Plymouth Community Church: Recent Episodes
Plymouth Community Church
Palm Sunday tells a much deeper story than what we might originally see--from beginning to end it all points to Jesus
Jesus calls us to more than outward, behavior modification--Jesus has come in the Gospel to change our hearts because when our hearts are changed, our behaviors follow
Jesus never gives us commands we can do on our own, but always gives us commands that we cannot do without Him...
The David and Goliath story is a familiar story, but it may not be what we think it is.
The Gospel changes how we see this story, ultimately that we need a true and better David to come and rescue us
Salvation is by grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone from beginning to end...
In the Gospel (the good news of what God has done in and through the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus), Jesus has done for us what the law could never do and was never intended to do...SAVE US
Jesus is upfront in telling us what it means and what to expect in His upside down kingdom--
What did Jesus tell us He came to bring? How does this change us?
Part of being discipled by Jesus is learning to learn from Jesus Himself and in the Gospel we can do this on a daily basis!
Jesus wants every part of us. Our lives, our marriages, our kids, our money, our work, our relationships; everything! And as followers of Jesus we give them over to Him because He is better than our life itself
Far too often we like the "idea" or "concept" of following Jesus more than the obedience of actually following Him--here Jesus calls us to 'take up our cross' and follow Him above all
Isaiah 55 'God is better than we think, bigger than we can understand, and full of more grace, mercy, and compassion than our limited minds can comprehend'
The heart of the problem is the problem of the heart--
In the scandal of the Gospel, God not only diagnoses the problem (our heart), but in Christ He provides the solution as well so that every longing is filled in seeing God face to face
The way we display that we have received the mercy of God in Jesus through the power of the Gospel is we give mercy to those around us.
This is what a life discipled by Jesus looks like. You let Jesus work in you and through you.
We all want the grace of relief, we all want the grace of release and respite, but God in His love for us gives us the grace of refinement so that we wouldn't settle for lesser things that can never satisfy us-only Jesus can satisfy, only Jesus can give you ultimate peace, hope, joy, and life.
So whatever you are going through, look to Jesus, rest in Him, and keep going--God in His love for you is shaping you and pursuing you, so press on brother and sister, don't give up, hold on to hope in Christ--it will be worth it
We will be continuing to look at Matthew 5 and the Beatitudes found in the Sermon on the Mount.
This week we will be looking at v.5-blessed are the meek
Jesus changes everything!
Explicit Gospel Series: Galatians 4:1-7 "Freedom as Heirs" by Plymouth Community Church
Our expectations matter. They prepare us for what we should expect, and what we would like to get out of whatever we are experiencing. If you are walking into an opera but are expecting a baseball game, you will be thoroughly disappointed with the show. If you are attending a movie expecting a comedy, but instead walk into a horror film, you will be disappointed with your lack of laughs. Or if you are reading a fantasy novel expecting an autobiography, you will walk away confused at the magic and make-believe that came with it. Having our correct expectations drastically changes the outcome to most things in our life. Especially when reading the Bible.
In Galatians 3:6-9, Paul wants to set our expectations appropriately when it comes to reading the Bible. Paul wants us to see that what weaves all of the Bible together is the Gospel, the Good News from God found in the person and work of Jesus. He wants us to see that from the beginning to the end, the Bible is a promise from God, it is hope for the hopeless. Because the Bible is a promise, our response is to believe it and trust it.
Our partnership with the village of La Coroza through The Humanity and Hope United Foundation