Grace Sagola Church: Recent Episodes
Ryan Flunker
We are a small community-driven, Christ-centered, bible-based, fun-and-fellowship-loving church located in the heart of the mining and logging country in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. God has shown his faithfulness to this congregation through the years, and we extend an open invitation to anyone who desires to worship and know our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.
The difficulty of waiting is enflamed by our culture's preoccupation with self. However the early church struggled with the creep of selfishness the same as us. No where is secret assault more detrimental than to the unity and communion of the church family.
The church is filled with diversity. This strength of our multifaceted expression of God's glory is also the fulcrum of tension and division inside of the church. God's solution is transformation that flows from those with open arms - those who are willing to accept.
Submission is a confusing word in our world today. However, Christlike respect for one another honors God's design by serving and yielding to one another in humility, love, out of a reverence for Christ.
Biblical teaching is more than just doctrine, theology, and information. It must be formational to equip God's people to live the truth. Each of us has a role and responsibility to help one another grow in maturity and faithful obedience to His Word.
There may be no greater attribute in our fellowship that displays a mutual love and care for one another than peace. Biblical peace preserves the unity of Christ's body as believers pursue reconciliation, humility, and harmony with one another.
Admonishment requires Spirit-led discipline from both the speaker and listener. Loving admonishment calls one another toward repentance and Christlike holiness through gracious truthful encouragement.
Jesus himself is our greatest example of hospitality. Selflessly welcoming one another reflects the heart of Christ by opening our lives, homes, and church to others and especially to the "least of these."
The command to honor one another is often overlooked by today's evangelical world. However, there is a biblical model for giving honor when we become the conduit of recognizing God's assignment in the beauty of His design.
The challenge for believers is to follow Jesus in serving one another. He has recreated us for this purpose, He has equipped us for service by His Spirit, and He receives the glory for our service to one another.
The church has a God-given task of serving as His vessels of restoration. As we have experienced restoration from God - we are then tasked with advancing this work in one another's lives. To "restore" one another is the actionable work of the gospel in our church community.
The family of God is a family. We care for one another, love one another, pray for one another, and watch over one another. This isn't the sole task of a shepherd or pastor - we each must learn how to speak sensitively and responsibly to encourage each other in the faith.
The disciples of Jesus Christ will be known by their love for one another. However, it is unfortunately all too easy for churches today to remain cold, individual, distant, and unconcerned for each other. These moments of apathy and disconnectedness are modern expressions of "playing church."
The process of building each other up in the faith is the job of every believer. This is most clearly seen in the lives of those who are weak and doubting. In the struggles of this life we are created in Jesus to be one another's strength.
Prayer is both a blessing to the believer and a spiritual discipline. However, it is often too easy to take prayer for granted and also to fail at the Bibilcal practice of prayer that makes it more than a Christian ritual.
Playing church is the compromise of God's new creation, it's a performance driven façade of spirituality, and it's a kind of illness within the body of Christ that can lead to the removal of His presence.
The resurrection of Jesus is the historical account of God's definitive judgment of "man's" justice. Where we repeatedly fail and fall short, God has given vindication of Jesus' life in the miracle of the resurrection - that graciously comes along with an invitation for us to join with the Judge of all creation.
The cross of Christ is the pinnacle of fulfillment for God's answer to man's sinfulness. And when received by faith, the cross is our initiation into a transformation that allows us to supernaturally see and serve our neighbors to advance forth God's justice.
There is a tangible undercurrent to God's Kingdom - it's the place where we find Biblical Justice-for-all. Throughout the ages, sin has left us with those who have a permeant expression of harm: the hurt, the widow, the orphan, the poor, and the immigrant. We desire to live patterned after Jesus' promises to make all things new and restore the broken.
The Justice of God has been accomplished in the gospel such that we are offered, not only forgiveness FROM God, but the ability to forgive LIKE God. However, without the evidence of God's forgiveness, we are remaining under His wrath, storing up future judgement for us on the day of Jesus' return.
God has given the church a message for the world. Although we are in the world, we must be careful to avoid being like the world and advancing its values. Rather, we are called to be distinctively Christian while we live like Jesus.
There is no other teaching on earth that fully encapsulates the depths of justice than the gospel. It is only in the completed work of Jesus Christ on behalf of sinners that we find God's commitment to be both "just" and the One who "justifies" sinners.
Our world has insulated itself from any adherence to objective truth. This has been a slow, deliberate and subtle deception. Christ's followers are called to pursue Justice with a clear proclamation of the truth, especially to a world that has deafened itself to the gospel.
The Justice of our Lord is always aimed at those most needing it. Throughout the scriptures “the poor” are at the top of the list for those who our Lord advocates justice.
God has abounding patience for us, and He steadfastly watches over his children. We will do well to remember that it is only by His Lordship that we can see every wrong righted and true justice delivered - anything else becomes a counterfeit.
Our ability to serve the Lord in unity is dependent upon our status before God. As we have been those justified by God's grace, we become those who can advance His work of reconciliation together.
Our culture has distorted the image of God's church to blind us in dividing between the bubble of God's blessings and the hurt in the world in and around us. The family of God has been tasked with bringing restorative justice to those "least of these" our brothers and sisters, and then to extend this influence of life to the rest of the world through the message of the gospel.
The kindness of God is core feature of His definition of Justice. When we act, serve, and live like God we will draw from His own dealings with us, for He has again and again showed us what He requires from His followers.
The Justice of God is good, because it flows from His character. Any expression of Biblical Justice in our world that is displayed by Christians must also extend His character. Our "good" must be motivated from Godly compassion.
Jesus is the light of the world and the one who brings God and mankind together. If we truly believe what He says and what God has revealed we will reflect God's light to carry on Jesus' illumination into the world.
Jesus' role in our salvation is from start to finish. Unless we embrace that He has done it all, we will be left with an impossible task of maintaining our faith. Praise the Lord - we are saved by His faithfulness!
Observations: Problem #1 – We don’t see the need Problem #2 – We don’t want the gift Problem #3 – We want Jesus on our own terms Conclusions: Jesus is God’s gift Given to you That changes your identity Application: Let the gift of Jesus CHANGE your life
We need a high priest - One who can stand in our place in the presence of God. Because of the incarnation, Jesus not only fulfills the representative aspect of a priest, but He is also able to deal mercifully with us - as one who has been through and experienced the difficulties of earth.
Where Jesus leads, we are to follow. This is often a challenge for the church, but perhaps most so where we must learn to trust in Jesus that is accompanied by the brokenness of this world, in its pain and suffering.
The necessity of Jesus' body as a sacrifice is a humbling truth. However, there's even more that God has done in the incarnation of Jesus. Not only is he an appropriate sacrifice as living fully human, but Jesus is also the only one who truly does the "will of God" - and by this will, He establishes for us the New Covenant.
"Rescue those being led away to death; hold back those staggering toward slaughter. If you say, “But we knew nothing about this,” does not he who weighs the heart perceive it? Does not he who guards your life know it? Will he not repay everyone according to what they have done?"
“Honor the Lord with your wealth, with the first-fruits of all your crops; then your barns will be filled to overflowing, and your vats will brim over with new wine.”
Definition: A verbal expression or thought flowing from the heart against God’s will and against His design for your life
The sin of worry has been cloaked with justifications that all flow from our ability to control our lives and the world around us. While or finger-biting and scheming do indeed produce results, they cannot compare to the freedom found in trusting the Lord with our lives.
Almost universally everyone think that they are a "good" person. When we examine the claims of our own righteousness we will see that this kind of wisdom only exists in our own eyes.
The sin of lust has been mostly categorized with sexual immorality, but there are many other expressions of lust that go unaddressed. The inward curvature of lust's direction to serve "the self" is evident wherever sins are causing abuse to the desires that God originally made good.
Because of this broken world we will be wrestling against the forces of evil and against the retained depravity of our flesh. This resistance takes work. It takes effort. The enemy to our discipleship is the permission to be lazy - a spiritual sluggard.
The central Christian hope is the resurrection of Jesus that affirms our resurrection at the return of our Savior. Until that day, we are given a freedom in the gospel that enables us to face death without fear.
The Christian hope is resurrection. Until that day we are preserved in Christ by the love of God. This hope and love motivates us towards a work of preservation for those who belong to God.
The Christian life is one of repeatedly encountering the patience of God. Perhaps the one area of our lives that we are most reluctant to yield over to God's sovereign control is our death. Yet, even here, we will find God's grace and patience to reveal His glory.
The Christian life is lived out in a world that is saturated with pride, ego, and boasting. We can so easily become shaped by the attitudes around us that we forget to consider a submission to the will of God and remembering that we are only here for a short while.
When we view our lives as interconnected by our faith, we will see the importance of presenting and passing on our faith to our loved ones. If life is a relay race, then our greatest challenge is a clean transfer of the baton.
The impending reality of death is one that our world fears more than anything. But for the Apostle Peter it affords a unique opportunity to invest in the lives of his loved ones reminders for growing in the faith.
Without intention, we often adopt perspectives that aren't Christian. When getting old acquaintances, and in the context of joking about death, we will often hear people exclaim the phrase, "Its better than the alternative." Today we will see that it's only under very specific circumstances that that saying can be proven true.
The danger of idolatry is one that will not go away for the believer. We must categorize it as the sin that it is, and flee from it by clinging to Jesus.
John writes with direct revelation of God about the testimony of where eternal life is found. Because this life comes from God, it follows that we must experience it according to His design and purpose.
Our presentation of God to others will influence their understanding of Him. Unfortunately, it is too easy for Christians to misrepresent God both accidentally and intentionally according to the world's designs and definitions.
There are many voices out there that all claim to stand for truth or an expression of truth. How can a Christian know that they're living according to the truth today?
The Apostle John's main concern is for the authenticity of eternal life found evidenced in the church. There is no greater example for the presence of God's Spirit than in a love for God's children that reflects the love of Jesus.
Belonging to Jesus means that we will live like Jesus. This process of transformational growth requires practice. For those who are born of God, we are led through this practice by God's Spirit.
The reality of salvation for 1st century Christians was their adoption into Christ as evidenced through their participation and perseverance with God's family.
For assurance of eternal life, John draws our attention to the key which is personal knowledge of God - a relationship with our Heavenly Father. This saving relationship is the source for discipleship in how we live and act, in what we love, and in defining who and whose we are.
The Apostle John's emphasis to his readers centers around our Christian commitment to the family of God. The unity of the body is under attack - Jesus has taught us and shown us how to preserve that unity with love.
The action of confession of sins is quite varied in today's Christianity. In John's first epistle he focuses on confession as the central ingredient for a discipleship that has eternal life.
The world around us is fixated on self-promotion, self-posting, and selfies! Wherever there is someone to impress we'll find a temptation to pursue worldly strategies and strength. The Bible shows us another way...
The follower of Jesus must find the fullness of their identity in Jesus. When this is our desire, we will find a corresponding growth in our discipleship as we are shaped by our efforts to rest in Christ Jesus.
Sometimes well-meaning evangelists will make our faith sound too easy. They will offer promises without cost, and blessings without sacrifice. Jesus routinely spoke of Kingdom disciples having to "count the cost". We will see that keeping our eyes on Jesus is the answer to the question: "Is Christianity easy or hard?"
The miracle of salvation is that it is offered to sinners. When we were still enemies with God, Jesus died for us. It is His grace in salvation that moves us towards good works for His glory and praise.
Our relationship with God will determine the characteristics of "dead" and "alive" in our lives. According to our identity in Christ, we are united with him as presently "dead to sin" - and this reality, grounded in the facts of Jesus' resurrection, will result in new life now!
The dual nature of the person of Jesus is critical in our salvation and discipleship. To be established in a full understanding of who our Savior is, will lead us into the discipleship resource of worship, that we might train our hearts according to the balanced truth.
The Bible presents a picture of humanity that transforms throughout the unfolding of history. We will see that it is our standing in the Lord Jesus Christ that determines our truest identity.
The goodness of God is everlasting. When we fail to ground our worship of God in His nature we will be like a boat tossed about by the waves. But when we anchor our worship of God to the rock of his being we will find praise and thanksgiving in abundance.
The manifold nature of God's all-mighty access to us must be the main resource in our confidence in His justice. Not only does He know us fully, and not only is His judgment good, but He leads and loves us as well.
God has designed to work through us in this broken world by first working through His Son Jesus. God didn't stay far off and removed from creation, rather, He entered into the creation, suffered, and died. It is only the Christian God who is intimately engaged in our broken world.
God has designed us as creatures with an innate response to the transcendent. It is our goal to capture a biblical expression of this attribute of God for application in our lives as we seek to follow and obey the purpose and plan of the Almighty.
The character of God is found most acutely in His justice. When we step back and take a look at how God treats us, it reveals a God who is unlike our most reactionary impulses. God has built this unique love into His promises to us and our children.
The Doctrine of the Trinity is the single most essential teaching that makes Christianity "Christian". And a rejection of the Trinity has been characteristically plagued with further false teachings and missing God's design for worship. We must rediscover that the gospel itself is wholly and thoroughly Trinitarian.
The attribute of God's patience is displayed throughout the scriptures, and made most clear through the person of Jesus Christ. Without God's long-suffering, forbearance, and patience we would perish. The expression of God's patience is designed that sinners, like you and me, would repent.
God's doesn't have "holiness" - He is the definition of Holiness. When we encounter God's holiness, we cannot help but also encounter our sinfulness. It is through the undeserved atonement of Jesus, that we become useful in service to God.
The attributes of God that we can have a share in are brought to full expression in God's Son, Jesus. Not only does Jesus contain all the fullness of deity, but through Jesus we are invited into the divine nature - that we too would express the characteristics of our God.
Repeatedly through the scriptures, God is defined as the One who made the heavens and the earth. He is unconfined by His creation; our ability to relate to Him must begin with an acknowledgment of the distinction between the Creator and His creatures.
One of the enduring mysteries that the scriptures report concerns the return of Jesus. By God’s design we are only revealed enough to develop a trust in the God who fulfills His promises.
God's plan, sometimes referred to as a mystery, is the revelation of His glory as executed through the church. This means that we must take seriously our participation in His purposes, and shape our worship around those characteristics that lead to the unfolding of His glory.
Our response to the gospel is one of surrendering our entire life over to God's design, authority, and glory. The wonder of God’s love is that He is the one who enables us to do this!
The mystery of advent speaks to God's full plan in the giving of His one and only Son, Jesus. He is our older brother in God's family, that gives us access to our loving Heavenly Father!
The mystery of Jesus' advent goes far beyond just His birth. We are offered immeasurable blessings in God's provision for our reconciliation by the giving of His Son Jesus.
God's plan for saving the world would flow through a submissive young woman: Mary. Her response to God's call provides us with an example of a humble, trusting, and yielded spirit - willing to follow where God' leads.
The kingdom of our Lord is breaking into this world through the person, message, and people of Jesus Christ. We, as Christians, are tasked with engaging our world/culture with the distinctiveness of Jesus; confident of God's ultimate triumph in recreation to establish a new heaven and new earth!
The church today has been given her marching orders for organization and character. She must the Lord’s design, which, unfortunately, is often easier to say than to do. Observations: The kingdom of man’s priority isn’t belief in God The kingdom of man’s priority isn’t knowing God The kingdom of man’s priority isn’t knowing the love of God The kingdom of man’s priority isn’t the community of God Grace Sagola is your practice field for the worship and priority of God’s […]
Our country is built upon the years of both the wisdom of the kingdom of God and the idolatry from the kingdom of man. When we examine the core of America's policy decisions, we will see that they all relate back to the sovereignty of the individual to determine their own pursuit of happiness.
The culture of the kingdom of Rome was the strongest and most powerful yet known on the earth. As this culture made it way into the church, it would have to be addressed as belonging to the world's ideology - a way of life that Jesus calls His followers to reject.
The kingdom of man will further strengthen its influence upon God's people through a process called enculturation. The church's response must a be careful engagement and an avoidance of isolation - that we might reach the lost with a creative and intentional reframing of the culture.
The biblical characters exiled in Persia give us a glimpse of what it looks like to engage in a governmental and political system that does not fear or respect God. There's much for us to learn for today in observing how followers of God kept their focus on His promises and purposes while living as aliens.
This world can easily be identified with a spirit of Babylon. She is that ancient type of describing the depravity of the kingdom of man. Nevertheless, God has placed His church and fashioned His people to be the light for the kingdom of God.
Our current culture has many parallels to the world of the ancients. Yet, there is a pattern that the scriptures outline for the follower of Jesus Christ. The very same diverse expression of "the gods of Egypt" must be replaced with a faith in Jesus.
The world, during the time of Sodom and Gomorrah, has many frighteningly similar characteristics to our world today. These patterns are observed under the values and ideologies of the kingdom of man. Review: The entire world is shaped by national tribalism and following false gods that elevate the secular to the sacred, as humanity assumes the role of deciding what is good God now has His own nation, from which the Kingdom of God will grow The ideologies of these […]
Our citizenship in heaven will come at the cost of our allegiances on earth. Where each of us would fail in fully trusting God, we will see that Jesus succeeds.
The story of God's redemption reveals an arch of His Sovereign grace. When sin goes unaddressed in a culture it will inevitably define that people in opposition to their Creator. Nevertheless, the mercy of our God will keep reveling supernatural grace!
Being part of a family isn't easy - but then again, not worth doing is ever easy. We have a hidden warning at the end of Philemon through the providence of God's progressive revelation.
A healthy church needs more than just a one-hour-a-week gathering. A healthy church needs personal community that goes beyond the 4 walls of the church building. A healthy church needs intentional reunion for the refreshment of our souls.
The follow-through is always the hardest. It's one thing to know that you're bound together in the family of God with others in the church, but it's a whole other thing to put your money-where-your-mouth-is and intentionally dig in deep into fellowship and Christian community.
Paul's message to Philemon isn't for Onesimus's sake alone - it's actually to help Philemon. The evidence of our Christian faith is only seen when put the world's standards behind those of our Creator. It is our Creator who gives us our lasting identity in Him.
The Christian community was always designed by God to be more than just a "community". As there are many such "communities" in our world, all defined by shared values and identities, the Christian community was supposed to be a family of God.
God's design for our growth in Him includes a commitment to one another in love, fellowship and encouragement. For the church to experience and express this as a whole will require small manageable groups of families, whose relationships can grow deeper beyond the 2 hours of accessibility of a Sunday morning worship service... these are called Life Groups at Grace.
One of the essential mechanisms for our growth and encouragement in the faith is the Christian community. Paul's interaction with Philemon reveals many of these characteristics that we can learn from today.
The sending of disciples on mission was determined by the empowerment of the Holy Spirit. If we too are to be sent, we also must learn to be led by the Spirit.
One of the most difficult aspects of being sent is submitting to the one who sends you. We are most secure when we are in the center of God's purpose and calling, no matter where He sends us.
Our true opposition in this world is not the men and women we are sent to, rather it is the unseen enemy that opposes the glory of our God. We are protected from this deceiver by grounding our understanding upon God's Truth!
God's intention for the commissioning of missionaries was to function through the local church by leading of God's Spirit. When this happens as designed, it helps grow those believers who "hold the reins" in their participation with the mission of God.
The commissioning of the disciples by Jesus serves for the church as a lens to see and understand the unfolding plan of God. He has chosen to dispense the message of salvation through those equipped and sent with orders.
The nature of Jesus' commission from the Father will help us in our understanding for how Jesus' disciples are also sent. We will see that at the foundation, Jesus is sent to display what the Kingdom and rule of God looks like on the earth.
There are some certainties when it comes to the nature of mission work in a fallen world. Jesus gives his disciples a required strategy for their success as they are sent out like sheep among wolves.
The most grievous action in history was the murder of Jesus. The horror of the cross could only be transformed by the love of God - that the cross of Christ would serve as our guiding light.
The Ascension of Jesus allows for the intercession of Jesus. His return, in the presence of God the Father, is what activates His work of atonement on the cross. Jesus' blood applied is what substantiates His advocacy for sinners like us
The gathering of God's people in worship is described as a Temple... a place where God dwells by His Spirit. What does it mean for our individual and corporate lives to be God's temple on earth?
God's new creation will be a place where He is in full control, and where we enjoy full fellowship with Him. A portion of the new creation is offered to us in the new birth in fellowship with the Spirit.
The central hope of our faith is the resurrection. And the evidence for this hope is found in the empty tomb. Because Jesus lives, we will live.
The Christian's identity must be anchored in Jesus as Lord. When it is, there is a gracious work of the Spirit to retrain the mind and our affections after God's will, purpose, and plan. Today we will see how Paul instructs the church to do just that.
The soul has been gifted as life to the human having been raised from the dust. But the soul has also been lost in our rebellion. It is the grace of our God that can protect and persevere our wayward souls through His Son, and in the process sustain the work of redemption to remake our very souls in conformity with His will.
How do we identify a follower of Jesus? The answer isn't easy; it's obvious, but it isn't easy. The feature characteristic of one who follows Jesus is an evidencing of the love of Jesus.
Imitation is tricky word. It can refer to a faithful reproduction or false forgery. In our call towards discipleship we taught to pattern our lives after our Lord - to imitate Jesus.
The life of a disciple is the primary evidence to a watching world of having encountered the living God. When we are born into God's family our lives will be a reflection of His leadership
Do Christian's really need to "go to church"? Is a "church" even a place where people can "go"? What if, instead of a building, the church was a people who defined themselves in relationship with God and in community with Christ and one another?
The indwelling the God's Spirit is the number one most important and essential component to true discipleship. Without God's Spirit we are left under the curse of self-rule, self-righteousness, and death.
The Christian's path towards maturity must begin with Jesus' righteousness and not a self-determined form of external adherence to a list of do's and don'ts. For our righteous acts are but filthy rags before the perfection of God Almighty.
The Word of God is the greatest resource given to mankind for our equipping in discipleship. Yet living in a world of the embarrassment of spiritual riches for the availability of God's Word, we must ask the question "Are we using the Bible the way God has intended?"
What is a disciple? Jesus will give his followers an answer to this question that wasn't very popular then, and still isn't today.
The character of God as redeemer is most clearly seen when we submit our life circumstances to Him: to allow His purpose and His glory to shine through our trials.
The story of the shepherds invitation to witness the brith of the Messiah teaches us God's design of humility for those who follow His Son. This story also provides for us the pattern of God's involvement for us to first "come and see" and finally "go and tell".
The title of Immanuel is often head at Christmas, yet for those it was prophesied to it had a very different context than what our contemporary Christmas traditions impose.
The coming of the Chosen One was described with the metaphors of "light" and "victory", but more than anything he would be One to define and declare God's kingdom and government.
The coming of the Messiah was foretold with key insights that were overlooked by those at the 1st Christmas and are also easily missed in our modern culture today.
God's Chosen One is a title that speaks beyond Christmas. The grace of God has delivered the gift of the Messiah for which we celebrate Christmas. However, the Chosen One is primarily given to bear the sins of the world. We now live in the middle of Jesus' first advent and His soon coming return.
When God made the human creature, he instituted a covenant relationship by which they would join together in serving as His image bearers. This covenant is called marriage. Although our world today has many perspectives on the subject, the scriptures are crystal clear about the nature of God's design for oneness between a man and a woman.
God's design for marriage is modeled by Jesus, such that husbands would demonstrate the love of Jesus in their sacrificial love for their wives.
The maturity of a Christian in their devotion to our Lord is found in our obedience to the Lord's commands. Nowhere are the effects of either our rebellion or our submission to Christ more evident than in the covenant of marriage.
If Jesus is truly in charge, then we must follow His leadership in each sphere of our lives. Nowhere is this more critical than in the foundation relationship and covenant of Marriage.
The end result of satan's scheming after Christians is to render us as ineffective. One of our enemy's greatest weapons against us is the constant reminder and crippling effects of guilt and shame. We, however, must hold fast to Jesus and find that the exaltation of His glory will be our greatest defense.
The evil one is often referred to as "the tempter". Our depravity has handicapped our ability to follow the Lord as we ought. We are easily tempted towards sin. What we must learn is how very dangerous that temptation is.
The enemy will often work to remove peace from our lives. True, lasting, and holistic peace can only come from the Lord of all peace.
"A house divided, will not stand." This truth has served the schemes of our enemy to make the people of God effective in our expression of the body of Christ. The counterattack for Christians will require our dedication to God's truth, and much practice on our part.
Death is the final certainty for sinners, and without God's intervention we will all be controlled by our fear of death. Fear itself is wielded by our enemy to make us ineffective in our representation as image bearers of God.
The most vile of satan's lies doesn't show up in the highways and byways; the most heinous of lies are targeted right inside the church. False teachings have been a plague against the church from the very beginning. We must learn how to identify them and protect ourselves from their abusive deception.
The enemy is above all else - our "accuser". His targeted attacks will manifest in our fear of exposure and in our pretending that everything is fine. But there is good news for the sinner who walks in the light - Jesus saves!
Our enemy has developed and fine-tuned his strategy of attack to deceive us. His skilled attack has gone unnoticed by too many, and when that happens, we are hoodwinked and captured to carry out his will. Then we end up advancing the plan of the devil rather than glorifying God.
There is a spiritual battle taking place right now. Our adversary is skilled and conniving in his attack. We must resolve to avoid ignorance of his schemes and learn how to follow Jesus' instructions as we are swept up in this war.
Our God is an unshakeable refuge. Too often we are presented with other options for safety and security in this life, but everything will fail eventually - except for God. We ought right now find in Him our treasure and glory.
The Great Commission from our Lord offers the church the necessary means of making disciples. However, we as followers of Jesus are still deficient in transforming the hearts of lost. We requires supernatural power that can only be provided by God.
Throughout the spread of the church, beginning in Jerusalem, there have always been both short term and long term missionaries. Both of these roles help serve the purpose of planting new churches, and strengthening existing ones.
Jesus gave his followers two essential components for making disciples. The New Testament writers would often address their readers by citing the first component of right thinking or doctrine, to be immediately followed by the practical implications of teaching disciples how to live Godly lives.
The task of making disciples has been outlined by Jesus. His clear and foundational commission does not require amendments or additions, rather making disciples is a matter of obedience for the church's commitments to orthodoxy and orthopraxy.
The work of missions hasn't ever been easy. From the beginning, the call to go to all peoples would require a complete trust in Jesus' authority and a yielding to His call to even go outside of our comfort zones.
Making disciples is the purpose of the church, and it goes far beyond the simple pronouncement of the gospel. It requires the multifaceted outworking of the Spirit through the whole of Christ's body (the church) to shape for God those existing followers who will grow up to help establish more new followers in the faith.
Jesus' commission to go make disciples is the defining call of the Christian. However, a misunderstanding of this command will leave us missing the mark of God's design, for He desires not only to use us in growing His church, but to grow US through the very process.
God's plans will come to pass. It is this great truth that allows us to face the unknown with confidence as we learn to rest our faith in His faithfulness.
Without Jesus, the world around us is going to forever stand in opposition to true worship of God. But that doesn't mean the world doesn't worship! The subject of worship is ultimately the question of what governors our hearts?
The favor of God, as orchestrated through His people, is designed to motivate our utility towards God's will and evidence His rule as His kingdom breaks into our world.
Sometimes life doesn't go according to plan... at least that's the way it looks to us. One of the greatest comforts that we can find as Christians is to remember that even when it looks like things are going awry, God is still in control.
One of the most difficult things within Christianity is trusting Jesus when we're so used to living according to the "rules" of our world. When Jesus says "follow me" we know that obedience could lead directly to persecution and rejection.
The source of our service for our communities must be Jesus. Because God has modeled for us what it looks like to serve the "least of these" - we must learn to follow in His steps.
It's sometimes too easy for us to compartmentalize our faith according to certain societal norms and standards - Jesus always challenges those! Even though the widow or orphan may go unseen by our would - our Heavenly Father sees them and encourages us to see like He does!
God has commissioned Christians as His hands and feet to serve as His ambassadors-of-reconciliation to the world. While it's often easier to simply "mind our own business" in this world - Jesus is mobilizing His people to love our neighbors in accordance with our love for God.
Grace is unique to Christianity, and grace is dependent upon the resurrection of Jesus. God has validated our Savior's life and death as sufficient in the complete victory over sin and death, and He now invites us to live under that fulfillment - to live under grace.
Sin is devious & infectious and will ultimately lead us to death. Yet, we are called and equipped by God, through Jesus Christ, to put a stop to the rule of sin in our lives. Although sin will continue to show up, it ought no longer control us as a master.
The Spirit of God provides the Christian with both the accountability and power to fight against sin. Because the death of Christ has freed all those who identify in Him from a slavery to sin, there becomes therefore not only an expectation to battle the enemy of sin but additionally the scriptures also give us God's strategy.
The heart behind stewardship must be defined by our understanding of who we are serving. God's ultimate goal in our practice of becoming good stewards is not merely bound up in the benefits that it will bring to us; biblical stewardship is actually fostering a new kind of humanity. When we manage what God has given us according to the scriptures, we will end up modeling our lives after the character of God Himself.
How should a Christian practice generosity? Does the Bible require us to pay God 10 percent? It is only to the church that God expects us to give? These questions, and more are addressed in God's Word to help the Christian excel in generosity.
God has designed his followers to serve as agents of change for His Kingdom. This is most often challenged at our workplaces. It is the Christian's duty to exchange their employer, such that we begin working for God, even while working at work.
The use of our time is a continual decision of priorities. We only have a finite resource of minutes and hours - how we use them will reveal where our greatest treasures and values lay. Dividing up the time we have and offering it in worship to God will by necessity characterize our stewardship as "living for Christ".
God has given us so much more than we need or deserve! His design is to bless us that we might be a blessing to others. Not only has God made this principe of reciprocity a key element of His Covenants, but He has actually woven it into the very nature of His Creation!
The church is designed by God to represent Him; to wear His name on our chest as use the energy and ability He gave us - we are therefore representatives of God. Because of this we must make sure our work in this world is done under the banner of blessing others in the name of Jesus our Lord.
When we attempt to understand God's design for the time given to us, we must begin by looking at His nature. Because when we understand who God is, we will also see who we are. Stewarding time will require and awareness of God's judgement over our sin leading to consequences for our life.
The subtlety of the control of riches in our lives often goes unnoticed. It's not until generosity comes in conflict with self-preservation that we are faced with a decision: follow God's leading and trust His provision, or rely on ourselves, our savings, and our supply.
The challenge in our modern world is an artificial division between the sacred and the secular when it comes to work. However, what God has established for man through work all belongs to Him. Our stewardship of work will be defined through the community of God.
One of the greatest potential failures for under-evaluation in a prosperous culture is the idea of stewardship. Because the rich have a perceived lack of dependance on God for meeting their material needs, they will easily confuse stewardship with ownership. We must be careful to remember that God has only temporarily entrusted us with earthly treasures.
The Magi demonstrate a sort of observance and obedience that is shocking to most of us. Their worship of Jesus is founded upon who Jesus is, and their gifts to him produce a unique challenge for us as we too worship Jesus at Christmas.
Our picture of Christmastime has affected some of the terms, titles and themes that belong to Jesus. When Matthew ascribes to the newborn the prophecy of "Immanuel" he does so from a unique historical context that might help us in our worship of the incarnated Christ.
The church is in a war. If you follow Jesus you are being hunted, and our enemy is relentless. Often times the greatest victory of our adversary isn't very obvious, and unless we are prepared for battle, it's very likely that we will either completely miss or misplace the attacks.
The most important subsection of the church is the family. In fact, the family is the most fundamental unit of all of society - this is why it is under constant attack by the forces of evil. In Christlike fashion, the answer to such an attack isn't in kind, but rather victory is won with Godly submission.
"Having the eyes of your heart enlightened" means we can no longer live in the dark. Through Jesus, God has given His people an illumination of truth so that we are shown the path of a life characterized by righteousness.
God has given us an agent of change, a helper to renew and direct us as we grow: the Holy Spirit. It is this Spirit that resurrects our spirit and can then serve to reorient our minds and thoughts onto service and submission to God's will and purpose.
The church is designed by God to serve with a multidimensionality that benefits the whole and honors the Head. No one part is greater than another, and yet it is so easy to miss the purpose of diversity that it can accidentally lead to division. Only when each part serves the Head will we be truly unified.
When it comes to God's design for the church, the scriptures will repeatedly use terminology that shapes her purpose as a family. It is this familial commitment that serves as the scaffold for the rest of the New Testament’s commands for how we are to treat one another.
God's design for exacting His will upon the earth is the church. She is to be a redeemed humanity whose members orient their lives after the lead and love of Jesus. How critical is it for us then, to make sure that we do not allow the "church" to become a sterile institution or a one-hour-a-week service that remains cursory to the multifaceted lives of Christians. We must know God's plan for the community of believers.
The church is intended to be cross-cultural, international, and yet somehow singleminded. For all of the complexities between different tribes and traditions, it is the gospel of Jesus Christ that has brought the nations together, so that the life of Christ would be evident upon the earth. Observations & Conclusions: Purpose – Without Jesus – With Jesus Estranged Adopted […]
The heart of the gospel is under threat by the deception of human achievement. Every other religion on earth is an expression of man's attempt to reach divine righteousness, whether through ritual expression, commanded devotion, sacrifices, charity, or societal expectations. It is Christianity alone, as correctly taught from the scriptures, that reveals the good news of God's saving and transforming grace.
It is easy, in our world, to undervalue and under-appreciate our faith. When we are offered so many other pseudo-promises that capture our excitement and anticipation we often fail to truly treasure the greatest gift offered. Yet it is our hope in God that will determine how we live here and now.
The letter to the Ephesians is a Masterclass on Christianity. The Apostle Paul lays out the foundational details for the Christian's calling and purpose on this earth as sourced in God's redeeming work through Jesus Christ. It is now with an allegiance to Jesus as our exalted Head that the Christian can embrace their God defined purpose according to His will.
Of all the many things that draw our attention, wonderment, and awe, the pinnacle for the Christian ought to be their own union with Christ. The "why" of God's mercy, is by design unanswerable, such that meditation of this question ought to humble us - since we are recipients of God's grace, we will be guided in being generous in extending grace to others as well.
The gathering of Christians for worship has been quite contorted in our world today. Some see it as a checkbox of righteousness, a holy obligation, others are left feeling "let down" if the service doesn't meet their expectations. What is the purpose of God's design of gathering Christians together for worship?
There is a natural rebellious bent to the human spirit; we often resist authority, and fail in our understanding of submission. Even for the Christian, the residue of subversion often remains, and requires God's Word to teach and instruct us how we are to submit to our governing authorities. But what should be the Christian's response when our government conflicts with God's Word? How has Jesus modeled THAT kind of submission for us to follow?
“And now , O Israel, what does the Lord your God ask of you but to fear the Lord your God, to walk in all his ways, to love him, to serve the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul, and to observe the Lord’s commands and decrees that I am giving you today for your own good?” - Deuteronomy 10:12-13
Prayer is, unfortunately, a very misunderstood practice. Some religions see it as meditation, others as a way of appeasing many gods; some Christians even demonstrate it as little more than simply "sending thoughts". So, what is the deal with prayer and why has God given it to us?
In a world of retaliation, corruption, and increased division, it is no wonder that we know so little about forgiveness. Truth is, there is much to forgive, not to mention the truly grievous injustices that many have faced, yet we struggle with letting go - even the little offenses. So, how do we truly forgive? And why is it expected of Christians?
Why is it important to go to church? There's a question we've all asked at one time or another. The answer will come down to how we understand what the church is, and how God has designed our role in the church?
The whole goal behind evangelism is discipleship. And evangelism that fails to move towards making disciples is only making converts. But what is a disciple, and what does it mean to truly "follow" Jesus?
The bible reveals a surprisingly interconnect design to evangelism. It isn’t just those who are missionaries who are called to be invested in the work of spreading the gospel. God desires the whole church to cooperate; everyone has a mission.
Today we are going to continue our series on evangelism and specifically, dealing with repentance. We are going to be studying out of the book of Acts. Paul was on the missions field in Athens and found himself in the middle of the Areopagus delivering a sermon which we can now read in chapter 17 verses 22-31 if you could turn there with me.
When it comes to our collective witness as God's people, God has designed our gatherings to be a redeemed platform for preaching the results of God's grace as evidenced in how we conduct ourselves with one anther. This is intended by God to be most evident of all whenever we celebrate the Lord's Supper.
When we think of evangelism, rarely do we link our commission from God to the ascension of Jesus. However, it is precisely Jesus' ascension that both leads to our equipping for evangelism and substantiates the necessary precondition for why Christians are left on earth as witnesses.
When it comes to sharing the good news, we must establish that there is first of all some bad news - good news is only "good" when it is understood as contrast with the bad. The bad news is that our sins will separate us from God for all eternity in hell, but the good news is that Jesus saves.
Each one of us has been given a story by God to share with the world. It is a story of God's redeeming love and grace to save us from ourselves and the eternal consequences of sin.
The good news of Jesus Christ has been passed down from generation to generation. It is not a flowery or eloquent petition, it is not forced with coercion or manipulation, rather the gospel is simply true - the evidence of God's love is demonstrated in this, while we were yet sinners Christ died for us.
The message of the gospel has been watered down in recent years as we live in a world that increasingly fears offense. In effort to avoid challenging the false gods of self and desire, evangelism has tried to appeal to the "natural" inclinations of the heart, and in doing so we've drifted away from the message first given by the Apostles.
We have a story to tell to the nations... the message of Jesus' death and resurrection for our redemption is one that many of us have heard, but few of us are confident in sharing. Although the message has many different aspects, one main component that is shared by all Christian evangelists is that Jesus is Lord.
Easter is the pinnacle moment in the church for anchoring our souls no matter the storm or difficulty. There is no challenge that you will face that God will not solve through RESURRECTION!
Long before there were offices of professionals, there was the people of God. And although our society has advanced to have the capacity to treat the most severe cases of mental health, we as the church are still equipped by God to offer a community of care to any and everyone struggling with navigating the soul.
Sometimes the influences of evil forces are obvious, however more often than not it goes quite undetected in today's world. Indeed the "father of deception" has made is such that if we do not have a biblical foundation for the influence of evil we will unwillingly make many missteps in our approach to spiritual warfare.
When we face a sinful and broken world without the resources of God’s grace through Christ, we will inevitably end up relying upon our own abilities, schemes, thoughts, and designs for self-preservation. The debt that this process incurs in our souls is a plague of anxiety and worry: two toxic thought patterns that will lead us into further brokenness and sin.
Without biblical instruction, the church has looked to the world in our processing of grief. But when grieving from a biblical perspective is ignored it is also then replaced with regret, resentment, substance abuse, or worse. In our pursuit for navigating the soul we will see that God has given us a model to follow by learning to lament.
The subject of transformation is the critical doorway that all believers must walk through. However, we can only accept God's new creation of our lives once we've first dealt honestly with sin. We will see that God has provided us more than just an answer for forgiveness, but through His Son we are offered an entirely new life!
The subject of depression is a primary category in mental health that affects everyone to one degree or another. We will see that God's Word addresses this "sniffle of the soul" head-on, and teaches us to reframe what we dwell upon, who we listen to, and pursuing God as our greatest desire.
The church has been silent too long on the subject and integration of mental health. Where the world has mistakenly addressed the issue as too one-dimensional, the church has also failed to respond with any comprehensive treatments that are rigorously Biblical and spiritual. The reality is everyone's soul is in need of healing, and Jesus is the central answer for navigating the soul.
The world around us is utterly broken. God's good and beautiful creation has been subjected to the curse, and because of this we see brokenness in all spheres and in all contexts. It is only an assured hope in God as the impartial judge that provides us with a confidence in His deliverance for His own.
The warnings given for sin are clear from the scriptures. However, we too often consider these consequences as applying to someone else as we compare ourselves with people who we know are worse than us. The reality is, all of us are guilty of sin and deserve the consequences of those sins.
The requirement of a right standing with God can only come from God Himself, and can only be accessed by us through faith. Nowhere is this more clearly seen than when we evaluate the transformed life to what used to be. This new "living faith" is born out of a trust and confidence in God's promises that moves us towards obedience and love.
There is an unnoticed danger in our lives. It is an evil that has crept in has convinced us that it isn't a threat. The danger is the deception that comes from our own hearts. In a world fixated on pursuing and achieving your hearts desire, we need to take a step back and ask, "Does my heart even know what is best for me?"
There's a perception that the only place where injustice exists is in society at large, and we can easily forget that without care, it can creep into the church as well. However, it is rarely a quick onset. Unforeseen injustice is often a slow series of errors that reek of the hallmark from our enemy's strategy.
Although we know God to be righteous and perfect and that there is no one greater than Him, we don't exactly live like we believe that is true. If we really believed it, might we not order our lives around God differently?
The stories for Mary and Joseph would change forever with the announcement from the angels. Their response to God's interruption should serve as a model for how we respond when God changes our plans as well.
The magic of Christmas is regularly celebrated with family and friends and all the reminders of God's love shown to us in the giving of his Son. However, the real wonder of God's gift is only ever truly appreciated when we're reminded that God sent His Son while we were still in darkness still in rebellion and basically not even looking for God's Messiah. The greatest wonder is that He still offers us Jesus today.
Jesus as the Messiah is a treasure worth searching for. The story of Jesus’ 1st Jerusalem visit is met with a prophetic pronouncement of God’s sovereign provision for a light to the Gentiles. This One prophesied as a branch from Jesse will be a banner for all peoples.
The contrast between the kings from the East and king Herod couldn't be more drastic. We will see that it is their perspective on power and authority that will determine how they respond to the birth of the King of kings.
The Apostle Paul in closing his first letter to the Thessalonians reveals God’s will for us in adopting an attitude of Christlike thanksgiving. Today we’ll discover how our thankfulness should continue to point us and others to Jesus.
“Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, not only in my presence, but now much more in my absence – continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you to will and to act in order to fulfill His good purpose”
God has called his followers to pattern their lives after His desires and will. This obedience onto holiness is most easily seen in how we treat ourselves and each other when it comes to sexual purity. And it begins by knowing God.
Our world has us trained to think God's will is only and always for our happiness. But discerning God's will is contingent on our willingness to lay down our lives, rights, and pursuits and replace them with Jesus. Only then will God's will become clear.
One of the realities that we don't often think of with missions is God's mission from the perspective of its ever increasingly conclusion. Jesus promised to return, and His delay is not without warrant. God's is presently exercising His patience with us.
When we think of worship, do we consider it an essential part of our lives? Has our Christian culture taught us that worship is only something that happens when we sing, or at church? In order to fully know God's will, we must understand that worship is something we do with our entire life.
In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us through wordless groans. And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for God’s people in accordance with the will of God.
Wisdom is quite undervalued in our world today. There was a time when experience was a driving motivator for wisdom, but in today's world people seek new experiences simply for the thrills. The book of Ecclesiastes is filled with wisdom, the question is, are we seeking after it?
It is a difficult thing to go through life by only relying on your own abilities. Too often we deceive ourselves into thinking that we can make it on our own. However, the very best thing we can do is learn to lean on Jesus and allow Him to measure-out our successes and accomplishments.
What is it that you are leaving behind; what will be your legacy? For many, there is a vain striving with inheritances that ultimately leaves our children with just more stuff - and we can rarely transfer the work and effort that it took to amass such possessions. What if there was something else we could invest in?
The allure of riches to bring purpose, fulfillment and satisfaction is ultimately vacuous. Earthly riches never deliver what they promise. But why do we keep striving after them?
The effort that man gives in pursuit of his own pleasures is a never-ending black hole of frustration that cannot ultimately satisfy. The only source of true satisfaction is found by submitting your desires onto the Lord and allowing Him to reframe and remake your desires according to His will. Ultimate satisfaction is found only in Jesus.
A world without God, is a world without justice. Every evil deed will have been left unpunished and for untold many, justice will never be served.
The world we live in is primed for human achievement and a never-ending barrage of opportunity for the glory of man. For those who don't believe in God, they have had to redefine their purpose on earth, but yet can only live for today with no hope for tomorrow. The endless need for success will leave them without rest and a denial the vain reality of human striving. For the Christian, our work on earth can not only lead to satisfying happiness, but it has been designed by God to be united with His eternal plan.
In the Word of God the book of Ecclesiastics evaluates all modern expressions of humanistic philosophy. It is impressive that there is truly nothing "new" under the sun. Of all human questions the greatest remains, “What happens after death?”
"Chasing after the wind" is an expression to describe the fruitless results of striving in vain and working towards that which ultimately never satisfies. The story inside the book of Ecclesiastics is one which examines the question, "what would it be like to live and define ourselves without God?"
The kindness of an invitation is God's way of drawing us towards Himself. We are offered the most gracious of invitations as we reach the very end of the Bible, with Jesus final words for the churches. This final petition will serve as a model for how we too can best present the gospel by sharing what has first been offered to us as an invitation.
The story of the Bible centers around the person of Jesus Christ as God's solution for the sins of mankind. He is in every respect the one who has rescued us from the mess we've made.
The task of foreign mission has at its goal the establishment of healthy local churches that are lead by members of that specific people-group and culture. The bridge that spans these efforts are Spirit-led and empowered Christians who are willing to go and proclaim the good news: men and women who seek to become all things to all people that they may win some.
The role of a disciple is defined by Jesus in His final words to His followers. But He doesn’t overwhelm them with a responsibility that they must shoulder by themselves or in their own ability. The deficiencies that are present in all of us are solved by God’s gracious gift of His Spirit, to be the power and enabler of our witness.
The message of the gospel is one that we not only get to share, but we get to have a share in. What this means is that God has purpose His church on earth to keep spreading the message of reconciliation and preach the good news to all of creation. The necessary component to continue and complete this story is faith.
The resurrected Jesus calls his disciples to a mountain in Galilee to give them his final command. Jesus’ last words to his disciples give us the direction that God expects from us as the next generation of disciples.
The picture of a loving and Godly father is one that is hard to find on today’s flatscreens and cable boxes. But the image we see in Jesus is that of a loving Heavenly Father who not only sends, but also equips for His mission.
God's blessings to Abraham create defining markers towards our understanding of God's strategy of redemption for all nations. His blessings follow the pattern previous determined in creation and with Noah's family after the flood.
The Mission of God flows in perfect harmony with His design. And in the beginning God designed the human creatures to be his representatives on earth: to display His glory and rule across the entire globe.
The world's most motivating influence is love. As we have been called to a modern-day task of representing the good news of the gospel to the world, we must make sure that our service and sacrifice come from a source of love for God and what God is doing.
The evidence is clear, a growing subset of the next up-and-coming generation doesn't care to know God. One place where we can make major repairs is by making sure that our faith is found in unity with our lives.
The influence of the world's values has brought us individualism, entitlement, and an avoidance of commitment - especially confrontational commitment. The church desperately needs to display a return to the foundations of community and relational investment that carries the hallmark characteristic of being committed to one another.
The world's influence has never been more prevalent in our lives and in the lives of our children. For all the good that our technology has given us, it has also inadvertently retrained the way we think, study, wait, and want. It has never been more important that the child of God is equipped with wisdom to navigate the treacherous world of a digital Babylon.
There are many reasons why individuals leave the church, but there are only a handful of values that tend to keep people plugged into regular cooperate worship and the ministry of God's people. At the very top of the list is the personal conviction that a relationship with Jesus is the only way to find true fulfillment in this life.
In Jesus' great commandment to his followers we are told to "Love one another; just as I have loved you." There is no greater way to begin obedience to this commandment than to pursue it by attempting to place yourself in another's shoes. This action of empathy is what the bible calls compassion, and it is the fuel for good works.
The plan of God is humbling when you understand His grace. God had determined that He is going to reach the nations through the church, through sinners-redeemed, through us!
Oh, how easy it is to fool ourselves into NOT living the Christian Life. In our world today, we must be ever vigilant make sure we haven't adopted a version of the faith that leaves us "checking" the holy box, but remaining lethargic when it comes to transformation.
The call to good works is first of all determined not by what we can do, but rather by what God has already done. Easter is the perfect time to reexamine this truth and unite our efforts in service to God with the completed work of Jesus.
To what degree are good works something the average Christian should concern themselves? We will see that both the implications of the gospel and expectations of spreading the gospel require a careful devotion to doing good.
Equality is a subject that is often misunderstood in our world today, but it has its origin in God. How should we as Christians seek equity and equality according to God's determinations? And how can we best make sense of the way the world pursues this important subject?
The expectation of good works for the Christian is clear throughout the New Testament. But in what way is doing good part of the Christian story? Are we saved by doing good works? Are good works even necessary at all? What do the biblical writers think of someone who believes that all you must do to be saved is simply believe in God? Today we will try to answer these questions.
The Christian life is a difficult one to maintain in our own strength. Even our best attempts at serving God, if done from the flesh, will ultimately make us grow weary. We must place our confidence in the God who redeems and daily depend on Him to carry us through.
The design of God strategy for reaching the lost involves displaying the gospel through our actions, so that a watching world will undeniably see the love of God
The challenge to the Christian is to live the way Jesus lived. The task of selfless love is God's strategy for bringing the message of reconciliation to the world. But it must first of all begin by practice and example inside the church.
The Christian life was never meant to be lived in a bubble. God designed our giftings to interlink and amplify each individual's effectiveness when we work together.
There is a specific purpose in God's design for his children on earth. We have not been left here without instruction or expectations. As the world continues to decay through the corruption of fall of man it plunges ever further in darkness.
The early church had an expectant hope of Jesus return that characterized their community. They treated one another with mutual encouragement as those motivated by the return of their Savior.
The Mosaic Law communicated the penalty for sin and provided the picture of God's rescue plan. But it was always temporary. The law could never impart righteousness. It is only in Christ that the fulfillment of God's rescue plan could be realized.
For the first 300 years of our faith, the church withstood governmental oppression and persecution. They were able to do so because they believed God's promise of eternal life and lived with a hope in the resurrection as promised by our living Lord.
The message of Jesus is an illuminating message. But Jesus doesn't just say that His message is light, He declares that HE is the light of the world.
In our world that celebrates materialism we can easily become distracted at Christmas. Even the blessings and gifts that are received through Jesus can unintentionally become more significant than the Giver of those gifts.
Jesus delivers to the disciples a definition of God that will determine how they ought to view themselves. The answer to the question "Who is God" is the catalyst that can lead the Christian towards a life lived in love and truth.
What influences our direction in life the most? This question ought to help recalibrate where our faith lies and how we can learn to live as a Christ-follower in a world of obstacles and distractions.
A the potential for division in the church has never been greater in our generation. A vigilant believers we are challenged to show love above all, and in loving one another, we will also be loving our Lord in obedience to His commands.
The danger of self-deception is the refusal to recognize what God says. As Jesus addresses the fake righteousness of the Pharisees, He does so to reveal their hypocrisy in light of God's intentions, and provide crystal clarity to His purpose in coming in obedience to God's Word by doing what man could not do as the law required.
The actions of a Christ-Follower must follow in characteristic to their nature. As a "new creation" our nature has been changed, but this new calling is still resident in a sin-cursed-world. Jesus gives clear and convicting markers for identifying the new nature.
Once again we see the command "do not repay evil with evil". Then verse 18 commands you to "live at peace with everyone." How can you flip it, and repay "good" for "good"? How do you think "good" actions will produce peace?
It appears that making a promise is extremely important to God. Why do you think God holds promises with such a high accountability?
Divorce has wounded so many lives, and yet we've grown so numb to its effects in our world today, so that for many there is a failure to see the deeper transgression as marriage is truly an act accomplished by God, and therefore can only truly be an act dissolved by God.
The topic of adultery for the Pharisees was cloaked in self-deception, and Jesus raises the veil to reveal that God's law was more than mere obedience to the letter, but must be understood through the spirit of the law.
Anger is such a deceptive emotion. Many feel justified in their anger because there is much injustice in our world. But where anger promises justice it only delivers bondage.
No one is perfect. All of us struggle with a unique cocktail of flaws and failures. The Apostle Peter is no exception to this rule, but his life shows the progress of a Christ-follower by examining his weaknesses and through that attention offers for us today helpful conclusions for our preparation in the Kingdom of God.
The Apostle Paul in his epistles set an example for us of a life devoted to service - service to Christ and to Christ’s kingdom. Today we’ll discover how our hearts can turn towards Jesus.
How should we face suffering? There are people in the Bible who have suffered in numerous ways and held on during it all because of their faith. God gives us a picture of the faith-filled-follower in the crucible of suffering in the person of Job.
Although the words of the gospel message can be believed and understood, there is still something necessary at the heart of the message that can subtly become lost or changed. Without Jesus as Lord, the gospel message falls apart and ultimately fails. The entirety of counsel and encouragement from the New Testament writers is predicated on this single truth contained inside the gospel, namely: Jesus is Lord.
There is a tendency in our world today to sacrifice truth on the altar of tolerance or fear of offending. Our world of victimization has (as illustrated by C.S. Lewis) pared the claws of the Lion of Judah to make Him a simple and illusive house cat.
The proclamation of the gospel today is often non-existent in the face of contemporary values. The exclusive claims of Christ are offensive in our world of tolerance. But as has been said, "facts don't care about your feelings."
People are so eager to share the latest news with their friends - so why is it so hard for some people to share the "Good News"? Might it be because we find a fearful disconnect in our own lives between the message and our own adherence to live as a Christ-follower.
We cannot save anyone. The burden of love and affection we have for the lost can sometimes become crippling from a fear of offense or ridicule. How do we share the good news without looking like we're judging our neighbors? Jesus commissions His Apostles as witnesses and then leaves them with the supernatural power of the Spirit to accomplish that work to which they are incapable of achieving.
Sometimes we we easily fall into the false idea that security in our faith is determined by our works of obedience. While it is true that obedience is a direct product of our salvation, we need to be careful in our thinking to make it crystal clear that we don't add or contribute anything to our redemption.
One of the most most grievous events a Christian can witness is when a long time standing member of a church denies the faith and walks away from God. This trend is happening more today than ever before, and we believe it's largely due to a misunderstanding of the gospel.
Although the process of parenting is never over, there comes a realistic conclusion that has been prescripted by God. The challenge and the blessing of helping our children spread their wings and yet remain under the wings of our Lord is beyond our ability - it is a task we need God's help to accomplish.
The design of work has been corrupted by the sin and the fall. Where originally it gave fulfillment and joy, work has become for many a chore or a punishment to be avoided. This unfortunate perspective has crept its way into each successive generation, and today the avoidance of work is a symptom characteristic in young people that needs to be addressed within the church.
Have you ever lifted something too heavy to carry; maybe an arm load of groceries, and giant pumpkin, or a wiggly puppy? Chances are you felt the contrast between a desire to carry it and your inability. This is what it is like to raise children. They will inevitably grow up and our possession of them will prove to be temporary. In order to parent with assurance of their protection and future we must hand that heavy load over to God, for they ultimately belong to Him.
What we pass down to our children is their inheritance. For the Christian, the most valuable thing you have is your faith. The treasure of passing down your faith to the next generation is often predicated on following some very clear and basic principals that require intentional integration with the many various facets of your life.
Is God with us? Does He have a plan? How does the Christian message speak to the events of our world today? The gospel tells of a God who enters into our mess, takes upon Himself the punishment of our sins, and rises from the grave in victory - that is then offered to all who believe.
The death of Jesus is for too many of us out-of-sight and so therefore out-of-mind. It is shockingly easy for the Christian to become side-tracked and deceived to sacrifice the best thing for some good things. And we are sometimes the main culprits in deceiving ourselves because no one likes to admit they are all-that (and a bag of chips).
If you are a child of God then He has you under construction. This formation of Christlikeness in you is a process called sanctification. God uses the difficulties of this life as one of His primary mechanisms for shaping and molding us. We cooperate with God in His work when we're honest about those moments of difficulty and thereby embrace God's purposes as we learn to ground ourselves upon His Word.
Time is the most priceless commodity there is. But our time is often stolen away by fear, discouragement, laziness, and ignorance. Without an intentionality of spirit, we run a great risk of missing the opportunities given to us in the seasons of life.
God has done something very unique in the virgin birth; He has made a way of redemption for the human race through a miraculous new creation found in the humanity of Jesus. The virgin birth unites God with man and supernaturally reveals God's gracious provision to reunite man with God.
The absence of fellowship, the restrictions on travel and and familial interactions, the loss of our regular routines, have all been a difficult wake-up calls for us. We used to live in a time of plenty of abundance, and we didn't even know how fortunate we were.
The crucifixion of Jesus is far too easily overlooked in its offensiveness and cruelty; where we’ve grown accustomed to crosses on jewelry and bookstore trinkets we’ve likewise forgotten what the cross stands for. Its transformation in the heart of the Christian must be one of significance and not one of elegance. Why is the cross our only boast?… because it has become they symbol of God’s message of reconciliation.
The upheaval and inconveniences of our world right now are nothing compared to the turmoil to be experienced by those who are ignoring Jesus' return. The image of marathon runner who focuses all body, mind, and soul in each step to reach the finish line is a picture of the faithful endurance and perseverance that is expected of all Christians.
The ascension of Jesus is often overlooked due to the magnitude of the Resurrection at Easter. However, it is in the doctrine of the Jesus' ascension that we find the proper posture of our hearts towards dependency rather than self-sufficiency. Without the ascension we lose our present source of aid, and our faith would only be ever past-tensed reminder.
The story of Easter is part of a greater narrative describing and declaring the glory of God. We would do well to give our attention and affection to that which has unfolded in the resurrection and realize that the greatest good, namely God's glory, is on display at Easter.
Palm Sunday contains a beautiful picture of God’s amazing grace in the scene of Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem on the back of a colt; not a mighty steed, flashy mustang, or towering chariot… the Messiah on the back of a humble donkey. We will use this picture for an examination of God’s undeserved election of His children.
In a world that is sorting through the challenge of increasing uncertainty and fear, we need a reminder of a hope that comes from beyond this world. Easter is far more than chocolate bunnies and colorful eggs; it contains the very center of the Christian message.
That which is easily received is often easily forgotten. Let's pause for a few minutes to reflect on the miracle inside the miracle we call Easter.
The world we live in today has adopted an attitude towards authority that is marked with distrust, distain, and dysfunction. The values of individualism and moral relativism have led the charge on the attack of God's authority. If we are to help our children understand the "fear of the Lord" it begins by modeling for them a proper balance in our approach to authority.
The nature of our influence upon the next generation isn't only in the negative, we can and must have a strategy for how we can entrench our own Godly strongholds on the battlefield for their souls.
Everyone makes excuses... it's just human nature - or perhaps I should say, "unfortunately" it's human nature. Ever since that first sin in the garden, we humans have been trying to place the blame on others or rationalize our way out of our sin predicament.
Everyone has a story for how sin has affect their lives through their parents or grandparents. We pass down a lot of things to our kids, but unfortunately, they've also inherited a sin nature from us as well.
The importance of passing on our faith to our children is a "all-hands-on-deck" responsibly in the body of Christ. Ultimately, how we treat the "little ones" in our church is a indication of how Christ-centered we are in our desires.
There is a common saying, "Children don't come with instructions." While this is true for so many aspects of learning the ropes of parenting, there are however instructions given to parents by God for how we are to raise our children. They may not cover each specific scenario, but they are the general principles that we will find applicable throughout the entire journey.
"Fear of the Lord" teaching is too woefully absent from many families today. Throughout the marketplace of popular fads and influencers is a common rejection of authority. Those who seems most admired in our world are those who march to the beat of their own drum: the captain of their own ship.
When you think about it, it is a heavy responsibly to be a parent. Every little thing we do or say is absorbed by those little spongy eyes and ears of our children. However, this reality can be an excellent starting point for their discipleship if we take seriously the influence we are on their faith.
The church in America today is in epidemic decline and is experiencing a falling away that cannot go unaddressed. The most critical of demographic is seen in the youngest generation where 2/3rds of young adults are leaving the church for good.
Jesus is coming again! This statement of fact will soon be proven undisputed, but what to do until then? For the Christian, we look forward to the return of our King, but for those who reject Jesus, that day will bring about a cold reality of a failure to receive what has been offered.
Christmas has been coopted and morphed by the world into a facade of manufactured "cheer" but never contentment. We have "more" than ever, but never enough. Jesus offers the seeker something that money cannot buy - "peace".
God's love is radical and ridiculous when viewed against the backdrop of human devotion. The incredible message of the gospel displays a kind of love that give redefinition to what love actually is.
True joy is undeniable, it affects us and become infectious. However, the source of true joy isn't found haphazardly or indiscriminately. Rather, it is offered exclusively in the gospel. To discover the source of true joy, we must look to the gracious gift of God that He gave to His creatures which found only in the completed work of Jesus Christ. The perspective, if recognized properly, will forever change how we understand the story of Christmas.
It so easy to get caught up in the commercialism of the Christmas season, and Christians today are feeling the pressure of "political correctness" and marginalization of Christian values more and more. Should we capitulate and admit defeat? Or is there a virtue in embracing a suffering for the Lord?
"Judah’s sin is engraved with an iron tool, inscribed with a flint point, on the tablets of their hearts and on the horns of their altars..."
"We know that the law is spiritual; but I am unspiritual, sold as a slave to sin. I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do..."
"Since, then, we know what it is to fear the Lord, we try to persuade others. What we are is plain to God, and I hope it is also plain to your conscience..."
Idolatry can take many form, but the most dangerous is when it is unseen. The church in Laodicea has become spiritually blind because they've focused on cultural values rather than on Christ. They've replaced a dependency on the gospel for a self-sufficiency that has left Jesus outside of the church, and has jeopardized them towards an allotment of judgment with the world.
Without Christ, our world will try to substitute security in any and every way: security in our health, security in our retirement savings or "social-security", or security in what our own 2 hands can accomplish.
One of the easiest things to do in our walk with the Lord is get into a rut: a pattern of living and worshipping that feels routine and too familiar and too comfortable. The danger is, like any rut, we get stuck.
It is a dangerous thing for a church to set its sights for success on programs or events and not on the character of teaching that is embraced by the body. You can have the best ministries and a growing congregation, but if you sacrifice purity in the doctrines of the church you will have pollution in the lives of the people.
The task of the church to evaluate and confront the errors of ungodly behaviors and teachings is not a popular challenge today. Where sexual immorality has become accepted in our world, the church must be careful that it does not fail in discerning the difference between godly and ungodly actions. If we do fail to deal with it, God will deal with us for it.
For many of its first years, the church underwent significant persecution. There were threats from within and from without. It was when the government imposed emperor worship that the title of "Christian" was a heavy name to bear. But Jesus gives the promise of hope to the believers in Smyrna, as one who has triumphed over the grave.
The book of Revelation contains 7 letters to 7 churches with a common thread inviting the reader to pay attention to what the Spirit has written. The first letter to the church in Ephesus highlights the high degree of discernment practiced by the believers in Ephesus, but Jesus also reveals the callousness of their hearts to have fallen from a life of love. We will seek to show that the solution is finding the right balance between both discernment and Christlike compassion and love.
There are subtleties in our world that can seem benign but hold differences that can be drastic, especially when the topic at hand is a foundational topic. The subject of the Trinity is one that has left many scratching their heads, but that the church has sought to clarify in the face of false teachings. Many times it is much easier to say what something "is not" rather than what it actually "is."
When false teachings show up in church history, we sometimes forget that those same heresies are alive and well today, lived out under a different name. For the early church, there was never a question of Jesus' divinity, only a firm confidence that it must be accurately articulated when faced with false teaching.
In the creeds the church has preserved the truth of the gospel and identity of Jesus in the face of false teachers and false teaching. While many churches have incorporated the creeds into their worship services, there are still many who remain confused as to the creed's source, occasion, and purpose.
There is a plan behind Jesus' prayer. It is nothing short than the purpose behind our salvation. For many in our world today, becoming a Christian is a private and individualistic decision that never requires expression in the world. But Jesus has different plans for us.
The Lord's prayer is often mis-titled as the prayer that Jesus taught His disciples to pray from Luke 11. However, Jesus' personal prayer is found in John 17, and it contains a treasure of spiritual truths; none more greater than the identification of the source of eternal life.
The true follower of Jesus has a grounding in joy that the world rejects. As Jesus is leaving His disciples He brings them a message of hope to aid them through the upcoming moments and days. The crucifixion will be a devastating blow to their hopes, but Jesus' promise to see them again is coupled with the great hope that their joy will never be taken away.
The Holy Spirit is given to Jesus' disciples to continue the same work that Jesus started in their lives while He was with them. The Spirit's influence in our lives will help to identify what true discipleship looks like.
The fear that prevents evangelism is a virus throughout American Christians. I believe much of it stems from an under-emphasized and often overlooked truth of discipleship: true disciples will be persecuted.
What a danger it is in our world to be deceived into religion. Praying a prayer doesn't save you, getting baptized doesn't save you, paying a tithe doesn't save you.
What does it mean to be a follower of Jesus Christ? As Jesus was preparing to leave his disciples for the cross and then ultimately through the resurrection and ascension, he leaves them with the great task of obedience to the Father's will... but he does not leave them to this task by their own strength.
Living as a person of faith in Jesus is not celebrated in our world today. There is a value system of the world that places "mankind" and our interests and desires (really our own glory) at the forefront as contrasted with the glory of God.
1 John 2:16 “For everything in the world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life—comes not from the Father but from the world.” Observations & Conclusions: 1. The idols of more 2. The idols of success 3. The idols of indulgence Application: How to avoid the traps? 1. Call up on the Lord 2. Remind yourself that you belong to God 3. Reconcile your relationships Ecclesiastes 1:8-9 All things are wearisome, […]
It’s all too easy to listen to the voices of dissension and even become controlled by the fears in our own mind and hearts. Sometimes we are our own worst enemies. These failures to trust in God reveal a lack of confidence in the Lord, and a misplacement of expressing faith in ourselves when we know we will fail. The solution starts by looking to God as the One greater than our difficulties.
We are being influenced by more than we notice. The things that we find enjoyment in are indeed the most subtle influencers. As music or a song lyric would entertain our attention, we slowly and subtly become conformed to the ideas contained therein.
One of the major challenges facing the early church was the danger of falling away from personal commitment to the faith. Apart from a few isolated areas around the globe, Christians today enjoy a relatively safe and easy practice of their faith. The vast majority of Christians can gather together and worship Jesus Christ without fear of life threatening persecution.
Too often in the church, Jesus has been confused as cosmic genie that exists as a supporting character in our life's screenplay. The reality however is that we all have been estranged from our God from humanity's fall in the garden.
The religious leaders questioned Jesus for a sign, but not because they wanted to believe, for they had already determined what they thought of him. Unfortunately, this is all to common in our world today. Many people have already made up their mind as to what they believe about Jesus, no matter the signs.
There may be a very real danger in our world today that has been sourced from God's patience. Although we progress in our rejection of Christ and our sinfulness goes from bad to worse, the wrath stored-up seems suspiciously absent from the everyday and therefore we may be deceived that it is absent in the future.
The picture of Jesus as compared to manna from the Exodus account is one filled with both similarities and differences. It is within these dynamics that we find a challenge to our hearts today - to be reminded that we do not live by bread alone.
The picture of Jesus that we find in the scriptures gives us the truth about a God who has displayed His love to His creation. However, we must be careful that the picture we get is the correct picture of Jesus. This series will seek to examine the "portraits" of Jesus as found through the study of Typology; the Old Testament symbols that point to the corresponding New Testament truths of redemption.
The letter to the Philippians is a theological thank you note, in which Paul helps the church to see a greater vision for the suffering that Christians are called to undergo in this life. The crux of the letter centers around the reality of the church's call to unity and partnership in the gospel, and it is in this partnership that we are characterized as the people of God.
We live in a world that encourages excess. Even if it isn't greed or gluttony, the term FOMO or "Fear of missing out" has our young people paralyzed to their phones and social networks to make sure they've seen and heard it all!
In a world fraught with worry and anxiety, how it even possible for the people of God to find peace? The Apostle Paul, helps the Philippian church identify 5 distinct areas of their lives where God's peace can rule.
The itching ears of our cultural forms of Christianity have left the church in America largely dull and unresponsive to much of the false teaching that is propagated through the medium of Christian TV, bookstores, and radio. We've bought into the temptation that heaven is now and God's greatest concern is for our happiness.
Is the sacrifice of Jesus Christ enough? Or does God require something from us to make salvation possible? The answer to this question will ultimately reveal where glory is given.
There is a contemporary lie that is gaining more traction today: "believe whatever you want, and find God." We are warned continually about the dangers of false teachings, but too many Christians are not equipped to know how to identify that which is true and that which is false.
Participation in the work of the gospel is a collective privilege for the church. However, we do not always see it that way. For many, the work of Christ is either an overlooked nuisance or an expectation for an overloaded pastor. Today we will see how Paul's ministry team carried the mantle of ministry in both the obvious and unexpected ways, as motivated by a deep love and longing within the privilege partnership of ministry.
Sacrifice is not a word you often hear about in today's church. Properly put, Jesus is our final sacrifice, however what does that leave for His followers today?
We live in a "selfie" world. Unfortunately, that means our culture's values often stand in opposition to God's glory. As the old saying goes, "self praise stinks!"
Because of what God has done for us, we are expected to have a change in our hearts towards one another. However, if we're honest sometimes it can be very hard. We're easily annoyed, and misunderstandings and miscommunication clutter the efforts we make towards unity.
The way we live our lives often speaks louder than our words. As Christians we must see our faith as the essential component of our new identity in Christ, and therefore in obedience to God's Spirit living in us we may see suffering as natural outcome of a new nature living in a cursed world.
It is a difficult thing to suffer for Christ, and it is uniquely foreign for much of our modern world's teaching on Christianity. How should we rightly carry Christ into our spheres of influence, and how can we develop a courage that make us willing to suffer for our faith.
The pattern of our world celebrates the "lone ranger" over the one who seeks cooperation. We value competency rather than dependency, and individual achievement over cooperation. We laud the "self-made" man, and we are trained to market our own brand at the expense of all others.
One of the greatest challenges the church faces today is the influence of individualism and a rebellion of God's standards when it comes to the family. The family is the most fundamental unit of society, and if the family breaks down, we can easily see the results as they prove God's formula true by the statistics found in fatherless homes.
The importance of investing in our children does not end with graduation. Even adult children are in need of love and support from their parents, and the saying "it takes a village to raise a child" is true today more than ever.
The greatest challenge for parents is found at the greatest point of rebellion in the lives of our children. The root of sin is an idolatrous heart that loves and yields to self rather than to Christ.
The task of parenting is a God-given responsibility, and it is an incredible privilege to be used by God for the formation of a soul. However, moms and dads are completely incapable of accomplishing this task on their own.
The task of parenting is harder today than ever before because our children are faced with greater challenges and temptations than ever before. To make matters worse, there is a degradation of the responsibility of parents that flows out of our contemporary culture.
As we conclude our series on Gemstones, we find the glimmering beauty of each bound up the Paul's description of the Gospel. In a world where we face temptations and trials, the love God as expressed in the cross of Jesus Christ stands alone as a beacon of hope, an anchor for our souls, and a call to recreation in Christ.
The beauty of mercy is found in the patience and loving kindness of our God. While Grace is the extension of His righteousness to us in Christ, Mercy is rooted in His compassion to NOT treat us as we deserve. While death is our just deserves for our sins, God is patient with us to draw men and women into a new relationship whose foundation is built on mercy and by that mercy will keep us into eternity with Him.
We use the word "hope" to refer to that which we look forward to; with wishful thinking we imagine our dreams might come true. The Biblical understanding of "hope" however is not grounded in optimism or thinking positively, rather it is grounded in certainty.
In a world fraught with anxiety and turmoil, where we are medicated and disabled by stress, the Christian ought to have the upper hand in battle against worry for we know the One who holds our future.
One of the most precious Gemstones of our faith is given to us in the word "love." However, the practice of living out the love we've been shown in Christ is often in conflict with our natural tendency to seek that which will give comfort or pleasure rather than give love.
One of the most underemphasized truths within Christianity is concept of our "old self." What should be center stage, this truth is founded on our identification with Christ in His death through faith as communicated by the Apostle Paul as "having been buried with him in baptism" (Colossians 2:12).
The word "joy" has such significant meaning for today's Christian, especially in a world that defines it through circumstances or standing. Our access to "JOY" is rooted in the competed work of Jesus Christ on the cross, and the hope of our salvation as purchased by Christ.
When we look to the world's concept of our "faith" it is often seen as foolish or naive, it doesn't make good business sense, it comes with too many risks and variables.
We must understand the truths of our faith from what God's word says, and not from how our culture defines them. The Grace of God is something that is freely given and freely received, but yet extremely costly.
Unfortunately, in our world today there is more than enough fodder for division: sports teams, political parties, educational systems, and the list goes on and on. In the church, however, Jesus prayed that His followers would be one!
What is God's plan for the nations? Does He want some or all? Psalm 67 makes it clear that God's rule is the end goal of receiving the worship of all people groups, languages, and tribes.
We've grown accustomed to the false understanding that we have authority in this world, that the things we own actually belong to us, and that a lifestyle conditioned on our desires is to be accepted and encouraged.
A confusion in our world today is that we actually have a kind of freedom that rests upon the popular or majority decision. While its true that we enjoy many freedoms in our country, we have missed a fundamental and foundational understanding that everyone is a slave to something.
Have you ever heard the saying, "people don't care what you know, until they know how much you care?" Jesus modeled this axiom by regularly challenging the expectations of the religious elite by eating and interacting with sinners and tax collectors. And in doing so, Jesus drew these untouchables to Himself; His identification with them was that which touched their hearts and ultimately drew them towards repentance.
There is a epidemic of failure in our culture's understanding of fatherhood. Far too many families are without fathers, physically, spiritually, and with engaging emotion We've failed to emphasize the crucial component of Godly character within the family concerning dads -- it means far more than simply producing children.
Have you ever asked the question, "How is someone saved?" In Romans chapter 10, the Apostle Paul reveals the 5 necessary steps to carry the gospel such that God's children can "call" out to him for salvation.
It isn't hard to regularly see the many ways "this" world is broken. Too often in ministry we find this world producing not only an external opposition to the gospel, but often an inward creep of discouragement, doubt, and fear.
When Paul communicates to the church in Ephesus he implores them to recognize the evil days in which they're living, and to therefore "redeem the time."
The command to believers to answer, witness, and evangelize is predicated on the reality of our identity in Christ. Because we've been changed from darkness to light, we can live our lives a beacons of God's love.
Jesus commanded his disciples to the task of disciple making. Today we will hear from missionary Aaron Turner as he gives us a reminder of the need for intentionality in our obedience to Jesus' call.
Today as we continue in our series on missions called: Go to Everyone, we will see how our ability to serve on the mission field for Jesus is predicated on our maturity to live like Jesus towards one another. Before we can be peace bringers to the world we must learn to be peace makers in our churches.
The church is God's instrument for the advancement of His Kingdom and rule on the earth. However there are many places throughout the world where the children of God are not welcomed. In fact persecution, hatred, scorn, and arrests are commonplace for many of our brothers and sisters in the Lord.
Have you ever found it difficult to serve our Lord in this world? Take heart, because you are in good company with our Lord. The Word teaches that "friendship with the world is hatred towards God" (James 4:4), and that our true "citizenship is in heaven" (Philippians 2:20).
The central hope for the Christian is our future resurrection and the culmination of our salvation whereby our spirits are reunited with bodies crafted from incorruptibility in the resurrection of the dead. But all of this is firstly dependent upon one historical fact: the resurrection of Jesus Christ.
There are modern contributors to the church's ignorance of the most basic of truths of our faith, namely the hope of resurrection. Today we will examine 3 major mistakes in our theology stemming from the contemporary influence of our culture that have hindered the church's hope.
- Wherever He is that’s where I want to be
- God will make a way
- Our answer will come from Heaven
- God can do the impossible
- God keeps His promises
Since the children have flesh and blood, he too shared in their humanity so that by his death he might break the power of him who holds the power of death... For this reason he had to be made like them, fully human in every way, in order that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in service to God, and that he might make atonement for the sins of the people.
How do we respond when we feel things are out of our control? Why is it so difficult for us to remember that God is still in charge, despite our circumstances?
Today we enter into one of the most difficult narratives of the passion week, when Jesus is betrayed, arrested, and abandoned. The question we will look at is "why?"
Could there be "pop quizzes" that we're not prepared for in life? Do you ever find yourself in dismay as to the seductiveness of sin and temptation, and are you tired of battle? Jesus gives his disciples a key resource in fighting the "good fight" with the spiritual discipline of prayer.
Its far too easy in our world today to simply be concerned with self. We want to be GREAT, like our idols and role models found in movie stars, professional athletes, and the powerful movers and shakers in our world. However, Jesus calls us to a deeper understanding of what it means to be "Great."
There are many voices calling out for our allegiance in our world today. The problem is we can only follow after 1 master. Jesus is up-front and clear about the demands of becoming a disciple, and His challenge from Luke 9 focuses us to ask the question "how committed are we" to following after Jesus?
There is a challenge we face in our world today, which is identifying sin. Unfortunately much of the world has found a way to condone, ignore, or whitewash sin.
We've all heard the "Golden Rule," but I suspect we've missed the really difficult part of it. Culturally, we all know its "nice to be nice." However, Jesus will show that His followers are called to go above and beyond in their expression of care and love to their neighbors.
Faith is a difficult thing to practice today. For many reasons we've crafted around us a world that minimizes the need for genuine faith. Insurance companies, investments, accessibility of modern conveniences, even the lack of expectations in church: from our jobs to our devotional life, very few of us are challenged towards defining actions of faith.
We live in a world where temptation is hiding around every corner and under every stone. Sadly, most of us find few victories and are left with a faith that needs to continually play catch up between our desires and our actions.
The Reformers creed, declaring salvation by grace through "faith alone," requires a very important asterisk. While its true that salvation is in no way earned or contrived through our effort or works, it is only through the evidence of the "fruit of repentance" that our faith is shown to be genuine.
Download Small Group Study Guide HERE The story of Mary and Joseph forgetting Jesus in Jerusalem highlights for us some of the uniqueness surrounding their child, and Jesus’ perspective in terms of application of the question “What is the most important thing in life?” Observations & Conclusions 1 – “Life” can draw you away from Jesus 2 – If you’ve lost Jesus, go back to where you found him before 3 – Genuine faith in Jesus means adoption into a […]
Today we look at the story of two of the Lord's faithful servants, who exemplify what it looks like to wait on the Lord.
Its amazing to see the contrast in some people's response to Jesus. Sometimes he is met with acceptance and transformation, and other times refusal and rejection.
The journey to Bethlehem wasn't an easy one. It was filled with faith filled steps as Joseph walked in obedience to the instruction of the angel of the Lord.
There are a lot of things the can cause difficulty and pressure in our world. But it is imperative that we as Christians learn to rely on God to direct and provide within our circumstances. Our passage for today is a story between two moms, who have been chosen by God, and their response to God's purposes and His faithfulness in their lives.
The reality for mankind is that we are all under a common curse of sin. It pervades our every fiber and thought, and skews our intentions to the very deception of our own hearts. The sad truth of the curse of sin is death. Paul writes, "Therefore, just as sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, and in this way death came to all people, because all sinned."
Perhaps the most crucial foundation in our understanding of God is found in His character to keep-His-promises. The difficulty for a church that is struggling with persecution is identifying the correct response to trusting God's promises. Sometimes its easy, but most of the time it is hard.
This past week marked the 500th anniversary to the Protestant Reformation. Even though we have good reasons to adhere to this particular expression of Christianity, it needs to be said at the outset that even though we are not Roman Catholic, we cannot claim to be perfect in all we do.
One of the most abused components of Christianity today is the way in which people have come to misunderstand Christian “faith.” As we stand the threshold of the 500th Anniversary of the Reformation, we examine today the evangelical confession of faith as the scriptures indicated it, as opposed to how many churches today have twisted it.
We have been shaped by the world we live in, whether we are aware of it or not. One way that many Christians have been conformed is in their expectations and expressions on the subject of worship.
Prayer has had many forms throughout the years of the Christian church, and even today our culture has many expressions for calling out to the Lord. The problem is many of us have subconsciously inherited one of these forms without recognizing the potentials for its deficiencies when it comes to expressing and understanding prayer.
Jesus knew that the world has a way of squeezing us into its mold. Without intentional re-formation of our values and attitudes our minds will be conformed to think like the world thinks.
As is the case in real life, Nehemiah’s success does not last. The spiritual high that culminated in chapters 10-12 with the sounds of celebration and rejoicing have now been replaced with the very acute failures of God’s people.
Have you ever gotten off track in your Christian walk? One of the basic principles of following Jesus Christ is the gradual and progressive turning our affections from the things of this world to the things of Christ. But sometimes we need a reality check, an evaluation of our priorities, a recentering of our life with Christ.
God’s Word must play a central role in the life of each Christian. For years the church has not enjoyed the privilege of having the Scriptures in such abundance as it does today. Perhaps it is this profusion which has led many to take God’s Word for granted and leave it undisturbed and dusty.
There is a tendency in our world to easily give up when we are frustrated, and one of the most rare traits is ability to persevere. As Nehemiah nears completion of the walls in Jerusalem the opposition becomes more fierce and we will see how he handles the difficulty of enduring the intimidation of his foes by relying on God’s calling, strength and word.
Many times in our lives we get unintentionally distracted. It can be our kids programs, doctor’s appointments, or anything on the calendar that eats up every minute of the day. In a world where there is no slowing down for our busy schedules, we need to be careful not to overlook the essential ministries the Lord has called us to: our family, our church, and our communi
Jesus said that “in this world you will have trouble;” Nehemiah faced this trouble head on. Today we will look at his response to the opposition of those whose desire it was to stir up trouble. Going beyond insults, Nehemiah faced actual threats on his life - how would you respond? We will see through chapter 4 how he handles supporting the community the middle of the greatest struggle that the rebuilding project has faced to date.
Have you heard the saying that “a chain is only as strong as its weakest link?” Well, what if each link that chain was able to assist the others - you’d then have a cord assisted by the entirety of its common ability.
We begin a new series looking at the book of Nehemiah. Today we will examine chapter 1-2 and see 3 acts of drama as Nehemiah learns about the state of his ancestral home and follows a conviction to rebuild it with God’s help.
In our world today its all too easy to embrace the temptation to work more to earn more. The nature of greed and abundance has pushed the American worker beyond the limits of healthy sleep habits, and rest becomes a luxury too costly to afford. What does God think of this?
Many have been brainwashed and desensitized to the proliferation of sexuality in our world today. Even those who lived 2 generations ago were shocked to see the lax nature of the culture’s response the degradation of family morals and increase of the pursuit of sexual pleasures in their day; imagine what they would say today in looking at our entertainment and sex-saturated commercialism . The church needs to wake up: what God meant for good has been perverted.
Have you ever tried to really knuckle down on eating healthy and exercising? Many of us have and have undoubtedly discovered its as a temporary solution to an ongoing struggle. The primary reason we fail to find success is that many of us have not put Godliness at the forefront of our endeavors. A proper diet and regular exercise are an important factor in the life of the believer, but only insofar as they are driving by honoring and glorifying God.
There is a movement in our culture to capitalize upon the temptations of the flesh, whether that be with food, sex, or sloth. How is it that the church can emphasize the surrender of our hearts to God, but not the surrender of our bodies? Let us look at what the Apostle Paul writes as he address how the church in Rome is understand their new calling as believers: those who are now “alive” in Christ!
In a world filled with people who have different outlooks, different opinion, and different philosophies, it is little wonder why we don’t experience more division that we do?! The Family of God is not left without aid in this need for unity, because God has sent His Spirit to indwell the hearts of his children, to draw us into a family larger than our own preferences.
Everyone has had a moment where they’ve felt alone, even as believers sometimes our feelings can deceive us. The truth is that with the Lord we are never alone, and one of the primary ministries of the Holy Spirit is his work of being our helper.
Happy Father’s Day! Do you remember calling out to your dad for help? Seemed dad always had the answer, and he could fix anything! We have the same privilege to call upon our Heavenly Father with whatever trials or difficulties we face in this life. This gift has been afforded to us by the indwelling of God’s Spirit.
Have you ever experienced the difficulty of having to live together with someone else other than me, myself, and I?! No matter the difficulty we can all give testimony to, there is little argument to the fact that the indwelling of the Holy Spirit must be at times the most difficult cohabitation in history. Praise the Lord that He never leaves or forsakes us!
From some of us its harder than other to listen to direction, and sometimes even harder to obey. This can be a real stumbling block in the life of the believer, as we are continually faced with the decision to either follow God’s leading or go our own way. Much like the children’s game “Simon Says” we must learn to attune our hearts to hearing what the Spirit says, and then the discipline to follow in obedience.
Some of the most difficult moments in a Christian’s life are met with a incorrect dependency of self-reliance. Our abilities, plans, schemes, and resources are often the initial source of our strength. We must recalculate our priorities so that in all things we turn to God first with all our heart.
Have you ever heard the voice of God, not an audible voice, but that quiet soft still voice that leads you towards serving God and in so becoming more like Jesus Christ?
This morning we will give definition to that voice in the person of the Holy Spirit and we will give identification to those moments called “Holy Nudges” as we continue in our series in Proverbs studying messages from Pastor Dave.
God has knit into the hearts of every mother the tender attention to help those in need, the hurting, and the discouraged. As the writer of the book of Proverbs finishes he lays out 5 unique characteristics of a woman with Godly character.
Pastor Dave Anderson served here at Grace for more than 15 years. Although he, like any shepherd, had moments of difficulty, his overwhelming observation from those years of ministry was a keen awareness of the love of God as displayed though the parishioners here at Grace. However, it was only in his final months that that love became for him a symphony of encouragement, that helped carry him through his battle with cancer.
The role that husbands and wives fulfill within a marriage is modeled after the completed work of God in Christ for the church. As the church submits to Christ, so are wives to submit to their husbands, and as Christ loved the church, so are husbands to love their wives. In the world we live in today there is much confusion over these roles. And unfortunately poor cultural values have invaded the minds of many to bring a false determination of the expression of harmony within a marriage.
The need and application for showing grace to one another is perhaps no more clearly seen than between husbands and wives. The unity required in a marriage is continually under threat from the indwelling of sin, the absence of forgiveness, and a failure of husbands and wives to correctly understand their roles as God has purposed them. Paul addresses this need for unity as we reach chapter 5 of his letter to the Ephesians.
Paul’s exposition to the Ephesians reaches the apex of worship as he offers is prayer for the church to experience God’s love through their shared unity from the power of God’s Grace. His understanding is quite clear, humans need outside help to free them from both the everyday struggles towards unity and the eternal enslavement under sin’s curse of death.
One of the great privileges for those who have had their sins washed away by the blood of Jesus Christ, is sharing the joy of the grace of God with others - in a sense “carrying Christ” into the many spheres of our influence. It really is actually quite a shock that God would include us - with all our many flaws - to be used as His vessels to announce the Kingdom of God.
There is no shortage of differences between individuals today. Unfortunately, these differences too often get controlled by our insecurities and selfish desires to morph them from differences to divisions. The great weapon of the evil one is bringing dissension and division to the body of Christ. We are in an all out war on the battlefront of the image of God’s church from both outside influences and from within.
The world we live in today has a negative influence on how we perceive of God and of God’s love. For the career individual promotion only comes with good performance, and much of human acceptance is contingent on what benefit others can derive from your good works. This is not so with God. God offers His unconditional acceptance to us before we have anything to offer to Him. He gives us Jesus, before we can give Him anything.
God’s grace has been revealed in the coming of Jesus Christ. And this appearing of God’s grace serves as a teacher to us. The real question for the Christ follower is are we learning from this arrival of grace and conforming our lives after the one who has purchased us and cleansed us
We tend to recoil whenever anyone gets into our personal life and tells us how to live or act. Thankfully the scriptures don’t hold back when it comes to offering instruction as to how a Christian ought to conduct his/herself. Paul walks Titus through 5 arenas of human categorization and pulls no punches as he instructs him how to teach the church character and conduct that is in accordance with sound doctrine.
The world has progressively and continually moved away from God’s Word, and in doing so it has desensitizing the secular mind towards that which ought to be morally repugnant.
We live in a world quite similar to the dangers found in the days of the New Testament. With a plurality of perspectives concerning faith and doctrine where can Christians turn to find objective truth? The Apostle Paul writes to his student Titus with instructions towards godliness.
What do we mean when we pray, “in Jesus name?” A quick survey on the subject will reveal that there are a few options as to what people today think praying in Jesus name means. We will evaluate Jesus’ final instructions to His disciples before He departs from them, and we will see that the interpretation for repeated phrase to “ask for anything in my name” is wholly dependent on the context of John chapters 14-16.
Learning how to pray well is not just a discipline for today, it was also key for the disciples in Jesus’ day. With worldly examples focusing on gaining public attention or teaching a false practice of elaborate lofty word-ridden requests their world wasn’t much different than ours today.
The movie industry makes good sport out of the common anxiety found in public prayer, but if we were honest, we might confess that they’ve really tapped into a root of realistic fears that plague many modern Christians. “I love God, I pray to Him everyday, but please don’t call on me to pray!”
One of the most difficult things to endure within the Christian life is waiting to hear from God. Believers down through the ages have persevered in their hope of God’s providence and sovereignty, even in the face of waiting to receive their answer. This determination to persevere reveals not their faith in their request, but rather their faith in the One on whom they call.
The contemporary attitude of prayer is often dismissed by the secular public, and many times Christians too fail to keep the conviction of disciplined prayer. One helpful perspective might be for believers to understand God’s purpose behind prayer. What does it accomplish in the heart and mind of the Christ follower, and what does it accomplish concerning God’s glory on earth?
When we fail to go to God for the concerns of life, we rely only on our own ability. Its like trying to shovel your driveway with a 20 inch shovel when God’s answer is like the width of a plow truck, and can inject power that we could never imagine by our own effort.
The world is not as it should be. There righteous are found to be persecuted, and the wicked prosper. Evils in this world go unpunished, and the glory of God isn’t found saturating His creation as it should. When the Prophet Isaiah recognizes the coming of God’s Son he sees a judge who will come without the errors we carry; he sees One who will come with integrity and justice.
Love is the avenue upon which trust travels. Trusting God with your life and your future is natural response to His love. It is at Christmas that we truly see the love of God made evident to us in the giving of His one and only Son.
Its not what you know, but WHO you know that matters. As many have information about God and can describe His attributes, only those who have a relationship with God through the indwelling of the Holy Spirit can testify that they truly KNOW Him.
The power of God has been the single greatest benefit to the believer in the process of sanctification and growing in the transformative likeness of Jesus Christ. Even though God’s law is perfect, we are incapable of living it because through the weakness of the flesh (or sinful nature) the command produces only death. It is through the birth of Jesus that the power of God is revealed and that we now have the joy of encountering the power in our lives.
It is a good thing that God knows better than we do. It is a further good thing that He is in control. Isaiah 11:2 reveals that the Messiah will have the Spirit of the Lord and the “Spirit of wisdom and of understanding.” This message will look at how Christmas reveals the wisdom of God in the sending of Jesus as the Christ, the Godman who will turn the world’s wisdom upside-down.
The Christmas season is the perfect time to reflect on what it really means for us that God became man. As God chose to empty Himself in the person of Jesus Christ, we are shown what true humility looks like. There is no better example to inspire us today to give to one another an attitude of meekness such that we might have a singleness of unity and purpose. Philippians 2:1-11 (NIV) 2 Therefore if you have any encouragement from being united […]
The ability for the church to represent God the Father here on earth is not possible from natural man alone. We must have help from the indwelling of the Spirit to transform us and grow us in the image of Christ. The Bible says in 2 Corinthians 5:21 that our union in Christ’s death on the cross has afforded us the privilege of becoming the righteousness of God. This transfer is available only through the sinless life and sacrifice of Christ and the sealing and transforming work of the Holy Spirit.
We, as Christians, are of the most privileged people on the planet, because the blood of Christ has been applied to our transgressions and we have been drawn to God through love. The problem is that even though this is true, we sometimes don’t live as though it is true. Rather than living as those who have been purchased by God, we often desire to continue living for ourselves. We will be “sold out” to God in most areas of our life, but not in all areas. Paul’s admonition to the church is that in light of God’s saving grace, we ought to no longer live for ourselves, but rather learn to live for God alone.
As we look at our world, its all too easy to judge people from the exterior; we base perceptions off of what people look like, how much money they have, or what social status they’re blessed or cursed with. However, once we’re made new in Christ, we have a fundamental change in our vision of the world. Its not about us. Its not about our agenda. Rather, it is about God purpose and plan to see peoples from all nations come to repentance and saving knowledge of Him.
Whether we like it or not, the neighbors are watching. Once you become a Christian, the entire world becomes your mission field, and ready or not you are a witness to Christ’s work in your life. Too many of us have for years served as a megaphone showing the world who God is without our knowledge that we were even speaking. The Apostle Paul shows us that as those entrusted with the message of reconciliation we are speaking for God […]
In the same way we would give priority to caring for our own body (to make sure that all of our bodily members are functioning properly), God is concerned with keeping the “body of Christ” healthy and functioning. As a member of the church we are gifted with the task of serving Christ, and each one has the opportunity to serve for the betterment of the whole body. As the old children’s song goes, “All God’s children have a place in the choir, some sing low, and some sing higher.”
In a “consumer-centric” world where our natural tendencies towards self-centeredness, laziness, and procrastination lead to “quick-fixes” rather than transformative progress, the church can easily fall into two errors. (1) Fixating on entertainment, and/or (2) Disengaging from true discipleship. We must rediscover the true Purpose of the Church.
The “weed of greed” is seen in the natural man and woman without having been planted there - it grows from the seed of a broken world. The nature of the church is to follow after the example of Christ as our Head, and greed is destructive to the health of the church.
Have you ever checked the ingredients to what you’re eating, and have you heard the old saying, “You are what you eat?” As is too easily seen, this is proven true today through the many preservatives and unhealthy additives to foods to increase their taste and delight. Unfortunately, these eating habits will lead to an unhealthy life.
The same is true for what we digest spiritually. Too many of us don’t give enough evaluation to the ingredients that make up the teachings of our spiritual leaders. Are there emotional and cultural additives that we’ve become accustomed to? Is there a way to make sure that what we are consuming spiritually will keep us spiritually healthy?
The apostle Paul writes to the Romans to watch out for those whose teaching causes divisions and give obstacles to spiritual growth and unity. Whereas so many are quick to enter into debates and controversies that get the blood pumping, he encourages the church towards obedience and innocence of evil.
Romans 16:17-19New International Version (NIV) 17 I urge you, brothers and sisters, to watch out for those who cause divisions and put obstacles in your way that are contrary to the teaching you have learned. Keep away from them. 18 For such people are not serving our Lord Christ, but their own appetites. By smooth talk and flattery they deceive the minds of naive people. 19 Everyone has heard about your obedience, so I rejoice because of you; but I want you to be wise about what is good, and innocent about what is evil.
We need a major overhaul as to how we see forgiveness in the body of Christ. We wouldn’t disregard a part of our own body if it caused us pain would we? If part of the body affects the rest negatively, you don’t cut it OUT, you give it more attention to address and correct the problem - the same is true in the body of Christ. A major warning is needed to guarantee that the church as Christ’s body on earth continues in her mission - that warning is to beware of the dangers of unforgiveness. Nowhere is there allowed the petty greedy grudges we enjoy holding against one another. God has forgiven us, we are therefore called to forgive one another.
The contrast between “religion” and “relationship” can be seen in the follow 3 examples. • spiritual medication (“self deception”) vs. true worship - “I’m ok because I went to chruch” John 5:39, “You diligently study the scriptures because you think that by them you possess eternal life, These are the scriptures that testify about me, yet you refuse to come to me to have life!” • pursuing a better life on earth vs. surrendering your life to Christ Mt 16:25“For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will find it.” • manufactured righteousness vs. life transforming relationship Mt 5:20“For I tell you that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the Pharisees and the teachers of the law, you will certainly not enter the kingdom of heaven.”
Trusting God through the storms of life is difficult. We easily focus on the wrong things in life and allow FEAR to creep in. Fear comes in many forms and it always paralyzes. We fear: (1) our ability (eg. preaching), (2) the cost (eg. missionary), (3) the consequences (eg. change), (4) loss of control, (5) the unknown, (6) what others think about us, (7) lack of resources (eg. money), (8) pain / hurt / conflict, (9) lack (eg. change in […]
The conviction of Christianity is a call to suffer. You’ve heard the saying “No Pain, no gain.” This same observation we see in life proves true in the Christian life as well. It is sometimes difficult for us to hear but Jesus says both,” my Father prunes branches so they produce more fruit.” AND “He disciplines those He loves.” We’ve all had disappointment; this world does not give as it should. Pastor Ryan helps us to answer the question: “What […]