Union Church: Recent Episodes

Union Church AZ

Sermons and content from Union Church in Prescott, Arizona.

Notes//Quotes:

2 Peter 2:4-22

puppet/homer - Pics attached

The same early christians who tell us to be kind and gentle also tell us to be on our guard against being deceived. Jesus himself told us to be not only innocent as doves but also wise as serpents. It’s a difficult combination. But we won’t get very far in the right direction unless we work hard on both sides of our character….Peter is going for the wisdom of the serpent. There are false prophets and false teachers; the problem is that they don’t wear a label round their necks giving the game away. The devastating thing about such prophets and teachers is that they sound all too plausible.” N.T. Wright

Ezekiel 16:49-50

Eph 5:15-17

Listen along as we continue through 2 Peter.

Notes//Quotes:

2 Peter 2:1-3 - Faith
Title: Clever Stories

“Christianity would then be evaporated of its essence and consist of little more than a vague reverence for “God.” Certain strands of the ecumenical movement err in just this direction. In the interests of Christian unity, they reduce the faith to its lowest possible common denominator.”
- Douglas Moo

“In essentials unity; in nonessentials, liberty; and in all things, charity.”
- Rupertus Meldenius

Apostles Creed:
I believe in God, the Father almighty,
creator of heaven and earth.
I believe in Jesus Christ, God’s only Son, our Lord,
who was conceived by the Holy Spirit,
born of the Virgin Mary,
suffered under Pontius Pilate,
was crucified, died, and was buried;
[he descended to the dead.]
On the third day he rose again;
he ascended into heaven,
he is seated at the right hand of the Father,
and he will come to judge the living and the dead.
I believe in the Holy Spirit,
the holy catholic Church,
the communion of saints,
the forgiveness of sins,
the resurrection of the body,
and the life everlasting. Amen.
(ELLC)

“Anxiety is a truly remarkable thing. Maya walks home alone, like iron on the outside but a house of cards inside. The slightest little breeze is all it takes. Today it was the line in the cafeteria. The crowd. Someone backed into her accidentally; she doesn't know the boy's name, and he didn't even notice. They hardly touched each other. It wasn't his fault. But Maya was plunged back into hell again in an instant…Anxiety. It's such a peculiar thing. Almost everyone knows what it feels like, yet none of us can describe it. Maya looks at herself in the mirror, wonders why it can't be seen on the outside. Not even on X-rays how does that work? How can something that bangs away at us so horribly hard on the inside not show up on the pictures as black scars, scorched into our skeletons? How can the pain she feels not be visible in the mirror! She's become so good at pretending. Goes to school, sits in classes, does her homework. She plays her guitar, perhaps that helps, unless she's just imagining that. Perhaps her fingers just need to be kept busy. She's looked into the books her dad reads about "mental coaching," and they talk about the brain having to steer the body but that sometimes the reverse is the only way to survive. She's seen depressed adults do the same thing: keep moving, exercising, and cleaning and renovating their summer cottages, finding things that force them to get up in the morning: plants to be watered, errands to be run, anything so they don't have time to think about how.”
—Fredrick Backman, Us Against Them

Listen along as we continue our journey through 2 Peter.

Notes//Quotes:

2 Peter 1:16-21

I have seen the face of Jesus— Tell me not of aught beside;
I have heard the voice of Jesus—All my soul is satisfied.
In the radiance of the glory, First I saw His blessed face,
And forever shall that glory Be my home, my dwelling-place.

2 Tim 3:16-17

The value of inspiration emerges, as twofold. It gives to the books written under its bearing a quality which is truly superhuman; a trustworthiness, an authority, a searchingness, a profundity, a profitableness which is altogether Divine. And it speaks this Divine word immediately to each reader’s heart and conscience; so that he does not require to make his way to God, painfully, perhaps even uncertainly, through the words of His servants, the human instruments in writing the Scriptures, but can listen directly to the Divine voice itself speaking immediately in the Scriptural word to him. BB Warfield

“We read scripture in order to be refreshed in our memory and understanding of the story within which we ourselves are actors, to be reminded where it has come from and where it is going to, and hence what our own part within it ought to be.” - NT Wright, Scripture and the Authority of God

Where in your life do you already know what needs to change, but continue to avoid the cost of changing it?
What has become so normal in your life that you no longer notice how much it is diminishing your vitality?
If someone looked only at the way you spend your time, energy, and attention, what would they assume matters most to you?

Listen along as we continue through 2 Peter.

Notes//Quotes:

2 Peter 1:10-15 - Jorgen/Larry
Title: Last Words

“In this sense holiness refers to a state of being separate, set apart from the ordinary or mundane and dedicated to a particular purpose or use. The Hebrew adjective for "holy" (qadosh) literally means "separate," since it derives from a verb meaning "to cut off" or "to separate!" Together with its cognates it is used to designate particular places (especially the Holy Place and the Holy of Holies), objects (e.g., Aaron's garments and the Sabbath day, and persons (e.g., the priests and Levites) as specially set apart or sanctified to the Lord. An example is found in Exodus 13:2: "Consecrate to me all the first-born; whatever is the first to open the womb among the people of Israel, both of man and of beast, is mine." Similarly, the holiness of God signifies his separateness from anything impure.”
- Millard Erickson

“those sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints together with all those who in every place call on the name of our Lord Jesus Christ…” (1 Cor. 1:2)

“The term sanctification does not appear in the Synoptic Gospels at all. To convey the idea that our lives are to be pure, Jesus emphasized instead that we are children of God. We belong to God and consequently should show a likeness to him. We should share his spirit of love: "You have heard that it was said, You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy! But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven" (Matt. 5:43-45a). To Jesus, his brother and sister are those who do God's will (Mark 3:35). Paul shares this conception that our status before God is to result in holy living. For example, he urges the Ephesians, "I therefore, a prisoner for the Lord, beg you to lead a life worthy of the calling to which you have been called" (Eph. 4:1). He then goes on to specify a life of lowliness, meekness, patience, and forbearance. The fact of belonging to God is to issue in moral attributes reflecting such a status.”
- Millard Erickson

“Our reckoning with purity culture is good and necessary. It's helped many Christians rediscover a God who loves wounded people, not perfect performances, but I fear that in the process of tearing down purity culture, we may have kissed purity itself goodbye. And that's a problem. My generation is porn addicted, drug dependent, dopamine sick, irony poisoned, attention fractured, and spiritually starved. We've traded repression for indulgence, and the result isn't freedom-it’s decay. It turns out the Christian sexual ethic once derided as prudish is one of the last coherent frameworks for love, dignity, and belonging. Purity, rightly understood, isn't about fear. It's about reverence. It's not about suppressing desire but directing it.”
- Luke Simons

“15 For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry, “Abba! Father!” 16 The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God…” (Romans 8:15&16)

Listen along as we begin our series through 2 Peter.

Notes//Quotes:

2 Peter 1:1-9

Knowing God is more than knowing about Him; it is a matter of dealing with Him as He opens up to you, and being dealt with by Him as he takes knowledge of you. Knowing about Him is a necessary precondition of trusting in Him, but the width of our knowledge about Him is no gauge of the depth of our knowledge of Him. JI Packer

“Participating in the divine nature” is, then, a great and precious privilege: Through our union with Christ and the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, we share in something of God’s own holy nature, separated from the corrupt world around us. And it is precisely “for that reason” (v. 5) that we called on to progress in holiness and godliness. But the very fact that Peter goes on to encourage us to make such progress shows that participating in the divine nature does not bring us into a state of sinlessness or even into a situation in which we can lay back and simply enjoy our new status.” Douglas Moo

Christian faith is the root from which all these virtues must grow, and Christian love is the crowning virtue to which all the others must contribute. In a list of this kind, the last item has a unique significance. It is not just the most important virtue, but also the virtue which encompasses all the others. Love is the overriding ethical principle from which the other virtues gain their meaning and validity. Thus the author of 2 Peter sees that some of the ethical ideals of pagan society should also be Christian ideals, but only if they are subordinated to and reinterpreted by the Christian ideal of love. - Richard Bauckham

Grace is not opposed to effort, it is opposed to earning. Earning is an attitude. Effort is an action. Grace, you know, does not just have to do with forgiveness of sins alone- Dallas Willard

I am learning from Jesus to live my life as he would live my life if he were I. I am not necessarily learning to do everything he did, but I am learning how to do everything I do in the manner that He did all that he did. - Dallas Willard

Listen along as Mike Gaston wraps up our series through 1 Peter.

Notes//Quotes

1 Peter 5:6-14 - Mike G Teaching Slide 1 Big IdeaOur faith in God allows us to navigate challenging times now, as we await better times ahead. Slide 2 Challenging times now (vs 6-9)We are called to humility before GodWe have an adversarySuffering is part of life Slide 3 “You contribute nothing to your salvation except the sin that made it necessary.”Jonathan Edwards Slide 4 “Peter recognizes that a great barrier to putting others first and thinking of them as more important is the legitimate human concern, ‘But then who will care for me?’ The answer is that God himself will care for our needs. He is able to do so far better than we are (his hand is ‘mighty,’ v. 6), and he wants to do so, for he continually cares for his children. Therefore casting all your anxieties on him is the path to humility, freeing a person from constant concern for himself and enabling him or her to truly be concerned for the needs of others.”Wayne Grudem Slide 5 “… because he cares for you.” Slide 6 “There are two equal and opposite errors into which our race can fall about the devils. One is to disbelieve in their existence. The other is to believe, and to feel an excessive and unhealthy interest in them.” CS Lewis, Preface to The Screwtape Letters Slide 7 “But he gives more grace. Therefore it says ‘God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble.’ Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you.”James 4:6-8 “If you are not firm in faith, you will not be firm at all.”Isaiah 7:9 Slide 8 Better Times Ahead (vs 10-11)The description of GodThe promises of GodThe timeline Slide 9 God will have the last word! Slide 10 “Mark, my son”

Listen along as we continue through 1 Peter.

Notes//Quotes

1 Peter 5:1-5 - Faith

1 Peter 5:1-5

The vocation of pastor(s) has been replaced by the strategies of religious entrepreneurs with business plans - Eugene Peterson

“By all our ministry activity to mistakenly be like God, we’ve actually made it hard for people to see or hear him.” John Calvin

Matthew 20:25-28

“It is possible for ministry leaders to desire greatness in ways no different from anyone, anywhere in our culture. Attaching Jesus’s name to these desires doesn’t change the fact that they look just like the cravings of the world.” - Zach Eswine

John 21:15-19

It is possible for ministry leaders to desire greatness in ways no different from anyone, anywhere in our culture. Attaching Jesus’s name to these desires doesn’t change the fact that they look just like the cravings of the world. - Zach Eswine

Ezekiel 34:1-16

Listen along as we continue through 1 Peter.

Notes//Quotes:

1 Peter 4:12-19

John 16:33
Romans 5:1-5
James 1:2-4

Certainly there is unanimous teaching among the NT writers that there is no condemnation for those who believe in Christ and that they will be delivered from the destiny that is coming to those who disobey God by rejecting the redemption he provides in Jesus Christ. But there is ample teaching that Christians will nevertheless be judged and that it is their standing with Christ that will bring this judgment to a good end. Those who profess Christ are the first ones to be tested in God’s judging action, and it occurs during their lives and throughout history. Karen Jobes

1 Cor 3:10-17

“While other worldviews lead us to sit in the midst of life’s joys, foreseeing the coming sorrows, Christianity empowers its people to sit in the midst of this world’s sorrows, tasting the coming joy. Suffering can refine us rather than destroy us because God himself walks with us in the fire. God will allow evil only to the degree that it brings about the very opposite of what it intends.” Tim Keller

Listen along as we continue our series through 1 Peter.

Notes/Quotes:

Jon reading
Title: Lock In

“We prefer a gospel in which God gives us healthy bodies and bulging wallets. And we too readily think that material blessing is the entitled reward of the gospel. To put it bluntly, the democratized West expects Jesus, comfort, ease, and acceptance from the world.”
- David Helm

“Indeed the only way in which I can make real to myself what theology teaches about the heinousness of sin is to remember that every sin is the distortion of an energy breathed into us—an energy which, if not thus distorted, would have blossomed into one of those holy acts whereof “God did it” and “I did it” are both true descriptions. We poison the wine as He decants it into us; murder a melody He would play with us as the instrument. We caricature the self-portrait He would paint. Hence all sin, whatever else it is, is sacrilege.”
- C.S. Lewis

Listen along as we continue through 1 Peter.

Notes//Quotes:

1 Peter 3:13-22
Title: The Pilgrim's Path

“8 We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not driven to despair; 9 persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed; 10 always carrying in the body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our bodies. 11 For we who live are always being given over to death for Jesus’ sake, so that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our mortal flesh…16 So we do not lose heart. Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day. 17 For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, 18 as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal.”
(2 Corinthians 4:8-11, 16-18)

28 And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather fear him who can destroy both soul and body in hell. 29 Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? And not one of them will fall to the ground apart from your Father. 30 But even the hairs of your head are all numbered. 31 Fear not, therefore; you are of more value than many sparrows.
(Matthew 10:28-30)

“A wonderful text is this, and a more obscure passage perhaps than any other in the New Testament, so that I do not know for a certainty just what Peter means.… I cannot understand and I cannot explain it. And there has been no one who has explained it.”
- Martin Luther

“The exegetical questions basically come down to these: Where did Christ go? When did he go? To whom did he speak? What did he say? Different answers to each of these questions can be found, resulting in a labyrinth of exegetical options, each of which has no clearly overwhelming claim to certainty, [with one] calculating 180 different exegetical combinations, in theory.”
- Karen Jobes

Listen along as we continue our time through 1 Peter.

Notes//Quotes:

1 Peter 3:8-12 - Anthony reading

“This is the mission of God: to restore the creation and the life of humanity from the ravages of sin. The church’s function in this story is to participate in God’s mission; we are to be caught up in God’s own work of restoration and healing. This defines the identity and role of the church.” - Mike Goheen

“How can Jesus expect me to love my enemies when I don’t even like them?” “Loving” in modern culture refers primarily to an emotional attachment of a greater intensity than merely “liking.” But Peter clearly interprets Jesus’ command to love to refer not to emotions but to acting rightly toward one’s adversaries, regardless of whatever emotions may or may not be involved.” - Karen Jobes

When you come to Christ for mercy and love and help in your anguish and perplexity and sinfulness, you are going with the flow of his own deepest wishes, not against them. - Dane Ortlund

Listen along as we continue our time in 1 Peter.

Notes//Quotes:

Faith: 1 Peter 3:1-7
Title: The Way Home

“Submission is not something being taken from me, but is something I’m choosing to give. The truth that Jesus, being fully God, willingly entered into this world, becoming fully man and submitting His will to God the Father and giving His life to justify us as well as the Spirit’s role of illuminating and pointing people to Jesus is proof that the differing roles God has for men/women and husbands/wives is not about value or worth. Submission actively happens in the Trinity. If Jesus submitted even unto death, how can I stand on my “rights” and ultimately demand to always be the one in authority?”
- Kathy Keller

“Renounce yourself, take up your Cross and follow Me. To recognize one's own nonentity and discover the secret of the Kingdom is not enough: the King of Love must be enthroned in our mind and heart, take undivided possession of our will and make of our very bodies the Temples of the Holy Ghost. This small particle of the Cosmos, which is our soul and body must be conquered, freed by a lifelong struggle from enslavement to the world and to the devil, freed as if it were an occupied country and restored to its legitimate King.”
- Anthony of Sourozh, Sayings of the Desert Fathers

Listen along as we continue through 1 Peter.

Notes//Quotes:

1 Peter 2:13-25 - Jack

1 Peter 2:13-25

There is not a square inch in the whole domain of our human existence over which Christ, who is Sovereign over all, does not cry, Mine! - Abraham Kuyper

Romans 13:1-2

“The cross is not a sign of the church's quiet, suffering submission to the powers-that-be, but rather the church's revolutionary participation in the victory of Christ over those powers. The cross is not a symbol for general human suffering and oppression. Rather, the cross is a sign of what happens when one takes God's account of reality more seriously than Caesar's. The cross stands as God's (and our) eternal “no” to the powers of death, as well as God's eternal “yes” to humanity, God's remarkable determination not to leave us to our own devices.” - Stanley Hauerwas, Resident Aliens

“Peter writes “Honor all people.” It is hard to imagine a more devastating critique of the Roman way, for with the pairing of these two directives Peter has flattened the status pyramid of the Roman world. He has just made one’s response to the slave next door no less than one’s response to the emperor. Without saying so explicitly, Peter has thus cast his Christian audience as imitators of the Father who exercises impartiality in judgment.” Joel Green

“The Bread itself was hungry, Fullness itself was thirsty, Power itself was made weak, Health itself was wounded, and Life itself was mortal. So that our hunger would be satisfied, so that our dryness would be watered, our weakness supported, our love ignited. What greater mercy than that which presents to us the Creator created; the Master made a slave; the Redeemer sold; the One who exalts, humbled; the One who raises the dead, killed?” - Augustine

Listen along as we continue our time in 1 Peter.

Notes//Quotes:

1 Peter 2:9-12 - Faith
Title: Earworm

[Verse 1]
Guilty running down the side of the egg
I'm in love with the past, and the things that they said
Guilty running down the side of my head
I get by on the promise of future excess
Guilty running, guilty running
I put my back in waiting for something

[Chorus]
I keep waiting for the shoe to drop
Microplastics in my lemonade
I keep waiting for my friend to call
And forgive me of my bad faith
Guilty running, guilty, I'm running out of time
- Hudson Freeman

5 Now therefore, if you will indeed obey my voice and keep my covenant, you shall be my treasured possession among all peoples, for all the earth is mine; 6 and you shall be to me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.’ These are the words that you shall speak to the people of Israel.”
(Exodus 19:6&7)

“They all make one family, a sort and species of people distinct from the common world, of another spirit, principle, and practice, which they could never be if they were not chosen in Christ to be such, and sanctified by His Spirit.”
- Matthew Henry

“26 For consider your calling, brothers: not many of you were wise according to worldly standards, not many were powerful, not many were of noble birth. 27 But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong; 28 God chose what is low and despised in the world, even things that are not, to bring to nothing things that are, 29 so that no human being might boast in the presence of God. 30 And because of him you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, righteousness and sanctification and redemption, 31 so that, as it is written, “Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord.”
(1 Corinthians 1:26-31)

“The community that is created by the cross, is not just a warm family or aggregation of people giving one another emotional support. It is an alternate society with different habits, different customs, different loves. It is a foretaste of the heavenly city to come.”
- Timothy Keller

Listen along as we continue through 1 Peter.

Notes//Quotes:

1 Peter 2:1-8

Psalm 19:7-11

Every other ethical system calls us to the costly effort of becoming what we are not. But in the full salvation already bequeathed to us in Christ, the new nature is already ours, waiting for expression, poised for growth, until its potential is triggered by our obedience to the word of God - Alec Motyer

What God desires from us, he graciously forms in us as we grow in our love for him. Ruth Chou Simmons

Listen along as we continue our time through 1 Peter.

Notes//Quotes:

1 Peter 1:13-26 - Chris F Reading
Title: Exilic Exercise

“The tidings were mostly sad and ominous: of gathering darkness, the wars of Men, and the flight of the Elves…And I warn you that peril is now both before you and behind you, and upon either side…. ‘But where shall I find courage?’ asked Frodo. ‘That is what I chiefly need.’ ‘Courage is found in unlikely places,’ said Gildor. ‘Be of good hope!”
— J. R. R. Tolkien, The Fellowship Of The Rings

“So roll up your sleeves, put your mind in gear, be totally ready to receive the gift that’s coming when Jesus arrives. Don’t lazily slip back into those old grooves of evil, doing just what you feel like doing. You didn’t know any better then; you do now. As obedient children, let yourselves be pulled into a way of life shaped by God’s life, a life energetic and blazing with holiness.” (1 Peter 13-16, MSG)

“If you want to judge how well a person understands Christianity, find out how much he makes of the thought of being God’s child, and having God as his Father. If this is not the thought that prompts and controls his worship and prayers and his whole outlook on life, it means that he does not understand Christianity very well at all. For everything that Christ taught, everything that is distinctively Christian… is summed up in the knowledge of the Fatherhood of God. “Father” is the Christian name for God.”
— J. I. Packer, Knowing God

“Christianity is completely and entirely and utterly hope — a looking forward and a forward direction; hope is not just an appendix. So Christianity inevitably means a new setting forth and transformation of the present…[The hoping person] can never come to terms with the inescapability of death or with the evil that continually breeds evil. For him the resurrection of Christ is not merely consolation in suffering; it is also the sign of God’s protest against suffering. That is why whenever faith develops into hope it does not make people serene and placid; it makes them restless. It does not make them patient; it makes them impatient. Instead of being reconciled to existing reality they begin to suffer from it and to resist it.”
— Jürgen Moltmann, Experiences of God

Listen along as we continue our series through 1 Peter.

Notes//Quotes:

1 Peter 1:3-12

“Jesus matters because of what he brought and what he still brings to ordinary human beings, living their ordinary lives and coping daily with their surroundings. He promises wholeness for their lives. In sharing our weaknesses he gives us strength and and imparts through his companionship a life that has the quality of eternity.” - Dallas Willard

Peter opens the body of the letter by providing a theological and hermeneutical basis for the Christian life that introduces the major motifs and themes of the letter. In the Greek, these verses constitute one very long sentence that is composed of a series of subordinate clauses modifying the main clause “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.” Doxology provides the context for Christians’ new life in Christ (1:3–5) because both their experience of suffering grief in trials (1:6–7) and their present and ultimate salvation is the goal not only of their faith but also of the plan of God as revealed to the prophets - Karen Jobes

We would like a church that again asserts that God, not nations, rules the world, that the boundaries of God's kingdom transcend those of Caesar, and that the main political task of the church is the formation of people who see clearly the cost of discipleship and are willing to pay the price. As a society of unbelief, Western culture is devoid of a sense of journey, of adventure, because it lacks belief in much more than the cultivation of an ever-shrinking horizon of self-preservation and and self-expression. - Stanley Hauerwas

Luke 24:25

Image

“Ask the questions that have no answers.
Invest in the millennium. Plant sequoias.
Say that your main crop is the forest
that you did not plant,
that you will not live to harvest.”
- Wendell Berry

Listen along as we begin our series through 1 Peter.

Listen along as we wrap up our series on the kingdom of God and celebrate Easter.

Notes//Quotes:

Revelation 21:1-5 - Karen Reading

Revelation 21:1-5

(pic)
“The resurrection completes the inauguration of God’s kingdom…It is the decisive event demonstrating that God’s kingdom really has been launched on earth as it is in heaven…The message of Easter is that God’s new world has been unveiled in Jesus Christ and that you’re now invited to belong to it.” N.T. Wright

Eph 1:13-14

Romans 8:22-25

John 3:16-17

Listen along as we look at the Palm Sunday story.
Notes//Quotes:

Mark 11:1-10

Luke 17:20-21
Matthew 11:4-6

Zech 9:9

“One the one hand this looks like all other triumphal entries. Two hundred years earlier Simon Maccabeus had defeated foreign armies and kept Israel independent and he rode in to Jerusalem with people shouting cheers and waiving Palm branches because he delivered them… This triumphal entry parodies the entries of kings and armies. Victors in battle do not ride into their capital cities riding on donkeys but on fearsome horses, but this kind does not, and will not triumph through force of arms.” Stanley Hauerwas

“Jesus is the Lord of all and under his hand nothing but harmony and peace comes about. The animal knows and loves his true master for who he is. This is a foreshadowing of the healing and completion of all nature as found in Isaiah 11, the wolf shall live with the lamb” Tim Keller

Donkey cross 1/2/3/4

“Humans are very attached to outcomes. We say we trust God but behind the scenes we work our fingers to the bone and our emotions into a tangled fray trying to control our outcomes. We praise God when our normal looks like what we thought it would. We question God when it doesn’t. And walk away from Him when we have a sinking suspicion that God is the one who set fire to the hope that was holding us together…What if disappointment is really the exact appointment your soul needs to radically encounter God?” - Lysa TerKuerst - Not Supposed to Be This Way

Listen along as we begin a 3 week series on the kingdom of God.

Notes//Quotes:

Text: Isaiah 35:1-10
Title: Kingdom Promised

“The God in whom we believe is the creator of the world, will one day put this world to rights. That solid belief is the bedrock of all Christian faith. God is not going to abolish the universe of space, time and matter; he is going to renew it, to restore it, to fill it with new joy and purpose and delight, to take from it all that has corrupted it. ‘The wilderness and the dry land shall be glad; the desert shall rejoice and blossom, and rejoice with joy and singing; the desert shall become a pool, and the thirsty ground springs of water.’ The last book of the Bible ends, not with the company of the saved being taken up into heaven, but with the New Jerusalem coming down from heaven to earth, resulting in God’s new creation, new heavens and new earth, in which everything that has been true, lovely, and of good report will be vindicated, enhanced, set free from all pain and sorrow. God himself, it says, will wipe away all tears from all eyes.”
- N.T. Wright

“From that time Jesus began to preach, saying, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” (Matthew 4:17)

“Go and tell John what you hear and see: 5 the blind receive their sight and the lame walk, lepers are cleansed and the deaf hear, and the dead are raised up, and the poor have good news preached to them. 6 And blessed is the one who is not offended by me.”
(Matt. 11:5&6)

“This is a story of a man who is disillusioned with Jesus just like we are sometimes–with Jesus or with God, or with the church, or with the whole Christian faith. But, you know something? That may not be so bad as it seems. Disillusionment means literally to have our illusions “dissed.” It’s very painful, but it’s not a bad thing. Disillusionment can be a gift. When we are disillusioned we have discovered that God does not always conform to our expectations. We look at our requirements for God and begin to see our own selfish illusions–the kinds of things we tell ourselves to feel good or comfortable, or to make sense of it all. But when God yanks away our illusions, we are free to discover the real God. Taylor says, “Every letdown becomes a lesson and a lure. Did God fail to come when I rubbed the lantern? Then perhaps God is not a genie? Who then is God? Did God fail to punish my enemies? Then perhaps God is not a cop. Who, then, is God? Did God fail to make everything run smoothly? Then, perhaps God is not a [cosmic] mechanic. Who, then, is God?” When God does not meet my expectations I am drawn deeper and deeper into the mystery of who God really is and what God is really doing in my life and in the world.
- Leonard J. Vander Zee

“Our Father in heaven, 
hallowed be your name.
Your kingdom come, your will be done, 
on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread,
and forgive us our debts, 
as we also have forgiven our debtors.
And lead us not into temptation, 
but deliver us from evil.”
(Matt. 6:10-13)

Listen along as we wrap up our series through Acts.

Notes//Quotes:

Acts 28:17-31 2 Timothy 4:6-8 -

“Readers always experience “gaps” in narration, but the gap at the end of Acts threatens to widen into a canyon.” Beverly Gaventa

43 The next day Jesus decided to go to Galilee. He found Philip and said to him, “Follow me.” 44 Now Philip was from Bethsaida, the city of Andrew and Peter. 45 Philip found Nathanael and said to him, “We have found him of whom Moses in the Law and also the prophets wrote, Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph.” 46 Nathanael said to him, “Can anything good come out of Nazareth?” (Jn.1:43-46)

“They have been looking for a temporal prince, he does not come with the magnificence they expected; he is a root out of a dry ground, without form or comeliness; they see nothing of Solomon’s splendour in the poor scion of the dried-up stock of David and therefore they walked away.” Charles Spurgeon

2 Cor 4:16-18

Vs.16) At my first defense no one came to stand by me, but all deserted me. May it not be charged against them! 17 But the Lord stood by me and strengthened me, so that through me the message might be fully proclaimed and all the Gentiles might hear it. So I was rescued from the lion's mouth. 18 The Lord will rescue me from every evil deed and bring me safely into his heavenly kingdom. To him be the glory forever and ever. Amen. (2 Tim. 4:16-18)

“Death is the supreme festival on our road to freedom.” —Bonhoeffer

2 Tim 1:8-14

Listen along as we near the finish of our journey through Acts.

Notes//Quotes:

Mike reading - Acts 28:1-16

“No crowd gathers for Paul’s preaching, and no description illumines the situation of those believers who journey out to meet him. That minimalistic assessment should not obscure the importance of Paul’s thanksgiving in v. 15. The journey all along has less to do with what will happen in Rome than with the God who directs Paul to that place.” - Beverly Gaventa

Map Picture (attached)

“God is always trying to give good things to us, but our hands are too full to receive them.” - Augustine, City of God

Col 1:19-20

“There are no ‘if’s’ in God’s world. And no places that are safer than other places. The center of His will is our only safety – let us pray that we may always know it!” Corrie Ten Boom

Listen along as we continue our series through Acts.

Notes//Quotes:

Acts 27:1-44 - Jack
Title: Small Ship, Big Sea

“Chiding is indeed cruel, and brings no comfort; but if it be tempered with some remedy, it is now a part of the medicine.”
- John Calvin

“Without counsel plans fail, but with many advisors they succeed” (Prov. 15:22)

“We do not worship a deistic God, an absentee landlord who ignores his slum; we worship a garbageman God who came right down into our worst garbage to clean it up.”
- Peter Kreft

Oh Maker of the mighty deep
Whereon our vessels fare,
Above our life’s adventure keep
Thy faithful watch and care.
In Thee we trust, whate’er befall;
Thy sea is great; our boats are small.

We know not where the secret tides
Will help us or delay
Nor where the lurking tempest tides,
Nor where the fogs are gray.
We trust in Thee, whate’er befall,
Thy sea is great; our boats are small.

Beyond the circle of the sea,
When voyaging is past,
We seek our final part in Thee;
Oh bring us home at last.
In Thee we trust, whate’er befall;
Thy sea is great; our boats are small.
- Henry Van Dyke

Listen along as we continue our series through the book of Acts.

Notes//Quotes:

Acts 26:1-32

First-century Pharisees excelled in everything we admire spiritually. They were zealous for God, completely committed to their faith. They were theologically astute, masters of the biblical texts. They fastidiously obeyed even the most obscure commands. They even made up extra rules just in case they were missing anything. Their embrace of spiritual disciplines was second to none. - Larry Osborne

“Christ did not die for the good and beautiful. It is easy enough to die for the good and beautiful; the hard thing is to die for the miserable and corrupt.” - Shusaku Endo, Silence

“You can rebel against God and be alienated from him either by breaking his rules or by keeping all of them diligently. It's a shocking message: Careful obedience to God's law may serve as a strategy for rebelling against God.” - Tim Keller

“Goads is a greek aphorism that reflects the futility of resisting a greater power, in this case the power of God. The aphorism reveals the crisis: Paul has been acting upon his own perception of God’s will, all the time resisting God’s will.” - Beverly Gaventa

I am trying here to prevent anyone saying the really foolish thing that people often say about Him: “I’m ready to accept Jesus as a great moral teacher, but I don’t accept His claim to be God.” That is the one thing we must not say. A man who was merely a man and said the sort of things Jesus said would not be a great moral teacher. He would either be a lunatic-on a level with the man who says he is a poached egg-or else he would be the Devil of Hell. You must make your choice. Either this man was, and is, the Son of God: or else a madman or something worse. You can shut Him up for a fool, you can spit at Him and kill Him as a demon; or you can fall at His feet and call Him Lord and God. But let us not come with any patronising nonsense about His being a great human teacher. He has not left that open to us. He did not intend to. We are faced, then, with a frightening alternative. This man we are talking about either was (and is) just what He said or else a lunatic, or something worse.
CS Lewis

“Love God and do whatever you please: for the soul trained in love to God will do nothing to offend the One who is Beloved.” Augustine

“By and large a good rule for finding out is this: the kind of work God usually calls you to is the kind of work (a) that you need most to do and (b) that the world most needs to have done. ... The place God calls you to is the place where your deep gladness and the world's deep hunger meet” F. Buechner

Faith in the gospel restructures our motivations, our self-understanding, our identity, and our view of the world. Behavioral compliance to rules without heart-change will be superficial and fleeting… We can only change permanently as we take the gospel more deeply into our understanding and into our hearts. We must feed on the gospel, as it were, digesting it and making it part of ourselves. That is how we grow.” - Tim Keller

Listen along as we continue through the book of Acts.

Notes//Quotes:

Acts 25:1-27 - Faith
Title: Political Purgatory

“…He is a chosen instrument of mine to carry my name before the Gentiles and kings and the children of Israel.”
(Acts 9:15)

“The soul that is not united solely to the will of God will find neither rest nor sanctification in any self-chosen means — not even in the most excellent exercises of piety. If that which God Himself chooses for you does not suffice, what other hand can minister to your desires? If you turn from the food the divine will itself has prepared for you, what viands (archaic for food) will not prove insipid to a taste so depraved? A soul cannot be truly nourished, strengthened, purified, enriched, or sanctified, except by the fullness of the present moment.”
- Jean Pierre de Caussade

“This is an important point about the interaction between God's purposes and our praying. Sometimes when we pray and wait for God to act, part of the answer is that God is indeed going to act but that he will do so through our taking proper human responsibility in the matter. It's hard to tell in advance, what the answer will be. There are times when it is “the Lord will fight for you and you've only to keep still” (Ex. 14:14) and other times when it is “be strong and very courageous for you shall put this people in possession of the land I swore to give them” (Josh. 1:6). Discerning and discovering which applies in which case, a note that even in the latter case God is giving the people the land which Joshua is giving them is a major element in the discernment to which all Christians and especially all Christian leaders are called.”
- N.T. Wright

“God is too wise to be mistaken. Too good to be unkind. And, when you can’t trace His hand, you can always trust His heart.”
- Charles Spurgeon

“Lord, I would run for you, Loving the miles for your sake.
I would climb the highest tree to be that much closer.

Lord, I will learn also to kneel down into the world of the invisible, the inscrutable and the everlasting.

Then I will move no more than the leaves of a tree on a day of no wind, bathed in light, like the wanderer who has come home at last and kneels in peace, done with all unnecessary things; every motion; even words.”
- Mary Oliver

Listen along as we continue through the book of Acts.

Notes//Quotes:

Acts 24:1-27

The resurrection completes the inauguration of God's kingdom. It is the decisive event demonstrating that God's kingdom really has been launched on earth as it is in heaven. The message of Easter is that God's new world has been unveiled in Jesus Christ and that you're now invited to belong to it. - NT Wright

1 Thess 4:1-8

2 Peter 3:13

The church’s growth; it is life in “the way of Christ,” distinctive and hopeful. Christians, were growing in numbers because they were distinct from the “unjust”—living patiently in relation to their neighbors and enemies, doing good to them, and waiting for them to come to faith - Alan Kreider, The Patient Ferment of the Early Church

It doesn't matter if life is long or short, it isn't time that's the problem, it's the speed. Far too much happens when you're alive. everything goes so fast, how are you supposed to have time to be a human being? - Fredrik Backman

Waiting requires living by what I know to be true about God when I don’t know what’s true about my life. - Mark Vroegop

Listen along as we continue through the book of Acts.

Notes//Quotes:

Acts 22:30-23:35 - Jack
Title: The Second Speech

“[God] upholds heaven and earth with all creatures and so governs them that herbs and grass, rain and drought, fruitful and barren years, meat and drink, health and sickness, riches and poverty, indeed, all things come not by chance, but by his fatherly hand.”
- Heidelberg Catechism

“The doctrine of providence teaches Christians that they are never in the grip of blind forces (fortune, chance, luck, fate); all that happens to them is divinely planned, and each event comes as a new summons to trust, obey, and rejoice, knowing that all is for one’s spiritual and eternal good.”
- J. I. Packer

“And yet I decide, every day, to set aside what I can do best and attempt what I do very clumsily--open myself to the frustrations and failures of loving, daring to believe that failing in love is better than succeeding in pride….“Hoping does not mean doing nothing. It is not fatalistic resignation. It means going about our assigned tasks, confident that God will provide the meaning and the conclusions. It is not compelled to work away at keeping up appearances with a bogus spirituality. It is the opposite of desperate and panicky manipulations, of scurrying and worrying. And hoping is not dreaming. It is not spinning an illusion or fantasy to protect us from our boredom or our pain. It means a confident, alert expectation that God will do what he said he will do. It is imagination put in the harness of faith. It is a willingness to let God do it his way and in his time. It is the opposite of making plans that we demand that God put into effect, telling him both how and when to do it. That is not hoping in God but bullying God.”
― Eugene H. Peterson

Listen along as we continue through Acts.

Notes//Quotes:

Acts 21:37-22:29

Matthew 5:9-11, 5:43-46

”Returning hate for hate multiplies hate, adding deeper darkness to a night already devoid of stars. Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that. Hate multiplies hate, violence multiplies violence, and toughness multiplies toughness in a descending spiral of destruction. So when Jesus says “Love your enemies,” he is setting forth a profound and ultimately inescapable admonition. Have we not come to such an impasse in the modern world that we must love our enemies– or else? The chain reaction of evil–hate begetting hate, wars producing wars–must be broken, or we shall be plunged into the dark abyss of annihilation.” Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

Romans 9:1-5

1 Peter 3:8-17

Listen along as we continue our series through Acts.

Notes//Quotes:

Acts 21:1-36
The same forebodings marked Jesus’ journey—the same strong resolve on Jesus’ part, the same misgivings on the part of his disciples. In the Gospels Jesus’ predictions of his coming passion provide the ominous tone. In Luke’s Gospel, Jesus’ journey is particularly marked by sayings regarding Jerusalem as the place of rejection for God’s messengers. In Jerusalem Jesus was arrested and executed. In Jerusalem Paul also was arrested and his life put in extreme jeopardy - John Polhill

Map

“The primary reality of which we have to take account in seeking for a Christian impact on public life is the Christian congregation. How is it possible that the gospel should be credible that people should come to believe that the power which has the last word in human affairs is represented by a man hanging on a cross? . . . The only answer, the only hermeneutic of the gospel, is a congregation of men and women who believe it and live by it.” Leslie Newbigin

It will be a community of praise in a world of doubt and skepticism.
It will be a community of truth in a pluralist society that overwhelms and produces relativism.
It will be a selfless community that does not live for itself but is deeply involved in the concerns of its neighborhood in a selfish world.
It will be a community prepared to live out the gospel in public life in a world that privatizes all religious claims.
It will be a community of mutual responsibility in a world of individualism.
It will be a community of hope in a world of pessimism and despair about the future.

“Are we to blame Paul for his obstinacy or admire him for his unshakeable resolve?” John Stott

1 Cor 9:19-23

“We can only thank God for the generosity of spirit displayed by both James and Paul. They were already agreed doctrinally (that salvation was by grace in Christ through faith) and ethically (that Christians must obey the moral law). The issue between them concerned culture, ceremony and tradition. The solution to which they came was not a compromise, in the sense of sacrificing a doctrinal or moral principle, but a concession in the area of practice.” - John Stott

The church is beautiful because the lens through which Christ regards her is his cross – the focal point of blood, righteousness, forgiveness, union, justification, regeneration, and grace. God could have chosen to make his beauty known exclusively through breathtaking landscapes, undulating oceans, and sublime sunsets. Instead, he has decided to display his radiance within the hearts of the crown of his creation, humanity. - Dustin Benge

Listen along as we continue our series through Acts.

Notes//Quotes:

Text: Acts 20:17-38 - Jack reading
Title: Apostolic Goodbyes

Slide 1:
“The ancient world considered humility a weakness. Whether you were rich or poor, what you prized instead was honour—having your merits recognized and your name praised. Boasting about your achievements was expected in the Greco-Roman world, and one never humbled themselves to others as that would sacrifice your well-earned status. Humility was something for children and slaves, not honourable men and women…All this changed in AD33 when an innocent man believed to be the Son of God submitted to the most humiliating act the Romans could concoct—crucifixion. Jesus relinquished his divine status, Christians believed, dying not for himself but for us—which left onlookers with a dilemma: either Jesus wasn’t worthy of honour, or their definition of humility had to change. The definition changed and today you and I see humility not as a weakness but as a virtue.”
—John Dickson

Slide 2:
“But we have renounced disgraceful, underhanded ways. We refuse to practice cunning or to tamper with God's word, but by the open statement of the truth we would commend ourselves to everyone's conscience in the sight of God.”
(2 Cor. 4:2)

Slide 3:
“Christian brotherhood is not an ideal which we must realize; it is rather a reality created by God in Christ in which we may participate. The more clearly we learn to recognize that the ground and strength and promise of all our fellowship is in Jesus Christ alone, the more serenely shall we think of our fellowship and pray and hope for it.”
― Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Life Together

Slide 4:
“We may have said to someone even this week, “Well, as long as you’ve got your health, that’s all that matters,” or “As long as you get your feet over the bed, that’s what counts,” or “As long as you’re vertical, you know, it’s a great day.” Well, of course, we know what we mean by that. But that is not all that matters. For our very frame is a dying frame. We’re crumbling even as we go. And unless we’re able to say with Paul, “To me, to live is Christ,” we cannot legitimately affirm with Paul, “and to die is gain.” The only way that death can be gain is if Christ is everything. And if Christ is everything, as Paul says it is, then he’s able to say, “The ultimate issue is not my life.”
—Alistair Begg

Slide 5:
“God promised and, in his sacraments, he gave me a sure sign of his grace that Christ’s life overcame my death in his death, that his obedience blotted out my sin in his suffering, that his love destroyed my hell in his forsakenness. This sign and promise of my salvation will not lie to me or deceive me. It is God who has promised it, and he cannot lie either in words or in deeds.” He who thus insists and relies on the sacraments will find that his election and predestination will turn out well without his worry and effort.”
—Martin Luther, Fourteen Consolations

Listen along as we continue our series through Acts.

Notes//Quotes:

Acts 20:1-16

2 Cor 1:3-11

Galatians 3:26-29

I see no cause why some interpreters should so sharply condemn the drowsiness of the young man, that they should say that he was punished for his sluggishness by death. - John Calvin

Romans 15:25-29

Listen along as Anthony shares some reflections from the Proverbs.

Notes//Quotes:

Title: Where's Wisdom

Slide 1
“That excuse is implicitly rejected here. Wisdom is not some hidden treasure that has to be dug from the depths of the earth (compare Job 28) or the sole possession of the lonely sage sitting atop a mountain. To the contrary, Wisdom roams the streets looking for someone to instruct. The ways of right and wrong, as presented in this word of God, are open for all to read and follow. At the same time, this section is a true appeal from the Spirit for whoever has ears to turn and listen.”
- Duane A. Garrett

Slide 2
Proverbs 13:20: "Whoever walks with the wise becomes wise, but the companion of fools will suffer harm" (ESV).

Slide 3
Psalm 1:1-2: "Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of scoffers" (ESV).

Slide 4
Proverbs 12:26: "The righteous should choose his friends carefully, For the way of the wicked leads them astray" (NIV/NKJV).

Slide 5
Hebrews 12:1: “Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us,” (ESV)

Slide 6
Proverbs 17:3, “The crucible is for silver, and the furnace is for gold, and the Lord tests hearts.” (ESV)

Slide 7
1 Corinthians 9:27: “It is my own body I fight to make it do what I want. I do this so that I won’t miss getting the prize myself after telling others about it.” (ESV)

Slide 8
Colossians 1:28-29: “Him we proclaim, warning everyone and teaching everyone with all wisdom, that we may present everyone mature in Christ. For this I toil, struggling with all his energy that he powerfully works within me.”

Slide 9
Well, I'm coming to the edge of the widest canyon
My companions dear
I'm starting to question my manifest destiny
My claim to this frontier
And I'm coming to the brink of a great disaster
The end just has to be near
The Earth spins faster, whistles right past you
Whispers death in your ear
Oh, don't pretend you can't hear
Don't pretend you can’t
— Manifest, by Andrew Bird

Listen along as we continue our Advent series.

Notes//Quotes:

Luke 2:8-20 - Josh Reading

“I put on my hard hat, I grab a chisel and I imagine going into the very back corners of that cave and just digging into the work, each time I go in the cave, it’s getting bigger for the next visit.” - Courtney Dauwalter

“God never hurries. There are no deadlines against which He must work. Only to know this is to quiet our spirits and relax our nerves.” A.W. Tozer

One should not romanticize the occupation of shepherds. In general shepherds were dishonest and unclean according to the standards of the law. They represent the outcasts and sinners for whom Jesus came. Such outcasts were the first recipients of the good news - Robert Stein

Ps 39:7

Matthew 5:3-12

Christianity teaches the infinite worth of that which is seemingly worthless and the infinite worthlessness of that which is seemingly so valued. - Bonhoeffer

Growth equals change; change equals loss; loss equals pain; so inevitably, growth equals pain. Pain is a part of progress. Anything that grows experiences some pain. If I avoid all pain, I’m avoiding growth. - Samuel Chand

Listen along as Anthony Garcia continues our Advent series.

Jack Reading Luke 1:26-38 & Matthew 1:18-25

Slide: 1
https://pin.it/5m6BRIZrS

Slide : 2
“Embrace or reject, believe or doubt. Either we abandon ourselves to God’s path, the steps of which are only revealed as each foot is lifted in obedience, or we cling to our own path with its illusion of certainty.”
— Miriam Dixon

Slide:3
“I see Mary at the Annunciation — her hands open, her whole body softened by consent, receiving the Word who desires to become flesh in her. The posture is not passive but brave: an active surrender, a courageous hospitality to God’s own life.
— Kaysie Strickland

Slide: 4
“A carpenter is trained to make plans and follow plans. Details matter to a woodworker. Joseph’s work reflects his life: structured and well-ordered. A person’s name and family line mean everything in this culture, and there is no greater line than that of King David. Joseph represents it well. Just as he would craft a beautiful table, Joseph is crafting a well-built life. Then a massive splinter pierces his heart.”
—Miriam Dixon

Slide: 5
“Everyone has a plan until they get punched in the mouth.” —Mike Tyson

Slide: 6
For whatever reason, God chose to make man as he is—limited and suffering and subject to sorrows and death—he [God] had the honesty and the courage to take his own medicine. Whatever game he is playing with his creation, he has kept his own rules and played fair. He can exact nothing from man that he has not exacted from himself. He has himself gone through the whole of human experience, from the trivial irritations of family life and the cramping restrictions of hard work and lack of money to the worst horrors of pain and humiliation, defeat, despair, and death.
When he was a man, he played the man. He was born in poverty and died in disgrace, and thought it was worthwhile.
—Dorthy Sayers

Listen along as Mike Gaston continues our Advent series.

Notes//Quotes:

Matthew 2:1-12 - Faith Reading Slide 1The Big IdeaThe Magi prove that God keeps His promise to bless all the nations of the earth Slide 2Who was Herod the King? Slide 3“There are lots of Herods in the New Testament—this one is the first Herod, Herod the Great, the King of the Jews. But the thing about Herod the Great, the King of the Jews, is that he wasn’t a Jew and shouldn’t have been king. He wasn’t from the tribe of Judah, or the house of David. He wasn’t actually a Jew—he was an Idumean, an Edomite, technically, one of Israel’s historical enemies.He ruled by terror and murder. He was paranoid and at times seems legit crazy. At one point when he was literally on his death bed, he thought his own sons were trying to assassinate him. He’s literally on his death bed actually dying—so he had his own sons executed. By the last few years of his life it seems like he was completely out of his tree.” Craig Hamilton Slide 4Who were the wise men? Slide 5“Then Pharaoh summoned the wise men and the sorcerers, and they, the magicians of Egypt, also did the same by their secret arts. For each man cast down his staff, and they became serpents. But Aaron’s staff swallowed up their staffs.”Exodus 7:11-12 Slide 6“Then the king gave Daniel high honors and many great gifts, and made him ruler of the whole province of Babylon and chief prefect over all the wise men of Babylon.”Daniel 2:48Slide 7““The group of Magi in question came “from the East.” They might have been Zoroastrians, Medes, Persians, Arabs, or even Jews. They probably served as court advisors, making forecasts and predictions for their royal patrons based on their study of the stars, about which they were quite knowledgeable. Magi often wandered from court to court, and it was not unusual for them to cover great distances in order to attend the birth or crowning of a king, paying their respects and offering gifts. It is not surprising, therefore, that Matthew would mention them as validation of Jesus’ kingship, or that Herod would regard their arrival as a very serious matter.” Craig Chester Slide 8What was the star? Slide 9“And the city has no need of sun or moon to shine on it, for the glory of God gives it light, and its lamp is the Lamb. By its light will the nations walk, and the kings of the earth will bring their glory into it, and its gates will never be shut by day—and there will be no night there.”Revelation 21:23-25 Slide 10What do the gifts mean? Slide 11The ultimate question: What’s the point? Slide 12“I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonors you I will curse., and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.”Genesis 12:3 Slide 13“For the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord as the waters cover the sea.”Habakkuk 2:14 Slide 14“Be still, and know that I am God. I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth.Psalm 46:10 Slide 15“Matthew plainly says that, though Jesus was the Messiah, born in David’s line and certain to be Shepherd and Ruler of Israel, it was the Gentiles who came to worship him.”D.A. Carson Slide 16“And he came and preached peace to you who were far off and peace to those who were near. For through him we both have access in one Spirit to the Father. So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God.”Ephesians 2:17-19 Slide 17The Big IdeaThe Magi prove that God keeps His promise to bless all the nations of the earth

Listen along as we begin our series through Advent.

Notes//Quotes:

Luke 1:5-25 - Larry/Jorgen

Luke 1:5-25

Advent is the season that, when properly understood, does not flinch from the darkness that stalks us all in this world. Advent begins in the dark and moves toward the light—but the season should not move too quickly or too glibly, lest we fail to acknowledge the depth of the darkness. Advent bids us take a fearless inventory of the darkness: the darkness without and the darkness within. Fleming Rutledge

“This prayer will be answered but in a richer sense than Zechariah and Elizabeth ever dreamed. No doubt Zechariah and Elizabeth, as devout Israelites, also prayed for the coming of the redemption of Israel. Both these prayers were to be answered in the same event because their son would prepare the way for the Messiah” Robert Stein

“Be still, sad heart! and cease repining;
Behind the clouds is the sun still shining;
Thy fate is the common fate of all,
Into each life some rain must fall.”
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

“The one thing that He requires of us in response to deep waters is acceptance. This acceptance is not passivism, quietism, fatalism, or resignation. Peace and joy and faith will not be found in forgetting, and they will not be found in busyness or aloofness or the submission of defeat. They will not be found in anger at the “unfairness” of it all. St. Francis de Sales said, “Accustom yourself to unreasonableness and injustice! God sees these things far better than you do, and permits them!” Elisabeth Elliot

Listen along as Dr. Michael Goheen continues our series through Acts.

Notes//Quotes:

Acts 19:21-41 - Jack
21 Once all this had been finished, Paul decided in his spirit to go back through Macedonia and Achaea and, from there, on to Jerusalem.

“After I’ve been there,” he said, “I really must go and see Rome.”

22 He sent two of his helpers, Timothy and Erastus, on ahead to Macedonia, while he himself spent a little more time in Asia.

“Great is Ephesian Artemis!”

23 Around that time there was a major disturbance because of the Way. 24 There was a silversmith named Demetrius who made silver statues of Artemis, which brought the workmen a tidy income. 25 He got them all together, along with other workers in the same business.

“Gentlemen,” he began. “You know that the reason we are doing rather well for ourselves is quite simply this business of ours. 26 And now you see, and hear, that this fellow Paul is going around not only Ephesus but pretty well the whole of Asia, persuading the masses to change their way of life, telling them that gods made with hands are not gods after all! 27 This not only threatens to bring our proper business into disrepute, but it might make people disregard the temple of the great goddess Artemis. Then she—and, after all, the whole of Asia, indeed the whole world, worships her!—she might lose her great majesty.”

28 When they heard this, they were filled with rage.

“Great is Ephesian Artemis!” they shouted. “Great is Ephesian Artemis!”

29 The whole city was filled with the uproar; everyone rushed together into the theater, dragging along with them the Macedonians Gaius and Aristarchus, two of Paul’s companions. 30 Paul wanted to go in to speak to the people, but his followers wouldn’t let him. 31 Indeed, some of the local magistrates, who were friendly towards him, sent him a message urging him not to risk going into the theater. 32 Meanwhile, some people were shouting one thing, some another. In fact, the whole assembly was thoroughly confused, and most of them had no idea why they had come there in the first place. 33 The Jews pushed Alexander forward, and some of the crowd informed him what was going on. He motioned with his hand, and was going to make a statement to the people to explain things. 34 But when they realized he was a Jew, they all shouted together, for about two hours, “Great is Ephesian Artemis!”

35 The town clerk quietened the crowd.

“Men of Ephesus,” he said, “is there anyone who doesn’t know that our city of Ephesus is the place which has the honor of being the home of Artemis the Great, and of the statue that fell from heaven? 36 Nobody can deny it! So you should be quiet, and not do anything rash. 37 You’ve brought these men here, but they haven’t stolen from the temple, or blasphemed our goddess. 38 If Demetrius and his colleagues have a charge they want to bring against anyone, the courts are open and we have magistrates. People can present their cases against one another. 39 But if you are wanting to know anything beyond that, it must be sorted out in the authorized assembly. 40 Let me remind you that we ourselves are risking legal proceedings because of this riot today, since there is no reason we could give which would enable us to present a satisfactory explanation for this uproar.”

41 With these words, he dismissed the assembly.

Listen along as we continue our series through Acts.

Notes//Quotes:

Acts 19:1-20

Jer 31:31-34

2 Cor 5:17

“As throughout Acts, there is no set pattern. The Spirit came at various times and in various ways. What is consistent is that the Spirit is always a vital part of one’s initial commitment to Christ and a mark of every believer.” J.B. Polhill

The norm of Christian experience, then, is a cluster of four things: repentance, faith in Jesus, water baptism and the gift of the Spirit. Though the perceived order may vary a little, the four belong together and are universal in Christian initiation. The laying on of apostolic hands, however, together with tongue-speaking and prophesying, were special to Ephesus, as to Samaria, in order to demonstrate visibly and publicly that particular groups were incorporated into Christ by the Spirit; the New Testament does not universalize them. John Stott

Notes//Quotes:

Acts 18:24-28 Faith

You can kiss your family and friends good-bye and put miles between you, but at the same time you carry them with you in your heart, your mind, your stomach, because you do not just live in a world but a world lives in you. Frederick Beuchener

Jesus may be in your heart, but grandpa is in your bones - Pete Scazerro

Gal 3:28-29

“Jesus may be in your heart, but grandpa is in your bones, and the task of discipleship is to get Jesus more and more into your bones.”- Pete Scazerro

Eph 2:8-9
Eph 2:10

1 Cor 3:1-9

1 Cor 3:10-23

The local church is an unlikely collection of people, and with earthly eyes it may be hard to see that we belong together. With spiritual ones, however, it is clear. In the church, we all have one testimony. Meghan Hill

Listen along as we continue our journey through acts.

Notes//Quotes:

Acts 18:1-23

Our work can be a calling only if it is reimagined as a mission of service to something beyond merely our own interests. Thinking of work mainly as a means of self-fulfillment and self-realization slowly crushes a person. - Tim Keller

1 Cor 6:9-11

There is much to be cynical about—and it is a good answer if there has not been an incarnation. But if that has happened, if the Word did become flesh, and if there are men and women who in and through their own vocations imitate the vocation of God, then sometimes and in some places the world becomes something more like the way it ought to be.
Steven Garber, Visions of Vocation

1 Cor 15:57-58

Listen along as we continue our series through Acts.

Notes//Quotes:

Acts 17:16-34 - Nathan

Acts 17:16-34

“Whatever your heart clings to and confides in, that is really your God, your functional savior.” Martin Luther

Isaiah 44:12-20

The gospel does not come as a disembodied message, but as the message of a community which claims to live by it and which invites others to adhere to it. Therefore, the community's life must be so ordered that it "makes sense" to those who are so invited. Leslie Newbigin

Listen along as we continue through the book of Acts.

Acts 17:1-15 - Faith

Acts 17:1-15

“The resurrection was indeed a miraculous display of God’s power, but we should not see it as a suspension of the natural order of the world. Rather it was the beginning of the restoration of the natural order of the world, the world as God intended it to be…The resurrection means not merely that Christians have a hope for the future but that they have a hope that comes from the future. The Bible’s startling message is that when Jesus rose, he brought the future kingdom of God into the present.” - Tim Keller

1 Thess 1:1-10

1 Thess 5:1-11

Holiness is the habit of being of one mind with God, according as we find His mind described in Scripture. It is the habit of agreeing in God's judgment, hating what He hates, loving what He loves, and measuring everything in this world by the standard of His Word. - JC Ryle

The Bible isn’t a book of rules, or a book of heroes. The Bible is most of all a Story. It’s an adventure story about a young Hero who comes from a far country to win back his lost treasure. It’s a love story about a brave Prince who leaves his palace, his throne—everything— to rescue the one he loves. It’s like the most wonderful of fairy tales that has come true in real life! There are lots of stories in the Bible, but all the stories are telling one Big Story. The Story of how God loves his children and comes to rescue them. - Sally Lloyd Jones

What’s going on?
Where is the good news?
How has the church seen this through history?
How does this shape us toward repentance/faith/flourishing?

Psalm 119:105

Hebrews 4:12

Ephesians 6:17

Listen along as we continue our series through the book of Acts:

Notes//Quotes:

Acts 16:11-40 - Jack Slide 1Scene 1: The Conversion of Lydia (16:11-15) Slide 2 See Map that I'll send by email Slide 3Takeaways from Scene 11. God is sovereign in salvation 2. Obedience is our response to His work Slide 4Scene 2: The Exorcism of the Slave Girl (16:16-24) Slide 5Takeaway from Scene 2: We are wise to see the spiritual battle going on behind the scenes. Slide 6“For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.Ephesians 6:12Slide 7Scene 3: The Conversion of the Jailer (16:25-34) Slide 8“From one perspective, Paul and Silas’s day was a picture of perfect mayhem. Their spiritual power was slandered; their gospel trampled by a mob; their innocence silenced by injustice. They appeared like two victims caught in the chaos of a merciless, purposeless world.But such was not their perspective. For Paul and Silas, all the day’s sorrows rested in the hand of a sovereign God. God had called them to Philippi through a midnight vision. Was he now any less sovereign in a midnight prison? God had used them in Philippi to save Lydia and her household. Had he discarded them now? No, prison could neither thwart the plans of God nor remove them from his sight; of this they were sure.” Scott HubbardSlide 9Takeaway from Scene 3: We do well to ask ourselves “What does God owe me?” Slide 10“He lets things happen that I don’t understand. He doesn’t do things according to my plan, or in ways that make sense to me…If you have a God great enough and powerful enough to be mad at because he doesn’t stop your suffering, you also have a God who is great enough and powerful enough to have reasons that you can’t understand…And so often, if God seems to be unconscionably delaying his grace and committing malpractice in your life, it’s because there is some crucial information that we don’t yet have, some essential variable that’s unavailable to us.”Tim Keller Slide 11Scene 4: The Vindication of Paul and Silas (16:35-40) Slide 12Takeaway from Scene 4: In the end, God wins. And so do His people. Slide 13The Takeaways from Phiiippi1. God is sovereign in salvation2. Obedience is our response to His work3. We are wise to see the spiritual battle4. We do well to ask ourselves “What does God owe me?”5. In the end, God wins. And so do His people.

Listen along as we continue our series through Acts.

Notes/Quotes:

Acts 16:1-10 - Josh

Individually the disciple and friend of Jesus who has learned to work shoulder to shoulder with his or her Lord stands in this world as a point of contact between heaven and earth, a kind of Jacob’s ladder by which the angels of God may ascend from and descend into human life. Thus the disciple stands as an envoy or a receiver by which the kingdom of God is conveyed into every quarter of human affairs. - Willard

The world is full of miracles. But none greater than how far a young person can be carried by someone else’s belief in them
Frederick Backman (My Friends)

“Almost anything in life that truly matters will require you to do small, mostly overlooked things, over a long period of time with him.” Zach Eswine

Map

“Our failure to hear His voice when we want to is due to the fact that we do not in general want to hear it, that we want it only when we think we need it.” - Dallas Willard, Hearing God

“Usually God’s guidance is not negative only but also positive (some doors close, others open); not circumstantial only, but also rational (thinking about our situation); not personal only, but also corporate (a sharing of the data with others, so that we can mull over them together and reach a common mind).” - John Stott

Listen alongs as we continue through the book of Acts.

Notes//Quotes:

Acts 15:22-41

2 Timothy 2:22

“Cheap grace is the preaching of forgiveness without requiring repentance, baptism without church discipline, Communion without confession, absolution without personal confession. Cheap grace is grace without discipleship, grace without the cross, grace without Jesus Christ, living and incarnate.” - Dietrich Bonhoeffer

Grace is not opposed to effort, it is opposed to earning. Earning is an attitude. Effort is an action. Grace, you know, does not just have to do with forgiveness of sins alone. - Dallas Willard

“They dwell in their own countries, but simply as sojourners. As citizens, they share in all things with others, and yet endure all things as if foreigners. Every foreign land is to them as their native country, and every land of their birth as a land of strangers. They marry, as do all; they beget children; but they do not destroy their offspring. They have a common table, but not a common bed. They are in the flesh, but they do not live after the flesh. They pass their days on earth, but they are citizens of heaven. They obey the prescribed laws, and at the same time surpass the laws by their lives. They love all men, and are persecuted by all. They are unknown and condemned; they are put to death, and restored to life. They are poor, yet make many rich; they are in lack of all things, and yet abound in all; they are dishonored, and yet in their very dishonor are glorified” Epistle to Diognetus (2nd Century)

Matthew 23:1-12

The early church understood well the powers at work in the Roman Empire. There were many gods who ruled and oppressed its citizens. Among them were Aphrodite (goddess of sex), Hephaetus (god of technology), Mars (god of war), Ploutos (god of wealth), and Bacchus (god of pleasure). At the top of the ladder, and unifying them all, was political power, deified in the Caesar, and nourished by the Imperial theology and religious practice. The powers and gods were the forces that most determined and shaped their lives. The church understood the oppressive and intrusive influence of evil. They understood the comprehensive scope and spiritual power of these cosmic powers to tyrannize their lives. Perhaps we shake our heads at the primitive and childish worldview that could ever conceive of a world populated by powers. After all, science has liberated us from such nonsense. Yet when we see millions addicted to pornography, it seems the goddess of sex is not dead. When we see millions of lives trivialized and emptied of significance by addiction to technology, we observe that the god of technology still wields power. When we experience the seductive power of a consumer society that inflames us with a desire for the senseless consumption of goods and experiences, we must grant that the gods of wealth and pleasure are alive and well. And the billions of dollars spent annually on arms betray our enslavement to the gods of war and national security. Economic forces, political powers, sexual addiction, technological seduction: it seems we are helpless before these powers. All scientific attempts to control them have failed. - Mike Goheen

“God is always trying to give good things to us, but our hands are too full to receive them.” Augustine

Listen along as we continue our series through Acts.

Notes//Quotes:

Slide 1
God promised salvation to Israel...
God's blessings would come to the Nations through
the covenant with Abraham...
Circumcision was the standard means of entering
into full participation with the covenant people...
These Gentiles had not been circumcised...
They remained outside of Israel and therefore
could not participate fully in God's promises

Slide 2
Amos 9:12 (MT)
12 that they may possess the remnant of Edom
and all the nations who are called by my name,”
declares the LORD who does this.

Amos 9:12 (LXX)
12 so that the remnant of the people,
and all the nations upon whom my name was invoked upon them,
will search for me,” says the Lord who is making these things.

Slide 3
אדום = Edom
אדם= adam/ humanity

Slide 4
Deuteronomy 30:6
6 And the LORD your God will circumcise your heart and the heart of your offspring, so that you will love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul, that you may live.

Listen along as we continue our series through the book of Acts.

Notes//Quotes:

Acts 14:1-28

Assumption: Every day for Jesus' first followers were God-soaked. Something is wrong with me, or I am doing something wrong because I don't have many God-soaked days.
Reality: Scripture authors recorded a truncated history to show us who God is. Jesus and the first followers experienced many mundane days.

Contextualization is not - as is often argued - ‘telling people what they want to hear.’ Rather, it is giving people the Bible’s answers, which they may not at all want to hear, to questions about life that people in their particular place and time are asking, in language and forms they can comprehend, and through appeals and arguments with force they can feel, even if they reject them - Tim Keller

Listen along as we continue our series through Acts.

Notes//Quotes:

Acts 13:13-52

“This section relentlessly present’s Israel’s history as the history of God’s activity. From v. 17 through 23 almost every verb has God as it’s subject.” Beverly Gaventa

1 Cor 15:1-4

Evangelism is not persuading people to make a decision; it is not proving that God exists, or making out a good case for the truth of Christianity; it is not inviting someone to a meeting; it is not exposing the contemporary dilemma, or arousing interest in Christianity; it is not wearing a badge saying 'Jesus Saves'! Some of these things may be right and good in their place, but none of them should be confused with evangelism. To evangelize is to declare on the authority of God what he has done to save sinners, to warn men of their lost condition, to direct them to repent, and to believe in the Lord Jesus Christ. - Mark Dever

Romans 8:28-30

Matthew 13:1-9,18-23

Listen along as we continue through the book of Acts.

Notes//Quotes:

Acts 13:1-12

"Words make you think. Music makes you feel. A song makes you feel a thought" — Yip Harburg

“To pray is to accept that we are, and always will be, wholly dependent on God for everything….Prayer turns theology into experience.” Tim Keller

“The Spirit led the church in its mission. As throughout Acts, God took the initiative in every new development of the Christian witness; however, the church did its part. It fasted and prayed, seeking the divine leading in a mode of expectant devotion." - J.B. Polhill

Map

Listen along as Anthony continues our series through Acts.

Notes//Quotes:

Acts 12:1-25- Nathan
Title: Murder, Rescue, & Justice

“You do not know what you are asking. Are you able to drink the cup that I am to drink?” They said to him, “We are able.” 23 He said to them, “You will drink my cup, but to sit at my right hand and at my left is not mine to grant, but it is for those for whom it has been prepared by my Father.” (John 20:22&23)

“Whatever it will cost you to be with God is nothing compared to what it cost Him to be with you.”
—Timothy Keller

“A Christian happens to mean a man who has discovered that Christianity is true, not that it is pretty or even practical. It may be a very strange discovery for a modern man to make; but some of us happen to have made it.” — G. K. Chesterton

“That force of earnest, halting prayer was mightier than Herod, and mightier than hell.” —G. Campbell Morgan

Long my imprisoned spirit lay 
Fast bound in sin and nature’s night; 
Thine eye diffused a quickening ray, 
I woke, the dungeon flamed with light; 
My chains fell off, my heart was free,
 I rose, went forth, and followed Thee.
- Charles Wesley

“Indeed, one cannot fail to admire the artistry with which Luke depicts the complete reversal of the church’s situation. At the beginning of the chapter Herod is on the rampage—arresting and persecuting church leaders; at the end he is himself struck down and dies. The chapter opens with James dead, Peter in prison and Herod triumphing; it closes with Herod dead, Peter free, and the word of God triumphing. Such is the power of God to overthrow hostile human plans and to establish His own in their place. Tyrants may be permitted for a time to boast and bluster, oppressing the church and hindering the spread of the Gospel, but they will not last. In the end, their empire will be broken and their pride abased” —John Stott

Listen along as we continue our series through the book of Acts.

Notes//Quotes:

Acts 11:1-30 -Kim reading

Slide 1
A biblical proposition… needs interpretation. It does not simply interpret itself… The only way to interpret… is to look at the biblical story that reveals God’s character through his actions…

The task of the church is to “faithfully improvise” the “rest of the story.” Christians are not called simply to live in the story; they are called to continue the story in their own cultural contexts. First, they must be grounded in the story. They must be people for whom the story “absorbs the world.” Second, they must together (communally) improvise the “rest of the story” faithfully to the story given in the Bible.
Roger Olson

Slide 2
Ritual Practices of a Typical Roman Meal
- A portion of the food being offered to the gods.
- Wine libations and the reciting of prayers in honor of the gods or of the dead.
- Possibly even being given a dining wreath with flowers considered sacred to the gods upon arrival.

Slide 3
Table comparing Acts 8:1 and Acts 11:19
https://services.planningcenteronline.com/plans/80966647#

Slide 4
That's a great way of putting it. Grace is something you can see. Presumably when you watch Judeans and gentiles sharing in prayer, sharing in the Lord’s supper, sharing their whole lives as brothers and sisters. You can’t fake that. It’s grace made visible.
- N.T Wright; The Challenge of Acts

Slide 5
Acts 26:28
28 And Agrippa said to Paul, “In a short time would you persuade me to be a Christian?”

1 Peter 4:14–16
14 If you are insulted for the name of Christ, you are blessed, because the Spirit of glory and of God rests upon you. 15 But let none of you suffer as a murderer or a thief or an evildoer or as a meddler. 16 Yet if anyone suffers as a Christian, let him not be ashamed, but let him glorify God in that name.

Slide 6
Romans 15:26–27
26 For Macedonia and Achaia have been pleased to make some contribution for the poor among the saints at Jerusalem. 27 For they were pleased to do it, and indeed they owe it to them. For if the Gentiles have come to share in their spiritual blessings, they ought also to be of service to them in material blessings.

Slide 7
When grace is visible, when the story of God is lived out in the world, when the church is truly carrying the name of Christ… The standard conventions for who is accepted and who is left out are re-evaluated, the standard ways of giving and receiving are upended and the standard ways in which we categorize our theology can be challenged.

Listen along as Mike Gaston continues our series through Acts.

Notes//Quotes:

Acts 10:1-48 - Jack reading Slides Slide 1 Big Idea Christ’s plan includes not just us, but all the nations of the world. How will we respond? Slide 2 (Map of Israel showing Joppa and Caesarea, to be emailed separately) Slide 3 “It is more likely, therefore, that the point is that the Lord’s command frees Peter from any scruples about going to a Gentile home and eating whatever might be set before him. It would be a short step from recognizing that Gentile food was clean to realizing that Gentiles themselves were ‘clean’ also.”Tyndale Commentary, I. Howard Marshall Slide 4 “The conversion of Cornelius was a landmark in the history of the gospel’s advance from its strictly Jewish beginnings to its penetration of the Roman Empire. True, it did not settle any of the issues relating to Jewish-Gentile relations within the church, nor did Jewish believers take it as a precedent for direct outreach to Gentiles. But it did show that the sovereign God was not confined to the traditional forms of Judaism and that He could bring a Gentile directly into relationship with himself through Jesus Christ and apart from any prior commitment to distinctive Jewish beliefs or lifestyle.”Richard N. Longenecker Slide 5 John 10:16And I have other sheep that are not of this fold. I must bring them also, and they will listen to my voice. So there will be one flock, one shepherd. Slide 6 Matthew 28:18-20And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.” Slide 7 Three possible responses to God’s plan for the nationsHostilityIndifferenceEnthusiasm Slide 8 Mike’s Definition of Missions: God is using the preaching of the gospel to turn rebellious sinners around the world into redeemed worshippers of His Son Jesus Christ … … and WE GET TO HELP! Slide 9 “Lord, where do I fit?”

Notes//Quotes:

Acts 9:31-43 - Faith
Title: Questions, Holy Disruptions, And The Ministry Of Small Things

“The three Peter-stories Luke selects are i) a double miracle story how Aeneas was healed and Tabitha raised from death), (ii) a conversion story (how Cornelius was brought to faith), and (ili) an escape story how Peter was rescued from prison and so from Herod's evil intentions). Each may be seen as a confrontation - with disease and death, with Gentile alienation and with political tyranny. Moreover, in each case conflict gave place to victory - the cure of Aeneas, the resuscitation of Tabitha, the conversion of Cornelius, and the removal of Herod.”
- John Stott

“Gazelles—small antelopes spoken of in the Bible—are known for their grace and beauty. Some live where rains provide water. But one type, the Dorcas gazelle, can spend its entire life in the desert without drinking—receiving hydration only from plants. This gives it a mysterious quality rather like that of a Christian, whose source of life and love is an invisible fountain of living water, as Jesus promised (John 7:38).”
- In Touch Ministries

“The riddles of God are more satisfying than the solutions of man.”
- G. K. Chesterton

“Religion that is pure and undefiled before God the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained from the world.” (James 1:27)

Listen along as we continue our series through the book of Acts.

Notes//Quotes:

Acts 9:1-31 - Larry/Jorgen

Grace is something you can never get but can only be given. There's no way to earn it or deserve it or bring it about any more than you can deserve the taste of raspberries and cream or earn good looks or bring about your own birth. A good sleep is grace and so are good dreams. Most tears are grace. The smell of rain is grace. Somebody loving you is grace. Loving somebody is grace. A crucial eccentricity of the Christian faith is the assertion that people are saved by grace. There's nothing you have to do. The grace of God means something like: "Here is your life. You might never have been, but you are, because the party wouldn't have been complete without you. Here is the world. Beautiful and terrible things will happen. Don't be afraid. I am with you. Nothing can ever separate us. It's for you I created the universe. I love you.” There's only one catch. Like any other gift, the gift of grace can be yours only if you'll reach out and take it. Maybe being able to reach out and take it is a gift too. - Frederick Buechner

Gradually, and without violence, Jesus pricked Saul's mind and conscience with his goads. Then he revealed Himself to him by the light and the voice, not in order to overwhelm him, but in such a way as to enable him to make a free response. Divine grace does not trample on human personality. Rather the reverse, for it enables human beings to be truly human. It is sin which imprisons; it is grace which liberates. The grace of God so frees us from the bondage of our pride, prejudice and self-centeredness, as to enable us to repent and believe. One can but magnify the grace of God that he should have had mercy on such a rabid bigot as Saul of Tarsus, and indeed on such proud, rebellious and wayward creatures as ourselves. - John Stott

I fled Him, down the nights and down the days;
I fled Him, down the arches of the years;
I fled Him, down the labyrinthine ways
Of my own mind; and in the mist of tears
I hid from Him, and under running laughter.
Up vistaed hopes I sped;
And shot, precipitated,
Adown Titanic glooms of chasmèd fears,
From those strong Feet that followed, followed after.
But with unhurrying chase,
And unperturbèd pace,
Deliberate speed, majestic instancy,
They beat—and a Voice beat
More instant than the Feet—
‘All things betray thee, who betrayest Me
Francis Thompson, The Hound of Heaven

Romans 10:14

“Put all this together, and what do we have, as the central, shaping marker of the new worldview, taking the place and bearing the weight that the Jewish symbols had borne within the worldview of Saul of Tarsus? We have precisely the gospel, the euangelion, the ‘good news’, rooted in the ‘good news’ spoken of in the Great Prophet, confronting the ‘good news’ carved in stone around Caesar’s empire. We have the symbol by which Paul declared that he was himself defined, the anchor of his own vocational mindset: Paul, an apostle, set apart for the good news of God; I am not ashamed of the good news, because it is God’s power for salvation to all who believe; the Messiah did not send me to baptize, but to preach the gospel; woe to me if I do not announce the good news; I do it all for the sake of the good news; let me remind you of the gospel which I announced to you, which you received, in which you stand firm, through which you are saved; the gospel of the glory of the Messiah, who is the image of God. The gospel, the gospel, the gospel. It defined Paul. It defined his work. It defined his communities. It was the shorthand summary of the theology which, in turn, was the foundation for the central pillar for the new worldview. It carried God’s power. That was just as well: the worldview, and those who lived by it, were going to need it.” NT Wright

“Grace is God acting in our life to bring about, and to enable us to do, what we cannot do on our own. Grace is for all of life and not just for forgiveness. Grace is not opposed to effort (action)-though it is opposed to earning (attitude). Grace is inextricably bound up with discipline in the life of the disciple or apprentice of Jesus. “Grace,” of course, as an active agency in the psychological and biological reality of the disciple.” - Dallas Willard

Eph 1:7-10

What you need to drive out an old passion, is a new passion, a greater passion. What you need is an over-mastering positive passion. To the degree, that you see Jesus on the cross, loosing absolutely everything for you, He will become a beauty to you, He will become so beautiful in your eyes that you'll be able to change these things that control you now, they'll loose their power. Do you know how to work on your heart like that? It's only by rejoicing in and resting in what Jesus Christ has done for you. Then you can replace your idols. And if you really want to change and want to pound the Gospel more deeply into your heart - Jesus Christ must become your over-mastering positive passion. Tim Keller

All which I took from thee I did but take,
Not for thy harms, But just that thou might'st seek it in My arms.
All which thy child's mistake Fancies as lost, I have stored for thee at home:
Rise, clasp My hand, and come!'
Francis Thompson, Hound of Heaven

Listen along as we continue our journey through Acts.

Notes//Quotes:

Acts 8:26-40

1 Thess 4:1-8 - 1 Peter 2:13-17— 1 Thess 5:16-18

Deut 23:1

”He said to them, “How foolish you are, and how slow to believe all that the prophets have spoken! Did not the Messiah have to suffer these things and then enter his glory?” And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he explained to them what was said in all the Scriptures concerning himself.” Luke 24:25-27

Romans 10:10-17

We do not go into the desert to escape people but to learn how to find them; we do not leave them in order to have nothing more to do with them, but to find out the way to do them the most good. But this is only a secondary end. The one that includes all others is the love of God. - Thomas Merton

"Since you cannot do good to all, you are to pay special attention to those who, by the accidents of time, or place, or circumstances, are brought into closer connection with you.” Augustine

Listen along as we continue our series through Acts.

Notes//Quotes:

Acts 8:1-25 - Chris
Title: Surprised By Grace

“But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.” (Acts 1:8)

“24 Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit. 25 Whoever loves his life loses it, and whoever hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life. 26 If anyone serves me, he must follow me; and where I am, there will my servant be also. If anyone serves me, the Father will honor him.” (Jn. 12:24-26)

51 When the days drew near for him to be taken up, he set his face to go to Jerusalem. 52 And he sent messengers ahead of him, who went and entered a village of the Samaritans, to make preparations for him. 53 But the people did not receive him, because his face was set toward Jerusalem. 54 And when his disciples James and John saw it, they said, “Lord, do you want us to tell fire to come down from heaven and consume them?” 55 But he turned and rebuked them. 56 And they went on to another village. (Lk. 9:51-55)

43 “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ 44 But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, 45 so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven. For he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust. 46 For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Do not even the tax collectors do the same? 47 And if you greet only your brothers, what more are you doing than others? Do not even the Gentiles do the same? 48 You therefore must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect. (Matt. 5:43-48)

“Satan is not opposed to religion. He is in the religion business up to his ears. The first temptation was a religious one - to be like God. "Let me tell you how to be godly." It was a temptation to fall up, not down. Satan's chief weapon against the Gospel is false religion.”
- Adrian Rodgers

“Preaching to gain recognition or status is simony. Serving with an eye to advance within the church’s power structure is simony. Seeking spiritual gifts for the promotion of oneself is simony. Even seeking to be godly so others will think we are godly is a type of simony.” - R.Kent Hughes

Listen along as we continue through the book of Acts.

Notes//Quotes:

Acts 7:1-60

1 Pet 3:8-17

“God is everywhere present. The holy place is there wherever God may be.” - Chrysostom

“No harm can be done to the temple and the law, when Christ is openly established as the end and truth of both.” - John Calvin

“Stephen has been confessing Christ before men, and now he sees Christ confessing his servant before God.” FF Bruce

“The Jesus who was right then interceding for Stephen had taught him that intercession, rather than cursing, was the way of the new, fulfilled, law and Temple.” - NT Wright

Listen along as we continue through the book of Acts.

Notes//Quotes:

Acts 6:1-15 - SawyerTitle: Growing Pains “Success, while desirable, can paradoxically create new challenges. This can manifest as increased pressure, difficulty managing growth, and strained relationships with those who haven't achieved the same level of success. Understanding these potential downsides is crucial for navigating the complexities of success and maintaining long-term well-being.” - Google AI “The devil’s next attack was the cleverest of the three. Having failed to overcome the church by either persecution or corruption, he now tried distraction. If he could preoccupy the apostles with social administration, which though essential was not their calling, they would neglect their God-given responsibilities to pray and to preach, and so leave the church without any defense against false doctrine.” - John Stott “Those who love their dream of a Christian community more than they love the Christian community itself become destroyers of that Christian community.”- Dietrich Bonhoeffer “One of the apologetics against the church is that the rhetoric often doesn’t live up to the reality.”- Leo Schuester 1-4 If you’ve gotten anything at all out of following Christ, if his love has made any difference in your life, if being in a community of the Spirit means anything to you, if you have a heart, if you care—then do me a favor: Agree with each other, love each other, be deep-spirited friends. Don’t push your way to the front; don’t sweet-talk your way to the top. Put yourself aside, and help others get ahead. Don’t be obsessed with getting your own advantage. Forget yourselves long enough to lend a helping hand. 5-8 Think of yourselves the way Christ Jesus thought of himself. He had equal status with God but didn’t think so much of himself that he had to cling to the advantages of that status no matter what. Not at all. When the time came, he set aside the privileges of deity and took on the status of a slave, became human! Having become human, he stayed human. It was an incredibly humbling process. He didn’t claim special privileges. Instead, he lived a selfless, obedient life and then died a selfless, obedient death—and the worst kind of death at that—a crucifixion.(Philippians 2:1-8 The Message) Questions:1. Do I love the community or my dream of the community? 2. Have I experienced hurt in the community? 3. Who actually is the architect of my dream community?

Listen along as we continue our journey through Acts.

Notes//Quotes:

Acts 5:17-42

Proverbs 14:30

“Envy is one of the most miserable vices. Most other vices tend to produce some kind of pleasure, however momentary. But envy is nothing but unpleasant, through and through. It is the constant thief of joy. - Gavin Ortlund

We can glimpse it in the book of Acts: the method of the kingdom will match the message of the kingdom. The kingdom…goes out into the world vulnerable, suffering, praising, praying, misunderstood, misjudged, vindicated, celebrating: always – as Paul puts it in one of his letters – bearing in the body the dying of Jesus so that the life of Jesus may also be displayed. - NT Wright

Ex 34:4-7

“When God describes himself, He doesn’t start with how powerful He is or how He knows everything there is to know or how He’s been around since before time and space and there’s no one else like Him in the universe. That’s all true, but apparently, to God, it’s not the most important thing. When God describes himself, He starts with His name. Then He talks about what we call character. He’s compassionate and gracious; he’s slow to anger; he’s abounding in love and faithfulness” - John Mark Comer

Listen along as we continue our series through the book of Acts.

Notes//Quotes:

Acts 5:1-16 - Jack Reading
Title: Smelling Salts

“Sin has many tools, but a lie is the handle which fits them all.”
- Oliver Wendell Holmes

20 My son, pay attention to what I say;  turn your ear to my words.
21 Do not let them out of your sight, keep them within your heart;
22 for they are life to those who find them  and health to one’s whole body.
23 Above all else, guard your heart,  for everything you do flows from it.
(Proverbs 4:20-23)

“Half of the misery in the world comes from trying to look, instead of trying to be, what one is not.”
- George MacDonald

8 Be of sober spirit, be on the alert. Your adversary, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.
(1Peter 5:8 NASB95)

7 Submit therefore to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you.
(James 4:7 NASB95)

“do not give the devil a foothold.”
(Ephesians 4:27 ESV)

12 For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.”
(Eph. 6:12 ESV)

“if God acted in the same way today that he did in the fifth chapter of Acts, you’d have to have a morgue in the basement of every church and a mortician on the pastoral staff.”
- Dr. Donald Grey Barnhouse

“…you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.”
(Matt. 16:18 ESV)

“Our takeaways from the text should probably be no more and no less than that of the people who witnessed the event: fear and awe. God is a holy God who vanquishes evil and zealously defends his holiness. His judgments are his, and he only makes some of them known. Why did God strike down Ananias and Sapphira rather than give them a chance to repent? How is it that Satan filled Ananias’ heart to lie (v. 3) but that Ananias also contrived the sin himself (v. 4)? Why didn’t Peter show the same grace toward Ananias and Sapphira that he was shown for his deceit and denial of the Lord (Matt 26:69-75)? We do not know. The text does not speak to these questions, though other passages may help us find answers. Ultimately, though, it’s the text that demands an answer from you: Do you fear God?”
- F.F. Bruce

“For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may receive what is due for what he has done in the body, whether good or evil. Therefore, knowing the fear of the Lord, we persuade others.”
(2 Cor. 5:10&11 ESV)

Listen along as we continue through Acts.

Notes//Quotes:

Acts 4:23-37

“If we allow the Bible to become fragmented, it is in danger of being absorbed into whatever other story is shaping our culture, and it will thus cease to shape our lives as it should. Idolatry has twisted the dominant cultural story of the secular Western world. If as believers we allow this story (rather than the Bible) to become the foundation of our thought and action, then our lives will manifest not the truths of Scripture, but the lies of an idolatrous culture. Hence, the unity of Scripture is no minor matter: a fragmented Bible may actually produce theologically orthodox, morally upright, warmly pious idol worshippers! - Mike Goheen

John 17:20-23

”We must have hearts that are harder than iron if we are not moved by the reading of this narrative. In those days the believers gave abundantly of what was their own; we in our day are content not just jealously to retain what we possess, but callously to rob others.... They sold their own possessions in those days; in our day it is the lust to purchase that reigns supreme. At that time love made each man's own possessions common property for those in need; in our day such is the inhumanity of many, that they begrudge to the poor a common dwelling upon earth, the common use of water, air and sky.” John Calvin

1 Cor 6:19-20

Listen along as we continue our series through the book of Acts.

Notes//Quotes:

Acts 4:1-22 - Scott They rejected the oral traditions of the Pharisees and considered only the written Torah of the Pentateuch as valid. They considered the concepts of demons and angels, immortality and resurrection as innovations, believing in no life beyond this life.More important than their theology, however, was their political orientation. Coming largely from the landed aristocracy, they were accommodationists with regard to the Roman occupation of Israel. Possessing considerable economic interests, their concern was to make peace with the Romans, preserve the status quo, and thus protect their own holdings. In return the Romans accorded the Sadducees considerable power, invariably appointing the high priest from their ranks, who was the most powerful political figure among the Jews in that day. The prime concern of the Sadducean aristocracy, of whom the high priest was the chief spokesman, was the preservation of order, the avoidance at all costs of any confrontation with the Roman authorities. - New American Commentary The church's one foundation is Jesus Christ her Lord;she is his new creation by water and the Word.From heaven he came and sought her to be his holy bride;with his own blood he bought her, and for her life he died.- Samuel J. Stone (1839-1900) ”Grace is the free favor of God, the undeserved bounty of the ever-gracious Creator against whom we have offended, the generous pardon, the infinite, spontaneous lovingkindness of the God who has been provoked and angered by our sin."God's grace proceeds exclusively through Jesus Christ, the Mediator. "All things come to us through Christ Jesus: he is the golden pipe of the conduit of eternal love, the window through which grace shines, the door by which it enters." — Charles Spurgeon (The Cross and Salvation, Bruce Demarest) …It does not say, ‘Blessed are those who are persecuted because they are objectionable.’ It does not say, ‘Blessed are those who are having a hard time in their Christian life because they are being difficult.’ It does not say, ‘Blessed are those who are being persecuted as Christians because they are seriously lacking in wisdom and are really foolish and unwise in what they regard as being their testimony.’ It is not that. There is no need for one to elaborate this, but so often one has known Christian people who are suffering mild persecution entirely because of their own folly, because of something either in themselves or in what they are doing. But the promise does not apply to such people. It is for righteousness’ sake. Let us be very clear about that. We can bring endless suffering upon ourselves, and we can create difficulties for ourselves that are quite unnecessary because we have some rather foolish notion of witnessing and testifying or because, in a spirit of self-righteousness, we really do call it down on our own heads. We are often so foolish in these matters. We are slow to realize the difference between prejudice and principle and we are so slow to understand the difference between being offensive, in a natural sense, because of our particular makeup and temperament, and causing offense because we are righteous.- Martyn Lloyd-Jones 8 Finally, all of you, have unity of mind, sympathy, brotherly love, a tender heart, and a humble mind. 9 Do not repay evil for evil or reviling for reviling, but on the contrary, bless, for to this you were called, that you may obtain a blessing. 10 For “Whoever desires to love life  and see good days, let him keep his tongue from evil  and his lips from speaking deceit;11 let him turn away from evil and do good;  let him seek peace and pursue it.12 For the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous,  and his ears are open to their prayer. But the face of the Lord is against those who do evil.”13 Now who is there to harm you if you are zealous for what is good? 14 But even if you should suffer for righteousness' sake, you will be blessed. Have no fear of them, nor be troubled, 15 but in your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and respect, 16 having a good conscience, so that, when you are slandered, those who revile your good behavior in Christ may be put to shame. 17 For it is better to suffer for doing good, if that should be God's will, than for doing evil.” (1 Peter 3:8-17)

Listen along as Mike Gaston continues our series through the book of Acts.

Notes//Quotes:

Slide 1Title of the Message:Repentance, Removal, Refreshment, and Restoration Slide 2Big idea As we wait for Jesus to restore all things, refreshment is now available in His presence. Slide 3“The healing story itself is similar to those related in the gospels, but it is related with a fair amount of detail. Peter is able to do the kind of things that Jesus did by acting in the name of Jesus: thus, the continuity between the ministry of Jesus and the witness of the church is expressed…the main point of the story is the continuing power of the name of Jesus to perform the same gracious and healing acts which were signs in the gospels of the coming of the kingdom or rule of God.”I.Howard Marshall Slide 4“The God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, the God of our fathers, glorified his servant Jesus, whom you delivered over and denied in the presence of Pilate, when he had decided to release him. But you denied the Holy and Righteous One, and asked for a murderer to be granted to you, and you killed the Author of life, whom God raised from the dead. To this we are witnesses.”Acts 3:13-15 Slide 5“Repent therefore, and turn back, that your sins may be blotted out, that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord, and that he may send the Christ appointed for you, Jesus, whom heaven must receive until the time for restoring all the things about which God spoke by the mouth of his holy prophets long ago.”Acts 3:19-21 Slide 6True Christian repentance involves a heartfelt conviction of sin, a contrition over the offense to God, a turning away from the sinful way of life, and a turning towards a God-honoring way of life.Sam StormsSlide 7“The word wipe away is a really precious and beautiful word in the New Testament. It’s used, for example, in Revelation 21:4, where it says, “God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.” God is in the business of wiping away sin to prepare people for the wiping away of tears in the age to come.John Piper Slide 8 – Selah logo (sending by email) Slide 9 – Verse on wall (sending by email) Slide 10“Since all these things are thus to be dissolved, what sort of people ought you to be in lives of holiness and godliness, waiting for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be set on fire and dissolved, and the heavenly bodies will melt as they burn! But according to his promise we are waiting for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells.”2 Peter 3:11-13 Slide 11Big idea As we wait for Jesus to restore all things, refreshment is now available in His presence.

Listen along as we continue our time in the book of Acts.

Notes//Quotes:

Acts 2:42-47

Haiku - Following Jesus, learning from Him, joining in His mission on earth

“The idea of salvation cannot be reduced to a personal relationship with Jesus. God's plan is much more encompassing. God intends for salvation to be a community-creating event.” Joseph Hellerman

“Long-term interpersonal relationships are the crucible of genuine progress in the Christian life. People who stay also grow. People who leave do not grow. We all know people who are consumed with spiritual wanderlust. But we never get to know them very well because they cannot seem to stay put. They move along from church to church, ever searching for a congregation that will better satisfy their felt needs. Like trees repeatedly transplanted from soil to soil, these spiritual nomads fail to put down roots and seldom experience lasting and fruitful growth in their Christian lives.” - Joseph Hellerman

”These four go together. You can't separate them, or leave one out, without damage to the whole thing. Where no attention is given to teaching, and to constant, lifelong Christian learning, people quickly refer to the worldview or mindset of the surrounding culture, and end up with their minds shaped by whichever social pressures are most persuasive, with Jesus somewhere around as a pale influence or memory. Where people ignore the common life of the Christian family (the technical term often used is "fellowship", which is more than friendship but not less), they become isolated, and often find it difficult to sustain a living faith. Where people no longer share regularly in 'the breaking of bread' (the early Christian term for the simple meal that took them back to the Upper Room 'in remembrance of Jesus'), they are failing to raise the flag which says 'Jesus' death and resurrection are the centre of everything. And whenever people do all these things but neglect prayer, they are quite simply forgetting that Christians are supposed to be heaven-and earth people. Prayer makes no sense whatever - unless heaven and earth are designed to be joined together, and we can share in that already.”NT Wright

Gospel doctrine creates a gospel culture. The doctrine of grace creates a culture of grace. When the doctrine is clear and the culture is beautiful, that church will be powerful. But there are no shortcuts to getting there. Without the doctrine, the culture will be weak. Without the culture, the doctrine will seem pointless. Ray Ortlund

“Money flows effortlessly to that which is its god.” Tim Keller

“If the love of money is the root of all kinds of evil, then perhaps the love of generosity is the root of all kinds of good.” CS Lewis

“Prayer, in the sense of union with God, is the most crucifying thing there is. One must do it for God’s sake; but one will not get any satisfaction out of it, in the sense of feeling “I am good at prayer. I have an infallible method.” That would be disastrous, since what we want to learn is precisely our own weakness, powerlessness, unworthiness. Nor ought one to expect “a sense of the reality of the supernatural” of which I speak. And one should wish for no prayer, except precisely the prayer that God gives us—probably very distracted and unsatisfactory in every way.” Henri Nouwen

Listen along as we continue our series through Acts.

Notes//Quotes:

Acts 2:1-41

Revelation 7:9-10

"We formerly rejoiced in uncleanness of life, but now love only chastity; before we used the magic arts, but now dedicate ourselves to the true and unbegotten God; before we loved money and possessions more than anything, but now we share what we have and to everyone who is in need; before we hated one another and killed one another and would not eat with those of another race, but now since the manifestation of Christ, we have come to a common life and pray for our enemies and try to win over those who hate us without just cause.” Justin Martyr

Is our evangelism a joyful proclamation of what God has done for us or a frantic “workaholic” search for as many scalps for our evangelical belt as we can find? Biblical evangelizing is a twofold commission: to preach and to pray, to talk to people about God and to talk to God about people.” Harvey Conn

2 Cor 5:17-21

Listen along as Anthony continues our series through the book of Acts.

Notes//Quotes:

Acts 1:12-26 - Scott ReadingTitle: The Space Between “To clasp the hands in prayer is the beginning of an uprising against the disorder of the world.” - Karl Barth “One reason why the experiential reality of perceiving God is unfamiliar country today is that the pace and preoccupations of urbanized, mechanized, collectivized, secularized modern life are such that any sort of inner life... is very hard to maintain. To make prayer your life priority, as countless Christians of former days did outside as well as inside the monastery, is stupendously difficult in a world that runs you off your feet and will not let you slow down. And if you attempt it, you will certainly seem eccentric to your peers, for nowadays involvement in a stream of programmed activities is decidedly ‘in,’ and the older ideal of a quiet, contemplative life is just as decidedly ‘out.’ That there is widespread hunger today for more intimacy, warmth, and affection in our fellowship with God is clear... but the concept of Christian life as sanctified rush and bustle still dominates, and as a result the experiential side of Christian holiness remains very much a closed book.” - J.I. Packer “There are no more lots after the coming of the Holy Spirit. It’s a shame isn’t it? I mean life would be a lot easier if we just had to draw lots to know God’s will, but evidently that’s not how he wants it. The Spirit is who is in our hearts helps makes these things clear. One of my favorite prayers is, God will you make it so clear that there’s no choice? I hate choice. Of the eighteen possible variations, just make seventeen go away will you, because I’m not real bright and I don’t always get these things. I’m still hoping for casting lots to come back into use, but I’m not going to hold my breath.”- William Mounce “As much as modern Christians love to talk about successes, sometimes the failures of the church need airing.”- Holman Commentary {Verse 1}Free fall, feet off the ground A clean, white page, fresh snow, no sound Here as we wait, from dark to dawn New paths before us, the old is gone {Chorus 1}Unplug the lights, take down the tree The less we have, the less we need From Christmas night to New Year's Eve We bless the space that’s in between We bless the space that’s in between {Verse 2}December ends, make way for dreams Wait for the light to raise the spring Embrace it all from hope to doubt Like ocean waves washin' in and out {Chorus 2}Two roads apart, come close again Where do you stop? Where do I begin? Each year we learn more what it means We bless the space that’s in between We bless the space that’s in between {Bridge}We bless the seeds under the snowWe bless the patience take it slowWe bless the limits, bless the tearsWe bless the failures that brought us here {Verse 3}I wipe the frost the glass is cold Our dreams beneath the falling snow Be Thou my vision until I see And bless the space that’s in between- Sandra McCracken & Josh Garrels O Almighty God, you pour out your spirit of grace and of supplication on all who desire it. Deliver us, when we draw near to you, from cold hearts and wandering minds, that with steady thoughts and kindled passion we may worship you in spirit and in truth; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.-adapted from the Book of Common Prayer

Listen along as we begin a series through Acts.

Notes//Quotes:

Acts 1:1-11 - Faith
"How Jesus Starts His Church"

”Customary descriptions of Acts as the story of the church's growth or the story of the spread of the gospel neglect the larger context within which this journey takes place. Although it begins in Israel's leading city, Jerusalem, and ends in the Empire's leading city, Rome, the context of Acts reaches well beyond the cities of the Mediterranean world. Readers who set aside the expectation that Acts is an institutional history, shaped and reshaped by human leaders, will instead see God at work from the beginning until well past the end. God is the one who glorifies Jesus and raises him from the dead, who rescues the apostles from prison, who directs Ananias to baptize Saul, and who insists upon the inclusion of the Gentiles. As Acts unfolds, the audience comes to know God through the activity ascribed to God as well as through the speeches and their claims about God. And the first thing the audience learns is that God is the God of Israel.” Beverly Gaventa

“The central problem of our age is not liberalism or modernism, nor the old Roman Catholicism or the new Roman Catholicism.The real problem is this: the church of the Lord Jesus Christ, individually corporately, tending to do the Lord’s work in the power of the flesh rather than of the Spirit. The central problem is always in the midst of the people of God, not in the circumstances surrounding them Is it not amazing: though we know the power of the Holy Spirit can be ours, we still ape the world’s wisdom, trust its forms of publicity and its noise, and imitate its ways of manipulating men! If we try to influence the world by using its methods, we are doing the Lord’s work in the flesh. If we put activity, even good activity, at the center rather than trusting God, then there may be the power of the world, but we will lack the power of the Holy Spirit.” - Francis Schaeffer

“Travelers who desire the predictability of an interstate highway system where all roads look alike and every interchange features three gas stations and two fast-food stores will find this journey more closely resembles A Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy.” Beverly Gaventa

Joel 2:28-29

“For the verb restore shows that the were expecting a political and territorial kingdom; the noun Israel that they were expecting a national kingdom; and the adverbial clause at this time that they were expecting its immediate establishment.” John Stott

Be patient toward all that is unsolved in your heart and try to love the questions themselves, like locked rooms and like books that are now written in a very foreign tongue. Do not now seek the answers, which cannot be given you because you would not be able to live them. And the point is, to live everything. Live the questions now. Perhaps you will then gradually, without noticing it, live along some distant day into the answer - Rainer Rilke

“Some have seen Jesus’s answer as a gentle rebuke to their curiosity: they are to mind their own business and not worry about the end. Others have seen a challenge to the disciple’ narrowly nationalistic view of the kingdom. But these interpretations miss the legitimate eschatological expectation that all Jews, including Jesus and the apostles, held in common. If the last days had come indeed—as all the signs seemed to indicate—then Israel must be restored: this was the first order of business on the prophets’ kingdom agenda! Jesus’s response precisely answers this question: this is how the kingdom is to be restored to Israel so that (in keeping with prophetic promise) the gentiles might soon stream in. Jesus shifts his disciples expectation from when to how.” - Mike Goheen

“When the Spirit comes to them and gives them the gift of power, their very identity will be transformed into that of witnesses.” - Darrell Guder

“The key question is this: As we work for God in this fallen world, what are we trusting in? To trust in particular methods is to copy the world and to remove ourselves from the tremendous promise that we have something different—the power of the Holy Spirit rather than the power of human technique.” - Francis Schaeffer

Listen along as we wrap up Exodus and see the hope of Easter.

Exodus 33:12-23

“For a while” is a phrase whose length can't be measured. At least by the person who's waiting. - Haruki Murakami

“We don't believe something by merely saying we believe it, or even when we believe that we believe it. We believe something when we act as if it were true. Actions are not impostions on who we are, but are expressions of who we are. They come out of our heart and the inner realities it supervises and interacts with.” Dallas Willard

Exodus 34:6-7

Romans 8:34-39

1 Peter 1:3-7

2 Cor 3:16-18

Exodus 23:1-9 - FaithTitle: A Jealous God “The jealous God”— doesn't it sound offensive? For we know jealousy, the green-eyed monster, as a vice, one of the most cancerous and soul-destroying vices that there is.”- J.I. Packer I was dreaming of the pastAnd my heart was beating fastI began to lose controlI began to lose controlI didn't mean to hurt youI'm sorry that I made you cryOh no, I didn't want to hurt youI'm just a jealous guy- John Lennon “Were we imagining a God, then naturally we should ascribe to him only characteristics which we admired, and jealousy would not enter the picture. Nobody would imagine a jealous God. But we are not making up an idea of God by drawing on our imagination; we are seeking instead to listen to the words of Holy Scripture, in which God himself tells us the truth about himself. For God our Creator, whom we could never have discovered by any exercise of imagination, has revealed himself. He has talked. He has spoken…”- J.I. Packer “There are two sorts of jealousy among humans, and only one of them is a vice. Vicious jealousy is an expression of the attitude, "I want what you've got, and I hate you because I haven't got it." It is an infantile resentment springing from unmortified covetousness, which expresses itself in envy, malice and meanness of action. It is terribly potent, for it feeds and is fed by pride, the taproot of our fallen nature. There is a mad obsessiveness about jealousy which, if indulged, can tear an otherwise firm character to shreds. "Anger is cruel and fury overwhelming, but who can stand before jealousy?" asks the wise man (Prov 27:4). What is often called sexual jealousy, the lunatic fury of a rejected or supplanted suitor, is of this kind.But there is another sort of jealousy: zeal to protect a love relationship, or to avenge it when broken. This jealousy also operates in the sphere of sex; there, however, it appears not as the blind reaction of wounded pride but as the fruit of marital affection. As Professor Tasker has written, married persons "who felt no jealousy at the intrusion of a lover or an adulterer into their home would surely be lacking in moral perception; for the exclusiveness of marriage is the essence of marriage" (The Epistle of James, p. 106). This sort of jealousy is a positive virtue, for it shows a grasp of the true meaning of the husband-wife relationship, together with a proper zeal to keep it intact.”- J.I. Packer “For your Maker is your husband, the Lord of hosts is his name…” (Isaiah 54:5a) “For I feel a divine jealousy for you, since I betrothed you to one husband, to present you as a pure virgin to Christ. (2 Corinthians 11:2) “There is no need to be disturbed by this. Jealousy is a resentment of rivals, and whether it is good or evil depends on whether the rival has any right to be there. Since God is unique, and there is no other, he has the right to ask that we worship him alone.”- John Stott “A counterfeit god (idol) is anything so central and essential to your life that, should you lose it, your life would feel hardly worth living.” —Timothy Keller 25 Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her, 26 that he might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, 27 so that he might present the church to himself in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish. 28 In the same way husbands should love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself. 29 For no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, just as Christ does the church, 30 because we are members of his body. 31 “Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh.” 32 This mystery is profound, and I am saying that it refers to Christ and the church. —Eph. 5:25-32

Listen along as we continue our series through Exodus.

Notes//Quotes:

Text for reading: Exodus 19:1-6 - Scott
Title: Sinai pt. 2

“We can imagine our octogenarian mountaineer in joyful fellowship with the God whose patience he had exhausted at this spot some months earlier.”
- Christopher Wright

10 “He found him in a desert land,
and in the howling waste of the wilderness;
he encircled him, he cared for him,
he kept him as the apple of his eye.
11 Like an eagle that stirs up its nest,
that flutters over its young,
spreading out its wings, catching them,
bearing them on its pinions,
12 the LORD alone guided him,
no foreign god was with him.”
—Deut. 32:10-12 ESV

“Oh, that we had died by the hand of the Lord in the land of Egypt, when we sat by the pots of meat and when we ate bread to the full! For you have brought us out into this wilderness to kill this whole assembly with hunger.” - Exodus 16:3 NKJV

“It’s three months since they've left Egypt. They started a new calendar the moment they stepped foot out of Egypt. So now time is being reckoned in relation to his work of deliverance. And he tells them, we're entering into covenant. If you obey me and keep my covenant, then out of all the nations, you're going to be my treasured possession.”
- Carmen Imes

“9 But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. 10 Once you were not a people, but now you are God's people; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.
- 1 Peter 2:9&10 ESV

Listen along as we continue our series through Exodus.

Notes//Quotes:

Exodus 14:5-31

“The story of God is the story of salvation, centered on the One whose name means “Yahweh is salvation,” and here is what that looks like: deliverance from slavery and certain death, announced by faith, and received as a gift through trust and obedience.” - Chris Wright

“With our modern curiosity, we tend either to explain the phenomenon (and deny the miracle) or to think of it solely in miraculous terms (and resist any natural causation). Our text, however, sees the event from both perspectives as equally valid. On the one hand, the Bible itself provides a perfectly natural explanation. A combination of wind and movement of the sea caused a dry corridor for a temporary period, long enough for Israel to get to the other side. On the other hand, who rules the wind and the waves? We have just read the whole narrative of the natural disasters inflicted on Egypt by Yahweh using the forces of creation for his own purposes. This event, no matter what the natural causes, was Yahweh’s doing (he caused the wind to drive back the sea) through Moses’s agency (he stretched his hand and raised his staff). Two other points turn this natural event into a miracle of salvation: first, that it should happen at precisely the time when the Israelites needed it to; and second, that the danger surrounding them was only too evident—the sea was still there in the threatening darkness (the walls of water on either side) but was held back long enough for all to cross in safety.” Chris Wright

Ezk 18:23

Prov 3:6-7

“The way of trust is a movement into obscurity, into the undefined, into ambiguity, not into some predetermined, clearly delineated plan for the future. The next step discloses itself only out of a discernment of God acting in the desert of the present moment. The reality of naked trust is the life of the pilgrim who leaves what is nailed down, obvious, and secure, and walks into the unknown without any rational explanation to justify the decision or guarantee the future. Why? Because God has signaled the movement and offered it his presence and his promise.” Brennan Manning

“Almost anything in life that truly matters will require you to do small, mostly overlooked things, over a long period of time with him.” Zach Eswine

Listen along as we continue our series through Exodus.

Notes//Quotes:

Exodus 12:1-13

“Liturgies aim our love to different ends precisely by training our hearts through our bodies.”. - James K.A. Smith

Exodus 12:29-32

13:17-22

Whenever Israel returned to God in such times of national repentance, covenant renewal, or restoration, they returned to the foundational historic event of their national existence—the event on which their identity and faith was founded: God’s great demonstration of compassion, justice, and redemption, the exodus. They needed to be shaped again by the story that had first shaped them and respond to its promise and its demand in renewed worship and obedience. They needed to tell and hear again the story they were in, the story of God and God’s people, and then live in the light of it.For us, individually or as Christian communities, times of revival and renewal will always include going back to the cross and resurrection of Christ, back to the redemption story that defines the good news for us and the world, the story that shapes our identity, our mission, and our future. As it was for Israel, the road to renewal and restoration for us has to be the road of remembrance. For even as Christians, we so easily forget the story we are in. We need, just as much as the Israelites, to hear and tell again and again the story of God, the foundational biblical narrative of our redemption, and then live in the light of it. Chris Wright

Jesus is a teacher who doesn’t just inform our intellect but forms our very loves. He isn’t content to simply deposit new ideas into your mind; he is after nothing less than your wants, your loves, your longings - James KA

Listen along as we continue our time through Exodus.

Exodus 7:1-13

2 Tim 3:16-17

“One could object that it is not worthy of God to wield the sword. Is God not love, long-suffering and all-powerful love? A counter-question could go something like this: Is it not a bit too arrogant to presume that our contemporary sensibilities about what is compatible with God’s love are so much healthier than those of the people of God throughout the whole history of Judaism and Christianity? If God were not angry at injustice and deception and did not make the final end to violence God would not be worthy of our worship.” - Mirolsav Volf

6:6-8

“How are we to interpret all this? With humility, would be a good place to start. There is (and always will be) a mystery in holding together the sovereignty of God and human moral responsibility for our own willed choices and actions. Yet we must, without hesitation, insist that the Bible affirms both, frequently and unequivocally, however difficult it is for us to reconcile them in our human logic” - Chris Wright

“The entire created order is caught up in this struggle, either as cause or victim. Pharaoh’s antilife measures have unleashed chaotic powers that threaten the very creation that God intended.… Water is no longer water; light and darkness are no longer separated; diseases of people and animals run amok; insects and amphibians swarm out of control. And the signs come to a climax in the darkness, which in effect returns the creation to the first day of Genesis 1, a precreation state of affairs. While everything is unnatural in the sense of being beyond the bounds of the order created by God, the word hypernatural (nature in excess) may better capture the sense. The plagues are hypernatural at various levels—timing, scope, intensity. Some sense of this is also seen in the recurrent phrases to the effect that such “had never been seen before, nor ever shall be again” (10:14 cf. 10:6; 9:18, 24; 11:6). Terence Fretheim

“It cannot be accidental that God used ten plagues to teach the Egyptians that he is sovereign and that their gods were of no account. At the time of the exodus, both the Israelites and the Egyptians used a decimal counting system, which meant that the number ten tended to connote a full, complete, sufficient quantity of anything being explicitly enumerated. A run-through of the whole decimal list from one to ten provided more than enough demonstration of God’s power over Egypt for anyone to get the message.” Doug Stuart

“after six occasions of pharaoh hardening his own heart, we at last read that God hardens his heart, it is not so much that God is causing him to make those choices but that God gives him up to the choices he has shown himself determined to make and allows the consequences to take their course” Chris Wright

Romans 12:14-21

Listen along as we continue our series in Exodus.

Exodus 5:1-9, 6:1-8 - Scott Reading
Title: Battle Of The Gods

“The exodus is a battle of the gods, in which only one can emerge from the ring victorious…The conflict between the deities: Egypt's against Israel's, the false against the true, the serpent against the seed, Pharaoh against the Lord. It is a mismatch. Battles against the Lord always are.”
—Alistair J. Roberts & Andrew Wilson, Echos Of Exodus, (pg. 41)

“Their words in 5:1 have all the hallmarks of a bold prophetic word, beginning with the classic “Thus says Yahweh” (author’s translation) and framed as a simple imperative, “let my people go.” At first reading it sounds impressively courageous as a direct word from God. Except that it was not. That speech in verse 1 was not actually what God had told Moses to say to pharaoh, and the narrator knows this, since he records Moses and Aaron reverting in verse 3 to the words God had actually given Moses in 3:18. — Christopher Wright

“That “long tradition” includes not only Job and the writers of many a psalm of lament, not only the poet who produced the prolonged and searingly poignant protest called Lamentations, but also the prophet Elijah (1 Kgs 19) and, especially, Jeremiah, whose depression and desperation lead to outbursts of astonishing honesty, some of which employ Moses’s imploring “Why …?” (e.g., Jer 12:1–4; 15:10–21; 20:7–17). That “Why …?”—echoing through the pain of so many in the Old Testament—is heard from the cross at the moment of that greater exodus that Christ accomplished there. And indeed, it was a “Why …?” taken straight from the Scriptures that shaped Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection. “My God, My God, why have you forsaken me?” (Mark 15:34; Ps 22:1). We know why. And Jesus, too, knew why. He was doing what he had come to do, bearing in his own divine-human self the full and terrible weight and cost and consequences of the sin of the world. But the agony of doing so draws forth this cry of dereliction. Even in the silence of heaven at that moment, we may hear the echo of exactly what God said in answer to the “Why?” that Moses asked.”
- Christopher Wright

"Standing on business" means to firmly prioritize your responsibilities, commitments, and personal values in a professional or serious manner, essentially indicating a dedication to taking care of your business and following through on your words with actions; it implies a sense of duty, assertiveness, and a no-nonsense attitude towards achieving goals.”
- Google Ai

“God just gets on with business. This is really good news for you and me because sometimes we lack faith in God, we lack enthusiasm, and we're not sure if God is going to make good on his promises. God's promises however, do not depend on us, they depend on him. And so, even if we're in a period of discouragement, we're not in danger of derailing God's plan. God will carry out the promises that he made with or without our participation. And here, God isn't just going to save the ones who are on his side and who are excited, he is going to save all of the Hebrews. He's giving them time to come around and by the time they leave Egypt, they will be on board and he will be able to rescue them.”
- Dr. Carmen Imes

Listen along as we continue our series through Exodus.

Text: Exodus 3:1-6
Title: God With Us

“What Moses does mean by this? Did he mean that he became a foreigner to those who no longer accepted him? To the Egyptians, the Hebrews, or that now he's in Midian and he doesn't belong here either? Moses is a misfit and he has this hybrid identity that doesn't really belong.”
— Dr. Carmen Imes

“What is the significance of the fire’s being in the bush but not of the bush? It indicates that the fire Moses saw was independent of the bush—it was not using the bush for its fuel. That’s why the bush wasn’t consumed. It was burning from its own power. It was self-generated. This is a biblical example of what we call theophany, meaning “God made manifest.” The God whom we worship is a spirit. He is invisible, and His invisible substance cannot be seen by the human eye. But there are occasions in redemptive history where the invisible God makes Himself visible by some kind of manifestation. That is called a theophany, and it’s what we see with the burning bush.” — R.C. Sproul

“God is not only identifying himself as Yahweh, the God who made a covenant with Abraham to bless him and multiply him and bring him into the land and make him be a blessing to all nations. Not only is He that God, but at the same time He’s defining who Moses is. He belongs in that covenant people and the God of his father is that God, the God Yahweh. So he's grown up in an Egyptian context where there are lots of deities, lots of temples, lots of priests worshiping these different deities, and in his first encounter with God he finds out simultaneously who God is, and who he is, and that settles things for him. Going forward, his hybrid identity gets resolved and I think this is how it works actually for all of us. When we come to fully encounter the God of the Bible (Yahweh who revealed himself in Jesus)…as we come to know Yahweh we come to know ourselves. There's no real way to know who we are outside of knowing who God is, who God has created us to be, and who He's called us to be.” — Dr. Carmen Imes

“Our wisdom, in so far as it ought to be deemed true and solid Wisdom, consists almost entirely of two parts: the knowledge of God and of ourselves. But as these are connected together by many ties, it is not easy to determine which of the two precedes and gives birth to the other. For, in the first place, no man can survey himself without forthwith turning his thoughts towards the God in whom he lives and moves; because it is perfectly obvious, that the endowments which we possess cannot possibly be from ourselves; nay, that our very being is nothing else than subsistence in God alone. In the second place, those blessings which unceasingly distill to us from heaven, are like streams conducting us to the fountain. Here, again, the infinitude of good which resides in God becomes more apparent from our poverty. In particular, the miserable ruin into which the revolt of the first man has plunged us, compels us to turn our eyes upwards; not only that while hungry and famishing we may thence ask what we want, but being aroused by fear may learn humility.” — John Calvin

“Yahweh is and always will be “God with”—God with those who faithfully obey his sending; God with his people in good times and bad; God with the poor and needy in their affliction; and eventually, Immanuel, “God with us.” —Christopher Wright

Questions:
1. Can I celebrate the slow nature of character building?
2. Am I attempting to know myself apart from looking outward and upward?
3. Have I truly encountered the God who is with me?

Listen along as we look at Exodus 2.

Notes//Quotes:

Exodus 2:1-25

“The one universal balm for the trauma of war was tea. It was the thing that helped people cope. People made tea during air raids and after air raids, and on breaks between retrieving bodies from shattered buildings. Tea bolstered the network of thirty thousand observers who watched for German aircraft over England, operating from one thousand observation posts, all stocked with tea and kettles. Mobile canteens dispensed gallons of it, steaming, from spigots. In propaganda films, the making of tea became a visual metaphor for carrying on. “Tea acquired almost a magical importance in London life,” according to one study of London during the war. “And the reassuring cup of tea actually did seem to help cheer people up in a crisis.” Tea ran through Mass-Observation diaries like a river. “That’s one trouble about the raids,” a female diarist complained. “People do nothing but make tea and expect you to drink it.” - Erik Larson

Heb 11:23

God’s story is not one in which individuals or whole nations are simplistically portrayed as immutably good or bad. People change, times change—and the only constant is that God works in and through the see-saw and reversals of history to accomplish his purpose. - Chris Wright

“If God had perceived that our greatest need was economic, he would have sent an economist. If he had perceived that our greatest need was entertainment, he would have sent us a comedian or an artist. If God had perceived that our greatest need was political stability, he would have sent us a politician. If he had perceived that our greatest need was health, he would have sent us a doctor. But he perceived that our greatest need involved our sin, our alienation from him, our profound rebellion, our death; and he sent us a Savior.” - D.A. Carson

Waiting requires living by what I know to be true about God when I don’t know what’s true about my life. - Mark Vroegop

2 Peter 3:8-13

Listen along as we begin our series through Exodus.

Notes//Quotes:

Exodus 1:7-22

Books do not usually begin with the word “And.” But Exodus does, in the Hebrew text, and so do Leviticus and Numbers: the second, third, and fourth books of the Bible. You would not know this from most modern English translations, presumably because it is not considered good literary style to begin a sentence, never mind a whole book, with “And.” In Hebrew, however, although these are clearly whole books in their own right, each of them begins in a way that clearly connects them altogether as part of one long story that began in Genesis and stretches to the borders of the promised land by the end of Numbers. Deuteronomy, however, begins with a fresh telling of the same story and ends where it started, so does not need the connecting and forward-moving opening word “And.” - Chris Wright

The Pentateuch as a whole—the Torah—constituted the foundation of Old Testament Israel’s faith and identity, and the book of Exodus sets in place some of the largest theological blocks within that foundation. It showed Israel who their God was, who they were as God’s people, how God’s desire was to dwell in their midst, and how the grace of God was the only guarantee that their journey with God (or rather, God’s journey with them) could continue - Chris Wright

“Ironically, Genesis presents the mother of all Israelites oppressing an Egyptian slave, while Exodus presents an Egyptian king oppressing Israelites as slaves. To that degree, Sarah foreshadows pharaoh’s role, just as Hagar’s story prefigures Israel’s story” - Victor Hamilton

“The pogrom has reached its height. All Egypt has been recruited to destroy the population explosion of the enemy” Brevard Childs

The first exodus comes in the midst of a plot that should be familiar to anyone who has read the garden story in Genesis. The people of Israel are fruitful and multiply and fill the land, but the serpent-like king is tricksy, and he attacks the women, with a view to destroying their male descendants. Yet in contrast to the garden story, the women outmaneuver him. - Alastair Roberts

The unmissable proclamation heard in the openings of all four gospels, then, is simply this: “God is doing it again!” The God of Abraham is keeping his promise. The God of Moses is confronting the world’s pharaohs. The God of the exodus is on the way to save his people. Except that the ultimate confrontation and victory will not come about by God sending plagues upon the Romans but by God the Son becoming the Passover lamb, his flesh broken and his blood shed on the cross for the redemption not only of Israel but of people from all nations who put their trust in him. From this point on, the New Testament is replete with echoes of exodus and new-exodus themes, along with its references to the covenant and law given at Sinai, and the tabernacle - Chris Wright

Ephesians 4:1-6

“Not only (1) is their unity expressly stated as coming from the Spirit, but (2) four of the five graces listed in vv. 2–3 are among the fruit of the Spirit in Gal 5:22–23; and (3) in the Trinitarian confession that follows, pride of place is given to the Spirit, precisely because the one body, which is Paul’s present concern, is the result of their common experience of the one Spirit, whose presence in their lives is also the predicate of their one hope.” - Gordon Fee

“I do not ask for these only, but also for those who will believe in me through their word, that they may all be one, just as you, Father, are in me, and I in you, that they also may be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me.” (Jn. 17:20&21)

“Put away falsehood, let each one of you speak the truth with his neighbor, for we are members one of another. 26 Be angry and do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger, 27 and give no opportunity to the devil. 28 Let the thief no longer steal, but rather let him labor, doing honest work with his own hands, so that he may have something to share with anyone in need. 29 Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear. 30 And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. 31 Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice. 32 Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you.” (Ephesians 4:25-32)

“We cannot expect the world to believe the Father sent the Son, that Jesus' claims are true, and that Christianity is true, unless the world sees some reality of the oneness of true Christians.”
- Francis Schaffer, The Mark of the Christian

“To the church of God that is in Corinth, to those sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints together with all those who in every place call upon the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, both their Lord and ours:”
(1 Cor. 1:2)

“This is highly instructive. This mess of a church whose meetings did more harm than good is still a real, legitimate church. It is a church of God…This church is composed of "those sanctified in Christ Jesus." A saint is not a special kind of Christian, someone who has been through some sort of spiritual finishing school. A saint is another word for a Christian. In Christ we are sanctified in the sense of already having been set apart by God to be his people and needing to learn—bit by bit, day by day—how to live out what that actually means. Paul goes on to say that these Corinthian believers have been "called to be saints together with all those who in every place call upon the name of our Lord." Their own individual status in Christ connects each of them not only to the rest of their own church but even more widely to all who name the name of Jesus as they do. There is something unavoidably corporate involved in calling on Christ. He is the common Lord they all share—“both theirs and ours.”
- Sam Allberry

“The church is wholly constituted of those saints that are his jewels, that are the spoils of his enemies, that were once his enemies' possession, but that he has redeemed out of their hands.”
- Jonathan Edwards

“The Spirit delivers Christ to us not just anywhere and in any way but where and how he has promised. Although he is free to work outside of his covenanted mercies, we are assured of his saving blessings and presence only where he has been promised to us. If we identify the Spirit only with the unexpected and irregular, we will miss most of the times and places where he actually meets us.” —Michael Horton

4 There is one body and one Spirit—just as you were called to the one hope that belongs to your call— 5 one Lord, one faith, one baptism, 6 one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all. 7 But grace was given to each one of us according to the measure of Christ’s gift. (Eph. 4:4-6)

Listen along as we continue our series looking at the person and work of the Holy Spirit.

Notes//Quotes:

1 Cor 12:1-14 -

Ex 31:1-5

Joel 2:28-29,

Ezekiel 36:25-27

Christian faith has been specially advanced through the loving service rendered to strangers, and through their care for the burial of the dead. It is a scandal there is not a single Jew who is a beggar, and that the godless Galileans care not only for their own poor but for ours as well; while those who belong to us look in vain for the help that we should render them - Julian, appx 360ad

They look too much to man's efforts, and know not how the second blessing is nothing more nor less than a new vision of what Christ is willing to work in us, and the surrender of faith that yields all to Him - Andrew Murray

We are commanded to be full, and yet we are not the filler; the Spirit is. The answer to this predicament in the New Testament is that God has ordained to move into our lives with fullness through faith. The pathway that the Spirit cuts through the jungle of our anxieties into the clearing of joy is the pathway of faith. Luke says of Stephen in Acts 6:5, that he was “a man full of faith and of the Holy Spirit,” and he says of Barnabas in Acts 11:24 that he was “a good man full of the Holy Spirit and of faith,” The two go together. If a person is filled with faith, he will be filled with the Spirit, the Spirit of joy and peace. - John Piper

Romans 12:3-10

Eph 4:30

Listen along as we continue our series looking at the person and work of the Holy Spirit.

Notes//Quotes:

Romans 8:12-17 - Jack

“How do we receive those benefits which the Father bestowed on his only-begotten Son—not for Christ's own private use, but that he might enrich poor and needy men?”
- John Calvin

“It is to your advantage that I go away, for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you. But if I go, I will send him to you. 8 And when he comes, he will convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment: (Jn. 16:7&8)

Regeneration: “mighty work of God by which unbelievers are given a new nature, being born again.... It is both (1) the removal of one's old self, and (2) the imparting of a new self that is responsive to God. Unlike conversion, which is the human response to the gospel, regeneration is completely a divine work, to which human beings contribute nothing.”
- Greg Allison

This man came to Jesus by night and said to him, “Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher come from God, for no one can do these signs that you do unless God is with him.” 3 Jesus answered him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.” 4 Nicodemus said to him, “How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother's womb and be born?” 5 Jesus answered, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. 6 That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. 7 Do not marvel that I said to you, ‘You must be born again.’ 8 The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear its sound, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit.”
(John 3:2-8)

“For we ourselves were once foolish, disobedient, led astray, slaves to various passions and pleasures, passing our days in malice and envy, hated by others and hating one another. 4 But when the goodness and loving kindness of God our Savior appeared, 5 he saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit, 6 whom he poured out on us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior, 7 so that being justified by his grace we might become heirs according to the hope of eternal life.”
(Titus 3:3-7)

“To love you as I should, I must worship God as Creator. When I have learnt to love God better than my earthly dearest, I shall love my earthly dearest better than I do now. In so far as I learn to love my earthly dearest at the expense of God and instead of God, I shall be moving towards the state in which I shall not love my earthly dearest at all. When first things are put first, second things are not suppressed but increased.”
― C.S. Lewis, Letters of C. S. Lewis

“You, however, are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if in fact the Spirit of God dwells in you. Anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him. 10 But if Christ is in you, although the body is dead because of sin, the Spirit is life because of righteousness. 11 If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit who dwells in you.”
(Romans 8:9-11)

“Justification is the "mighty act of God by which he declares sinful people not guilty but righteous instead. He does so by imputing, or crediting, the perfect righteousness of Christ to them. Thus, while they are not actually righteous, God views them as being so because of Christ's righteousness." Thus, justification is a forensic act, a legal declaration, consisting of two elements. "The first aspect is the forgiveness of sins, resulting from Christ's substitutionary death (Rom. 3:25; 5:9). The second is imputation, resulting from Christ's obedience that makes people righteous (5:18-29). The New Testament ties justification to the Holy Spirit in one passage, in which an absolute contrast is made between "the unrighteous, [who] will not inherit God's kingdom" (1 Cor 6:9), and believers: "And some of you used to be like this. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God' (6:11).” — Greg Allison

“14 The natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him, and he is not able to understand them because they are spiritually discerned.” (1 Cor. 2:14)

“The Spirit does not enter hearts that prepare him room or sweep the floor and dust before his arrival (an optimistic set of tasks to expect of the dead); rather, he enters, hovers, infuses life, gives faith, and begins immediately to renovate the mansion in which he once breathed merely the natural (i.e., biological) life but now breathes the breath of eschatological—new creation—life.” — Michael Horton

Listen along as we look at week three of our Holy Spirit series.

Luke 4:16-30 - Mike Reading

Aren't you, like me, hoping that some person, thing, or event will come along to give you that final feeling of inner well-being you desire? Don't you often hope: 'Maybe this book, idea, course, trip, job, country or relationship fulfill my deepest desire.' But as long as you are waiting for that mysterious moment you will go on running helter-skelter, always anxious and restless, always lustful and angry, never fully satisfied. You know that this is the compulsiveness that keeps us going and busy, but at the same time makes us wonder whether we are getting anywhere in the long run. This is the way to spiritual exhaustion and burn-out. This is the way to spiritual death. - Henri Nouwen

Stones into Bread
The Fountain thirsts, the Bread is hungry here The Light is dark, the Word without a voice. When darkness speaks it seems so light and clear. Now He must dare, with us, to make a choice. In a distended belly’s cruel curve He feels the famine of the ones who lose He starves for those whom we have forced to starve He chooses now for those who cannot choose. He is the staff and sustenance of life He lives for all from one Sustaining Word His love still breaks and pierces like a knife The stony ground of hearts that never shared, God gives through Him what Satan never could; The broken bread that is our only food.
The Kingdoms of this World
‘So here’s the deal and this is what you get: The penthouse suite with world-commanding views, The banker’s bonus and the private jet Control and ownership of all the news An ‘in’ to that exclusive one percent, Who know the score, who really run the show With interest on every penny lent And sweeteners for cronies in the know. A straight arrangement between me and you No hell below or heaven high above You just admit it, and give me my due And wake up from this foolish dream of love…’ But Jesus laughed, ‘You are not what you seem. Love is the waking life, you are the dream.’
On The Pinnacle
‘Temples and Spires are good for looking down from; You stand above the world on holy heights, Here on the pinnacle, above the maelstrom, Among the few, the true, unearthly lights. Here you can breathe the thin air of perfection And feel your kinship with the lonely star, Above the shadow and the pale reflection, Here you can know for certain who you are. The world is stalled below, but you could move it If they could know you as you are up here, Of course they’ll doubt, but here’s your chance to prove it Angels will bear you up, so have no fear….’ ‘I was not sent to look down from above It’s fear that sets these tests and proofs, not Love.’

John 14:15-17

John 14:25-26

John 16:7-15

“You can have all the right notions in your head without ever tasting in your heart the realities to which they refer; and a simple Bible reader and sermon hearer who is full of the Holy Spirit will develop a far deeper acquaintance with his God and Savior than a more learned scholar who is content with being theologically correct.” JI Packer

Listen along as we continue our series on the Holy Spirit.

Notes//Quotes:

Genesis 1:1-2 - Faith Reading

“The Spirit is not the architect, nor is the framework of the cosmos or of the new creation “in him” as is true of the Word in whom all things hold together (Col 1:17). But he is the builder, carrying with him the plans of the Father and the materials purchased by the Son as he builds the sanctuary according to all that he has received…When we begin with the Spirit’s work in creation, the canvas of his operations widens.”
- Michael Horton

These all look to you,  to give them their food in due season. When you give it to them, they gather it up; when you open your hand, they are filled with good things. When you hide your face, they are dismayed; when you take away their breath, they die  and return to their dust. When you send forth your Spirit, they are created,  and you renew the face of the ground.
- Psalm 104:27-30

“The Spirit of God has made me, and the breath of the Almighty gives me life” - Job 33:4

“The redemptive Spirit is cut off both from bodily life and from the life of nature. It makes people turn away from this world and hope for a better world beyond. They then seek and experience in the Spirit of Christ a power that is different from the divine energy of life which according to Old Testament ideas interpenetrates all the living. The theological textbooks talk about the Holy Spirit in connection with God, faith, the Christian life, the church and prayer, but seldom with the body and nature."
- Jurgen Moltmann

“There is something to the pagan love of nature, even its myths and rituals tied to the changing seasons. However, biblical faith grounds this instinct in a transcendent and triune God who is ever active even in the regularities of nature. What is striking in all of the Old Testament references to creation is the pure naturalness of nature. Nothing in creation is to be worshiped but rather is meant to lead us from the artistry to the Artist.”
- Michael Horton

Listen along as we begin our series on the Holy Spirit.

Notes//Quotes:

Acts 1:6-11 - Josh Reading

We believe that this salvation, attested in all Scripture and secured by Jesus Christ, is applied to his people by the Holy Spirit. Sent by the Father and the Son, the Holy Spirit glorifies the Lord Jesus Christ, and, as the other Paraclete, is present with and in believers. He convicts the world of sin, righteousness, and judgment, and by his powerful and mysterious work regenerates spiritually dead sinners, awakening them to repentance and faith, and in him they are baptized into union with the Lord Jesus, such that they are justified before God by grace alone through faith alone in Jesus Christ alone. By the Spirit’s agency, believers are renewed, sanctified, and adopted into God’s family; they participate in the divine nature and receive his sovereignly distributed gifts. The Holy Spirit is himself the down payment of the promised inheritance, and in this age indwells, guides, instructs, equips, revives, and empowers believers for Christ-like living and service.

We believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, and Giver of life, who proceeds from the Father and the Son, who with the Father and the Son together is worshipped and glorified, who spoke by the prophets.

“The key affirmations are: (1) The Holy Spirit is God, being called "the Lord" and, together with God the Father and God the Son, being the object of worship and adoration. (2) The Holy Spirit is a divine Person, the Third Person of the Trinity, proceeding from both the person of the Father and the person of the Son. (3) Two major works in which the Holy Spirit (without separation from the Father and the Son) is involved are as the "Giver of life" — creation/re-creation/perfection-and as the one who spoke by prophets— revelation-with particular reference to Scripture, the written Word of the triune God.” —Allison & Kostenberger

“The presupposition is that, far too often, we settle for and suffer "parched lives, in need of renewal and refreshment. Tragically, some believers and churches are skeptical about and even afraid of the presence and work of the Spirit. Their mistrust and dread are often due to poor or absent teaching about the Holy Spirit and/or bizarre experiences with extreme forms of Pentecostalism and/or the Charismatic movement. Such suspicion and trepidation, even when properly held, too often result in a suspicion of rightful experiences of the Spirit. Our pneumatology, with its emphasis on a renewing experience of the Spirit, seeks to prompt believers and churches to move beyond cynicism and fear. Indeed, it affirms, "Without the active presence of the Spirit of God there must be a desperate vacuum at the heart of the Christian life” For believers and churches who find themselves on the opposite end of the spectrum, our doctrine of the Holy Spirit cautions them against overly emphasizing the Spirit's "bold" or "miraculous" manifestations but to expect with joy and thanksgiving the Spirit's "mundane" or "normal" works. From a simple prayer like "Spirit, fill me!" as they tumble out of bed in the morning to their daily reading of Scripture, and from their trust in and obedience to th Spirit-breathed Word of God to going about their work as spouses, singles, parents, educators, small business owners, carpenters, farmers, homemakers, and more, they should be renewed by the spirit in the routines of life.” Allison and Kostenberger

Listen along as we wrap up our final gathering of 2024.

Notes//Quotes:

2 Cor 4:7-18

Just as wine cannot keep well in silver or gold vessels, but only in the lowliest of vessels—earthen ones—so words of Torah do not keep well in one who considers himself to be the same as silver or gold vessels, but only in one who considers himself the same as the lowliest of vessels—earthen ones. - Rabbinical Commentary on Torah

The Stoic philosopher—and still more the Cynic—prided himself on his indifference to physical and mental suffering, and would often give a recital of what he had been through in order to demonstrate the power of the philosophy to make one able to rise above such purely external and short-term vicissitudes. - David Garland

“Epictetus believed that difficulties (peristaseis) “show what men are.” What they endured exhibited their true grit and moral constancy. For Paul hardships do not disclose what humans are made of but what God’s power is like” - David Garland

“While other worldviews lead us to sit in the midst of life’s joys, foreseeing the coming sorrows, Christianity empowers its people to sit in the midst of this world’s sorrows, tasting the coming joy. Suffering can refine us rather than destroy us because God himself walks with us in the fire.” - Tim Keller

Listen along as we reflect on the paradox of Advent.

Listen along as we wrap up our series in Philippians.

Notes//Quotes:

Phillipians 4:10-23 - Jack
Title: The Good Life

“For the Stoics, self-sufficiency meant becoming independent from all external circumstances and from material goods. As Seneca expressed it, “The happy man is content with his present lot, no matter what it is, and is reconciled to his circumstances” Through discipline and inner strength, individuals could master their own universe. The Stoics’ aim was to become serenely indifferent to anything fate tossed their way.”
- Dean Fleming

“We are often more frightened than hurt; and we suffer more from imagination than from reality.”
- Seneca

“Two elements must therefore be rooted out once for all, – the fear of future suffering, and the recollection of past suffering; since the latter no longer concerns me, and the former concerns me not yet.”
- Seneca

“The apostle does not seek detachment from life’s circumstances. Instead he has learned to see his hardships as a part of God’s great drama of salvation… Above all, 4:13 reveals that Paul’s contentment comes not from his own inner resources, but from God. Fee puts it well: “[Paul] uses the language—and outwardly assumes the stance—of Stoic ‘self-sufficiency,’ but radically transforms it into Christ-sufficiency. The net result is that Paul and Seneca, while appearing to be close, are a thousand leagues apart”
- Dean Fleming

“Our disciplines don’t address our deepest longings.”
- Ruth Chou Simons

“Christ in me, not me in a set of different circumstances”
- Elisabeth Elliot

Listen along as we continue our journey through Philippians.

Notes//Quotes:

Philippians 4:8-9 - Faith

“Who we are and what we do it is fundamentally a function of what we remember” - Joshua Foer

The next two words are more at home in the world of Hellenism than that of the Bible. This first term appears nowhere else in the NT. Nor does it show up on any list of ancient moral virtues. Its usage embraces both what is “lovely” (i.e., “beautiful”) as well as what is “lovable” or attractive to others. Christians are to reflect on what is beautiful and pleasing, both in creation and in the spiritual lives of God’s people - Dean Flemming

“Thought leads to action, and what we open our minds to quickly becomes our master” - T. Deasley

(Rom 12:1-2)

We must model our relationships on Christ, surround our circumstances by prayer, drill our minds in godly thinking, and subject our life to the Word of God. Do this, ‘and the peace of God, which passes all understanding, will keep your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus … and the God of peace will be with you’. If we ignore the calling we must be prepared to forgo the blessings. - Alec Motyer

Listen along as we continue our journey through the book of Philippians.

Notes//Quotes:

Phillipians 4:4-7 - Kim (Chris F Preaching)

Perhaps ‘graciousness’ is the best English equivalent; and, in the context here, it is to be the spirit of willingness to yield under trial which will show itself in a refusal to retaliate when attacked. It may have seemed an impossible ideal to the Philippians, but the preceding verse is a reminder that such a quality ‘is the outshining of joy in the Lord’...
-Ralph P. Martin, Tyndale New TestamentMM
Phil. 1:27-28:
Only let your manner of life (politeuomai) be worthy of the gospel of Christ, so that whether I come and see you or am absent, I may hear of you that you are standing firm in one spirit, with one mind striving side by side for the faith of the gospel, and not frightened in anything by your opponents...

Phil. 3:20:
But our citizenship (politeuma) is in heaven, and from it we await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ...

1 Tim. 2:1-4:
First of all, then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all people, for kings and all who are in high positions, that we may lead a peaceful and quiet life, godly and dignified in every way. This is good, and it is pleasing in the sight of God our Savior, who desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.

1 Tim. 3:3:
... not a drunkard, not violent but gentle, not quarrelsome, not a lover of money. He must manage his own household well, with all dignity keeping his children submissive...

"The Philippians, living in a garrison town, would be familiar with the sight of the Roman sentry, maintaining his watch. Likewise, comments the apostle, God’s peace will garrison and protect your hearts and your minds."
Ralph Martin

Psalm 8:1-2:
"O LORD, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth! You have set your glory above the heavens. Out of the mouth of babies and infants, you have established strength because of your foes, to still the enemy and the avenger."

Just as babies cannot appeal or persuade by means of articulate speech or rhetorical eloquence, so God’s enemies are defended against by means of those who are totally dependent on God. Their only defense is to cry out to him in trusting prayers, petitions, and protests.

"The Lord only needs an army of praise-wielding infant warriors to “silence” these enemies! Even the kings and rulers of “the earth” (2:2, 10) will be silenced by children praising him whose majestic name fills “the earth”
-Bruce Waltke

Listen along as Mike Gaston teaches through Philippians 4:1-3.

Notes//Quotes:

Phil 4:1-3 - Zyler Slides Philippians 4 Slide 1 Big Idea: Our understanding of beautiful theological truth must be accompanied by healthy personal relationships. An application of powerful theology (v 1) An intervention for healthy relationships (v 2-3) Slide 2 JPEG of Selah Suite wall coming by email Slide 3 For what is our hope or joy or crown of boasting before our Lord Jesus at his coming? Is it not you? For you are our glory and joy. 1 Thessalonians 2:19-20Slide 4 “The Greek word for crown … was commonly used to denote the festive garland, worn as a sign of gladness, or the wreath awarded to the victor of the athletic contest. If the metaphor is to be applied here, it means that the Philippian Christians would be regarded as his ‘reward,’ the seal of his apostleship … at the last day, the triumph of grace would be seen in the perseverance of the saints to the inexpressible joy of their spiritual mentors.”Ralph P. Martin Slide 5 Two pics of Gettysburg, side by side, coming by email Slide 6 “Paul’s willingness to call out two women when he knew the letter would be read to the whole congregation demonstrates the fact that he cared more about the unity of the church than about the church having a superficial, “everything is going to be alright” sentimental warmth. Paul’s most joyful letter expresses his willingness to do the hard work of pursuing unity rather than just papering over problems…Paul tells them to agree in the Lord. And he urges the church to help them. He doesn’t say, “Hey everyone else, stay out of it. It’s none of your business!” He expects the church to be involved in bringing about reconciliation. Why? Because of the gospel. The church is made up of the servants of the Lord. We are servants of Jesus Christ. We should be of the same mind because we love the same God. We believe in the same Jesus. We’re indwelled by the same Spirit.Reconciliation isn’t easy, but pursuing it says something about the power of the gospel. So let’s be Christians who are so steeped in grace that we pursue unity in the church and with other people. Let’s be willing to roll up our sleeves and do the hard work of reconciliation or to get involved and help other people reconcile because we want people to see what it looks like when grace reigns supreme.”Trevin Wax, The Gospel Coalition Slide 7“People know Jesus, not just by what we say, but how we live. The way we serve one another, love one another, bear with one another, rejoice with one another, weep with one another, everything we do with one another is either evidence for or against the reality of the Gospel. In the 3rd Century, Christian Theologian Tertullian recorded how the pagans surrounding the church in North Africa exclaimed, “See how these Christians Love one another!”Love has been, and always will be, the sign of Christian maturity and evidence of the Gospel. Andrew McClure Slide 8 Big Idea: Our understanding of beautiful theological truth must be accompanied by healthy personal relationships.

Listen along as we continue our series through Philippians.

Notes//Quotes:

Phil 3:12-21 Gospel Shaped Goals “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. 25 For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it. 26 For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul? Or what shall a man give in return for his soul?” (Matthew 16:24-26) “Most of our society is constantly urging us to be aware of what we are, and what we have achieved, and what we have done, and so on. But maturity in Christian living has actually as its beginning an awareness of what I’m not. Christian maturity is not exemplified by high-sounding talk, but in a life of humble, steady consistency. It is a sign of immaturity to “think of [ourselves] more highly than [we] ought.” Maturity rejects exaggerated claims. Maturity is marked instead by a sane estimate of our spiritual progress.” —Alistair Begg For Paul, and for us, the prize that beckons us forward “is not something—it is Someone” (Welch 1988, 109). The full knowledge of Christ—this is the prize that awaits us at the end of the race.Unlike many popular notions of the future today, Paul did not conceive of the goal of his journey as something literal and tangible, such as simply “getting to heaven” or “walking on streets of gold” or “wearing a crown.” Nor was his hope focused on the chance to be reunited with departed loved ones, as sincere as such longings may be. For Paul, living meant Christ (1:21). Knowing Christ and becoming like him was both his present passion and his supreme goal for the future.The goal motivates the journey. If our purpose is merely “making it to heaven,” we might be tempted to rest on our past laurels and passively coast along until we finally receive our reward. Even worse, eternity might become “nothing more than a selfish pursuit born of a fear of death or hell” (Walton 2001, 469). But when the fullness of Christ is the prize ahead, then the journey is earmarked by a deepening desire for communion with God.” — Dean Fleming “Let us choose … men who teach us by their lives, men who teach us what we ought to do and then prove it by their practice, who show us what we should avoid, and then are never caught doing that which they have ordered us to avoid. Choose as a guide one whom you will admire more when you see him act than when you hear him speak.” —Seneca

Listen along as we continue our series through the book of Philippians.

Notes//Quotes:

Phil 3:1-11

Acts 15:1

The key passage is Genesis 17, and the important point can be simply expressed. The covenant is God’s promise. He goes on oath in certain specific matters. Abram is the recipient of the promise which is first personal: Abram becomes Abraham (verse 5), a vivid promise of regeneration or a new nature, for with the new name there is created a new man. Secondly, the promise is national, a multitude of nations (verses 5b–6). Thirdly, it is spiritual, ‘to be God to you and to your descendants after you’ (verse 7). Fourthly, it is territorial, the ‘land of your sojournings’ (verse 8); and finally, by way of emphasizing the most important point, spiritual again, ‘and I will be their God’ (verse 8). Circumcision symbolizes the application of the covenant promises to those individuals whom God has chosen to receive them. This came to be seen as the essential heart of the covenant promise and the most quoted verse in the Bible: ‘You shall be my people, and I will be your God.’ Paul, the Philippians, the whole company of Christian believers down the years—we are the chosen people of God, individually born again, individually and collectively heirs of the Lord’s purposes of grace. It is as though Paul said: We may be sure that God has set his personal seal of choice and ownership upon us, for we are the circumcision- Alec Motyer

Eph 2:11-16,
Gal 3:26-29

“I consider them rubbish is too weak a translation for the shocking word Paul uses (skybala). Found only here in the New Testament, skybala could refer to refuse, stinking and decaying food, or even human excrement. It carries the idea of something that is only fit to be thrown out because it is so disgusting. As a result, filth or the coarse colloquial term “crap” better captures the detestable quality expressed in this term. Paul could hardly have stated his revulsion toward his former sources of pride and self-righteousness more emphatically - Dean Flemming

"Christians who are no longer sure that God loves and accepts them in Jesus, apart from their present spiritual achievements, are subconsciously, radically insecure persons. We must first make real to them the grace of God accepting them daily, not because of their spirituality or their achievements in Christian service, but because God has accounted to them the perfect righteousness of Christ.” Richard Lovelace

Matthew 7:24-27

Listen along as we continue our series through the book of Philippians.

Notes//Quotes:

Philippians 2:19-30

1 Cor 12:21-26

“The Christian community demonstrates the effectiveness of the gospel. We are the living proof that the gospel is not an empty word but a powerful word that takes men and women who are lovers of self and transforms them by grace through the Spirit into people who love God and others. We are the living proof that the death of Jesus was not just a vain expression of God’s love but an effective death that achieved the salvation of a people who now love one another sincerely from a pure heart” - Tim Chester

1 Peter 2:9-10

John20:21)

“The Swiss psychologist Elisabeth Kübler-Ross once wrote,
"Beautiful people do not just happen." Do you know any of these beautiful people? People who shine with an inner luminescence, who radiate a kind of moral beauty? These kinds of people don't
"just happen" by accident; they are formed, or forged, often in the fire of suffering and pain, over a long period of time, into people of love.” - John Mark Comer

Almost anything in life that truly matters will require you to do small, mostly overlooked things, over a long period of time with him - Eswine

Listen along as we continue our journey through Philippians.

Notes//Quotes:

Philippians 2:12-18 - Kim
Working It Out

“The doctrine of justification concerns God’s gracious judicial verdict in advance of the day of judgment, pronouncing guilty sinners, who turn in self-despairing trust to Jesus Christ, forgiven, acquitted of all charges and declared morally upright in God’s sight.”
- Philip Eveson

Ephesians 2:8&9:
8 For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, 9 not a result of works, so that no one may boast.”

“While the language of sanctification in theological terminology has focused on the progressive aspect of growing holiness in the Christian life, the Bible uses the term sanctification to point towards the status as consecrated and holy that we have in Christ through our union with him.”
- Fred Zaspel

“Just as God assessed and then reacted to the worth of his Son’s life of obedience (verses 9–11), so the Christian must ponder the example of Christ and determine upon a worthy response (verses 12–18).”
- Alec Motyer

Romans 11:33:
“Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments and how inscrutable his ways!”

“If we are to follow Christ, we must continue to call on the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. We must continue to receive God’s grace. We must continue to manifest the fruit of the Spirit. We must continue to be filled with the Holy Spirit. We must continue to come before God in prayer. We must continue not to reject the assembling of ourselves for worship, but we must continue to gather for worship, so that, in all of these things, we are doing just exactly what we are called to do…It means that when we pray the Lord’s Prayer, and it says, “Forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors,”that we actually do forgive our debtors. It means that when we are called to be witnesses, that we actually witness. It means that all of the benefits which have been made available to us are being utilized, and all of the responsibilities and challenges to which we are being called are being assumed.” —Alistair Begg

Numbers 11:11-15:
11 Moses said to the Lord, “Why have you dealt ill with your servant? And why have I not found favor in your sight, that you lay the burden of all this people on me? 12 Did I conceive all this people? Did I give them birth, that you should say to me, ‘Carry them in your bosom, as a nurse carries a nursing child,’ to the land that you swore to give their fathers? 13 Where am I to get meat to give to all this people? For they weep before me and say, ‘Give us meat, that we may eat.’ 14 I am not able to carry all this people alone; the burden is too heavy for me. 15 If you will treat me like this, kill me at once, if I find favor in your sight, that I may not see my wretchedness.”

“How can you come to grips with someone giving himself utterly for you, without you giving yourself utterly to him?”
— Timothy Keller

Listen along as we continue our time in the letter of Philippians.

Notes//Quotes:

Philippians 2:1-11

When salvation has taken place in the life of someone under the sovereign hand of God, they are set free from the penalty of sin and its power. In a body without the Spirit, sin is an unshakable king under whose dominion no man can flee. The entire body, with its members, affections, and mind all willfully submit themselves to sin’s rule. But when the Spirit of God takes back the body that He created for Himself, He sets it free from the pathetic master that once held it captive and releases it into the marvelous light of its Savior. It is then able to not only want God, but it is actually able to obey God. And isn’t that what freedom is supposed to be? The ability to not do as I please, but the power to do what is pleasing. Jackie Hill Perry

Romans 12:9-10 -

Gospel doctrine - gospel culture = Hypocrisy
Gospel culture - gospel doctrine = fragility
Gospel doctrine + gospel culture = power
Ray Ortlund

Romans 8:31-32,

2 Peter 1:3-4

“It follows, then, that we cannot start with a definition of God and try to fit Jesus into it. We must look first to Jesus himself, who reveals to us the identity of God. If we want to know what God is like … God is like Jesus" Dean Flemming

What greater mercy is there than this, which caused to descend from heaven the maker of heaven; which reclothed with an earthly body the one who formed the earth; which made equal to us the one who, from eternity, is the equal of the Father; which imposed “the form of a servant” on the Master of the world—such that the Bread itself was hungry, Fullness itself was thirsty, Power itself was made weak, Health itself was wounded, and Life itself was mortal? And that so that our hunger would be satisfied, so that our dryness would be watered, our weakness supported, our love ignited. What greater mercy than that which presents to us the Creator created; the Master made a slave; the Redeemer sold; the One who exalts, humbled; the One who raises the dead, killed? - Augustine

The present passage uniquely unfolds the cross as seen through the eyes of the Crucified, and allows us to enter into the mind of Christ. We tread, therefore, on very holy ground indeed. We do well to remember that this privilege is given to us not to satisfy our curiosity but to reform our lives - Alec Motyer

Listen along as we continue through Philippians.

Notes//Quotes:

Philippians 1:19-30

An important clue is that Paul’s words, "this will turn out for my salvation," are an exact quotation of Job 13:16 in the Greek Bible. Here Paul’s unmarked quotation evokes clear analogies between the apostle’s present situation and the former plight of Job. In Job 13, Job defends himself against the accusatory arrows of his pious “comforters.” The charge is that his suffering is the direct result of harboring some secret sin. In response, Job pleads his innocence, declaring that ultimately he will be vindicated by God (Job 13:16, 18). Similarly, Paul, in the face of afflictions and the attacks of rival preachers, looks forward to vindication before God in the end. - Dean Flemming

James 4:13-15

“If the biblical story is true, the kind of certainty proper to a human being will be one which rests on the fidelity of God, not upon the competence of the human knower. It will be a kind of certainty which is inseparable from gratitude and trust.” - Lesslie Newbigin

If you are a Christian, you are not a citizen of this world trying to get to heaven; you are a citizen of heaven making your way through this world. - Vance Havner

Listen along as we continue our journey through the book of Philippians.

Notes//Quotes:

Philippians 1:12-18 - Kim The Sweet Sovereignty of God “Rather than detail the hardships he faced, Paul took a divine perspective.” — Richard Malick “Paul has a definition of life that enables him to face anything. In this passage he is teaching that its not the circumstances of your life, its not whether things go well for you or go ill for you. It’s not the circumstances of your life but the way you define life that will determine whether you stand or fall in this world.” — Timothy Keller “And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.” (Romans 8:28) Because Romans 8:28 exists, those who love God and are loved by him can have confidence that he is working through all of life’s circumstances to bring good out of bad, light out of darkness, joy out of sorrow. It’s not that God is especially agile, a kind of cosmic PR man adept at manipulating circumstances, but rather that he is the Planner, the Engineer, the Designer who has ordained the means just as much as the end. He ordains the calm and the storm, the darkness and the dawn, the famine and the feast. This being the case, no event is meaningless, no situation purposeless, no condition ultimately hopeless. God is working out his good will not despite dark days, difficult trials, and broken hearts, but through them. Such circumstances are the raw material he uses to form and shape his good plans, his perfect purposes. God’s specialty is not bringing good from good, but good from bad and Romans 8:28 gently tells me that if I trust him through my tears, he will give me reason to laugh; if I trust him through my pain, he will teach me to praise; if I trust him through my grief, he will afterwards show me all the good that came with it and through it. He will show me the precious flowers in the dry desert, the beautiful blooms against the sharp thorns, the gentle petals beneath the vicious skies. For behind every black cloud is a yellow sun, behind every dark night a bright day, behind every frowning providence a smiling face—the smiling face of the God who works all things for good for those who love him and are called according to his purpose. —Tim Challies “God is too good to be unkind and He is too wise to be mistaken. And when we cannot trace His hand, we must trust His heart.” — Charles Haddon Spurgeon

Listen along as we continue our series through Philippians.

Notes//Quotes:

Philippians 1:3-11 - Karen

Every other ethical system calls us to the costly effort of becoming what we are not. But in the full salvation already bequeathed to us in Christ, the new nature is already ours, waiting for expression, poised for growth, until its potential is triggered by our obedience to the word of God - Alec Motyer

“A striking feature of this verse is the way that Paul stacks up the words for all and always. The rhetorical impact is strengthened by Paul’s use of alliteration (each word begins with the letter p) and by a play on words with similar sounds (pasē … pantote … pasē … pantōn). This serves to spotlight “the all-inclusiveness of his prayer … None of the Philippians Christians for any reasons whatever was excluded from the apostles’ love and concern” - Dean Flemming

“I coined the word 'eucatastrophe': the sudden happy turn in a story which pierces you with a joy that brings tears which I argued it is the highest function of fairy-stories to produce.The Resurrection is the greatest 'eucatastrophe' possible in the greatest Fairy Story – and produces that essential emotion: Christian joy which produces tears because it is qualitatively so like sorrow, because it comes from those places where Joy and Sorrow are at one, reconciled.” JRR Tolkien

“Paul’s confidence is not in the Christianity of the Christians, but in the God-ness of God, who is supremely trustworthy, able, and committed to finish the work he has begun” Markus Bockmuel

“God is always good and I am always loved. Everything is eucharisteo.” Ann Voskamp

Acts 16:11-15

“We are not to reflect on the wickedness of men but to look to the image of God in them, an image which, covering and obliterating their faults, an image which, by its beauty and dignity, should allure us to love and embrace them.” - John Calvin

“We must understand that God does not "love" us without liking us - through gritted teeth - as "Christian" love is sometimes thought to do. Rather, out of the eternal freshness of his perpetually self-renewed being, the heavenly Father cherishes the earth and each human being upon it. The fondness, the endearment, the unstintingly affectionate regard of God toward all his creatures is the natural outflow of what he is to the core - which we vainly try to capture with our tired but indispensable old word “love” - Dallas Willard

“The word affection (splanchna) originally referred to the inner organs (heart, liver, lungs), which were seen as the seat of human emotions. In the Gospels, it expresses Jesus’ heartfelt compassion toward others. Here Paul says that he loves his dear friends in Philippi with the same affection that Christ has for them. At the same time, Christ loves the Philippians through Paul. This testifies to a “three-way bond” of love between Paul, the Philippians, and Christ” - Dean Flemming

What God desires from us, he graciously forms in us as we grow in our love for him. Ruth Chou Simmons

Listen along as we begin our time in the book of Philippians.

Notes//Quotes:

Linda - Philippians 1:1-2 “How is leadership to be exercised? What is the relationship between leaders and led? The one word with provides the answer: ‘… the saints’, writes Paul, ‘… with the bishops and deacons.’ The strong natural leader chooses the easy path of being out front, taking it for granted that all will follow; the low-profile leader ‘plays it cool’, submerges his own identity and takes the risk that the tail will soon wag the dog. The more demanding exercise, the sterner discipline and the more rewarding way are found in companionate leadership, the saints with the overseers and deacons.This kind of leadership has many facets. It involves realizing that leader and led share the same Christian experience: both are sinners saved by the same precious blood, always and without distinction wholly dependent on the same patient mercy of God. It involves putting first whatever creates and maintains the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. It means that leaders see themselves first as members of the body, and only then as ministers. In this way they face every situation from within the local body of Christ and not as people dropped in from outside (or even from above!). It involves patiently waiting for the Holy Spirit to grant unanimity to the church in making and executing plans. It involves open relationships in which the leaders do not scheme to get their own way or play off one against another, but act with transparent integrity. It involves willingness to be overruled, to jettison role-playing and status-seeking, to be ready to cast a single vote with everyone else. It involves putting the welfare of the body of Christ before all personal advantage, success or reputation and it involves co-equal sacrifice for the Lord and his gospel. It is the leadership of those who are content to stand among the saints as those who serve.”- Alec Motyer Philippians 2:5–11 “Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, 6 who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, 7 but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. 8 And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. 9 Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, 10 so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, 11 and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.”

Listen in as we wrap up our series through the book of Hebrews.

Notes//Quotes:

Hebrews 13:20-25

“The author wants believers to live out God’s will in light of the work of Christ.” - George Guthrie

Here is the sea, great and wide,  which teems with creatures innumerable,  living things both small and great. There go the ships,  and Leviathan, which you formed to play in it. These all look to you,  to give them their food in due season. When you give it to them, they gather it up;  when you open your hand, they are filled with good things. When you hide your face, they are dismayed;  when you take away their breath, they die  and return to their dust. (Ps. 104:25-29)

Food comes at proper seasons (verse 27) and is gathered (verse 28) yet through all it is God who is giving us food (verse 27). The great sea creatures “frolic” and leap in the air (verse 26) and the swallows perform Ariel acrobatics. While those activities may also have practical purposes, in some deeper sense, these creatures know the joy and freedom of doing what they were “formed" to do by God. We too, can know joy and fulfillment only as we live, according to God's design. At this point, nature has us beat. As Elizabeth Elliot has said, "a clam glorifies God better than we do, because the clam is being everything it was created to be, whereas we are not.”
Prayer: Lord, disobeying you is easy in the short run but hard in the long run because I'm violating my own nature. And so obedience to you can be excruciating to start, but it's wonderful in time, because I become my true self. Oh, help me to remember this when things get hard! Amen. —Timothy Keller with Kathy Keller, The Songs of Jesus

Listen along as we near the close of the book of Hebrews.

Notes//Quotes:

Hebrews 13:1-19

In friendship, we think we have chosen our peers. In reality a few years' difference in the dates of our births, a few more miles between certain houses, the choice of one university instead of another...the accident of a topic being raised or not raised at a first meeting--any of these chances might have kept us apart. But, for a Christian, there are, strictly speaking no chances. A secret master of ceremonies has been at work. Christ, who said to the disciples, "Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you," can truly say to every group of Christian friends, "Ye have not chosen one another but I have chosen you for one another." The friendship is not a reward for our discriminating and good taste in finding one another out. It is the instrument by which God reveals to each of us the beauties of others. - CS Lewis

“Radically ordinary hospitality is this: using your Christian home in a daily way that seeks to make strangers neighbors, and neighbors family of God.” - Rosaria Butterfield

”In any relationship, there will be frightening spells in which your feelings of love dry up. And when that happens you must remember that the essence of marriage is that it is a covenant, a commitment, a promise of future love. So what do you do? You do the acts of love, despite your lack of feeling. You may not feel tender, sympathetic, and eager to please, but in your actions you must BE tender, understanding, forgiving and helpful. And, if you do that, as time goes on you will not only get through the dry spells, but they will become less frequent and deep, and you will become more constant in your feelings. This is what can happen if you decide to love." Tim Keller

“Church membership, in other words, is not about “additional requirements.” It’s about a church taking specific responsibility for a Christian, and a Christian for a church. It’s about “putting on,” “embodying,” “living out,” and “making concrete” our membership in Christ’s universal body.” - Jonathan Leeman
“The Christian ideal has not been tried and found wanting. It has been found difficult; and left untried.” - GK Chesterton

Listen along as we continue our journey through the book of Hebrews.

Notes//Quotes:

“Although the author of Hebrews never mentions Sinai by name, he clearly has that mountain in view in his poetic comments in these verses. He draws his depiction of the desert wanderers’ encounter of God at Mount Sinai from the books of Exodus and Deuteronomy (e.g., Ex. 19:16–22; 20:18–21; Deut. 4:11–12; 5:23–27). In the Sinai encounter they came near to God in a solemn assembly to covenant with him (Deut. 4:10–14). But the experience was terrifying.”
- George Guthrie

Exodus 19:12: “And you shall set limits for the people all around, saying, ‘Take care not to go up into the mountain or touch the edge of it. Whoever touches the mountain shall be put to death.”

Exodus 19:23: “Moses said to the Lord, “The people cannot come up Mount Sinai, because you yourself warned us, ‘Put limits around the mountain and set it apart as holy.’”

“"Who shall not fear thee, O Lord, and glorify Thy name? for thou only art holy" (Rev. 15:4). He only is independently, infinitely, immutably holy. In Scripture, He is frequently styled "The Holy One." He is so because the sum of all moral excellency is found in Him. He is absolute purity, unsullied even by the shadow of sin. "God is light, and in him is no darkness at all" (1 John 1:5). Holiness is the very excellency of the divine nature; the great God is "glorious in holiness" (Ex. 15:11). Therefore we read, "Thou art of purer eyes than to behold evil, and canst not look on iniquity" (Hab. 1:13). As God’s power is the opposite of the native weakness of the creature, as His wisdom is in complete contrast from the least defect of understanding or folly, so His holiness is the very antithesis of all moral blemish or defilement.”
- A.W. Pink

“Every aspect of the vision provides encouragement for coming boldly into the presence of God (cf. 4:16). The atmosphere at Mount Zion is festive. The frightening visual imagery of blazing fire, darkness, and gloom fades before the reality of the city of the living God, heavenly Jerusalem. The cacophony of whirlwind, trumpet blast, and a sound of words is muted and replaced by the joyful praise of angels in a festal gathering. The trembling congregation of Israel, gathered solemnly at the base of the mountain, is superseded by the assembly of those whose names are permanently inscribed in the heavenly archives. An overwhelming impression of the unapproachability of God is eclipsed in the experience of full access to the presence of God and of Jesus, the mediator of the new covenant.”
- William Lane

Listen along as we continue our series through Hebrews.

Notes//Quotes:

Hebrews 12:1-17

“It is not so much they who look at us as we who look to them—for encouragement.” - FF Bruce

“In this all-out match against sin, others have suffered far worse than you, to say nothing of what Jesus went through—all that bloodshed! So don’t feel sorry for yourselves. Or have you forgotten how good parents treat children, and that God regards you as his children?” - The Message

“When God wants to drill a man, and thrill a man, and skill a man,
When God wants to mold a man to play the noblest part;
When He yearns with all His heart to create so great and bold a man
That all the world shall be amazed,
Watch His methods, watch His ways!
How He ruthlessly perfects whom He royally elects!
How He hammers him and hurts him, and with mighty blows converts him
Into trial shapes of clay which Only God understands;
While his tortured heart is crying and he lifts beseeching hands!
How He bends but never breaks when his good He undertakes;
How He uses whom He chooses, and with very purpose fuses him;
By every act induces him To try His splendor out—
God knows what He’s about.”

The theme of endurance works as the thread binding 12:1–17 together. In each use of figurative or illustrative material—a race, parental discipline, the foolish Esau—difficult experiences and the struggle of Christian perseverance form the backdrop. The image of the race and that of loving, parental discipline also reveal God as a great redeemer of pain and, therefore, as the God of hope for believers who find themselves in painful circumstances. - George Guthrie

“surely from this period of ten months this is the lesson: never give in, never give in, never, never, never, never-in nothing, great or small, large or petty — never give in except to convictions of honour and good sense. Never yield to force; never yield to the apparently overwhelming might of the enemy. We stood all alone a year ago, and to many countries it seemed that our account was closed, we were finished. Do not let us speak of darker days: let us speak rather of sterner days. These are not dark days; these are great days — the greatest days our country has ever lived; and we must all thank God that we have been allowed, each of us according to our stations, to play a part in making these days memorable in the history of our race.” - Winston Churchill

Listen along as we continue our series through the book of Hebrews.

Notes//Quotes:

Hebrews 11:32-40 -Faith reading Roll Call Part 4 Slides Roll Call Part 4 Slide 1 Big IdeaWhether we clearly win or appear to lose, we’re all called to a life of faith. 1) The obvious winners 2) The apparent losers 3) The surprising inclusion Slide 2 “Notably, most of the individuals mentioned fell into significant sin. Gideon led the people into idolatry at the end of his life (Judges 8:22-28). Barak doubted that the Lord would give him victory over the Canaanite king Jabin (Judges 4:1–9). Samson visited prostitutes and gave the secret of his strength to Delilah (Judges 16:1–22). David committed adultery and had Uriah killed (2 Sam. 11). This sin brought suffering and made the lives of these individuals and their families harder than they needed to be. Nevertheless, Hebrews 11 remembers them for their faith, reminding us that true faith can be exercised by sinners. This encourages us as well. We dare not take the Lord’s grace for granted, but we also should not despair that God overlooks true faith in His sinful people. John Calvin comments, “In all the saints, something reprehensible is ever to be found; yet faith, though halting and imperfect, is still approved by God.Ligonier.org Slide 3 Defeatory – A defeat that leads to a victory Slide 4 “Some were tortured, refusing to accept release, so that they might rise again to a better life. Others suffered mocking and flogging, and even chains and imprisonment. They were stoned, they were sawn in two, they were killed with the sword. They went about in skins of sheep and goats, destitute, afflicted, mistreated— of whom the world was not worthy —wandering about in deserts and mountains, and in dens and caves of the earth.” Hebrews 11:35-38 Slide 5 “Those on the second half of the list were just as much people of faith as those on the first half! In fact, you could argue that they had greater faith, because it’s not as easy to trust God when you’re being scourged, stoned, or sawn in two as it is when you’re seeing foreign armies put to flight and the dead raised to life. While all of us, if we could, would sign up to be in the first group, we need to recognize that sometimes God is pleased to withhold spectacular results and bless us instead with His grace as our sufficiency in overwhelming trials.” Steven J Cole Slide 6 See JPEG sent separately under Files and by email to Jon Slide 7 You don't answer all my questionsBut You hear me when I speakYou don't keep my heart from breakin'But when it does, You weep with meYou're so close that I can feel YouWhen I've lost the words to prayAnd though my eyes have never seen YouI've seen enough to say I know that You are goodI know that You are kindI know that You are so much moreThan what I leave behindI know that I am lovedI know that I am safe'Cause even in the fire to live is Christ, to die is gainI know that You are good Big Daddy Weave Slide 8 And all these, though commended through their faith, did not receive what was promised, since God had provided something better for us, that apart from us they should not be made perfect.Hebrews 11:39-40 Slide 9 “Here, however, it ("made perfect") is used in the corporate sense with the idea of completeness. No part of the true Christian community can be complete without the rest. There is a strong element of solidarity behind this idea … which is also evident in some of the New Testament metaphors for the church, like body or building.” Donald Guthrie Slide 10 ““’Us’ means us Christians; we who are Christ’s have our place in God’s plan. And that plan provides that the heroes of the faith throughout the ages should not ‘be made perfect’ apart from Christians… Only the work of Christ brings those of OT times and those of the new and living way alike into the presence of God.” Leon Morris Slide 11 Concerning this salvation, the prophets who prophesied about the grace that was to be yours searched and inquired carefully, inquiring what person or time the Spirit of Christ in them was indicating when he predicted the sufferings of Christ and the subsequent glories. It was revealed to them that they were serving not themselves but you, in the things that have now been announced to you through those who preached the good news to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven, things into which angels long to look. 1 Peter 1:10-12 Slide 12 Big IdeaWhether we clearly win or appear to lose, we’re all called to a life of faith.

Listen along as we continue our journey through the hall of faith.

Notes//Quotes:

“Faith is not something passive, not something private, not an esoteric interest kept in a corner, brought down, as it were, to be put on display every so often, but actual biblical faith, a decisive decision, and a sustained attitude. Beginning as a man or a woman gives up all dependence upon himself or herself in order to trust in living God.” —Alistair Begg

“You’re only as durable as the thing you love most. If I love something most that can never pass away….I will never pass away. If I can love something most that will lasts forever…I will last forever. But if I love anything that’s vulnerable…then I’m vulnerable.” —Timothy Keller

Every person is goal oriented.
All goals compete. You can’t live unless you choose one goal as the center of value by which all other goals are judged. One bottom line.
“If you choose a finite center of value, you’re always anxious.”
— Thomas Oden

“It might have seemed strange, that Moses should set a few drops of blood, as a remedy, in opposition to God’s vengeance; but being satisfied with God’s word alone, that the people would be exempt from the scourge that was coming on the Egyptians, he did not hesitate.” —John Calvin

10 “When Pharaoh drew near, the people of Israel lifted up their eyes, and behold, the Egyptians were marching after them, and they feared greatly. And the people of Israel cried out to the Lord. 11 They said to Moses, “Is it because there are no graves in Egypt that you have taken us away to die in the wilderness? What have you done to us in bringing us out of Egypt? 12 Is not this what we said to you in Egypt: ‘Leave us alone that we may serve the Egyptians’? For it would have been better for us to serve the Egyptians than to die in the wilderness.” (Exodus 14:10-12)

“You see, we don’t have to worry about how he’s gonna part the sea. We just have to worry about whether we’re prepared to stand with the staff stretched out over the water. And some of us never have the joy of standing, as it were, and seeing the deliverance of God because we’re so worried about how God is gonna manage to take care of it. God says, “Don’t worry about that. I’ll take care of it. You just do what I told you.” “By faith.” By faith! Nothing but persevering faith could enable Moses to do what he did, and then in turn the people to follow him as they did.”—Alistair Begg

1 God moves in a mysterious way
His wonders to perform;
He plants His footsteps in the sea
and rides upon the storm.

2 Deep in unfathomable mines
of never-failing skill;
He treasures up His bright designs,
and works His sov'reign will.

3 Ye fearful saints, fresh courage take;
the clouds ye so much dread
are big with mercy and shall break
in blessings on your head.

4 Judge not the Lord by feeble sense,
but trust Him for His grace;
behind a frowning providence
He hides a smiling face.

5 His purposes will ripen fast,
unfolding every hour;
the bud may have a bitter taste,
but sweet will be the flow’r.

6 Blind unbelief is sure to err,
and scan His work in vain;
God is His own interpreter,
and He will make it plain.

Source: Psalms and Hymns to the Living God #412 by William Cowper

Listen along as we continue through the book of Hebrews.

Listen along as we continue our time through the book of Hebrews.

Notes//Quotes:

Hebrews 11:4-16 - Josh

“11 For this is the message that you have heard from the beginning, that we should love one another. 12 We should not be like Cain, who was of the evil one and murdered his brother. And why did he murder him? Because his own deeds were evil and his brother's righteous. 13 Do not be surprised, brothers, that the world hates you. 14 We know that we have passed out of death into life, because we love the brothers. Whoever does not love abides in death. 15 Everyone who hates his brother is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life abiding in him.”
— 1 John 3:11-15 (ESV)

“it was what Abel believed, not what he brought, that made the difference.” —Hebrews 11:4 (MSG)

“13 But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ. 14 For he himself is our peace, who has made us both one and has broken down in his flesh the dividing wall of hostility…” — Ephesians 2:13 & 14 (ESV)

“It’s like we’re reversing the negative effects of Adam and Eve’s fall and fulfilling our deep desire to be accepted. By making peace with God every day, we move away from feeling alone and towards a peaceful relationship with Him.” - Timothy Keller

“Noah, was the first to act in faith based on a message from God. Noah acted on the divine warning in regard to a flood that was not yet seen and did so “in holy fear” (a form of the verb eulabeomai, meaning that he paid close and reverent attention to God’s instruction). Accordingly, Noah built an ark to save his family and, correspondingly, condemned the world. His building of the ark both bore witness to the unseen God and his Word and constituted a stark, prophetic rebuke to that godless generation. Their unbelief stands in bold relief to Noah’s faith stance toward God. As one who lived by faith, or confident boldness, with regard to God’s Word, he became an heir of righteousness.”
- George Guthrie

“privilege and duty are inseparably connected, yet duty will never be performed where faith is absent.”
- A.W. Pink

“13 These all died in faith, not having received the things promised, but having seen them and greeted them from afar, and having acknowledged that they were strangers and exiles on the earth. 14 For people who speak thus make it clear that they are seeking a homeland. 15 If they had been thinking of that land from which they had gone out, they would have had opportunity to return. 16 But as it is, they desire a better country, that is, a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared for them a city.”
- Hebrews 11:13-16 (ESV)

Listen along as we begin Hebrews 11.

Notes//Quotes:

Hebrews 11:1-3

Faith is confidence that results in action carried out in a variety of situations by ordinary people in response to the unseen God and his promises, with various earthly outcomes but always the ultimate outcome of God’s commendation and reward. - George Guthrie

“A man lives by believing something, not by debating and arguing about many things.” - Thomas Carlyle

“God does not expect us to submit our faith to him without reason, but the very limits of our reason make faith a necessity.” Augustine

“A faith without some doubts is like a human body with no antobodies in it. People who blithely go through life too busy or indifferent to ask the hard questions about why they believe as they do will find themselves defenseless against either the experience of tragedy or the probing questions of a smart skeptic. A person's faith can collapse almost overnight if they failed over the years to listen patiently to her own doubts, which should only be discarded after long reflection.” - Tim Keller

Faith is not a distant view but a warm embrace of Christ. - Calvin

2 Peter 1:3-11

Luke 17:5-6 -

“If you’re falling off a cliff, strong faith in a weak branch is fatally inferior to weak faith in a strong branch. Salvation is not finally based on the strength of your faith, but on the object of your faith.” Tim Keller

Matthew 18:2-5

Faith and works should travel side by side, step answering to step, like the legs of men walking. First faith, and then works; and then faith again, and then works again -- until they can scarcely distinguish which is the one and which is the other. - William Boothe

Listen along as Anthony continues our journey through Hebrews.

Notes//Quotes:

Hebrews 10:19-39 - Jack A
Title: Beyond The Forrest

19 Therefore, (in other words, if all of this is true) brothers, since we have confidence to enter the holy places by the blood of Jesus, 20 by the new and living way that he opened for us through the curtain, that is, through his flesh, 21 and since we have a great priest over the house of God, 22 let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water. 23 Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised is faithful. - Hebrews 10:19-23

24 And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, 25 not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near. - Hebrews 10:24&25

“In the body of Christ, we are looking to relate to each other in such a way that—it prompts us to live out the dynamics of love and good works in the community.”
- Donald Guthrie

31 Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice. 32 Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you.
- Ephesians 4:31&32

“The person who loves their dream of community will destroy community, but the person who loves those around them will create community.”
- Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Life Together

26 For if we go on sinning deliberately after receiving the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, 27 but a fearful expectation of judgment, and a fury of fire that will consume the adversaries. 28 Anyone who has set aside the law of Moses dies without mercy on the evidence of two or three witnesses. 29 How much worse punishment, do you think, will be deserved by the one who has trampled underfoot the Son of God, and has profaned the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified, and has outraged the Spirit of grace? 30 For we know him who said, “Vengeance is mine; I will repay.” And again, “The Lord will judge his people.” 31 It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God. - Hebrews 10:26-31

“For by a single offering he has perfected for all time those who are being sanctified.” - Hebrews 10:14

“There is more mercy in Christ than sin in us”
- Richard Sibbes

32 But recall the former days when, after you were enlightened, you endured a hard struggle with sufferings, 33 sometimes being publicly exposed to reproach and affliction, and sometimes being partners with those so treated. 34 For you had compassion on those in prison, and you joyfully accepted the plundering of your property, since you knew that you yourselves had a better possession and an abiding one. 35 Therefore do not throw away your confidence, which has a great reward. 36 For you have need of endurance, so that when you have done the will of God you may receive what is promised.
- Hebrews 10:32-36

Listen along as we continue our series through the book of Hebrews.

Notes//Quotes:

Hebrews 10:1-18 - Mike

Hebrews 10:1-18

We should weep; for God has given us the freedom, the forgiveness, the life, which we could not win for ourselves. Our tears are not tears of separation but tears of homecoming; not tears of death but tears of life; not tears of a past but tears falling on a bedrock of hope for the future. Our sins have been taken away and we, through the accomplishment of another, have been brought to the Father and incorporated into his family forever. This is the gospel. George Guthrie

(The secular assumption is that) morality is relative—there are no absolutes. In such a worldview, confession and forgiveness are always something of a sham: Who is to say what a sin is? Why should I feel guilty for something I want to do? Who are you to declare whether I am forgiven or not? - Tim Keller

“Forgiveness is not so much a word spoken, an action performed, or a feeling felt as it is an embodied way of life in an ever-deepening friendship with the Triune God and with others. As such, a Christian account of forgiveness ought not simply or even primarily be focused on the absolution of guilt; rather, it ought to be focused on the reconciliation of brokenness, the restoration of communion—with God, with one another, and with the whole creation.” - L. Gregory Jones

Listen along as we continue our journey through the book of Hebrews.

Notes//Quotes:

Hebrews 9:11-28 - Jon
Title: The Son's Offering

(vs. 11) “But when Christ appeared as a high priest of the good things that have come, then through the greater and more perfect tent (not made with hands, that is, not of this creation)” 12 he entered once for all into the holy places,

“The priests under the old system went daily into the Temple, the successor of the wilderness tabernacle; the high priest went annually into its inner sanctum, the holy of holies. But all along, as Hebrews explained at the start of chapter 8, this tabernacle or Temple was a secondary thing, a temporary substitute for the reality which God had in mind all along, the ultimate sanctuary or tabernacle which was the very presence of God himself in the heavenly realms. We may perhaps find it difficult to think of this heavenly sanctuary as an actual building, and of course that’s the point; the building on earth, ‘made with hands’ (verse 11), is simply a signpost to the reality. The reality is that God dwells in light and holiness which would dazzle us to bits. We can only come near to him if someone, like the high priest in the Temple, goes in ahead to present the tokens of our purification, to certify that we have been passed as fit to enter.”
- N.T. Wright

(Vs. 12) he entered once for all into the holy places, not by means of the blood of goats and calves but by means of his own blood, thus securing an eternal redemption.

13 For if the blood of goats and bulls, and the sprinkling of defiled persons with the ashes of a heifer, sanctify for the purification of the flesh, 14 how much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without blemish to God, purify our conscience from dead works to serve the living God.

“the most important problem in the development of civilization…the price we pay for our advance in civilization is a loss of happiness through the heightening of the sense of guilt.”
- Sigmund Freud

“Although I lived as a monk without reproach, I felt myself to be a sinner before God with a most unquiet conscience. . . .I did not love, yes, I hated the righteous God who punishes sinners . . . Thus I raged with a fierce and troubled conscience.”
- Martin Luther

15 Therefore he (Christ) is the mediator of a new covenant, so that those who are called may receive the promised eternal inheritance, since a death has occurred that redeems them from the transgressions committed under the first covenant. 16 For where a will is involved, the death of the one who made it must be established. 17 For a will takes effect only at death, since it is not in force as long as the one who made it is alive. 18 Therefore not even the first covenant was inaugurated without blood. 19 For when every commandment of the law had been declared by Moses to all the people, he took the blood of calves and goats, with water and scarlet wool and hyssop, and sprinkled both the book itself and all the people, 20 saying, “This is the blood of the covenant that God commanded for you.” 21 And in the same way he sprinkled with the blood both the tent and all the vessels used in worship. 22 Indeed, under the law almost everything is purified with blood, and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sins.

(Vs. 23) …it was necessary for the copies of the heavenly things to be purified with these rites, but the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than these. 24 For Christ has entered, not into holy places made with hands, which are copies of the true things, but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God on our behalf. 25 Nor was it to offer himself repeatedly, as the high priest enters the holy places every year with blood not his own, 26 for then he would have had to suffer repeatedly since the foundation of the world. But as it is, he has appeared once for all at the end of the ages to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself. 27 And just as it is appointed for man to die once, and after that comes judgment, 28 so Christ, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time, not to deal with sin but to save those who are eagerly waiting for him.

Listen along for family worship as we continue through the book of Hebrews.

Notes//Quotes:

Hebrews 9:1-10

Lamp Pic // Table // Ark // Tabernacle

Exodus 31:1-6

Corinthians 6:19-20

“Genuine holiness is genuine Christ-likeness, and genuine Christ-likeness is genuine humanness—the only genuine humanness there is. Love in the service of God and others, humility and meekness under the divine hand, integrity of behavior expressing integration of character, wisdom with faithfulness, boldness with prayerfulness, sorrow at people’s sins, joy at the Father’s goodness, and single-mindedness in seeking to please the Father morning, noon, and night, were all qualities seen in Christ, the perfect man.” - JI Packer

It is when we face ourselves and face Christ, that we are lost in wonder, love and praise. We need to rediscover the almost lost discipline of self-examination; and then a re-awakened sense of sin will beget a re-awakened sense of wonder. - Andrew Murray

A child kicks its legs rhythmically through excess, not absence, of life. Because children have abounding vitality, because they are in spirit fierce and free, therefore they want things repeated and unchanged. They always say, “Do it again,” and the grown-up person does it again until he is nearly dead. For grown-up people are not strong enough to exult in monotony. But perhaps God is strong enough.… It is possible that God says every morning, “Do it again,” to the sun; and every evening, “Do it again,” to the moon. It may not be automatic necessity that makes all daisies alike: it may be that God makes every daisy separately, but has never got tired of making them. It may be that He has the eternal appetite of infancy; for we have sinned and grown old, and our Father is younger than we. - GK Chesterton

Listen along as we continue through the book of Hebrews.

Notes//Quotes:

Hebrews 8:1-13 - Jack

Hebrews 8:1-13

The Israelites believed that the Temple in Jerusalem was the place above all where heaven and earth met, quite literally. When you went into the Temple, especially when you went into the holy of holies in the middle of it, you were actually going into heaven itself. “Heaven’ is not, in the Bible, simply a ‘spiritual’, in the sense of ‘non-physical’, dimension; it is God’s space, God’s realm, which interlocks with our realm, our world (‘earth’) in all sorts of ways.” NT Wright

"If "gospel" means good news, then Jeremiah had some for sure. He saw the judgment coming, in horrifying technicolour. But he saw beyond it to the redeeming, restoring grace of God, and indeed he speaks of the "new covenant", which takes us to the heart of the gospel in Christ." ~ Christopher J. H. Wright

Colossians 2:6-7

“One of the tragedies of the contemporary church is that, just when the world seems to be ready to listen, the church often seems to have little or nothing to say. For the church itself is confused; it shares in the current bewilderment, instead of addressing it. The church is insecure; it is uncertain of its identity, mission and message. It stammers and stutters, when it should be proclaiming the gospel with boldness. Indeed, the major reason for its diminishing influence in the West is its diminishing faith” John Stott

Listen along as we continue our time in the book of Hebrews.

Notes//Quotes:

Hebrews 7:11-28

The ‘perfection’ in question could also be translated completeness; it’s what you get when everything has been put into place for the final great purpose to be achieved. What is this great purpose? Nothing less, it seems, than God’s intention for the whole created world. This includes human behaviour, but goes much wider. The world is God’s great project. Just as a bride and bridegroom plan their wedding day, and work to make it perfect, God is working at bringing his world to perfection and doing what is necessary to make it complete. NT Wright

“The adjective in v. 24 is aparabatos (“permanent,”). This word, used only here in the New Testament and rarely elsewhere, was applied in legal contexts in the ancient world to mean “inviolable” or something not to be transgressed. “Permanent” represents a meaning widely attested in ancient literature. The first-century writer Plutarch, for example, used the word to describe the constancy of the sun’s course through the sky. Thus, Jesus’ priesthood may be characterized as “unchangeable,” since he will hold the office forever." - George Guthrie

“In Hebrews 7 God has given us powerful words meant for a relational end. This discourse detailing the superiority of Jesus’ high priesthood is far more than a theoretical treatise. It expresses relational theology, as all true theology is in essence.” - George Guthrie

Listen along as Mike Gaston continues our series through the book of Hebrews.

Notes//Quotes:

Slides Hebrews 7:1-10 Slide 1 “The author of Hebrews was trying to convince people that a religious system of sacrifices, rituals and rules that had been in place for over 1400 years had now been replaced by a better way. He focusses on the supremacy of Jesus Christ, who is the fulfillment of all that had been written by the Jewish prophets. He introduces a theme that is only treated in the book of Hebrews, that Jesus is our High Priest.”Steven Cole Slide 2 (Big Idea and outline on the same slide) Big Idea God’s plan is incredibly detailed, and it all leads to King Jesus, our great High Priest. OutlineThe Mysterious Person of Melchizedek (7:1-3)The Superior Priesthood of Melchizedek (7:4-10) Slide 3After his return from the defeat of Chedorlaomer and the kings who were with him, the king of Sodom went out to meet him at the Valley of Shaveh (that is, the King's Valley). And Melchizedek king of Salem brought out bread and wine. (He was priest of God Most High.) And he blessed him and said, “Blessed be Abram by God Most High, Possessor of heaven and earth; and blessed be God Most High, who has delivered your enemies into your hand!” And Abram gave him a tenth of everything. Genesis 14:17-20 Slide 4 (Please divide up the verses on the screen) 1 For this Melchizedek, king of Salem, priest of the Most High God, met Abraham returning from the slaughter of the kings and blessed him, 2 and to him Abraham apportioned a tenth part of everything. He is first, by translation of his name, king of righteousness, and then he is also king of Salem, that is, king of peace. 3 He is without father or mother or genealogy, having neither beginning of days nor end of life, but resembling the Son of God he continues a priest forever. Hebrews 7:1-3 Slide 5 (the attribution of this quote is purposefully left out) “Abram shows due respect to Melchizedek, but there is no sense of awe or wonder at his appearance on the part of either Abram or the King of Sodom. They merely go about their business, giving no indication that Melchizedek was at all mysterious to them. It is a mistake to attempt to place this mystery back into the context on the basis of one questionable passage. Again, an ironclad case would be needed to support this, and that case does not exist. Interestingly enough, this author came into the research open-minded, but leaning toward Melchizedek being a preincarnate (appearance of) Christ due to past teaching. While he still sees this as a viable option, research has swayed him. The view that Melchizedek was a man, King of Jerusalem, and priest of Yahweh, appears to be the scripturally correct identification.” Slide 6 “What is typology? In essence, it is the way that God used history to bring His promises to life. God’s plan of redemption, brought to its fullness in the work of Christ, was not carried through history by the words of prophecy alone. Rather, it touched down in the experience of God’s people as particular individuals and events illustrated the promises of God…. More specifically, the person and work of Jesus Christ was imprinted on the history that led to His incarnation. People and events in Israel’s history offered prophetic glimpses of the coming Savior and His work, reassuring them of the promise of His coming.”C. J. Williams Slide 7 “Melchizedek appears in history with no record of a genealogy or ancestral line, no record of his birth, and no record of his death. The point is, Melchizedek appears to transcend earthly existence; this makes him a type of Christ, who truly does transcend earthly existence as the eternal King-Priest who has no predecessor and no successor in His high office.” S. Michael Houdmann Slide 8 Abraham > Levi and the Levitical PriesthoodMelchizedek > Abraham Melchizedek > Levi and the Levitical priesthood Slide 9“But the patriarch gave up a tenth of the spoils, thus implicitly acknowledging the superior place of Melchizedek. And Melchizedek proceeded to bless Abraham, accepting the implied superiority. The situation is clear to all parties. There is no need to spell it out. And the author is simply drawing attention to what the narrative clearly implies when he brings out the superior status of Melchizedek. Even when Abraham is seen as the one “who had the promises,” Melchizedek is superior.”Leon Morris Slide 10 Big Idea God’s plan is incredibly detailed, and it all leads to King Jesus, our great High Priest.

Hebrews 6:13-20 - Faith “central to the plot and storyline of Scripture are a series of covenants between God and his creation, especially with humans as deputies and stewards of his world.” - Peter J. Gentry 5 “Look toward heaven, and number the stars, if you are able to number them.” Then he said to him, “So shall your offspring be.” 6 And he believed the Lord, and he counted it to him as righteousness.” Genesis 15:5&6 “Bring me a heifer three years old, a female goat three years old, a ram three years old, a turtledove, and a young pigeon.” 10 And he brought him all these, cut them in half, and laid each half over against the other. But he did not cut the birds in half. 11 And when birds of prey came down on the carcasses, Abram drove them away. 12 As the sun was going down, a deep sleep fell on Abram. And behold, dreadful and great darkness fell upon him. 13 Then the Lord said to Abram, “Know for certain that your offspring will be sojourners in a land that is not theirs and will be servants there, and they will be afflicted for four hundred years. 14 But I will bring judgment on the nation that they serve, and afterward they shall come out with great possessions. 15 As for you, you shall go to your fathers in peace; you shall be buried in a good old age. 16 And they shall come back here in the fourth generation, for the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet complete.”17 When the sun had gone down and it was dark, behold, a smoking fire pot and a flaming torch passed between these pieces. 18 On that day the Lord made a covenant with Abram…Genesis 15:9-18 “Picturing God passing through that gory path between the carcasses of animals, imagining the blood splashing as he walked, helps us to recognize the faithfulness of God’s commitment. He was willing to express, in terms his chosen people could understand, that he would never fail to do what he promised. And he ultimately fulfilled his promise by giving his own life, his own blood, on the cross.Because we look at God’s dealings with Abraham as some remote piece of history in a far-off-land, we often fail to realize that we, too, are part of a long line of people with whom God made a covenant on that rocky plain near Hebron. And like those who came before us, we have broken that covenant. When he walked in the dust of the desert and through the blood of the animals Abraham had slaughtered, God was making a promise to all the descendants of Abraham—to everyone in the household of faith. When God splashed through the the blood, he did it for us.We’re not simply individuals in relationship to God, we’re part of a long line of people marching back through history, from our famous Jewish ancestor David, Hezekiah, and Peter to the millions of unknown believers; from the ancient Israelites and the Jewish people of Jesus’ day to the Christian community dating from the early church. We’re part of a community of people with whom God established relationship in the dust and sand of the Negev. But there’s more. When God made covenant with his people, he did something no human being would even have considered doing. In the usual blood covenant, each party was responsible for keeping only his side of the promise. When God made covenant with Abraham, however, he promised to keep both sides of the agreement. “If this covenant is broken, Abraham, for whatever reason—for My faithfulness or yours—I will pay the price,” said God. “If you or your descendants, for whom you are making this covenant, fail to keep it, I will pay the price in blood.”And at that moment, Almighty God pronounced the death sentence on his Son Jesus.”- Ray Vänder Laan “What he’s going to say, more fully, in the passages to come is that Jesus has gone in, not into the earthly Temple in Jerusalem, but into the true sanctuary, the world of heaven itself, right into the innermost courts and into the very presence of the loving father. And he has gone there on our behalf. We are attached to him as though by a great metal cable. He is there, in the very presence of God, like an anchor.” — N.T. Wright 15As for man, his days are like grass;  he flourishes like a flower of the field;16 for the wind passes over it, and it is gone,  and its place knows it no more.17 But the steadfast love of the Lord is from everlasting to everlasting on those who fear him,  and his righteousness to children's children,18 to those who keep his covenant  and remember to do his commandments.19 The Lord has established his throne in the heavens,  and his kingdom rules over all.Psalm 103:15-19

Listen along as we continue our journey through the book of Hebrews.

Notes // Quotes

Hebrews 5:11-6:8 - Faith

Hebrews 5:11-6:12

Lincoln Picture

“What the writer here longs for is that people should become proficient in understanding and using the entire message of God’s healing, restoring, saving justice. He wants them to know their way around the whole message of scripture and of the gospel, to be able to handle this message in relation to their own lives, their communities and the wider world, and to see how all the different parts of God’s revelation fit together, apply to different situations and have the power to transform lives and situations.” - NT Wright

“It’s far easier to go to church once a week chasing a spiritual high and angle for a download from heaven than to do the daily, unglamorous work of discipleship.” - John Mark Comer

The assertion here must be considered in light of the broader context of Hebrews. In 6:1 the author has identified “repentance” as foundational in Christian teaching. In the view of the author of Hebrews true repentance can be experienced only in the shadow of Christ’s sacrifice, since there exists no other valid sacrifice for sin (10:18, 26). In the Jewish literature of the day, repentance was God’s gift, and Hebrews has taken that thought as specifically incarnated in the person and work of the Son of God. Repentance in 6:4–6 is “impossible” because there is nowhere else to go for repentance once one has rejected Christ. The apostate in effect has turned his or her back on the only means available for forgiveness before God. - George Guthrie

Matthew 13:24-30

“Everyday moments of epiphany are bestowed on everyone. Our role is to simply learn to pay attention. It is remarkable how often the parables handed down to us from Jesus end with the words: “Consider carefully how you listen,” and “Whoever has ears to hear, let him hear.” - Martin Schleske

Listen along as Mike Gaston continues our journey through the book of Hebrews.

Notes//Quotes:

Hebrews 5:1-10 - Linda B Slide 1 Big IdeaJesus our High Priest understands our lives, mediates between us and God, and provides eternal salvation. Slide 2 Phases of God’s Program to Restore His Creation God dwells with His sinful peopleGod walks among His sinful peopleGod lives in His redeemed people (YOU ARE HERE)God lives with, among, and in His glorified people Slide 3 (and maybe 4) “If you were an Israelite living under the old covenant, and you did not belong to the tribe of Levi, ninety feet is as close as you would ever get to the presence of God in the Holy of Holies.God had fulfilled his promise to dwell among his people, but his holiness demanded separation. He was near, yet guarded; present, yet veiled; inviting, yet intimidating. The mere presence of the temple revealed God’s desire to be near his people. But everything about the temple said, “You dare not approach me on your own.” The cherubim that once flashed a flaming sword at the entrance to Eden now blocked the way to the Holy of Holies. Any who broke through the barrier would fall before the consuming fire of Sinai. Safer for a man to walk on the sun than a sinner to stand unshielded before God. Every day, the temple preached a silent sermon to any who had ears to hear: You need a mediator to make atonement. You need an advocate to intercede. You need a priest to make a way.”Scott HubbardSlide 4/5 “And in the first century, as he laid his hand on the head of the animal, he would say ‘O God, I have committed iniquity and transgressed and sinned before thee, I and my house and the children of Aaron, thy holy people. O God, forgive, I pray, the iniquities and transgressions and sins which I have committed and transgressed and sinned before thee, I and my house.’ Only then was he able to minister on behalf of the people.” Leon Morris Slide 5/6 ““This is what his training involved: learning to submit his natural desires to his Father’s will, even when it meant pain and hardship and self-denial—as it often did. And this is why he prayed with loud cries and tears. It wasn’t an act—he wasn’t faking. He prayed with loud cries and tears because the prospect of drinking the bitter cup put a terrible strain on his human nature.Further, for this holiest man who ever lived, the prospect of sinning would’ve been more loathsome than sinners like us could ever imagine. It’s we who can’t understand his temptations. As C. S. Lewis noted, Christ, as “the only man who never yielded to temptation, is also the only man who knows to the full what temptation means.”Justin Dillehay Slide 6/7 “His Sonship was perfect, and therefore raises the problem why he needed to learn obedience at all. Here we are faced with the mystery of the nature of Christ. In considering the divine Son it may be difficult to attach any meaning to the learning process (he learned obedience), but in thinking of the Son as perfect man it becomes at once intelligible. When Luke says that Jesus advanced in learning (2:52), he means that by a progressive process he showed by his obedience to the Father’s will a continuous making of God’s will his own, reaching its climax in his approach to death. The cry of acceptance in the Garden of Gethsemane was the concluding evidence of the Son’s obedience to the Father. No one will deny that there is deep mystery here, but the fact of it makes our high priest’s understanding of us unquestionably more real.” Donald Guthrie Slide 7/8 Big IdeaJesus our High Priest understands our lives, mediates between us and God, and provides eternal salvation.

Listen along as we continue our series through the book of Hebrews.

Notes//Quotes:

Hebrews 4:14-16 - Mike

Heb 4:14-16

1 Tim 3:16

“As I reflect on Jesus’ temptations … I realize they centered on his reason for coming to earth, his “style” of working. Satan was, in effect, dangling before Jesus a speeded-up way of accomplishing his mission. He could win over the crowds by creating food on demand and then take control of the kingdoms of the world, all the while protecting himself from danger” - Philip Yancey

AFTER CENTURIES of handling and mishandling, most religious words have become so shopworn nobody's much interested anymore. Not so with grace, for some reason. Mysteriously, even derivatives like gracious and graceful still have some of the bloom left. Grace is something you can never get but can only be given. There's no way to earn it or deserve it or bring it about any more than you can deserve the taste of raspberries and cream or earn good looks or bring about your own birth. A good sleep is grace and so are good dreams. Most tears are grace. The smell of rain is grace. Somebody loving you is grace. Loving somebody is grace. Have you ever tried to love somebody? A crucial eccentricity of the Christian faith is the assertion that people are saved by grace. There's nothing you have to do. The grace of God means something like: "Here is your life. You might never have been, but you are, because the party wouldn't have been complete without you. Here is the world. Beautiful and terrible things will happen. Don't be afraid. I am with you. Nothing can ever separate us. It's for you I created the universe. I love you." There's only one catch. Like any other gift, the gift of grace can be yours only if you'll reach out and take it. Maybe being able to reach out and take it is a gift too. Frederick Buechner

I wrote a book on grace, and grace is a free gift, but to receive the gift you have to have your hands open. And a lot of people don’t have their hands open, there’s something they’re grasping because there’s a lot of things to grasp in a prosperous country.” – Philip Yancey

"aid rendered to someone who is miserable or needy, especially someone who is either in debt or without claim to favorable treatment.” - Dictionary of Biblical Imagery

"Mercy is kindness exercised towards the miserable, and includes pity, compassion, forbearance, and gentleness, which the Scriptures so abundantly ascribe to God.”
Charles Hodge

Love without truth is sentimentality; it supports and affirms us but keeps us in denial about our flaws. Truth without love is harshness; it gives us information but in such a way that we cannot really hear it. God's saving love in Christ, however, is marked by both radical truthfulness about who we are and yet also radical, unconditional commitment to us. The merciful commitment strengthens us to see the truth about ourselves and repent. The conviction and repentance moves us to cling to and rest in God's mercy and grace. - Tim Keller

Listen along as we continue our journey through the book of Hebrews.

Notes//Quotes:

Hebrews 4:1-13 - Kim
Title: Rest

“Our author is intent on demonstrating the possibility, with the hope that in doing so he will prevent its becoming a reality, that within the community of faith there may be hypocrites or defectors whose position is one of unbelief rather than faith. Any such, of course, do not truly belong to the church, except in a formal and external sense, and the rest that is promised does not pertain to them.” - R. Kent Hughes

“appears to have coined the word from the verb form sabbatizein, which means “to celebrate the Sabbath with praise.” Sabbatismos, therefore, may suggest the festive joy surrounding a celebration of the Sabbath, in which one joins in praise and adoration of God. Thus, the author joins the concept of “rest” to the concept of “Sabbath,” based upon his exegesis (interpretation) of the Old Testament.” - George Guthrie

“The Lord say to Moses, “The tenth day of this seventh month is the Day of Atonement. Hold a sacred assembly and deny yourselves, and present an offering made to the Lord by fire. Do no work on that day, because it is the Day of Atonement, when atonement is made for you before the Lord your God.… It is a sabbath of rest for you, and you must deny yourselves.” (Lev. 23:26–28, 32)

“Living & Active: The former adjective stands at the head of the verse, perhaps for emphasis, and asserts that that word, rather than being outdated, a “dead” speech-act of a bygone era, still exists as a dynamic force with which one must reckon. “Active” proclaims the word as effective in carrying out God’s intentions. The same word that at creation set the elements of the cosmos to their appointed tasks and still governs the universe toward God’s desired intentions (1:2–3), has the ability to effect change in people. It is not static and passive but dynamic, interactive, and transforming as it interfaces with the people of God.”
- George Guthrie

Question:
What if I did actually spend a full seventh of my life embracing this rhythm living for a different priority? Who would I be if I knew actually how to rest in the finished work of Christ?

Listen along as we continue our journey through the letter of Hebrews.

Notes//Quotes:

Hebrews 3:7-18 - Josh Reading

The warnings show how unbelief erodes both inner and communal life.

The author gives the way to a life of equilibrium and sharing in Christ.

Romans 8:9: You, however, are controlled not by the sinful nature but by the Spirit, if the Spirit of God lives in you.
Romans 8:17: Now if we are children, then we are heirs—heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory.
Romans 11:22: Consider therefore the kindness and sternness of God: sternness to those who fell, but kindness to you, provided that [lit., if] you continue in his kindness.
2 Corinthians 13:5b: Do you not realize that Christ Jesus is in you—unless, of course, you fail the test?
Colossians 1:22–23: But now he has reconciled you by Christ’s physical body through death to present you holy in his sight, without blemish and free from accusation—if you continue in your faith, established and firm, not moved from the hope held out in the gospel.

“The author of Hebrews cannot give unqualified assurance to those drifting away from God that they indeed have a part in God’s house or are sharers in Christ. He addresses them collectively as believers, but realizes that some in the group may manifest a different reality as time goes on (They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would have continued with us. But they went out, that it might become plain that they all are not of us. 1 John 2:19) Perseverance does not gain salvation but demonstrates the reality that true salvation indeed has been inaugurated. If the end comes and a person is not in relationship with Christ, it means that the person had never truly become Christ’s companion” - George Guthrie

Listen along as we continue our series through the book of Hebrews.

Notes//Quotes:

Hebrews 3:1-6 (Chris)
Title: Hold Fast

“doesn’t merely talk about where our calling originated or where our calling is taking us. It also describes the quality of our existence; the kind of person we are designed to be. Our lives now and forevermore are to be characterized by the values of heaven; energized by the power of heaven; shaped by the beauty of heaven. We are to live now, on earth, heavenly lives.” — Sam Storms

“Although Abraham and David and Isaiah and Daniel are critically important figures in the OT, none is greater than Moses. He was truly a national hero and “the architect of Israel’s corporate life” — R. T. France

“…If there is a prophet among you, I the Lord make myself known to him in a vision; I speak with him in a dream. 7 Not so with my servant Moses. He is faithful in all my house. 8 With him I speak mouth to mouth, clearly, and not in riddles, and he beholds the form of the Lord…” —Numbers 12:6-8

List:
(1) Whereas both Moses and Jesus were “faithful” to God, only Jesus was altogether obedient and never sinned or disobeyed.

(2) Moses was faithful in God’s house, whereas Jesus built it!

(3) Moses was faithful as a servant of God, but Jesus is the Son!

“He does not say that if you fail to hold fast your confidence this means you once had it but later lost it. Rather, if you fail to hold it, it means you never had it at all. If someone does not hold firmly to the end of this “faith” or “confidence” that he/she claims to have put in Christ, this reveals that they never truly and sincerely shared in Christ in the first place.” — Sam Storms

Listen along as we continue our series through the book of Hebrews.

Notes//Quotes:

Hebrews 2:1-18 - Chris

"Love does not mean the abandonment of justice and right; nor is it a sentimental benevolence which does not have the capacity for holy wrath.” George Ladd

“Pay attention to what you pay attention to.”
“The most basic form of love is attention”
“What you pay attention to expands”

Phil 2:5-8

“The drive for autonomous living—to control my own life and destiny—runs counter to Christian commitment. For the autonomous self the premier question is not “What do I owe to God or this community?” but “What can this God and community do to help me in my pursuit of self-actualization?” In other words, as long as God and the community are useful in helping me “get and keep it all together,” I will participate. When that ceases to happen or my autonomy is threatened by these relationships, I will drift elsewhere” - George Guthrie

Jesus, Savior, pilot me,
Over life's tempestuous sea:
Unknown waves before me roll,
Hiding rocks and treach'rous shoal;
Chart and compass come from Thee–
Jesus, Savior, pilot me!

As a mother stills her child,
Thou canst hush the ocean wild;
Boist'rous waves obey Thy will
When Thou say'st to them, "Be still!"
Wondrous Sov'reign of the sea,
Jesus, Savior, pilot me!

When at last I near the shore,
And the fearful breakers roar
'Twixt me and the peaceful rest–
Then, while leaning on Thy breast,
May I hear Thee say to me,
"Fear not– I will pilot thee!”
Edward Hopper

Listen along as we begin our journey through the book of Hebrews.

Notes//Quotes:

Hebrews 1:1-14 - Kim

“(1) Whereas pastors in the Christian communities were normally referred to as “elders” or “overseers,” in Hebrews alone among the New Testament documents they are called “leaders” (hegoumenoi) (13:7, 17, 24). Outside the New Testament this designation for church leadership occurs in two early Christian documents, 1st Clement and The Shepherd of Hermas, both of which we know to have been associated with the church at Rome.(2) First Clement, a pastoral letter written from Clement of Rome to the church at Corinth sometime around the end of the first century, demonstrates extensive use of Hebrews. One section in particular (36:1–6) shows direct literary dependence on the book, and the rest of the document bears the marks of Hebrews’ influence. Therefore, the earliest evidence of Hebrews’ use in the ancient church locates the document in Rome.” - George Guthrie

“32 But recall the former days when, after you were enlightened, you endured a hard struggle with sufferings, 33 sometimes being publicly exposed to reproach and affliction, and sometimes being partners with those so treated. 34 For you had compassion on those in prison, and you joyfully accepted the plundering of your property, since you knew that you yourselves had a better possession and an abiding one.” (Heb. 10:32-34)

“God’s Son—heir, agent of creation, sustainer of the universe, Savior, and sovereign—who now sits at the right hand of God… in 1:1-4 we find no fewer than ten weighty topics, which span from heaven to earth and from eternity past to eternity future. The list of themes reads like part of the table of contents in a systematic theology textbook! How can we focus our application when we are confronted with so much substance in such a short space?” - George Guthrie

"The story of divine revelation is a story of progression up to Christ. But there is no progression beyond Him."
- F.F. Bruce

"Just as the Spirit of God in this passage invites all to come as far as Christ, so He forbids them to overstep this last word of which He makes mention.”
- John Calvin

“There have been many attempts made by the fathers of the Church to explain the relationship between the two Divine Persons, the Father and the Son; but the explanations had better never have been given, fro the figures used are liable to lead into mistake. Suffice it for us to say that, in the most appropriate language of the Nicene Creed, Christ is “God of God, Light of Light, very God of very God.” He is co-equal with the Father; though how that is, we know not. He stands in the nearest possible relationship to the Father, — a relationship of intense love and delight, so that the Father says of him, “This is my beloved Son.””
- Charles Spurgeon

“The Son of God became a man to enable men to become sons of God.” - C.S. Lewis

Dear God, thank You for speaking to us in the Bible, the writings of prophets, who wrote in so many different ways over such a long period of time that we have good reasons to believe in Your absolute truthfulness and faithfulness.

Father, we especially thank You for the gift of Your Son, Jesus Christ, through whom You made all things. Through Your Son, O God, You have spoken to us truly in the Bible and through creation. We thank You that in addition to speaking and demonstrating Your will and way of life for us, that Jesus died so You could forgive us and purify us in spite of our sins. We thank You Father that Jesus sits at Your right hand and always intercedes for Your people.

Oh God, we thank You for the angels who watch over us as Your servants, and we praise our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ because He is far superior to the angels, for He is Your Son. Indeed, all the angels worship Jesus and so do we, Your children, because He is worthy of our adoration and praise.

Lord Jesus, thank You were sitting on the throne of God, for indeed You are God. Unlike the leaders of this world, You rule with justice and righteousness. Indeed, we pray for You to come again quickly and visibly display Your just rule over all in the Kingdom of God. Amen
— How God Teaches Us to Pray: Lessons from the Lives of Francis and Edith Schaeffer

Listen along as we celebrate the resurrection and look at our final hard saying of Jesus.

Notes//Quotes:

John 21:20-25

“The original creation of light itself is almost too extraordinary to take in. The little cookout on the beach is almost too ordinary to take seriously. Yet if Scripture is to be believed, enormous stakes were involved in them both, and still are.” - Frederick Buechner

“Jesus matters because of what he brought and what he still brings to ordinary human beings, living their ordinary lives and coping daily with their surroundings. He promises wholeness for their lives. In sharing our weaknesses he gives us strength and and imparts through his companionship a life that has the quality of eternity.” - Dallas Willard

1 Peter 1:3-5

“The disciples go fishing but catch nothing. Jesus then helps them to an enormous catch but proceeds to commission Peter to be a shepherd rather than a fisherman. There are many things going on simultaneously here, but at the center is the challenge to a new way of life, a new forgiveness, a new fruitfulness, a new following of Jesus, which will be wider and more dangerous than what has gone before. The resurrection isn’t just a surprise happy ending for one person; it is instead the turning point for everything else. - NT Wright

Listen along as we look at the space between Good Friday and Easter Sunday contemplating the silence of God.

Notes//Quotes:

Psalm 13:1-6 - Jon “Habakkuk lived in the final decades of Judah, Israel’s southern kingdom. It was a time of injustice and idolatry, and he saw the rising threat of the Babylonian empire on the horizon. Unlike the other Hebrew prophets, Habakkuk doesn’t accuse Israel or even speak to the people on God’s behalf. Instead, all of his words are addressed to God. The book of Habakkuk tells us about Habakkuk’s personal struggle to believe that God is good when there is so much tragedy and evil in the world” — bible project 1 The oracle which Habakkuk the prophet saw.2 How long, O Lord, will I call for help,And You will not hear?I cry out to You, “Violence!”Yet You do not save.3 Why do You make me see iniquity,And cause me to look on wickedness?Yes, destruction and violence are before me;Strife exists and contention arises.4 Therefore the law is ignoredAnd justice is never upheld.For the wicked surround the righteous;Therefore justice comes out perverted.5 “Look among the nations! Observe!Be astonished! Wonder!(NASB) Habakkuk 2:33 For the revelation awaits an appointed time;it speaks of the endand will not prove false.Though it linger, wait for it;it will certainly comeand will not delay.(NIV) “One of her colleagues attended a conference on Jungian dream analysis where people wrote questions on cards that were passed along to a panel of experts, among them was a grandson of Carl Jung.One of these cards told the story of a horrific, reoccurring dream, in which the dreamer was stripped of all human dignity and worth through Nazi atrocities. A member of the panel, read the dream out loud. As she listened, my colleague began to formulate a dream interpretation in her head, in anticipation of the panels response. It was really "a no-brainer," she thought, as her mind, busily offered her symbolic explanations for the torture and atrocities described in the dream. But this was not how the panel responded at all. When the reading of the dream was complete, Jungs's grandson looked out over the large audience. "Would you all please rise?" he asked. "we will stand together in a moment of silence in response to this dream." The audience stood for a minute, my colleague, impatiently, waiting for the discussion she was certain would follow. But when they sat again, the panel went onto the next question.My colleague simply did not understand this at all, and a few days later, she asked one of her teachers, himself a Jungian analyst, about it, “Ah, Lois," he had said, "there is life, suffering unspeakable, a vulnerability, so extreme that it goes far beyond words, beyond explanations, and even beyond healing. In the face of such suffering, all we can do is bear witness so no one need suffer alone.”- Parker J. Palmer, A Hidden Wholeness “I know that, as night and shadows are good for flowers, and moonlight and dews are better than a continual sun, so is Christ's absence of special use, and that it hath some nourishing virtue in it, and giveth sap to humility, and putteth an edge on hunger, and furnisheth a fair field to faith to put forth itself, and to exercise its fingers in gripping it seeth not what.” —Samuel Rutherford “Honesty. David is in agony and can’t feel the presence of God. he cries out that God has ignored his pain and his sorrow. It is almost a howl, and the fact that it is included in the Bible tells us that God wants to hear our genuine feelings, even if they are anger at him. David never stops praying, however, and that is the key. As long as we howl towards God and remember his salvation by grace (verse 5), we will end up at a place of peace. If Christians do that, by hearing Jesus praying verses 1-4 on the cross, losing the Father's face as he paid for our sins, we will be able to pray versus 5-6 indeed.” — Timothy Keller It's enough to drive a man crazy; it'll break a man's faithIt's enough to make him wonder if he's ever been saneWhen he's bleating for comfort from Thy staff and Thy rodAnd the heaven's only answer is the silence of God It'll shake a man's timbers when he loses his heartWhen he has to remember what broke him apartThis yoke may be easy, but this burden is notWhen the crying fields are frozen by the silence of God There's a statue of Jesus on a monastery knollIn the hills of Kentucky, all quiet and coldAnd He's kneeling in the garden, as silent as a StoneAll His friends are sleeping and He's weeping all alone And the man of all sorrows, he never forgotWhat sorrow is carried by the hearts that he boughtSo when the questions dissolve into the silence of GodThe aching may remain, but the breaking does notThe aching may remain, but the breaking does notIn the holy, lonesome echo of the silence of God- Andrew Peterson, The Silence of God

Listen along as we look at the cry of dereliction.

Notes//Quotes:

Slides Cry of Dereliction Slide 1 “And he said to them, “O foolish ones, and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken! Was it not necessary that the Christ should suffer these things and enter into his glory?” And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he interpreted to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning himself.”Luke 24:25-27 Slide 2 “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” Where did the Cry of Dereliction come from? What did the Cry of Dereliction mean? Slide 3 My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Why are you so far from saving me, from the words of my groaning?O my God, I cry by day, but you do not answer, and by night, but I find no rest.Psalm 22:1-2 Slide 4 But I am a worm and not a man, scorned by mankind and despised by the people.All who see me mock me; they make mouths at me; they wag their heads;“He trusts in the Lord; let him deliver him; let him rescue him, for he delights in him!”Psalm 22:6-8 Slide 5 “I am poured out like water, and all my bones are out of joint;my heart is like wax; it is melted within my breast;my strength is dried up like a potsherd, and my tongue sticks to my jaws; you lay me in the dust of death.For dogs encompass me; a company of evildoers encircles me;they have pierced my hands and feet —I can count all my bones—they stare and gloat over me;they divide my garments among them, and for my clothing they cast lots.”Psalm 22:14-18 Slide 6 Defeat ---> Victory = Defeatory Slide 7 “And we ask the question, how can God be forsaken of God? And I can ask twenty questions for which there’s no answer. And let me say that that’s a good thing for us to be brought to the very limits of our understanding where we simply have to bow the knee and say, “Lord, I don’t understand it, but I accept it. It’s in Your word.” That’s a good thing for Christians to have to run into every once in a while.”Ligon Duncan Slide 8 “For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.”2 Corinthians 5:21 Slide 9 “He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. By his wounds you have been healed.”1 Peter 2:24 Slide 10 “Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us—for it is written, “Cursed is everyone who is hanged on a tree”Galatians 3:13 Slide 11 He had known from the beginning that he would die a violent death, and in Gethsemane he had looked it in the eye, and shuddered. But now he is tasting it in all its bitterness, and the reality is infinitely worse than the prospect. Never before had anything come between him and his Father, but now the sin of the whole world has come between them, and he is caught in this dreadful vortex of the curse. It is not that Abba is not there, but that he is there, as the Judge of all the earth who could condone nothing and could not spare even his own Son.Donald Macleod Slide 12 “Here’s what we must remember and treasure: Jesus willingly suffers this so sinners may escape it. Jesus’ abandonment means the sinner’s adoption. He takes our place on the cross so we can take His place in the kingdom. Because He was abandoned socially, we may be children in the household of God. Because He was deserted emotionally, we become whole again—renewed in the image of God. Because He suffered spiritual separation, we may be spiritually united to Him through faith so that we will never be separated from God’s love. Because He was forsaken, we are forgiven. Now He says to us, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.” Thabiti Anyabwile

Listen along as Anthony continues our series through the hard sayings of Jesus.

Notes//Quotes:

Kim reading Matthew 23:25-27

1–3 “…The religion scholars and Pharisees are competent teachers in God’s Law. You won’t go wrong in following their teachings on Moses. But be careful about following them. They talk a good line, but they don’t live it. They don’t take it into their hearts and live it out in their behavior. It’s all spit-and-polish veneer.

4–7 “Instead of giving you God’s Law as food and drink by which you can banquet on God, they package it in bundles of rules, loading you down like pack animals. They seem to take pleasure in watching you stagger under these loads, and wouldn’t think of lifting a finger to help. Their lives are perpetual fashion shows, embroidered prayer shawls one day and flowery prayers the next. They love to sit at the head table at church dinners, basking in the most prominent positions, preening in the radiance of public flattery, receiving honorary degrees, and getting called ‘Doctor’ and ‘Reverend.’

8–10 “Don’t let people do that to you, put you on a pedestal like that. You all have a single Teacher, and you are all classmates. Don’t set people up as experts over your life, letting them tell you what to do. Save that authority for God; let him tell you what to do. No one else should carry the title of ‘Father’; you have only one Father, and he’s in heaven. And don’t let people maneuver you into taking charge of them. There is only one Life-Leader for you and them—Christ.

11–12 “Do you want to stand out? Then step down. Be a servant. If you puff yourself up, you’ll get the wind knocked out of you. But if you’re content to simply be yourself, your life will count for plenty.
(Matthew 23:1-12 MSG)

“In what way does my own faith and life embody & give a credible alternative to the things I criticize & condemn in others? The gap between what I criticize in others & fail to embody myself is the root of hypocrisy. Criticism is cheap, discipleship is costly.”
— Jon Tyson

“Not that I have already obtained this or am already perfect, but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own. Brothers, I do not consider that I have made it my own. But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. Let those of us who are mature think this way, and if in anything you think otherwise, God will reveal that also to you.”
(Philippians 3:12–15 ESV)

“The church that listens to this indictment with good faith will remove from her midst the showy and pretentious; disciples who listen with good faith will question culture’s and their own carnal megalomania, successism, and title hunger.” —Dale Bruner

Listen along as we look at the close of the Sermon on the Mount.

Notes//Quotes:

Matthew 7:21-29

Deut 30:15-20

”We learn at least that it is possible to work for Jesus and yet not live under him. We can be intoxicated by the power of Jesus and yet be hostile to his hard Commands. “I never ever really knew you; get out of my face, you doers of the very opposite of my teachings.” They believe that they know Jesus, but apparently they never gave him a chance to know them (“I never really knew you”), that is, they never gave him a chance to come into personal contact with their innermost life (the force of the biblical word “know”). It is strangely possible to serve and even to glorify Christ and yet in one’s own personal life not to obey him. The fact that Jesus says “many” will present their christocentric-charismatic credentials at the Judgment and that even then they will not get in should be frightening to us all. It means that just as a loving manner (sheep’s clothing) is not necessarily the real item, so a Christ-glorifying ministry (“in your name, … in your name.… in your name”) is not always the real thing either.” - Dale Bruner

“If I ever reach Heaven I expect to find three wonders there: first, to meet some I had not thought to see there; second, to miss some I had thought to meet there; and third, the greatest wonder of all, to find myself there.” - John Newton

“Obedience to Jesus’ words is not so much protection from troubles as protection in them, just as rock under a house does not shield from storms but supports during them” - Dale Bruner

The teaching of the Sermon on the Mount is not meant to be admired but to be obeyed - RT France

“The focus is on my ability, my creativity, and my potential. These become the pistons driving the engine of self (resulting, Jesus tells us, in the eternal loss of self). No place for weakness exists in this view of reality. More important, no place exists for God. We don’t reject God outright, but we retain the god of Deism, who once did some powerful things but is generally detached from our day-to-day lives. So instead of abiding, we pray for God to give us some of his power. Instead of growing into him who is our head (Eph. 4:15), we ask him to give us some magic (“Just make me stop sinning,” “Just make these temptations go away,” and so on). Instead of entering into the way of weakness, we try to use God to become something powerful.” - Kyle Strobel and Jamin Goggin

Listen along as we look at Matthew 11:25-30 and see the revelation of who Jesus is coupled with his invitation to rest.

Notes//Quotes:

Matthew 11:25-30 “At the heart of the revelation is this simple fact: God’s whole truth (“absolutely everything”) has been placed in and revealed through Jesus the Son. The key to divine revelation is Jesus. In Jesus, God gets a face. Jesus invites us to himself, and we feel quite naturally that we are invited to God.” - Dale Bruner Hebrews 1:1-4 “Just in terms of allocation of time resources, religion is not very efficient. There’s a lot more I could be doing on a Sunday morning.” - Bill Gates A yoke is a work instrument. Thus when Jesus offers a yoke he offers what we might think tired workers need least. They need a mattress or a vacation, not a yoke. Still more precisely: A yoke is not a sitting instrument; it is a walking instrument. Jesus does not say, “Take my chair and learn from me”; he says, “Take my yoke and learn from me,” which means that as we seek to live in obedience to Jesus we learn from Jesus along the way. Jesus realizes that the most restful gift he can give the tired is a new way to carry life, a fresh way to bear responsibilities. Life is a succession of burdens; we cannot get away from them; thus instead of offering escape, Jesus offers equipment. - Dale Bruner “An easy life isn’t an option; an easy yoke is.” - John Mark Comer Mike Gaston Slides: “Thus says the Lord:‘Stand by the roads, and look, and ask for the ancient paths,where the good way is; and walk in it, and find rest for your souls.’But they said, ‘We will not walk in it.’”Jeremiah 6:16 For the Son of Man is lord of the SabbathMatthew 12:8 Attached Image 1 (Eugene Peterson) “Odd, isn’t it? We have more leisure hours per person per year as a country than anyone could have guessed a hundred years ago. But we are not leisurely. We are not relaxed. We are anxious. We are in a hurry. The anxiety and the hurry ruin intimacy and sabotage our best intentions in faith, hope and love – the three actions in which most of us set out to do our best. That is why I as your pastor want you to keep a Sabbath. I want you to live well. I want you to live whole and mature, with appreciation and pleasure, experiencing the heights and depths of glory in your bodies and your work, your friends and your gardens, your minds and your emotions, at the ocean and in the mountains. You can’t do that if you are ‘on the run.’ You can’t do that if you are watching the clock. Sabbath is the biblical tool for protecting time against desecration.”Eugene Peterson Sabbath = regular, intentional, contemplative, Christ-centered rest Image 2 - Sabbath Rest “The rest of God – the rest God gladly gives so that we might discover that part of God we’re missing – is not a reward for finishing. It’s not a bonus for work well done.It’s sheer gift. It is a stop-work order in the midst of work that’s never complete, never polished. Sabbath is not the break we’re allotted at the tail end of completing all of our tasks and chores, the fulfillment of all our obligations. It’s the rest we take smack-dab in the middle of them, without apology, without guilt, and for no better reason that God told us we could.”Mark Buchanan

Listen along as we continue our series looking at the hard sayings of Jesus.

Notes//Quotes:

Luke 12:4-7 - Mike It's the age of doubtAnd I doubt we'll figure it outIs it you or is it me?Age of anxietyFight the fever with TVIn the age when nobody sleepsAnd the pills do nothing for meIn the age of anxiety- Arcade Fire “Unfortunately, many of us presume that the world is the ultimate threat and that God's function is to offset it. How different this is from the biblical position that God is far scarier than the world …. When we assume that the world is the ultimate threat, we give it unwarranted power, for in truth, the world's threats are temporary. When we expect God to balance the stress of the world, we reduce him to the world's equal …. As I walk with the Lord, I discover that God poses an ominous threat to my ego, but not to me. He rescues me from my delusions, so he may reveal the truth that sets me free. He casts me down, only to lift me up again. He sits in judgment of my sin, but forgives me nevertheless. Fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, but love from the Lord is its completion."- William D. Eisenhower Acts 10:39-43“We are witnesses of all that he did both in the country of the Jews and in Jerusalem. They put him to death by hanging him on a tree, 40 but God raised him on the third day and made him to appear, 41 not to all the people but to us who had been chosen by God as witnesses, who ate and drank with him after he rose from the dead. 42 And he commanded us to preach to the people and to testify that he is the one appointed by God to be judge of the living and the dead. 43 To him all the prophets bear witness that everyone who believes in him receives forgiveness of sins through his name.” “And therein is an extraordinary paradox, for we live more safely than ever before. Though we are safer than almost any other society in history, safety has become the holy grail of our culture. And like the Holy Grail, it is something we can never quite reach. Protected like never before, we are skittish and panicky like never before…. How can this be? Quite simply, our culture has lost God as the proper object of fear. That fear of God was a happy and healthy fear that controlled our other fears, reining in anxiety…In ousting God from our culture, other concerns—from personal health to the health of the planet—have assumed a divine ultimacy in our minds. Good things have become cruel and pitiless idols. And thus we feel helplessly fragile, and society fills with anxieties…The suggestion that loss of the fear of God is the root cause of our culture’s anxiety is a real blow to atheism. For atheism sold the idea that if you liberate people from belief in God, that will liberate them from fear. But throwing off the fear of God has not made our society happier and less fretful. Quite the opposite…So, what does our culture do with all its anxiety? Given its essentially secular self-identity, our culture will not turn to God. The only possible solution, then, must be for us to sort it out ourselves. Thus, Western society has medicalized fear. Fear has become an elusive disease to be medicated. (I do not mean to imply here that use of drugs to curb anxiety is wrong— only that they are a palliative, at times an important one, and not an ultimate solution.) Yet that attempt to eradicate fear as we would eradicate a disease has effectively made comfort (complete absence of fear) a health category—or even a moral category. Where discomfort was once considered quite normal (and quite proper for certain situations), it is now deemed an essentially unhealthy thing.- Michael Reeves Psalm 8:3&4,“When I look at your heavens, the work of your fingers,  the moon and the stars, which you have set in place, what is man that you are mindful of him,  and the son of man that you care for him?” Psalm 96:1–4Oh sing to the LORD a new song;sing to the LORD, all the earth! Sing to the LORD, bless his name;tell of his salvation from day to day.Declare his glory among the nations,his marvelous works among all the peoples! For great is the LORD, and greatly to be praised;he is to be feared above fall gods. John 1:29“Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!"

Listen along as we continue looking at the hard sayings of Jesus.

Notes//Quotes:

Luke 9:57-62

Throughout history various religious traditions have used the imagery of pilgrimage or journey to describe spiritual development. These journeys were focused on an eternal destination, a spiritual transformation of the individual. Today, however, the “pilgrimage” is all about the individual’s own life journey. The contemporary self does not have to literally be on the move to be on the road. Being on the road is primarily a state of mind, one that constantly is dissatisfied, looking for the next best thing, living in incompleteness, always engaged in a quest for a sense of significance. This search for meaning becomes even more problematic in a culture which flees from objective truth, which fears authority and the holding of belief too strongly. Mark Sayers

“we have a generation whose principal desire is to feel [God] rather than worship Him.” - Rabbi Shmuley Boteach

”By degrees, attachment to the law sank deeper and deeper into the national character…. Hence the law became a deep and intricate study. Certain men rose to acknowledged eminence for their ingenuity in explaining, their readiness in applying, their facility in quoting, and their clearness in offering solutions of, the difficult passages of the written statutes” Cyclopaedia of Biblical, Theological, and Ecclesiastical Literature

“Prosperity knits a man to the world. He feels that he is finding his place in it, while really it is finding its place in him.” - CS Lewis, Screwtape Letters

How can the dead bury their own dead? This is normally taken metaphorically: "Let the spiritually dead bury the physically dead." This reading would make good on the change of life for which Jesus calls, particularly with regard to the reconstruction of one's dispositions and behaviors and of one's self-identity. Contemporary Jewish funerary customs make possible another reading. The practice of primary burial (in which the corpse is placed in a sealed tomb) followed by secondary burial (following a twelve-month period of decomposition the bones were collected and reburied in an ossuary or "bone box"') is well attested, with the additional twelve months between burial and reburial providing for the completion of the work of mourning. According to this reckoning, Jesus' proverbial saying would refer to the physically dead in both instances: "Let those already dead in the family tomb rebury their own dead." In either case, Jesus' disrespect for such a venerable practice rooted in OT law is matched only by the authority he manifests by asserting the priority of the claims of discipleship in the kingdom of God. In this way, Luke brings to a close his introduction to the journey narrative by asserting through the repetition of rigorous demands the nature of commitment required of those who would follow Jesus on the journey. Joel Green

“The Lord had not committed himself to my plans. The Lord had committed himself to me. Learning the difference was what was to make up the long arc of the Christian life. We are not most changed by what we think or feel or by what happened. We are most changed by what we depend on. And nothing has disfigured me more cruelly than my dependence on myself.” John Andrew Bryant

Listen along as we look at Matthew 19 and look at Jesus' interaction with the rich young ruler.

Notes//Quotes:

Matthew 19:16-30 - Faith

“It is wrong if eternal life is an additional “acquisition,” if one wants the spiritual as a complement to all the other good things one has—physical, financial, social, and the like. “I am a successful businessman, a good father, and respected in my community; now I want to be a success with God as well.” Service clubs sometimes seek such well-roundedness in their members, but the idea of eternal life as the acquisition of an upwardly mobile person is offensive to Jesus. Eternal life is not spiritual real estate for a person on the make.”
— Dale Bruner

“It is not difficult in such a world to get a person interested in the message of the gospel; it is terrifically difficult to sustain the interest. Millions of people in our culture make decisions for Christ, but there is a dreadful attrition rate. Many claim to have been born again, but the evidence for mature Christian discipleship is slim. In our kind of culture, anything, even news about God, can be sold if it is packaged freshly; but when it loses its novelty, it goes on the garbage heap. There is a great market for religious experience in our world; there is a little enthusiasm for the patient acquisition of virtue, little inclination to sign up for a long apprenticeship in what earlier generations of Christians called holiness…Everyone is in a hurry. The persons whom I lead in worship, among whom I counsel, visit, pray, preach, and teach, want short cuts. They want me to help them fill out the form that will get them instant credit (in eternity). They are impatient for results. They have adopted the lifestyle of a tourist and only want the high points. But a pastor is not a tour guide. I have no interest in telling apocryphal religious stories at and around dubiously identified sacred sites. The Christian life cannot mature under such conditions and in such ways.
—Eugene Peterson

“Americans profoundly underestimate how rich they are compared to the rest of the world. The average U.S. resident estimated that the global median individual income is about $20,000 a year. In fact, the real answer is about a tenth of that figure: roughly $2,100 per year….What explains these misperceptions? Human beings draw heavily on their own local, lived experience to make judgments about the wider world. As individuals’ own incomes rise, and therefore the incomes of those around them, so too do their overestimates of the global median income.”
— Gautam Nair, PhD political science at Yale University

Questions:
1. Do I think that God has a price? Am I transactional with Him?
2. Am I attempting to speed God up?
3. If God were to ask me for __________ could I and would I give it to Him?
4. Am I generous with my wealth and what percentage of it goes to Kingdom priorities

Listen along as we look at John 6 and the hard sayings of Jesus.

Notes//Quotes:

John 6:52-60 - Jack A.

“Jesus offers himself as God's doorway into the life that is truly life. Confidence in him leads us today, as in other times, to become his apprentices in eternal living. "Those who come through me will be safe," he said. "They will go in and out and find all they need. I have come into their world that they may have life, and life to the limit.” In other words, eternal life is not primarily duration but quality of life, "life to the limit." It cannot be stolen from us, and so it does go on. But the focus is on the life itself. "In him was life," the apostle John said of Jesus, "and that life was the light of men.” - Dallas Willard

“There have been five chapters of John's Gospel leading up to this point; they establish the frame of reference into which eating Jesus' flesh and drinking his blood actually fits. Come to him and believe in him as Nicodemus was taught to do (John 3), as were the woman at the well and the other folk from Sychar in the next chapter. And in chapter five, you've got the reality of Jesus healing the cripple, and restoring to him a life that he didn't have before.The Jews were understandably bewildered because they didn't know that Calvary was coming, and so they scratched their heads and asked the question which at that stage was unanswerable, really: "How can this man give us his flesh to eat?” The reference Jesus made to eating his flesh and drinking his blood is a metaphorical way of describing the person who draws on, claims, or lays hold of the reality of his atoning sacrifice by putting personal faith in him. We've constantly got to come back to that. It all adds up, you see. And this is something that I find myself wanting to say over and over again to people who ask me about difficult Scriptures. If you read what leads up to them in the book from which they come, again and again you'll find that the problem answers itself, because the foundation for resolving it has already been laid.” - JI Packer

Hebrews 11:1-3,6

If Christ be anything He must be everything. O rest not till love and faith in Jesus be the master passions of your soul! Charles Spurgeon

Listen along as we continue our series looking at the hard sayings of Jesus.

Notes//Quotes:

Matthew 10:34-39 - Karen W Reading

“Don’t think I’ve come to make life cozy. I’ve come to cut—make a sharp knife-cut between son and father, daughter and mother, bride and mother-in-law—cut through these cozy domestic arrangements and free you for God. Well-meaning family members can be your worst enemies. If you prefer father or mother over me, you don’t deserve me. If you prefer son or daughter over me, you don’t deserve me.
- Matthew 10:34–37 (MSG)

“Since the prophets always promise that under the reign of Christ there will be peace and tranquil times, what else would the disciples have hoped for, but that everything would at once be pacified, wherever they should travel?” - John Calvin

“Jesus enters earth, he enters the world, and he lays claim now, as a king from another kingdom, on every human heart. “I am worthy of greater affection, greater love, greater allegiance than any member of your family.” If all the family members respond to Jesus this way, you’ve got peace. But if they don’t, if there is anger because Jesus has become more important than family bonds and family affections, then a sword cuts right through the relationship. We’ve all tasted this in some ways.” - John Piper

“And he is the head of the body, the church. He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in everything he might be preeminent.”
- Colossians 1:18 (ESV)

“If you don’t go all the way with me, through thick and thin, you don’t deserve me. If your first concern is to look after yourself, you’ll never find yourself. But if you forget about yourself and look to me, you’ll find both yourself and me."
- Matthew 10:38-39 (MSG)

“Jesus is not triumphalist about the future of Christian mission; he knows that his mission is a rugged minority movement, a tough, divisive affair, and he prefers to make this clear rather than to give false hopes. “The gate is wide and the way pleasant that leads to destruction, and many people [a majority] go this route; but the gate is narrow and the way is tough that leads to real life, and very few people [a minority] find this way” (7:13–14). The effect of this minority movement as it moves aggressively into the massive majority culture is bound to be friction. Jesus does not want his disciples to expect great triumphs and then, when persecution, hostility, and rejection are their experience, to feel betrayed. “This is the way it goes,” Jesus assures them; in fact, “this is the way I plan it to go.”” — Dale Bruner

Questions:
1. Am I a jerk?

In what aspects of my life am I tempted to tell Jesus to take a back seat in? What threatens my allegiance to Him?

“Anything that becomes more important and nonnegotiable to us than God becomes an enslaving idol. In this paradigm, we can locate idols by looking at our most unyielding emotions. What makes us uncontrollably angry, anxious, or despondent? What racks us with a guilt we can’t shake? Idols control us, since we feel we must have them or life is meaningless.” —Timothy Keller

To whom am I truly aligned?

Listen along as we begin our new series through the hard sayings of Jesus.

Notes//Quotes:

Luke 2:40-52 - Mike Reading

“If you believe what you like in the Gospel, and reject what you don't like, it is not the Gospel you believe, but yourself.” - Augustine

“You can safely assume you’ve created God in your own image when it turns out God hates all the same people you do.” - Anne Lamott

“I can state unequivocally that childlike surrender in trust is the defining spirit of authentic discipleship. And I would add that the supreme need in most of our lives is often the most overlooked—namely, the need for an uncompromising trust in the love of God.” - Brennan Manning

A faith without some doubts is like a human body without any antibodies in it. People who blithely go through life too busy or indifferent to ask hard questions about why they believe as they do will find themselves defenseless against either the experience of tragedy or the probing questions of a smart skeptic. A person's faith can collapse almost overnight if she has failed over the years to listen patiently to her own doubts, which should only be discarded after long reflection. Believers should acknowledge and wrestle with doubts — not only their own but their friends' and neighbors'. It is no longer sufficient to hold beliefs just because you inherited them. Only if you struggle long and hard with objections to your faith will you be able to provide the grounds for your beliefs to skeptics, including yourself, that are plausible rather than ridiculous or offensive. And, just as important for our current situation, such a process will lead you, even after you come to a position of strong faith, to respect and understand those who doubt. - Tim Keller

“Doubt your doubts. Be skeptical of your own skepticism. Why? Because you realize that you are not completely objective.” Tim Keller

Listen along as we look at Colossians 3 and meditate on the invitation to transformation.

Notes//Quotes:

Colossians 3:12-17 Zyler Reading

“Spiritual formation in a Christian tradition answers a specific human question: 'What kind of person am I going to be?' It is the process of establishing the character of Christ in the person.” Dallas Willard

“How much misery we would avoid if we permitted “the peace of Christ” to umpire in our hearts. How many words we would hold back if he were the arbitrator in our lives. How many sleepless nights we would forego if we did that. How the Church needs this too, “since as members of one body you were called to peace.”
Kent Hughes

Revelation 3:20

“The Jesus way wedded to the Jesus truth brings about the Jesus life. Jesus as the truth gets far more attention than Jesus as the way. Jesus as the way is the most frequently evaded metaphor among the Christians with whom I have worked for fifty years as a North American pastor.” Eugene Peterson

“Spiritual formation is the slowest of all human movements.” - James Houston

“A black belt is just a white belt who never quit.” A saint is just an ordinary apprentice who stayed at it with Jesus. John Mark Comer

The story of my life, which I am about to record, is one full of striking incident. Keener pangs, deeper joys, more singular vicissitudes, few have been led in God’s providence to experience. As I look back on it through the vista of more than eighty years, and scene after scene rises before me, an ever fresh wonder fills my mind. I delight to recall it. I dwell on it as did the Jews on the marvelous history of their rescue from the bondage of Egypt. Time has touched with its mellowing fingers its sterner features. The sufferings of the past are now like a dream and the enduring lessons left behind, make me to praise God that my soul has been tempered by Him in so fiery a furnace under such heavy blows. - Josiah Henson

Christianity is more than a theory about the universe, more than teachings written down on paper; it is a path along which we journey—in the deepest and richest sense, the way of life.
Kallistos Ware

“Your current habits are perfectly designed to deliver your current results.” James Clear

Listen along as we wrap up our advent series and reflect on the resurrection and return of Jesus.

Notes//Quotes:

1 Cor 15:1-8

1 Cor 15:17-19

“A man who was merely a man and said the sort of things Jesus said would not be a great moral teacher. He would either be a lunatic–on a level with the man who says he is a poached egg–or else he would be the Devil of Hell. You must make your choice. Either this man was, and is, the Son of God: or else a madman or something worse…. You can shut Him up for a fool, you can spit at Him and kill Him as a demon; or you can fall at His feet and call Him Lord and God. But let us not come up with any patronising nonsense about His being a great human teacher. He has not left that open to us. He did not intend to.” C.S. Lewis

1 Cor 15:20-26

No more let sins and sorrows grow, 
Nor thorns infest the ground;
 He comes to make His blessings flow 
Far as the curse is found
Issac Watts

I arrived to find myself already loved.
A forgiveness preceding, exceeding
my first crime and my last.
A prior mercy,
a predestined grace.
Anticipating my shame
a welcome offered,
a healing before the pain.

I had imagined it to be my task
to close the distance between us,
to cross the chasm,
scale the height.
My fault dictating my duty,
though futile and impossible.

But I looked up
hearing the angels sing
to find you already here.

-- Richard Beck Incarnation

John 3:16-17

1 Thess 4:13-18

We must remind ourselves yet once more that all Christian language about the future is a set of signposts pointing into a mist. Signposts don’t normally provide you with advance photographs of what you’ll find at the end of the road, but that doesn’t mean they aren’t pointing in the right direction. NT Wright

In a very deep sense, the entire christian life in this world is lived in Advent, between the first and second comings of the Lord, in the midst of the tension between things the way they are and things the way they ought to be. -Fleming Rutledge

Revelation 21:1-8

Listen along as we continue our Advent series.

Notes/Quotes:

Mark 10:32-45 - Kim JTitle: Suffering Savior “31 And he began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders and the chief priests and the scribes and be killed, and after three days rise again. 32 And he said this plainly. And Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him.” (Mark 8:31-32) “but that's not what's going on here at all. And why not, you may say? If God is really a loving God, why doesn't he just forgive everybody? Why did Jesus have to go through suffering into death? Why did he have to be a ransom?……Here’s the beginning of an answer: Jesus didn't have to die, despite God's love; he had to die because of God's love. And it had to be this way, because all of life-changing love is substitutionary sacrifice.”- Timothy Keller “The only way that Jesus could redeem us was to give his life as a ransom. God couldn’t just say, “I forgive everybody.” In the creation, God could say, “Let there be light,” and there was light. God could say, “Let there be vegetation,” and there was vegetation. God could say “Let there be sun, moon, stars,” and there were sun, moon, and stars (Genesis 1). But he couldn’t just say, “Let there be forgiveness.” That’s simply not the way forgiveness works. God created the world in an instant, and it was a beautiful process. He re-created the world on the cross —and it was a horrible process. That’s how it works. Love that really changes things and redeems things is always a substitutionary sacrifice.” - Timothy Keller “The way up is downward That is not a contradiction, but it is a paradox. Sink, and you shall rise. Be willing to serve the very least, and you shall have honour amongst your brethren. Remember that the King of kings was the servant of servants.”- Charles Spurgeon Jesus can you take the timeTo throw a drowning man a linePeace on EarthTo tell the ones who hear no soundWhose sons are living in the groundPeace on EarthJesus in the song you wroteThe words are sticking in my throatPeace on EarthHear it every Christmas timeBut hope and history won't rhymeSo what's it worth?This peace on Earth— U2

Listen as we continue our series through Advent.

Notes//Quotes:

Slide 1 Jesus was born to perfectly fulfill all of the commandments that Israel had failed to honor. Slide 2 “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them, but to fulfill them.”Matthew 5:17 Slide 3 “And beginning with Moses and the prophets, he interpreted to them in all the scriptures the things concerning himself.”Luke 24:27 Slide 4 “Jesus says that He came to fulfill the Law and the Prophets. In other words, Jesus’ purpose was to establish the Word, to embody it, and to fully accomplish all that was written. “Christ is the culmination of the law” (Romans 10:4). The predictions of the Prophets concerning the Messiah would be realized in Jesus; the holy standard of the Law would be perfectly upheld by Christ, the strict requirements personally obeyed, and the ceremonial observances finally and fully satisfied.”Gotquestions.org Slide 5 Jesus was born to reverse the damage that Adam had inflicted on creation. Slide 6 “Therefore, as one trespass led to condemnation for all men, so one act of righteousness leads to justification and life for all men. For as by the one man's disobedience the many were made sinners, so by the one man's obedience the many will be made righteous.”Romans 5:18-19 Slide 7 “All who are ordinary descendants of Adam are in Adam until by regeneration, faith, and repentance they move from being in Adam to being in Christ. If we are in Christ by faith alone, we receive forgiveness of sin and our Lord’s perfect righteousness, by which we are accepted by God…In sum, those who are in Christ will get back what they lost in Adam, but more accurately, what we will get back will be better than what we lost. As John Calvin comments, “[Adam] by his fall ruined himself and those that were his, because he drew them all, along with himself, into the same ruin: Christ came to restore our nature from ruin, and raise it up to a better condition than ever.” Christ can do this because He is the last Adam, the federal head whom God appointed in His mercy to stand in for us so that we will become the glorified saints God intends us to be.”Ligonier Ministries Slide 8 Jesus was born to assure us that He understands our lives. Slide 9 “For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin. Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.”Hebrews 4:15-16 Slide 10“For thirty-three years Jesus felt everything you and I have felt. He grew weary. He was afraid of failure. He got colds, he burped, he had body odor. His feelings got hurt, his feet got tired, his head ached.To think of Jesus in such a light is…well, it seems almost irreverent, doesn’t it? It’s uncomfortable. It is much easier to keep the humanity out of the incarnation. Clean the manure from around the manger. Wipe the sweat out of his eyes. He’s easier to handle that way. Something about keeping him divine also keeps him distant, packaged, and predictable.For heaven’s sake don’t do it. Let him be as human as he intended to be. Let him into the mire and muck of our world. For only if we let him in, can he pull us out.”Max Lucado Slide 11 Jesus was born to be the mediator between God and mankind, to bridge the gap between us and God. Slide 12 (both verses on one slide) “For he is not a man, as I am, that I might answer him, that we should come to trial together.There is no arbiter between us, who might lay his hand on us both.”Job 9:32-33 “For there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, who gave Himself as a ransom for all, which is the testimony given at the proper time.” 1 Tim 2:5-6 Slide 13“Out of the deep darkness that surrounds this suffering saint, a ray of light breaks through. It is the first break in Job's gloom. What is needed is a mediator, an arbitrator who can come between us, who understands us both and brings us together, Job says. For the first time in this book we begin to see what God is producing in this man, why he is putting him through this protracted trial. For now Job begins to feel, deep in his bones, the nature of reality: the terrible gulf between man and God that must be bridged by another party.We who live in the full light of the New Testament know that he is crying out and feeling deep within the need for just such a mediator as Jesus himself. Job is laying the foundation here in his own understanding for the tremendous revelation that comes in the New Testament when God becomes man. God takes our place, lives as we live, feels as we feel, solves the great problem between us and God, and brings the two—God and man—together. For the first time in Job, we begin to sense what God is driving at.”Ray Stedman Slide 14 Jesus was born to restore mankind to the exalted position for which we were created. Slide 15 “Advent is a chance not only to celebrate Jesus’ taking of human flesh but also his keeping of it. It wasn’t a mere 33-year stint—impressive as that would have been. Jesus is forever the God-man. He is glorious not merely in assuming our human nature but in remaining our brother and continuing as the visible “image of the invisible God.” To put it in the apostle John’s language, the Word became flesh. His humanity isn’t a costume. The eternal divine Son didn’t simply make a cameo in the created world. He forever joined our humanity to his divinity and for all eternity will be fully God and fully man. David Mathis Slide 16One of the doctrines in the area of Christology that is difficult for some Christians to fully grasp is the permanent humanity of Christ. The impression often seems to be that the Son of God came down from heaven in incarnate form, spent three decades or so as a human, and then returned to heaven to revert back to his preincarnate state.But this is Christological error, if not outright heresy. The Son of God clothed himself with humanity and will never unclothe himself. He became a man and always will be. This is the significance of the doctrine of Christ’s ascension: he went into heaven with the very body, reflecting his full humanity, that was raised out of the tomb. He is and always has been divine as well, of course. But his humanity, once taken on, will never end.”Dane Ortlund Slide 17 Have a wonder-filled Christmas

Isaiah 9:2-7

In general the whole Liturgical calendar is set up so that you never have celebration without preparation. Advent is focused more on preparation. Advent is designed to call us into rest, into reflection and into hope for what’s next. That’s what Christians are focusing on when they celebrate Advent. - Tish Harrison Warren

The entire thrust of this season is designed to bring us face-to-face with reality—reality about sin and death, reality about the human race, reality about God. Something ultimate has entered our world, something or Someone that calls us to attention, calls us out of our daily preoccupations and our routine points of view. That is what this season with its special biblical readings is designed to reveal - Fleming Rutledge

“It is because of His humanity and His incarnation that Christ becomes sweet to us, and through Him God becomes sweet to us. Let us therefore begin to ascend step by step from Christ’s crying in His swaddling clothes up to His Passion. Then we shall easily know God. I am saying this so that you do not begin to contemplate God from the top, but start with the weak elements. We should best ourselves completely with treating, knowing, and considering this man. Then you will know that He is the Way, the Truth, and the Life.”
Martin Luther

May the Lord make you glad during this remembrance of the birth of His only Son, Jesus Christ; that as you joyfully receive Him for your redeemer, you may with sure confidence behold Him when He shall come to be our judge.
Book of Common Prayer (1928)

“Assyria’s masters are planning to conquer the whole earth (Is. 5:25-29) Her greed is reckless, her weapons devastating, her armies formidable, crushing all resistance, sweeping to victories. No one seems to question her invincibility except Isaiah, who foresees the doom of the oppressor, the collapse of the monster.” Abraham Heschel

“Look at how a single candle can both defy and define the darkness.” ―Anne Frank

This good news offers another opportunity for rebellious people to turn from trusting in political alliances, mediums, and the spirits of the dead because God is their only true source of hope. Neither Ahaz nor any modern political figure can ever hope to bring about an era of perfect peace and justice. Only God’s wonderful plans will bring about these ideals, not the plans of Ahaz (8:10) or any other fast talking politician. God’s promises will only be accomplished through his chosen messianic ruler, so placing trust in any other solution is folly. - Gary Smith

Matthew 1:9, 21-23, 2:5-6

I fled Him, down the nights and down the days;
I fled Him, down the arches of the years;
I fled Him, down the labyrinthine ways
Of my own mind; and in the mist of tears
I hid from Him, and under running laughter.
Up vistaed hopes I sped;
And shot, precipitated,
Adown Titanic glooms of chasmèd fears,
From those strong Feet that followed, followed after.
But with unhurrying chase,
And unperturbèd pace,
Deliberate speed, majestic instancy,
They beat—and a Voice beat
More instant than the Feet—
‘All things betray thee, who betrayest Me.’
Francis Thompson

In the church, this is the season of Advent. It’s superficially understood as a time to get ready for Christmas, but in truth it’s the season for contemplating the judgment of God. Advent is the season that, when properly understood, does not flinch from the darkness that stalks us all in this world. Advent begins in the dark and moves toward the light—but the season should not move too quickly or too glibly, lest we fail to acknowledge the depth of the darkness. Advent bids us take a fearless inventory of the darkness: the darkness without and the darkness within. - Fleming Rutledge

Listen along as we wrap up our series through the Proverbs.

Notes//Quotes:

Kim J reading - Proverbs 27:1-10, 17

“In the bible wisdom is certainly not less than being moral and good but it’s much more. It’s being so in touch with reality that you know what is the right thing to do in the vast majority of the situations that the moral rules don’t apply to. The vast majority of your choices, your decisions, you’re going have a whole lot of different choices in front of you and in most cases no matter what your understanding of morality is, no matter what your moral standards are there will be many many many options that are all moral, they are all allowable morally but which one is the wise one? Wisdom is the ability to know what the right thing is to do in the situations that the moral rules don’t address!” - Tim Keller

“Financial capital - the wherewithal for mass marketing - has steadily replaced social capital - that is, grassroots citizen networks - as the coin of the realm.” - Robert Putnam, Bowling Alone

“Our epidemic of loneliness and isolation has been an under appreciated public health crisis that has harmed individual and societal health. Our relationships are a source of healing and well-being hiding in plain sight – one that can help us live healthier, more fulfilled, and more productive lives. Given the significant health consequences of loneliness and isolation, we must prioritize building social connection the same way we have prioritized other critical public health issues such as tobacco, obesity, and substance use disorders. Together, we can build a country that’s healthier, more resilient, less lonely, and more connected.” Vivek Murthy, US Surgeon General

“You can make more friends in two months by becoming interested in other people than you can in two years by trying to get other people interested in you.” - Dale Carnegie

“Two sayings in chapter 27 give the two sides to this: the cheering effect of fellowship, and the healthy clash of personalities or views. A true friendship should have both elements, the reassuring and the bracing”. - Derek Kidner

Proverbs 18:24

“Friendship requires a foundation, an affinity, a common love, a common vision that can’t be created that can only be discovered.” - Tim Keller

Matthew 11:18-19

John 15:12-17

Listen alongs as we continue our series in Proverbs.

Notes//Quotes:

Proverbs 2:1-22

“Hate can be a deeply stimulating emotion. The world becomes much easier to understand and much less terrifying if you divide everything and everyone into friends and enemies, we and they, good and evil. The easiest way to unite a group isn’t through love, because love is hard. It makes demands. Hate is simple. So the first thing that happens in a conflict is that we choose a side, because that’s easier than trying to hold two thoughts in our heads at the same time. The second thing that happens is that we seek out facts that confirm what we want to believe—comforting facts, ones that permit life to go on as normal. The third is that we dehumanize our enemy.” - Frederik Backman

Mark 10:17-22
John 16:31-33
Matthew 11:25-30

In this way only we attain to what is not to say difficult but altogether against nature, to love those that hate us, render good for evil, and blessing for cursing, remembering that we are not to reflect on the wickedness of men, but look to the image of God in them, an image which, covering and obliterating their faults, should by its beauty and dignity allure us to love and embrace them.
—John Calvin

Listen along as we continue our series through Proverbs.

Notes//Quotes:

Prov 18:22 & 21:19 - Mike Reading
Title: Blessing Or Ball & Chain

“So where did this pessimism come from, and why is it so out of touch with reality? Paradoxically, it may be that the pessimism comes from a new kind of unrealistic idealism about marriage, born of a significant shift in our culture’s, understanding of the purpose of marriage. Legal scholar John Witte, Jr., says that the earlier "ideal of marriage as a permanent contractual union designed for the sake of mutual love, procreation, and protection, is slowly giving way to a new reality of marriage as a ‘terminal sexual contract’ designed for the gratification of the individual parties. Witte points out that in western civilizations there of been several competing views of what the “form and function” of marriage should be. The first two were in the Catholic and Protestant perspectives. Though different in many particulars, they both taught that the purpose of marriage was to create a framework for lifelong devotion and love between a husband and a wife. It was a solemn bond, designed to help each party subordinate individual impulses, and interests in favor of the relationship, to be a sacrament of God's love (the Catholic emphasis) and serve the common good the (Protestant Emphasis). Marriage created by bringing male and female into a binding partnership. In particular, lifelong marriage, was seen as creating, the only kind of social stability in which children could grow and thrive. The reason that society had a vested interest in the institution of marriage, was because children could not flourish as well in any other kind of environment. However, Witte explains that a new view of marriage emerged from the 18th and 19th century Enlightenment. Older cultures taught their members to find meaning in duty, by embracing their assigned social roles, and caring them out faithfully. During the Enlightenment, things begin to shift. The meaning of life came to be seen as the fruit of the freedom of the individual to choose the life that most fulfills him or her personally. Instead of finding meaning, through self denial, through giving up one's freedom, and binding oneself to the duties of marriage and family, marriage was redefined as finding emotional and sexual fulfillment and self actualization. Proponents of this new approach, did not see the essence of marriage as located in either its divine sacramental symbolism or as a social bond given to benefit the broader human commonwealth. Rather, marriage was seen as a contract between two parties for mutual individual growth and satisfaction. In this view, married persons married for themselves, not to fulfill responsibilities to God, or society. Parties should, therefore, be allowed to conduct their marriage in anyway they deemed beneficial to them, and no obligation to church, tradition, or broader community should be imposed on them. In short, the Enlightenment, privatized marriage, taking it out of the public sphere, and redefined its purpose as individual gratification, not any "broader, good" such as reflecting God’s nature, producing character, or raising children. Slowly, but surely, this newer understanding of the meaning of marriage has displaced the older ones in western culture.
- Timothy Keller

“The sage, is writing from the perspective of the man. As one looks at a pig and sees only the gold ring, so is a man who is so enamored by a woman’s physical beauty that he does not recognize her lack of discretion. The sage is warning those who will listen that the beauty is not worth all the problems that a woman’s indiscretion will bring to him. Later, in the poem concerning the virtuous woman, the sage will affirm that what is really important is not charm or beauty, but rather a woman’s fear of Yahweh. “Beauty without wisdom is the height of incongruity.”
- Tremper Longman

“Destructive to marriage is the self fulfillment ethic that assumes marriage and the family are primarily institutions of personal fulfillment, necessary for us to become "whole" and happy. The assumption is that there is someone right for us to marry, and then, if we look closely enough, we will find the right person. This moral assumption overlooks a crucial aspect to marriage. It fails to appreciate the fact that we always marry the wrong person. We never know whom we marry; we just think we do. Or even if we first, marry the right person, just give it a while, and he or she will change. For marriage, being (the enormous thing it is) means we are not the same person after we have entered it. The primary problem is… learning how to love and care for the stranger to whom you find yourself married.”
- Stanley Hauerwas

Listen along as we continue to see God's wisdom for life.

Notes//Quotes:

Kim J reading -
Prov 6:6-11, 3:9-10, 23:4-5

Gen 2:15-17,
Gen 1:27-28

Prov 10:4
Prov 15:6
Prov 22:1-2,
Prov 23:5

“The works of monks and priests, however holy and arduous they be, do not differ one whit in the sight of God from the works of the rustic laborer in the field or the woman going about her household tasks, but that all works are measured before God by faith alone… Indeed, the menial housework of a manservant or maidservant is often more acceptable to God than all the fastings and other works of a monk or priest, because the monk or priest lacks faith.” Martin Luther

Col 3:17, Col 3:25

Our work can be a calling only if it is reimagined as a mission of service to something beyond merely our own interests. Thinking of work mainly as a means of self-fulfillment and self-realization slowly crushes a person. - Tim Keller and Katherine Alsdorf

“The Church’s approach to an intelligent carpenter is usually confined to exhorting him not to be drunk and disorderly in his leisure hours, and to come to church on Sundays. What the church should be telling him is this: that the very first demand that his religion makes upon him is that he should make good tables. Church by all means, and decent forms of amusement, certainly—but what us is all that if in the very center of his life and occupation he is insulting God with bad carpentry? No crooked table legs or ill fitting drawers ever, I dare swear, came out of the carpenter’s shop at Nazareth. Nor, if they did, couple anyone believe that they were made by the same hand that made heaven and earth. - Dorthy Sayers

1 Cor 15:57-58,

Everyone will be forgotten, nothing we do will make any difference, and all good endeavours, even the best, will come to naught. Unless there is God. If the God of the Bible exists, and there is a True Reality beneath and behind this one, and this life is not the only life, then every good endeavour, even the simplest ones, pursued in response to God's calling, can matter forever. - Tim Keller

Listen in as we continue our series through the Proverbs.

Notes//Quotes:

Prov 3:1-12 - Linda B
Proverbs 3:1-12

Proverbs 26:11, 1
Prov 5:17,
Prov 11:22

They were happy, or at least as happy as a family can be when it's burdened by a grief too large to be absorbed by time. - Frederick Backman

“The parents’ chief resource is constructive, namely their ‘law’, taught with loving persistence. This ‘law’ (tôrâ) is a wide term which includes commands (cf. 3:1; 7:2) but is not confined to them: basically it means direction, and its aim here is to foster wise habits of thought and action.” Derek Kinder

Prov 22:6,
Prov 17:6
Prov 22:15

“It must be borne in mind that the application of any proverb depends on the people involved as well as the situation. These proverbs do not imply that parents must apply physical punishment when they judge that a simple verbal reprimand will do. Discipline is never to be done out of anger or hate or a desire to harm, but out of love and a desire that the person improve. In this way, the parent follows the model of God, who disciplines his children.” - Tremper Longman

In every moment when you are parenting, you are being parented. In every moment when you are called to give grace, you are being given grace. In every moment when you are rescuing and protecting your children, you are being rescued and protected. In every moment when you feel alone, you are anything but alone because he goes wherever you go. - Paul Tripp

Matthew 18:1-6

Listen in as we lean into God's wisdom for life today.

Notes//Quotes:

Proverbs 4:20-27

“Listen to your life. See it for the fathomless mystery it is. In the boredom and pain of it, no less than in the excitement and gladness: touch, taste, smell your way to the holy and hidden heart of it, because in the last analysis all moments are key moments, and life itself is grace.” - Frederick Beuchner

The father is vitally concerned to keep his son moving on the right path in his life. In many ways, this discourse is an admonition like the previous one. It does not mention God explicitly, but by invoking the two-path theology, it does so implicitly, since the father’s path is the one that is associated with God. The admonition to the son here is to focus all of his energies on staying on the right path and avoiding the evil path. Again, this underlines the idea that wisdom entails a lifetime of work and not a single decision. - Tremper Longman

Matthew 7:13-14

“A major part of godliness lies in dogged attentiveness to familiar truths. So a kind of medical inspection follows, in which one’s state of readiness in the various realms symbolized by heart, mouth, eyes and feet, comes under review.” - Derek Kidner

The way of freedom isn’t found in grasping for God’s omniscience, but in grasping for God’s hand.This freedom, though, isn’t synonymous with safety. In fact, sometimes it’s risky. Bethany Jenkins

Surrendering
Asking
Listening
Consulting
Going

When despair for the world grows in me and I wake in the night at the least sound in fear of what my life and my children’s lives may be, I go and lie down where the wood drake rests in his beauty on the water, and the great heron feeds. I come into the peace of wild things who do not tax their lives with forethought of grief. I come into the presence of still water. And I feel above me the day-blind stars waiting with their light. For a time I rest in the grace of the world, and am free.
Wendell Berry

“Love God and do whatever you will: for the soul trained in love to God will do nothing to offend the One who is Beloved.” - Augustine

Prov 16:1-3
Prov 16:9

“I see an opportunity. I don’t see anybody else taking the opportunity. I feel an obligation to come. I think it’s a good idea. I think God’s calling me. But I can’t be absolutely sure. I can be sure that I must not lie; it’s in the Bible. I can be sure that I must not bow down to idols; it’s in the Bible. I’m sure of a lot of things that are God’s will. But as far as I know, I won’t be sure that I’m called to plant a church until it happens.” When people would persist, saying, “Didn’t you have a peace about it?” I’d reply: “No, it was too hard of a decision. It was too scary. But I know this: guidance is as much something God does as it is something he gives. Therefore, I knew that by selling my house and moving up here and signing a three-year lease that, if I failed to plant a church, God was preparing me for something I couldn’t envision.” - Tim Keller

Listen along as we continue learn wisdom as we look through the Proverbs.

Notes//Quotes:

Larry & Jorgen reading, Proverbs 10:18,19,31,32; 12:13,14,17,18; 15:1,4; 16:23,28; 18:13,21; 24:26

“There is one whose rash words are like sword thrusts,  but the tongue of the wise brings healing.”
Proverbs 12:8

“Death and life are in the power of the tongue.”
Proverbs 18:21

“A dishonest man spreads strife, and a whisperer separates close friends.”
Proverbs 16:28

“an evil man is trapped by his sinful talk”...“From the fruit of his mouth a man eats what is good”
Proverbs 12:13 & 13:2

“2 For we all stumble in many ways. And if anyone does not stumble in what he says, he is a perfect man, able also to bridle his whole body. 3 If we put bits into the mouths of horses so that they obey us, we guide their whole bodies as well. 4 Look at the ships also: though they are so large and are driven by strong winds, they are guided by a very small rudder wherever the will of the pilot directs. 5 So also the tongue is a small member, yet it boasts of great things"
James 3:2-5

“he who conceals his hatred has lying lips”
Proverbs 10:18

The characteristics of words:
1. Truthful and honest rather than deceptive.
2. Kind and gentle rather than rash.
3. Wise and apt rather than careless.
4. Forthright and courageous rather than gossip.
5. Economical rather than impulsiveness.

“Whoever speaks the truth gives honest evidence, but a false witness utters deceit.”
Proverbs 12:17

“a soft answer turns away wrath.”
Proverbs 15:1

“With patience a ruler may be persuaded, and a soft tongue will break a bone.”
Proverbs 25:15

“The lips of the righteous know what is acceptable…”
Proverbs 10:32

“A word fitly spoken is like apples of gold in a setting of silver.”
Proverbs 25:10

“Whoever gives an honest answer kisses the lips.”
Proverbs 24:26

“When words are many, transgression is not lacking, but whoever restrains his lips is prudent.”
Proverbs 10:19

“Even a fool who keeps silent is considered wise; when he closes his lips, he is deemed intelligent.”
Proverbs 17:28

“out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks.”
Luke 6:45

Listen along as we begin a new series looking at the book of Proverbs.

Notes//Quotes:

Prov 1:1-7

“You’ve heard of the meat of the word and milk of the word, proverbs is the hard candy of the word. You don’t just swallow it. You don’t just bite into it. You have to let it dissolve very slowly on your tongue.” Tim Keller

The book of Proverbs opens by breaking up the plain daylight of wisdom (ḥokmâ) into its rainbow of constituent colours. Derek Kidner

“For my ally is the Force, and a powerful ally it is. Life creates it, makes it grow. Its energy surrounds us and binds us. Luminous beings are we, not this crude matter.” - Yoda

I used to wonder about that myself. Thought it was a bunch of mumbo jumbo: a magical power holding together good and evil, the dark side and the light. Crazy thing is...it’s true. The Force, the Jedi. All of it. It’s all true. - Hans Solo

In my experience, when you think you understand the Force, you realize just how little you know." - Ahsoka Tano

1-9 - 10 speeches calling to heed/listen to wisdom
10-29 - Collection of all sorts of sayings
30/31 - Wisdom from Agur//Lemuel

Prov 22:6
Prov 10:15
Ecc 5:10-12

Prov 3:5-8

1 Cor 1:18-30

Listen in as we hear from multiple people in our congregation.

Listen in as Bill Berve continues our series through the Psalms.

Notes//Quotes:

Psalm 37:1-7 - Larry and Jorgen

Do not fret because of evildoers,
Nor be envious of the workers of iniquity.
2 For they shall soon be cut down like the grass,
And wither as the green herb. Psalm 37:1-2

"When you're looking to the left or the right to see how you measure up to other people whether good or bad--you have an inability to see what God is doing for you. In the case of both envy and self-righteousness, the answer is found in looking to God-being thankful for what He has given you (including the opportunity for eternal life) and using Him as the standard for righteousness, which can only produce humility since we fall so woefully short." (excerpt from Comparison & Envy study)

Psalm 37:3-7 Trust in the Lord, and do good;
Dwell in the land, and feed on His faithfulness.
4 Delight yourself also in the Lord,
And He shall give you the desires of your heart.
5 Commit[a] your way to the Lord,
Trust also in Him,
And He shall bring it to pass.
6 He shall bring forth your righteousness as the light,
And your justice as the noonday.
7 Rest in the Lord, and wait patiently for Him;

“For I know the thoughts that I think toward you , says the Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope” Jer: 29:11

“Are not two sparrows sold for a copper coin. And not one of them falls to the ground apart from your Father’s will. Do not fear therefore you are of more value than many sparrow.” Matt; 10:29

Psalm 37:4 says, "Take delight in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart." Taking delight in the Lord means that our hearts truly find peace and fulfillment in Him. If we truly find satisfaction and worth in Christ, Scripture says He will give us the longings of our hearts. Does that mean, if we go to church every Sunday, God will give us a new Rolls Royce? No. The idea behind this verse and others like it is that, when we truly rejoice or "delight" in the eternal things of God, our desires will begin to parallel His and we will never go unfulfilled. Matthew 6:33 says, "But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things [the necessities of life] will be given to you as well.” F.B. Meyer

Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; 7 and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. 8 Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy—meditate on these things.
Philippians 4:6-8

Listen along as we continue our series through the Psalms.

Notes//Quotes:

Psalm 67:1-7 - Kim Slide 1 Big IdeaWhen it comes to God’s plan, it’s about us, but it’s about much MORE than us! Slide 2 “‘The Lord bless you and keep you;the Lord make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you;the Lord lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace.”Number 6:24-26 Slide 3… that your way may be known on earth, your saving power among all nations.Let the peoples praise you, O God; let all the peoples praise you.Let the nations be glad and sing for joy, for you judge the peoples with equity and guide the nations upon earth.Let the peoples praise you, O God; let all the peoples praise you.Palm 67:2-5 Slide 4“The psalmist had a beautiful scope in mind: not just Jerusalem, not just Judea, not just all of Israel, not just all the Middle East, not just all the Mediterranean world, not just his continent or hemisphere, but all the earth. God wants us to have the same heart and the same vision – for all the earth.”David Guzik Slide 5“These words are no vain repetition, but are a chorus worthy to be sung again and again. The great theme of the Psalm is the participation of the gentiles in the worship of Jehovah; the Psalmist is full of it, he hardly knows how to contain his joy.”Charles Spurgeon Slide 6“The goal of missions is the gladness of the peoples in the greatness of God … All of history is moving toward one great goal, the white-hot worship of God and His son among all the people of the earth.”John Piper Slide 7What is OUR part in the fulfillment of Psalm 67? Slide 8 (This is a photograph of the Union Philippines team - see attached JPEG Slide 9What is YOUR part in the fulfillment of Psalm 67? Slide 10 (This is a photo of a painting - see attached JPEG) Slide 11“This painting is not literal. It’s symbolic. It’s not about the Last Supper. It’s about the NEXT supper. The one where all the tribes of the earth will be invited.” Hyatt Moore

Listen along as we do an overview of the imprecatory Psalms.

Notes//Quotes:

Psalm 35:1-10

NGRAM Picture (attached)

Psalm 69:22-25
Psalm 58:6-9
Psalm 137:8-9

“In the ancient Near East in general, life was dominated by the need to cope with the terrifying threat of curses and omens” New Dictionary of Biblical Theology

The Psalms explore the full gamut of human experience from rage to hope. Indeed, it would be very strange if such a robust spirituality lacked such a dimension of vengeance, for we would conclude that just at the crucial point, robustness had turned to cowardice and propriety” Walter Brueggemann, Praying the Psalms

“Imprecations are appeals to the Judge of the earth to play the part of Judge” Peter Leithart

We must not either try to explain them away or to yield for one moment to the idea that, because it comes in the Bible, all this vindictive hatred must somehow be good and pious. We must face both facts squarely. The hatred is there – festering, gloating, undisguised – and also we should be wicked if we in any way condoned or approved it. These prayers of the psalmists "are indeed devilish”- CS Lewis

1 Sam 24:12-15

“The New Testament appears not in the least embarrassed with the Old Testament imprecations; on the contrary, it quotes freely from them as authoritative statements with which to support an argument. The New Testament not only quotes passages which, though themselves not imprecations, are found in a Psalm with an imprecatory section; but also, and this is more remarkable, it quotes with approval the imprecations themselves” Harry Mennega

“To pray “Thy kingdom come” is to invoke divine judgment on all other kingdoms and all those who oppose the reign of God. "When we pray as Jesus taught us, we cry out to God for His blessings upon His church and for His curses upon the kingdom of the evil one" James Adams, War Psalms of the Prince of Peace

When you approach God in prayer, don’t think of a majestic, almighty old man in the clouds. Picture a man with scars of suffering, eyes that have wept, ears that have heard hate, a mouth that’s hungered, a heart that’s bled. There is no more sympathetic listener than Christ. - Chad Bird

Listen along as we continue our series in the Psalms.

Notes//Quotes:

Psalm 51:1-19 - FaithTitle: The Gift Of Repentance “Repentance is a grace of God’s Spirit whereby a sinner is inwardly humbled and visibly reformed.”- Thomas Watson “Making a searching and fearless moral inventory of ourselves. Admitting to God, to ourselves, and to another human beings the exact nature of our wrongs. Being entirely ready to have God remove all these defects of character. And humbly asked Him to remove our shortcomings.”- Alcoholics Anonymous “As the Lord lives, the man who has done this deserves to die, and he shall restore the lamb fourfold, because he did this thing, and because he had no pity.” - 2 Sam. 12:5&6 “Better is open rebuke than hidden love. Faithful are the wounds of a friend; profuse are the kisses of an enemy.” - Proverbs 27:5-6 “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick; who can understand it?” - Jeremiah 17:9 “21 For from within, out of the heart of man, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, 22 coveting, wickedness, deceit, sensuality, envy, slander, pride, foolishness. 23 All these evil things come from within, and they defile a person.”- Mark 7:21-23 “…sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned…”- Romans 5:12 “The appalling misery of the human race can only be explained as a punishment upon sin. How can God, who certainly is good and just, subject all humans from their conception on to sin and death if they are completely innocent? An original moral debt must rest upon all; there is no other way to understand the crushing yoke that weighs upon all the children of Adam.” - Herman Bavnik “17 For if, because of one man's trespass, death reigned through that one man, much more will those who receive the abundance of grace and the free gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man Jesus Christ.18 Therefore, as one trespass led to condemnation for all men, so one act of righteousness leads to justification and life for all men. - Romans 5:17&18 “A broken heart cannot keep secrets. Now is all revealed, now its essence goes forth. Far too much of our praying, and of our worship, is like closed up boxes; you cannot tell what is in them. But it is not so with broken hearts; when broken hearts sing, they do sing. When broken hearts groan, they do groan. Broken hearts never play at repenting, nor play at believing…with broken hearts, the hymn is a real hymn, the prayer is a real prayer, the hearing of sermons is earnest work, and the preaching of them is the hardest work of all. Oh, what a mercy it would be if some of you were broken all to pieces! There are many flowers that will never yield their perfume till they are bruised.” —Charles Spurgeon Question:Am I being willfully blind? Quote:“O dear children of God, scorn your sins, lament your sins, weep over your sins! Indulge that feeling, and God will accept it when it is mixed with faith in his dear Son; for “the sacrifices of God”-that is, all sorts of sacrifices put together, sin-offerings, burnt offerings, peace-offerings, scape-goats, and all together-” the sacrifices of God are a broken spirit.” One broken spirit is worth them all. “A broken and a contrite heart,”-though there be but one such,-“O God, thou wilt not despise.” —Charles Spurgeon Prayer:23 Search me, O God, and know my heart!  Try me and know my thoughts!24 And see if there be any grievous way in me,  and lead me in the way everlasting!—Psalm 139:23&24

Listen along as we continue to learn prayer from the Psalms.

Notes//Quotes:

Psalm 142:1-7

1 Sam 22:1

Abraham debated. Moses protested. Jeremiah worried. And Elijah basically whined.

But Jonah? Jonah ran.

It's a reminder that arguing with God is not an obstacle to intimacy with God, but a primary channel into it. - Sharen Hodde Miller

A portrait of the righteous in the Psalms tells the true story: they find their refuge in God and, as a result, receive a righteousness from him that increasingly characterizes their lives. They also anticipate the coming of the Righteous One, in whose mouth the psalmists’ words find their ultimate fulfillment. Christopher Ash

1 Sam 22:2-3

“Not only that, but all who were down on their luck came around—losers and vagrants and misfits of all sorts. David became their leader. There were about four hundred in all.” - Eugene Peterson

2 Cor 4:6-12, 2 Cor 4:16-18

Listen along as we continue our series through the Psalms.

Notes//Quotes:

Psalm 19:1-14 - Mike G

Earth’s Moon is about 1/ 400th the diameter of the Sun, but it is also 1/ 400th as far from us, making the Sun and the Moon the same size on the sky—a coincidence not shared by any other planet–moon combination in the solar system, allowing for uniquely photogenic total solar eclipses. - Neil DeGrasse Tyson

Romans 1:20

Romans 8:20-22

We know Him by two means: First, by the creation, preservation, and government of the universe; which is before our eyes as a most elegant book, wherein all creatures, great and small, are as so many characters leading us to see clearly the invisible things of God, even his everlasting power and divinity, as the apostle Paul says in Romans 1:20. All which things are sufficient to convince men and leave them without excuse. Secondly, He makes Himself more clearly and fully known to us by His holy and divine Word; that is to say, as far as is necessary for us to know in this life, to His glory and our salvation. Belgic Confession of Faith (1561)

Forgetting the awesome and glorious One who made it all and holds it all together by the sheer power of his magnificent will, will always insert me into the center. This means that no story will be more important to me than my story. I will ask no bigger question than the question of how I am doing. I will have no bigger concern than my satisfaction and comfort. I will ask life to serve me, to submit to my interests, and to deliver whatever I demand. This viewpoint will guarantee me a life of huge disappointment. And not only that, it is also an insane way to live. I am not the center of all things. The world will not do my sovereign bidding. God will not offer his awesome throne to me. Awe of self, worship of self, underlies every form of self-destructive living. Paul Tripp

Hebrews 1:1-4

Colossians 1:15-20

Listen along as Anthony walks us through Psalm 6.

Notes//Quotes:

Psalm 6:1-10 - Chris Fisher Reading

Title: Surviving Suffering

“Waiting is hard. ‘How long O Lord’ is the cry of someone who has walked with more pain and sickness than they thought they could ever bear.” - Timothy Keller

“The most precious use of the word hesed in the Old Testament is used as a description of what God does. Having entered a covenant relationship with His people, God bound Himself to act toward them in certain ways, and He is utterly faithful to His self-commitment…Psalm 136 explores what the Lord’s hesed means in its broadest possible terms, for each line concludes with the words: “his hesed endures forever.” Because of the Lord’s hesed, He created the universe, and He rules it daily through His providence (Ps. 136:5–9, 25)…In Psalm 23:6, the psalmist declares that the Lord’s goodness and hesed will pursue him all the days of his life. The word pursue normally describes the action of pillaging armies and covenant curse, but the psalmist is convinced that instead of the covenant curse he deserves, the Lord’s faithful love and goodness will hunt him down relentlessly instead.” - Ian Duguid

“Surely he has borne our griefs  and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed him stricken,  smitten by God, and afflicted.

But he was pierced for our transgressions;  he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace,  and with his wounds we are healed.” (Isaiah 53:4&5)

Listen along as we begin a new sermon series in the Psalms.

Notes//Quotes:

Psalm 1:1-6 - Kim J

Book 1 - 1-41 - Distress//Confidence Book 2 - 42-72 - Lament//Hope Book 3 - 73-89 - Darkest of all (88) Book 4 - 90-106 - Doubts in Light of the Lord’s reign Book 5 - 107-150 - Declaration//Ascent//Ps119 - 176verses

“Psalms are companions - They are the closest friends, wisest advisors, and faithful discerners. They understand your heart and provide words when we don’t have any.” Anthony Garcia

“The term refers to a wide range of behaviors and thoughts, but, at root, it is when somebody presents, or imagines, themself as the lead in a sort of fictional version of their life (usually their own, although sometimes, disturbingly, somebody else’s), and presents that "life" through social media.” - Psychology Today “Most people are like a shaving of wood which is curled round its central emptiness” - Theophan the Recluse “The introduction to the Psalter is anything but an invitation to pedantry, legalism, or self-righteousness, on the contrary, it is an invitation to be open to God’s instruction and to the reality of God’s reign in the world.” - Clinton McCann

“I have been induced to embrace the opinion of some among the ancient interpreters (Augustine, Jerome, etc.), who conceive that the first Psalm is intended to be descriptive of the character and reward of the JUST ONE, i.e. the Lord Jesus.” John Fry, 1842

John 15:1-17.

“We want something from Him, not Him at all. Is that a relationship? Do we behave in that way with our friends? Do we aim at what friendship can give us or is it the friend whom we love? Is this true with regard to the Lord?” - Anthony Bloom, Beginning to Pray

Listen along as we have family worship and wrap up our series through Galatians.

Notes//Quotes:

Galatians 6:11-18

Bear Video (attached)

Monkey video (attached)

“He who cannot rest, cannot work; he who cannot let go, cannot hold on; he who cannot find footing, cannot go forward.” Harry Emerson Fosdick

All that matters is that, through Christ crucified, we are made a “new creation” (v 15). The gospel changes my future, giving me a place in Christ’s perfected re-creation. And the gospel changes my present, giving me a whole new self-image and whole new way of relating to everyone - Tim Keller

“Discipleship is the process of becoming who Jesus would be if he were you.” - Dallas Willard

Grace! 'Tis a charming sound, Harmonious to the ear; Heaven with the echo shall resound, And all the earth shall hear.
Grace first contrived the way To save rebellious man, And all the steps that grace display Which drew the wondrous plan.
Grace first inscribed my name In God's eternal book; 'Twas grace that gave me to the Lamb, Who all my sorrows took.
Grace led my wandering feet To tread the heavenly road; And new supplies each hour I meet While pressing on to God.
Grace taught my soul to pray And made mine eyes o'erflow; 'Twas grace that kept me to this day And will not let me go.
Grace all the work shall crown Through everlasting days; It lays in heaven the topmost stone And well deserves the praise.

Listen along as we near the end of Galatians.

Notes//Quotes:

Galatians 6:1-10

“The person who loves their dream of community will destroy community, but the person who loves those around them will create community.” - Dietrich Bonhoeffer

“Jesus was a revolutionary, who did not become an extremist, since he did not offer an ideology, but Himself." - Henri Nouwen

1 Cor 10:12

“There is one burden that we cannot share … and that is our responsibility to God on the day of judgment. On that day you cannot carry my pack and I cannot carry yours.” John Stott, The Message of Galatians

“Jesus offers himself as God's doorway into the life that is truly life. Confidence in him leads us today, as in other times, to become his apprentices in eternal living. "Those who come through me will be safe," he said. "They will go in and out and find all they need. I have come into their world that they may have life, and life to the limit.” - Dallas Willard

Listen along as we continue our series through Galatians.

Notes//Quotes:

Galatians 5:13-26 - Larry and Jorgen Title: Freedom

“the “freedom” of the Messiah’s people cannot be used as “opportunity” (aphorme (ah-for-may), a “base of operations”) for “the flesh.” - N.T. Wright

“In verse 3, Paul implicitly says that Christians are freed from obligation to obey the whole law. Then in verse 13, he tells us to “serve one another in love”; and in verse 14 he says that the summary of the law is to love one another! So Paul says bluntly that the Galatian Christians must obey the law. How do we understand this? Are we obliged, or are we not obliged?! Essentially, the answer is “yes”. In one way we are obliged to keep the law, but in another way we are not. If we look at verse 3, Paul immediately follows: “[You are] required to obey the whole law” with: “You … are trying to be justified by law” (v 4). The obligation that is gone for the Christian is the obligation to obey the law to be saved, which is impossible to achieve. But now that we are saved wholly and freely by grace we are, if anything, more obligated to obey the law! Why? Because we have more reason to love God than we ever did before. Love arises from gospel faith and hope (v 5–6), and overflows into loving and serving our neighbors, rather than using them to serve ourselves. And loving our neighbor is “the entire law … summed up in a single command” (v 14).” - Timothy Keller

“A Christian man is the most free lord of all, and subject to none; a Christian man is the most dutiful servant of all, and subject to every one.” - Martin Luther

“What causes quarrels and what causes fights among you? Is it not this, that your passions are at war within you?” — James 4:1

“18 For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh. For I have the desire to do what is right, but not the ability to carry it out. 19 For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I keep on doing. 20 Now if I do what I do not want, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me.” — Romans 7:18-20

“destructive attitudes such as selfish ambition, namely competitiveness, a self-seeking motive; envy, coveting, desiring what others have; jealousy, the zeal and energy that comes from a hungry ego; and hatred, meaning hostility, an adversarial attitude...the results of these attitudes in relationships: discord, being argumentative or seeking to pick fights; fits of rage, outbursts of anger; dissensions, divisions between people (which is what rage leads to); and factions, permanent parties and warring groups.” - Timothy Keller

Galatians 5:1-15 - Kim J Title: The Gospel Of Self-Sufficiency

“The topic of circumcision had been in the background of Paul’s polemic against the Judaizers all along. In chap. 2 Paul reminded the Galatians of his successful resistance against the efforts of certain “false brothers” to have the Gentile Titus circumcised during their visit to Jerusalem. Similarly, those who belonged to “the circumcision group” had provoked the incident which led to Paul’s confrontation with Peter at Antioch. However, only here in chap. 5 does Paul engage the issue head on in terms of the crisis in Galatia. Now we know for sure what must have been perfectly clear to the original readers of the epistle all along, namely, that the Galatian agitators were demanding that Paul’s converts should get circumcised. According to Acts 15:1–2, the Judaizers believed that acceptance of this ancient Jewish ritual was absolutely necessary for salvation and incorporation into the people of God.” - Timothy George

“Because however wrong the false teachers may have been, their message met a sinful inclination deep inside the human heart: we all secretly love a gospel that relies on us. We love being the hero, or at least a celebrated sidekick. Self-reliance feeds our self-esteem and self-worth.” - Marshal Segal

“By nature and by training we all seek solutions to our problem of sin. To varying degrees, these solutions include doing something—law keeping, good works, etc—to please or appease or satisfy the God who is one day going to judge us. The idea of contributing to one’s own salvation is universal. It’s the engine which propels every religion.” - Ed Moore

The Work of Philanthropy
The Work of Service
The Work of Ritual
The Work of Comparison
The Work of Comprehension
The Work of Decision
The Work of Restitution
The Work of Affliction
The Work of Meditation
The Work of Seeking Affirmation

“Christian freedom is the precious birthright of every believer…For the Galatians then to accept circumcision and all that it implied was for them to throw away the precious gift of freedom and step back onto the unceasing treadmill of self-justification. - Timothy George

“Lord God Almighty, you have made all the peoples of the earth for your glory, to serve you in freedom and in peace: Give to the people of our country a zeal for justice and the strength of forbearance, that we may use our liberty in accordance with your gracious will; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen." Book of Common Prayer, p. 258, Collect 17

Questions for reflection: - Am I trusting in God’s promise or my performance? -What is the motivation behind why I do good? -Am I truly standing firm in the freedom Christ has won for me?

Listen along as we continue our series through Galatians.

Notes//Quotes:

Galatians 4:21-31 - Faith C. Reading

Impossible is just a big word thrown around by small men who find it easier to live in the world they've been given than to explore the power they have to change it. Impossible is not a fact. It's an opinion. Impossible is not a declaration. It's a dare. Impossible is potential. Impossible is temporary. Impossible is nothing. - Muhammad Ali

At certain key points, Paul uses the Jewish technique of alluding to each section of the Hebrew Scriptures—Torah, Prophets, and Writings, though not necessarily in that order. I propose that he does this in 4:21–5:1 with an allusion to Psalm 87 in verse 26 alongside his references to Genesis and to Isaiah 54. Paul is bringing this polemical letter to a climax, doing so appropriately and ironically by constructing a paragraph with a rich scriptural backbone. He is appealing to Torah against those who want to impose Torah. - NT Wright

Hagar//Sarah Graphic

The burden of his message is clear. The great reversal envisaged by Isaiah—from barrenness to fruitfulness, from despair to joy, from desolation to blessing—can only be accomplished by the unilateral intervention of God himself. How dare anyone say to a person in such dire straits as the woman in this example that she should sing, rejoice, and shout for joy! The words ring hollow until we realize that it was the Lord himself who spoke thus to her. How could she not be afraid or fear disgrace when there was so much against her? Later in the same chapter (Isa 54:5) God himself provided the answer: “For your Maker is your husband—the Lord Almighty is his name—the Holy One of Israel is your Redeemer; he is called the God of all the earth.” Again, Paul was pointing to God’s gracious sovereignty and infinite love that is the foundation of our justification, freedom, and hope. - Timothy George

If you worship money and things — if they are where you tap real meaning in life — then you will never have enough. Never feel you have enough. It’s the truth. Worship your own body and beauty and sexual allure and you will always feel ugly, and when time and age start showing, you will die a million deaths before they finally plant you. On one level, we all know this stuff already — it’s been codified as myths, proverbs, clichés, bromides, epigrams, parables: the skeleton of every great story. The trick is keeping the truth up-front in daily consciousness. Worship power — you will feel weak and afraid, and you will need ever more power over others to keep the fear at bay. Worship your intellect, being seen as smart — you will end up feeling stupid, a fraud, always on the verge of being found out. And so on. David Foster Wallace

In vain we search the heavens high above, The God of love is kneeling at our feet. Though we betray him, though it is the night, He meets us here and loves us into light. - Malcom Guite

Waiting is a herculean widening of everything within you into a canyon—that can fill with a rising ocean of hope. And all this waiting isn’t destroying us — the waiting is growing us. Waiting isn’t loss—it’s enlarging. The longer the heart waits, the larger the heart expands to hold the largeness of the abundant life. The waiting is widening us—so Hope is never running out— but more hope in Christ is running in. Waiting is the sacrament of the tender surrender, the art of a soul growing large. - Ann Voskamp

Listen along as we continue our series through Galatians and arrive at Paul's first command in the text.

Notes//Quotes:

Gal 4:8-20 - Larry and Jorgen

Galatians 4:8-20

Worship is the continuous outpouring of all that I am, all that I do and all that I can ever become in light of a chosen or choosing god - Harold Best

“Evil, is the force, residing either inside or outside of human beings, that seeks to kill life or liveliness. And goodness is its opposite. Goodness is that which promotes life and liveliness. The evil create for those under their dominion a miniature sick society.” M. Scott Peck

“Since the primary motive of the evil is disguise, one of the places evil people are most likely to be found is within the church. What better way to conceal one's evil from oneself as well as from others than to be a deacon or some other highly visible form of Christian within our culture. Evil people tend to gravitate toward piety for the disguise and concealment it can offer them.” - Martin Buber

Unlike his opponents, Paul is not telling the Galatians what they would like to hear. He is telling them “the truth” (v 16), and he is being vilified for it. Paul would love to be able to be affirming and gentle, to be able to “change my tone” (v 20). But he would rather hold out the gospel than receive the praise. After all, it is the gospel which brings people to Christ-dependence, shapes people in Christ-likeness, and provokes people to Christ-praise. The gospel frees us from the need for people’s approval and adoration so that we can confront and anger the people we love if that is what is best for them. And although it does not always work, this is the only kind of communication that really changes people. If you love a person so selfishly that you cannot risk their anger, you won’t ever tell them the truth they need to hear. If, on the other hand, you tell a person the truth they need, but with harshness and not with the agony of a lover, they won’t listen to it.” - Tim Keller

“It has been said that we become what we behold. I believe there is nothing more transformative to our lives than beholding God in his word. After all, how can we conform to the image of a God we have not beheld?” Jen Wilkin

Listen along as Mike Gaston continues our series through Galatians.

Notes//Quotes:

Slide 1

Who do you think you are?

Slide 2

“The most important belief we possess is a true knowledge of who God is.  The second most important belief is who we are as children of God, because we cannot consistently behave in a way that is inconsistent with how we perceive ourselves.”

Neil Anderson

Slide 3

Why is the period of Christ’s coming termed ‘the fulness of the time’? Various factors combined to make it such. For instance, it was the time when Rome had conquered and subdued the known inhabited earth, when Roman roads had been built to facilitate travel and Roman legions had been stationed to guard them. It was also the time when the Greek language and culture had given a certain cohesion to society. At the same time, the old mythological gods of Greece and Rome were losing their hold on the common people, so that the hearts and minds of men everywhere were hungry for a religion that was real and satisfying. Further, it was the time when the law of Moses had done its work of preparing men for Christ, holding them under its tutelage and in its prison, so that they longed ardently for the freedom with which Christ could make them free.

John Stott

Slide 4

Romans 6:16-18

Do you not know that if you present yourselves to anyone as obedient slaves, you are slaves of the one whom you obey, either of sin, which leads to death, or of obedience, which leads to righteousness?

17 But thanks be to God, that you who were once slaves of sin have become obedient from the heart to the standard of teaching to which you were committed,

18 and, having been set free from sin, have become slaves of righteousness.

Slide 5

Romans 8:15-16

15 For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry, “Abba! Father!”

16 The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God,

Slide 6

Who do you think you are?

“I am a child of God by faith in Jesus, set free by His death and adopted into His family, waiting to enter fully into my inheritance.”

Slide 7

But our penchant for earning paralyzes us before God’s offer of true grace. We don’t know how to receive favor without working for it. And so we subtly (or not so subtly) trade away the one true gospel because we prefer to work for and serve God as slaves (or at least as employees), and not as sons. We don’t feel safe letting him do all the work, and earning gives us some semblance of control. We simply can’t believe eternal security and everlasting life could be offered as a gift.

Marshall Segal

Slide 8

Do I know my own real identity? My own real destiny? “I am a child of God. God is my Father; heaven is my home; every day is one day nearer. My Savior is my brother; every Christian is my brother too.” Say it over and over to yourself, first thing in the morning, last thing at night, as you wait for the bus, and any time when your mind is free, and ask that you may be enabled to live as one who knows it is all utterly and completely true.

For this is the Christian’s secret of – a happy life? – yes, certainly, but we have something both higher and profounder to say. This is the Christian’s secret of a Christian life, and of a God-honouring life; and these are the aspects of the situation that really matter. May this secret become fully yours, and fully mine.

J.I. Packer, Knowing God

Listen along as Anthony teaches Galatians 3:15-29.

Notes//Quotes:

Galatians 3:15-29 - Mike G. reading Title: Talkin’ Torah

“Paul may well have been responding here to the popular Jewish claim that they alone, along with a few proselytes, were the “true sons of Abraham.” Paul wanted to show that the greater fulfillment of the promise is not biological but Christological.” - Timothy George

“After God gave the promise to Abraham, He gave the law to Moses. Why? He had to make things worse before He could make them better. The law exposed sin, provoked sin, condemned sin. The purpose of the law was to lift the lid off man’s respectability and disclose what he is really underneath—sinful, rebellious, guilty, under the judgment of God and helpless to save himself. And the law must still be allowed to do its God-given duty today. One of the great faults of the contemporary church is the tendency to soft-pedal sin and judgment … We must never bypass the law and come straight to the gospel. To do so is to contradict the plan of God in biblical history … No man has ever appreciated the gospel until the law has first revealed him to himself. It is only against the inky blackness of the night sky that the stars begin to appear, and it is only against the dark background of sin and judgment that the gospel shines forth.” - John Stott

“the trap and the tutor remove freedom. In both cases, the relationship with the “law” is not intimate or personal; it is based on rewards and punishments. And in both cases, we are treated as children or worse.” - Timothy Keller

All non-gospel-based religion can be being characterized by: (a) a sense of bondage (b) an impersonal relationship with the divine, motivated by a desire for rewards and a fear of punishments (c) anxiety about one’s standing with God

But in a gospel centric relationship… The law points to: (a) a life not of confinement, but of actual freedom (b) not an impersonal, but a personal relationship with God (c) not immaturity, but maturity of character

Questions: 1. As I currently understand christianity today do I feel free or trapped? 2. When I am tempted to rely my law keeping for security which efforts do I tend to trust in? 3. To help you diagnose your own heart, ask yourself: What causes me to feel despair in life? What makes me feel proud about myself?

Who Are You Married To? By Ray Ortlund “A married woman is bound by law to her husband while he lives, but if her husband dies she is released from the law of marriage. . . . and if she marries another man she is not an adulteress. Likewise, my brothers, you also have died to the law through the body of Christ, so that you may belong to another.” Romans 7:2-4

We were married to Mr. Law. He was a good man, in his way, but he did not understand our weakness. He came home every evening and asked, “So, how was your day? Did you do what I told you to? Did you make the kids behave? Did you waste any time? Did you complete everything I put on your To Do list?” So many demands and expectations. And hard as we tried, we couldn’t be perfect. We could never satisfy him. We forgot things that were important to him. We let the children misbehave. We failed in other ways. It was a miserable marriage, because Mr. Law always pointed out our failings. And the worst of it was, he was always right! But his remedy was always the same: Do better tomorrow. We didn’t, because we couldn’t.

Then Mr. Law died. And we remarried, this time to Mr. Grace. Our new husband, Jesus, comes home every evening and the house is a mess, the children are being naughty, dinner is burning on the stove, and we have even had other men in the house during the day. Still, he sweeps us into his arms and says, “I love you, I chose you, I died for you, I will never leave you nor forsake you.” And our hearts melt. We don’t understand such love. We expect him to despise us and reject us and humiliate us, but he treats us so well. We are so glad to belong to him now and forever, and we long to be “fully pleasing to him” (Colossians 1:10)!

Being married to Mr. Law never changed us. But being married to Mr. Grace is changing us deep within, and it shows.

Today we cover Galatians 3:10-14 and continue our series through the letter of Galatians.

Notes//Quotes:

Galatians 3:10-14

“If we allow the Bible to become fragmented, it is in danger of being absorbed into whatever other story is shaping our culture, and it will thus cease to shape our lives as it should. Idolatry has twisted the dominant cultural story of the secular Western world. If as believers we allow this story (rather than the Bible) to become the foundation of our thought and action, then our lives will manifest not the truths of Scripture, but the lies of an idolatrous culture. Hence, the unity of Scripture is no minor matter: a fragmented Bible may actually produce theologically orthodox, morally upright, warmly pious idol worshippers! - Mike Goheen

“These few verses offer a theological blueprint for the redemptive history of the world.” - William Dumbrell

Heb 11:8-16

The shocking fact of a crucified Messiah stands out. God’s purpose was fulfilled, not in a smooth line moving inch by inch forward from Abraham, through multiple developments, into covenant renewal and gentile inclusion, but in the previously unthinkable curse-bearing death of the Lord’s Anointed. Galatians 3:13 joins up with Paul’s other statements about Jesus’s death, in this letter and elsewhere, to form an overall picture in which the powerful divine love goes to the darkest possible depths to enable the rescue operation to take place. NT Wright

Exodus “Graphic and unmistakable experience of redemption from an alien power…it involves not only the release from slavery but also the shedding of blood as a means of escape from judgement” Graham Goldsworthy

In the Cross is salvation; in the Cross is life; in the Cross is protection against our enemies; in the Cross is infusion of heavenly sweetness; in the Cross is strength of mind; in the Cross is joy of spirit; in the Cross is excellence of virtue; in the Cross is perfection of holiness. There is no salvation of soul, nor hope of eternal life, save in the Cross. - Thomas A Kempis

Thomas A. Kempis Picture (attached in files)

When I base my Christian life on my Christian experience, I become locked in the labyrinth of my own performance. I am only as sure of God as my current emotions and obedience allow. My eyes are fixed on myself. The gospel, the good news, is the way the Holy Spirit turns our eyes away from ourselves and onto Christ. The gospel brings you into union with Christ. Christ enters your heart and gives you faith. By that faith, you receive Christ and all his fullness. Faith fixes your eyes on Christ and rests in him. - Rankin Wilbourne, Union With Christ

Final screen(s) - A hymn - As many lines as can fit for a screen or two:

Nothing, either great or small— Nothing, sinner, no; Jesus died and paid it all, Long, long ago.

“It is finished!” yes, indeed, Finished, ev’ry jot; Sinner, this is all you need, Tell me, is it not?

When He, from His lofty throne, Stooped to do and die, Ev’rything was fully done; Hearken to His cry!

Weary, working, burdened one, Wherefore toil you so? Cease your doing; all was done, Long, long ago.

Till to Jesus’ work you cling, By a simple faith, “Doing” is a deadly thing— “Doing” ends in death.

Cast your deadly “doing” down— Down at Jesus’ feet; Stand in Him, in Him alone, Gloriously complete.

“It is finished!” yes, indeed, Finished, ev’ry jot; Sinner, this is all you need, Tell me, is it not?

Listen along as we continue our time in the letter of Galatians.

Notes//Quotes:

Galatians 3:1-9

“Being “a successful, effective storytelling engine,” is a business model that has been changed by an era of technology disruption. What was very, very clear to me is that technology would provide us the opportunity to tell more stories to more people.” - Bob Iger

“Odysseus, bravest of heroes, Draw near to us, on our green island, Odysseus, we’ll teach you wisdom, We’ll give you love, sweeter than honey. The songs we sing, soothe away sorrow, And in our arms, you will be happy. Odysseus, bravest of heroes, The songs we sing, will bring you peace.” - The Odyssey

“Christians think that we are saved by the gospel, but then we grow by applying biblical principles to every area of life. But we are not just saved by the gospel, we grow by applying the gospel to every area of life.” Dick Kaufmann

Ps. 19:7-11

John 16:13-15

Listen along as we continue our time through the letter of Galatians.

Notes//Quotes:

Galatians 2:20-21 - Kim J Reading “The Messiah” is the locus of Jesus-believers’ identity. Calling him “Messiah” indicates both that he is the fulfillment of God’s plan for Israel and that he is now the place where, and the means by which, his people live, move, and have their being.” —N.T. Wright “28 There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. 29 And if you are Christ’s, then you are Abraham’s offspring, heirs according to promise. (Galatians 3:28&29) “In one sense this is presumptuous language because the mystery of atonement requires that the death of Christ be unique, unrepeatable, and isolated. The two thieves who were literally crucified with Christ did not bear the sins of the world in their agonizing deaths. On the cross Christ suffered alone forsaken by his friends, his followers, and finally even his Father, dying, as J. Moltmann puts it, “a God-forsaken death for God-forsaken people.” With reference to his substitutionary suffering and vicarious death, only Jesus, and he alone, can be the Substitute and Vicar. And yet—this was Paul’s point—the very benefits of Christ’s atoning death, including first of all justification, are without effect unless we are identified with Christ in his death and resurrection.” - Timothy George “Engrafted into the death of Christ, we derive a secret energy from it, as the shoot does from the root.”- John Calvin “Christianity is not a self-improvement course. We are not called to come and do, but to come and die. For the new life is not self-improvement, but self-denial. We consider our old self “crucified with Christ” and our new self risen with Him to new life. We die to sin and we also die to self-effort, no longer trying to please God by following some set of religious rules and regulations that we are unable to keep. Dying to self, we live by Christ, “trusting” in Him to live His life in and through us.” - Gary Combs “The “I” who has died to the law no longer lives; Christ, in the person of the Holy Spirit, dwells within, sanctifying our bodies as temples of the Holy Spirit and enabling us to approach the throne of God in prayer…“Therefore, The life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.” In this fourth thesis Paul describes the modality of the Christian life and again reiterated its objective source in the living Son of God and the love that sent him to the cross…The object of this faith is Jesus Christ, the Son of God, “who loved me and gave himself for me.” This is a rich expression that contains in summary form the whole doctrine of atonement. No impersonal force or cosmic law or external necessity compelled Christ to die. It was the love of God, unmerited, immeasurable, infinite, that sent Jesus to the cross. Not for his own sake but “for me” he endured the rigors of Calvary.” - Timothy George Everyone goes away in the endAnd you could have it allMy empire of dirtI will let you downI will make you hurt - Johnny Cash “Even a weak faith in Jesus is a billion times stronger than a strong faith in anything else.” —Timothy Keller

Listen along as we continue our journey through the letter of Galatians.

Notes//Quotes:

Galatians 2:11-19

“When I get honest, I admit I am a bundle of paradoxes. I believe and I doubt, I hope and get discouraged, I love and I hate, I feel bad about feeling good, I feel guilty about not feeling guilty. I am trusting and suspicious. I am honest and I still play games. Aristotle said I am a rational animal; I say I am an angel with an incredible capacity for beer.” - Brennan Manning

Proverbs 29:25

God's love is a costly love. It never takes the easy path away from relationships. Instead, it plots how to move towards other people. It thinks creatively of ways to surprise them with love. - Ed Welch

“Dikaiosynē and pistis are chief among the qualities which make human associations possible.… For Cicero and others, pistis/fides and dikaiosynē are jointly foundational for any state. Sometimes justice is specified as the foundation of trust, and sometimes trust of justice.… When pistis/fides and dikaiosynē/iustitia come together in Greek and Roman texts, the power of each to forge social relationships, create polities, and change socio-political landscapes is multiplied.” - Teresa Morgan

“Paul’s approach makes all the difference. Paul did not simply say: You’re breaking the rules (even though Peter was), but: You’ve forgotten the gospel: your own gracious welcome in Christ. Paul did not focus so much on the sinful behavior as on the sinful attitude of self-righteousness that lay beneath it. God did not have fellowship with you on the basis of your race and culture (v 15). Though you were good and devout, your race and customs had nothing to do with it (v 16). Therefore, how can you have fellowship on the basis of race and culture (v 14) - Tim Keller

[Pistis] is, first and foremost, neither a body of beliefs nor a function of the heart or mind, but a relationship which creates community. - Teresa Morgan

To live by grace means to acknowledge my whole life story, the light side and the dark. In admitting my shadow side I learn who I am and what God's grace means. As Thomas Merton put it, "A saint is not someone who is good but who experiences the goodness of God…My deepest awareness of myself is that I am deeply loved by Jesus Christ and I have done nothing to earn it or deserve it.” Brennan Manning

Listen along as we continue our journey through Galatians.

Notes//Quotes:

Galatians 2:1-10 - Faith C. Reading

“It was one thing for the Jerusalem leaders to give their approval to the conversion of the Gentiles, but could they approve of … commitment to the Messiah without inclusion in Judaism? Was their vision big enough to see the gospel of Christ not as a reform movement within Judaism but as good news for the whole world, and the church of Christ … as the international family of God?” - John Stott

But woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you shut the kingdom of heaven in people’s faces. For you neither enter yourselves nor allow those who would enter to go in…15 Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you travel across sea and land to make a single proselyte, and when he becomes a proselyte, you make him twice as much a child of hell as yourselves.
-Matthew 23:13&15

Hudson Taylor picture?

“Nothing that we despise in other men is inherently absent from ourselves. We must learn to regard people less in the light of what they do or don't do, and more in light of what they suffer.”
- Dietrich Bonhoeffer

“See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are.”
- 1 John 3:1

Questions:
1. Has the gospel set me free from he middle school mindset? Have I settled into the freedom, validation, and security the gospel provides?

Do I struggle with hypocrisy? What ways am I prone to it?

Listen along as we continue our series through the book of Galatians.

Notes//Quotes:

Galatians 1:11-24

“All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never cast out.” - John 6:37

“You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit and that your fruit should abide.” John 15:16

Genesis 12:1-3

1 Peter 2:9-10

“But now even more the report about him went abroad, and great crowds gathered to hear him and to be healed of their infirmities. But he would withdraw to desolate places and pray.” - Luke 5:15-16

“In these days he went out to the mountain to pray, and all night he continued in prayer to God.” - Luke 6:12

Ephesians 2:8-10

Connection Points:
- The revealing of Jesus reorients everything
- Commune with God as you go for God
- Notice preoccupations and pain points, and turn them to prayer
- Live into the presence, power, and promises of God

Listen along as we continue our time through Galatians.

Notes//Quotes:

Galatians 1:6-10 - Kim J Reading

That was another reason why local Jewish communities wo“Seen from an outsider’s perspective, Paul had done something totally unacceptable both to the local Jewish community and to the wider Greco-Roman society, the social and civic fabric of the towns in southern Turkey. For the Jews, he had declared that anyone who belonged to Messiah Jesus was part of Abraham’s family, an heir-in-waiting to the worldwide promises of Genesis, Isaiah, and the Psalms. For the local pagan communities, he had, without a by-your-leave, established a network of communities whose members did not worship the local gods, offering as their excuse the strange claim that they were Abraham’s family and thus entitled to the privilege granted to the Jewish communities.That was another reason why the local Jewish Communities would be horrified: If this new group were to claim the same exemption, without in fact being ethnically Jewish, would not the pagan authorities clamp down and maybe attack them all? Paul was upsetting the delicate, and at times fraught, social balance.”
- N.T. Wright

“When the glow of justification is ascribed to another, and a snare is laid for the consciences of men, the Savior no longer occupies his place, and the doctrine of the gospel is utterly ruined.”
- John Calvin

“First, it teaches that good works are enough to get to God. If all good people can know God, then Jesus’ death was not necessary; all it takes is virtue. The trouble is, this means bad people have no hope, contradicting the gospel, which invites “both good and bad” to God’s feast (Matthew 22:10). If you say people are saved by being good, then only “the good” can come in to God’s feast. The gospel offer becomes exclusive, not inclusive. Second, it encourages people to think that if they are tolerant and open, they are pleasing to God. They don’t need grace—they get eternal life for themselves. And so “glory for ever” (v 5) goes to them, for being good enough for heaven. The gospel, however, challenges people to see their radical sin. Without that sense of one’s own evil, the knowledge of God’s grace will not be transforming, and we will not understand how much God is glorified by the presence of anyone at all in heaven.”
- Timothy Keller

“And I, when I came to you, brothers, did not come proclaiming to you the testimony of God with lofty speech or wisdom. 2 For I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified. 3 And I was with you in weakness and in fear and much trembling, 4 and my speech and my message were not in plausible words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, 5 so that your faith might not rest in the wisdom of men but in the power of God.”
—1 Corinthians 2:1-5

Questions:
Is salvation the sheer grace of God—or is it something else?

To whom or what are we really looking to for salvation and to make sense of the world in which we live?

Listen along as we begin our series through the book of Galatians.

Notes//Quotes:

Galatians 1:1-5 - Larry and Jorgen Reading

Galatians 1:1-5

Acts 15:6-11
Acts 15:19-21

“Paul was against the legalism of the Judaizers because it usurped the work of Christ and the power of the Holy Spirit and forced all converts to become Jews. It was not what was done that rankled Paul; it was why these things were done that produced his quick reaction. The system is one of “addition by subtraction”— adding to the gospel by subtracting the sufficiency of Christ and the Spirit.” - Scot McKnight

“Paul was preaching—and this is what the letter to the Galatians is all about—that whenever anyone believes in the crucified Jesus as Israel’s Messiah and the risen Lord, that is already a sign that such a person is part of God’s true people, no matter what the person’s ethnic or moral background may be. New believers from a gentile background, Paul taught, were full members of God’s people without the demand for circumcision. Nor did they need the other regular signs of Jewish identity, the Sabbath and the food laws.” - NT Wright

”In this short letter, Paul outlines the bombshell truth that the gospel is the A to Z of the Christian life. It is not only the way to enter the kingdom; it is the way to live as part of the kingdom. It is the way Christ transforms people, churches and communities. We’re going to hear him solving their issues not through telling them to “be better Christians”, but by calling them to live out the implications of the gospel. Paul will explain to us that the truths of the gospel changes life from top to bottom; that they transform our hearts, our thinking and our approach to absolutely everything. The gospel—the message that we are more wicked than we ever dared believe, but more loved and accepted in Christ than we ever dared hope—creates a radical new dynamic for personal growth, for obedience, for love.” - Tim Keller, Galatians For You

1 Cor 3:10-15

“The church is a community that exists because something has happened that makes the entire process of self-justification irrelevant. God’s truth and mercy have appeared in concrete form in Jesus and, in his death and resurrection, have worked the transformation that only God can perform, told us what only God can tell us: that he has already dealt with the dreaded consequences of our failure, so that we need not labor anxiously to save ourselves and put ourselves right with God.” - Rowan Williams

Values Graphic

“As a country we are turning away from religion, from community involvement, from patriotism, from marriage, from having children. We are turning toward money, toward work, toward politicizing everything, toward fewer interactions with people, toward more time online. How are our choices working for us? We are becoming less happy, more stressed, more depressed.” - Maxwell Anderson

They call it radical individualism. What this amounts to is simple enough. We in America have been socialized to believe that our own dreams, goals, and personal fulfillment ought to take precedence over the well-being of any group—our church or our family, for example—to which we belong. The immediate needs of the individual are more important than the long-term health of the group. So we leave and withdraw, rather than stay and grow up, when the going gets rough in the church or in the home. - Joseph Hellerman

All earthly cities are vulnerable. Men build them and men destroy them. At the same time there is the City of God which men did not build and cannot destroy and which is everlasting. - Augustine

Listen along as we look at the reality and ramifications of the resurrection.

Notes//Quotes:

Galatians 1:1-5

“Jesus never wrote a book, raised an army, or ruled a realm. And yet he has become, by any measure, the most influential person who has ever lived.” Rebecca McLaughlin

“It is hard today to understand just how offensive the idea of a crucified messiah would have been to most first-century Jews. Since no one would have made up the idea of a crucified messiah, Jesus must really have existed, must really have raised messianic expectations, and must really have been crucified.” - Bart Ehrman

“One could simply dismiss the resurrection as a lie, and declare belief in the risen Jesus to be the product of a deludable mind. However, there is this nagging fact to consider: one after another of those who claimed to have witnessed the risen Jesus went to their own gruesome deaths refusing to recant their testimony. That is not, in itself, unusual. Many zealous Jews died horribly for refusing to deny their beliefs. But these first followers of Jesus were not being asked to reject matters of faith based on events that took place centuries, if not millennia, before. They were being asked to deny something they themselves personally, directly encountered.” - Reza Aslan

“This event is psychologically surprising. It would have been as unexpected as Richard Dawkins, the vocal Oxford atheist, suddenly announcing that Jesus appeared to him in his study and that he was now a Christian. While we might think he was crazy, it would be hard to deny that something extraordinary had taken place to bring about such a complete reversal. In fact, the conversion of Paul is even more surprising than the hypothetical conversion of Dawkins, given that Paul embraced not a world religion with billions of followers but a despised, persecuted religious sect with no power and few adherents. Therefore, anyone who doubts the resurrection must provide a plausible account of why Paul underwent such a dramatic conversion in such a short period of time.” Neil Shenvi

“The complaint of the depressive individual, “Nothing is possible,” can only occur in a society that thinks, “Nothing is impossible.” The depressive has been wounded by internalized war. Depression is the sickness of a society that suffers from excessive positivity. It reflects a humanity waging war on itself. The exhausted, depressive achievement-subject grinds itself down, so to speak. It is tired, exhausted by itself, and at war with itself. Entirely incapable of stepping outward, of standing outside itself, of relying on the Other, on the world, it locks its jaws on itself; paradoxically, this leads the self to hollow and empty out. It wears itself out in a rat race it runs against itself.” - Byung-Chul Han, The Burnout Society

“Paul's point (in writing) is not simply that God is now my Father and I am now His son. God, in Jesus' great work of redemption, was not establishing a series of isolated personal relationships with His individual followers. He was creating a family of sons and daughters—siblings—who are now "all one in Christ Jesus.” The saving work of Christ therefore has a corporate, as well as an individual, dimension. For Paul, the church is a family.” - Joseph Hellerman, When the Church Was A Family

"Grace means there is nothing I can do to make God love me more, and nothing I can do to make God love me less. It means that I, even I who deserve the opposite, am invited to take my place at the table in God’s family.” - Philip Yancey

“This isn’t about “going to heaven.” It is about the launch of God’s “age to come” here and now, in the midst of the messy “present evil age.” For Paul the “new age” began, when Jesus of Nazareth came out of the tomb on the first Easter morning. The gospel message is all about something that has happened in Jesus, as a result of which the world is a different place. Jesus-followers are summoned to recognize that they now live in that different world and are to order their lives accordingly.” - N.T. Wright

Our true Good Shepherd
Holds dirty feet in his
God-hands and asks us
To let him love us
Down to the dirt
Under our toenails
KJ Ramsey

Lord,
You are the Shepherd who is always more ready
To serve than we are to be served.
Wash us with the water of your welcome.
Wipe our imaginations clean
Of the assumption that we are too dirty to love.
May we let you love us down to the dirt under our toenails
And the darkness in the crevices of our souls
And so learn the direction of love is down.
For you are the God who gets on the ground.
KJ Ramsey

Jon reflects on aspects and angles of the cross in the book of Galatians.

Notes//Quotes:

“Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ, who gave himself for our sins to deliver us from the present evil age, according to the will of our God and Father, to whom be the glory forever and ever. Amen.” - Galatians 1:3-5

“From beginning to end, the Holy Scriptures testify that the predicament of fallen humanity is so serious, so grave, so irremediable from within, that nothing short of divine intervention can rectify it.” - Fleming Rutledge

“Self-denial is not denying to ourselves luxuries such as chocolates, cakes, cigarettes and cocktails (although it might include this); it is actually denying or disowning ourselves, renouncing our supposed right to go our own way.” - John Stott

“You crazy Galatians! Did someone put a spell on you? Have you taken leave of your senses? Something crazy has happened, for it’s obvious that you no longer have the crucified Jesus in clear focus in your lives. His sacrifice on the cross was certainly set before you clearly enough.” - Galatians 3:1 - The Message

My sin, oh the bliss of this glorious thought

My sin, not in part, but the whole

Is nailed to the cross, and I bear it no more

Praise the Lord, praise the Lord, O my soul - It is Well - Horatio Spafford

“But far be it from me to boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world. For neither circumcision counts for anything, nor uncircumcision, but a new creation. And as for all who walk by this rule, peace and mercy be upon them, and upon the Israel of God.” - Galatians 6:13-15

Listen along as we wrap up the book of Lamentations.

Notes//Quotes:

Kim J Reading Lamentations 5:16-22

Title: Learning Lament

“Psychological closure for the community remains outside the range of this set of poems. It lay much further ahead and could not be achieved, so dramatic were the experiences they had undergone and were still undergoing. The modern preoccupation with closure impatiently rushes the sufferer to a premature conclusion. Closure must be allowed to take its own time. It is marked by the eventual acceptance that is able to integrate previous suffering into one’s life.”
- Leslie Allen

Psalm Laments:
Cry/Address (vs.1)
Complaint (vs. 2-18)
Confidence & Praise (vs. 19)
Deliverence (vs. 20-22)

“…Oh that we had meat to eat! We remember the fish we ate in Egypt that cost nothing, the cucumbers, the melons, the leeks, the onions, and the garlic. But now our strength is dried up, and there is nothing at all but this manna to look at.” - Num. 11:4-6

“how long will this people despise Me. How long will they not believe in Me in spite of all the signs I have done among them?” - Num. 14:11

“whoever comes to me will never go hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty.”
- Jn. 6:35

“I will strike them with the pestilence and disinherit them, and I will make of you a nation greater and mightier than they” - Num. 14:12

Snowflake: “is someone who has a an inflated sense of uniqueness, an unwarranted sense of entitlement, are over-emotional, easily offended, and unable to deal with opposing opinions.” - Wikipedia

“Here the community is confessing the generational solidarity involved in its sinning.” - Leslie Allen

“The possibility of being beyond redemption is so alarming that many Jews refuse to end their reading of Lamentations with the book’s final verse. To this day, whenever the book is read, it is the custom in many synagogues to repeat verse 21 after verse 22.”
- Phillip Ryken

Listen along as we go through Lamentations chapter 4 and see how sin impacted every aspect of society and the hope for God's people then and now.

Notes//Quotes:

Lamentations 4:11-22 - Larry and Jorgen Reading

Lamentations 4 breakdown:
4:1-11 - Sin and Society
4:12-16 - Sin and Leadership
4:17-22 - Sin and Hope

“No English word quite captures it, though the older ‘Alas!’ came close. ‘Oh!’ and ‘Ah!’ are too trivial. The common rendering, ‘How …!’ treats it as an exclamation, but the word also contains an element of questioning: ‘How? Why?’ It stands at the head of the three darkest chapters in the book (1, 2 and 4), and it carries a sense of ‘How come? How can this possibly have happened?’ This is baffled pain, astonished suffering, lament mingled with protest, disbelief and questions.” - Chris Wright

Jeremiah 2:1-3

Jeremiah 2:11-13

"On this rock we can be destroyed: but it is rock, not quicksand. There is the chance to build.” - Derek Kidner

Jeremiah 6:13-15

Rejoice and be glad! That’s the first surprise. Could there be any human being capable of rejoicing in the midst of the horrors described in this whole chapter? The words shock us, until we see to whom they are addressed—Lady Edom. And then we perceive their sharp irony. From the prophet Obadiah and others we know that Edom not only refused to help Judah when Nebuchadnezzar invaded, but rejoiced in the downfall of Jerusalem, took advantage of it to seize some of Judah’s wealth, and assisted in the capture of the fleeing population. ‘Go ahead then,’ says the Poet. ‘Enjoy your treachery while you can, but know that God’s judgment is coming your way soon.’ The cup was a standard metaphor for the wrath of God—metaphorically filled with a wine that would lead to drunkenness and exposure. And then, out of the blue, a single line of assurance to Lady Zion herself. While Edom’s judgment is yet to come, Judah’s is ‘completed’. - Chris Wright

“At their best, the prophets, priests, and kings of the Old Testament foreshadowed Christ’s coming. At their worst, they showed why his coming was so necessary.” - Philip Ryken

“Out of the miry clay
We will rise up someday
Sorrow won't always last
The dark will surely pass
Woe to the wicked ones
For what their hands have done
God is our righteous judge
And He will raise us up”
The Porter’s Gate - Daughters of Zion

Lamentations 3:14-26 “Lamentations 3 reveals the heart of a prophet who offers a personal lament on behalf of the community.”- Soong Chan Rah “He has made my teeth grind on gravel, and made me cower in ashes; my soul is bereft of peace; I have forgotten what happiness is; so I say, “My endurance has perished; so has my hope from the Lord.” - Lamentations 3:16-18 “My soul continually remembers it and is bowed down within me. But this I call to mind, and therefore I have hope: The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. “The Lord is my portion,” says my soul, “therefore I will hope in him.” The Lord is good to those who wait for him, to the soul who seeks him. It is good that one should wait quietly for the salvation of the Lord.”- Lamentations 3:20-26 “God is immutable in His essence. His nature and being are infinite, and so, subject to no mutations. There never was a time when He was not; there never will come a time when He shall cease to be. God has neither evolved, grown, nor improved. All that He is today, He has ever been, and ever will be. “I am the Lord, I change not” (Mal. 3:6) is His own unqualified affirmation. He cannot change for the better, for He is already perfect; and being perfect, He cannot change for the worse. Altogether unaffected by anything outside Himself, improvement or deterioration is impossible. He is perpetually the same. He only can say “I am that I am” (Ex. 3:14). He is altogether uninfluenced by the flight of time. There is no wrinkle upon the brow of eternity. Therefore His power can never diminish nor His glory ever fade.”- A.W. Pink “For the Lord will not cast off forever, but, though he cause grief, he will have compassion according to the abundance of his steadfast love; for he does not afflict from his heart or grieve the children of men.”- Lamentations 3:31-33 I walked a mile with Pleasure;She chattered all the way,But left me none the wiserFor all she had to say.I walked a mile with Sorrow;And ne’er a word said she;But, oh, the things I learned from herWhen sorrow walked with me. - Robert Browning “Let us test and examine our ways, and return to the Lord! Let us lift up our hearts and hands to God in heaven: “We have transgressed and rebelled, and you have not forgiven. “You have wrapped yourself with anger and pursued us, killing without pity; you have wrapped yourself with a cloud so that no prayer can pass through. You have made us scum and garbage among the peoples. “All our enemies open their mouths against us; panic and pitfall have come upon us, devastation and destruction; my eyes flow with rivers of tears because of the destruction of the daughter of my people.”- Lamentations 3:40-48 “Despite Jeremiah’s relative innocence to the rest of the community, he embraces his role as a prophet who speaks for his people, offering a lament on behalf of the people and speaking the experience of the Jerusalem community…. Jeremiah has faithfully spoke YHWH’s words and has remained faithful both to YHWH and His covenant. Yet, Jeremiah claims a personal connection to the sins of his community….What affected Jerusalem on a corporate level has affected Jeremiah on a personal level.”- Soong Chan Rah “At this moment in history, the American church is often ridiculed or portrayed as unforgiving and ungracious. Could the church offer a counter-narrative, not of defensiveness or derision but of authentic confession and genuine reconciliation? …It is antithetical to the Gospel when we do not confess all forms of sin—both individual and corporate. The reason evangelicals can claim to be followers of Jesus is because there has been an acknowledgement of sin and the seeking of God’s grace through Jesus Christ that leads to the forgiveness of sin.”- Soong Chan Rah

Lamentations 2:1-13

“the three goals of the initial poem—articulating grief, helping the community take responsibility for their shortcomings by means of spiritual interpretation, and helping members turn in prayer back to God as the only one who could take them beyond their catastrophe—are repeated in the second poem but at a more emotive and strident level in order to drive these messages home and encourage the community to turn to God in their own prayer.”
- Leslie Allen

"In the dust of the streets
lie the young and the old;
my young women and my young men
have fallen by the sword;
you have killed them in the day of your anger,
slaughtering without pity."
- Lamentations 1:21

“The Lord has done what he purposed; he has carried out his word; which he commanded long ago; he has thrown down without pity; he has made the enemy rejoice over you and exalted the might of your foes.”
- Lamentations 1:17

“But if you will not obey the voice of the Lord your God or be careful to do all his commandments and his statutes that I command you today, then all these curses shall come upon you and overtake you. Cursed shall you be in the city, and cursed shall you be in the field. Cursed shall be your basket and your kneading bowl. Cursed shall be the fruit of your womb and the fruit of your ground, the increase of your herds and the young of your flock. Cursed shall you be when you come in, and cursed shall you be when you go out. The Lord will send on you curses, confusion, and frustration in all that you undertake to do, until you are destroyed and perish quickly on account of the evil of your deeds, because you have forsaken me.”
- Deuteronomy 28:15-20

“What would happen to our faith if we believed that God reigns sovereign over both our celebration and our suffering?”
- Soong Chan Rah

“This whole question of divine anger (ira dei) has been the subject of some sharp debate in the history of the church. It became known as the question of divine possibility (the quality or aptness in God to feel, suffer, or be angry) or impassibility (the denial of those qualities). Under the strong advocacy of Gnosticism (a philosophy that combined Greek and Oriental ideas with Christian teaching and professed access to truth that was a mystery to outsiders) a doctrine of God emerged that took the strongest exception to any claim that God could feel or suffer anything or that He could be angry.”
- Walter Kaiser

“believed that the God of the Old Testament was a ‘Demiurge’ (a god subordinate to the supreme God and responsible for the creation of evil) whose involvement in war, suffering, and judgments disqualified Him from being the God of grace and goodness whom Marcion found in most of Paul’s epistles in the New Testament.”
- Walter Kaiser

“Lactantius, wrote his De Ira Dei, ‘The Anger of God.’ For him passions or emotions were not in themselves evil, but avenues of virtue and goodness when kept under control. Furthermore, God must be moved to anger when He sees sin and wickedness in men and women just as He is moved to love them when they please Him.
- Walter Kaiser

“He who loves the good, by this very fact hates the evil; and he who does not hate the evil, does not love the good; because the love of goodness issues directly out of the hatred of evil, and the hatred of evil issues directly out of the love of goodness. No one can love life without abhorring death; and no one can have an appetency for light, without an antipathy to darkness.”
- Lactantius

“our problem with anger is that we define it as Aristotle did, ‘the desire for retaliation’ or a desire to get even and get revenge for a slight or real harm done to us. With anger goes the idea of a ‘brief madness’ and ‘an uneasiness or discomposure of the mind, upon the receipt of an injury, with a present purpose of revenge.’ But Lactantius defined anger as ‘a motion of the soul rousing itself to curb sin.’
- Walter Kaiser

Listen along as we begin our time in the book of Lamentations.

Notes//Quotes:

Lamentations 1:1-22

Title: Learning Lament

“In her book Journey through the Psalms, Denise Hopkins examines the use of lament in the major liturgical denominations in America. The study found that in the Lutheran Book of Worship, the Episcopalian Book of Common Prayer, The Catholic Lectionary for Mass, The Hymnal for the United Church of Christ, and in the United Methodist Hymnal, the majority of the Psalms omitted from liturgical use are the laments.”- Soong-Chan Rah

“This trend is not only in the mainline traditions but in the less liturgical as well. In Hurting with God, Glenn Pemberton notes that lament constitutes 40 percent of the Psalms, but only 13 percent of the hymnal for the Churches of Christ, 19 percent of the Presbyterian hymnal, and 13 percent of the Baptist hymnal emphasize lament. Christian Copyright Licensing International (CCLI) licenses local churches in the use of contemporary worship songs and tracks the songs that are most frequently sung in local churches. CCLI’s list of the top 100 worship songs in August of 2012 reveals that only 5 of the songs would qualify as lament. Most of the songs reflect themes of praise.”- Soong-Chan Rah

“the first of the five Lamentations has one monotonous theme repeated five separate times: ‘There is no one to comfort’ (1:2, 9, 16, 17, 21). - Walter Kaiser

“In section one (vv. 1-11) Jerusalem, is personified as a woman. Her present state is sharply contrasted with what she once was (vv. 1–3). Her forsaken roads, abandoned gates, grieving priests and maidens, exiled princes and nobles all tell part of her sad story (vv. 4–7). The reason for this wretched state of affairs (already hinted at in v. 5) is her awful sin (vv. 8–9). Even her sanctuary has been decimated (v. 10) trading her treasures to find food during the harsh famine (v. 11).” - Walter Kaiser

“For your Maker is your husband, the LORD of hosts is his name;” Isaiah 54:5

8 Jerusalem sinned grievously; therefore she became filthy;all who honored her despise her, for they have seen her nakedness;she herself groans and turns her face away.9 Her uncleanness was in her skirts; she took no thought of her future;[d]therefore her fall is terrible; she has no comforter.“O Lord, behold my affliction, for the enemy has triumphed!”10 The enemy has stretched out his hands over all her precious things;for she has seen the nations enter her sanctuary,those whom you forbade to enter your congregation.- Lamentations 1:8-10

“I called to my lovers, but they deceived me…”- Lamentations 1:19

12 “Is it nothing to you, all you who pass by? Look and see if there is any sorrow like my sorrow, which was brought upon me, which the Lord inflicted on the day of his fierce anger. 13 “From on high he sent fire; into my bones he made it descend; he spread a net for my feet; he turned me back; he has left me stunned, faint all the day long. 14 “My transgressions were bound into a yoke; by his hand they were fastened together; they were set upon my neck; he caused my strength to fail; the Lord gave me into the hands of those whom I cannot withstand.” - Lamentations 1:12-14

“The Lord is in the right, for I have rebelled against his word;” - Lamentations 1:18

“These are the words of the letter that Jeremiah the prophet sent from Jerusalem to the surviving elders of the exiles, and to the priests, the prophets, and all the people, whom Nebuchadnezzar had taken into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon.” ….“Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, to all the exiles whom I have sent into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon: Build houses and live in them; plant gardens and eat their produce. Take wives and have sons and daughters; take wives for your sons, and give your daughters in marriage, that they may bear sons and daughters; multiply there, and do not decrease. But seek the welfare of the city where I have sent you into exile, and pray to the Lord on its behalf, for in its welfare you will find your welfare. For thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: Do not let your prophets and your diviners who are among you deceive you, and do not listen to the dreams that they dream, for it is a lie that they are prophesying to you in my name; I did not send them, declares the Lord.”- Jeremiah 29:1 & 4-9

“You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven.” - Matthew 5:43-45

“do not listen to your prophets, your diviners, your dreamers, your fortune-tellers, or your sorcerers, who are saying to you, ‘You shall not serve the king of Babylon.” - Jeremiah 27:9

Listen in as we wrap up our series looking at the seven churches of Revelation.

Notes//Quotes:

Revelation 3:14-22

2 Cor 1:20-22

Its wealth was based on three things. First, it was a banking center. The banking arrangements for that part of the world were made there, and coins were minted there. It was a combination of Wall Street and Fort Knox. Second, it was also a garment center. The hills around Laodicea were famous for a certain breed of black-wooled sheep. From this wool, garments and carpeting were manufactured in Laodicea. Fashions were created there, in this mixture of a Paris salon and New York's Fifth Avenue.Third, it was a medical center. There was a medical school there, which had a worldwide reputation for two locally produced medicines. One was an ointment of nard, which was used to cure sore ears. But above all, it was famous for a certain eye powder. It was exported in tablet form, and the tablets were ground down and applied to the eyes as a cure for ophthalmia. It was a Johns Hopkins Hospital and Mayo Clinic to the ancient world. Money, fashion, medicine-these three successes brought the Laodiceans affluence and prosperity. They were so completely successful in these material blessings that they quite forgot about any other aspects of the world or existence. They were anesthetized by their affluence, and they lost all sense of God. They were lukewarm.Lukewarmness is the special fault of the successful. Those who have achieved or inherited are particularly prone to it. It is a basic threat to our church and our Christian faith in these times. - Eugene Peterson

What does Jesus mean by rejecting the “lukewarm” Laodiceans and wishing for hot or cold? Koester suggests that the imagery has to do with hospitality. Chilled and warm wine were both popular drinks. When a guest arrived, his host might offer him wine chilled with snow, or wine mixed with warmed water. To be offered lukewarm wine was an insult to the guest and a mark against the host. In short, “The Laodiceans are unlike the hot or cold drink that a banqueter might desire. They are tepid, objectionable, and something to be vomited out of the mouth.” That fits with the overall imagery of the message to Laodicea, which ends with an explicit reference to a banquet. The Laodiceans have not welcomed Jesus as an honored guest. Even when they don’t leave Him outside the door knocking to get in, they haven’t been good hosts. - Peter Leithart

Counterfeits of Repentance (Tim Keller)Blame ShiftingWhite WashingSelf PitySelf Flagellation

What repentance is:Confessing SinForsaking Sin

In Proverbs 28:13 we read: “Whoever conceals his transgressions will not prosper, but he who confesses and forsakes them will obtain mercy.” First, we must “confess”—a word that is helpfully contrasted in the proverb with the word conceal. To confess is to make a full, clean admission of what you have done wrong, without qualification or excuse, without minimizing or relativizing. It is to take full responsibility. The Hebrew word “yadah”, translated here as “confess,” always has the sense of praising and thanking God. So confessing a sin is not merely telling the truth, nor is it an abstract “I deserve punishment of some kind.” Rather, it is admitting that you have been failing to love and honor God, and at this moment you begin to glorify him by admitting how you have wronged him and others.However, Proverbs 28:13 moves on and says it is not enough to confess or admit a sin—you must also forsake it. To forsake is to make a full renunciation of the sinful behavior, both in your heart attitude and in practical action. When John the Baptist led people to the brink of repentance, they asked, “What then shall we do?” He answered, “Bear fruits in keeping with repentance” (Luke 3:8), and by that he meant practical action that reversed their wrong behavior. - Tim Keller

What is received in repentance? Free grace which leads to joy.

“In summary, repentance begins when blame shifting, white washing, self-pity, and self-righteous despair end. It begins when confession, renunciation, and the acceptance of free grace take place. Then the clouds of guilt and shame can lift—and we can sing: Finally, there is one thing to receive. After repenting must come rejoicing—rejoicing in the free mercy of God. Repentance without rejoicing leads to despair.” - Tim Keller

Nor will God force any door to enter in. He may send a tempest about the house; the wind of his admonishment may burst doors and windows, yea, shake the house to its foundations; but not then, not so, will he enter. The door must be opened by the willing hand, ere the foot of Love will cross the threshold. He watches to see the door move from within. Every tempest is but an assault in the siege of love. The terror of God is but the other side of his love; it is love outside the house, that would be inside, love that knows the house is no house, only a place, until it enter home, but a tent, until the Eternal dwell there. George Macdonald

Listen along as Anthony teaches on the church of Philadelphia.

Notes//Quotes:

Revelation 3:7-13 - Kim J. Reading

"Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven." - Matthew 5:8

“But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me.”- 2 Corinthians 12:9

“For if you live according to the flesh you will die, but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live.”- Romans 8:13

“32 And what more shall I say? For time would fail me to tell of Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, of David and Samuel and the prophets— 33 who through faith conquered kingdoms, enforced justice, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions, 34 quenched the power of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, were made strong out of weakness, became mighty in war, put foreign armies to flight.”- Hebrews 11:32-34

“At 4:1 the ‘open door’ will provide John with privileged access to the heavenly throne-room, and with it to heavenly mysteries otherwise hidden from him. The same privileged access is offered to the faithful Philadelphians, and indeed all who heed the words of this message, enabling them to see their own difficult situation from God’s perspective, and thus make sense of it. When one is privileged to glimpse through the opened door, what originally appeared to be a defeat is transformed into a glorious vision of victory.”- Ian Boxall

“Will play the role of the heathen and acknowledge that the church is the Israel of God.” - William Mounce

“Some commentator have affirmed that the way in which Christ will protect believers from the coming tribulation of 3:10 is by physically “rapturing” then from earth into heaven. This is primarily argued on the basis that this best accords with the most logical and literal force of (“keep from”). However, Gundry has shown the improbability of this understanding by demonstrating parallels between Rev. 3:10 and John 17:15, which is the only other NT occurrence of (“keep” with “from”: there Christ prays, “I ask not that you take them out of the world, but that you keep them from the evil one.” Thus Jesus denies a physical removal from tribulation and affirms a spiritual protection from the devil. In Prov. 7:5 and Jas 1:27 has the same idea of protection from evil for those living in the midst of evil.”- G.K. Beale

“...Small, mostly overlooked things, over a long period of time with Jesus." - Zach Eswine

Question:Where are we truly drawing our strength from?

“What blazes up on Golgotha is God’s embrace of contradiction: weakness as power, foolishness as wisdom.”- Jen Pollock Michel

Listen along as we look at Revelation 3:1-6.

Notes//Quotes:

Revelation 3:1-6

Psalm 19:1-2, Ps 24:1-2Hebrews 4:11-13, 2 Tim 3:16-17 Acts 1:8, Matt 5:13-16

Temptations for the church:ImitateDominateIsolate (David Cassidy)

Incarnate: the Body Christ sent on mission in the world, distinct in holiness, humble in service, with clarity in the truth & charity towards all. - David Cassidy

Formation Image

“You may never see the fruits of your labor in this life, but it doesn’t matter. God did not call you to be successful. He called you to be faithful.” Alan Noble

“Our task is not to spend time pondering this success but to obey our orders.” Jacques Ellul

“Keep in mind that it is not enough that we should just read the Word. The object is that the words that are printed on the page would become indelibly written on our hearts. God never intended that we should merely get onto His Word-His intent is that the Word should get into us. - Nancy Leigh DeMoss

1 Kings 19:9-18

Listen along as we continue our series through the seven churches of Revelation.

Notes//Quotes:

Revelation 2:18-29

If God is holy, then he can’t sin. If God can’t sin, then he can’t sin against me. If he can’t sin against me, shouldn’t that make him the most trustworthy being there is? Jackie Hill Perry

To ask God to redeem Jerusalem but not cast sin outside the city walls is like asking a doctor to heal your body without excising the disease. Like asking the light to arise without casting out the darkness. Like asking for restoration to come and destruction to remain. It is to ask for a contradiction. God excludes sin from his kingdom because of his goodness, not in opposition to or in spite of it. - Joshua Ryan Butler

Holiness is the habit of being of one mind with God, according as we find His mind described in Scripture. It is the habit of agreeing in God's judgment, hating what He hates, loving what He loves, and measuring everything in this world by the standard of His Word. - JC Ryle

Does this teaching return you to the God revealed in Christ—His words, His acts—or does it excite you with what you’ll get, acquire, feel? Does this teaching return you to yourself—who you are, where you are—or does it incite ambition, discontent, a desire to be someone else, somewhere else? Eugene Peterson

And as He spoke, He no longer looked to them like a lion; but the things that began to happen after that were so great and beautiful that I cannot write them. And for us this the end of all the stories, and we can most truly say that they all lived happily ever after. But for them it was only the beginning of the real story. All their life in this world and all their adventures in Narnia had only been the cover and the title page: now at last they were beginning Chapter One of the Great Story which no one on earth has read: which goes on for ever: in which every chapter is better than the one before. - CS Lewis, The Last Battle

Listen along as we look at the third church addressed in the book of Revelation.

Notes//Quotes:

Revelation 2:12-17 - Larry and Jorgen

Hebrews 4:12-13

“The truth does not change according to our ability to stomach it.”Flannery O’Connor

“The throne of Satan” in Pergamum is a way of referring to that city as a center of Roman government and pagan religion in the Asia Minor region. It was the first city in Asia Minor to build a temple to a Roman ruler (Augustus) and the capital of the whole area for the cult of the emperor. Furthermore, Pergamum was also a center of pagan cults of various deities. For example, the cult of Asclepius, the serpent god of healing, was prominent in Pergamum; the serpent symbol of Asclepius also became one of the emblems of the city and may have facilitated John’s reference to “the throne of Satan” (cf. 12:9; 20:2). Zeus, Athene, Demeter, and Dionysus were also gods receiving significant cultic attention. Satan works through the ungodly, earthly political power in Pergamum to persecute God’s people.” G.K. Beale

Numbers 22:28-35

“The people of Israel, after 40 years of austerity in the desert, were seduced by the smell of roasted rams and the smiles of perfumed girls. They had been true to God in matters of life and death but failed to be true in matters of eating and drinking. Opposition didn’t work. Cursing didn’t work. But clever lies did.”Eugene Peterson

“Satan’s lie is to separate what we say from the way we live. To make a division between our confession in worship and our conduct at work. Truth is lived truth. Truth is not simply what we say but what we live…Sometimes it is easier to die for the truth in a crisis than to live the truth through a dull week at work.” Eugene Peterson

“You shall know the truth and the truth shall make you odd.” Flannery O’Connor

Growth equals change; change equals loss; loss equals pain; so inevitably, growth equals pain. Pain is a part of progress. Anything that grows experiences some pain. If I avoid all pain, I’m avoiding growth. Samuel Chand

Don't worry about being effective. Just concentrate on being faithful to the truth. - Dorthy Day

Listen along as Anthony Garcia teaches through Revelation 2:8-11 and gives a glimpse into the church of Smyrna.

Notes//Quotes:

Revelation 2:8-11 - Kim

“We must remember the paradox of grace: the gospel announces both leniency and violence; mercy and judgment; rescue and death. What blazes up on Golgotha is God’s embrace of contradiction: weakness as power, foolishness as wisdom.” — Jen Pollock Michel

“From what we know of late first-century Asia Minor we can speculate about how these Christians were being persecuted. Until the latter part of the first century Christianity enjoyed a degree of protection under the umbrella of Judaism, which was tolerated by Rome. The Jews were not forced to worship Caesar as a god, but allowed to offer sacrifices in honor of emperors as rulers and not as gods. But after the Neronian persecution Christianity came under suspicion, since new religions were not acceptable in the empire. And Jews, who sometimes had no qualms in semi-revering other deities along with their OT God, often were only too willing to make the Roman authorities aware that the Christians were not a Jewish sect. Perhaps Jews were motivated to inform on Christians because they were irritated that some of their Jewish brethren or Gentile “godfearers” were converting to Christianity (Ignatius, Smyrneans 1:2).” — G.K. Beale

“He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. By his wounds you have been healed.” (1 Peter 2:24)

“I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.” (Galatians 2:20)

“Are you willing to die for your faith? And are you willing to give up anything along the way in order to pursue it—those little deaths that sometimes seem as difficult as the final one, dying to impulses of ambition, of lust, of pride, of security, of comfort? …Here we have one of those paradoxes that are strewn all through the Christian’s life of faith. Until we pass the martyr test, we live neither deeply or widely. Until we are ready to die for Christ, we can’t live for him freely, openly, and exuberantly. If we spend all our energies trying to protect our interests, to preserve our safety, and to negotiate and compromise with the opposition in order to keep what we have at all costs, we will live meagerly. But if we live at risk, giving up all in witness and commitment and love, we are released from death to live in the power of the Resurrection.” —Eugene Peterson

Listen in as we begin a news series looking at the seven churches of Revelation.

Notes//Quotes:

Revelation 2:1-7“The book of Revelation really is about the future, but what is says does not satisfy our curiosity or match what we think are the obvious things to say. It is not a disclosure of future events but the revelation of their inner meaning. It does not tell us what events are going to take place and the dates of their occurrence; it tells us what the meaning of those events is. It does not provide a timetable for history; it gives us an inside look at the reality of history. It is not prediction but perception. It is, in short, about God as he is right now. It ups the veil off our vision and lets us see what is taking place. - Eugene Peterson

The Pattern:Who He is (Character)How it’s going (evaluation)Promises made (conquering/overcoming)

I have set eyes on the wall of lofty Babylon on which is a road for chariots, and the statue of Zeus by the Alpheus, and the hanging gardens, and the colossus of the Sun, and the huge labour of the high pyramids, and the vast tomb of Mausolus; but when I saw the house of Artemis that mounted to the clouds, those other marvels lost their brilliancy, and I said, "Lo, apart from Olympus, the Sun never looked on ever so grand.” - Antipater of Sidon

Rev 2:2-3

“The theology that matters is not the theology we profess but the theology we practice.” - Francis Chan

“Jesus’s command to follow him is a command to align our loves and longings with his—to want what God wants, to desire what God desires, to hunger and thirst after God and crave a world where he is all in all.” - James K.A. Smith

Matthew 24:12

Jesus is a teacher who doesn’t just inform our intellect but forms our very loves. He isn’t content to simply deposit new ideas into your mind; he is after nothing less than your wants, your loves, your longings. - James K.A. Smith

“In any relationship, there will be frightening spells in which your feelings of love dry up. And when that happens you must remember that the essence of marriage is that it is a covenant, a commitment, a promise of future love. So what do you do? You do the acts of love, despite your lack of feeling. You may not feel tender, sympathetic, and eager to please, but in your actions you must BE tender, understanding, forgiving and helpful. And, if you do that, as time goes on you will not only get through the dry spells, but they will become less frequent and deep, and you will become more constant in your feelings. This is what can happen if you decide to love. Actions of love lead to feelings of love.” Tim Keller

Listen along as Anthony shares some reflections on grief and the love of God.

Notes/Quotes:

Job 13:13-16

Miles picture

“It is hard to have patience with people who say, ‘There is no death’ or ‘Death doesn’t matter.’ There is death. And whatever is matters. And whatever happens has consequences, and it and they are irrevocable and irreversible. You might as well say that birth doesn’t matter. I look up at the night sky. Is anything more certain than that in all those vast times and spaces, if I were allowed to search them, I should nowhere find her face, her voice, her touch? She died. She is dead. Is the word so difficult to learn?”- C.S. Lewis

“My idea of God is not a divine idea, it has to be shattered time after time. He shatters it himself…He is the great iconoclast. Could we not almost say that this shattering is one of the marks of his presence. The incarnation is the supreme example. It leaves all previous ideas of the Messiah in ruins…and most are offended by the iconoclasm and blessed are those who are not." - C.S. Lewis

Listen along as we wrap up our series through the Bible.

Notes/Quotes:

Revelation 1:1-20 TranscendenceTribulationTears (no more) “somewhere between the two extremes of preoccupation with and the avoidance of eschatology, we must take our stance. For eschatology is neither an unimportant and optional topic nor the sole subject of significance and interest to the Christian.” - Millard Erikson 4 popular perspectives on Revelation:FuturisticPreteristHistoricalSymbolic or idealist. "‘Apocalypse’ is a genre of revelatory literature with a narrative framework, in which a revelation is mediated by an otherworldly being to a human recipient, disclosing a transcendent reality which is both temporal, insofar as it envisages eschatological salvation, and spatial, insofar as it involves another, supernatural world.” JJ Collins “It is generally recognized that Revelation contains more OT references than does any other NT book, although past attempts to tally the total amount have varied. The variation in statistics is due to the different criteria employed to determine the validity of an OT reference and the fact that some authors include echoes and parallels of a very general nature together with allusions and citations.” - GK Beale “John has his favorite books of scripture: Ezekiel, Daniel, Zephaniah, Zechariah, Isaiah, Exodus. But there is probably not a single canonical Old Testament book to which he doesn’t make at least some allusion The statistics post a warning: no one has any business reading the last book who has not read the previous sixty-five. John does not merely repeat [scripture]–it is recreated in him. He does not quote scripture in order to prove something; rather, he assimilates scripture so that he becomes someone.” Eugene Peterson An approach to eschatology:Emphasizing the Savior and salvation, minimize speculationEschatology must be connected to the entirety of the storyEschatology is meant to provide clarity and eliminate confusion. Any vision of the future is meant to root and reorient in the present. “The effect of John’s visions, one might say, is to expand his readers’ world, both spatially (into heaven) and temporally (into the eschatological future), or, to put it another way, to open their world to divine transcendence. The bounds which Roman power and ideology set to the readers’ world are broken open and that world is seen as open to the greater purpose of its transcendent Creator and Lord. It is not that the here-and-now are left behind in an escape into heaven or the eschatological future, but that the here-and-now look quite different when they are opened to transcendence. The world seen from this transcendent perspective, in apocalyptic vision, is a kind of new symbolic world into which John’s readers are taken as his artistry creates it for them. But really it is not another world. It is John’s readers’ concrete, day-to-day world seen in heavenly and eschatological perspective.” - Richard Bauckham  “The end result of the act of worship is that our lives are turned around…The self is no longer the hub of reality, as sin seduces us into supposing.” - Eugene Peterson Paul says, “Indeed, all who desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted…” 2 Timothy 3:12 and Peter says, “don’t be surprised at the fiery trial that has come upon you…” 1 Peter 4:12. “The church universal is called to maintain a faithful witness in the midst of persecution, following in the footsteps of the Lamb, who died to free them from their sins. Having conquered through faith, they are promised the blessing of eternal life in the presence of God in the new heaven and new earth, all with the purpose that they worship him and that he receive the glory forever.” —G.K. Beale We choose: we follow the dragon and his beasts along their parade route… taking on whatever role is necessary to make a good show and get the applause of the crowds in order to get access to power and become self-important. Or we follow the Lamb along a farmyard route… in order to become, simply, our eternal selves in an eternal city.” – Eugene Peterson “Every exodus in scripture is incomplete, except the last one. The patriarchs leave the land and come back wealthy, but their descendants are enslaved. Moses leads the people out out of Egypt, but they die in the wilderness. Joshua takes them into the Land, but the Canaanites remain. David and Solomon secure the Land and build the temple, but Israel divides. Exile is followed by return, but idolatry continues. Jesus goes into the depths and emerges victorious, but leaves when the conquest of the Land has hardly started. The church marches out in the power of the Holy Spirit, but as the Epistles clearly show, the church is still in the wilderness, awaiting its final rest, looking to the day when “death of death, and hell’s destruction, land me safe on Canaan’s side.” Every time we think the melody is complete, there is a final complication, another discordant note. Exodus, but. Exodus, but.”—Alastair J. Roberts & Andrew Wilson “Many people want to go to heaven the way they want to go to Florida—they think the weather will be an improvement and the people decent. But the biblical heaven is not a nice environment far removed from the stress of hard city life. It is the invasion of the city by the City. We enter heaven not by escaping what we don’t like, but by the sanctification of the place in which God has placed us. There is not so much as a hint of escapism in St. John’s heaven. This is not a long (eternal) weekend away from the responsibilities of employment and citizenship, but the intensification and healing of them. Heaven is formed out of dirty streets and murderous alleys, adulterous bedrooms and corrupt courts, hypocritical synagogues and commercialized churches, thieving tax-collectors and traitorous disciples: a city, but now a holy city.” - Eugene Peterson “ The Bible is a redemption story. It is a cosmic exodus, stretching from Eden to the new Jerusalem. All the exodus narratives we have seen in this book—political, geographical, spiritual, liturgical—are contained within a global one that only comes to completion at the return of Christ. So if, at times, it has seemed like we were going round in circles, making bricks without straw, trapped in slavery to sin and death for century upon painful century, and crying out for someone to help us, that is because we have been. When Adam sinned, we left our homeland, fell into captivity, and have been hoping to get back ever since.So have the oceans. So have the forests. Paul's teaching in Romans 8 is remarkable here: it is not just human beings who are awaiting redemption, but "creation itself will be set free from its bondage to corruption and obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God” (v.21). We are looking forward to the exodus of everything. When we left Eden and headed into Egypt, we took the Cedars and the sword fish and the puffins with us. The physical world, over which we were given dominion, suffered the consequences of exile and ruptured shalom. Like a woman in labor, creation as a whole is crying out in anguish, straining toward the day when her labor pains will be over and the new creation will break out from inside the old.And when our true and better Joshua returns to lead us across the Jordan, creation will come too. We will rise up from the riverbed followed by a multicolored menagerie of flora and fauna, like a latter-day Noah emerging from the depths and blinking at the brightness, to find that the waters have receded and there is no longer any sea. There is a new heaven and a new earth, not just a new Jerusalem. The labor pains were worth it. Paul was right: the weight of glory makes our light and momentary afflictions seem trivial. Tolkien was right: everything sad has become untrue. Lewis was right: the dream has ended, and this is the morning. Dostoyevsky was right: in the worlds finale, at the moment of eternal harmony, something so precious will come to pass that it will suffice for all hearts, for the comforting of all resentments, for the atonement of all the crimes of humanity, for all the blood that they've shed; that it will make it not only possible to forgive but to justify all that has happened.” —Alastair J. Roberts & Andrew Wilson “He who testifies to these things says, “Surely I am coming soon. Amen. Come, Lord Jesus!” (Rev. 22:20)

Listen along as we look at Jude's letter on Christmas Eve.

Jude:1-3 - Jeff OrsburnJude 1:1-3

In the church, this is the season of Advent. It’s superficially understood as a time to get ready for Christmas, but in truth it’s the season for contemplating the judgment of God. Advent is the season that, when properly understood, does not flinch from the darkness that stalks us all in this world. Advent begins in the dark and moves toward the light—but the season should not move too quickly or too glibly, lest we fail to acknowledge the depth of the darkness. Advent bids us take a fearless inventory of the darkness: the darkness without and the darkness within. - Fleming Rutledge

“Every time you feel hurt, offended, or rejected, you have to dare to say to yourself: “These feelings, strong as they may be, are not telling me the truth about myself. The truth, even though I cannot feel it right now, is that I am the chosen child of God, precious in God’s eyes, called the Beloved from all eternity, and held safe in an everlasting embrace.” Henri Nouwen Jude 1:17-23

We think of him as safe beneath the steeple,Or cosy in a crib beside the font,But he is with a million displaced peopleOn the long road of weariness and want.For even as we sing our final carolHis family is up and on that road,Fleeing the wrath of someone else’s quarrel,Glancing behind and shouldering their load.Whilst Herod rages still from his dark towerChrist clings to Mary, fingers tightly curled,The lambs are slaughtered by the men of power,And death squads spread their curse across the world.But every Herod dies, and comes aloneTo stand before the Lamb upon the throne.Malcom Guite

Jude 1:24-25

The entire thrust of this season at the end of the church year is designed to bring us face-to-face with reality—reality about sin and death, reality about the human race, reality about God. Something ultimate has entered our world, something or Someone that calls us to attention, calls us out of our daily preoccupations and our routine points of view. That is what this season with its special biblical readings is designed to reveal - Fleming Rutledge

Listen along as we continue through the story of Scripture.

Notes/Quotes:

1 John 1:1-10 - Christine ReadingTitle: Reductions, Redundancies, Reassurances

In our unredeemed state we are “of the devil,” who has sinned and lied and murdered “from the beginning” (1 John 3:8 / John 8:44); we are “from the world” (2:16; 4:5 / 8:23; 15:19). We therefore “sin” (3:4 / 8:34) and “have” sin (1:8 / 9:41), “walk in the darkness” (1:6; 2:11 / 8:12; 12:35) and are “dead” (3:14 / 5:25). God loved and sent His Son to be “the Savior of the World” (4:14 / 4:42) so that “we might live” (4:9 / 3:16). Believing in him or in his “name” (5:13 / 1:12), we pass from death to life (3:14 / 5:24). We “have life” (5:11, 12 / 3:15, 36; 20:31), for life is in the Son of God (5:11–12 / 1:4; 14:6). This is what it means to be “born of God” (2:29; 3:9; 5:4, 18 / 1:13).- The New American Commentary

“There, the people gathered earnestly to hear the aging apostle speak about his experiences with Jesus. As John’s strength diminished and his ability even to speak declined, Jerome tells us that “He usually said nothing but, ‘Little children, love one another.’” The listeners reportedly grew weary of hearing the old man repeat the same line over and over. “Teacher,” they asked, “why do you always say this?” According to Jerome, the aged apostle replied, “Because it is the Lord’s commandment, and if it alone is kept, it is sufficient.” - Michael LeFebvre

1 John 4:7-21“7 Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God. 8 Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love. 9 In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him. 10 In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins. 11 Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. 12 No one has ever seen God; if we love one another, God abides in us and his love is perfected in us. 13 By this we know that we abide in him and he in us, because he has given us of his Spirit. 14 And we have seen and testify that the Father has sent his Son to be the Savior of the world. 15 Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him, and he in God. 16 So we have come to know and to believe the love that God has for us. God is love, and whoever abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him. 17 By this is love perfected with us, so that we may have confidence for the day of judgment, because as he is so also are we in this world. 18 There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear. For fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not been perfected in love. 19 We love because he first loved us. 20 If anyone says, “I love God,” and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen cannot love God whom he has not seen. 21 And this commandment we have from him: whoever loves God must also love his brother.”

“Herein is love, not that we loved God but that He loved us” (I John 4:10). We must not begin with mysticism, with the creature’s love for God, or with the wonderful foretastes of the fruition of God vouchsafed to some in their earthly life. We begin at the real beginning, with love as the Divine energy. This Primal love is Gift-love. In God there is no hunger that needs to be filled, only plenteousness that desires to give."- C.S. Lewis

1 John 3:1-3“1 See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are. The reason why the world does not know us is that it did not know him. 2 Beloved, we are God’s children now, and what we will be has not yet appeared; but we know that when he appears we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is. 3 And everyone who thus hopes in him purifies himself as he is pure.”

Questions:1. John was simmering in the gospel—in the love of God. What am I simmering in?2. John’s mantra (the song he sang) was “love one another” What’s mine?

Thou who wast rich beyond all splendour, All for love’s sake became poor; Thrones for a manger didst surrender, Sapphire-paved courts for stable floor. Thou who wast rich beyond all splendour, All for love’s sake became poor.Thou who art God beyond all praising, All for love’s sake becamest man;  Stooping so low, but sinners raising Heavenwards  by thine eternal plan.  Thou who art God beyond all praising, All for love’s sake Becamest Man.Thou who art love beyond all telling, Saviour and King, we worship thee.  Emmanuel, within us dwelling, Make us what thou  wouldst have us be.  Thou who art love beyond all telling, Saviour and King, we worship thee.—Frank Houghton, 1934

Listen along as we continue our journey through the story of scripture.

Notes//Quotes:

2 Peter 1:3-11

The important point to keep in mind is that love is a virtue, not an emotion. Christians are not encouraged to feel warmly about each other or even to like one another; they are instructed to act lovingly toward one another. Thus Paul’s description of love in 1 Corinthians 13 speaks about what love does, how it acts, not how it feels - Peter Davids

“If we aren’t careful we live with a gospel that leaves our inner life untouched and merely makes sure we have the right marking somehow, the right brand so it will be clear that we belong to the right herd…But Christ comes to us and says to us “Let me transform you inside, let me take all of those fears, all of those angers, all of that contempt, all of that lust that eats at your soul and replace it with a worship of God and a love of others that will make your entire life sweet and strong because you’ll be standing with me in the kingdom of God.”” - Dallas Willard

Gospel + safety + time. It’s what everyone needs. A lot of gospel + a lot of safety + a lot of time.Gospel: good news for broken people through the finished work of Christ on the cross and the endless power of the Holy Spirit. Multiple exposures. Constant immersion. Wave upon wave of grace and truth, according to the Bible.Safety: a non-accusing environment. No embarrassing anyone. No cornering anyone. No shaming. But respect and sympathy and listening and understanding, so that people can exhale and open up and unburden their souls. A church environment where no one seeking the Lord has anything to fear.Time: no pressure. Not even self-imposed pressure. No deadlines on growth. Urgency, but not hurry, because no one changes quickly. A lot of “space” for complicated people to rethink their lives at a deep level. God is patient.This is what our churches must be: gentle environments of gospel + safety + time. It’s where we’re finally free to grow. - Ray Ortlund

2 Peter 2:1-3

2 Peter 2:22

Psalm 19:7-11

2 Peter 3:1-13

Acts 1:6-8, 1 Cor 15:50-58, Titus 2:11-142 Peter 3:14-18

An Eschatological grid (A modest proposal)Emphasize salvation, minimize speculationEschatology is meant to provide clarity and eliminate confusion.The triumphant return is a catalyst for fully following Christ today

Listen along as we continue our journey through the story of Scripture.

Notes//Quotes:

Kim J Reading 1 Peter 1:1-12 Title: Exiles, Endurance, ExamplesSubtitle: Pilgrim People 3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, 4 to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you, 5 who by God’s power are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. (1 Peter 1:3-5) “…you yourselves like living stones are being built up as a spiritual house…” (1 Peter 2:5) “But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. 10 Once you were not a people, but now you are God’s people; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.” (1 Peter 2:9&10) “Earlier Peter referred to the church as a “holy priesthood” (2:5). Here, we discover that the priesthood is a “royal priesthood” because believers have come under the lordship of a King. Contrary to what many believe, no geo-political entity on earth is a “holy nation.” That is reserved for the church of Jesus Christ, those who are God’s “own possession.” - Sam Storms 6 In this you rejoice, though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by various trials, 7 so that the tested genuineness of your faith—more precious than gold that perishes though it is tested by fire—may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ…. (1 Peter 1:6&7) "13 Therefore, preparing your minds for action, and being sober-minded, set your hope fully on the grace that will be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ. 14 As obedient children, do not be conformed to the passions of your former ignorance, 15 but as he who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, 16 since it is written, “You shall be holy, for I am holy.” 17 And if you call on him as Father who judges impartially according to each one’s deeds, conduct yourselves with fear throughout the time of your exile, 18 knowing that you were ransomed from the futile ways inherited from your forefathers, not with perishable things such as silver or gold, 19 but with the precious blood of Christ, like that of a lamb without blemish or spot. 20 He was foreknown before the foundation of the world but was made manifest in the last times for the sake of you 21 who through him are believers in God, who raised him from the dead and gave him glory, so that your faith and hope are in God. 22 Having purified your souls by your obedience to the truth for a sincere brotherly love, love one another earnestly from a pure heart…” (1 Peter 1:13-22) “An old tradition sorts the difficulties we face in the life of faith into the categories of world, flesh and devil. We are, for the most part, well warned of the perils of the flesh and the wiles of the devil. Their temptations have a definable shape and maintain an historical continuity. That doesn’t make them an easier to resist; it does make them easier to recognize. The world, though, is protean: each generation has the world to deal with in a new form. World is an atmosphere, a mood. It is nearly as hard for a sinner to recognize the world’ temptations as it is for a fish to discover impurities in the water. There is a sense, a feeling, that things aren’t right, that the environment is not whole, but just what it is eludes analysis. We know that the spiritual atmosphere in which we live erodes faith, dissipates hope and corrupts love, but it is hard to put our finger on what is wrong.One aspect of world that I have been able to identify as harmful to Christians is the assumption that anything worthwhile can be acquired at once. We assume that if something can be done at all, it can be done quickly and efficiently. Our attention spans have been conditioned by thirty-second commercials. Our sense of reality has been flattened by thirty-page abridgments. It is not difficult in such a world to get a person interested in the message of the gospel; it is terrifically difficult to sustain the interest. Millions of people in our culture make decisions for Christ, but there is a dreadful attrition rate. Many claim to have been born again, but the evidence for mature Christian discipleship is slim. In our kind of culture, anything, even news about God, can be sold if it is packaged freshly; but when it loses its novelty, it goes on the garbage heap. There is a great market for religious experience in our world; there is a little enthusiasm for the patient acquisition of virtue, little inclination to sign up for a long apprenticeship in what earlier generations of Christians called holiness”- Eugene Peterson “The Christian ideal has not been tried and found wanting. It has been found difficult; and left untried.”- G.K. Chesterton Day 2:One of the dark qualities of sin is that we don't recognize as much as we should is unwillingness. We’re often unwilling to do what God says if it doesn't make sense to us. We're often unwilling to inconvenience ourselves for the needs of someone else. We are regularly unwilling to wait. We're unwilling often to be open and honest. We’re too often unwilling to consider the loving rebuke of another. We struggle to be willing to say no to our own wrong thoughts and desires. We often struggle to be willing to answer God's ministry call. Often we are unwilling to admit that we are wrong. Too often we struggle to serve willingly to give generously. Unwillingness is one of sins powerful damaging results.So here's what the Christmas story is all about: a willing Savior is born to rescue unwilling people from themselves because there is no other way. Jesus was willing to leave the splendor of eternity to come to this broken and groaning world. He was willing to take on human flesh with all its frailty. He was willing to endure an ignominious birth in a stable. He was willing to go through the dependency of childhood. He was willing to expose himself to all the hardships of life in this fallen world. He was willing to submit to his own law. He was willing to do his Father’s will at every point. He was willing to serve, when he deserved to be served. He was willing to be misunderstood and mistreated. He was willing to endure rejection and gross injustice. He was willing to preach a message that would cost him personal harm. He was willing to suffer public mockery. He was willing to endure physical torture. He was willing to go through the pain of his Father's rejection. He was willing to die. He was willing to rise and ascend to be our constant advocate. Jesus was willing.You see, it's not just the Christmas story; rather, the entire redemptive story hinges on one thing—the eternal willingness of Jesus. Without his willingness, you and I would be without hope and without God. Without his willingness, we would be left with the power and curse of sin. Without his willingness, we would be eternally damned. During this season of celebrating don't forget to stop and celebrate your Saviors willingness. His willingness is your hope in life, death, and eternity.But there is even more to be said. The Advent willingness of Jesus is your guarantee that he continues to be willing today. Right here, right now, he is willing to love you on your very first day. Right now he is willing to forgive you again and again. Here and now he is willing to be patient as you continue to grow and mature. Right now he's willing to battle on your behalf against evil within and without. Here and now he's willing to teach you through his Word. Now he is willing to supply everyone of your spiritual needs. Now he's willing to be faithful even when you're not. He, right now, is willing to empower you when you're weak and restore you when you've fallen. He is willing to comfort you when you were discouraged and protect you when you've stepped into danger. And he remains willing to do everything necessary to feed, guide, sustain, and protect you until eternity is your final home.You see, the Advent story reminds us that our past, present, and future hope rest not on our willingness but on the willingness of the one for whom the Angels sing, the shepherds worshiped, and the magi searched. Willing Jesus is the only hope for unwilling sinners. - Paul Tripp

Listen along as we look at the letter from James to the church.

Notes/Quotes:

James 1:1-28 - Mike Reading

In a word St. John’s Gospel and his first epistle, St. Paul’s epistles, especially Romans, Galatians, and Ephesians, and St. Peter’s first epistle are the books that show you Christ and teach you all that is necessary and salvatory for you to know, even if you were never to see or hear any other book or doctrine. Therefore St. James’ epistle is really an epistle of straw, compared to these others, for it has nothing of the nature of the gospel about it. - Martin Luther

Mark 3:20-21 John 7:1-5 Acts 1:14

“In English, perfect means “without blemish.” What this word (perfect) means is: whole, to be complete, be consistent, like an integer, which is related to integrity. It speaks of maturity…All the ethics of the Bible are imitative, because this is what God is like.” - Jonathan Pennington

“In rapid-fire sequence, James: • encourages his readers to respond positively to their trials (1:2–4); • exhorts them to ask in faith for wisdom (1:5–8); • comforts the poor and warns the rich (1:9–11); • pronounces a blessing on Christians who endure trials (1:12); • warns believers not to blame God for temptations (1:13–15); • reminds his readers that all good gifts, including the new birth, come from God (1:16–18); • warns his readers about sins of speech (1:19–20); • exhorts believers to be obedient to the word they have received (1:21–25); • and reminds them of the essence of “true religion” (1:26–27). Wordplays, evident in the Greek text but usually not in the English, forge literary links between many of these sections: • chairein (“greetings”) in v. 4b is picked up by charan (“joy”) in v. 2 • leipomenoi (“lacking”) in v. 4b is picked up by leipetai (“lacks”) in v. 5 • peirasmon (“trial”) in v. 12 is picked up by peirazomenos (“when tempted”) in v. 13 • Note also that teleios (“perfect,” “complete”) occurs in vv. 4, 17, and 25." Douglas Moo

“I am more impressed than ever by James’s creative use of Hellenistic Jewish traditions in his exposition of practical Christianity. And I remain convinced that the heart of the letter is a call to wholehearted commitment to Christ. James’s call for consistent and uncompromising Christian living is much needed. Our churches are filled with believers who are only halfhearted in their faith and, as a result, leave large areas of their lives virtually untouched by genuine Christian values. Nor am I immune to such problems. As I quite unexpectedly find myself in my “middle age” years, I have discovered a tendency to back off in my fervor for the Lord and his work. My re-immersion in James has challenged me sharply at just this point.” Douglas Moo

Listen along as we continue our journey through the story of scripture. Today we look at the book of Hebrews.

Notes//Quotes:

Hebrews 1:1-4

“It is the audience that really helps us to understand the book. The audience appears to be primarily Jewish Christians, who grew up in Judaism, but have believed in Jesus. They have embraced him as the Messiah. Yet they have hit a snag. For whatever reason – perhaps the pressure of persecution and opposition – they are thinking about going back to Judaism. They’re considering leaving this newfound faith and going back to the old ways: animal, sacrifices, worship at the temple – the old paths, if you will, that the Jews have trusted in for generations. In other words, these people are starting to doubt whether this Jesus thing is all it first promised to be.” Michael Kruger

Colossians 1:15-16

”If Jesus is not God, then there is no Christianity, and we who worship Him are nothing more than idolaters. Conversely, if He is God, those who say He was merely a good man, or even the best of men, are blasphemers. More serious still, if He is not God, then He is a blasphemer in the fullest sense of the word. If He is not God, He is not even good.” J Oswald Sanders, The Incomparable Christ

“The great object of the Epistle is to describe the contrast between the old and new covenants. But this contrast is based upon their unity. It is impossible for us rightly to understand the contrast unless we know first the resemblance. The new covenant is contrasted with the old covenant, not in the way in which the light of the knowledge of God is contrasted with the darkness and ignorance of heathenism, for the old covenant is also of God, and is therefore possessed of Divine glory. Beautiful is the night in which the moon and the stars of prophecy and types are shining; but when the sun arises then we forget the hours of watchfulness and expectancy, and in the clear and joyous light of day there is revealed to us the reality and substance of the eternal and heavenly sanctuary” Adolph Saphir

Hebrews 2:1 Hebrews 3:12-14 Hebrews 4:11-13 Hebrews 4:14-16 If you have a choice between letting the doctor examine you right away, uncomfortable though it may be, and waiting until he or she can do a post-mortem on you after it’s too late, it’s wise to go for the first. If you open yourself, day by day and week by week, to the message of scripture, its grand sweep and its small details, and allow the faithful preaching of Jesus and his achievement to enter your consciousness and soak down into your imagination and heart, then the admittedly uncomfortable work of God’s word will be happening on a regular basis, showing you (as we say) where you really are, what’s going on deep inside. You may need help from someone else in this process. Just as the healing work of the early church didn’t mean that doctors became unnecessary, so the probing, searching, penetrating analysis of God’s word doesn’t mean that there isn’t still a job for psychotherapists and similar professionals. But nor do they make the task of the word unnecessary. To spend time, prayerfully and thoughtfully, with scripture and with Jesus, the written and living Word of God, is to know that gentle but powerful touch, like a very sharp and fine blade, producing surprising and perhaps alarming results. - Tom Wright

“Weak faith is still real faith, because weak faith is still faith in a strong Savior. It’s his strength, no our weakness that matters.” - Dane Ortlund

The vultures of consumerism will come to steal your generosity. The vultures of lust will come to steal your holiness. The vultures of power will come to steal your humility. The vultures of selfishness will come to steal your sacrifice. The vultures of distraction will come to steal your focus. Drive them away with faith. Drive them away with the word. Drive them away with prayer. Drive them away with spiritual disciplines. Drive them away for the reward that God has promised. - Jon Tyson

Hebrews 12:1-2

Listen along as we go through the letter to Philemon

Notes//Quotes:

Text: Philemon Title: History, Heart, Hope

Reading: Philemon (esv)

“23 …if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother has something against you, 24 leave your gift there before the altar and go. First be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift.” (Matthew 5:23 & 24)

“though I am bold enough in Christ to command you to do what is required, yet for love’s sake I prefer to appeal to you” (Philemon 1:8 & 9a.)

“Like apples of gold in settings of silver is a word spoken in right circumstances” (Proverbs 25:11, nasb)

“Human reconciliation runs on loving tact, something every Christian should master regardless of personality or position.” (R. Kent Hughes)

“12 I am sending him back to you, sending my very heart. 13 I would have been glad to keep him with me, in order that he might serve me on your behalf during my imprisonment for the gospel, 14 but I preferred to do nothing without your consent in order that your goodness might not be by compulsion but of your own accord. 15 For this perhaps is why he was parted from you for a while, that you might have him back forever, 16 no longer as a bondservant but more than a bondservant, as a beloved brother—especially to me, but how much more to you, both in the flesh and in the Lord.” (Philemon 1:12-16)

“…[I]n Christ Jesus you are ALL sons of God, through faith. For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus” (Galatians 3:26-28)

“The relationships of the old creation that are marked by polarities (you are either one or the other) and characterized by an economic hierarchy (one side of the relationship is valued higher in the economy of the present age) do not continue into the new creation in Christ.” (Daniel Ragusa)

“17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come. 18 All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation; 19 that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation.” (2 Corinthians 5:17-19)

“6 For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. 7 For one will scarcely die for a righteous person—though perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die— 8 but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. 9 Since, therefore, we have now been justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God. 10 For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his life. 11 More than that, we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation.” (Romans 5:6-11)

“Forgiveness is a form of voluntary suffering. In forgiving, rather than retaliating, you make a choice to bear the cost.” Timothy Keller

Listen along as we wrap up the pastoral epistles.

Notes/Quotes:

Titus 2:11-3:11 Titus 1:5 Crete Pic 1:10-16 “In verse 12, Paul calls the Cretans “evil brutes.” It is a damning indictment, and probably not something you would want to say of a group of people unless you were able. To cite one of their own as the source—which is precisely what Paul is doing here. “One of Crete’s own prophets” - The philosopher Epimenides - thinks this of his countrymen. In the Greek language, “Cretan” became a by-word for dishonesty: “To Crete” was to lie. The phrase translated “evil brutes” is literally “dangerous animals.” Crete was famous for having no dangerous animals, but the saying was that the human inhabitants more than made up for this lack of wildlife.” - Tim Chester, Titus For You

“The laws allow them to possess as much land as they can get with no limitation whatever. Money is so highly valued among them, that its possession is not only thought to be necessary but in the highest degree creditable. And in fact greed and avarice are so native to the soil in Crete, that they are the only people in the world among whom no stigma attaches to any sort of gain whatever. Again all their offices are annual and on a democratical footing…the Cretans by their ingrained avarice are engaged in countless public and private seditions, murders and civil wars, they yet regard these facts as not affecting their contention, but are bold enough to speak of the two constitutions as alike”. Polybius, Greek Philosopher, 150 B.C.

Titus 1:5-9

“The vocation of pastor(s) has been replaced by the strategies of religious entrepreneurs with business plans.” - Eugene Peterson

“My job is not to solve people's problems or make them happy, but to help them see grace operating in their lives…Congregations are composed of people, who, upon entering a church, leave behind what people on the street name or call them. A church can never be reduced to a place where goods and services are exchanged. It must never be a place where a person is labeled. It can never be a place where gossip is perpetuated. Before anything else, it is a place where a person is named and greeted, whether implicitly or explicitly, in Jesus’s name. A place where dignity is conferred.” Eugene Peterson

Titus 2:1 Titus 2:11-15 Titus 3:1 Titus 3:2 Titus 3:3 Titus 3:4-7 Titus 3: 8-11

Listen along as Bill Berve walks us through Paul's second letter to Timothy.

Notes//Quotes:

2 Timothy 3:12-17 - Larry and Jorgen reading

“Timothy was deposed to fear rather than to lead. Greatness was being forced upon him much like Moses and Jeremiah and many others before and after him, but he was exceedingly reluctant to accept it." Patrick Fairbirins (18th century scholar)

"I am reminded of your sincere faith, a faith that dwelt first in your grandmother Lois and your mother Eunice and now, I am sure, dwells in you as well. 6 For this reason I remind you to fan into flame the gift of God, which is in you through the laying on of my hands, 7 for God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control." 2 Timothy 1:5-6

"You then, my child, be strengthened by the grace that is in Christ Jesus, 2 and what you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses entrust to faithful men,[a] who will be able to teach others also. 3 Share in suffering as a good soldier of Christ Jesus. 4 No soldier gets entangled in civilian pursuits, since his aim is to please the one who enlisted him." 2 Timothy 2:1-4

"While it may be difficult to judge how “successful” you are at being "strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus," there are at least three things whose absence in your life makes it clear that you are not doing so. First, there will be very little prayer in your life. Second, there will be very little risk-taking to speak the gospel and plenty of caving in when you are given opportunities to speak or defend the gospel. Third, there will be very little peace and plenty of anxiety in your life — a sure sign that you are failing to trust God." Timothy Keller

"Remind them of these things, and charge them before God not to quarrel about words, which does no good, but only ruins the hearers. 15 Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth. 16 But avoid irreverent babble, for it will lead people into more and more ungodliness, 17 and their talk will spread like gangrene." 2 Timothy 2:14-17

"All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, 17 that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work." 2Timothy 3:16-17

"For I am already being poured out as a drink offering, and the time of my departure has come. 7 I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. 8 Henceforth there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, will award to me on that day, and not only to me but also to all who have loved his appearing." 2 Timothy 4:6-8

"Do your best to come to me soon. 10 For Demas, in love with this present world, has deserted me and gone to Thessalonica. Crescens has gone to Galatia, Titus to Dalmatia. 11 Luke alone is with me. Get Mark and bring him with you, for he is very useful to me for ministry. 12 Tychicus I have sent to Ephesus. 13 When you come, bring the cloak that I left with Carpus at Troas, also the books, and above all the parchments." 2 Timothy 4:9-13

Today we enter the pastoral epistles in our journey through Scripture.

Notes/Quotes:

1 Timothy - Christine Reading 3:14-16 Disciples, Deceptions, Definitions

“As I urged you when I was going to Macedonia, remain at Ephesus…” (1 Tim. 1:3a.)

"...remain at Ephesus so that you may charge certain persons not to teach any different doctrine, 4 nor to devote themselves to myths and endless genealogies, which promote speculations rather than the stewardship from God that is by faith." (1 Tim. 1:3b-4)

"3 If anyone teaches a different doctrine and does not agree with the sound words of our Lord Jesus Christ and the teaching that accords with godliness, 4 he is puffed up with conceit and understands nothing. He has an unhealthy craving for controversy and for quarrels about words, which produce envy, dissension, slander, evil suspicions, 5 and constant friction among people who are depraved in mind and deprived of the truth, imagining that godliness is a means of gain.” (1 Tim. 6:3-5)

“Countless times I have heard Christians say, ‘Why do I need to study doctrine or theology when all I need to know is Jesus?’ My immediate reply is this: ‘Who is Jesus?’ As soon as we begin to answer that question, we are involved in doctrine and theology. No Christian can avoid theology. Every Christian is a theologian. Perhaps not a theologian in the technical or professional sense, but a theologian nevertheless. The issue for Christians is not whether we are going to be theologians but whether we are going to be good theologians or bad ones. A good theologian is one who is instructed by God.” (R.C. Sproul)

John Calvin on sound doctrine: Part 1: sound doctrine is that which magnifies the grace of God in Christ, from which we learn where we ought to seek our salvation.

Part 2: Sound doctrine is that by which the life is framed and transformed to the fear of God, and the practice of obedience. Walking according to the law of God.

The aim of our charge is love that issues from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith. (1 Tim. 1:5)

“14 I hope to come to you soon, but I am writing these things to you so that, 15 if I delay, you may know how one ought to behave in the household of God, which is the church of the living God, a pillar and buttress of the truth.” (1 Tim. 3:14 & 15)

“It has been right before our eyes in the Bible all along. Scores of references to “brothers and sisters,” to God as our Father, to Jesus as both our Bridegroom and Elder Brother, to the essential loving unity of God’s family, and to the household environment of holiness, spiritual nurture and safety. Paul taught Timothy “how people ought to conduct themselves in God’s household, which is the church of the living God.” (1 Tim. 3:15). He told the Ephesians, “You are no longer foreigners and strangers, but fellow citizens with God’s people and also members of his household” (Eph. 2:19)….Pastor and writer Mark Buchanan affirms this: “Jesus is not ashamed to be called our brother. The Father gives us the Spirit of adoption through whom we cry, ‘Abba!’ Jesus asks who his mother and brother and sisters are, and answers they are those who do the Father’s will. From the cross Jesus says to the disciple John and his mother Mary, ‘Behold your son; behold your mother.’ And he says that our loyalty to him must transcend biological attachments.” (Lee Eclov)

Listen along as we continue our journey through the Bible.

Notes//Quotes:

1 Thess 1:2-10 - Denise

“The resurrection was indeed a miraculous display of God’s power, but we should not see it as a suspension of the natural order of the world. Rather it was the beginning of the restoration of the natural order of the world, the world as God intended it to be…The resurrection means not merely that Christians have a hope for the future but that they have a hope that comes from the future. The Bible’s startling message is that when Jesus rose, he brought the future kingdom of God into the present.” - Tim Keller

“The implications of this are significant. If we over stress the “already” of the kingdom to the exclusion of the “not yet,” we will expect quick solutions to problems and we will be dismayed by suffering and tragedy. But we can likewise over stress the “not yet” of the kingdom to the exclusion of the “already.” We can be too pessimistic about personal change. We can withdraw from engaging the world, too afraid of being “polluted” by it. - Tim Keller

1 Thess 3:11-13, 4:13-18, 2 Thess 1:5-12

1 Thess 4:1-12 1 Thess 3:11-13

1 Thess 5:14-24 Holiness is the habit of being of one mind with God, according as we find His mind described in Scripture. It is the habit of agreeing in God's judgment, hating what He hates, loving what He loves, and measuring everything in this world by the standard of His Word. - JC Ryle

Matthew 5:13-16, 1 Peter 2:9-12

Handles for hope and holiness Remember the return of Jesus for real life. Fight distraction with the practice of devotion. Pray the promises for yourself and others. Walk patiently and reject passivity. The why of it all is witness.

Listen along as we continue our time working through the story of Scripture.

Notes//Quotes:

Colossians 1:15-23 - Jon Reading Supremacy, Sufficiency, Solidarity

“In the past, it was common to refer to the problem as the “Colossian heresy.” That term is misleading because it anachronistically assumes that there were widely accepted criteria for judging orthodoxy in the time of Paul. It also assumes that the opponents are Christians who are corrupting the Colossians’ faith. Arnold uses the word “syncretism” to avoid prejudging the teaching as “bad, heretical, or unorthodox.” Paul, however, calls it a “philosophy” (2:8). Putting this term in quotation marks prevents us from understanding it as a logical system of truths and principles and allows it to apply to a religious way of life. What this “philosophy” was and how it threatened the congregation has occupied scholars’ attention for some time and no consensus has been reached. To identify the “philosophy” we have only meager snippets in a short but clearly polemical section (2:8, 16–23). The problem is compounded because this section is the most unclear passage in the letter. Many interpreters look outside the text for some evidence in Paul’s environment that will help stitch all the allusions in the letter together into a coherent pattern. It is like looking for a needle in a haystack, however. What is worse, the diverging conjectures reveal that scholars are looking in quite different haystacks for this magic needle. When one examines all the conflicting proposals by scholars who muster impressive primary evidence to buttress their arguments, the conflicting accounts resemble the story of blind men trying to describe an elephant when they are touching different parts of the animal. This does not mean that if we piece together all the different proposals, we will have our answer. The evidence is confusing and enigmatic.” - David E. Garland

It is a “hollow and deceptive philosophy” (2:8).
It is dependent on “human tradition” (vv. 8, 22).
It is dependent on “elemental spiritual forces of this world” (v. 8).
It is not dependent on “Christ” (v. 8).
It involves dietary restrictions (v.16).
It involves the practice of Jewish holidays (v.16).
It involves ascetic disciplines (vv. 18, 23).
It involves angelic beings (v. 18).
It involves visions (v. 18).
It results in pride (v. 18).
It results in loosing connection with Christ (v.19).
It involves a number of rules as a means of spiritual growth (vv. 20-23).
Douglas Moo

We look at this Son and see the God who cannot be seen. We look at this Son and see God’s original purpose in everything created. For everything, absolutely everything, above and below, visible and invisible, rank after rank after rank of angels—everything got started in him and finds its purpose in him. He was there before any of it came into existence and holds it all together right up to this moment. And when it comes to the church, he organizes and holds it together, like a head does a body. He was supreme in the beginning and—leading the resurrection parade—he is supreme in the end. From beginning to end he’s there, towering far above everything, everyone. So spacious is he, so roomy, that everything of God finds its proper place in him without crowding. Not only that, but all the broken and dislocated pieces of the universe—people and things, animals and atoms—get properly fixed and fit together in vibrant harmonies, all because of his death, his blood that poured down from the cross. - Eugene H. Peterson, The Message: The Bible in Contemporary Language

Gif Laughing Baby

3 If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. 2 Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth. 3 For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. 4 When Christ who is your life appears, then you also will appear with him in glory. 5 Put to death therefore what is earthly in you: sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry. 6 On account of these the wrath of God is coming. 7 In these you too once walked, when you were living in them. 8 But now you must put them all away: anger, wrath, malice, slander, and obscene talk from your mouth. 9 Do not lie to one another, seeing that you have put off the old self with its practices 10 and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge after the image of its creator. 11 Here there is not Greek and Jew, circumcised and uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave, free; but Christ is all, and in all. 12 Put on then, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience, 13 bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive. 14 And above all these put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony. 15 And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body. And be thankful. 16 Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God. 17 And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him. - Colossians 3:3-17 ESV

“When Christians do not live with a deep sense of gratitude for what God has done for them in Christ, they will become engulfed in anxieties and will be tempted to look for security in something other than Christ. Paul repeatedly urged the Colossians to be thankful for the victory already won for them by Christ’s cross and resurrection. Salvation can be found only in Christ, and Christians do not need something else or something more. The cross brings redemption, the forgiveness of sin, and triumph over all the powers that would oppress human life. Every believer is made complete when placed under the complete claim of Christ, and all the spiritual ills of our world find their only cure in him." - David E. Garland

Elaine dancing gif: https://media.giphy.com/media/3o7TKstUpSOgEXNzKE/giphy.gif

Listen along as we learn about the place of Philippi, the prayer of Paul and how we are to press God's providence into our lives.

Notes/Quotes:

Philippians 1:3-11 - Larry and Jorgen

Philippians 1:3-11

(memes) - 1,2,3

Acts 16:11-12 Acts 16:13-15

Acts 16:16-24

“God’s total care and governance of His creation for His glory and their good” - Jerry Bridges

Philippians 2:1-11 “We’re daily being indoctrinated by the world to have the opposite mindset. You want your life to speak? Adopt the same attitude as that of Christ Jesus.” - Beth Moore

Philippians 4:4-7 -

“To be cynical is to be distant. While offering a false intimacy of being "in the know," cynicism actually destroys intimacy. It leads to a creeping bitterness that can deaden and even destroy the spirit...A praying life is just the opposite. It engages evil. The psalmist was in God's face, hoping, dreaming, asking. Prayer is feisty. Cynicism, on the other hand, merely critiques. It is passive, cocooning itself from the passions of the great cosmic battle we are engaged in. It is without hope.” Paul Miller

Listen along as Mike Gaston teaches through Ephesians.

Ephesians 3:8-13 Slide 1 Fun Facts from Efesians Geography Grammar Greetings Slide 2 Map image (attached) Slide 3 Fun Facts from Efesians Geography Grammar: Indicative/Imperative Greetings: basically, none Slide 4 “Ephesians, unlike Colossians, was not devised to combat error and expose the inconsistencies of false teaching. Paul’s aim was more detached and therefore more exalted. He rose above the smoke of battle and captured a vision of God’s sovereign plan that transcends the bitterness of controversy and the necessity for the church militant here on earth to fight for its very existence. Paul stood aside from the conflict and contemplated God’s overall design for his church and for his world. As he did so, he came to realize as never before the breathtaking scope of God’s strategy in Christ for the fullness of time.” A. Skevington Wood Slide 5 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. Ephesians 1:3-4 Slide 6 And you were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience— among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind. But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved— and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them. Slide 7 Therefore remember that at one time you Gentiles in the flesh, called “the uncircumcision” by what is called the circumcision, which is made in the flesh by hands— remember that you were at that time separated from Christ, alienated from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world. But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ. For he himself is our peace, who has made us both one and has broken down in his flesh the dividing wall of hostility by abolishing the law of commandments expressed in ordinances, that he might create in himself one new man in place of the two, so making peace, and might reconcile us both to God in one body through the cross, thereby killing the hostility. Ephesians 2:11-16 Slide 8 When you read this, you can perceive my insight into the mystery of Christ, which was not made known to the sons of men in other generations as it has now been revealed to his holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit. 6 This mystery is, that the Gentiles are fellow heirs, members of the same body, and partakers of the promise in Christ Jesus through the gospel. Ephesians 3:4-6 Slide 9 To me, though I am the very least of all the saints, this grace was given, to preach to the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ, and to bring to light for everyone what is the plan of the mystery hidden for ages in God, who created all things, so that through the church the manifold wisdom of God might now be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly places. Ephesians 3:8-10 Slide 10 The cosmic mission of the church is to display before the hosts of heaven the manifold wisdom of God. "You are the light of the world." But not merely that. You are the light of the cosmos, with the spectacular mission of revealing the wisdom of God to supernatural beings… How are we, the church, to make this wisdom known to the principalities and powers in the heavenly places? … What the church is to do is demonstrate the wisdom in God's mysterious plan. The wisdom of a plan is seen by the fact that it works. We show the wisdom of God by showing in the church that it is working. The death of Christ was not in vain: it has reconciled us to God, it has broken down the wall of hostility between Jew and Gentile and other races, it has produced one new body, and it has given us the hope of his immeasurable kindness forever. We show the wisdom of God to the cosmic powers by living this way, by being the church Christ died to create. John Piper Slide 11 I therefore, a prisoner for the Lord, urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. Ephesians 4:1-3 Slide 12 (The Ephesians are called) to put off your old self, which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires, and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds, and to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness. Ephesians 4:22-24 Slide 13 Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is. And do not get drunk with wine, for that is debauchery, but be filled with the Spirit… Ephesians 5:17-18 Slide 14 Wives, submit to your own husbands, as to the Lord… Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her… Ephesians 5:22,24 Slide 15 Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand firm. Ephesians 6:13

Galatians 5:16-26

“I believe we are called to the difficult and even painful task of “double listening.” That is, we are to listen carefully (although of course with differing degrees of respect) both to the ancient Word and to the modern world, in order to relate the one to the other with a combination of fidelity and sensitivity. Only if we can develop our capacity for double listening, will we avoid the opposite pitfalls of unfaithfulness and irrelevance, and be able to speak God’s Word to God’s world with effectiveness today.” John Stott

Acts 15:6-11 - Acts 15:19-21 -

Gospel math Jesus + Nothing = Everything Jesus + Anything = Nothing

“Paul was against the legalism of the Judaizers because it usurped the work of Christ and the power of the Holy Spirit and forced all converts to become Jews. It was not what was done that rankled Paul; it was why these things were done that produced his quick reaction. The system is one of “addition by subtraction”— adding to the gospel by subtracting the sufficiency of Christ and the Spirit.” - Scot Mcknight

Galatians 1:6-9 Gal 2:20-21 Gal 3:5-9

Galatians 3:23-29

Galatians 5:1

“Freedom of choice without limits has become almost sacred. Philosophers call this “negative freedom”—freedom from constraints—which they contrast with “positive freedom,” the freedom to pursue some good aim. Absolute negative freedom becomes the chief moral good, so that “the only sin which is not tolerated is intolerance.” Tim Keller

The very theme of the kingdom of God, when preached properly and fully, directly challenges yet fulfills the late-modern desire for freedom. We can see in daily life how the disciplines—freedom “losses” like practice and dieting—lead to other kinds of freedom gains. We also see how when employees submit to the leadership of a great CEO or team members to that of a great coach, everyone on the team realizes his potential and everyone thrives. Submitting to the right rules and the right leader can bring all sorts of great freedoms. If we see this to be the case, then how much more liberating will it be to submit to the true king of our souls? All of this supports the famous claim by Jesus that knowing him sets you “free” (John 8:31–36), meaning The ultimate bondage is rebellion against the God who has made us. The despotic master is not Caesar, but shameful self-centeredness, an evil and enslaving devotion to created things at the expense of worship of the Creator.” - Tim Keller

“To see the law by Christ fulfilled, to hear His pardoning voice Can change a slave into a child and duty into choice No strength of nature can suffice to serve the Lord aright And what she has she misapplies for want of clearer light Then to abstain from outward sin was more than I could do Now if I feel its power within, I feel I hate it too Then all my servile works were done, a righteousness to raise Now, freely chosen in the Son, I freely choose His ways.”

Listen along as we continue our journey through the story of scripture.

Notes//Quotes:

2 Corinthians 5:11-21

“They have been ready to believe a whole range of criticisms against him—of being worldly and irresolute (1:17), of moral cowardice in writing instead of coming (1:23), of his lack of inner strength (4:16), of being demoralized and theologically deviant (4:2), of being an imposter (6:8), of being corrupt and exploitative (7:2), of not being a true minister of Christ (10:7), of being weak in speech when present and powerful only by letter, when absent (10:1, 10; 11:6, 21), of being a fool, even mad (11:1, 16, 23), of breaching convention or of craftiness in declining their financial support (11:7; 12:13–16), and of lacking mystical and miraculous credentials of ministry (12:1, 11–12). Throughout this letter Paul is forced to defend his doctrines, his ministry and his character.” - Paul Barnett

“How is it possible to be motivated by the fear of the Lord and the love of Christ? Are not fear and love irreconcilable? It all depends on a proper understanding of fear and love, which, it should be noted, are not opposites. In the Bible ‘fear’ is not cringing terror but holy reverence, and ‘love’ is not romantic feelings but sacrificial care. The two words are consistent and reconcilable. Indeed, the fear of the Lord and awareness of the love of Christ fit perfectly together to provide the true motivation for Christian ministry.” - Paul Barnett

5:16-20 5:21

2 Cor 4:7-18

“While other worldviews lead us to sit in the midst of life’s joys, foreseeing the coming sorrows, Christianity empowers its people to sit in the midst of this world’s sorrows, tasting the coming joy. Suffering can refine us rather than destroy us because God himself walks with us in the fire.” - Tim Keller

2 Cor 8:9

Our giving is a reflexive response to the grace of God in our lives. It doesn’t come out of our altruism or philanthropy – it comes out of the transforming work of Christ in us. God’s grace is the action; our giving is the reaction. We give because He first gave to us. The greatest passage on giving in all Scripture ends not with “Congratulations for your generosity,” but “Thanks be to God for his indescribably gift!” (2 Corinthians 9:15). As thunder follows lightning, giving follows grace. - Randy Alcorn

2 Cor 2:5-11

“Forgiveness is not so much a word spoken, an action performed, or a feeling felt as it is an embodied way of life in an ever-deepening friendship with the Triune God and with others. As such, a Christian account of forgiveness ought not simply or even primarily be focused on the absolution of guilt; rather, it ought to be focused on the reconciliation of brokenness, the restoration of communion—with God, with one another, and with the whole creation.” - L. Gregory Jones

Is. 55:8-9 Is 55:6-7

The natural flow of the fallen human heart is toward reciprocity, tit-for-tat payback, equanimity, balancing of the scales. We are far more intractably law-ish than we realize. There is something healthy and glorious buried in that impulse, or course—made in God’s own image, we desire order and fairness rather than chaos. But that impulse, like every part of us, has been diseased by the ruinous fall into sin. Our capacity to apprehend the heart of God has gone into meltdown. We are left with an impoverished view of how he feels toward his people…So God tells us in plain terms how tiny our natural views of his heart are. His thoughts are not our thoughts. His ways are not our ways.” - Dane Ortlund

2 Corinthians 13:11-14

Text: 1 Corinthians 1:1-9 Title: Bedlam, Body, Belief

“Beginning in 1 Corinthians 11:1, Paul exhorts his readers to apply the teachings they had received from him for proper order in the churches. No doubt, the Corinthians had failed to exhibit proper order through submission to Christ and to one another (11:1-16). This resulted in self-centered divisions and offensive conflicts even in the observance of the Lord’s Supper (11:17-34)—a celebration meant to display the church’s unity. In keeping with this factious spirit, the Corinthians also exercised spiritual gifts in ways that highlighted their selfish ambition, though their demonstrations of the gifts of the Spirit should have displayed humility and deference for one another (12:1–14:40)." - Swindoll

1 Cor. 12:13-27 ESV “For in one Spirit we were all baptized into one body—Jews or Greeks, slaves or free—and all were made to drink of one Spirit." 14 For the body does not consist of one member but of many. 15 If the foot should say, “Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body,” that would not make it any less a part of the body. 16 And if the ear should say, “Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body,” that would not make it any less a part of the body. 17 If the whole body were an eye, where would be the sense of hearing? If the whole body were an ear, where would be the sense of smell? 18 But as it is, God arranged the members in the body, each one of them, as he chose. 19 If all were a single member, where would the body be? 20 As it is, there are many parts, yet one body. 21 The eye cannot say to the hand, “I have no need of you,” nor again the head to the feet, “I have no need of you.” 22 On the contrary, the parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable, 23 and on those parts of the body that we think less honorable we bestow the greater honor, and our unpresentable parts are treated with greater modesty, 24 which our more presentable parts do not require. But God has so composed the body, giving greater honor to the part that lacked it, 25 that there may be no division in the body, but that the members may have the same care for one another. 26 If one member suffers, all suffer together; if one member is honored, all rejoice together. 27 Now you are the body of Christ and individually members of it.

“We are members of a body, not only when we choose to be, but in our whole existence.”

“Every member serves the whole body, either to its health or to its detriment.” - Dietrich Bonhoeffer

1 Cor. 13:1-7 MSG 13:1 If I speak with human eloquence and angelic ecstasy but don’t love, I’m nothing but the creaking of a rusty gate.

2 If I speak God’s Word with power, revealing all his mysteries and making everything plain as day, and if I have faith that says to a mountain, “Jump,” and it jumps, but I don’t love, I’m nothing.

3–7 If I give everything I own to the poor and even go to the stake to be burned as a martyr, but I don’t love, I’ve gotten nowhere. So, no matter what I say, what I believe, and what I do, I’m bankrupt without love. Love never gives up. Love cares more for others than for self. Love doesn’t want what it doesn’t have. Love doesn’t strut, Doesn’t have a swelled head, Doesn’t force itself on others, Isn’t always “me first,” Doesn’t fly off the handle, Doesn’t keep score of the sins of others, Doesn’t revel when others grovel, Takes pleasure in the flowering of truth, Puts up with anything, Trusts God always, Always looks for the best, Never looks back, But keeps going to the end.

1 Cor. 15:1-2 ESV 15:1 Now I would remind you, brothers, of the gospel I preached to you, which you received, in which you stand, 2 and by which you are being saved, if you hold fast to the word I preached to you—unless you believed in vain.

“More profound amazement is ours when we consider that the church is composed of sinners, albeit forgiven, still sinners. In her own eyes, the church is full of spots and blemishes and is, in fact, sometimes disgusting to behold. Paul says that only at the end of the age will the church be presented to Christ “in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing” (Eph. 5:27). Yet Christ draws our attention to his bride here and now, not for veneration, but that we may be astonished and lost in the wonder of his love and sacrifice on her behalf. The church is beautiful because the lens through which Christ regards her is his cross—the focal point of blood, righteousness, forgiveness, union, justification, regeneration, and grace. His cross makes her beautiful. His perfection makes her beautiful. It is his sacrificial, substitutionary, sinless blood that washes her garments as white as snow. The cross of Christ makes her beautiful not only inwardly by justification but also outwardly through sanctification. From giving second birth to final glory, the righteousness of Christ creates a beautiful church. His perfect righteousness fashions a loveliness so shocking and captivating that in the same sentence he repeats his admiration twice:

Behold, you are beautiful…; Behold, you are beautiful. (Song 1:15)” - Dustin Benge

Listen along as Mike teaches the book of Romans.

Notes/Quotes:

"Time and again in the course of Christian history, it has liberated the minds of men, brought them back to an understanding of the essential Gospel of Christ, and started spiritual revolutions."

F. F. Bruce

Slide 3 You will find gospel truth in every book of the Bible, including the Old Testament, and you certainly find the explicit gospel of Jesus Christ in every book of the New Testament. But the book of Romans, rivaled only perhaps by Hebrews, completely brings the old covenant history into the new covenant revelation. Romans has an epic sweep and a panoramic scope. You don’t just get the gospel in Romans, you get gospel deeps.

Jared Wilson

Slide 4 For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth. For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse. Romans 1:18-20

Slide 5 What then? Are we Jews any better off? No, not at all. For we have already charged that all, both Jews and Greeks, are under sin, as it is written: “None is righteous, no, not one; no one understands; no one seeks for God. All have turned aside; together they have become worthless; no one does good, not even one.”

Romans 3:9-12

Slide 6 But now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law, although the Law and the Prophets bear witness to it— the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe. For there is no distinction: for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, 24 and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus

Romans 3:21-24

Slide 7 It was to show his righteousness at the present time, so that he might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.

Romans 3:26

Slide 8 What then shall we say was gained by Abraham, our forefather according to the flesh? For if Abraham was justified by works, he has something to boast about, but not before God. For what does the Scripture say? “Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness.” Now to the one who works, his wages are not counted as a gift but as his due. And to the one who does not work but believes in him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is counted as righteousness. Romans 4:1-5

Slide 9 “Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ… For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. For one will scarcely die for a righteous person—though perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die — but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”

Romans 5:1, 6-8

Slide 10 Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, to make you obey its passions. Do not present your members to sin as instruments for unrighteousness, but present yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life, and your members to God as instruments for righteousness. For sin will have no dominion over you, since you are not under law but under grace.

Romans 6:12-14

Listen along as we see the presence and power of Jesus give proliferation of the church.

Notes/Quotes:

Acts 1:1-11

Luke 4:16-21

“In that culture, one’s status in a community was not so much a function of economic realities, but depended on a number of elements, including education, gender, family heritage, religious purity, vocation, economics, and so on. Thus, lack of subsistence might account for one’s designation as “poor,” but so might other disadvantaged conditions, and “poor” would serve as a cipher for those of low status, for those excluded according to normal canons of status honor in the Mediterranean world. Hence, although “poor” is hardly devoid of economic significance, for Luke this wider meaning of diminished status honor is paramount.” Joel Green

“In Luke’s Gospel Jesus is either going to a meal, at a meal, or coming from a meal.” - Robert Karris

In Luke 5 Jesus eats with tax collectors and sinners at the home of Levi. In Luke 7 Jesus is anointed in the home of Simon the Pharisee during a meal. In Luke 9 Jesus feeds the five thousand. In Luke 10 Jesus eats in the home of Martha and Mary. In Luke 11 Jesus condemns the Pharisees and teachers of the law at a meal. In Luke 14 Jesus is at a meal when he urges people to invite the poor to their meals rather than their friends. In Luke 19 Jesus invites himself to dinner with Zacchaeus. In Luke 22 we have the account of the Last Supper. In Luke 24 the risen Christ has a meal with the two disciples in Emmaus, and then later eats fish with the disciples in Jerusalem.

“There are three ways the New Testament completes the sentence, ‘The Son of Man came...’ ‘The Son of Man came not to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many’ (Mark 10:45); ‘The Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost’ (Luke 19:10); ‘The Son of Man has come eating and drinking . . . ‘ (Luke 7:34). The first two are statements of purpose. Why did Jesus come? He came to serve, to give his life as a ransom, to seek and save the lost. The third is a statement of method. How did Jesus come? He came eating and drinking.” - Tim Chester

Luke 7:33-35

Acts 2:42-47

These four go together. You can't separate them, or leave one out, without damage to the whole thing. Where no attention is given to teaching, and to constant, lifelong Christian learning, people quickly refer to the worldview or mindset of the surrounding culture, and end up with their minds shaped by whichever social pressures are most persuasive, with Jesus somewhere around as a pale influence or memory. Where people ignore the common life of the Christian family (the technical term often used is "fellowship", which is more than friendship but not less), they become isolated, and often find it difficult to sustain a living faith. Where people no longer share regularly in 'the breaking of bread' (the early Christian term for the simple meal that took them back to the Upper Room 'in remembrance of Jesus'), they are failing to raise the flag which says 'Jesus' death and resurrection are the centre of everything. And whenever people do all these things but neglect prayer, they are quite simply forgetting that Christians are supposed to be heaven-and earth people. Prayer makes no sense whatever - unless heaven and earth are designed to be joined together, and we can share in that already. - NT Wright

"We formerly rejoiced in uncleanness of life, but now love only chastity; before we used the magic arts, but now dedicate ourselves to the true and unbegotten God; before we loved money and possessions more than anything, but now we share what we have and to everyone who is in need; before we hated one another and killed one another and would not eat with those of another race, but now since the manifestation of Christ, we have come to a common life and pray for our enemies and try to win over those who hate us without just cause.” Justin Martyr to Antonius Pius  

Atheism [i.e., Christian faith] has been specially advanced through the loving service rendered to strangers, and through their care for the burial of the dead. It is a scandal there is not a single Jew who is a beggar, and that the godless Galileans care not only for their own poor but for ours as well; while those who belong to us look in vain for the help that we should render them - Emperor Julian

Acts 28:30-31

Listen along as we continue our series through the story of Scripture.

Notes/Quotes:

John 20:30-31 -

(21:25) Meme 1/2

In a world of darkness - Jesus is Light In a world of death - Jesus is Life In a world of despair - Jesus is Love

John 1:1-5

The term “the Word” (Gk. Logos) conveys the notion of divine self-expression or speech and has a rich OT background. God’s Word is effective: God speaks, and things come into being (Gen. 1:3, 9; Ps. 33:6; 107:20; Isa. 55:10–11). John also shows how this concept of “the Word” is superior to a Greek philosophical concept of “Word” (logos) as an impersonal principle of Reason that gave order to the universe. “And the Word was with God” indicates interpersonal relationship “with” God, but then and the Word was God affirms that this Word was also the same God who created the universe “in the beginning.” Here are the building blocks that go into the doctrine of the Trinity: the one true God consists of more than one person, they relate to each other, and they have always existed. - ESV Study Bible

John 1:14

In Hebrew the term “dabar” means both "word" and "deed." Thus to say something is to do something. "I love you." "I hate you." "I forgive you." "I am afraid of you." Who knows what such words do, but whatever it is, it can never be undone. Something that lay hidden in the heart is irrevocably released through speech into time, is given substance and tossed like a stone into the pool of history, where the concentric rings lap out endlessly. "In the beginning was the Word," says John, meaning perhaps that before the beginning there was something like Silence: not the absence of sound, because there was no sound yet to be absent, but the absence of absence: nothing nothinged: Then the Word. The Deed. The Beginning. The beginning in time of time. "The Word was with God, and the Word was God," says John. By uttering himself, God makes God heard and makes God hearers. God never seems to weary of trying to get across to us. Word after word God tries in search of the right word. When the creation itself doesn't seem to say it right—sun, moon, stars, all of it—God tries flesh and blood. Frederick Buechner

The Johannine model of salvation is, in the light of the Exodus, an act of liberation from the dominion of slavery to the freedom of children within the household/Temple of God, In this model there is liberation from sin, where sin is perceived as a power which enslaves humanity to “the ruler of this world,” just as Israel was once held captive within the house of slavery. But with the incarnation of Jesus, the true king has come, offering life and freedom. Mary Coloe

John 10:10

“Never forget that when we are dealing with any pleasure in its healthy and normal and satisfying form, we are, in a sense, on the Enemy’s ground. I know we have won many a soul through pleasure. All the same, it is His invention, not ours. He made the pleasures: all our research so far has not enabled us to produce one. All we can do is to encourage the humans to take the pleasures which our Enemy has produced, at times, or in ways, or in degrees, which He has forbidden…When He talks of their losing their selves, He means only abandoning the clamor of self-will; once they have done that, He really gives them back all their personality, and boasts (I am afraid, sincerely) that when they are wholly His they will be more themselves than ever.” C.S. Lewis, The Screwtape Letters

(Bible Project image)

John 16:7-11

John 20:21

Following Jesus is not a skill we acquire. Following Jesus is not a strategy we work out. It is obedience – ‘my Lord.’ It is worship – ‘my God.’ No religious skills that you and I acquire will ever produce resurrection. No spiritual strategies that we work on will ever produce resurrection. Following Jesus doesn’t get us where we want to go; it gets us where Jesus wants us to go. - Eugene Peterson

Mark 4:35-41

Mark 1:1

The providence which has ordered the whole of our life…has ordained the most perfect consummation for human life by giving to it Caesar Augustus, by sending in him, as it were, a savior for us and those who come after us, to make war to cease, to create order everywhere…the birthday of the god [Augustus] was the beginning of the gospel for the world that came by him. - Priene Calendar Inscription, 9BC "There was a human being in the first century who was called 'Divine,' 'Son of God,' 'God,' and 'God from God,' whose titles were 'Lord,' 'Redeemer,' 'Liberator,' and 'Saviour of the World.'" Most Christians probably think that those titles were originally created and uniquely applied to Christ. But before Jesus ever existed, all those terms belonged to Caesar Augustus. They were taking the identity of the Roman emperor and giving it to a Jewish peasant. Either that was a peculiar joke and a very low lampoon, or it was what the Romans called majistas and we call high treason.” - John Dominic Crossan

“The introduction of Jesus is no less momentous than the creation of the world, for in Jesus a new creation is at hand” - James Edwards

15:39

“The wind and the waves recognized Jesus’ voice. (They had heard it before, of course–it was the same voice that made them, in the very beginning). They listened to Jesus and they did what he said.” Sally Lloyd Jones

“Jesus does not reproach the disciples for their lack of knowledge, however, but for their fear, the Greek word for which means “losing heart” or “cowardice.” The real threat to faith comes not from lack of knowledge but from doubt and fear.” - James Edwards

“Then Jesus turned to his wind-torn friends. “Why were you scared?” he asked. “Did you forget who I am? Did you believe your fears, instead of me?” Jesus’ friends were quiet. As quiet as the wind and the waves. And into their hearts came a different kind of storm. “What kind of man is this?” they asked themselves anxiously. “Even the winds and the waves obey him!” they said, because they didn’t understand. They didn’t realize yet that Jesus was the Son of God. Jesus’ friends had been so afraid, they had only seen the big waves. They had forgotten that, if Jesus was with them, then they had nothing to be afraid of. No matter how small their boat–or how big their storm." - Sally Lloyd Jones “If the sight of Jesus bowing his head into that ultimate storm is burned into the core of your being, you will never say, “God, don’t you care?” If you know that he did not abandon you in that ultimate storm, what makes you think he would abandon you in the much smaller storms you’re experiencing right now? And, someday, of course, he will return and still all storms for eternity.” Tim Keller

Only two groups seem to give anywhere near the expected response—the desperate and the demoniacs. The latter at least show signs of knowing who Jesus is; but they get no further because recognition leads to resistance, not faith, till they are delivered. The desperate alone are seen to be faithful. They have nowhere else to go, and no future to hope for without a cure. In the main they cast themselves on Jesus and find all that they need, and more. - Donald English

Mark 5:19-20

Listen along as we enter the New Testament and see the arrival, announcement, and acts of the Messiah.

Notes//Quotes:

Matthew Matthew 3:1-17

“First, God generally designed or allowed a desperate situation to arise before presenting His deliverance. Secondly, He always called upon a faithful servant to “stand in the gap,” making intercession to Him on behalf of the people (Ezek 22:30), and to be His agent through whom He performed His work.” William MacDonald

“The remedy for sin is not denying sin’s presence or explaining it away, but openly admitting it. We are free from sin only when we face it; we disown sin by owning up to it; sin is remitted where sin is admitted.” - Dale Bruner

The wrath of God is not the irritability of God; it is the love of God in friction with injustice. It is the warm, steady, patient, but absolutely fair grace of God in collision with manifest selfishness. - Dale Bruner

If we hear the Father’s twice-repeated Voice at the baptism and transfiguration correctly, the one fact the Father wants believers to know, above apparently all other facts, is how much we have in Jesus. If we know this, we know the most important fact in the world. “Here,” God is saying in so many words, “in this man, is everything I want to say, reveal, and do, and everything I want people to hear, see, and believe. If you want to know anything about me, if you want to hear anything from me, if you want to please me, get together with him” - Dale Bruner

“You have to keep unmasking the world about you for what it is: manipulative, controlling, power-hungry, and, in the long run, destructive. The world tells you many lies about who you are, and you simply have to be realistic enough to remind yourself of this. Every time you feel hurt, offended, or rejected, you have to dare to say to yourself: 'These feelings, strong as they may be, are not telling me the truth about myself. The truth, even though I cannot feel it right now, is that I am the chosen child of God, precious in God's eyes, called the Beloved from all eternity, and held safe in an everlasting belief.” - Henri Nouwen

“Are you the one who is to come, or shall we look for another?” Matthew 11:3 “Behold, your God will come with vengeance, with the vengeance of God. He will come to save you. Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened,” etc. (Isa 35:4–5)

“For immediately after John’s sermon, in the rest of chaps. 3 and 4, Jesus comes (almost like a sinner) to be baptized, and in water! John even tried to dissuade Jesus from being baptized (3:13–15). In John’s eyes, Jesus was from the very first a little baffling, a little strange; less messianic than he had expected and less cataclysmic than he had preached. Then in the Three Temptations, Jesus rejects rather than accepts the powerful ministries offered by Satan (and even well-meaningly predicted by John)—sensational, spectacular, and speedy ministries (4:1–11). In the Three Services (4:12–25), Jesus called his first disciples with power—but just a few were called (four are recorded), they were not persons of great influence (they were simply fishermen), and their task seemed less to be setting the world on fire by destroying evil (which was John’s main picture) than it was, more prosaically, “catching people” into salvation (which is Jesus’ main picture, 4:19).”

“In the Sermon on the Mount Jesus taught “with authority,” but what he taught seemed more calculated to put axes in the hands of his opponents than in the hands of his disciples: disciples were in fact specifically forbidden avenging attacks on evil, were particularly promised persecution and tough times, and when talk did come to great and powerful deeds (7:22: prophecy, exorcism, many miracles), Jesus seemed less to encourage them than to warn of them. The whole Sermon on the Mount calls its hearers to a fundamental morality—to such prosaic deeds as scriptural reverence, temperamental patience, sexual purity, marital fidelity, no oaths, nonviolence, and even the love of enemies (the Six Commands of 5:17–48). Are these “the deeds of the Messiah” preached by John and predicted by the OT?" - Dale Bruner

“Go and tell John what you hear and see: 5 the blind receive their sight and the lame walk, lepers are cleansed and the deaf hear, and the dead are raised up, and the poor have good news preached to them. 6 And blessed is the one who is not offended by me.” Matthew 11:4-6,

Listen along as we close out the Old Testament.

Malachi 2:17-3:5

“The book of Malachi sits aptly in our Bibles as the last book of the Old Testament, for it looks back to the Old Testament and assumes, summarizes and applies its message. But it also looks forward to the New Testament, with its promises of the coming reign of God.” - Peter Adam

“The general picture we get from the book is that the long years of Israel’s exile did not fundamentally change the hearts of the people. They’re still in rebellion against God, the temple is corrupted, and the reader is left waiting for some kind of resolution. And that’s exactly what Malachi announces. The Day of the Lord is coming to purify Israel from all moral compromise and evil, so that a faithful remnant can emerge out of the other side. While the tone of the book is kind of a downer, it ends with a hopeful note that God will come one day to sort everything out. And that final, hopeful note is precisely what makes Malachi a great ending to the Christian Old Testament. But remember, it’s not the original ending.” Amber Dillon

Mal 1:2

“One of the book’s most striking features is the way in which every word of God is contradicted or questioned by God’s people. This is the deep structure of the book, and its recurring theme. Contradicting God and his words was unfortunately characteristic of this contrary people! Whatever God said, they contradicted by questions.” - Peter Adam

Mal 1:6-8

2:10-16 2:17 3:6-12 3:6-12 3:13-18 4:1-6 Exodus 19:4-6 1 Pet 2:9-10

Haggai 1:1-15 & Zechariah 9:9&10 Title: Perspectives & Priorities “The destruction of the temple was a defining moment for ancient Israel. As a result of the loss of the temple structure, it was no longer possible to worship the Lord according to the prescriptions of earlier Israelite practice. A large portion of the community was either dead as a result of the conflict with the Babylonians or were in exile in Babylon with great restrictions imposed on their religious freedom. The destruction of the temple was for those who survived an unpleasant reminder of the spiritual failures of the nation; its absence was a painful metaphor of the religious and moral condition of the community itself.” - Richard Taylor A Message from God-of-the-Angel-Armies: “The people procrastinate. They say this isn’t the right time to rebuild my Temple, the Temple of God.” Shortly after that, God said more and Haggai spoke it: “How is it that it’s the ‘right time’ for you to live in your fine new homes while the Home, God’s Temple, is in ruins?” (2) (Haggai 1:2-4, MSG) “Take a good, hard look at your life. Think it over. You have spent a lot of money, but you haven’t much to show for it. You keep filling your plates, but you never get filled up. You keep drinking and drinking and drinking, but you’re always thirsty. You put on layer after layer of clothes, but you can’t get warm. And the people who work for you, what are they getting out of it? Not much— a leaky, rusted-out bucket, that’s what.” (Haggai 1:5–6 MSG) “’The backwards law’ [is] the idea that the more you pursue feeling better all the time, the less satisfied you become, as pursuing something only reinforces the fact that you lack it in the first place. The more you desperately want to be rich, the more poor and unworthy you feel, regardless of how much money you actually make. The more you desperately want to be sexy and desired, the uglier you come to see yourself, regardless of your actual physical appearance. The more you desperately want to be happy and loved, the lonelier and more afraid you become, regardless of those who surround you. The more you want to be spiritually enlightened, the more self-centered and shallow you become in trying to get there.” - Mark Manson “For whoever wants to save his life will lose it” (Mark 8:35; Matt 16:25; Luke 9:24) “Haggai made it clear that putting self first is always self-defeating…Ironically, even though these people were residing in the Promised Land with all of its potential blessing, their disobedience subjected them to the curse. The conditions of drought described in verses 10 and 11 echo Deuteronomy 28:38–40 in detailing the kind of chastisement inflicted upon covenant breakers. Not having God and kingdom-work as the main priority in life is serious. Putting God first equates to obeying the greatest of all the commandments to love God totally (Deut 6:5). Not putting him first equates to the greatest sin.” - Michael Barrett “When was the last time you did something outwardly "for God" that was actually inwardly motivated by personal gain? That's a hard question because it first requires the courage of humble honesty. It's not easy for us to admit that we prioritize ourselves over our Lord and Savior. But second, it's a hard question because we struggle to see our motives, words and actions with biblical accuracy.” “Let me rephrase the question and lead with personal confession, using two examples from my own life and ministry. When was the last time you served someone you loved, not first because you wanted to freely sacrifice for their good, but because you were attempting to put them in your debt for later? When was the last time you participated in a public ministry activity, not first because you wanted to build the Kingdom of God, but because you wanted other people to notice, respect, admire, or accept you?” “You see, in our everyday lives, the Kingdom of God and the kingdom of self are always at war with one another. As long as sin remains, our motives, words and actions are shaped by a troublesome mix of the agenda of these two kingdoms. So today, I want to give you five questions to ask of yourself regularly. These questions are not designed to beat you down with guilt, but to give you eyes to see the deceptive kingdom of self.” Self-Focus: Before making a decision, do you think, "What's in it for me?" or do you freely sacrifice for the good of another without expecting a return? Self-Righteousness: Are you more concerned with, and on the lookout for, the sin, weakness and moral failure of others than you are your own? Self-Satisfaction: Do you feel regularly discontent, always looking for something new to satisfy you, instead of being satisfied with a God-honoring life? Self-Reliance: Do you avoid living in intrusive and intentional relationships, where others admit their need for grace and seek the help of biblical community? Self-Rule: Which law gets the most attention and the quickest response in your life and relationships, the Word of God or your own desires? “That's a pretty devastating list of questions! Which of us could ever measure up to that standard?” - Paul Tripp “Here then is how the Spirit makes us wise. On the night before he died, Jesus told his disciples that he would send the Holy spirit and ‘when he, the Spirit of truth, come … he will glorify me …’ (John 16:13-14). The Spirit does not make us wise in some magical kind of way, giving us little nudges and insider tips to help us always choose the best stock to invest in. Rather, he makes Jesus Christ a living, bright reality, transforming our character, giving us new inner poise, clarity, humility, boldness, contentment, and courage. All of this leads to increasing wisdom as the years go by, and to better and better professional and personal decisions.” - Timothy Keller “There is a Warrior Savior, and abundant grace for the battle of these two kingdoms! On the Cross, Jesus broke the power of the kingdom of self. He paid the debt for every self-centered motive, word and action that we prioritize over biblical living. On the Cross, Christ purchased power for us to obey, and with his resurrection, he guarantees that some day our kingdom conflict will be over. Until then, your Lord battles zealously on your behalf, and he will never rest until the battle is over.” - Paul Tripp

A special episode where Anthony and Jon sit down to discuss the first 6 months of going through the Bible as a church.

Zephaniah 2:1-3 - Crystal Reading

Zephaniah 2:1-3

“The phrase “the day of Yahweh” (the Lord) refer both to the ultimate time when Yahweh will punish and restore/re-create the whole world and to the periodic pen-ultimate days that clarify and anticipate it." - Jason DeRouchie

“God’s judgment passed through Egypt to hold the nation accountable and passed over Israel to rescue them from death and slavery. God then instructed the people of Israel to observe Passover every year, so that they would remember his deliverance and defense of the afflicted. For Israel, the Day of the Lord was something to celebrate, until Israel began to resemble their former oppressors.” Tim Mackie

What is your only comfort in life and in death? That I am not my own, but belong— body and soul, in life and in death — to my faithful Savior, Jesus Christ.

One of the problems with the ways we tend to talk about the power of hell is that we shift the blame for the cruelty that is ours in the world away from ourselves and toward the heart of the God who is good. Our problem is not that we are good and God is evil. The gospel flips this illusion on its head: God is good and we are evil. Our healing begins with our repentant acknowledgment of this fact; then we can fall into the arms of mercy that are waiting to receive us.” - Joshua Ryan Butler

“The line separating good and evil passes not through states, nor between classes, nor between political parties either -- but right through every human heart -- and through all human hearts - Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn” In the gospel story, heaven and earth are currently torn by sin. Our world is being ravaged by the destructive power of hell. Sin has unleashed it into God’s good world, and God is on a mission to get it out, to reconcile heaven and earth from hell’s evil influence to himself through the reconciling life of Christ. The time is coming when God’s heavenly kingdom will come down to reign on earth forever, when Jesus will cast out the corrosive powers of sin, death, and hell that have tormented his world for so long. - Joshua Ryan Butler

Zeph 3:14-20

Listen along as we continue through the story of God.

Text: Jonah 1:1-3 & Nahum 1:1-6a. Title: Poet, Punk, Prophet

“Assyria must surely have among the worst press notices of any state in history. Babylon may be a byname for corruption, decadence and sin but the Assyrians and their famous rulers, with terrifying names like Shalmaneser, Tiglath-Pileser, Sennacherib, Esarhaddon and Ashurbanipal, rate in the popular imagination just below Adolf Hitler and Genghis Khan for cruelty, violence, and sheer murderous savagery.” - Paul Kriwaczek

“While historians tend to shy away from analogies, it is tempting to see the Assyrian Empire, which dominated the Middle East from 900-612 BC, as a historical forebear of Nazi Germany: an aggressive, murderously vindictive regime supported by a magnificent and successful war machine. As with the German army of World War II, the Assyrian army was the most technologically and doctrinally advanced of its day and was a model for others for generations afterwards. - Simon Anglim

“10 When God saw what they did, how they turned from their evil way, God relented of the disaster that he had said he would do to them, and he did not do it. 1 But it displeased Jonah exceedingly, and he was angry. 2 And he prayed to the Lord and said, “O Lord, is not this what I said when I was yet in my country? That is why I made haste to flee to Tarshish; for I knew that you are a gracious God and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love, and relenting from disaster.” (Jonah 3:10-4:2)

Listen along as we explore two more minor prophets and see some pressing questions and a promised King.

Notes/Quotes:

Obadiah. 1-4, Micah 5:2-5a

Deut 2:4-5

Obadiah 1

Obadiah 13-15

“Hope is taking in your real-life situation and finding God smack-dab in the midst of it.” - AJ Swoboda

Micah 2:1-3

“In Micah’s time, as in our own, this development led to a few rich people getting richer, not simply at the same time as the poor becoming poorer, but at the expense of the poor. It has been, and will continue to be, a major political and economic debate whether increasing affluence necessarily produces these disparities. For Micah there was no debate, only denunciation. His book, in common with most Old Testament prophets, makes it plain that in both Judah and Israel the fabric and foundation of national life were being systematically threatened.” John Marsh

“No system that carries oppression, silencing, dehumanizing, violence, abuse, and corruption within is healthy, no matter how godly the goals of that system may be. Tolerance of such things, out of fear, disbelief, or self-deception, will not protect the system from the disease that will kill it if left untreated.” - Diane Langberg

Micah 5:4

“God’s Kingdom of justice and peace is not wrought by the love of power, but by the power of love.” - C. René Padilla

Micah 6:6-8

“If your god never disagrees with you, you might just be worshiping an idealized version of yourself.” Tim Keller

Micah 7:18-20

The incarnation took all that properly belongs to our humanity and delivered it back to us, redeemed. All of our inclinations and appetites and capacities and yearnings are purified and gathered up and glorified by Christ. He did not come to thin out human life; He came to set it free. All the dancing and feasting and processing and singing and building and sculpting and baking and merrymaking that belong to us, and that were stolen away into the service of false gods, are returned to us in the gospel." -Thomas Howard

Listen along as Anthony continues our time through the minor prophets.

Notes/Quotes:

Joel 2:12-13 & Amos 5:4-8

Text: Joel & Amos Title: Prophets, Prescriptions, Promises

(Joel 1:5,8,11,13,&14) 5 Awake, you drunkards, and weep,  and wail, all you drinkers of wine,  because of the sweet wine,  for it is cut off from your mouth.

8 Lament like a virgin wearing sackcloth  for the bridegroom of her youth.

11 Be ashamed, O tillers of the soil;  wail, O vinedressers, for the wheat and the barley,  because the harvest of the field has perished.

13 Put on sackcloth and lament, O priests;  wail, O ministers of the altar.  Go in, pass the night in sackcloth,  O ministers of my God!  Because grain offering and drink offering  are withheld from the house of your God.

14 Consecrate a fast;  call a solemn assembly. Gather the elders  and all the inhabitants of the land to the house of the Lord your God,  and cry out to the Lord.

(Amos 5:11-15) 11…because you trample on the poor  and you exact taxes of grain from him, you have built houses of hewn stone,  but you shall not dwell in them;  you have planted pleasant vineyards,  but you shall not drink their wine.

12 For I know how many are your transgressions  and how great are your sins— you who afflict the righteous, who take a bribe,  and turn aside the needy in the gate.

13 Therefore he who is prudent will keep silent in such a time, for it is an evil time.

14 Seek good, and not evil,  that you may live; and so the Lord, the God of hosts, will be with you,  as you have said.

15 Hate evil, and love good, and establish justice in the gate;  it may be that the Lord, the God of hosts,  will be gracious to the remnant of Joseph.

(Amos 5:21-24) 21 “I hate, I despise your feasts,  and I take no delight in your solemn assemblies.

22 Even though you offer me your burnt offerings and grain offerings,  I will not accept them; and the peace offerings of your fattened animals,  I will not look upon them.

23 Take away from me the noise of your songs;  to the melody of your harps I will not listen.

24 But let justice roll down like waters,  and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream.

Righteousness = TSEDAQAH; equity despite social difference Justice = MISHPAT; actions taken to correct injustice

Questions: 1. Do we know ourselves enough to recognize our need for repentance even though the specifics might not be staring us in the face?

Is the exploitation seen in Amos by God’s people an aberration or do we still wrestle with the issue today?
Is there good news and hope for us if we sincerely turn to Jesus today?

Listen along as we work our way through the minor prophets.

Notes/Quotes:

Hosea 14:1-9 - Denise

Hosea 14:1-9

“The task of the prophetic ministry is to nurture, nourish, and evoke a consciousness and perception alternative to the consciousness and perception of the dominant culture around us.” Walter Brueggeman

Hosea 1:2 Hosea 1:10-2:1 Hosea 2:14-21

“For all its brevity, this little prophecy entwines together strands which only separately delight us in other more familiar passages. In a few lines we have the picture of nature at peace with man (cf. Is. 11:6-9; 65:25), of weapons discarded (cf. Ps. 46:9; Is. 9:5; Mi. 4:3) and of God’s people at one with Him (cf. Je. 31:33f.; Ezk. 36:26f.). It is the last of these that God lingers over, for it is the heart of the matter.” - Derek Kidner

“Perhaps this is why Hosea captures, as no other writer does, the tension within God’s love for His elect – for He refuses to ease the pain of the relationship either by compromise or by quitting. He loves these people despite their blatant unfaithfulness (‘they turn to other gods’), which He cannot for a moment condone, and despite their fatuous and brutish scale of values.” - Derek Kidner

3:5

In every direction His people have played Him false: in religion, with other gods, another cult; in politics, with shabby intrigues and dubious patrons; in morals, with unbridled sex and violence. His reaction might well have been to write them off and waste no more affection on them. But He is not so easily dismissed. - Derek Kidner

“Amos cries, “Turn, for in front of you is destruction;” but Hosea, “Turn, for behind you is God.” George Adam Smith

It is rather easy to grow up with a naïve idea of God – something like a child’s impression of the adult world – and with a worrying conundrum about His way of doing things. The conundrum is this old one: If God is all- powerful and all-good, why does He not rid the world of evil? (The church too, for that matter?) One of the things that Hosea does for us is to give us, with extraordinary frankness, the other side of that anomaly. God’s side. The child’s idea of his elders is a puzzled one. They make the rules (he says to himself) – there’s power for you! And they have money, whatever they may say – there’s freedom! What couldn’t we do, we children, with all that freedom, all that power? In this book we see things not in these simplistic terms, where situations and people are uncomplicated and power is like a magic wand. Hosea introduces us to a family which is a miniature of our world, but it is a problem family, and God compares His situation not to that of an autocrat whose orders nobody dares question, nor of a father who rejoices in an adoring wife and children, but to that of a husband whose wife has left him, and a father whose children are like strangers in his own house and are fast destroying themselves. - Derek Kidner

The ‘whoever’ of this verse suddenly exposes us to the same searching encounter, for the word of God goes on speaking; it never slips safely into the past. The rightness of God’s ways as revealed in this book is so far above us in both holiness and love, as to leave self-sufficient man without excuse, self-condemned, while those who turn into the way of righteousness find themselves met more than half-way. - Derek Kidner

Listen along as Anthony leads us through the Song of Songs.

Notes/Quotes:

Text: Song Of Songs Title: Wonder, Wisdom, & Work Reading 3:1-5 - Crystal

“Without the Song we would be left with only spare and often negative words about a reality that is crucial to the human experience: love and sex. God in his wisdom has spoken through the poet of the Song to both encourage and warn us about the unquenchable power of love and desire. The Song celebrates the joy of physical touch, the exhilaration of exotic scent, the sweet sound of a lover’s voice, and the taste of another’s lips. The Song is a divine affirmation of love and an acknowledgement of the pain that often accompanies it.” – Tremper Longman

“The woman speaks significantly more than the man does, and her words begin and end the Song. She also uses the pronoun ‘I’ and ‘myself’, along with the phrases ‘my soul’ and ‘my heart’, far more frequently than he does: he hardly talks about himself and engages in little of the self-reflection that she does.” - Ian Duguid

(Ez. 16:1-22) 4 And as for your birth, on the day you were born your cord was not cut, nor were you washed with water to cleanse you, nor rubbed with salt, nor wrapped in swaddling cloths. 5 No eye pitied you, to do any of these things to you out of compassion for you, but you were cast out on the open field, for you were abhorred, on the day that you were born.

6 “And when I passed by you and saw you wallowing in your blood, I said to you in your blood, ‘Live!’ I said to you in your blood, ‘Live!’ 7 I made you flourish like a plant of the field. And you grew up and became tall and arrived at full adornment. Your breasts were formed, and your hair had grown; yet you were naked and bare.

8 “When I passed by you again and saw you, behold, you were at the age for love, and I spread the corner of my garment over you and covered your nakedness; I made my vow to you and entered into a covenant with you, declares the Lord God, and you became mine. 9 Then I bathed you with water and washed off your blood from you and anointed you with oil. 10 I clothed you also with embroidered cloth and shod you with fine leather. I wrapped you in fine linen and covered you with silk. 11 And I adorned you with ornaments and put bracelets on your wrists and a chain on your neck. 12 And I put a ring on your nose and earrings in your ears and a beautiful crown on your head. 13 Thus you were adorned with gold and silver, and your clothing was of fine linen and silk and embroidered cloth. You ate fine flour and honey and oil. You grew exceedingly beautiful and advanced to royalty. 14 And your renown went forth among the nations because of your beauty, for it was perfect through the splendor that I had bestowed on you, declares the Lord God.

15 “But you trusted in your beauty and played the whore[b] because of your renown and lavished your whorings on any passerby; your beauty became his. 16 You took some of your garments and made for yourself colorful shrines, and on them played the whore. The like has never been, nor ever shall be.17 You also took your beautiful jewels of my gold and of my silver, which I had given you, and made for yourself images of men, and with them played the whore. 18 And you took your embroidered garments to cover them, and set my oil and my incense before them. 19 Also my bread that I gave you—I fed you with fine flour and oil and honey—you set before them for a pleasing aroma; and so it was, declares the Lord God. 20 And you took your sons and your daughters, whom you had borne to me, and these you sacrificed to them to be devoured. Were your whorings so small a matter 21 that you slaughtered my children and delivered them up as an offering by fire to them? 22 And in all your abominations and your whorings you did not remember the days of your youth, when you were naked and bare, wallowing in your blood.

(Ez. 16:30-34) 30 “How sick is your heart, declares the Lord God, because you did all these things, the deeds of a brazen prostitute, 31 building your vaulted chamber at the head of every street, and making your lofty place in every square. Yet you were not like a prostitute, because you scorned payment. 32 Adulterous wife, who receives strangers instead of her husband! 33 Men give gifts to all prostitutes, but you gave your gifts to all your lovers, bribing them to come to you from every side with your whorings. 34 So you were different from other women in your whorings. No one solicited you to play the whore, and you gave payment, while no payment was given to you; therefore you were different.

"the couple are not called husband and wife, but the centrepiece of the book is a wedding scene that concludes with the consummation of their relationship (3:6 – 5:2). It is in this poem that the man calls the woman ‘bride’ (kallâ) for the first time. The word occurs no fewer than six times in this poem (4:8, 9, 10, 11, 12; 5:1) and nowhere else in the Song, emphatically connecting the sexual experience described here with the appropriate legal status that goes with it.” - Ian Duguid

“The direct echo of Genesis 3:16 reveals a redemptive reversal of desire through use of the rare Hebrew word “desire” (Heb. teshuˆ qaˆh). In Genesis, Eve’s desire for Adam indicates a tension and imbalance of power between the created beings, “your desire shall be for your husband and he shall rule over you” (Genesis 3:16). In the Song, this same word is used of the man toward the woman to communicate a profound mutuality and shared desire: “I am my beloved’s and his desire is for me” (Song of Songs 7:10). Mutuality in terms of male and female relationships was God’s intention all along.” - Katlyn Richards

“To miss that connection between human and divine love, which allegorical interpretation makes instinctively, even if sometimes inappropriately, is to miss something profound and important. The awesome power and unique nature of human love within marriage is precisely what makes it such a perfect analogy for the relationship between the bride of Christ and her husband, or between the individual believer and God. The original human one-flesh intimacy in the garden was never simply about Adam and Eve enjoying each other’s company. It was intended to reflect an image of the nature of God himself in his intertrinitarian relations – two distinct and different people who become one flesh, conjoined forever. This same intimacy will ultimately be extended to the bride of Christ by her Saviour; as a result, application to the relationship of Christ and the church flows naturally from the Song of Songs, in a metaphor designed by God himself (Eph. 5:22–33). Of course, the metaphor of bride and bridegroom is an analogy, as are all metaphors. This frees the interpreter from trying to find forced spiritual significance in every poetic detail of the text. But the metaphor is a rich and profound mystery that will repay much pondering.” —Ian Duguid

Listen along as we see how to engage exile well.

Notes/Quotes:

Daniel 1:8-21 Daniel Chiasm Picture

Daniel 3:16-18 Daniel 7:13-14

We would like a church that again asserts that God, not nations, rules the world, that the boundaries of God's kingdom transcend those of Caesar, and that the main task of the church is the formation of people who see clearly the cost of discipleship and are willing to pay the price. - Stanley Hauerwas, Resident Aliens

1 Peter 2:9-12

A father disciplines his own kids, not someone else’s. It’s the same in the spiritual realm. God’s discipline always begins with those he calls his own. It was true of Israel and it’s true of Christians today. Yet for many of us that can be confusing. At times, those who mock him, deny him, or high-handedly sin seem to do so with impunity. We assume God’s judgment should begin with those who do the greatest evil. But it doesn’t. It never has. It begins with us. And that’s been perplexing to God’s people throughout the ages. - Larry Osbourne

To form a resilient identity, experience intimacy with Jesus.
In a complex and anxious age, develop the muscles of cultural discernment.
When isolation and mistrust are the norms, forge meaningful, intergenerational relationships.
To ground and motivate an ambitious generation, train for vocational discipleship.
Curb entitlement and self-centered tendencies by engaging in countercultural mission. David Kinnamen, Faith for Exiles, Forming Resilient Disciples

Self sufficiency to dependency Absence to presence Isolation to community Fear to love Fragility to strength Apathy to courage Fatalism to hope

The way of trust is a movement into obscurity, into the undefined, into ambiguity, not into some predetermined, clearly delineated plan for the future. The next step discloses itself only out of a discernment of God acting in the desert of the present moment. The reality of naked trust is the life of the pilgrim who leaves what is nailed down, obvious, and secure, and walks into the unknown without any rational explanation to justify the decision or guarantee the future. Why? Because God has signaled the movement and offered it his presence and his promise. - Brennan Manning

Listen along as we see the prophetic vision of Ezekiel.

Ezekiel 37:1-14

“Ezekiel is piling up one Old Testament allusion after another to tell you what it is he sees—the appearance of the likeness of the glory of the Lord. He’s seeing the kavod of the Lord! The Hebrew term kavod means “heavy.” It can be used metaphorically like, “that’s so heavy,” meaning weighty or significant. It can also be used to describe the physical manifestation of someone’s significance. Someone’s presence can be so important, so radiant, so significant that we would describe it as their kavod. That’s how it’s used throughout the Hebrew Scriptures. It was God’s kavod that rested over the ark of the covenant and filled the Holy of Holies. It was God’s kavod that showed up on Sinai. And now, in Ezekiel, it’s his kavod that’s riding into Babylon on this royal, wheeled throne. Yahweh himself, in all his radiant glory, has just arrived in Babylon on the “God-Mobile!” Whitney Woollard

“He promises to bring Israel out of anarchy (Ezek 34), into the land (Ezek 35:1-36:15), back from disgrace (Ezek 36:16-38), up from the grave (Ezek 37:1-14) and together out of brokenness (Ezek 37:15-28). It is, in modern jargon, a truly holistic gospel. Ezekiel was ministering to a people who were broken and battered in every conceivable way. There were political, economic, agricultural, social, judicial, religious, personal, relational and spiritual dimensions to their sin and suffering. And God intended to tackle every aspect of that need. Such is the breadth and depth of the biblical gospel." – Chris Wright

“I am neither optimist nor a pessimist, Jesus Christ is risen from the dead.” Lesslie Newbigin

“Jesus’ enduring relevance is based on his historically proven ability to speak to, to heal and empower, the individual human condition. He matters because of what he brought and what he still brings to ordinary human beings, living their ordinary lives and coping daily with their surroundings. He promises wholeness for their lives. In sharing our weakness he gives us strength and imparts through his companionship a life that has the quality of eternity.” - Dallas Willard

Listen along as we continue our series through the Bible.

Jeremiah Jeremiah 1:4-10 - Jeff Reading

Prophets: A real encounter with the presence of God, leading to speaking the truth of God to the people of God. Accusation Repentance Consequence

“We underestimate God and we overestimate evil. We don’t see what God is doing and conclude that he is doing nothing. We see everything that evil is doing and think it is in control of everyone.” - Eugene Peterson

Jeremiah 13:17 - Jeremiah 29:11

Before Jeremiah knew God, God knew Jeremiah. This turns everything we ever thought about God around. We think that God is an object about which we have questions. We are curious about God. We make inquiries about God. We read books about God. We get into late-night bull sessions about God. We drop into church from time to time to see what is going on with God. We indulge in an occasional sunset or symphony to cultivate a feeling of reverence for God. But that is not the reality of our lives with God. Long before we ever got around to asking questions about God, God had been questioning us. Long before we got interested in the subject of God, God subjected us to the most intensive and searching knowledge. Before it ever crossed our minds that God might be important, God singled us out as important. Before we were formed in the womb, God knew us. We are known before we know. This realization has a practical result: no longer do we run here and there, panicked and anxious, searching for the answers to life. Our lives are not puzzles to be figured out. Rather, we come to God, who knows us and reveals to us the truth of our lives. The fundamental mistake is to begin with ourselves and not God. God is the center from which all life develops. If we use our ego as the center from which to plot the geometry of our lives, we will live eccentrically. - Eugene Peterson

Jeremiah x image/file

3:6-11

7:5-7

Jeremiah (like other prophets) exposed the idolatry that underlay the spiritual, political, economic and social disintegration of his society. The issue in the Bible is not just “Do you believe in God or not?” Everybody believed in gods of some sort. The question was, “Who is truly the only living God?” And if that God is indeed Yahweh the God of Israel, then there are consequences in real life – as shown in the Torah. Yahweh demanded justice for the poor, compassion and equality for foreigners and refugees, systemic redress for poverty, structural mechanisms to protect the homeless and family-less from abuse and destitution, fair and equitable distribution of land, integrity in the judicial system, humility, simplicity and morality in the government (as opposed to wealth, women and weapons) - Chris Wright

25:11

31:31-34

52:31-34

If we forget that the newspapers are footnotes to Scripture and not the other way around, we will finally be afraid to get out of bed in the morning. Too many of us spend far too much time with the editorial page and not nearly enough with the prophetic vision. We get our interpretation of politics and economics and morals from journalists when we should be getting only information; the meaning of the world is most accurately given to us by God’s Word. - Eugene Peterson

Listen along as we look at the book of Lamentations.

Text: Lamentations Title: Difficulty, Direction, & Deliverance Reading: Lamentations 1:1-5

“In her book Journey through the Psalms, Denise Hopkins examines the use of lament in the major liturgical denominations in America. The study found that in the Lutheran Book of Worship, the Episcopalian Book of Common Prayer, The Catholic Lectionary for Mass, The Hymnal for the United Church of Christ, and in the United Methodist Hymnal, the majority of the Psalms omitted from liturgical use are the laments.” - Soong-Chan Rah

“This trend is not only in the mainline traditions but in the less liturgical as well. In Hurting with God, Glenn Pemberton notes that lament constitutes 40 percent of the Psalms, but only 13 percent of the hymnal for the Churches of Christ, 19 percent of the Presbyterian hymnal, and 13 percent of the Baptist hymnal emphasize lament. Christian Copyright Licensing International (CCLI) licenses local churches in the use of contemporary worship songs and tracks the songs that are most frequently sung in local churches. CCLI’s list of the top 100 worship songs in August of 2012 reveals that only 5 of the songs would qualify as lament. Most of the songs reflect themes of praise.” - Soong-Chan Rah

“Lament is the space between brokenness and God’s mercy where the song is sung. Think of it as the transition between pain and promise. It is the path from heartbreak to hope.” —Mark Vroegop

“These are the words of the letter that Jeremiah the prophet sent from Jerusalem to the surviving elders of the exiles, and to the priests, the prophets, and all the people, whom Nebuchadnezzar had taken into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon.” ….“Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, to all the exiles whom I have sent into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon: Build houses and live in them; plant gardens and eat their produce. Take wives and have sons and daughters; take wives for your sons, and give your daughters in marriage, that they may bear sons and daughters; multiply there, and do not decrease. But seek the welfare of the city where I have sent you into exile, and pray to the Lord on its behalf, for in its welfare you will find your welfare. For thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: Do not let your prophets and your diviners who are among you deceive you, and do not listen to the dreams that they dream, for it is a lie that they are prophesying to you in my name; I did not send them, declares the Lord.”(Jeremiah 29:1 & 4-9)

“You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven.” (Matthew 5:43-45)

“do not listen to your prophets, your diviners, your dreamers, your fortune-tellers, or your sorcerers, who are saying to you, ‘You shall not serve the king of Babylon.” (Jeremiah 27: 9)

“He has made my teeth grind on gravel, and made me cower in ashes; my soul is bereft of peace; I have forgotten what happiness is; so I say, “My endurance has perished; so has my hope from the Lord.” (Lamentations 3:16)

“My soul continually remembers it and is bowed down within me. But this I call to mind, and therefore I have hope: The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. “The Lord is my portion,” says my soul, “therefore I will hope in him.” The Lord is good to those who wait for him, to the soul who seeks him. It is good that one should wait quietly for the salvation of the Lord.” (Lamentations 3:20-26)

“God is immutable in His essence. His nature and being are infinite, and so, subject to no mutations. There never was a time when He was not; there never will come a time when He shall cease to be. God has neither evolved, grown, nor improved. All that He is today, He has ever been, and ever will be. “I am the Lord, I change not” (Mal. 3:6) is His own unqualified affirmation. He cannot change for the better, for He is already perfect; and being perfect, He cannot change for the worse. Altogether unaffected by anything outside Himself, improvement or deterioration is impossible. He is perpetually the same. He only can say “I am that I am” (Ex. 3:14). He is altogether uninfluenced by the flight of time. There is no wrinkle upon the brow of eternity. Therefore His power can never diminish nor His glory ever fade.” - A.W. Pink

Listen along as Dr. Mike Goheen leads us through Isaiah.

Mike Gaston leads us through Habakkuk.

Ecclesiastes 1:1-11

“Ecclesiastes determines to show us how to find our way amid the broken sacred of the world. Ecclesiastes shows us more of God than perhaps we knew or are comfortable with. The same God who inspired the Psalms and the Gospels speaks here too. These inspired words which disturb us reveal aspects of God too often neglected by us. If one has only driven a car with automatic transmission, driving manually will take some getting used to. Because of the safe, clean-cut, pristine, sentimental, or naive approaches to Christianity and church that have mentored many of us, we may cherish a mistaken notion that God resembles a more G-rated approach to life. Ecclesiastes reminds us, however, that wherever there is, whatever the conversation, whatever the question or unsettling situation, God is able and willing to go there.” - Zach Eswine

“Life's but a walking shadow, a poor player That struts and frets his hour upon the stage And then is heard no more: it is a tale Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury Signifying nothing.”

“A wisp of vapor, a puff of wind, a mere breath—Nothing you could get your hands on; the nearest thing to zero. That is the vanity this book is about” - Derek Kidner

Ecclesiastes 12:1

“To remember is not a purely mental act, it is to drop our pretense of self sufficiency and commit ourselves to him.” - Derek Kidner

To remember your Creator is more than to recall that there is a Creator, more also than to think about him from time to time. To remember your Creator means to bring to mind daily what your Creator has done for you and to act on this knowledge. To remember your Creator is to make God central in your life and to focus your life on doing his will. - Sidney Greidanus

12:13-14

We face the appalling inference that nothing has meaning, nothing matters under the sun. it is then that we can hear, as the good news which it is, that everything matters—‘for God will bring every deed into judgment, with every secret thing, whether good or evil.’ That is how the book ends. On this rock we can be destroyed: but it is rock, not quicksand. There is the chance to build.” - Derek Kidner

1 Cor 15:57-28

Listen along as we look at how the words of wisdom lead to the way of wisdom.

Proverbs 1:1-7 - Denise

“The fear of man lays a snare, but whoever trusts in the LORD is safe.” Proverbs 29:25

“When your culture is hedonistic, your religion therapeutic, and your goal a feeling of personal well-being, fear will be the ever-present headache.” - Michael Reeves

Proverbs 3:5-6

Proverbs 26:4-5

“Proverbs do not teach a universally valid truth. On the contrary, proverbs are true only if stated at the right time and in the right circumstance. This explains the apparently contradictory proverbs in 26:4-5. They describe what is generally true rather than what is always true.” - Tremper Longman

Proverbs 18:22 Proverbs 25:24

Prov 22:6 Prov 22:15 Proverbs 16:3 Galatians 2:20

“The best way to know how to get on in the world is to become acquainted with the One so intimately involved in its creation.” - Tremper Longman

“Light has a way of welcoming in the truth and letting it put its feet up, which in turns means that everything not like it, though it may invite itself over, can’t get comfortable enough to stay.” - Jackie Hill Perry

Prov 3:9-10

“Worship God and use money, or worship money and use God. There is no third choice.” Jeremy Treat

Colossians 2:1-3

Listen along as we cover the Psalms. See the reign of God. Live under the rule of God. Experience deeper roots for life.

Notes/Quotes:

Psalm 1:1-6

“Psalms are companions - They are the closest friends, wisest advisors, and faithful discerners. They understand your heart and provide words when we don’t have any.” Anthony Garcia

“People who pray the Psalms will be worshiping the God who made them, and one of the basic spiritual laws is that you become like what you worship. More particularly, however, it will happen because people who pray the Psalms will be learning (whether they necessarily think it out like this or not) to live in God’s time as well as in their own, in God’s space as well as in their own, and even in and as God’s “matter”—the stuff of which we’re made—as well as in and as our own.” - NT Wright

Book 1 - 1-41 - Distress//Confidence Book 2 - 42-72 - Lament//Hope Book 3 - 73-89 - Darkest of all (88) Book 4 - 90-106 - Doubts in Light of the Lord’s reign Book 5 - 107-150 - Declaration//Ascent//Ps119

“The introduction to the Psalter is anything but an invitation to pedantry, legalism, or self-righteousness, on the contrary, it is an invitation to be open to God’s instruction and to the reality of God’s reign in the world.” - Clinton McCann

Ps 2:1-12

John 15:1-5

Prayer is the way that all the things we believe in and that Christ has won for us actually become our strength. Prayer is the way that truth is worked into your heart to create new instincts, reflexes, and dispositions. - Tim Keller

Instead of rules to keep, there’s a path to follow Instead of instant, bigger, amazing everything, we practice patience, seasonal, and mostly ordinary living Instead of obsessed or overwhelmed with the future and control, we look to delight in present surrender

“Almost anything in life that truly matters will require you to do small, mostly overlooked things, over a long period of time with Him.” - Zach Eswine

It is less important to ask a Christian what he or she believes about the Bible than it is to inquire what he or she does with it. Lesslie Newbigin

The very thing we are holding onto (control) is, ironically, the thing we most need to let go. As you and I come to understand that our God isn’t ruling as a tyrant but is lovingly guiding and instructing as a Father, we can loosen the tight grip on our lives that produces the bad fruit of fear. This isn’t “Let go and let God.” It’s “Let go, run hard toward your Savior, and learn to trust God - Trillia Newbell

Paul speaks at one point of Christians as “God’s poem,” God’s “artwork.” We are his “workmanship,” say some of the translations of Ephesians 2.10. The Greek word Paul uses there is poiēma, the very word from which the English word “poem” is derived. God gives us these poems, the Psalms, as a gift, in order that through our praying and singing of them he may give us as a gift to his world. We are called to be living, breathing, praying, singing poems. - NT Wright.

Listen as we continue our series through the Bible. This week Anthony and Jon cover the book of Job.

Notes//Quotes:

Job 42:1-6

Job 1:1-6

“Within this honorable cosmic cabinet, we are introduced to someone who is, or will become, the least honorable character in the Bible—the “Satan.” “Satan” (Hb. satan) could be translated “adversary,” but he seems to function here not as a direct enemy but as an opposing ally.” Douglas O’Donnell

This word is not a proper name, like our modern translations that use the capital letter (“Satan”) might lead us to conclude. The Hebrew word satan is a descriptive noun, describing any person that stands “opposed to” or as “an adversary” to someone else. For example, King Solomon faced multiple invading enemies near the end of his reign, Hadad the Edomite and Rezon, son of Eliada (1 Kings 11:14, 11:23 Both of these men are called in Hebrew “a satan,” that is, an adversary. King David himself is called “a satan” by the Philistines (1 Sam 29:4 The word “satan” can be used to describe an accusing attorney in a courtroom (see Ps 109:6-7) And pay attention to this one, “the angel of the Lord” is described as “a satan,” who opposes the infamous Balaam (see Num 22:22, 32) So even the angelic messenger who represents the will and authority of God himself can take on the function of a satan. One conclusion from this short Hebrew word study is that a variety of people or heavenly beings can be described by the word satan. This means that the satan who appears in Job 1-2 is not necessarily identical with the full-orbed evil being called by that same title in the New Testament (see, for example, Mark 1:13) Tim Mackie

…this Satan in Job as functioning something like a prosecuting attorney or the political party in the British parliament known as the monarch’s “loyal opposition.” Just as the prosecuting attorney is not an opponent of the judge and the loyal opposition is not set against the government, so Satan’s role in “Yahweh’s cabinet” (so to speak) is to serve Yahweh by making sure that his rule and law is properly upheld.” John Goldingay

“As I have taught Job to students over the years, the question frequently arises, “What sort of God is this who uses his faithful ones as pawns in bets with the devil?” I would suggest that this question is based on a fundamental misunderstanding of the prologue. The scene in heaven, like the speeches of Job’s friends, is part of the literary design of a thought experiment to generate discussion about how God runs the cosmos. The prologue is not trying to teach us how Job got into such a difficult situation, or what angelic beings do or do not have access to God’s presence. The message of the book is offered at the end, in the speeches of God, not in the opening scenario, which only sets up the thought experiment. The book is focusing on how God works in the world, not teaching us about how things work in heaven.” John Walton

Job 1:13-22

Job 8:4-6

“Job’s untidy realities were threatening their tidy notions, and they transferred their anxieties to Job as their scapegoat. After all, if God could body-slam Job for no visible reason, what might that imply for them too? But if they could successfully find fault with Job, then their glib moralism could continue undisturbed, they could go on feeling good about themselves, feeling in control, and they wouldn’t need to trust God with some extremely difficult mysteries in life. These three men needed Job to be in the wrong somehow, in order to justify themselves.” Ray Ortlund

Growing Discernment in Discipleship: Biblical Theology - Develop It Perspective - Widen It Assumptions - Slow It Relationships - Commit to it

Job 38:4-11 Job 39:1-4

“All our knowledge brings us nearer to our ignorance, All our ignorance brings us nearer to death, But nearness to death no nearer to GOD. Where is the Life we have lost in living? Where is the wisdom we have lost in knowledge? Where is the knowledge we have lost in information? The cycles of Heaven in twenty centuries Bring us farther from GOD and nearer to the Dust.” - T.S. Elliot

“We are disciples. Not disciples of an illusion, but disciples of Christ. Which means our hope is not in an illusion. Our rescue is not in an illusion. Our peace is not in an illusion. And our joy is not in an illusion….To be a disciple of Jesus is to profess that it is the Truth, not an illusion that sets us free, and this conviction is what distinguishes us as the people of God. As Old Testament scholar Walter Brueggemann once put it, the prophetic task of the church is to tell the truth in a society that lives in illusion.” - Shannon Hodde Miller

Listen along as we cover the book of Esther.

Notes/Quotes:

Esther 4:13-17 - Crystal

“The providence of God is the way in which He governs everything wisely, first for the glory of His own Name, and second for the ultimate blessing of His children.” - Sinclair Ferguson

When I use the word "providence"…I mean that wonderful, strange, mysterious, unguessable way Yahweh has of ruling His world and sustaining His people, and His doing it, frequently, over, under, around, through, or in spite of the most common stuff of our lives or even the bias of our wills. - Dale Ralph Davis

Esther Chiasm Image

Es. 2:16-18

Es. 3:13.

6:1-14

9:1

9:23-28

“God is too good to be unkind and He is too wise to be mistaken. And when we cannot trace His hand, we must trust His heart.” - Spurgeon

Gospel Chiasm Image

“Providence is wiser than you, and you may be confident it has suited all things better to your eternal good than you could do had you been left to your own option.” - John Flavel

Of course misfortunes have opened the way to blessings you would never have thought to hope for, that you would not have been ready to understand as blessings if they had come to you in your youth, when you were uninjured, innocent. The future always finds us changed. So then it is part of the providence of God, as I see it, that blessing or happiness can have very different meanings from one time to another. This is not to say that joy is a compensation for loss, but that each of them, joy and loss, exists in its own right and must be recognized for what it is. Sorrow is very real, and loss feels very final to us. Life on earth is difficult and grave, and marvelous. Our experience is fragmentary. Its parts don’t add up. They don’t even belong in the same calculation. Sometimes it is hard to believe they are all parts of one thing. Nothing makes sense until we understand that experience does not accumulate like money, or memory, or like years and frailties. Instead, it is presented to us by a God who is not under any obligation to the past except in His eternal, freely given constancy. Marilynne Robinson, Lila

Romans 11:33-36

Listen along as we see God's people fix the wall and tempe, frustrate themselves from sin and opposition, and how without Jesus, we're found wanting.

Notes//Quotes:

Nehemiah 12:43-47 - Denise Reading

“Such Isolation is sometimes necessary in order to maintain faithfulness in a hostile environment, but can also backfire and generate unnecessary tension with the surrounding culture.” - Tim Mackie

“When what you ought to do and what you want to do are the same thing.” - Timothy Keller

“Our pleasure and our duty though opposite before since we have seen His beauty are joined to part no more.” - John Newton

“Just because you have high ideals and divinely inspired passion doesn’t mean God has to fulfill your dreams. Even the most capable leaders will tell you that the law of unintended consequences and inevitable human failure will compromise the best of our plans. But that doesn’t mean Ezra and Nehemiah shouldn’t have tried. Their stories give us hope and inspiration to keep pointing other people to God’s grace and to keep calling them (and ourselves!) to faithfulness and devotion. But after pondering Ezra-Nehemiah, our pointing and calling should be done with a sober awareness that our efforts will likely be compromised. This doesn’t mean God isn’t faithful or good. It means that we’re flawed humans whose fundamentally selfish nature can be transformed only by a generous gift of God’s grace. Leaders who know this will lead with a humility and self-awareness that is hard to come by these days. And it’s this kind of wisdom and “leadership lessons” that Ezra-Nehemiah offers to us. And we’re better off for hearing this message, if we have ears to hear.” - Tim Mackie

1 Kings 2:1-4

“Entropy: A process of degradation or running down or a trend to disorder” - Webster’s Dictionary

“You should always bear in mind that entropy is not on your side.” - Elon Musk

1 Kings 11:1-8

1 Kings 16:29-30 2 Kings 18:1-8 1 Kings 19:1-8 1 Kings 19:9-18 2 Kings 25:27-30 2 Chronicles 36:22-23

“God will not withdraw from his commitment to the world, a commitment given at creation and the affirmed through the call of Israel. Accordingly, the disappointments of the present, argues the Chronicler, must spawn a theology of hope.” William Dumbrell

“Christianity did not become successful through Constantine giving it imperial approval. Instead, Constantine adopted Christianity likely because it had already become so successful despite earlier efforts to destroy the movement. By contrast, the growth of Christianity in its first three centuries, the most crucial period, was largely by a combination of the power of persuasion, whether in preaching, intellectual argument, “miracles” exhibiting the power of Jesus’ name, and simply the moral suasion of Christian behavior, including martyrdom. - Larry Hurtado

If you worship money and things — if they are where you tap real meaning in life — then you will never have enough. Never feel you have enough. It’s the truth. Worship your own body and beauty and sexual allure and you will always feel ugly, and when time and age start showing, you will die a million deaths before they finally plant you. On one level, we all know this stuff already — it’s been codified as myths, proverbs, clichés, bromides, epigrams, parables: the skeleton of every great story. The trick is keeping the truth up-front in daily consciousness. Worship power — you will feel weak and afraid, and you will need ever more power over others to keep the fear at bay. Worship your intellect, being seen as smart — you will end up feeling stupid, a fraud, always on the verge of being found out. And so on. - David Foster Wallace

“Our problem is not that we desire happiness. No, our problem is that we continue to foolishly believe that we can attain it apart from him. We think that if we just try hard enough, the next time we'll get it right (whatever it is) and we'll be happy. Instead of pushing through to the true source of all joy and happiness, we sinfully believe the false promises of lesser gods.” - Elyse Fitzpatrick

1 Peter 2:9-12

How to prevent rot: Worship God. Destroy idols. Follow all His ways.

1 Samuel 8:1-22

1 Samuel 2:1-10

“If I find in myself desires which nothing in this world can satisfy, the only logical explanation is that I was made for another world.” CS Lewis

“In whatever man does without God, he must fail miserably or succeed more miserably” - George MacDonald

Anthony reading Ruth 1:1-5

8 Go, return each of you to her mother’s house. May the Lord deal kindly (hesed) with you, as you have dealt with the dead and with me. 9 The Lord grant that you may find rest, each of you in the house of her husband!” Then she kissed them, and they lifted up their voices and wept.” (Ruth 1:8-9)

HESED: “hesed is a challenging word to translate because it combines the ideas of love, generosity, and enduring commitment. Hesed has been translated into English a number of ways, including “mercy,” “lovingkindness,” “unfailing love,” and “steadfast love.” Ultimately, hesed describes an act of promise-keeping loyalty that is motivated by deep personal care, which is why most translate it as “loyal love.” Hesed is the kind of love demonstrated by someone determined to keep a promise and motivated to endure and maintain a covenant through self-giving generosity. It’s concrete, action-taking love. It’s the difference between saying the words “I love you” and acting in honor of your commitment to another person by serving them. Seventy-five percent of the occurrences of hesed in the Hebrew Bible refer to God’s loyal and generous commitment to his often undeserving people.” - Tim Mackie

14 Then they lifted up their voices and wept again. 15 And Orpah kissed her mother-in-law, but Ruth clung to her. And she said, “See, your sister-in-law has gone back to her people and to her gods; return after your sister-in-law.” 16 But Ruth said, “Do not urge me to leave you or to return from following you. For where you go I will go, and where you lodge I will lodge. Your people shall be my people, and your God my God. 17 Where you die I will die, and there will I be buried. May the Lord do so to me and more also if anything but death parts me from you.” 18 And when Naomi saw that she was determined to go with her, she said no more. (Ruth 1:14-18)

“In the days of the Judges when Israel was forsaking YHWH and following other gods, a Moabite woman (Ruth) is forsaking her gods to follow YHWH.” —Carissa Quinn

“May he be blessed by the Lord, whose kindness has not forsaken the living or the dead!” …“The man is a close relative of ours, one of our redeemers.” (Ruth 2:20)

8 "At midnight the man was startled and turned over, and behold, a woman lay at his feet! 9 He said, “Who are you?” And she answered, “I am Ruth, your servant. Spread your wings over your servant, for you are a redeemer.” 10 And he said, “May you be blessed by the Lord, my daughter. You have made this last kindness (hesed) greater than the first in that you have not gone after young men, whether poor or rich. 11 And now, my daughter, do not fear. I will do for you all that you ask, for all my fellow townsmen know that you are a worthy woman. 12 And now it is true that I am a redeemer. Yet there is a redeemer nearer than I. 13 Remain tonight, and in the morning, if he will redeem you, good; let him do it. But if he is not willing to redeem you, then, as the Lord lives, I will redeem you. Lie down until the morning.” (Ruth 3:8-13)

13 So Boaz took Ruth, and she became his wife. And he went in to her, and the Lord gave her conception, and she bore a son. 14 Then the women said to Naomi, “Blessed be the Lord, who has not left you this day without a redeemer, and may his name be renowned in Israel! 15 He shall be to you a restorer of life and a nourisher of your old age, for your daughter-in-law who loves you, who is more to you than seven sons, has given birth to him.” 16 Then Naomi took the child and laid him on her lap and became his nurse. 17 And the women of the neighborhood gave him a name, saying, “A son has been born to Naomi.” They named him Obed. He was the father of Jesse, the father of David.

18 Now these are the generations of Perez: Perez fathered Hezron, 19 Hezron fathered Ram, Ram fathered Amminadab, 20 Amminadab fathered Nahshon, Nahshon fathered Salmon, 21 Salmon fathered Boaz, Boaz fathered Obed, 22 Obed fathered Jesse, and Jesse fathered David (Ruth 4:13-22)

“It shows how God is constructing his grand story out of the small, seemingly inconsequential stories of everyday people. This little story is intentionally framed at the beginning and end by the larger storyline of the Bible. Ruth shows how God is at work in the day to day activities of average people. All the characters face life’s normal challenges (death, moving, lack of financial resources, familial responsibilities, etc.) and find God is weaving a story of redemption out of all the details. The Book of Ruth encourages us to view our day-to-day lives as part of God’s bigger plan for our lives and world.” —Tim Mackie

Listen along as we look at one of the darker books of the Bible.

Notes/Quotes:

Judges 2:1-5

“The church (in general) has a problem with the book of Judges. It is so earthy, so puzzling, so primitive, so violent and a word, so strange, that the church can scarcely stomach it. As with many old testament materials, the sentiment seems to be, ‘if we just study the epistles long enough, maybe it will go away.’ The church has her own way of dealing with embarrassing scripture, ignore it. Yet that is difficult to do with Judges. It's so interesting. Only people who take tranquilizers before sitting down can doze off while they read it.” - Dale Ralph Davis

Chapters 1– 2:5: Israel fails to drive out the Canaanites from the land.

Chapters 2:6– 3:6: Narrator’s Prologue: This is a story about Israel’s utter moral failure and the catastrophic results.

Chapters 3– 16: Twelve stories (six short, six long) of Israel’s “judges” that get progressively more violent and disturbing.

Chapter 3: Ehud: The slick assassin who’s good with a dagger.

Chapters 4– 5: Deborah, Barak, and Jael: A tent peg ends up getting hammered through someone’s head. Need I say more?

Chapters 6– 9: Gideon and Abimelech: A coward who overcomes by faith leads Israel into idolatry and starts an inter-tribal Israelite civil war.

Chapters 10– 12: Jephthah: A hill-top thug who’s so unfamiliar with the God of Israel he thinks that sacrificing his daughter will please God.

Chapters 13– 16: Samson: A violent, sex-crazed maniac with absolutely no conflict-resolution skills dies in blood and glory getting vengeance on his enemies.

Chapters 17– 21: Two stories of the people of Israel hitting bottom.

Chapters 17– 18: The tribe of Dan slaughters the peaceful people of Laish and builds a pagan temple in their new city.

Chapters 19– 21: An Israelite woman gets sexually abused by the Israelites in Gibeah, who are then destroyed by the other tribes, who regret their violence and make the young women of the Benjaminite tribe pay the price.

1 After the death of Joshua, the people of Israel inquired of the Lord, “Who shall go up first for us against the Canaanites, to fight against them?” 2 The Lord said, “Judah shall go up; behold, I have given the land into his hand.” 3 And Judah said to Simeon his brother, “Come up with me into the territory allotted to me, that we may fight against the Canaanites. And I likewise will go with you into the territory allotted to you.” So Simeon went with him. 4 Then Judah went up and the Lord gave the Canaanites and the Perizzites into their hand, and they defeated 10,000 of them at Bezek. 5 They found Adoni-bezek at Bezek and fought against him and defeated the Canaanites and the Perizzites. 6 Adoni-bezek fled, but they pursued him and caught him and cut off his thumbs and his big toes. 7 And Adoni-bezek said, “Seventy kings with their thumbs and their big toes cut off used to pick up scraps under my table. As I have done, so God has repaid me.” And they brought him to Jerusalem, and he died there. - Judges 1:1-7

“Somewhere along the timeline they would see the strategic folly of failing to possess Beth-shan (vs. 27), a massive site guarding the juncture of the Jordan and Jezreel valleys, through which passed the main arteries of the ancient world. They would live to regret the failure to dominate Taanach, Ibleam, and Megiddo (vs. 27), crucial fortresses along the Plain of Esdraelon. Perhaps they could have prevented cocky Sisera (ch. 4-5) from strutting all over Israel…but no more of this, for we are getting away from the authors concern.” - Dale Ralph Davis

“the path to apostasy is paved by what you’re willing to tolerate.” - Dale Ralph Davis

“They have deeply corrupted themselves as in the days of Gibeah: he will remember their iniquity; he will punish their sins.” - Hosea 9:9

“In those days there was no king in Israel. Everyone did what was right in his own eyes.” - Judges 21:25

“The belief in a supernatural source of evil is not necessary; men alone are quite capable of every wickedness.” - Joseph Conrad

Listen along as we look at the story of God unfold in the book of Joshua.

Notes/Quotes:

Joshua 1:1-11

“One of the problems is that we so often read this story, or horrible little bits of it, in isolation, and then try to find some meaning, justification, or excuse for it. But what we really must do is what we should do with every part of the Bible, namely, to put it in the wider framework of our whole Bible. We must get into the habit of doing that when we read any Bible text, and never more so than here.” - Chris Wright

“Israel is not the bully or dictator invoking the gods to justify her conquest of the weak. Israel is the opposite: the weakling who’s been getting her lunch money taken every day by the playground bullies. She is the little nation whose vessel’s been under constant attack by pirates while lost at sea. She is the dissenter among the nations getting railed on by the dictators. Canaan is not just a little bit stronger, not just overwhelmingly stronger—they are in a different league altogether. Their firepower puts them in a whole other category. Israel should get routed. Her only hope is that God goes with her” - Joshua Ryan Butler

Joshua 11:18-19

“In a few places the phrase “all men and women, young and old shows up, but in English this phrase is misleading. Hebrew scholars note this was a stock phrase used to imply totality, and to Hebrew ears the use of this phrase does not require that women and children were actually present in the militarized outposts, only that the forts were totally depopulated in the aftermath of victory…God is pulling down the Great Wall of China, not demolishing Beijing. Israel is taking out the Pentagon, not New York City.” - Joshua Ryan Butler

“Israel did not arise to protect faith in Yahweh, but Yahweh came on the scene to defend Israel.” Gerhard Von Rad

The twentieth century gave rise to one of the greatest and most distressing paradoxes of human history: that the greatest intolerance and violence of that century were practiced by those who believed that religion caused intolerance and violence.” Alister McGrath

We live now in the wake of the most monstrously violent century in human history, during which the secular order (on both the political right and the political left), freed from the authority of religion, showed itself willing to kill on an unprecedented scale and with an ease of conscience worse than merely depraved. If ever an age deserved to be thought an age of darkness, it is surely ours.” - David Bentley Hart

Hebrews 11:30-31

Joshua 24:14-15

Listen along as we cover the 5th book of the Bible and close out the Torah.

Notes/Quotes:

Deuteronomy 6:1-19

“...both a fundamental doctrinal truth and a resultant obligation. There is an urgency connected to the teaching: the word sh’ma demands that the hearer respond with his total being to the fact and demands of this essential revelation.” - Bakers Encyclopedia of the Bible

“The opening line “Listen, O Israel” does not simply mean to let the sound waves enter your ears. Instead, the word “listen” here means to allow the words to sink in, provide understanding, and generate a response. In other words, in Hebrew, “hearing” and “doing” are basically the same thing, but how should Israel respond to hearing that the Lord alone is their God? “Love the Lord your God.” In this context, love isn’t simply the warm, fuzzy, emotional energy we feel when we like someone. In the Bible, love is action. You love someone when you act in loyalty and faithfulness. For Israel, to love meant faithful obedience to the terms of their covenant relationship. Those terms are the laws and commands that will make up the body of the book (Deuteronomy 12-26) Obedience to these laws was never about legalism or trying to earn God’s favor. Obedience in the Old Testament is about love and listening. If an Israelite loves God, it will make it easier to listen and absorb his teachings and guidance. This is why the words “listen” and “love” are so tightly connected and repeated through these opening speeches of Deuteronomy.” - Tim Mackie

“And the Lord said to Moses, behold, the days approach when you must die. Call Joshua and present yourselves in the tent of meeting, that I may commission him.” And Moses and Joshua went and presented themselves in the tent of meeting. And the Lord appeared in the tent in a pillar of cloud. And the pillar of cloud stood over the entrance of the tent. And the Lord said to Moses, “Behold, you are about to lie down with your fathers. Then this people will rise and whore after the foreign gods among them in the land that they are entering, and they will forsake me and break my covenant that I have made with them. Then my anger will be kindled against them in that day, and I will forsake them and hide my face from them, and they will be devoured. And many evils and troubles will come upon them, so that they will say in that day, ‘Have not these evils come upon us because our God is not among us?’ And I will surely hide my face in that day because of all the evil that they have done, because they have turned to other gods.” - Deuteronomy 31:14-18

“For this commandment that I command you today is not too hard for you, neither is it far off. It is not in heaven, that you should say, ‘Who will ascend to heaven for us and bring it to us, that we may hear it and do it?’ Neither is it beyond the sea, that you should say, ‘Who will go over the sea for us and bring it to us, that we may hear it and do it?’ But the word is very near you. It is in your mouth and in your heart, so that you can do it. - Deuteronomy 30:11-14

“And the Lord your God will circumcise your heart and the heart of your offspring, so that you will love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul, that you may live.” - Deuteronomy 30:6

“I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh.” — Ezekiel 36:26

“I will give them a heart to know me, that I am the LORD. They will be my people, and I will be their God, for they will return to me with all their heart.” — Jeremiah 24:7

“No, a true Jew is one whose heart is right with God. And true circumcision is not merely obeying the letter of the law; rather, it is a change of heart produced by God’s Spirit. And a person with a changed heart seeks praise from God, not from people.” — Romans 2:29

“The conclusion of the Torah is kind of a downer and Moses’ speech is somber and his prediction is grave. However, the whole point of this story is that humans can not achieve the new creation on their own. We are in desperate need of help in the deepest way, which is precisely what Jesus came to offer when he did for us what we could never do for ourselves. The Ten Commandments, all the laws of the Torah, Israel’s failure and rebellion, it all points to the future new covenant of God transforming the hearts of his people. This is the only way that our old humanity and this broken creation will be ushered into a new future.” - Tim Mackie

Today we come across the 4th book of the Bible. Listen along as we see the way of God for the people of God in the wilderness.

Notes//Quotes:

Numbers 10:33-11:6

When things don’t go “right” we blame others or ourselves, muddle through as best we can, often with considerable crankiness, and wish that we had been born at a different time ”Bible times” maybe!—when living a holy life was so much easier. That’s odd, because the Bible, our primary text for showing us what it means to be a human being created by God and called to a life of obedient faith and sacrificial love, nowhere suggests that life is simple or even “natural.” We need a lot of help. - Eugene Peterson

“In the bible, we rarely encounter unequivocally good or unequivocally bad people. Rather, we encounter many-layered individuals - wretched and lovable, rebellious yet chosen, pitiless and pitiable, wounded but healing - just like the individuals we come across daily and whom we see in the mirror.” David Beldman Picture (in file) The text translates literally “and so the people became like those murmuring evil in the ears of Yahweh.” God had promised goodness and blessing; the people responded with rebellious complaints. - Dennis Cole Num 14:6-10 Numbers 24:15-19 “Jesus, hungry after having fasted for forty days, is asked to turn stones into bread. Had he, however like the ancient Israelites, given priority to his own physical appetite, he would have implied dissatisfaction with God’s provision for him. The second temptation, following Matthew’s order, focuses on God’s ability to save. Here Jesus is challenged to follow the example of the earlier Israelites and test, rather than trust, God’s might to protect him. The third temptation focuses on God’s capacity to give to Jesus those kingdoms that are under the control of another. Whereas the Israelites had doubted God’s strength to give them the land of Canaan, Jesus expresses complete confidence in God. Thus, in various ways Jesus’ faith in God contrasts sharply with that of the Israelites who came out of Egypt.” John 3:14-17 1 Cor 10:1-14 Hebrews 3:7-14

Listen along as we see how the Lord gifts His law in leading His people toward life.

Notes/Quotes:

Leviticus 19:1-18

“If you believe what you like in the gospels, and reject what you don't like, it is not the gospel you believe, but yourself.” Augustine

"Most merciful God, we confess that we have sinned against you in thought, word, and deed, by what we have done, and by what we have left undone. We have not loved you with our whole heart; we have not loved our neighbors as ourselves.” Book of Common Prayer

Outline of Leviticus Ch. 1-10 - Sacrificial laws for people/priests Ch. 11-16 - Uncleanness and it’s treatment Ch. 17-29 - Holiness Code

“Your quality of life must reflect my character. This is what I require of you because this is what reflects me. This is what I myself would do.” Chris Wright

“You must be a distinctive people, because YHWH is a distinctive God…For Israel to be holy then meant that they were to be a distinctive community among the nations…Israel was to be YHWH like rather than like the nations, they were to do as YHWH does, not as the nations do. Holiness for Israel is a practical, down-to-earth reflection of the transcendent holiness of YHWH himself.” Chris Wright

“Cheap grace is the preaching of forgiveness without requiring repentance, baptism without church discipline, Communion without confession. Cheap grace is grace without discipleship, grace without the cross, grace without Jesus Christ, living and incarnate.” Dietrich Bonhoeffer

Galatians 3:23-29 Romans 12:1-2 James 1:22-25

Listen in as we continue our journey through the Bible.

Notes//Quotes:

Exodus 19:1-8

“Moses' mother, Jochebed, knowing there's something special about her baby boy, constructs an “ark,” or basket for him, just as Noah had done (Exodus 2 is the only place in scripture outside the story in which this word for ark appears). She covers it with pitch just as Noah had done. While Pharaoh is building cities, an Israelite woman is building a tiny, unimpressive little ark for a child to be thrown into the water. Yet this ark, like Noah's, will become the vehicle through which God rescues the righteous from watery destruction, foils the plans of the wicked, and creates a new nation in the midst of the old.” —Echos of Exodus

“In a number of ways, the Passover is an obvious prelude to the work of Christ. It is about the redemption from slavery by the blood of the lamb. It is about the sacrifice that passes through the fire and saves people from death, when everyone around them is facing judgement. It is about the power of faith worked out through obedience. Israelite families were not saved by their personal godliness that night or even by the amount of confidence they had in God. They were saved simply by the fact that the blood was over their house.” —Echos of Exodus

“In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace.” (Ephesians 1:7)

“no matter how often we experience liberation from constraints, limitations, and oppression, we still find ourselves falling into new forms of bondage. We get free from boredom, and fall into the slavery to distraction. We pursue liberty from prohibitions, and fall into bondage to addictions. We escape repression, and become enslaved to lust. We are released from isolation, and fall captive to peer pressure and the power of the online mob. We pursue liberty from the constraints upon our natures, and fall into bondage to our untrained passions. We successfully break out of 1984, only to find ourselves in Brave New World. Or, in the imagery of the Hunger Games, we get free from fences and guns in the districts, only to find ourselves trapped by the slavish banality in the Capitol. True freedom is more complicated than it looks... We pursue true freedom—whether from Egypt or the golden calf, oppression or immorality—knowing that if the Son set us free, we will be free indeed. (John 8:36)”...“True slavery is captivity of the soul, not just the body. Until a nation or a person is free from that, and free to become what they were originally intended to be, their exodus is incomplete.” — Echos of Exodus

“For I do not want you to be unaware, brothers, that our fathers were all under the cloud, and all passed through the sea, and all were baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea, and all ate the same spiritual food, and all drank the same spiritual drink. For they drank from the spiritual Rock that followed them, and the Rock was Christ.” (1 Corinthians 10:1-4)

Paul’s statement that “our fathers were all under the cloud” suggests that even the Gentile readers of this letter are to think of the Israelites of the exodus as their adopted fathers through their inclusion in the covenant community. The Israelites' experience of redemption, idolatry, and destruction is used as a lens through which the Corinthians are to view and understand their own situation. The reference to baptism into Moses is evidently formulated by Paul in order to make the metaphorical parallel as clear as possible.” —G.K. Beale

Genesis 12:1-3 - Kim Janowski

“Genesis, in fact, is in various ways almost nearer the New Testament than the Old, and some of its topics are barely heard again till their implications can fully emerge in the gospel. The institution of marriage, the fall of man, the jealousy of Cain, the judgment of the flood, the imputed righteousness of the believer, the rival sons of promise and of the flesh, the profanity of Esau, the pilgrim status of God’s people, are all predominantly New Testament themes.” Derek Kidner

“Genesis 1:1-2:3 is a record of creating not begetting. God does order earth to bring forth plants and animals during the creation week, but Genesis conceives of that as God’s own work rather than the begetting of earth. When we get to Genesis 2, earth is a more active partner in making: Watered by rain from heaven, the earth will sprout with plants (2:5), and man is presented as one of the “begettings” of heaven and earth, the product of earthy dust and heavenly Breath. God creates from nothing; heaven and earth and human beings are fruitful by begetting.” - Peter Leithart

“Genesis 1-2 describes life as it out to be, fruitful, peaceful and endued with the presence of God. Meanwhile, Gen 3-11 describes life as it often is - Difficult, violent, and under divine judgement.” Gordon Wenham

“These few verses offer a theological blueprint for the redemptive history of the world.” William Dumbrell

Matthew 1:1 Romans 4:1-5, 16-17 Galatians 3:7-9

Listen along as we begin our journey through the Bible.

Colossians 3:16-17 - Jon

What the Bible ISN’T: Moralistic Characteristic Fatalistic Individualistic Consumeristic Doctrinalistic Fictionalistic

What is the bible? The Story of God that leads to and centers on Jesus, shaping the people of God for life and flourishing.

The Bible isn’t a book of rules, or a book of heroes. The Bible is most of all a Story. It’s an adventure story about a young Hero who comes from a far country to win back his lost treasure. It’s a love story about a brave Prince who leaves his palace, his throne—everything— to rescue the one he loves. It’s like the most wonderful of fairy tales that has come true in real life! There are lots of stories in the Bible, but all the stories are telling one Big Story. The Story of how God loves his children and comes to rescue them. - Jesus Story Book Bible

Structure of the Bible: Creation Fall Redemption Initiated Redemption Accomplished Mission of the Church Redemption Completed

“Mission is not just one of a list of things that the Bible happens to talk about, only a bit more urgently than some. Mission is, in that much-abused phrase, "what it's all about.”” - Christopher Wright

“Each word must be understood within its own verse, each verse within its on chapter, each chapter within its own book, and each book within its own historical, cultural, and indeed canonical setting,” - NT Wright

“If we as believers allow this story (culture) rather than the bible to become the foundation of our thought and action, then our lives will manifest not the truths of Scripture, but the lies of an idolatrous culture. Hence, the unity of Scripture is no minor matter: a fragmented Bible may actually produce theologically orthodox, morally upright, warmly pious idol worshippers!” - Mike Goheen

John 5:36-40

Luke 24:25-27

Questions to ask when reading the Bible: What’s going on? (story//context) Where is the good news? (Jesus) How has the church seen this through history? Communion of the saints//Community How does this shape us toward flourishing in life?

Psalm 119:105 Hebrews 4:12 Ephesians 6:17

Today we look at the Advent theme of love and see how Jesus opens our hearts and hands.

Notes/Quotes:

John 3:16-17 -

Storge - Familial love - parents/kids Philea - Friendship love Eros - Romantic love Agape - Covenantal Love

True love is to be ruthlessly and unconditionally committed to another’s flourishing.

"To love at all is to be vulnerable. Love anything and your heart will be wrung and possibly broken. If you want to make sure of keeping it intact you must give it to no one, not even an animal. Wrap it carefully round with hobbies and little luxuries; avoid all entanglements. Lock it up safe in the casket or coffin of your selfishness. But in that casket, safe, dark, motionless, airless, it will change. It will not be broken; it will become unbreakable, impenetrable, irredeemable. To love is to be vulnerable.” - CS Lewis

“Jesus’s command to follow him is a command to align our loves and longings with his—to want what God wants, to desire what God desires, to hunger and thirst after God and crave a world where he is all in all—a vision encapsulated by the shorthand “the kingdom of God. Jesus is a teacher who doesn’t just inform our intellect but forms our very loves. He isn’t content to simply deposit new ideas into your mind; he is after nothing less than your wants, your loves, your longings.” - James K.A. Smith

1 John 3:1

Ephesians 4:14-16

The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light; those who dwelt in a land of deep darkness, on them has light shone. You have multiplied the nation; you have increased its joy; they rejoice before you as with joy at the harvest, as they are glad when they divide the spoil. For the yoke of his burden, and the staff for his shoulder, the rod of his oppressor, you have broken as on the day of Midian. For every boot of the tramping warrior in battle tumult and every garment rolled in blood will be burned as fuel for the fire. For to us a child is born, to us a son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulder, and his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Of the increase of his government and of peace there will be no end, on the throne of David and over his kingdom, to establish it and to uphold it with justice and with righteousness from this time forth and forevermore. The zeal of the Lord of hosts will do this.

Isaiah 9:2-7

…and his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Of the increase of his government and of peace there will be no end…

Isaiah 9:6-7

“Peace in Scripture is a situation of comprehensive welfare. In English the word “peace” usually refers to either an inner tranquility – peace of mind - or to an outward state – absence of war. But biblical shalom conveys the picture of a circle; it means communal wellbeing in every direction and in every relation… The Hebrew word depicts a circle embracing the whole community, internally and externally … Peacemakers are reconcilers.”

The Need for Peace in the Time of Jesus

Internationally

Ethnically

Interpersonally

Spiritually

The Provision of Peace by the Work of Jesus

Spiritually

For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross.

Colossians 1:19-20

Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.

Romans 5:1

The Provision of Peace by the Work of Jesus

Interpersonally

Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God.

Matthew 5:9

If possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all.

Romans 12:18

The Provision of Peace by the Work of Jesus

Ethnically

It shall come to pass in the latter days that the mountain of the house of the Lord shall be established as the highest of the mountains, and shall be lifted up above the hills; and all the nations shall flow to it, and many peoples shall come, and say: “Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob, that he may teach us his ways and that we may walk in his paths.” For out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem. He shall judge between the nations, and shall decide disputes for many peoples; and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks; nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war anymore.

Isaiah 2:2-4

As we celebrate the arrival of the Prince of Peace,

what kind of peace do you need most?

Spiritual Peace

Interpersonal Peace

Ethnic Peace

International Peace

Luke 2:8-20

“To buy wool, milk, or a kid from a shepherd was forbidden on the assumption that it would be stolen property. The rabbis ask with amazement how, in view of the despicable nature of shepherds, one can explain why God was called ‘my shepherd’ - Joachim Jeremias

John 15:10-11

“Joy is not a requirement of Christian discipleship, it is a consequence. It is not what we have to acquire in order to experience life in Christ; it is what comes to us when we are walking in the way of faith and obedience.” - Eugene Peterson

“It would seem that Our Lord finds our desires not too strong, but too weak. We are half-hearted creatures, fooling about with drink and sex and ambition when infinite joy is offered us, like an ignorant child who wants to go on making mud pies in a slum because he cannot imagine what is meant by the offer of a holiday at the sea. We are far too easily pleased.” - CS Lewis

It is a good fight because it is not a struggle to carry a burden, but a struggle to let a burden be carried for us. The life of joy in God is not a burdened life. It is an unburdened life. The fight for joy is the struggle to trust God with the burdens of life. It’s a fight for freedom from worry. - John Piper

Jesus reveals to us God’s love so that his joy may become ours and that our joy may become complete. Joy is the experience of knowing that you are unconditionally loved and that nothing—sickness, failure, emotional distress, oppression, war, or even death—can take that love away. Joy is not the same as happiness. We can be unhappy about many things, but joy can still be there because it comes from the knowledge of God’s love for us. . . . Joy does not simply happen to us. We have to choose joy and keep choosing it every day. It is a choice based on the knowledge that we belong to God and have found in God our refuge and our safety and that nothing, not even death, can take God away from us. - Henri Nouwen

Week 1 of Advent.

Isaiah 1:1-20 - Reading - Rose Odum

I am bombarded every day with "the holiday season" which, according to the world of commerce, began with Halloween. But I know it's not "the most wonderful time of the year.” It's Advent. Advent begins here, in the darkness of Sin and Death. Fleming Rutledge

Hebrews 9:11-14

“The Christmas message is that there is hope for a ruined humanity—hope of pardon, hope of peace with God, hope of glory—because at the Father’s will Jesus Christ became poor, and was born in a stable, so that 30 years later he might hang on a cross.” - JI Packer

“Our invitation to Advent starts here, now - and thank God, because being here now feels really complicated. And hard. And sad at times. With a lot of loss. Right? What gives me hope in this Advent season is the reminder that everything can be taken away except that hidden part of me. Whether I lose my savings, my house, my title, or my very livelihood, what is un-takeable is the part of me that Jesus illuminates. In the gift of my life is a doorway to a much larger reality. And Jesus is the Light that shows me the way. May you rest in the peace that the darkness can never extinguish the light that has been given you.” Scott Erikson

Listen in as we close out our Human series and see the hope we have in Jesus.

Hope for Humans Romans 15:1-7

"Paul reverses the ordinary structure of obligation. Rather than the weak being forced to submit to the strong, as was typical in Greco-Roman culture, the powerful are here under obligation to ‘bear/carry’ the weaknesses of the powerless.” Robert Jewett

“Hope” is the thing with feathers - That perches in the soul - And sings the tune without the words - And never stops - at all - And sweetest - in the Gale - is heard - And sore must be the storm - That could abash the little Bird That kept so many warm - I’ve heard it in the chillest land - And on the strangest Sea - Yet - never - in Extremity, It asked a crumb - of me. Emily Dickinson

“The biblical writers distinguish between hopes that are illfounded and vain, and hopes that have a sure foundation. The range of ill-founded hopes is as wide as the human capacity for self-deception. It is vain to place one’s hope in military might (Isa. 31:1–3), in one’s own wisdom (Prov. 26:12) or righteousness (Ezek. 33:13), in riches (Prov. 11:28), or even in the temple (Jer. 7:9–10) or the law of Moses (John 5:45). All of these are inadequate bases of hope, and indeed, for the unrighteous person who trusts in such things, there is no hope (Job 8:13; 11:20; 27:8; Prov. 10:28; 11:7). Thus the majority of scriptural references to hope elucidate the only true foundation of hope, God. In this there is a remarkable continuity between the Old and New Testaments.” - Eerdmans Bible Dictionary

“The reason I can continue watching and waiting, even as the world is shrouded in darkness, is because the things I long for are not rooted in wishful thinking or religious ritual but are as solid as a stone rolled away.” Tish Harrison Warren

1 Thess 4:16-18 2 Peter 3:8-10 2 Peter 3:11-14 1 Cor 15:50-58

Jesus's resurrection is the beginning of God's new project not to snatch people away from earth to heaven but to colonize earth with the life of heaven. That, after all, is what the Lord's Prayer is about…What you do in the present—by painting, preaching, singing, sewing, praying, teaching, building hospitals, digging wells, campaigning for justice, writing poems, caring for the needy, loving your neighbor as yourself—will last into God’s future. These activities are not simply ways of making the present life a little less beastly, a little more bearable, until the day when we leave it behind altogether. They are part of what we may call building for God’s kingdom. NT Wright

[Jesus] matters because of what he brought and what he still brings to ordinary human beings, living their ordinary lives and coping daily with their surroundings. He promises wholeness for their lives. In sharing our weaknesses he gives us strength and imparts through his companionship a life that has the quality of eternity. - Dallas Willard

1 Sam 16:1-13

“Whereas we often ask “Why?” people in the Bible more often asked “How long?” Their tendency was not to demand that God give an explanation for the origin of evil but rather to plead with God to do something to bring about an end to evil.” - Chris Wright

“Worry is not believing God will get it right, and bitterness is believing God got it wrong” - Tim Keller

“Faith doesn’t eliminate questions, but it knows where to take them” - E. Elliot

Mark 4:35-41

“The wind and the waves recognized Jesus’ voice. They had heard it before, of course - it was the same voice that made them, in the very beginning.” Jesus Storybook Bible

into their hearts came a different kind of storm…Jesus friends had been so afraid, they had only seen the big waves. They had forgotten that, if Jesus was with them, then they had nothing to be afraid of. No matter how small their boat - or how big the storm.”

God says a lot about suffering in Scripture so that you know where to look when the pain comes to you. - Joseph Scheumann

The idea of salvation cannot be reduced to a personal relationship with Jesus. God's plan is much more encompassing. God intends for salvation to be a community-creating event.- Joseph Hellerman

Often the difference between where I am and where God wants me to be is the pain I’m unwilling to endure. There is no growth without change, no change without loss, and no loss without pain. - Samuel Chand

He giveth more grace when the burdens grow greater,  He sendeth more strength when the labors increase;  To added afflictions He addeth His mercy,  To multiplied trials, His multiplied peace.

When we have exhausted our store of endurance,  When our strength has failed ere the day is half done,  When we reach the end of our hoarded resources  Our Father’s full giving is only begun.

Fear not that thy need shall exceed His provision,  Our God ever yearns His resources to share;  Lean hard on the arm everlasting, availing;  The Father both thee and thy load will upbear.

His love has no limits, His grace has no measure,  His power no boundary known unto men;  For out of His infinite riches in Jesus  He giveth, and giveth, and giveth again.

Genesis 1:26-2:3

“The original meaning reflects the practice of setting up an image or symbol that signifies sovereignty, something similar to a national flag. As images of God, the human beings represented the locale where God rules supreme. In the ancient world, royalty were perceived in this way. They were either considered divine themselves or they represented the deity to their people” Diane Bergant

"The whole human being is image and likeness of God, in soul and body, in all human faculties, powers, and gifts. Nothing in humanity is excluded from God’s image; it stretches as far as our humanity does and constitutes our humanness." Herman Bavinck

The twofold commission given the human couple in this story,“subdue. . . .Have dominion,” is also royal language. Thus, one can say that this is a royal couple that exercises authority over the rest of the created world. Still, their authority is limited. The woman and man are not gods; they are images of God, representatives responsible for God’s world and accountable to God in carrying out this responsibility. Every woman and every man is made in God’s image and has been commissioned to stand as God’s representative in the management of the natural world. Diane Bergant

“Despite what we often hear about this passage, it’s not just a call to make babies and start farms. It’s not chiefly about doing more for God. Instead, this is a beautiful call to imitate the creative work God himself accomplished in creation. It’s about being who he created you to be. Filling the earth is about filling the empty spaces with beauty and using your gifts and talents to show the world the creative nature of its God. Having dominion is about bringing order—ordered hearts, ordered relationships, ordered businesses, ordered homes—out of chaos. We must know him, be with him, and rest in him if we are going to reflect him to the world.” - Elizabeth Garn

“You’ve heard the story, you know how it goes, Once upon a garden we were lovers with no clothes Fresh from the soil we were beautiful and true, In control of our emotions to till we ate the poison fruit. And now its...Hard to be, Hard to be, Hard to be A decent human being” David Bazan

“If you can’t see your toddler in the house and it’s quiet, they’re not somewhere helping orphans. They’re somewhere testing your perimeter for weaknesses.” Jon Acuff

“We are not to reflect on the wickedness of men but to look to the image of God in them, an image which, covering and obliterating their faults, an image which, by its beauty and dignity, should allure us to love and embrace them.” - John Calvin

The whole concept of the image of God is the idea that all men have something within them that God injected . . . and this gives him a uniqueness, it gives him worth, it gives him dignity. And we must never forget this. . . . There are no gradations in the image of God. Every man from a treble white to a bass black is significant on God’s keyboard, precisely because every man is made in the image of God. One day we will learn that. We will know one day that God made us to live together as brothers and to respect the dignity and worth of every man. - Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

“God doesn’t make junk, and doesn’t junk what junk what He has made.” - Al Wolters

Picture 1/2 Colossians 3:9-11 Ephesians 4:17-24

“There are no ordinary people. You have never talked to a mere mortal. Nations, cultures, arts, civilizations—these are mortal, and their life is to ours as the life of a gnat. But it is immortals whom we joke with, work with, marry, snub, and exploit. . . . Next to the Blessed Sacrament itself, your neighbor is the holiest object presented to your senses.” - C.S. Lewis

Passion in the midst of indifference. Intentionality and slowness in the midst of fragmentation and burnout. Community and vulnerability in the midst of isolation and pretending. Trust and submission in the midst of self making and re-invention. Sacrificial love and generosity in the midst of selfishness and empty accumulation Expectation and hope in the midst of brokenness and chaos.

Today we grieved the loss of Miles Garcia and reflected on Psalm 46.

Matthew 28:1-20

“These women will become the first witnesses to the resurrection, a fact that seems to guarantee the credibility of the account in a world that usually did not accept women’s testimony as legally binding. Were the story fabricated, only male witnesses would have appeared. The role of the women also points to the dawning of a new age of equality among women and men in Christ” Craig Blomberg

“There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.” Galatians 3:28

“For he who sanctifies and those who are sanctified all have one source. That is why he is not ashamed to call them brothers…” —Hebrews 2:11

“Not only does he show himself as still loving and accepting those who had abandoned him, but he even treats them as equals! (They might be failures, but) they remain laborers with him in the work of the Father. Jesus is neither denying his uniqueness nor deifying the disciples. But he is portraying the church as a brotherhood that manifests more equality than hierarchy, even if some functional differentiation between leaders and followers is clear from other Scriptures. (e.g., 1 Pet 5:1–5; Heb 13:17).” Craig Blomberg

“Think what he (Matthew) had to gain and lose by it. Denying the resurrection left everybody’s world view intact. The Jews could continue as they had done. The Romans could go on running the world their way. Philosophers could still debate their lofty doctrine. Nobody would need to make radical readjustments. But if the resurrection of Jesus was true, and if people were to start reordering their lives by it, they would be on a collision course with the rest of the world. Matthew knew that as well as we do.” - NT Wright

“Mountains have figured prominently at least six different times in this Gospel (see also 4:8: Temptation Mountain; 5:1: Sermon Mountain; 15:29: Supper Mountain; 17:1: Transfiguration Mountain; 24:3: Consummation Mountain). Ever since Sinai, mountains have been the classic loci of the Lord’s great revelations. Now here in Galilee, the Lord gives the final revelation of his Gospel on a mountain. “As it were, the same divine law swings itself like a bow from the mount of the first revelation in Sinai to this mount of the last revelation in Galilee.” Matthew’s Jesus, the New and Better Moses, the Messiah- Interpreter of God’s law, will now give his church her final orders from the Mission Mountain.” Dale Bruner

“All spiritual, metaphysical, philosophical, and religious power “in heaven” but also all social, physical, political, and economic power “on earth” are in his hands. He is in charge around here.” Dale Bruner

“The Christians’ focus was not on “saving” people or recruiting them; it was on living faithfully—in the belief that when people’s lives are rehabituated in the way of Jesus, others will want to join them.” - Alan Kreider

“Disciple” (mathēteusate). Interestingly, the usual missionary terms are not employed here: “preach,” “convert,” “win,” and the like. A slower, lower-profile verb is used, an almost scholastic, schoolish word, “disciple.” To disciple means “to make students of,” “bring to school,” “educate” or, in modern-English terms, “to mentor,” “to apprentice.” The word pictures students sitting around a teacher more than it does penitents kneeling at an altar—an educational process more than an evangelistic crisis, a school more than a revival. The word’s prosaic character relaxes and says in effect, “Work with people over a period of time in the simple educational process of teaching Jesus.” Only the Cosmo-creator can do the big things like convert, win, bring repentance, or bring a person to decision—all authority is his, and his alone. Disciples will do the little thing of “discipling” others—that is, they will spend time with people—in the confidence that sooner or later the Cosmocrator with all his authority will create in some of these people the decision to be baptized (or, in Christianized cultures, the decision to own their baptisms) and then to follow Jesus.” Our Main Man Bruner

“I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand.” —Jesus (Jn.10:28)

Today we see the cross of Christ and how the love, justice, and victory of God collide.

Matthew 27:32-66

“From beginning to end, the Holy Scriptures testify that the predicament of fallen humanity is so serious, so grave, so irremediable from within, that nothing short of divine intervention can rectify it.” - Fleming Rutledge

“Wit and cruelty were in combination…to make death in the highest degree terrible and miserable.” - Martin Hengel

“Crucifixion as a means of execution in the Roman Empire had as its express purpose the elimination of victims from consideration as members of the human race. It cannot be said too strongly: that was its function”. - Fleming Rutledge

And so he was raised on a cross, and a title was fixed, indicating who it was who was being executed. Painful it is to say, but more terrible not to say..He who suspended the earth is suspended, he who fixed the heavens is fixed, he who fastened all things is fastened to the wood, God is murdered. - Melito of Sardis

Jesus’ last sentence before death was a question, not an affirmation. Jesus could have ended his life much more triumphantly with a noble exclamation—“God is love!” or “Love one another!” or “I triumph!” But when he died asking questions, we learn that Jesus not only took on our flesh and blood but also our nervous systems. He came not only giving us answers; he also came asking our questions, and questions seem weaker than exclamations. Jesus has been redefining strength his whole life. - Dale Bruner

Matthew, Mark, Luke and John have very different angles on things, but they all converge on this: When Jesus is crucified something happens, and the result is the powers that have locked up the world in corruption, decay and death are overthrown. And Jesus is, from now on, running the show—even though it doesn’t look like it because we have the wrong idea of what power is and how it works. If we take the New Testament seriously, we ought to see that the crucifixion of Jesus is the means by which God’s Kingdom is actually launched on earth as in heaven—because the powers are defeated, and this new world comes to birth. - NT Wright

Romans 5:6-8 1 Peter 3:18

“The wrath of God, which plays such a large role in both the Old and New Testaments, can be embraced because it comes wrapped in God's mercy..The wrath of God falls upon God himself, by God's own choice, out of God's own love. The 'justice connection' may not be clear to those who are accustomed to privilege, but to oppressed and suffering Christians in the troubled places of the earth, there is no need to spell it out. God in Christ on the cross has become one with those who are despised and outcast in the world. No other method of execution that the world has ever known could have established this so conclusively.” Fleming Rutledge

“The concept of substitution may be said to lie at the heart of both sin and salvation. For the essence of sin is man substituting himself for God. While the essence of salvation is God substituting himself for man.” - John Stott

Romans 5:9-11 2 Corinthians 5:21

“The cross is the means by which God’s kingdom is actually launched on earth as in heaven—because the powers are defeated and this new world comes to birth.” - NT Wright Colossians 2:13-15

Fake freedom: Be true to yourself. Real freedom: Be true to your God. - Matt Smethurst

Galatians 5:1, 13-15

The Devil loves a bloodless cross. He doesn’t mind a shiny trinket around your neck so long as it’s not a shining treasure in your heart. Satan is afraid of the blood. He knows it washes sinners clean. He knows that the bloody cross spells his doom. And he knows the blood of Christ pays the wrath owed sinners, thereby forever making his accusations against God’s people null and void. Which is why Satan would love for you to keep your gospel nice and respectable. - Jared C. Wilson

Listen along as we see everything upside-down as Jesus nears the cross.

Notes/Quotes:

Matthew 27:1-31

This passion of Jesus Christ, this unveiling of man’s rebellion and of God‘s wrath, yet also his mercy, did not take place in heaven or in some remote planet or even in some world of ideas; it took place in our time, in the center of the world history in which our human life is played out. So we must not escape from this life. We must not take flight to a better land, or to some height or other unknown, nor to any spiritual cloud cuckooland nor to a Christian fairyland. That the word became flesh also means that it became temporal, historical. It assumes the form which belongs to the human creature, in which there are such folk as this very Pontius Pilate. The people we belong to and who are also ourselves at any time on a slightly larger scale! It is not necessary to close our eyes to this, for God has not closed his either; he has entered into it all. The incarnation of the word is an extremely concrete event, in which a human name may play a part. - Karl Barth

We admitted we were powerless over alcohol—that our lives had become unmanageable.
Came to believe that a Power greater than ourselves could restore us to sanity.

“Who cares to admit complete defeat? Practically no one, of course. Every natural instinct cries out against the idea of personal powerlessness. It is truly awful to admit that, glass in hand, we have warped our minds into such an obsession for destructive drinking that only an act of Providence can remove it from us. But upon entering A.A. we soon take quite another view of this absolute humiliation. We perceive that only through utter defeat are we able to take our first steps toward liberation and strength. Our admissions of personal powerlessness finally turn out to be firm bedrock upon which happy and purposeful lives may be built.” - The Big Book, AA

Romans 3:23-24

“Oh my soul, oh my Jesus, Peter denied you three times, I have denied you more. Oh my soul, oh my Jesus, Judas sold you for thirty, I’d have done it for less.” - Kings Kaleidoscope

“Remarkable parallels appear between the names of the two prisoners, along with remarkable differences in their character. “Barabbas” means son of a father in a simple, human sense. Jesus, on the other hand, was the Heavenly Son of his Heavenly Father, though not yet generally so recognized. Several important manuscripts and versions add in both vv. 16 and 17 that Barabbas’s forename was “Jesus.” Although the external evidence for accepting these readings as original is relatively weak, it is hard to imagine anyone creating this potentially embarrassing parallel if it were not true. Certainly, having both characters named Jesus tightens the parallelism and makes the irony of the crowd’s response all the greater. Pilate’s question then becomes, Do you want Jesus Barabbas or Jesus who is called the Christ? The “Christ” (Messiah) is still a title at this point in history, and Pilate does not think Jesus deserves it.” - Craig Blomberg

“It seems that every generation offers the people of God two Jesuses, one of whom is a popular, patriotic, hate-the-enemy Liberator. No church, of course, has the whole Jesus—he is not easy to capture. Every church makes an attempt to present the authentic Jesus in a way relevant to its time. It is the responsibility of every congregation in every time to discern the Jesus who is truest to canonical sources and, so, most relevant to the deepest (though not always most obvious) needs of the time. The permanent contribution of the Barabbas story is its teaching that the church’s main trial in every age will be her choice of the Jesus she wants…This raises the question: Are the people of God at any given time following the Jesus of the normative apostolic documents or are they following the Jesus of current voices? Are they choosing a Suffering Savior or a macho Messiah?” Dale Bruner

The answer to the question of who killed Jesus, therefore is that we all killed Jesus. The disciples killed Jesus by deserting him. The crowd killed Jesus because they were a crowd. The elites of Israel killed Jesus because they fear his call to holiness. Pilate killed Jesus because he had the responsibility to maintain order. The people as a whole killed Jesus because they had nothing better to do. We all killed and continue to kill Jesus. So let us all say that “his blood be on us and on our children.” - Stanley Hauerwas

"You have often left Christ; has he ever left you? You have had many trials and troubles; has he ever deserted you? Has he ever turned away his heart and compassion? No, children of God, it is your solemn duty to say 'No,' and bear witness to his faithfulness.” - Charles Spurgeon

Listen along as we near the end of Matthew's gospel.

Notes/Quotes:

Text: Matthew 26:47-75 Title: Gethsemane’s Gifts

“Jesus’ enemies are not his only problem. Jesus’ overzealous followers have historically been as painful to him. Disciples who trust their own instincts and praxis too much, who are too sure that Jesus must admire anything they do to serve and defend him or the oppressed, or who think the salvation of sinners or the liberation of the innocent justifies any means, are taught by this Gospel to think again.” - Dale Bruner

“This statement is sometimes interpreted as a call to pacifism, but in fact it is simply an observation that violence breeds violence. Perhaps warfare is sometimes necessary to prevent greater evils done to others but never merely in defense of self or God. Still, the proverbial form as a rationale for Jesus’ command suggests it would apply in other situations too. These will have to be settled on a case-by-case basis.” - Craig Blomberg

He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth; like a lamb that is led to the slaughter, and like a sheep that before its shearers is silent, so he opened not his mouth. —Isaiah 53:7

“he speaks in his own language, the language he has learned and lived for many years: the language of biblical prophecy. His answer to the question of messiahship is the same oblique form of ‘Yes’ that he gave to Judas in 26.25: ‘You’ve just said so’ or ‘those are your words’. It was perhaps a way of avoiding arrogance or apparent selfish pride. But the ringing affirmation which followed made it clear that Jesus saw himself and his work in terms of the biblical picture of messiahship (the passage about the son of man in Daniel 7, quoted here, was sometimes taken messianically at that time). What's more, he saw the confrontation between himself and Caiaphas as the concrete outworking of the clash between that ‘son of man’ and the Fourth Beast (Daniel 7.7-8), the monster that was waging war against the true representative of God's people.” - N.T. Wright

“Comes as close as the courtyard, sitting with the guards “to see how this would end.” “Following at a distance” is a wonderful description for the way most of us follow Jesus. We want, as Peter wanted to see how all this will end before we commit ourselves. Unfortunately, that strategy means that we cannot help but end up sitting with the guardians of the established order.” - Stanley Hauerwas

Title: God's Plan

Matthew 26:30-46

“Remarkable is Jesus’ prediction of the complete collapse of the whole church (“you will all”) right after his complete gift of himself to the whole church (“drink of it, all of you,” v. 27). “Though there will be but one traitor, they will all be deserters” (Henry, 393, emphasis added). Did Jesus know before the Supper that his disciples were this unstable? Would he have given them all forgiveness if he had known that they would all fall? We know the answers. Jesus gives disciples his Supper knowing not only what they have been but what they will be.” - Dale Bruner

“Why should (or would) a person presume so much on the capacity of his (or her) nature? It is wounded, hurt, damaged.... It needs a true confession, not a false defense” -Augustine

“He takes the three... in order that those who saw the glories [at the Transfiguration] might also see the griefs [at Gethsemane]” - Dale Bruner

“It teaches the church at least three important truths: Jesus’ true humanity, his free obedience, and his real courage. If Jesus had not been confused by what was happening, could he have been truly human? And if Jesus had not been truly human, that is, an entire human being with not only a body like ours but also emotions and a mind like ours, could he have been our representative before God? Take away Jesus’ humanity and you take away humanity’s salvation. (“What was not assumed was not redeemed,” the fathers said.) Gethsemane’s emotions do not shame Jesus’ humanity, they prove it; they tell us that Jesus drank our cup to the lees, that he really was one of us, that he knew what it was to suffer, to be down, and in some ways even out. Might we reverently say that in Gethsemane, with its carefully chosen words for Jesus’ emotions and mind, that Jesus knew what it was to be emotionally crushed and mentally “crazy,” at least for awhile? This would mean that Jesus knows what we go through at our limits, and knows this not just “divinely” but also humanly. Does this lowness make him less appealing? Does this “baseness” diminish deity?” - Dale Bruner

“He had to be made like his brothers in every respect, so that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in the service of God, to make propitiation for the sins of the people. For because he himself has suffered when tempted, he is able to help those who are being tempted.” —Hebrews 2:17-18

“Jesus did not know this wonderful theology and so prayed here not only for a knowledge of God’s will but for a knowledge of what might be possible for God. Hadn’t Jesus read his Bible enough to know these things? The truth of our text is that the Son of God himself in his human condition lay on the ground dumbfounded before the sometimes unfathomable will of God. This poverty of spirit seems closer to God than a richness of spirit that knows God’s secrets." - Dale Bruner

“One actually has the privilege of seeing Jesus’ will move in these petitions. In his first prayer, Jesus’ will moved visibly; there he asked, if possible, for the cup to be removed, but then added his proviso. In this second prayer Jesus does not ask for the cup’s removal, as if he is saying, “I’m beginning to think that you don’t want that cup to go away except by one route—my drinking it.” Jesus’ will moved from a nine, ten, or eleven o’clock position to a twelve o’clock position in his Gethsemane prayers. (Jesus’ will seems never to have been at six o’clock, in opposition to God. But the church learns from his first petition that the human will can ask honest questions “at ten o’clock,” so to speak, and still be within the magnetic field of God’s will.) Even in the first petition, in its second half, Jesus asked for God’s perfect will—“yet not as I want, but as you want.” But full humanity means seeking (not always fully having or knowing) this perfect will. The full humanity of even Jesus was not on automatic pilot at perfect twelve o’clock. Gethsemane is full of instruction to the church, for it teaches her not to ascribe to Jesus a divinized, ghostly humanity, as she can sometimes do by speaking too sweepingly or easily of Jesus’ sinlessness and perfection. The Gospels, remarkably, avoid speaking directly of Jesus’ sinlessness because saying too much here can say too little. A superman is not a man; an inerrant Jesus who is never at even eleven o’clock turns Jesus into a machine; a Jesus effortlessly at twelve dehumanizes Jesus. Gethsemane says humanity. Yet Jesus is still the sacrifice without blemish required by the law (Lev 1:3), for human questing is not sin.” - Dale Bruner

(We believe in) the Lord Jesus Christ, the only Son of God, begotten from the Father before all ages, God from God, Light from Light, true God from true God, begotten, not made; of the same essence as the Father. Through him all things were made.

For us and for our salvation he came down from heaven; he became incarnate by the Holy Spirit and the virgin Mary, and was made human. He was crucified for us under Pontius Pilate; he suffered and was buried. The third day he rose again, according to the Scriptures. He ascended to heaven and is seated at the right hand of the Father. He will come again with glory to judge the living and the dead. His kingdom will never end. - Nicene Creed

Listen along as we near the cross and see Christ shining through all the contrast of life and discipleship.

Notes/Quotes:

Matthew 26:1-29

A woman began the Christmas story; a woman now begins the passion story. Women will also begin the resurrection mission. The place of women in the Gospel stories has liberating ferment. Jesus is ahead of his time and his people, new and old, and is saying something by permitting so many records of—yes—women’s ministry. - Dale Bruner

The disciples are willing to hurt a woman who is there for the sake of the poor who aren’t; Jesus is unwilling to serve the plural poor at the expense of a single poor woman—he will not even let one human being be sacrificed on the altar of a principle. - Dale Bruner

“Agape love, perhaps the greatest contribution of Christ to human civilization, wills the good of whatever it is directed upon. It does not wish to consume it.” Dallas Willard

Jeremiah 31:31-34

“Jesus was going to his death wounded by the wounds common to humanity. Greed, lust, ambition: all kinds of natural drives and desires turning in on themselves rather than doing the outward-looking work the creator intended them to do. When we say that Jesus died ‘ because of our sins,’ we don’t just mean that in some high flown, abstract sense. We mean that what put him on the cross was precisely the sins that we all not only commit but wallow in. “It isn’t me, is it, Master?” Only when you’ve said that, knowing that it might well be you, can you begin to appreciate what it meant for Jesus to sit at that table and share that Passover meal with them, with Judas too.” NT Wright

We don't come to the table to fight or to defend. We don't come to prove or to conquer, to draw lines in the sand or to stir up trouble. We come to the table because our hunger brings us there. We come with a need, with fragility, with an admission of our humanity. The table is the great equalizer, the level playing field many of us have been looking everywhere for. The table is the place where the doing stops, the trying stops, the masks are removed, and we allow ourselves to be nourished, like children. We allow someone else to meet our need. In a world that prides people on not having needs, on going longer and faster, on going without, on powering through, the table is a place of safety and rest and humanity, where we are allowed to be as fragile as we feel.” - Shauna Neiquist

Today Jesus wraps up His final discourse and we see the future of history, get a bit of theology and how eternity impacts living.

Notes/Quotes:

Matthew 25:31-46 - Anthony Garcia

“I can’t understand why you missionaries present the Bible to us in India as another book of religion. It is not a book of religion—and anyway we have plenty of books of religion in India already. We don’t need any more! I find in your Bible a unique interpretation of universal history, the history of the whole creation and the history of the human race. And therefore a unique interpretation of the human person as a responsible actor in history. That is unique. There is nothing else in the whole religious literature of the world to put alongside of it” Badrinath, Hindu scholar

“If we allow the Bible to become fragmented, it is in danger of being absorbed into whatever other story is shaping our culture, and it will thus cease to shape our lives as it should. Idolatry has twisted the dominant cultural story of the secular Western world. If as believers we allow this story (rather than the Bible) to become the foundation of our thought and action, then our lives will manifest not the truths of Scripture, but the lies of an idolatrous culture. Hence, the unity of Scripture is no minor matter: a fragmented Bible may actually produce theologically orthodox, morally upright, warmly pious idol worshippers! - Mike Goheen

Deut 15:7-11 Leviticus 19:9-10 Zech 7:8-10 - Proverbs 19:17 -

From the beginning, Jesus teaches, world history has been structured with a split ending in view. History ends in either heaven or hell. This double issue is not peripheral to the Gospel of Matthew; it is not a survival of late-apocalyptic Judaism, an alien growth on the love teaching of Jesus. It is so inseparably a part of Jesus’ love teaching, as even here in one of Jesus’ most loving teachings, that one senses that Jesus’ urgency in mission flowed at least in part from a conviction that human life can be ruined. - Dale Bruner

If your roots are in Jesus, your fruit will be love. Fruit takes time to grow; it doesn’t appear overnight. We don’t have to beat ourselves up for not being perfect Jesus-followers the day after we’ve started walking in his dust. It took the disciples a long time too. But the longer we’re planted in God’s garden, the deeper our roots grow in his goodness, and the more generosity, joy, and selflessness begin to spring forth from our branches. - Joshua Ryan Butler

The book of Revelation offers us the vision of a city which is on the one hand the perfection of all human striving towards beauty, civilization and good order, and on the other hand is the place where every tear is dried and where every one of us knows God face to face, and knows that we are his and he is ours. That is the vision with which the Bible ends, and it is a vision that enables us to see the whole human story and each of our lives within that story as meaningful, and which therefore invites us through Jesus Christ to become responsible actors in history, not to seek to run away from the responsibilities and the agonies of human life in its public dimension. Each of us must be ready to take our share in all the struggles and the anguish of human history and yet with the confidence that what is committed to Christ will in the end find its place in his final kingdom. That means that as I look forward I don’t see just an empty void, I don’t just see my own death, I don’t just see some future utopia in which I shall have no share. The horizon to which I look forward is that day when Jesus shall come, and his holy city will come down as a bride from heaven adorned for her husband. Lesslie Newbigin

1 Corinthians 15:57-58

Listen along as we look at the first half of Matthew 25 and what it looks like to fear, trust, and follow Jesus till the end.

Notes/Quotes:

“the Kingdom Parables in chapter 13 which began in the present tense with the words “the kingdom of heaven is like”—for they taught mainly how the kingdom enters our lives now by the power of the Word; the Judgment Parables in this chapter have a sharper future orientation.” - Dale Bruner

“21 “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. 22 On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’ 23 And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.’” - Matthew 5:21-23

“The Christian life in Matthew is a life of tough discipleship (chaps. 5–7), of persecuted mission (chap. 10), of practicing joyous demands (chap. 13), and of exercising self-denial for the sake of others’ salvation (chap. 18). The Christian life in Matthew is not the second-soil faith that believes a conversion experience is all one really needs; when the devil, pressures, and temptations come to “conversions-only” people (conversio sola!), they are deeply embarrassed by the gospel and its requirements and make as quick an exit as they did an entrance (13:20–21). Discipleship is a life of patient listening to the Word and of constant repenting under the conviction of the Word. “When our Lord and Master Jesus Christ said ‘repent,’ he intended for the whole life of believers to be a life of repentance” (Luther, thesis one of The Ninety-Five Theses). “The just shall live by faith” (Rom 1:17). One-shot Christianity is misleading and finally fatal. The lamp oil of experiential Christianity, without the reserve oil of discipled Christianity—that is to say, an experience of Jesus without obedience to his teachings—betrays unbelief and will not find entrance into the end-time kingdom.” - Dale Bruner

“But “safe” as this conduct may be, there is a lack of adventure in it, an unwillingness to take risks, a preoccupation with one’s own security, which Jesus clearly dislikes. This piety is too unworldly, too withdrawn, too removed from the secular to please the earthly Jesus who sends disciples into the world to disciple it (28:19), puts salt into the meat to season it (5:13), and brings light into the room to give light to all who are in it (5:14–16; cf. Mark 4:21). Talents mean mission. - Dale Bruner

“The remarkable thing about God is that when you fear God, you fear nothing else, whereas if you do not fear God, you fear everything else.” - Oswald Chambers

“sees this servant’s laziness as the lawlessness of lukewarmness toward the demands of discipleship—as antinomianism.” - Kingsbury

“Jesus does not end this parable grimly from a macabre pleasure in telling horror stories—Jesus loves human beings and wants to save them from messed-up lives and eternities, and that’s why he tells his scary stories.” - Dale Bruner

“The gospel says you are more sinful and flawed than you ever dared believe, but more accepted and loved than you ever dared hope.” - Timothy Keller

Listen in to our family worship Sunday and how transformation in the gospel interacts with technology:

Notes/Quotes:

Romans 12:1-2

"We may well find that the best starting place for thinking about how we live is to think about worship.” Beverly Gaventa

“So here’s what I want you to do, God helping you: Take your everyday, ordinary life—your sleeping, eating, going-to-work, and walking-around life—and place it before God as an offering. Embracing what God does for you is the best thing you can do for him. Don’t become so well-adjusted to your culture that you fit into it without even thinking. Instead, fix your attention on God. You’ll be changed from the inside out. Readily recognize what he wants from you, and quickly respond to it. Unlike the culture around you, always dragging you down to its level of immaturity, God brings the best out of you, develops well-formed maturity in you.” - Romans 12:1-2, The Message

“Technological change is neither additive nor subtractive. It is ecological. I mean “ecological” in the same sense as the word is used by environmental scientists. One significant change generates total change. If you remove the caterpillars from a given habitat, you are not left with the same environment minus caterpillars: you have a new environment, and you have reconstituted the conditions of survival; the same is true if you add caterpillars to an environment that has had none. This is how the ecology of media works as well. A new technology does not add or subtract something. It changes everything.” - Neil Postman

“If you wanted to invent a device that could rewire our minds, if you wanted to create a society of people who were perpetually distracted, isolated, and overtired, if you wanted to weaken our memories and damage our capacity for focus and deep thought, if you wanted to reduce empathy, encourage self-absorption, and redraw the lines of social etiquette, you’d likely end up with a smartphone." - Catherine Price - How to Break Up With Your Phone

“The Net’s interactivity gives us powerful new tools for finding information, expressing ourselves, and conversing with others. It also turns us into lab rats constantly pressing levers to get tiny pellets of social or intellectual nourishment. What the Net seems to be doing is chipping away my capacity for concentration and contemplation. Whether I’m online or not, my mind now expects to take in information the way the Net distributes it: in a swiftly moving stream of particles. Once I was a scuba diver in the sea of words. Now I zip along the surface like a guy on a Jet Ski.” - Nicholas Carr - The Shallows

“All of humanity's problems stem from man's inability to sit quietly in a room alone.” - Blaise Pascal

James 1:5

“We are continually being nudged by our devices toward a set of choices. The question is whether those choices are leading us to the life we actually want. I want a life of conversation and friendship, not distraction and entertainment; but every day, many times a day, I’m nudged in the wrong direction. One key part of the art of living faithfully with technology is setting up better nudges for ourselves.” - Andy Crouch

Tools for Technology: Parents: BE INVOLVED. Kids: THANK THEM Mindful usage: Use technology more than being used by technology. Digital sabbath//Sabbatical - 1 hour per day, 1 day per week, 1 week per month, 1 month per year. Phone/Devices to bed before you//wake up after you Go outside. Track your time. Observe it. What’s it being used on? Don’t simply consume. Contribute in community. Remember the fear of man is a snare. See real people and pray in real life. Think before you post. Is it true? Is it Necessary? Is it Helpful? Is it kind?

Don't underestimate how much Satan intends to affect your effectiveness. He will disrupt and destroy everything if it means you'll stop being fruitful. - Jackie Hill Perry

Matthew 24:1-51

“The approaching birth of a baby is a time of great hope and new possibility, and also, especially before modern medicine, a time of great danger and anxiety.” NT Wright

“This little introduction also teaches the church not to be taken up with anything else impressive on earth except God in his Christ. Temples do not last—nor do places, institutions, attitudes, beliefs, or acts over which Jesus has pronounced judgment. When unwisely idolized realities come crashing down, so will our hopes and dreams.” - Dale Bruner

Matthew Henry - “Neither miracles nor multitudes are certain signs of a true church”

Ps 27:1-3

“All nine of these preliminary events in fact occurred before AD 70 though most if not all have recurred many times since then as well.” - Craig Blomberg

“speculation surrounding what Jesus must have meant by “desolating sacrilege” is endless.” Stanley Hauerwas

Luke 21:21

“After entering the city, Titus placed his army’s standards at the temple’s eastern gate and offered sacrifices to the Empire, defiling what was left of the Holy City — the “corpse” of verse 28. The Greek word the esv translates as “vultures” here is the plural form of aetos, which was also used of eagles. Notably, the Roman standard, a long pole that bore a legion’s insignia into battle, was always topped with the figure of an eagle, the symbol of the empire. Given this context, “eagles” is probably a better translation than “vultures” in verse 28; thus, Jesus’ reference to eagles gathering at the corpse naturally foresees the eagle-topped standards of Titus standing amidst Jerusalem’s ruins.” RC Sproul

As with the “abomination that causes desolation” in v. 15, seeing Jesus’ reference to the great tribulation as beginning in a.d. 70 does not exclude a later application of this expression to the period of time described in Rev 7–19—the final stages of this entire inter-advent period. Revelation 7:14 seems to suggest precisely such an intensification of horrors immediately preceding the end of the age. - Craig Blomberg

Why is God landing in this enemy-occupied world in disguise and starting a sort of secret society to undermine the devil? Why is He not landing in force, invading it? Is it that He is not strong enough? Well, Christians think He is going to land in force; we do not know when. But we can guess why He is delaying. He wants to give us the chance of joining His side freely. I do not suppose you and I would have though much of a Frenchman who waited till the Allies were marching into Germany and then announced he was on our side. God will invade. But I wonder whether people who ask God to interfere openly and directly in our world quite realize what it will be like when He does. When that happens, it is the end of the world. When the author walks on to the stage the play is over. God is going to invade, all right: but what is the good of saying you are on His side then, when you see the whole natural universe melting away like a dream and something else -something it never entered your head to conceive- comes crashing in; something so beautiful to some of us and so terrible to others that none of us will have any choice left? For this time it will be God without disguise; something so overwhelming that it will strike either irresistible love or irresistible horror into every creature. It will be too late then to choose your side. There is no use saying you choose to lie down when it has become impossible to stand up. That will not be the time for choosing: it will be the time when we discover which side we really have chosen, whether we realized it before or not. Now, today, this moment, is our chance to choose the right side. God is holding back to give us that chance. It will not last forever. We must take it or leave it.” - CS Lewis

“Maryland forests and St. John’s Apocalypse show me over and over again that when I am bored it is no fault of creation or covenant. Familiarty dulls my perceptions. Hurry scatters my attention. Ambition fogs my intelligence. Selfishness restricts my range. Anxiety robs me of appetite. Envy distracts me from what is good and blessed right before me. And then Monday’s unhurried pace and St. John’s apocalyptic vision bring me to my senses, body and soul. This power to wake us up is the most obvious use of the Revelation. It is also very often overlooked. Sometimes the obvious is the hardest thing of all to see.” - Eugene Peterson

Today we look at Matthew 23 and see Jesus give warnings and woes against hypocrisy while offering an alternative way forward.

Notes/Quotes:

Micah 6:6-8

In what way does my own faith and life embody & give a credible alternative to the things I criticize & condemn in others? The gap between what I criticize in others & fail to embody myself is the root of hypocrisy. Criticism is cheap, discipleship is costly. - Jon Tyson

Text: Matthew 22:15-46 Title: Kingdom Collision Reading: Matthew 22:15-46

“The Pharisees were nationalistic, loyal to Israel. Whereas the Herodians had sold themselves out to the Romans and served as their stooges. The Pharisees represented narrow, conservative Judaism, and the Herodians were liberal and syncretistic in their convictions. The Pharisees were right-wingers; the Herodians were left-wingers. The Pharisees represented resistance to Rome, the Herodians accommodation.” -R. Kent Hughes

“inspired the Reformation doctrine of differing spheres of authority for government and religion and proved foundational for the American constitutional separation of church and state. It would be anachronistic, however, to claim that Jesus’ words support modern democratic forms of government as opposed to the imperial or monarchichal forms of his day. One can give God his proper due under a monarchy as well as in a democracy, just as authorities, sadly, can usurp prerogatives reserved for God in either system.” -Craig Blomberg

“the problem with the question is that the Sadducees are assuming resurrection bodies to be exactly as bodies are now, which includes the capacity for sexual intercourse.” -Craig Blomberg

“Jesus sees two errors in their logic, one regarding their specific question about this woman and the other related to their more fundamental, underlying concerns about resurrection in general. These errors deal, respectively, with their understanding of Torah and of God’s power. Concerning the latter, God is able to transform us into creatures who do not engage in sexual relations or procreate. A model for such a being already exists, namely, the angels (cf. the rabbinic tradition in b. Hag. 16a, in which, interestingly, demons, in contrast to angels, are believed to copulate). Since the Sadducees also do not believe in angels (cf. Acts 23:8), Jesus is probably deliberately inserting this jibe. Lack of sex or marriage does not in any way diminish heavenly bliss. In the life to come, all interpersonal relationships will no doubt far surpass the most intimate and pleasurable of human intercourse as we now know it. Neither jealousy nor exclusivism will mar human interaction in any way.” -Craig Blomberg

“when God raises people to new life they will have passed into a new world order in which death itself has been left behind. (otherwise, resurrection will simply collapse into reincarnation, an endless cycle of death and rebirth.) But this will mean a whole new kind of life, which at present we can only guess at. Our present bodies are decaying all the time; it's very hard to think what a non-decaying body would be like. (Paul faces the same question in 1 Corinthians 15.) Similarly, there will be no need to propagate the species, and hence no need for sexual activity. Again, most humans find it very hard to think of a non-sexual world, but that's what Jesus probably means when he says that resurrected people will be ‘like angels’. (if you grumble that this makes God a killjoy, remember what C.S. Lewis said: asking if there will be sexual activity in the future world is like the child who, on being told that sex was the greatest pleasure known to humans, assumed that people eat chocolates at the same time.)” -N.T. Wright

“we will, with the angels, have a life with God and one another where there is no aloneness to be overcome. Jesus does not say that we will or will not have some memory of our marriages in the resurrection, but our histories will no doubt be radically transformed. Yet we know that the way we have lived will not be irrelevant to our resurrected life precisely because the very names of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob matter to God.” -Stanley Hauerwas

“In this psalm, written by David, the king of Israel makes reference to two Lords. In the original Hebrew of the psalm, the first “Lord” translates the Hebrew word Yahweh, God’s covenant name. The second “Lord” translates the Hebrew word Adonai, a title usually given to Yahweh in the Old Testament. Jesus is pointing out that the Messiah, who is one of the sons of David, is also much more.” -R.C. Sproul

“Christ is both David’s Son, and David’s Lord: David’s Lord always, David’s Son in time: David’s Lord, born of the substance of His Father, David’s Son, born of the Virgin Mary, conceived by the Holy Ghost. . . . Unless our Lord Jesus Christ had vouchsafed to become man, man had perished. He was made that which He made, that what He made might not perish. Very Man, Very God; God and man, the whole Christ.” -Augustine

Listen along as we continue our series through Matthew, looking at a difficult passage with Jesus and judgement.

Notes/Quotes:

Matthew 22:1-14

“In a wide variety of human activity, achievement is not possible without discomfort.” - Alex Hutchinson

“To ask God to redeem Jerusalem but not cast sin outside the city walls is like asking a doctor to heal your body without excising the disease. Like asking the light to arise without casting out the darkness. Like asking for restoration to come and destruction to remain. It is to ask for a contradiction. God excludes sin from his kingdom because of his goodness, not in opposition to or in spite of it.” - Joshua Ryan Butler

“There is no point in arguing about the marriage garment, whether it is faith or a holy and godly life; for faith cannot be separated from good works and good works proceed only from faith. All Christ wants to say here is that we are called by the Lord under the condition that we be renewed in our spirits into His image, and therefore, if we are to remain always in His house, the old man with all his blemishes is to be cast off and we are to practice the new life so that our appearance may correspond to our honorable calling.” - John Calvin

John 6:37, John 15:16

“In the gospel story, heaven and earth are currently torn by sin. Our world is being ravaged by the destructive power of hell. Sin has unleashed it into God’s good world, and God is on a mission to get it out, to reconcile heaven and earth from hell’s evil influence to himself through the reconciling life of Christ. The time is coming when God’s heavenly kingdom will come down to reign on earth forever, when Jesus will cast out the corrosive powers of sin, death, and hell that have tormented his world for so long.Our problem is not that we’re reaching out for God and he’s refusing to be found. It’s the opposite: God’s reaching out for us, and we’re scattering in other directions. God loves us, but we love darkness. God moves toward us. But sin can’t stand the presence of God.” - Joshua Ryan Butler

“We may not long for bread, but we long for meaning, intimacy, fulfillment, community, purpose, and joy.” - Tim Chester

Listen along as we continue through Matthew's gospel and see how Jesus uses the story of scripture to shape our lives.

Cross References:

Matthew 21:23-46 2 Chronicles 36:15-16 Titus 2:11-14 James 1:19-25 1 Peter 2:1-10 Prov. 29:25

The power went out!

Listen along as we continue through Matthew's gospel.

Text: Matthew 21:1-22 Title: Counterintuitive Kingdom Reading: Matthew 21:1-22

“Jesus is consciously making preparations to enter Jerusalem after the fashion of Zech 9:9, with echoes of Isa 62:11. Zechariah’s prophecy was widely interpreted in rabbinic literature as messianic” - Craig Blomberg

“One who sees a donkey in a dream should anticipate salvation, as it is said: “Behold, your king comes unto you; he is triumphant, and victorious, lowly, and riding upon a donkey” (Zechariah 9:9).” - Berakhot 56 b

“it is a triumphal entry, but one that parodies the entry of kings and their armies. This is the entry of the one who has come to serve, but that he has come to serve makes him no less a king….Jesus identifies himself as the Lord, but one that will ride on an ass, a creature not normally associated with what it means to be a king. Victors in battle do not ride into their capital cities riding on asses, but rather they ride on fearsome horses. But this king does not and will not triumph through forces of arms.” - Stanley Hauerwas

“The crowds acclaim Jesus as Messiah with regal, Davidic terminology. “Son of David” also echoes the blind men’s cry in the previous chapter. “Hosanna” originally meant God save us but by the first century was probably just a cry of praise to Yahweh. The “He who comes in the name of the Lord,” like the “coming one” of whom John the Baptist spoke, refers to the Messiah, and the entire beatitude echoes Ps 118:26. - Craig Blomberg

“And when he drew near and saw the city, he wept over it, saying, “Would that you, even you, had known on this day the things that make for peace! But now they are hidden from your eyes. For the days will come upon you, when your enemies will set up a barricade around you and surround you and hem you in on every side and tear you down to the ground, you and your children within you. And they will not leave one stone upon another in you, because you did not know the time of your visitation.” - Luke 19:41-44

“Jesus is the great high priest who has come to restore to Israel the right worship of Israel's God. The chief priests and scribes understand that this is about power. They will soon ask him where he gets the authority to do what he has done. They do not understand that the son of David can do what he does: cleanse the temple by making it the place where the blind, lame, poor, and children can praise God. If Jesus is not the Messiah he's certainly acting like He is.” - Stanley Hauerwas

“In Jeremiah 8:13, the Lord had said to Jeremiah that he wanted to gather the nations but he had found no "figs on the fig tree," and even the leaves had withered. Jesus, fresh from his confrontation with the chief priests and scribes, curses the fig tree, declaring that no fruit would ever come from it again. The tree withered, just as the scribes and chief priests withered the temple.” - Stanley Hauerwas

“Our personal lives can look like “in leaf.” Our leaves may look like those of a supermom, a winner, a perfect family, an A-team Christian with an overstuffed schedule of ministry activities. But the root may be withered. There may be no fruit of holiness and no intimacy with God. What’s worse—our leaves may even fool us. And our churches can do the same. A church’s leaves may look impressive: booming attendance, capital campaigns, clever pastors, impressive music. But what will the Lord find upon close inspection? Will he find only leaves? Or will he find figs, too?” - Greg Lanier

Questions: 1. Are we celebrating, in awe, moved to tears over this or are we just disappointed that He is not bringing the reforms of our personal agendas? 2. What do we really mean when we sing hosanna? 3. Are we all leaves and no fruit?

Matthew 20:1-34

“My message, unchanged for more than fifty years, is this: God loves you unconditionally, as you are and not as you should be, because nobody is as they should be. It is the message of grace…A grace that pays the eager beaver who works all day long the same wages as the grinning drunk who shows up at ten till five…A grace that hikes up the robe and runs breakneck toward the prodigal reeking of sin and wraps him up and decides to throw a party no ifs, ands, or buts…This grace is indiscriminate compassion. It's not cheap. It's free, and as such will always be a banana peel for the Orthodox foot and a fairy tale for the grown-up sensibility. Grace is sufficient even though we huff and puff with all our might to try to find something or someone it cannot cover. Grace is enough…Jesus is enough.” - Brennan Manning

“God’s grace, in short is not the sort of thing you can bargain with or try to store up. It isn’t the sort of thing that one person can have a lot of and someone else only a little. The point of the story is that what people get from having served God and his kingdom is not, actually, a ‘wage’ at all. It’s not, strictly, a reward for work done. God doesn’t make contracts with us, as if we could bargain or negotiate for a better deal. He makes covenants, in which he promises us everything and asks of us everything in return. When he keeps his promises, he is not rewarding us for effort, but doing what comes naturally to his over flowingly generous nature.” - NT Wright

“As before they knew not what they asked, so now they knew not what they answered.” Matthew Henry

It is a terrible bore, of course, when old Fatty Smithson draws you aside and whispers, "Look here, we've got to get you in on this examination somehow" or "Charles and I saw at once that you've got to be on this committee." A terrible bore...ah, but how much more terrible if you were left out! It is tiring and unhealthy to lose your Saturday afternoons, but to have them free because you don't matter, that is much worse. - C.S. Lewis

“People hanker after it, because the love of bossing other people is even greater than the distaste for being bossed oneself.” Lesslie Newbigin

Romans 3:23-24

Where is your attention? Where is your ambition directed? In what is your assurance placed?

Text: Matthew 19:16-30 Title: Treasure Reading: Matthew 19:16-30

“When you have a real encounter with the real Messiah, you realize that He requires far more of you than you ever thought but He offers far more to you than you ever imagined.” -Timothy Keller

"How few of the Lord's people have practically recognized the truth that Christ is either Lord of all, or is not Lord at all!" -Hudson Taylor

“God is saying, when you make my son your treasure, that makes you my treasure.” -Timothy Keller

“Americans profoundly underestimate how rich they are compared to the rest of the world. The average U.S. resident estimated that the global median individual income is about $20,000 a year. In fact, the real answer is about a tenth of that figure: roughly $2,100 per year….What explains these misperceptions? Human beings draw heavily on their own local, lived experience to make judgments about the wider world. As individuals’ own incomes rise, and therefore the incomes of those around them, so too do their overestimates of the global median income.” — Washington Post, Gautam Nair, PhD candidate in political science at Yale University.

“No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money.” - Matthew 6:24

Question: Who and what do we really treasure? What percentage of my riches actually go to Kingdom priorities?

Listen along as Jesus answers questions from the Pharisees about marriage and divorce which leads to a conversation on sexuality and kids.

Notes/Quotes:

Matthew 19:1-15

“From the very beginning.” Jesus’ phrase means that in God’s plan there has never been any other will for sexual life than the creation of one man for one woman. Indissoluble heterosexual marriage, then, is not a novelty in Jesus’ teaching, or a sudden spasm of legalism.” Dale Bruner

"When God designed the original marriage, he already had Christ and the church in mind. This is one of God’s great purposes in marriage: to picture the relationship between Christ and His redeemed people forever.” - Tim Keller

“The gospel surrounds our text. There are two great errors to avoid here: (1) teaching the present text so rigorously that the impression is left of no context of gospel whatsoever—that is, no forgiveness of sin and of sinners; and (2) diluting the present text’s high imperatives so quickly with the context’s forgiveness that repentance, faithful marriage, holy living, and honest discipleship are sabotaged. The first task for interpreters, then, is to teach the high commands of Jesus faithfully without betraying his tender mercies; in other words, to teach God’s law without canceling God’s gospel. The second, and as important task, is to preach the gospel without making Jesus’ commands meaningless.” - Dale Bruner

“My identity does not begin when I begin to understand myself. There is something previous to what I think about myself, and it is what God thinks of me." -Eugene Peterson

“I am same-sex attracted and have been my entire life. By that I mean that I have sexual, romantic and deep emotional attractions to people of the same sex. I choose to describe myself this way because sexuality is not a matter of identity for me. And that has become good news. My primary sense of worth and fulfillment as a human being is not contingent on being romantically or sexually fulfilled - and this is liberating.The most fully human and complete person who ever lived was Jesus Christ. He never married. He was never in a romantic relationship. And never had sex. If we say that these things are intrinsic to human fulfillment we are calling our Savior subhuman.” - Sam Alberry

“I don’t believe it is wise or truthful to the power of the gospel to identify oneself by the sins of one’s past or the temptations of one’s present but rather to only be defined by the Christ who’s overcome both for those He calls His own.” Jackie Hill Perry

Text: Matthew 18:15-35

Title: The Power to People

“A triangulated relationship is any three person relationship that should have two people in it…Gossip is always a form of triangulation, as are most middle school relationships.” - Steve Cuss

“In an environment of suspicion, assuming the best is a revolutionary act.” Matt Smethurst

“Most people don’t want accurate information, they want validating information. Growth requires you to be open to unlearning ideas that previously served you.” - James Clear

“In this context Jesus is almost certainly referring to the procedures of vs. 15–17 involving the withholding or bestowing of forgiveness and fellowship.” Craig Blomberg

“The next story—the Parable of the Unforgiving Servant—confirms this. The servant there, who at first is repentant and forgiven, is loosed; but when this same servant proves to be vindictive, he is literally bound and cast into prison. “Binding and loosing,” then, simply means banning and forgiving, the church’s announcing in the name and power of Christ the loss of life to the unrepentant and the gift of life to the repentant.” Dale Bruner

“Forgiveness is not so much a word spoken, an action performed, or a feeling felt as it is an embodied way of life in an ever-deepening friendship with the Triune God and with others… Forgiveness does not mean risk your life, but it does require our death.” - L. Gregory Jones

Text: Matthew 18:1-14 Title: Kingdom Humility

Reading: Matthew 18:1-14

They suppose that all who have a place in that kingdom are great.
They suppose that there are degrees in this greatness.
They suppose it must be some of them. (Matthew Henry)

“Jesus solemnly declares the disciples must turn (“change”; from Greek strephō) from their preoccupation with status and must humble themselves like children. This humility cannot be a subjective attitude (children rarely act humbly) but an objective state (children do depend almost entirely on the adult world for their protection and provision).” (Craig Blomberg)

Romans 8:31-39, “So, what do you think? With God on our side like this, how can we lose? If God didn’t hesitate to put everything on the line for us, embracing our condition and exposing himself to the worst by sending his own Son, is there anything else he wouldn’t gladly and freely do for us? And who would dare tangle with God by messing with one of God’s chosen? Who would dare even to point a finger? The One who died for us—who was raised to life for us!—is in the presence of God at this very moment sticking up for us. Do you think anyone is going to be able to drive a wedge between us and Christ’s love for us? There is no way! Not trouble, not hard times, not hatred, not hunger, not homelessness, not bullying threats, not backstabbing, not even the worst sins listed in Scripture: They kill us in cold blood because they hate you. We’re sitting ducks; they pick us off one by one. None of this fazes us because Jesus loves us. I’m absolutely convinced that nothing—nothing living or dead, angelic or demonic, today or tomorrow, high or low, thinkable or unthinkable—absolutely nothing can get between us and God’s love because of the way that Jesus our Master has embraced us." (The Message Bible)

Matthew 18:8&9, “If your hand or your foot gets in the way of God, chop it off and throw it away. You’re better off maimed or lame and alive than the proud owners of two hands and two feet, godless in a furnace of eternal fire. And if your eye distracts you from God, pull it out and throw it away. You’re better off one-eyed and alive than exercising your twenty-twenty vision from inside the fire of hell." (The Message)

Listen along as we look at Matthew's gospel and how Jesus reveals the heart of faith.

Notes/Quotes:

Matthew 17:14-27

Numbers 14:11

Faith is not believing in my own unshakable belief. Faith is believing an unshakable God when everything in me trembles and quakes. - Beth Moore

“Prayer is not monologue, but dialogue; God’s voice is its most essential part. Listening to God’s voice is the secret of the assurance that He will listen to mine.” – Andrew Murray

James 4:2-3

Galatians 5:13-15

Listen along as we continue our series through Matthew and see how Jesus' power is different. He is the source, sustainer, and sender of all power in ways that are different from the world.

Notes/Quotes:

Matthew 17:1-13

“Power is the capacity to effect reality.” - Jamin Goggin and Kyle Strobel

“On the mountaintop we learn who has supreme power in the church; on the walk down we learn that suffering is the form this power takes; and at the foot of the mountain we learn how disciples put Jesus’ power to work in the world. The whole chapter, then, is about power in the church: where it is lodged, its form, and its use. We have just learned in chap. 16 what makes a church—pointing faithfully to the crucified Christ and following him faithfully in our lives. We are now ready to learn how the church experiences the power of this crucified and risen Christ in her life for the world.” Dale Bruner

"God does not waste words or talk for mere effect. In the Synoptic Gospels, God the Father talks directly to earth only twice (3:17; 17:5), and both times God says exactly the same thing: “This is my priceless Son; I am deeply pleased with him.” What does this twice-repeated Voice mean? It means that the single most important fact that God wants the church and the world to know, barring none, is all that we have in Jesus of Nazareth.” Dale Bruner

Malachi 4:5-6

“We must not passively rely on leaders or teachers to tell us about our Head. We must seek Him, listen to Him, follow Him. We will fail to do as He asks and we will not be able to discern a corrupt leader unless we know Christ well." - Diane Langberg

2 Cor 3:17-18

“This is a power known through death and resurrection – moving through our weakness to a new kind of strength – strength in abiding, submitting, and resting in God alone.” - Jamin Goggin

2 Peter 1:16-19

Text: Matthew 16:13-20 Title: Peter’s Proclamation

Reading: Matthew 16:13-20

“Jesus’ declaration, “You are Peter,” parallels Peter’s confession, “You are the Christ,” as if to say, “Since you can tell me who I am, I will tell you who you are.” (Craig Blomberg)

“The play on words in the Greek between Peter’s name (Petros) and the word “rock” (petra) makes sense only if Peter is the rock and if Jesus is about to explain the significance of this identification.”(Craig Blomberg)

“It is often alleged that the “rock” must be Christ or Peter’s confession of Christ, especially since the days of Luther and the Protestant Reformation. These alternatives understandably react against traditional Roman Catholic equation of Peter with the first pope and against an elaborate ecclesiology built on this verse. But a legitimate interpretation of vv. 18b–19, as below, predicates nothing of this, so there should be no theological objections to taking Peter as “this rock.” A distinction between “Peter” and “this rock” is also often affirmed on the basis of the two different Greek words, but grammar requires this variation because the ending of petra (“rock”) is feminine and could not be used for a man’s name. The underlying Aramaic would have used kepha in both instances, in which case the problem disappears altogether.” (Craig Blomberg)

“If Peter was prepared to say that Jesus was the Messiah, Jesus was prepared to say that, with this allegiance, Peter would himself be the foundation for his new building. Just as God gave Abram the name Abraham, indicating that he would be the father of many nations (Gen. 17:5), so now Jesus gives Simon the new name Peter, the Rock. Furthermore, just as in the Sermon on the Mount Jesus told a story about a wise man building a house on the rock (7:24), so now Jesus himself declares that he's going to do just that. Here, as there, we are meant to imagine in the background the great city, Jerusalem, built on the rocky heights of Mount Zion. In some Jewish traditions, the Temple in Jerusalem was the place were heaven and earth met, and where the gates of the underworld as well were to be found. Jesus is declaring that he is reconstructing this centerpiece of God's world. Jesus isn't going to build an actual city, or an actual temple. He is going to build a community, consisting of all those who give allegiance to him as God's anointed king. And this movement, this community, starts then and there, at Caesarea Philippi, with Peters declaration.” (N.T. Wright)

“The metaphor of binding and loosing was variously employed in ancient Judaism but often was used for the interpretation of Torah and for decision making more generally. Many therefore support the GNB’s “prohibit” and “permit,” which would fit Jesus’ use of these terms in (18:18) in the context of church discipline. But this translation reflects a fairly late, rabbinic usage; more immediate parallels suggest that one should pursue the imagery of keys that close and open, lock and unlock (based on Isa. 22:22) and take the binding and loosing as referring to Christians’ making entrance to God’s kingdom available or unavailable to people through their witness, preaching, and ministry.” (Craig Blomberg)

“He, on whom the church is to be built, follows his ancestors Adam and Eve in presuming to know better than God what God desires.” (Stanley Hauerwas)

“Jesus, therefore, tells his disciples that if they are to follow him they must take up their cross. If they seek to save their lives using the means the world offers to ensure their existence, then their lives will be lost. Rather, they must be willing to lose their lives “for my sake” if they are to find life. Jesus is not telling his disciples that if they learn to live unselfishly they will live more satisfied lives. Rather, he says that any sacrifices they make must be done for his sake. The cross we bear must be one determined by his cross. What Jesus asks of his disciples makes no sense if Jesus is not who he says he is. You do not ask those who follow you to follow you to a cross unless you are the son of God. You do not ask your brothers and sisters to contemplate the death of those they love if you are not the messiah. You do not make Peter the rock on whom the church is built if you are not the one who is inaugurated the new age. But Jesus is all this and more, required his disciples to live life not determined by death.” (Stanley Hauerwas)

Text: Matthew 16:1-20 Title: Testing, Teaching, & Understanding

Reading: Matthew 16:1-20

“for many the demand to follow Jesus to be a disciple is too burdensome. Instead they want to know more about Jesus.” (Stanley Hauerwas)

“For Jews demand signs and Greeks seek wisdom, but we preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and folly to Gentiles, but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God.” (1 Corinthians 2:22&23)

“like a parent teaching a child not to be led astray by the flashing signs of city advertisements, he warned them of the ‘leaven’ of the Pharisees and Sadducees. This was puzzling to the disciples, who thought Jesus was referring cryptically to the fact that they'd forgotten to bring any bread with them. It is even more puzzling to us, because unless we have grown up knowing something about Judaism we probably don't know what leaven could stand for. The point is this. At Passover, one of the greatest Jewish festivals, all leaven had to be cleared out of the house commemorating the time when the children of Israel left Egypt in such a hurry that they didn't have time to bake leavened bread, and so ate it unleavened. Gradually, ‘leaven’ became a symbol not for something that makes bread more palatable, but for something that makes it less pure. Warning against the ‘leaven’ of someone's teaching meant warning against ways in which the true message of God's kingdom could be corrupted, diluted, or (as we say, referring to drink rather than bread), ‘watered-down’.” (N.T. Wright)

Listen along as we look at Matthew 15:21-39 and see both faith and grace lived and experienced.

Notes/Quotes:

Matthew 15:21-39

“Jesus has come to my country; Jesus did not say no when I asked for help; and when he did speak he did not send me away as his disciples asked him to do.” These facts together—Jesus’ presence, his silence, and his enigmatic speech—slim as they may seem to us, were broad enough for a woman with desperate faith to find footing. Faith believes Jesus is good even when reason is not so sure.” - Dale Bruner

Psalm 62:1-8

Isaiah 35:5-7

“I've got no answers For heartbreaks or cancers But a Savior who suffers them with me” - John Mark McMillan

Listen in as we look at Matthew 15 as see how Jesus addresses our hearts.

Notes/Quotes:

Matthew 15:1-20

“In short, the Pharisees wanted to sanctify the entirety of life, to make common life as holy as the temple, filled with the presence of God. To this end they agreed to handle, sell, and eat food in virtually the same state of purity as that which the Bible prescribes for the priests who serve in the temple. The washing was simply one of many ways by which serious believers could say by their actions, “We love Scripture,” and “We don’t even want accidentally to break the holy commands of God.” Apparently the Serious, to be completely safe, even took full-immersion baptismal baths every morning and on every return from public life. These people longed to be clean before God.” - Dale Bruner

“actor”—hypocrite—is simply a person who pretends to be someone else. When perfectly honorable “acting” is transferred from stage to life we have “hypocrisy” or “phoniness.” - Dale Bruner

“We must begin by admitting that people and situations do not cause us to speak as we do. Our hearts control our words. People and situations simply provide the occasion for the heart to express itself.” Paul Tripp

Instead of trusting God’s word as a sign and a mirror, we see it as a microscope, a mask, or mothballs.

Unfortunately, many of us fail to grasp how dangerous pride is. We know that we shouldn’t look down on others, but we tend to see it as a small sin. It’s not the kind of thing you go to prison for; it falls somewhere between failing to floss and driving too fast. It’s something to work on. But no big deal. Even if we admit to periodic bouts with pride, what most of us mean is, “It’s tough staying humble when I’m so much better than everyone else.” There’s something strange about this sin that God hates most. It’s usually found among people who think they love God most.”- Larry Osborne

“Part of the reason that self-righteousness, pride, and sins like envy and a lack of gratitude are so deadly is because they are prevalent within us but often not readily evident to us or to others. They lurk and strike when we are unaware and cause real-world harm and destruction to our own souls, to others, and in the world. Satan, the beautiful angel, was hurled out of heaven because of such sins. No wonder C.S. Lewis is right in saying that “a cold self-righteous prig who goes regularly to church may be far nearer to hell than a prostitute.” Marlena Graves

1 Timothy 1:12-16

There is no such thing as a noncommunal sin, and there is no such thing as a noncommunal obedience. Personal sin always results in collateral damage. Personal obedience always results in collateral benefit. - Jen Wilkin

Where have you added? Where have you ignored? Where is there superiority? What is flowing from your heart to your life? How does Christ lead you out of pride?

Brave question: Where do you see pride in me?

Listen along as we look at Matthew 14 and see the deception of sin and satisfaction of the Savior.

Notes/Quotes:

Text: Matthew 14 Title: Murder & Miracles

Reading: Matthew 14

“The miracles Jesus performs…do not compel faith; but those with faith will perceive their significance.” (D.A. Carson)

“He translates his sorrow over John, and perhaps his sorrow over himself, into sorrow for them. Before the outward and visible works of power, healing the sick, comes the inward and invisible work of power, in which Jesus transforms his own feelings into love for those in need.” (N.T. Wright)

“Think through how it happened. Being close to Jesus has turned into the thought of service; Jesus takes the thought, turns it inside out (making it more costly, of course), and gives it back to you as a challenge. In puzzled response to the challenge, you offer what you've got, knowing it's quite inadequate (but again costly), and the same thing happens. He takes it, blesses it, and breaks it (there is the cost, yet again), and he gives it to you and your job now is to give it to everybody else. This is how it works whenever someone is close enough to Jesus to catch a glimpse of what he's doing and how they could help. We blunder in with our ideas. We offer, uncomprehending, what little we have. Jesus takes ideas, loaves and fishes, money, a sense of humor, time, energy, talents, love, artistic gifts, skill with words, quickness of eye or fingers, whatever we have to offer. He holds them before his father with prayer and blessing. Then, breaking them so they are ready for use he gives them back to us to give to those who need them. And now they are both ours and not ours. They are both what we had in mind and not what we had in mind. Something greater and different, more powerful and mysterious, yet also our own. It is part of genuine Christian service, at whatever level, that we look on in amazement to see what God has done with the bits and pieces we dug out of our meager resources to offer to him.” (N.T. Wright)

“and there, shimmering on the water, is a strange figure, walking toward us. Much of our world knows at least a little about Jesus; but he seems a ghostly image, a mirage or fantasy, unrelated to us and our problems. Some find him frightening. Others wish he'd go away and leave us alone. Even those who believe in him, as the disciples already did, don't know what to expect of him. But he seems to be doing the impossible, and sometimes people get the idea that it would be good to copy him, if only we could. Some people set off with the aim of doing just that: to bring the love and power, his peace and hope, to the needy world.” (N.T. Wright)

Question: Do we have the faith to perceive the significance of these miracles this morning?

Listen in as we look at the gospel according to Matthew, chapter 13, verses 44-58.

Sermon Notes/Quotes:

Matthew 13:44-58

“The parables in this chapter are a challenge to us at two levels: understanding and action. Understanding without action is sterile; action without understanding is exhausting and useless.” N.T. Wright

Our present culture, specializes in inflaming endless lust for possessions with advertisements that constantly convince us that we need more, particularly to create the ease we have never found. The marketers don't tell us much about their products, but they spend a great deal of energy and enormous amounts of money appealing to our fears and dreams. Thus, the idolatry of possessions plays to the deeper idolatry of our selves-and in an endlessly consuming society, persons are always remaking themselves with new belongings. - Marva Dawn

Galatians 3:3

Proverbs 3:5-6

“Your Word come” (the Sower, with understanding faith), “your Way come” (the Wheat in the Weeds, with nonviolent love), “your Work come” (the Seeds, with confident hope that Jesus’ “little” work will one day prove immense), “your Wonder come” (the Gems, with the joy of grace and the abandon of obedience), and “your Warning come” (the Net, with the seriousness of true repentance). To pray “Thy kingdom come,” then, is to pray that the gospel may be under-stood, lived out, hoped for, “bought up,” and taken seriously” - Dale Bruner

Listen along as we continue our journey through Matthew's gospel account.

Notes/Quotes:

Matt 13:24-43

"A parable is a story or saying that illustrates a truth using comparison, hyperbole, or simile. Additionally a parable can be a model, analogy, or example.” - Lexham Bible Dictionary

“We have lost the ability to create metaphors for life. We have lost the ability to give shape to things, to recognize the events around us, and in us, let alone to interpret them.” - Friedensreich Hundertwasser

“Everyday moments of epiphany are bestowed on everyone. Our role is to simply learn to pay attention. It is remarkable how often the parables handed down to us from Jesus end with the words: “Consider carefully how you listen,” and “Whoever has ears to hear, let him hear.” - Martin Schleske

(bread pic)

“There is a kind of madness commensurate with being a disciple of Jesus. To see the world, to understand that the kingdom of heaven is like a mustard see requires a people who refuse to be hurried. The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed or yeast because to be drawn into the kingdom of heaven is to participate in God’s patience toward his creation. Jesus is teaching us to see the significance of the insignificant. Jesus, after all, at this point in his ministry is not even commanding the attention of the Roman authorities. From the perspective of those in power, Jesus is no more than a confusing prophet to a defeated people in a backwater of the Roman Empire.” - Stanley Hauerwas

2 Peter 3:8-9

2 Corinthians 4:7-11

“Part of the practice of modest faith, in times of suffering, is relinquishing our right to answers. God has never promised to explain himself, but he has promised to stay near. I will never leave, he says; I will never forsake. I am the friend that sticks closer than your brother. Do not think me unmoved by your grief. These are the faithful assurances of God as we have them in Scripture, and here is even more hope available to those willing to search it out. But let’s not be fooled to think that God has promised things like: it will get better, you’ll soon see the purpose behind this pain, there’s never more than you can handle. Often it does get better; often we do see purpose; always there is sufficient grace. But lament must practice the modest faith of finding sufficient that which God provides, even if, in seasons of great sorrow, it may not seem like enough.” Jen Pollack Michel

Sermon Notes/Quotes:

Luke 24:36-49.

Without losing a piece of me, How do I get to heaven? Without changing a part of me, How do I get to heaven? All my time is wasted, Feeling like my heart's mistaken, oh So if I'm losing a piece of me, Maybe I don't want heaven? Troye Sivan

“My death will not be symbolic. It will be real. Therefore, a metaphorical resurrection is no hope for me.” - Jared C. Wilson

“The resurrection, in short, is presented..not as a "happy ending" after an increasingly sad and gloomy tale, but as the event which demonstrated that Jesus's execution really had dealt the death-blow to the dark forces that had stood in the way of God's new world, God's "kingdom" of powerful creative and restorative love, arriving "on earth as in heaven.” - NT Wright

Reading: Colossians 3:1-4

“you believe that Jesus has died to save you—to redirect your eternal trajectory irrevocably toward God. You believe that God has accepted you, for Jesus sake, through an act of supreme grace. You are part of the kingdom of God.” (Timothy Keller)

“You may know a man and have an idea that he is powerful. But to know him and his power over you, is a stage further.” (Charles Spurgeon)

Sermon Notes/Quotes:

Do you feel the world is broken? (We do) Do you feel the shadows deepen? (We do) But do you know that all the dark won’t stop the light from getting through? (We do) Do you wish that you could see it all made new? (We do)”

“For sin is – a ruthlessness, a hurting, a breaking away from God and from the rest of humanity, a partial alienation, or act of rebellion....Sin has a willful, defiant or disloyal quality: someone is defied or offended or hurt. To ignore this would be dishonest.” -John Stott

The terrible, tragic fallacy of the last hundred years has been to think that all man's troubles are due to his environment, and that to change the man you have nothing to do but change his environment. That is a tragic fallacy. It overlooks the fact that it was in Paradise that man fell. - Martyn Lloyd Jones

Romans 5:8

Isaiah 53:5

2 Corinthians 5:21

Colossians 2:13-15

“My sin, oh, the bliss of this glorious thought! My sin, not in part but the whole, Is nailed to the cross, and I bear it no more, Praise the Lord, praise the Lord, O my soul!”

The movement of Holy Week is a pattern upon which we must build our entire lives. Our destination is the empty tomb. We are bound for glory. However, the way of death is the way of life. Salvation is impossible without sacrifice. We must hold together that which we constantly seek to fragment and tear apart. Good Friday is good only in light of Easter Sunday. The joy of Easter comes only by way of the cross." - Holy Week Devotional by Dwell

1 Peter 2:24-25

“When we lose the centrality of the cross, Christianity morphs into a religion of self-improvement and becomes about us, about our accomplishments, and about getting our act together.” - Elyse Fitzpatrick

“I wonder if the common Holy Week emphasis on our making a journey to the Cross might not better be reversed by emphasizing, instead, the journey that Jesus has made to us, from the Father’s side to humiliation and rejection in "the far country," on our behalf and in our place.” - Fleming Rutledge

“To confess your sins to God is not to tell God anything God doesn’t already know. Until you confess them, however, they are the abyss between you. WHEN YOU CONFESS them, they become the bridge." - Frederick Buechner

Galatians 2:20

Most merciful God, we confess that we have sinned against you in thought, word, and deed, by what we have done, and by what we have left undone. We have not loved you with our whole heart; we have not loved our neighbors as ourselves. We are truly sorry and we humbly repent, for the sake of your Son Jesus Christ, have mercy on us and forgive us; that we may delight in your will, and walk in your ways, to the glory of your Name. Amen.

Book of Common Prayer

Text: Matthew 13:1-23 Title: Parable Of The Sower

Reading: Matthew 13:1-23

“Parable (מָשָׁ֑ל, mashal; παραβολή, parabolē). Is a story or saying that illustrates a truth using comparison, hyperbole, or simile. Additionally a parable can be a model, analogy, or example. In Greek rhetoric, parables were used in argumentation to clarify, prove, or cause something to appear livelier whereas Rabbinic parables explain passages of Scripture, or illustrate an interpretation of a passage already provided.” (Lexham Bible Dictionary)

Taunt (Isa 14:4), riddle (Psa 49:4), proverb (Deut 28:37), and allegory (Ezek 17:2–10)

“Jesus’ parables are in many ways similar to rabbinic parables, which usually had some allegorical elements. For instance, the father in the parable of the Prodigal Son (Luke 15:11–32) represents God and the son who leaves home symbolizes sinners and tax collectors. There are stock metaphors in the Old Testament and in rabbinic literature that are present in Jesus’ parables Limiting the meaning of details in parables to these standard metaphors prevents excessive allegorizing.” (Craig Blomberg)

The Kingdom Of God: “nothing less than the power of God in heaven entering the world to heal every alienation and every brokenness in every dimension of human life. Whether it be social, economical, racial, emotional, physical, psychological or spiritual.” (Timothy Keller)

1 thought, 1 question:

1. Remember you are soil not the Sower.

2. Do you see rocky ground and thorns in the soil of your heart?

Text: Matthew 12:38-50

Title: Signs, Self-Help, Family

Reading: Matthew 12:38-50

“a demon-oppressed man who was blind and mute was brought to him, and he healed him, so that the man spoke and saw. And all the people were amazed, and said, “Can this be the Son of David?” But when the Pharisees heard it, they said, “It is only by Beelzebul, the prince of demons, that this man casts out demons.” (Matthew 12:22-24)

“The tendency of the human heart is always to deal with its spiritual bankruptcy in human terms rather than God’s terms.” (Michael Andrus)

“The Gentiles in Jonah’s and Solomon’s time believed after hearing God’s “lesser” spokesmen, while “this generation” refused to believe even after hearing “one greater” (Craig Blomberg)

“He was in the world, and the world was made through him, yet the world did not know him. He came to his own, and his own people did not receive him." (John 1:10-11)

Nothing in my hand I bring Simply to Thy cross I cling Naked, come to Thee for dress Helpless, look to Thee for grace Vile, I to the fountain fly Wash me, savior, or I die (Rock Of Ages)

“It is not enough to clean house; we must also invite in the right tenant. The Pharisees were proud of their “clean houses,” but their hearts were empty! Mere religion, or reformation, (self-help) will not save. There must be regeneration, the receiving of Christ into the heart.” (Warren Wiersbe)

Moralistic Therapeutic Deism

"about providing therapeutic benefits to its adherent. ” Less about a God who calls us to faith and repentance and more "like a combination Divine Butler and Cosmic Therapist: he's always on call, takes care of any problems that arise, professionally helps his people to feel better about themselves, and does not become too personally involved in the process." (Christian Smith, Melinda Lundquist Denton)

Questions:

Are you a member of the household of God?

Seeking a sign?

Clean house rather or Christ’s reign?

Listen in as we look at Matthew 12:15-37 and see how Jesus again confront and comforts.

Notes/Quotes:

Matthew 12:15-37

“Withdrawals and commands to silence are puzzling messianic deeds. Messiahs do not ordinarily retreat but advance; and Messiahs do not seek to be hidden but to be known. But Matthew wants to summarize his Gospel to this point, and for him Isaiah 42 seemed a perfect medium.” - Dale Bruner

“What helium does to a balloon, Jesus’s yoke does to his followers. We are buoyed along in life by his endless gentleness and supremely accessible lowliness. He doesn’t simply meet us at our place of need; he lives in our place of need. He never tires of sweeping us into his tender embrace. It is his very heart.” - Dane Ortlund

What a friend we have in Jesus, All our sins and griefs to bear What a privilege to carry, Everything to God in prayer. Oh, what peace we often forfeit, Oh, what needless pain we bear All because we do not carry, Everything to God in prayer. Have we trials and temptations? Is there trouble anywhere? We should never be discouraged, Take it to the Lord in prayer. Can we find a friend so faithful, Who will all our sorrows share? Jesus knows our every weakness, Take it to the Lord in prayer.

It is impenitence, the unwillingness to repent, that is at the root of the unforgivable sin (Augustine) It is not careless acts; it is a hardened state (Luther)

We must say no to the false teachings and leave to God’s judgment false teachers. - Dale Bruner

Proverbs 4:20-27 “We are endlessly in need of God. And what a wonderful thing that is. For He is full of all that we need, moment by moment, forever and ever.” - Jackie Hill Perry

Listen along as we look at Matthew 12:1-14 and see Jesus as prophet, priest, and king and the one who gives us true and forever rest.

Sermon Notes/Quotes:

Matthew 12:1-14 -

Exodus 20:8-11

Jesus made it clear that the Pharisees had it backward (as legalists always do). Man wasn’t made for the Sabbath. The Sabbath was made for man. It was a gift to make people’s lives better, a guaranteed day of rest even during the hectic days of planting and harvest. The Sabbath was never meant to be a test to see how much people were willing to give up for God. - Larry Osborne

“Biblical orthodoxy without compassion is surely the ugliest thing in the world.” - Francis Schaeffer

“You have made us for Yourself, O Lord, and our hearts are restless until they find their rest in You.” - Augustine

“If you’re new to the Sabbath, a question to give shape to your practice is this: What could I do for twenty-four hours that would fill my soul with a deep, throbbing joy? That would make me spontaneously combust with wonder, awe, gratitude and praise? The Sabbath is an invitation to enter delight.” John Mark Comer

Listen in as Anthony walks us through Matthew 11:20-30 and we see how Jesus can both condemn and comfort.

Sermon Notes/Quotes:

Text: Matthew 11:20-30

Title: Condemnation & Comfort

Reading: Matthew 11:20-30

“It is remarkably easy to live life without any reference to God. In the mystery of his will, the Lord does not force himself upon us, neither does he coerce nor demand from us a positive response to his love. He invites us to become truly human, yet it is always that — an invitation. A gift that we choose to receive or reject.” (Dwell)

“Jesus Christ’s earthly ministry was one of giving back to undeserving sinners their humanity. We tend to think of the miracles of the gospels as interruptions in the natural order. Yet German theologian Jurgen Moltmann points out that miracles are not an interruption of the natural order but the restoration of the natural order. We are so used to a fallen world that sickness, disease, pain, and death seem natural. In fact, they are the interruption.” (Dane Ortlund)

“When Jesus expels demons and heals the sick, he is driving out of creation the powers of destruction, and is healing and restoring created beings who are hurt and sick. The lordship of God to which the healings witness, restores creation to health. Jesus’ healing's are not supernatural miracles in a natural world. They are the only true “natural” thing in a world that is unnatural, demonized and wounded.” (Jurgen Moltmann)

“Doom to you, Chorazin! Doom, Bethsaida! If Tyre and Sidon had seen half of the powerful miracles you have seen, they would have been on their knees in a minute. At Judgment Day they’ll get off easy compared to you. And Capernaum! With all your peacock strutting, you are going to end up in the abyss. If the people of Sodom had had your chances, the city would still be around. At Judgment Day they’ll get off easy compared to you.” (Matthew 11:21-24, The Message)

“Jesus’ pronouncement of judgment on the cities in which he performs deeds of Power makes us, contemporary Christians, profoundly uncomfortable. We want a gospel of love that ensures when everything is said and done that everyone and everything is going to be okay. But we are not okay. Like the cities of Israel, we have turned our existence as Christians into a status meant to protect us from recognizing the prophets who would point us to Jesus. Of course we do not like Jesus to pronounce judgment on the cities in which he performs deeds of power, because we do not want to recognize that we too are judged. But the gospel is judgment because otherwise it would not be good news. Only through judgment are we forced to discover forms of life that can free us from our enchantment with sin and death.” (Stanley Hauerwas)

“Thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth. You’ve concealed your ways from sophisticates and know-it-alls, but spelled them out clearly to ordinary people. Yes, Father, that’s the way you like to work.” (Matthew 11:25-26, The Message)

“Jesus resumed talking to the people, but now tenderly. “The Father has given me all these things to do and say. This is a unique Father-Son operation, coming out of Father and Son intimacies and knowledge. No one knows the Son the way the Father does, nor the Father the way the Son does. But I’m not keeping it to myself; I’m ready to go over it line by line with anyone willing to listen. Are you tired? Worn out? Burned out on religion? Come to me. Get away with me and you’ll recover your life. I’ll show you how to take a real rest. Walk with me and work with me—watch how I do it. Learn the unforced rhythms of grace. I won’t lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you. Keep company with me and you’ll learn to live freely and lightly.” (Matthew 11:27-30, The Message)

“The most holy and important practice in the spiritual life is the presence of God — that is, every moment to take great pleasure that God is with you.” (Brother Lawrence)

Questions:

What am I enchanted with?

Do I need to repent?

In what new ways can I practice the presence of God?

Am I resting in the unforced rhythms of grace?

We continue through Matthew 11:1-19 and see how Jesus interacts with John the Baptist's doubts.

Notes/Quotes:

Matthew 11:1-19 “Expectations are resentments waiting to happen.” - Anne Lamott “Jesus is out in the sticks healing sick, “insignificant” little individuals here and there, but not doing much to change the basic structural problems in Israel’s life. The Pharisees still control popular religious life; the Sadducees still control the temple; the whole religio-ideological system seems thoroughly unthreatened by Jesus’ do-goodism in the hills. What is more, John (the propagandist of the New Order) is in prison, and Herod (the embodiment of the oppressive Establishment) is still on the throne and is in fact about to have John’s head. What kind of Messiah is this?” - Dale Bruner Isaiah 29:18-19 Isaiah 35:3-6 Isaiah 61:1-2 Luke 1:17 1. Our doubts don’t discredit Jesus. 2. Our doubt don’t drive Jesus away 3. Our doubts need a greater story. The answer to doubt is God. The answer to our questions about tithing, membership, gender roles, politics, sin, and any other aspect in life that gives us pause is God. The blight of our generation is that we believe we are god. - Lore Ferguson Wilbert 4. Our doubts need patience, and questions and community “Feelings are indicators, not dictators. They can indicate where your heart is in the moment, but that doesn't mean they have the right to dictate your behavior and boss you around. You are more than the sum total of your feelings and perfectly capable of that little gift . . . called self-control.” - Lysa TerKeurst 5. Jesus addresses what’s underneath our doubts “A faith without some doubts is like a human body without any antibodies in it.” - Tim Keller 6. There is still a blessing and invitation in our doubts. The way of trust is a movement into obscurity, into the undefined, into ambiguity, not into some predetermined, clearly delineated plan for the future. The reality of naked trust is the life of the pilgrim who leaves what is nailed down, obvious, and secure, and walks into the unknown without any rational explanation to justify the decision or guarantee the future. Why? Because God has signaled the movement and offered it his presence and his promise. - Brennan Manning

Listen along as we continue to allow some of the tough words of Jesus tackle our hearts.

Notes/Quotes:

Matthew 10:26-42

Fear Archetypes - Ruth Sukoup The Procrastinator The People Pleaser The Rule Follower The Outcast The Self Doubter The Excuse Maker The Pessimist

1 John 4:18, 2nd Timothy 1:7

“It is Christ-following that enables cross-bearing. Who would be willing to have family and world against them if they did not have Jesus (over and) with them?” - Dale Bruner

"The fastest place the church is growing is in Iran. The myth we have taken into is that you have to have a Christian nation for Christianity to survive and thrive. False." - JonTyson

“Because almost anything in life that truly matters will require you to do small, mostly overlooked things, over a long period of time with Him” - Zach Eswine

1 Corinthians 15:19

“Jesus often contrasts eternal life and this life. Our time needs the corrective of an otherworldliness in order to be braver in this world.” Dale Bruner

Listen in as we continue through Matthew and see Jesus gather, form, and send His disciples.

Notes/Quotes:

Matthew 10:1-25

Both the snake-intelligence and the dove-innocence are both designed to keep the sheep out of trouble. Jesus does not mean for us to get ourselves into as much difficulty as possible. He means: Risk your lives as vulnerable, non-combative, sheep-like, courageous witnesses, but try to find ways to give your witness in a way that does not bring down unnecessary persecution.” - John Piper

“Jesus tells us our task is not to force the kingdom into existence, but to endure. To endure turns out to be the only way we can be witnesses to Christ’s kingdom” - Stanley Hauerwas

Those who aren't following Jesus aren't his followers. It's that simple. Followers follow, and those who don't follow aren't followers. To follow Jesus means to follow Jesus into a society where justice rules, where love shapes everything. To follow Jesus means to take up his dream and work for it. - Scot McKnight

Today, we continue our series through Matthew and see the work of Christ in bringing the kingdom.

Notes/Quotes:

Text: Matthew 9:14-38

Title: New Wine

Reading: Matthew 9:14-38

“a process whereby a smaller company with fewer resources is able to successfully challenge established incumbent businesses” -Harvard Business Review

“Sinners are safe with Jesus but sin is not.” - Jon Wolfinger

“After an ancient Jewish wedding, the couple did not honeymoon, but stayed at home for a week of open house in which there was continual feasting and celebration. For the hardworking, this was traditionally considered to be the happiest week in their lives. The bride and groom were treated like a king and queen that week (sometimes they even wore crowns). They were attended by chosen friends known as “guests of the bridegroom,” Their guests were exempted from all fasting through a rabbinical ruling which said, “All in attendance on the bridegroom are relieved of all religious observances which would lessen their joy.” - R. Kent Hughes

Questions:

If Jesus was walking the world today in what ways would He be demonized?
Am I following Jesus into this tension?
Am I embracing the new wine of the Kingdom of God?

Listen in as we look at Matthew 9:1-13 and see the authority and ability of Jesus to forgive sin and form followers and how religion sets up roadblocks toward God and others.

Notes/Quotes:

Matthew 9:1-13

Forgiveness of sins is a “coming home” not only to the Creator but to natural life; forgiveness brings about reintegration with the home and the community. Dale Bruner

“By Jewish law a tax-gatherer was debarred from the synagogue; he was included with things and beasts unclean, and Leviticus 20:5 was applied to them; he was forbidden to be a witness in any case; ‘robbers, murderers, and tax-gatherers’ were classed together” H. Merkel, Exegetical Dictionary of the New Testament

“It seems that holiness begins with the recognition that we are not well”Stanley Hauerwas

Roadblocks begin with a shift from: Truth to opinion Loving to critiquing Learning to arriving Asking to assuming Embrace to exclusion Fear and glory to apathy and comfort Curiosity to rigidity Following to observing Outward to inward

Invitations back to center: Remember the miracle(s) Fully place faith and follow Cast the current cares

How would you live today if you knew all your sins were forgiven, all your days were guided by a God of love, and your future was secure? - Jared Wilson

Listen in as we look at Matthew 8:18-34 and see just how different Jesus is and how that's really good news for us today.

Sermon Notes/Quotes:

Reading: Matthew 8:18-3

“to be a disciple of Jesus, it seems, requires such dedication because what Jesus is and does means that “normal” is reconstituted. The one who would be a disciple of Jesus stands in the presence of life itself, yet remains captured by death, wanting to bury the dead. Jesus, who will die on our behalf, requires that those who will follow him not let death determine their relationship to the living.” -Stanley Hauerwas

“demons recognize the son because they—more than we—are able to recognize who threatens them. Demons draw their existence from death and are, therefore, able to recognize the one who is life. They fear that Jesus has come before the appointed time, but they discover that the appointed time is now. The disciples fear of Jesus’ absence as he sleeps in the boat the demons fear his presence” -Stanley Hauerwas

“This dramatic incident is most revealing. It shows what Satan does for a man: robs him of sanity and self-control; fills him with fears; robs him of the joys of home and friends; and (if possible) condemns him to an eternity of judgment. It also reveals what society does for a man in need: restrains him, isolates him, threatens him, but society is unable to change him. See, then, what Jesus Christ can do for a man whose whole life—within and without—is bondage and battle. What Jesus did for these two demoniacs, He will do for anyone else who needs Him.” -Warren Wiersbe

“Humanity often holds onto their bondage and evil rather than yield to the pain of transformation by Christ’s power and grace.” -Sinclair Ferguson

Do my crying underwater

I can't get down any farther

All my drowning friends can see

Now there is no running from it

It's become the crux of me

I wish that I could rise above it

But I stay down

With my demons

I stay down

With my demons

-The National

“we would rather be ruined than changed,

we would rather die in our dread

than climb the cross of the moment

and let our allusions die”

W.H. Auden

Questions:

Am I following Jesus?
Is it always comfortable?
Is Jesus sovereign over the things I hold most sacred?
Have I limited Jesus to mere human categories?
Am I choosing the familiar instead of being free?

Listen along as we look at Matthew 8:1-17 and see how we can come to Jesus with our need, come to Jesus with other's needs and how Jesus ultimately comes to us.

Notes/Quotes:

Matthew 8:1-17

“We learn from this first specific healing in the Gospel that faith is not a general belief in God; it is particular trust in God’s Son and in his ability to help us with our deepest problems” - Dale Bruner

“No more let sins and sorrows grow, Nor thorns infest the ground; He comes to make his blessings flow Far as the curse is found!”

Listen in as we wrap up Matthew 7 and the Sermon on the Mount.

Notes/Quotes:

Matthew 7:13-29

“I am trying here to prevent anyone saying the really foolish thing that people often say about Him: I’m ready to accept Jesus as a great moral teacher, but I don’t accept his claim to be God. That is the one thing we must not say. A man who was merely a man and said the sort of things Jesus said would not be a great moral teacher. He would either be a lunatic—on the level with the man who says he is a poached egg—or else he would be the Devil of Hell. You must make your choice. Either this man was, and is, the Son of God, or else a madman or something worse. You can shut him up for a fool, you can spit at him and kill him as a demon or you can fall at his feet and call him Lord and God, but let us not come with any patronizing nonsense about his being a great human teacher. He has not left that open to us. He did not intend to” - C.S. Lewis

The Christian ideal has not been tried and found wanting. It has been found difficult and left untried.” - G.K. Chesterton

“You can judge the quality of their faith from the way they behave. Discipline is an index to doctrine.” - Tertullian - 2nd Century Ad

“It is possible to work for Jesus and yet not live under him. We can be intoxicated by the power of Jesus and yet be hostile to his hard commands. “Inever ever really knew you; get out of my face, you doers of the very opposite of my teachings.” They believe that they know Jesus, but apparently they never gave him a chance to know them (“I never really knew you”), that is, they never gave him a chance to come into personal contact with their innermost life (the force of the biblical word “know”). It is strangely possible to serve and even to glorify Christ and yet in one’s own personal life not to obey him.” - Dale Bruner

“For many, the first great surprise of the Christian life is in the form of the troubles we meet.” - Eugene Peterson

“Obedience to Jesus’ words is not so much protection from troubles as protection in them, just as rock under a house does not shield from storms but supports during them” - Dale Bruner

“Almighty God, give us grace to be not only hearers, but doers of thy holy word, not only to admire, but to obey thy doctrine, not only to profess, but to practice thy religion, not only to love, but to live thy gospel. So grant that what we learn of thy glory we may receive into our hearts, and show forth in our lives: through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.”

Listen in as we continue our time in Matthew's gospel. Today we look at Jesus' words on judging, asking, and his heart behind the golden rule.

Notes/Quotes:

Text: Matthew 7:1-12

Title: Judging, Asking, And The Golden Rule

Reading: Matthew 7:1-12

“The boundary between those who would follow Jesus and the world is unmistakably apparent, but nonetheless permeable. Matthew chapter 7 consists of Jesus’s instructions for how to negotiate that permeability.” -Stanley Hauerwas

“We quite literally cannot see clearly unless we have been trained to see “the log in (our) eye.” But it is not possible for us to see what is in our eye because the eye cannot see itself. The only way we are able to see ourselves is through the vision made possible by Jesus—a vision made possible by our participation in a community of forgiveness that allows us to name our sins. -Stanley Hauerwas

“When I judge, I am blind to my own evil and to the grace granted the other person. But in the love of Christ, disciples know about every imaginable kind of guilt and sin, because they know of the suffering of Jesus Christ.” Dietrich Bonhoeffer

“There is a form of evangelism that urges Christians to use every opportunity to share the gospel. Unfortunately, insensitive evangelism often proves harmful not only to the obdurate whose heart is hardened by the undifferentiating evangelist, but harmful also to the gospel that is force-fed.… Aggressive evangelism gets converts and counts them, but we are never able to count those turned away from the gospel for the numbers of the offended are never tallied.” -Fredrick Bruner

Oh, that all men acted on it, and there would be no slavery, no war, no swearing, no striking, no lying, no robbing; but all would be justice and love! What a kingdom is this which has such a law!” - Spurgeon

Questions:

Do I understand the difference between the way the world makes judgment and the way a christian does?
Do I have discernment when it comes to presenting the gospel in the world?
How does being apart of a community of forgiveness which names their sins help me?
When I come to God in prayer do I ask selflessly or selfishly?
In terms of the Golden Rule, how do I hold it? In the negative or positive perspective?

Listen in as we look at how all of Advent (Jesus) effects all of life.

Notes/Quotes:

Today we continue our series through Matthew and get insight into Jesus' help on anxiety.

Notes/Quotes:

Matthew 6:25-34

“Sometimes we want God to simply TELL us what to say. Tell us what to do. He wants to TEACH us what to say. Teach us what to do. Teaching requires interaction: the teacher & the taught. Teaching implies connection. Relationship. It requires instructor and student. Rabbi and disciple. A table for two. We who put our trust in Christ don’t just have a boss barking orders. We have a teacher. We’re taught in the classroom as we study Scripture. Taught on field trips we sometimes never meant to take. Taught. Not just told. We have a God who wants to be with us. Who wants to show us his ways. Reveal to us his heart. His good intentions. His righteousness. He wants to teach us how to live. How to love. How to endure.” - Beth Moore

“These teachings are but commentary on the prayer we’ve just been taught” - Stanley Hauerwas

“The birds and the flowers sing and preach to us and smile at us so lovingly, just to have us believe.” - Martin Luther

“Anxiety is a sign that the false self is demanding we nourish it instead of dying to it. Awareness is critical to be sure, but it is not the path of growth, it is simply the gate. The goal of managing anxiety is not simply for relief, it is to connect more fully with God and to raise awareness of what God is doing. Anxiety blocks our awareness of God because it takes our subconscious attention. This means that anxiety can be an early detection system that we’re depending on something other than God for our well-being”- Steve Cuss

Here’s how Jesus cures our anxieties: Redirects focus Reminds us of the Father Renews faith in the present

Listen in as we look at Matthew 6:16-24 and see how Jesus evaluates what we truly treasure, trains us toward healthy eyes, and teaches us how to trust a better master.

Notes/Quotes:

Reading: Matthew 6:16-24

(Lev. 16:29–31; 23:27–32)

(Neh. 9:1–2; Ps. 35:13; Dan. 9:2–20)

“Though they fast, I will not hear their cry, and though they offer burnt offering and grain offering, I will not accept them.” (Jeremiah 14:12)

“Then the disciples of John came to him, saying, “Why do we and the Pharisees fast, but your disciples do not fast?” And Jesus said to them, “Can the wedding guests mourn as long as the bridegroom is with them? The days will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them, and then they will fast." (Matthew 9: 14&15)

“Don’t just fast with your mouth, but also with your eyes, and your ears, and your feet, and your hands, and all the members of your body. Let the hands fast by being cleansed of plunder and greed. Let the feet fast by ceasing to run to immoral shows. Let the eyes fast by refusing to stare lewdly at lovely faces. After all looking is the food of the eyes. If what we look upon is immoral or forbidden, it mars our fast and upsets the whole safety of our soul. But if what we look upon is moral and safe, it adorns our fasting. Wouldn’t it be most absurd to abstain from lawful food because of a fast, but at the same time to touch with the eyes what is unlawful” -John Chrysostom

What occupies our thoughts when we have nothing else to do? What do we fret about? What occupies our daydreams? Is it our investments, our position? If so, those are the things we treasure, and that is where our hearts really are.
Apart from our loved ones, what or whom do we most dread losing?
What is it we measure others by? (This question is a very revealing mirror because we measure other people by that which we treasure.) Do we measure others by their clothing? Their education? Their homes? Their athletic prowess? Do we measure others by their success in the business world? If so, we know where our treasure lies.
Lastly, what is it that we know we cannot be happy without?

“When you practice some appetite-denying discipline to better concentrate on God, don’t make a production out of it. It might turn you into a small-time celebrity but it won’t make you a saint. If you ‘go into training’ inwardly, act normal outwardly. Shampoo and comb your hair, brush your teeth, wash your face. God doesn’t require attention-getting devices. He won’t overlook what you are doing; he’ll reward you well. (The Message)

Listen in as we look at Matthew 6:5-15 and see how Jesus invites us to pray personally, powerfully, and practically.

Sermon Notes/Quotes:

Matthew 6:5-14

Luke 11:1

Perhaps they could see that Jesus’ ministry emerged out of his relationship with his Father. - Darrell Johnson

Today’s approach to prayer: Guilt - You don’t pray enough Shame - You don’t pray right Pragmatic - You can master it

“God could complain about us a great deal more than we about Him. We complain that He does not make Himself present to us for the few minutes we reserve fro Him, but what about the twenty-three and a half hours during which God may be knocking at our door and we answer ‘I am busy, I am sorry’ or when we do not answer at all because we do not even hear the knock at the door of our heart, of our minds, of our conscience, of our life. So there is a situation in which we have no right to complain of the absence of God, because we are a great deal more absent than He ever is. - Anthony Bloom

“The Lord’s Prayer stretches from the Father at the beginning to the devil at the end, from heaven to hell, and in between in six brief petitions everything important in life.” Dale Bruner

“Prayer gives us relief from the melancholy burden of self-absorption.” Timothy Keller

We come to prayer, aware of urgent needs, or at least wants. It’s tempting to race through the Lord’s Prayer, as far as ‘on earth as it is in heaven’, so that we can then take a deep breath and say ‘Now look here: when it comes to daily bread, there are some things I simply must have. And then off we go into a shopping list. To do this, of course, is to let greed get in the way of grace. NT Wright

Deut 8:1-3

“Every time we take bread in our hands we are handling answered prayer” Darrell Johnson

https://www.unionaz.org/blog/resourcesonprayer

Listen along as we continue our series through the sermon on the mount. Today Jesus shows how he reforms our hearts and reframes our focus when it comes to money.

Notes/Quotes:

The true and victorious Christmas spirit does not look away from death, but directly at it. Otherwise, the message is cheap and false. Advent begins in the dark. Advent is not for sissies” Fleming Rutledge

“Do I belong to Jesus or to my desires? My desires didn't die for me. My desires don't care to wipe away my tears. My desires don't care if I'm happy. Jesus is the one who gave his life for me.” - Rachel Gilson

Listen in as we continue our series through the Sermon on the Mount and see how Jesus leads us toward wholeness.

Notes/Quotes:

“The rule was designed to prevent two wrongs—sever retribution that did not fit the crime and self appointed vigilante action.” Jonathan Pennington

Sometimes our hurt feelings are the very last things that want to sign on to holy instructions. If we have a right understanding of forgiveness, we start to see that we don't have to muster up the determination to forgive. Forgiveness is not based on our determination. Forgiveness is based on our cooperation with what God has already done. As God's forgiveness flows to us, we simply cooperate with letting it flow through us to other people. That's how I made the decision to forgive.” Lysa Terkeurst

Listen in as we look at Matthew 5 and see how Jesus aligns both actions and emotions with the Father's heart.

Notes/Quotes:

Anger embraced is, accordingly, inherently disintegrative of human personality and life. It does not have to be specifically “acted out” to poison the world. Because of what it is, and the way it seizes upon the body and its environment just by being there, it cannot be hidden. All our mental and emotional resources are marshaled to nurture and tend the anger, and our body throbs with it. Energy is dedicated to keeping the anger alive: we constantly remind ourselves of how wrongly we have been treated. And when it is allowed to govern our actions, of course, its evil is quickly multiplied in heart-rending consequences and in the replication of anger and rage in the hearts and bodies of everyone it touches. - Dallas Willard

Under Jewish law, a man can divorce a woman for any reason or no reason. The Talmud specifically says that a man can divorce a woman because she spoiled his dinner or simply because he finds another woman more attractive, and the woman's consent to the divorce is not required. In fact, Jewish law requires divorce in some circumstances: when the wife commits a sexual transgression, a man must divorce her, even if he is inclined to forgive her.

“Sin does something terrible to me. Sin turns me in on myself. Sin shrinks my life to the size of my life. Sin makes me obsessed with my wants, my needs, my feelings.Think about this, brothers and sisters. Sin is fundamentally antisocial, because sin causes me to love me more than anything else and to care for me more than anything else. It causes me to be obsessed by what I want, how I want it, when I want it, why I want it, where I want it, and whom I want to deliver it. Sin makes my life little more than “I want, I want, I want I want. Sin morphs all of us into a bottomless vat of demands. I’m a vat of expectancy. I’m a vat of entitlement. I wish I could say that this is not the true me, but it is.” - Paul Tripp

2 Corinthians 5:14-15

Listen along as we continue our study in Matthew's gospel and see how Jesus distinguishes between gospel and religious goodness.

Listen in as we begin the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew's gospel and see how Jesus opens up true flourishing in life today.

Notes/Quote:

The Sermon on the Mount is: Good news - God is present, working, and calling His people to life through Jesus Centered on Jesus - It’s who He is and how He lives. All about flourishing - It invites us to the way that life works best Tension producing - It places us in the already//not yet of the Kingdom

unBeatitudes: Congratulations to the entitled, for they grab what they want. Congratulations to the carefree, for they shall be comfortable. Congratulations to the pushy, for they shall win. Congratulations to the greedy, for they shall climb the food chain. Congratulations to the vengeful, for they shall be feared. Congratulations to those who don’t get caught, for they shall look good. Congratulations to the argumentative, for they shall get in the last word. Congratulations to the popular, for this world lies at their feet.

Have you ever met one person who believed and lived by this world’s unBeatitudes and came to the end a satisfied, radiant, wise person? Even one? - Ray Ortlund

The Beatitudes of Jesus are nothing short of a revolution of evaluation. –Scot McKnight

The terrible, tragic fallacy of the last hundred years has been to think that all man's troubles are due to his environment, and that to change the man you have nothing to do but change his environment. That is a tragic fallacy. It overlooks the fact that it was in Paradise that man fell. - Martyn Lloyd Jones

What is blessing, then? Scripture shows that blessing is anything God gives that makes us fully satisfied in him. Anything that draws us closer to Jesus. Anything that helps us relinquish the temporal and hold on more tightly to the eternal. And often it is the struggles and trials, the aching disappointments and the unfulfilled longings that best enable us to do that. Vaneetha Risner

Listen in as Anthony leads us through Matthew 4:12-25 and unpacks how Jesus shows us the kingdom of heaven and it's implications for life today.

Sermon Notes/Quotes:

Reading: Matthew 4:12-2

“how you feel about it isn’t really the important thing. It’s what you do that matters.” -N.T. Wright

“pervasive, all-of- life-repentance is the best sign that we are growing deeply and rapidly into the character of Jesus.” - Timothy Keller

“He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him. And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together. And he is the head of the body, the church. He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in everything he might be preeminent. For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross.” (Colossians 1:15-20)

As we look at Matthew 3:13-4:11 we see the baptism and temptation of Jesus. It's occasion to ponder the timing of God, the density of our hearts, the humanity of Christ, and the identity of the beloved son of God.

Sermon Notes/Quotes:

Matthew 3:13-4:11

If we hear the Father’s twice-repeated Voice at Baptism and Transfiguration correctly, the one fact the Father wants believers to know, above apparently all other facts, is how much we have in Jesus. “My priceless Son, deeply pleased.” If we know this, we know the most important fact in the world. “Here,” God is saying in so many words, “in this man, is everything I want to say, reveal, and do, and everything I want people to hear, see, and believe. If you want to know anything about me, if you want to hear anything from me, if you want to please me, get together with him” (or in the three words added emphatically by the Voice at the Transfiguration: “Listen to him!” Matt 17:5) - Dale Bruner

The Temptations:

Provision - “We’d rather be fed than fathered” Protection - “Does he care? Will he protect?” Providence - “Kingdom without a cross”

“No man knows how bad he is till he has tried very hard to be good. A silly idea is current that good people do not know what temptation means. This is an obvious lie. Only those who try to resist temptation know how strong it is. After all, you find out the strength of the German army by fighting against it, not by giving in. You find out the strength of a wind by trying to walk against it, not by lying down. A man who gives in to temptation after five minutes simply does not know what it would have been like an hour later. That is why bad people, in one sense, know very little about badness — they have lived a sheltered life by always giving in. We never find out the strength of the evil impulse inside us until we try to fight it: and Christ, because He was the only man who never yielded to temptation, is also the only man who knows to the full what temptation means — the only complete realist.” - CS Lewis

Romans 5:18-21

You have to keep unmasking the world about you for what it is: manipulative, controlling, power-hungry, and, in the long run, destructive. The world tells you many lies about who you are, and you simply have to be realistic enough to remind yourself of this. Every time you feel hurt, offended, or rejected, you have to dare to say to yourself: 'These feelings, strong as they may be, are not telling me the truth about myself. The truth, even though I cannot feel it right now, is that I am the chosen child of God, precious in God's eyes, called the Beloved from all eternity, and held safe in an everlasting belief. - Henri Nouwen

Colossians 2:6-15

Listen along as we look at Matthew 3:1-12 and how John the Baptist paves the road toward renewal.

Sermon Notes/Quotes:

Matthew 3:1-12 Isaiah - 40:3-5 Malachi 3:1, 4:1-5

“By the foolishness of preaching, Christ’s kingdom must be set up.” - Matthew Henry

“That John baptizes in the Jordan is a reminder of Israel’s baptism in Exodus by Moses’s parting of the waters. Israel had to face death as it walked across the dry land between the walls of water. John’s baptism calls Israel again to face death that it might live. Repentance is about the life and death of the people of Israel.” - Stanley Hauerwas

“The same sun which melts wax hardens clay. And the same Gospel which melts some persons to repentance hardens others in their sins” –Charles Spurgeon

“I who write and most of us who read inevitably belong, at least in inclination, to one of these two groups or types: we are either (mainly) serious Bible students or we are (mainly) serious servants of the modern world…(It is not fair for any of us to say that “I, thank heaven, am a member of ‘the middle,’ ” that always superior group!) We must learn to read the words “Pharisees and Sadducees” and to see ourselves or we will miss half of Matthew.” - F. Dale Bruner

The wrath of God is not the irritability of God; it is the love of God in friction with injustice. It is the warm, steady, patient, but absolutely fair grace of God in collision with manifest selfishness. - F. Dale Bruner

Romans 6:23

“The sinful heart is never transformed by conformity to the imperatives but only by relationship with the One who cleanses hearts.” Elyse Fitzpatrick

Listen in as we look at Matthew 2

Reading: Matthew 2:1-23

“the birth of Jesus is a threat to thrones and kingdoms.” -Stanley Hauerwas

“the gospel tells the story of a prophetic figure who suffers the worst that the empire can do to him, execution by crucifixion. But his resurrection and subsequent coming in power expose the limits of Roman power. The gospel constructs an alternative world. It resists imperial claims. It refuses to recognize that the world has been ordered on these lines. It offers an alternative understanding of the world and human existence centered on God manifested in Jesus. It created an alternative community and shapes and anti-imperial praxis.” - Warren Carter

“When he quotes Hosea 11:1 in verse 15, it looks for a moment as though he is ignoring the fact that the prophet was looking back to Israel’s Exodus from Egypt, not forward to a ‘son of God’ yet to come. But this itself ignores the fact that, for Matthew, part of Jesus’ role and vocation is precisely to make Israel’s story complete: as ‘son of God’ he is, as it were, Israel-in-person, succeeding at last where Israel had failed.” - N.T. Wright

“Perhaps no event in the gospel more determinatively challenges the sentimental depiction of Christmas than the death of these children. Jesus is born into a world where children are killed, and continue to be killed, to protect the power of tyrants. Christians are tempted to believe that the death of the children of Bethlehem “can be redeemed” by Jesus’ birth, death, and resurrection. Donald MacKinnon, however, insists that such a reading of the gospels, in particular the destruction of the innocents of Bethlehem, is perverse. For MacKinnon, the victory of the resurrection does not mean that these children are any less dead or their parents any less bereaved, but rather the resurrection makes it possible for followers of Jesus not to lie about the world we believe has been redeemed.” -Stanley Hauerwas

“There shall come forth a shoot from the stump of Jesse, and a branch from his roots shall bear fruit.” (Isaiah 11:1)

“For he grew up before him like a young plant, and like a root out of dry ground; he had no form or majesty that we should look at him, and no beauty that we should desire him. He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief; and as one from whom men hide their faces he was despised, and we esteemed him not. Surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted. But he was pierced for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his wounds we are healed.” (Isaiah 53:2-5)

Today Jon shares some reflections and thoughts on Union Church's one year anniversary.

Listen in as we look at Matthew 1:18-25 and see how Jesus brings His people across the gaps of life.

Notes/Quotes:

"Sin is not a mistake. A mistake is taking the wrong exit on the highway. A sin is treason against a Holy God. A mistake is a logical misstep. Sin lurks in our heart and grabs us by the throat to do its bidding. One very difficult aspect of sin is that my sin never feels like sin to me. My sin feels like life to me, plain and simple. My heart is an idol factory, and my mind is an excuse-making factory.In accepting misrepresentations of the gospel that render sin anything less than this, you will never learn of the fruit of repentance.” - Rosaria Butterfield

“Here Matthew gives the Messiah two names, by which we learn the essentials of the person and work of their bearer. Jesus is a human Jew—this is what his name says: “Joshua”; Jesus is also the divine Lord—this is what his name means: “God Saves.” Only when Jesus is seen through this dual optic does the gospel of Jesus finally make sense. And Matthew, perhaps intentionally, begins to grind the lens of this dual optic of true humanity and true divinity already in the initial chapter of his Gospel, a lens that will be polished still more in John’s Gospel and brought to a sheen in the Creeds.” - Dale Bruner

“Man's maker was made man that He, Ruler of the stars, might nurse at His mother's breast; that the Bread might hunger, the Fountain thirst, the Light sleep, the Way be tired on its journey; that Truth might be accused of false witnesses, the Teacher be beaten with whips, the Foundation be suspended on wood; that Strength might grow weak; that the Healer might be wounded; that Life might die.” - Augustine

What’s incredible about the Incarnation is not so much that a virgin conceived (remarkable though that might be) but that God became man. “What is truly amazing about the Christian faith,” says the physicist Jonathan Feng, “is the idea that God made the universe—from quarks to galaxies—but at the same time cared enough about us to be born as a human being, to come down, to die and be crucified in the person of Jesus, and to bring forgiveness and new life to broken people.” - Rebecca McLaughlin

The Incarnation is the ultimate reason why the service of God cannot be divorced from the service of man. - Dietrich Bonhoeffer

“The way of trust is a movement into obscurity, into the undefined, into ambiguity, not into some predetermined, clearly delineated plan for the future. The next step discloses itself only out of a discernment of God acting in the desert of the present moment. The reality of naked trust is the life of the pilgrim who leaves what is nailed down, obvious, and secure, and walks into the unknown without any rational explanation to justify the decision or guarantee the future. Why? Because God has signaled the movement and offered it his presence and his promise.” Brennan Manning

Listen in as we begin our series through Matthew and look a chapter 1:1-17. The good news if found in how Jesus uses and meets us in the gaps of life.

Notes/Quotes:

Matthew 1:1-17

Three gaps many Christian contend with: 1) I believe in God's love but struggle to experience it 2) I believe God is intimately involved, but don't often see it 3) I thought I would be further along by now. Minding the gap without legalism, shame & guilt is crucial. - Steve Cuss

“The book of the genealogy” appears to function not only as a heading for the genealogy itself but also as a title for the entire story to follow: a new beginning with the arrival of Jesus the Messiah and the kingdom of God” - ESV Study Bible

“No words or ordering of words in scripture is without significance. Matthew knows he is telling the story of one that was born a king, yet a king to be sacrificed. God had tested Abraham by commanding him to sacrifice Isaac. By beginning with “son of David,” Matthew prepares us to recognize that this is a king who will end up on the cross.” - Stanley Hauerwas

Philippians 2:12-13

Listen in as one of our elders, Bill Berve shares from Joshua 24.

Joshua 24:14 "As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord."

"God will not force His will or way in our lives. He will set the choices before us and He will give us the strength to follow through once we have made them, but the Lord will not choose for us, that is up to us." Greg Laurie

Listen in as we close our series "Life in the Desert." Today we see how Jesus meets and sends His people.

Notes/Quotes:

John 20:19-23

John 3:16 & 17 Mark 10:45 Philippians 2:5-8

“The ‘as’ in this text (John 20:21) tells us that the mission of Jesus to Israel is to serve as a paradigm for the mission of his followers to the nations. This must determine the way we think about and carry out the mission; it must be founded and modeled upon his. We are not authorized to do it in any other way.” - Mike Goheen

“The idea is not that individual Christians or churches have authority on their own to forgive or not forgive people, but rather that as the church proclaims the gospel message of forgiveness of sins in the power of the Holy Spirit, it proclaims that those who believe in Jesus have their sins forgiven, and that those who do not believe in him do not have their sins forgiven—which simply reflects what God in heaven has already done” - ESV Study bible

“It is not so much the case that God has a mission for his church in the world, as that God has a church for his mission in the world. Mission was not made for the church; the church was made for mission – God’s mission.” Chris Wright

Jesus moves us from: Hurry and distraction to rest and presence Anger and frustration to trust and dependency Isolation and consumption to community and contentment Apathy and cynicism to expectation, action and hope

Listen in as we look at Exodus 20 and see how Jesus leads us toward rest.

Sermon notes/quotes:

Reading: Exodus 20:8-10 Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days you shall labor, and do all your work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord your God. On it you shall not do any work, you, or your son, or your daughter, your male servant, or your female servant, or your livestock, or the sojourner who is within your gates. For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested on the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.

“(In Sabbath) drudgery gives way to festivity, family gatherings and occasionally worship, the machinery of self-censorship shut down, too, stilling the eternal inner murmur of self-reproach.” —Judith Shulevitz

“God rested, and in doing so He built a rhythm into the DNA of creation. A tempo, syncopated beat. God worked for six, rested for one. when we fight this work-six-days, Sabbath-one-day rhythm, we go against the grain of the universe. And to quote the philosopher H.H. Farmer, “if you go against the grain of the universe, you get splinters.” - John Mark Comer

“Observe the Sabbath day, to keep it holy, as the Lord your God commanded you. Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord your God. On it you shall not do any work, you or your son or your daughter or your male servant or your female servant, or your ox or your donkey or any of your livestock, or the sojourner who is within your gates, that your male servant and your female servant may rest as well as you. You shall remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt, and the Lord your God brought you out from there with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm. Therefore the Lord your God commanded you to keep the Sabbath day.” (Deuteronomy 5:12-15)

“They (the Israelites) invented the idea of social equality. The Israelite Sabbath institutionalized an astonishing, hitherto undreamed-of notion: that every single creature has the right to rest, not just the rich and the privileged. Covered under the Fourth Commandment are women, slaves, strangers and, improbably, animals. The verse in Deuteronomy that elaborates on this aspect of the Sabbath repeats, twice, that slaves were not to work, as if to drive home what must have been very hard to understand in the ancient world. The Jews were meant to perceive the Sabbath not only as a way to honor God but also as the central vehicle of their liberation theology, a weekly reminder of their escape from their servitude in Egypt.” —Judith Shulevitz

“If you want rest you have to go to Him and if you think you’ve gone to Him but you don’t have any rest you don’t know what you have—you still haven’t taken ahold of what you have.” - Timothy Keller

“For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.” (2 Corinthians 5:21)

“Sabbath, Anything to index your heart toward grateful recognition of God’s reality and goodness.” - John Mark Comer

Today Elliot Wolfinger shares Psalm 46:10 and how hand washing has helped him connect with God. "Be still and know that I am God." - Psalm 46:10 "All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given to us." JRR Tolkien

Listen in as we look at how Jesus gathers and forms His people in hearing and doing the word of God.

Notes/Quotes:

Luke 8:19-21

“Jesus did not (like Mohammad) write a book. Rather, he formed a community to be the bearer of this good news” Al Wolters

Acts 2:42-27

Micah 6:8

“The church need not worry about whether to be in the world. The church’s only concern is how to be in the world, in what form, for what purpose…The church is the bridge where scripture and people meet. We serve the world by showing it something that it is not, namely, a place where God is forming a family out of strangers." - Stanley Hauerwas

“Human beings need three basic things in order to be content: they need to feel competent at what they do; they need to feel authentic in their lives; and they need to feel connected to others. These values are considered "intrinsic" to human happiness and far outweigh "extrinsic" values such as beauty, money and status.” - Sebastian Junger

“The church isn’t a group of holier-than thou saints who’ve formed a club it’s a remarkable, otherwise impossible communion of people who, by the grace of God, stick alongside one another.” James K.A. Smith

A family who: Is all about Jesus Is present and patient Is outward focused and expectant

"May the glory of the Lord endure forever; may the Lord rejoice in his works" Psalm 104:31

"May the glory of the Lord endure forever; may the Lord rejoice in his works" "Because children have abounding vitality, because they are in spirit fierce and free, therefore they want things repeated and unchanged. They always say, "Do it again"; and the grown-up person does it again until he is nearly dead. For grown-up people are not strong enough to exult in monotony. But perhaps God is strong enough to exult in monotony. It is possible that God says every morning, "Do it again" to the sun; and every evening, "Do it again" to the moon. It may not be automatic necessity that makes all daisies alike; it may be that God makes every daisy separately, but has never got tired of making them. It may be that He has the eternal appetite of infancy; for we have sinned and grown old, and our Father is younger than we.” - GK Chesterton

Listen in as we look at Matthew 10:16 and see the heart of Jesus for his people in a hostile world.

"Correcting his opponents with gentleness. God may perhaps grant them repentance leading to a knowledge of the truth, and they may come to their senses and escape from the snare of the devil, after being captured by him to do his will." - 2 Timothy 2:25-26

"Never cease loving a person, and never give up hope for him, for even the prodigal son who had fallen most low, could still be saved; the bitterest enemy and also he who was your friend could again be your friend; love that has grown cold can kindle.” Soren Kierkegaard

Listen in as we begin our new series "Life in the Desert." Today we look at John 15 and see what abiding in Jesus looks like today.

Notes/Quotes/Questions:

John 15:1-11

Psalm 80:8-9

Isaiah 5:1-4

Psalm 80:17-19

“Prayer—though it is often draining, even an agony—is in the long term the greatest source of power that is possible.To pray in Jesus’ name is , essentially, to reground our relationship with God in the saving work of Jesus over and over again. It also means to recognize your status as a child of God, regardless of your inner state.” Tim Keller

“But the truth is…God loves us too much to answer our prayers at any other time than the right time.” - Lysa Terkuerst

“God will either give us what we ask or give us what we would have asked if we knew everything he knows…Our time frames are not in touch with ultimate reality. Our perspective on timing compared with God’s is analogous to a two-year-old’s with an adult’s. God has good reasons for making us wait a long time to see some prayers answered.” Tim Keller

“Are you tired? Worn out? Burned out on religion? Come to me. Get away with me and you’ll recover your life. I’ll show you how to take a real rest. Walk with me and work with me—watch how I do it. Learn the unforced rhythms of grace. I won’t lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you. Keep company with me and you’ll learn to live freely and lightly.” - Matthew 10:28-30, The Message

Where are you deriving identity and vitality? What words are carrying the most weight? Where are you searching for home/connection? Where have you resisted/resented the grace of pruning? What is cluttering closeness? Where is realignment needed? In what ways do God’s word and prayer need to be integrated more wholly into your life? What is Jesus inviting you into?

Today, Jon introduces Kei'Ana Nabor, and you can get to know her story, how she met Jesus and her preferences on cats or dogs.

Listen in as Anthony and Jon wrap up our series God is ___ and see the wrath and justice of God unfold through the story of scripture.

Notes/Quotes:

Screens:

Ex. 34:6-7

“One sign that your theology has become problematic is that you bible has become inconvenient.” Matt Smethurst

“This whole question of divine anger (ira dei) has been the subject of some sharp debate in the history of the church. It became known as the question of divine possibility (the quality or aptness in God to feel, suffer, or be angry) or impassibility (the denial of those qualities). Under the strong advocacy of Gnosticism (a philosophy that combined Greek and Oriental ideas with Christian teaching and professed access to truth that was a mystery to outsiders) a doctrine of God emerged that took the strongest exception to any claim that God could feel or suffer anything or that He could be angry.”
“believed that the God of the Old Testament was a ‘Demiurge’ (a god subordinate to the supreme God and responsible for the creation of evil) whose involvement in war, suffering, and judgments disqualified Him from being the God of grace and goodness whom Marcion found in most of Paul’s epistles in the New Testament.”
“Lactantius, wrote his De Ira Dei, ‘The Anger of God.’ For him passions or emotions were not in themselves evil, but avenues of virtue and goodness when kept under control. Furthermore, God must be moved to anger when He sees sin and wickedness in men and women just as He is moved to love them when they please Him.”
“He who loves the good, by this very fact hates the evil; and he who does not hate the evil, does not love the good; because the love of goodness issues directly out of the hatred of evil, and the hatred of evil issues directly out of the love of goodness. No one can love life without abhorring death; and no one can have an appetency for light, without an antipathy to darkness.”
“our problem with anger is that we define it as Aristotle did, ‘the desire for retaliation’ or a desire to get even and get revenge for a slight or real harm done to us. With anger goes the idea of a ‘brief madness’ and ‘an uneasiness or discomposure of the mind, upon the receipt of an injury, with a present purpose of revenge.’ But Lactantius defined anger as ‘a motion of the soul rousing itself to curb sin.’ - Walter Kaiser

“Therefore knowing the terror of the Lord we persuade men.”

(2 Cor. 5:11 KJV)

“Yahweh is forgiving, but sin is not. Sin is unforgiving—merciless, petty, and cruel. Our sin has consequences. We can miss out on blessing irretrievably. We can end up like Israel—forgiven, yes, but lost in the trackless desert waste.” - John Mark Comer

My thesis is that the practice of non-violence requires a belief in divine vengeance…My thesis will be unpopular with man in the West…But imagine speaking to people (as I have) whose cities and villages have been first plundered, then burned, and leveled to the ground, whose daughters and sisters have been raped, whose fathers and brothers have had their throats slit…Your point to them–we should not retaliate? Why not? I say–the only means of prohibiting violence by us is to insist that violence is only legitimate when it comes from God…Violence thrives today, secretly nourished by the belief that God refuses to take the sword…It takes the quiet of a suburb for the birth of the thesis that human nonviolence is a result of a God who refuses to judge. In a scorched land–soaked in the blood of the innocent, the idea will invariably die, like other pleasant captivities of the liberal mind…if God were NOT angry at injustice and deception and did NOT make a final end of violence, that God would not be worthy of our worship. - Miroslav Volf

Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time he may exalt you, casting all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you - 1 Peter 5:6-7

"I pray because I can't help myself. I pray because I'm helpless. I pray because the need flows out of me all the time, waking and sleeping. It doesn't change God. It changes me.” - C.S. Lewis

Listen along as we continue our series looking at the character of God from Exodus 34:6-7

Sermon Notes/Quotes:

Exodus 34:6-7

Isaiah 55:8-9

Isaiah 55:6-7

“The natural flow of the fallen human heart is toward reciprocity, tit-for-tat payback, equanimity, balancing of the scales. We are far more intractably law-ish than we realize. There is something healthy and glorious buried in that impulse, or course—made in God’s own image, we desire order and fairness rather than chaos. But that impulse, like every part of us, has been diseased by the ruinous fall into sin. Our capacity to apprehend the heart of God has gone into meltdown. We are left with an impoverished view of how he feels toward his people…So God tells us in plain terms how tiny our natural views of his heart are. His thoughts are not our thoughts. His ways are not our ways.” - Dane Ortlund

“Forgiveness is not so much a word spoken, an action performed, or a feeling felt as it is an embodied way of life in an ever-deepening friendship with the Triune God and with others. As such, a Christian account of forgiveness ought not simply or even primarily be focused on the absolution of guilt; rather, it ought to be focused on the reconciliation of brokenness, the restoration of communion—with God, with one another, and with the whole creation.” - L. Gregory Jones

"Forgiveness does not mean ignoring what has been done or putting a false label on an evil act. It means, rather, that the evil act no longer remains as a barrier to the relationship. Forgiveness is a catalyst creating the atmosphere necessary for a fresh start and a new beginning" Martin Luther King Jr.

Listen in as we recap our sermon from 7/26/2020 looking at who God is and how that transforms our lives and world today.

"But we see Jesus." Hebrews 2:9

"Welcome, child," he said. "Aslan," said Lucy, "you're bigger." "That is because you are older, little one," answered he. "Not because you are?" "I am not. But every year you grow, you will find me bigger." -C.S. Lewis, Prince Caspian: The Return to Narnia

Listen in as we begin our new series looking at who God is from Exodus 34.

Notes//Quotes:

Exodus 34:6-7

“What comes into our minds when we think about God is the most important thing about us.” - A.W. Tozer“Here’s how you know if you’ve created God in your own image: he agrees with you on everything…Often what we believe about God says more about us than it does about God. Our theology is like a mirror to the soul. It shows us what’s deep inside.” - John Mark Comer

“In the world of the Hebrew Scriptures a personal name was often thought to indicate something essential about the bearer’s identity, origin, birth circumstances, or the divine purpose that the bearer was intended to fulfill.” - Michael Knowles

Isaiah 49:13-16 Psalm 103:11-14

“What he is, he does. He cannot act any other way. His life proves his heart. Meek. Humble. Gentle. Jesus is not trigger-happy. Not harsh, reactionary, easily exasperated. He is the most understanding person in the universe. The posture most natural to him is not a pointed finger but open arms.” - Dane Ortlund

Ps. 145:8-9 Hebrews 4:14-16

For grace proclaims the awesome truth that all is gift. All that is good is ours not by right but by the sheer bounty of a gracious God. While there is much we may have earned--our degree and our salary, our home and garden, a Miller Lite and a good night's sleep--all this is possible only because we have been given so much: life itself, eyes to see and hands to touch, a mind to shape ideas, and a heart to beat with love. We have been given God in our souls and Christ in our flesh. We have the power to believe where others deny, to hope where others despair, to love where others hurt. This and so much more is sheer gift; it is not reward for our faithfulness, our generous disposition, or our heroic life of prayer. Even our fidelity is a gift, "If we but turn to God," said St. Augustine, "that itself is a gift of God.” My deepest awareness of myself is that I am deeply loved by Jesus Christ and I have done nothing to earn it or deserve it.” - Brennan Manning

“FOR I THE LORD DO NOT CHANGE; THEREFORE YOU, O CHILDREN OF JACOB, ARE NOT CONSUMED.” - MALACHI 3:6 “GOD NEVER HURRIES. THERE ARE NO DEADLINES AGAINST WHICH HE MUST WORK. ONLY TO KNOW THIS IS TO QUIET OUR SPIRITS AND RELAX OUR NERVES.” - A.W. TOZER