of Saul on his way to Damascus is one of the most famous passages of Scripture.
But tucked into the story is another man, Ananias. His story, like Saul's, shapes not only the way we think about the initial moment of our conversion but also how we continue in the way of Jesus.
Philip is given the command to go. He isn't told where. He isn't told why. Only go. He obeys.
His obedience leads to the conversion of an Ethiopian on his way home. Through Philip alone, the gospel has gone to Samaria and to the ends of the earth. The call feels absurd, but often it is the miraculous opportunity of the Spirit's leading.
With new persecution in Jerusalem, the church began to spread and as they went they continued to preach. Philip was just one of those who covered the Judean and Samaritan towns with news of the Gospel.
In Samaria, Philip met Simon, a magician who dealt in amazement. But Simon's faith is more complicated than it first appears. Simon's faith is not interested in change but in the acquisition of control and power.
The death of Stephen is the culmination of an escalating tension in Jerusalem. The religious leaders had finally had enough. Stephen would become the first martyr of the Christian church, but not before he could deliver one of the most important speeches in Acts.
Stephen's speech is the largest portion of Acts 7, but it was more than his words that are remembered. Stephen was given a vision of Jesus Christ. His vision is a powerful word to the church.
Luke offers us two examples of life inside the church, Barnabas and Ananias with his wife Sapphira. We are most familiar with their story as an example of financial giving. But close attention reveals more going on.
Acts 5 is a warning that the greatest threats to the church are not external but internal.
Storm clouds of persecution are blowing in on Jerusalem. The threat Jesus had posed to the political establishment was now being found in his followers.
You would imagine prayers for favor and protection, but the first Christians prayed for boldness. What is unique about the boldness of the apostles and the first-century church.
With God's spirit poured out at Pentecost, a new truth was settling in. God was on the move. The healing of the crippled man, outside the temple gate, was proof.
God was not waiting, he was meeting and restoring brokenness. The kingdom was coming and with it the restoration of all things.
Luke doesn't end the Pentecost events with the miraculous salvation of 3,000. Instead, he ends with a picture of the church's common life together.
It is a passage that has been abused by many, but it's image challenges all of our ideas and expectations concerning community.
Peter stood to bear witness to what the crowd was experiencing. This had always been Jesus' promise; they would be his witnesses once they had received the Holy Spirit.
Jesus doesn't give them the command to witness but knows that they will having experienced his presence through the spirit.
When Pentecost came so did the Spirit. Thick with layers of Biblical imagery, Luke's picture of the church's spirit baptism is a powerful depiction of God's presence with his people.
It was a crucial moment for the church and a necessity in fulfilling their purpose. The disciples needed 40 days of education from the resurrected Lord, but knowledge was not enough. They needed an experience of God that would compel them into worship and witness.
The book of Acts is a story of action—miracles, riots, persecution, Spirit-empowered speeches, missionary journeys, and explosive growth. The story is epic, one of the great stories of all times.
But it doesn't begin as we might expect. Jesus last command to his disciples before his ascension was to wait. Waiting is the opening stance of the church and waiting is the action which drives forward the events of the early church.
Chapters 21-24 provide us with the final image of David. Like so much of his life, it is a mixed bag. Complicated stories, deep friendships and honest prayer before God.
At the center of this image are David's final words, a psalm. And in that psalm four titles which have come to define David: psalmist, anointed, exalted, and son. Those titles walk leave us with the final image of David; a life of integrity; a man after God's own heart.
Chapters 19 and 20 bring the chronological story of David to a conclusion. David, having defeated Absalom's rebellion makes his way back to Jerusalem. Our expectations are of fanfare: victory parades, speeches of reconciliation, and the restored hope of a divine throne—a man after God's own heart.
But the story takes a bizarre and unexpected turn. Your expectations are dashed as the story unravels into ambiguity and chaos. What do we do when there is no "happily ever after?"
The conflict has been inevitable; David and Absalom will face off in battle. But David's men won't let him join the fight. David is dismissed from his own story. He is forced to acknowledge that his own future is not in his hands.
Worse, David faces an impossible situation. To save his life will mean the death of his son. To save his son will mean the loss of his life.
Thomas Paine famous expressed, "These are the times that try men's souls." The crisis doesn't make the man, it reveals him. David's faith was immerging through the conflicting advice he was forced to navigate.
Now we turn to Absalom. Absalom with face a critical decision between his two advisors. It will prove to be a time that will, in fact, reveal his soul. Absalom chooses foolishly.
As David flees Jerusalem, he encounters various individuals. Some speak of faithfulness, others violence, and Shimei comes with words of condemnation. As David passes, Shimei shots down curses.
We don't like to surround ourselves with people like Shimei. In looking for advisors, we prefer affirmation and positivity. But David is willing to hear Shimei's words. As one commentator put it, Shemi's curses "stripped off the royal veneer" of David's public image. Shemei's curses forced David's integrity, the truth of who he was, to become his public reality.
The consequences of David's sins are real and painful. But Absalom seems most angered by the fact it hasn't cost David the throne.
For all that David has done, he continues to be God's chosen king. Absalom see's God's faithfulness as injustice and is determined to take the throne for himself.
David was honest in the confession of his sins. And though God's first words were forgiveness, he was also told that the sword would not depart from his house—there would be consequences.
That's hard to hear. We hope that forgiveness means a way out of the consequences. But David's life challenges our view of forgiveness and shows us a better way.
God wouldn't allow David to live a divided life. God sent for Nathan and Nathan delivered a powerful message to the King—you are the man!
With that simple realization, David's world is forced back into its proper place, aware of God. David responds with confession and breathtaking faith.
It's not an easy chapter to read. The story of David's fateful night with Bathsheba will have repercussions for many chapters to come.
But for those who have paid careful attention, we aren't entirely surprised. Slowly David's character has been developing into two selves: a public image and a private reality. Deeper than his adultery, David's life has become disengaged from God. It's there we find the greatest risk.
We have been surprised by David's kindness. In chapter ten, his kindness stretches even to his enemies, the Ammonites.
But that kindness is rejected—thrown back at him as a humiliating insult. The limits of David's love is put to the test. The Bible holds no naive or sentimental ideas about love. Love always leaves us vulnerable and often makes our lives far more complicated. But in the midst of the complexities we are given a word of courage—faith.
God was giving David victory wherever he went. It got David thinking about a promise he had made years ago. David had promised never to forget his friend Jonathan. So David went looking for someone from Jonathan’s house to whom he could show kindness.
David’s kindness is an important word in the Hebrew bible—hesed. David is in a unique position to help us better understand this word, both by his kindness and by the kindness he has received from God.
David has come a long way from hiding in caves in the wilderness of En Gedi. Now he sets in a palace of cedar. But that got him thinking.
David lives in a palace, but the ark is in a tent. David has an idea. He will build a house for God, a temple as impressive as his palace. There is one problem with his plan; God won't allow what David is doing to obscure what God is doing.
The ark's return to public worship was a monumental event in Israel's history. For too long it had been in hiding. David was determined to give it a place of honor in his new city of Jerusalem. The parade that day must have been awe-inspiring. 30,000 of David's finest troops worshiping and singing as the ark rolled along guided by Uzzah and Ahio.
Everything was going so well until the ox stumbled and Uzzah reached up to steady the ark. Immediately he was struck dead.
David was finally crowned king. His first move was to secure a new capital city, Jerusalem. The chapter moves from success to success—captured cities and military conquest, children and royal palaces.
But subtly another story is developing beneath the surface. David's life and motives are more complicated than we initially realize.
As Israel's civil war drags on across years, David faces a test, patience. Everywhere he is surrounded by desperate and determined men. Betrayal, deception, manipulation, assassination, politics, bartering over the lives of women and concubines, trials and judgments, death sentences and executions. It is into this complicated moment David is called to follow and to wait on the Lord.
Israel is without a king. It doesn't take long for conflict to break out. Abner and Joab find themselves jockeying for power. Their angling and scheming suggest something profound about competition. Our tendency to compare ourselves to others often leads to competition that too frequently turns violent.
Saul is dead. David receives the news. We would expect him to quickly seize the throne. Now was finally his moment. His advisors must have urged him to act quickly. But David does something unexpected.
David writes a poem; he writes a poem in honor of Saul and Jonathan. David teaches Israel to lament.
Linda Bates shares her story of how God revealed himself through faithfulness and healing.
Trent Selsor shares his story of how God revealed himself through the testing of faith.
It is done. With those words, God declares are things are made new. What follows is the incredible and unexpected reworking of all things: bodies, creation, work...
All things are made new. Revelation 21-22 is a remarkable conclusion to not only the book but the entire storyline of the Bible.
You wouldn't have predicted the Millennium or Satan's release. Having finally beaten the forces of evil at Armageddon, we expect the story to draw to a close, but it doesn't. In the full knowledge and experience of Christ's rule, humanity still believes the lie and turns away from God.
The final moments of earth are not a vindictive God determined to crush those who oppose him, but instead, he is a patient God. He reveals more than we had expected. He waits longer than we could predict. We are left without excuse. We are given what we most desire.
The book of Revelation takes its time getting to chapter 19. The images of judgment and wrath have been long and difficult to work through. But what waits in chapter 19 is astonishing—salvation. A chorus of Hallelujahs breaks out culminating in the Marriage Supper of the Lamb and the return of Christ on his white horse.
For those who believe and endure, it is the final realized expectation of God’s promise to redeem and rescue his people.
John is a great pastor. He takes his time as he builds to the final moments of Revelation. He is in no rush. He wants to make sure we are well prepared for what is to come.
His question is one of hope. What are we really hoping for? Where are we placing our trust? What kind of salvation are we looking for?
It is the end—the final moments of judgment. By the end of chapter 17 we read God's words, "It is done." The world experiences the final full trajectory of their sins, and still, they refuse to repent.
In this sermon, we also look at common explanations for reconciling the book of Revelation with other end-times scriptures.
Revelation has been building to the moment of final judgment. The moment has almost arrived, but not without more warnings. Three angels take their place in the sky declaring the gospel, the deception, and the coming judgment.
The image is of a God patient, long-suffering and not willing that any should perish.
Revelation describes Satan as a defeated enemy, thrashing around in desperation and bitterness. In chapter 13, Satan calls for his henchmen, two additional beasts—a kind of unholy trinity.
These two beasts describe the typical tactics Satan uses to persecute and diminish the church. His tactics are force and fraud—power and propaganda.
Last week we were introduced to the beast. Chapter 12, gives us a bigger image. We are told that this dragon, with 7 heads and 10 horns, is the ancient serpent—satan. We have this image of the devil, covered in red scales, with his pitchfork and horns, standing on our shoulder opposite of the angel. It's a cartoon.
Revelation gives us a better image. Satan is a defeated foe, thrashing around in his final moments. We soon discover that for all his power, he is beaten by the simple word of our testimony—the word of the slaughtered lamb.
As God begins to remove his hand in judgment, John is given a task: a book to eat and a message to speak. As the images of chapters 10-11 build, we are taken deeper into the church's call to witness.
The experience of the church's witness, like the scroll is both sweet and bitter, but in the end, it is the hope of resurrection.
The Seven Trumpets are an image of God's judgment. Reading about wrath is a difficult topic. We prefer to talk about love and acceptance.
But God's wrath and his love are not as opposed as we usually think about them. In fact, the very act of God's wrath is also an act of his love. Revelation helps us recognize it.
The lamb has the scroll and in it, the mysteries of God locked up by these seven seals. These seven seals are the history of suffering, war, and poverty—they are the human experience. The experience that for many has made faith a struggle.
Like the martyrs who cry out from beneath the throne, "how much longer," how can God say he is in control when evil and suffering seem to be the real experience of history. The bible isn't naive or cliche about that struggle. It sets the human experience of suffering right down beside the image of the throne.
Chapters four and five are John's second vision. Before he had watched as Christ walked amongst the churched—on the ground. Now John's attention is turned upward to an open door. Stepping through it, he finds himself at the throne of God.
What is happening there is far more important than how it appears. John finds himself caught up in worship. It gives us one of the most important images of worship in scripture. Worship is not something we initiate but something we are invited to participate in. That makes a big difference.
The church at Laodicea was rich and self-sufficient. They had convinced themselves they were content. But their contentment was a flimsy, self-constructed, Godless pride.
Jesus has strong words for this church, but he reproves those he loves and he holds open the possibility that this church may hear his knock and allow him in.
The church at Philadelphia was up against a lot. Jewish persecution, Roman disdain, a town that was being abandoned and under constant risk. But in the midst of it was this congregation of believers.
Jesus tells them that he has set a door of opportunity before them; all they must do is believe with patient endurance. That request is hard when we want to take charge and create our own opportunities.
The city of Sardis was not what it used to be. It was a place out of the limelight of Rome. Being a Christian in Sardis was easier than other places.
That had earned the Sardis church a reputation for being alive—blessed. But Jesus saw through it. Their spiritual apathy had left them dead.
Brad Lombardi shares about MWBx and Jesus' parable of persistence in prayer.
Be encouraged never to give up trusting and believing that God is at work doing good.
The church at Thyatira was alive to God. Jesus commended them for their increasing spiritual zeal. But he had one thing against them. They had allowed a false teacher to lead them into idolatry.
The teacher's pitch was access to deeper things, spiritual secrets, and hidden knowledge. Jesus offered an alternative, "only hold on to what you already have."
The church at Pergamum continued to follow Christ, but increasingly it was a private faith.
They were falling under false teaching that justified private faithfulness and public accommodations. But true faithfulness makes no distinctions between public and private.
The church at Smyrna is the only one that still exists today. In modern day Izmir, Turkey, a small congregation still worships. They face pressure and persecution just like their founders.
Jesus has nothing negative to say about this church, but he does warn them that they are about to face suffering. In reality, we all are—sometime in some way. So what do we do when we suffer? How do we live out Jesus' command, "Don't be afraid."
The church at Ephesus is the first to receive a word from Christ. It forms a pattern for the other six messages.
To the church at Ephesus Jesus affirmed their commitment to truth and faithfulness, but one thing he had against them. They had lost the love they had at first. It is a constant tension. How do we hold fast to doctrinal convictions and embrace a sacrificial love for each other and our neighbors?
The book of Revelation was written by the apostle John. It was more than strange predictions about future things.
In the first chapter, John promises that whoever hears this book and lives it will be blessed. This book makes a difference in the world we live in now, just as much as in the things to come.
In the final stories of 1 Samuel David and Saul are again contrasted. David's life begins to flourish in generosity. Saul is desperate for control even in death.
David gives us a new way of thinking about being generous. It is a byproduct of a life that pays careful attention to God in all of the complicated details.
David is finally on his way out of the wilderness, but his destination is not where we imagined. David and his team will take up residence in Philistia under Achish his former enemy.
David will soon be caught in a complicated game of deception that will force him onto the battlefield to face Saul and his own people. David's faith is put to the test.
We are shocked at how quickly the life is drained out of David. With one insult from the nobody Nabal, David finds himself craving vengeance. Death and ugliness take over the story. Worse, he assumes God is by his side.
But David is stopped. He is brought to a stop by beauty. Not just a beautiful face, but words that pour the light of God into the barren wilderness landscape. David's hunger is refined.
David is still in the wilderness. There is more to learn.
Asleep in the back of a cave, David and his men are shocked to see Saul step into the entrance. They all come to the same conclusion; Saul is a dead man. David is about to become king. But David soon sees something else—annointing.
David teaches us to look closer. When we do, we discover far more going on around us than our eyes first recognized. The wilderness teaches us to watch—to see that the Lord is good and soaked into every detail of this wilderness life.
In chapter 23, David begins his first lesson in becoming king. David will learn to listen.
It is a certain kind of listening, listening through prayer. It's a skill that doesn't come naturally for us. David teaches us to settle down, quit ourselves and hear things we hadn't before.
David seemed to be on a fast-track to the throne. All of Israel was singing his praises. Saul was still mad, but even that might prove a political opportunity for David. We are surprised to see how quickly things begin to unravel.
By chapter 22, David will find himself alone, hiding in a wilderness cave. But he doesn't go into the wilderness empty handed.
David's defeat of Goliath produced a friendship with Jonathan, but will only serve to further enrage Saul.
As the end of chapter 18 puts it, Saul would now continually be David's enemy.
Saul and David's lives teach us a lot about enemies, even ones we might not have fully acknowledged.
David and Jonathan are one of the great pictures of friendship in the Bible. We need their story. We live in a world that's that's hard on friendship.
Jonathan and David give us another way.
David and Goliath might be the most well-known story in the Bible. It has become a part of our cultural imagination. "The bigger they are, the harder they fall."
But there is more to this story than just a giant. The chapter is shocked full of characters with advice and opinions. David finds himself at the center of it all. An unlikely place for a shepherd running errands for his dad.
John places Mary Magdolene at the center of the reserection story. It's not coincedence. Mary's story sets in place a reserection experience that we discover in our own lives
David had already been anointed king, but the story doesn't follow the plot we have come to expect. Where are the battles, the intrigue, the assassination, revolution?
Instead, David becomes a musician performing for the crazed and rejected King Saul. But a story is developing beneath the surface—one David couldn't even realize.
David enters the story halfway through the book of 1 Samuel. David's story will pick up, just as Saul's is coming undone.
But David's story can be hard to read. We have heard it so many times, we tend to read what we want and move too quickly past the parts that make us uncomfortable. There is plenty to make us uncomfortable.
David's story is complicated. But we learn from his introduction, his story teaches us to come to terms with our own complexities.
Chapter 15 is Saul's final chapter. He will continue to be king for years to come, but it won't be under God's authority. It will be an empty title. An empty title for an empty man.
Saul's life has been hollowed out. The image is still there. He still has is reputation and his self-delusions, but there is little that remains interested in God and faithfulness.
Saul's world is unraveling. He is becoming desperate, even paranoid. Convinced he needs to be at the center of the victory he is watching, Saul again rushes to action. This time a forced fast he forces on his army.
It will come with difficult consequences, but it teaches us about our own desperate need to stay in control.
The story of Jonathan and his armor bearer's assault on the Philistine garrison is one of the greatest in scripture. You can't help but be amazed at their courage.
But this is still Saul's story; Jonathan's faith only highlights Saul's unraveling power. The two teach us about true courage and our own willingness to take risks.
As well as things seemed to be going for Saul, chapter 13 brings it all to an abrupt halt. Things are unraveling. Saul's army is deserting. The Israelites fleeing out of the promise land. And Saul is desperate.
He waits as long as he can for Samuel, but finally, is overcome by the pressure of the moment and offers the sacrifice himself. It seems like a small sin to us—impatience. But for it Saul will lose is crown. How can that be?
Saul is shaping up to be a great king. He looks the part. Is spiritual life seems to be flourishing and he is about to lead Israel in one of its greatest victories over the Ammonites.
But more is going on than we first see. Israel sees all the good times as proof of a king's benefit. They draw the wrong conclusions and end up drifting away from God.
Finally, we get introduced to Saul. He will be crowned the first king of Israel. He looks every bit a king: tall, dark, from an aristocratic family. By all appearances, Saul is exactly what everyone had been hoping for.
Saul was exactly what Israel had asked for—a king like all the other nations. He would become an object lesson in the consequences of self-rule and pragmatism.
Chapter 8 is one of the most important events in Israel's history. Their demand for a king would set off a roller coaster ride of achievements and brutalizing oppression that would stretch across a significant part of the Old Testament. Ultimately it would cost Isreal so much of the peace and rest God had restored.
Worse than the outcome, God recognized their request was really a rejection of him as their king.
Samuel is finally back in the story, and none too soon. Israel is lamenting, devastated by the last three chapter's events. It looks like repentance, but Samuel digs deeper.
True repentance is more than sorrow or guilt. Samuel leads Israel into. He teaches us what it looks like to repent with our whole hearts.
The ark returns to Israel. We can only imagine how excited the Israelites working in their fields must have been to seen it. It was a miracle.
The Israelites immediately begin to worship. They are quick to make sacrifices but has everyone missed the point? Why had the ark been lost to begin with? Had anything in Israel actually changed because of it?
Chapter 6 forces Israel to take a hard look at their own hearts and wrestle with repentance.
The glory of God continues to move the story. Israel had tried to use God as an object and robbed his glory for themselves. Now they had lost the ark, the central symbol of God's personal relationship and history with them as his people.
It's now the Philistines' turn. They too learn the painful less, God's glory can not be defined, used, or stolen. God will be glorified. We learn with them the valuable lesson. God's glory must be kept at the center of our lives.
The ark is lost. It is one of the lowest most devastating moments in Israel's history. Who could it have happened?
The author of the books of Samuel is making a startling point. Israel thought they had gone; they thought they could carry the ark into battle and be assured of victory. But their crushing defeat was a remidner—God is not an object.
We too slide into the temptation of objectifying God. With it comes devastating consequences.
Israel is a barren place. Worship has disintegrated. Eli, the High Preist, seems distracted and his sons rob the worshipers of their sacrifices and women. 1 Samuel tells us that, "The word of the Lord was rare in those days."
We too know what it feels like to be distant from God. To remember his voice and find little evidence of it around us. But God calls Samuel. It is a bit of hope. God is at work again.
Samuel and his family give us a picture of a God who persistently speaks to us by name and the ways we can position ourselves to most easily recognize it.
1 Samuel introduces us to a new character, Hannah. She is barren. Israel is barren. With no son and no king, disappointment and discouragement rule the land.
Hannah finds little help from those around her. Culture, family, religion—all offer advice. Some of it sounds good, others leave her feeling crushed. But they are all distractions from what God is actually doing. Hannah finds a way through. A way to God. There she finds herself included in God’s plan of salvation.
Simeon didn't know what he was looking for, but he kept watching. The Holy Spirit compelled him. God was up to something—he wasn't sure what. But he was watching for it. Simeon teaches us to look for more this Christmas. He teaches us to watch for salvation.
Jesus ends his prayer with a view toward the future. He realizes that what lies ahead will be full of temptations—most that we will struggle to recognize. He teaches us to open our eyes and pay attention.
Jesus' insistence that we routinely pray for forgiveness is a reminder of how deep our sins are. Jesus doesn't just teach us to pray for forgiveness; he teaches us to practice it in our own forgiving.
Asking for things we need is probably the most common request of prayer. Jesus teaches us to practice is, but he also forces to ask deeper questions about what it is we really need.
Not a single politician anywhere in the country is running with a campaign slogan that promises meekness. We aren't even sure we like being described by the term. But Jesus says that it is, in fact, the meek who will inherit the earth.
We pray a lot about the will of God—mostly hoping God will let us know what's around the corner. In this sermon we discover what it means to pray for Gods will to be done, not just to be known.
There are few themes in the bible more prominent than the kingdom of God. It's not surprising that Jesus includes it, but what does it mean? How does it change the way we pray?
Hallowed isn't a term we use too often—Licoln once used it to hallow the ground at Gettysburg. But be honest, we aren't entirely sure what it means to begin our prayer with it. In this sermon, we work out a definition of this first request and consider how it changes our approach to prayer.
Jesus begins his prayer, not with a request but with a grounding reality—God is our father. Everything that comes after will be shaped by this truth. By Christ, we are made brothers and Sisters.
Before Jesus takes up the task of teaching his disciples how to pray, he first lays out some warnings.
The ending of the book of judges is boring—hard to get through.
For several chapters, we felt the tension and sin of Israel building. But no one had expected the story to fizzle out in this kind of mundane complexity.
The author of Judges is teaching us an important point about sin.
Samson and Delilah's story is one of the most well known in the book of Judges.
But the story might actually surprise you. Samson is a complex character by this point. Tired of his calling. Frustrated with God's relentless pursuit.
Samson can't help but be pulled into more violence.
Polarization, abuse, self-centeredness, Samson teaches us about our own world and the challenges of recognizing what God is doing.
A lion's carcass full of honey bees is a strange sight.
For Samson it is a test. All of his senses pulled into a moment, a sign, of what God is about to do. Samson misses it.
The prophecy of Samson's birth is a miracle.
But it isn't easy for everyone to see. Monoah, Samson's father, isn't involved the way he feels he deserves.
Jephthah's story is a major turning point in the story of Judges.
God, for the first time in the story of Judges, tells Israel that He will no longer deliver them. Their idolatry has spread too far and worked itself too deep.
Israel turns to Jephthah. His story helps us better understand God's own relationship with Israel and gives us a better understanding of true repentance.
Things continue to get worse for Israel. It is becoming more difficult to recognize the good guys from the bad. Abimelech is the first in all of scripture to claim the title of king. The story lays bare the rocky path of ambition.
Abimelech's story is a story about leadership and getting things done. Abimelech is a man of action. A man who our culture would applaud for initiative.
But judges forces us to take a closer look and has more difficult questions about who we are following and how we measure true leadership.
Gideon's story begins in hiding. By the end, Gideon can't keep himself out of the center of the story. Pride, we soon discover often finds its most fertile ground in those who have risen the furthest.
Gideon is an unlikely Judge. Hiding, trying to scrape out a living, he sure doesn't seem like a mighty warrior. But that's exactly how the angel of God sees it.
War has broken out in Israel. Leaders are hard to find. Reluctant and fearful, Israel finds strength in an unlikely leader.
They don't get any more strange than this. Ehud and Eglon are one of the most remarkable and weird stories in the whole bible. But more is going on than first catches our attention.
Chapter 1-2 of Judges introduces us to the narrative form that will give shape to the stories of Judges. We are also introduced to the first judge.