6:8 Church: Recent Episodes
David Lindner
The four friend find themselves in the middle of chaos as they learn about the bronze serpent.
Today the four friends are sent to the mountain where God gave the Israelites the ten commandments.
Today the four kids, plus Keeper and Scrambler and taken back to the moment God called Moses through the burning bush.
Today, we kick of the week's new theme of Peace by jumping right into the middle of the Passover. Then we go back to Joseph and see how his story ends up.
Today, the box takes the group to see the moment when Joseph receives his coat, shares his dreams with his brothers, and then gets sold into slavery.
The crew face an unknown problem, and then see the story of Abraham and Isaac unfold before their eyes.
Today we finally get to see what all that stress was about on the first day - we meet Abram in the desert and see his Encounter with God and the Covenant God made with him there.
In today's episode, Mara, Clara, Jonah, and Eli are taken back to the time when Noah was building the ark. They will experience the brokenness of the culture as it existed around the time of the flood, God's salvation through the flood and the fresh start for humanity.
In this episode, the kids are pulled straight into Eden… but not the Eden from picture books. Something’s off. The air is colder. The harmony is fraying. And at the center of it all is a whisper — subtle, twisted, familiar. As they witness the serpent’s deception, Adam and Eve’s heartbreaking choice, and the crushing weight of shame entering the world for the first time, Claire realizes she knows this feeling all too well. The kids watch innocence shatter, yet also see the first hint of hope: a promise of Someone who will one day crush the serpent. It’s a raw, honest look at why the world hurts — and why God never walked away.
n this episode, our four not-so-prepared heroes—Eli, Mara, Jonah, and Claire—discover that the creepiest hallway in the church isn’t just home to crunchy carpet and forgotten VBS decorations. It’s also hiding a mysterious ancient Box that apparently has opinions and blinks like a socially awkward firefly. With Keeper guiding them (and Scrambler… “helping”), the kids place the first emblem into the Box and are launched into one of the most breathtaking scenes in Scripture: the creation of the world. Light explodes, oceans rise, stars scatter across a canvas of nothingness, and Eden blooms before their eyes. But alongside the wonder, something stirs in Eli—an uneasy sense that perfection never stays perfect for long. Join us as we step inside the first pages of the universe and watch God paint reality into existence, one word at a time. It’s beauty, comedy, theology, and chaos—with Scrambler screaming his way through Day 5’s birds, Jonah trying to whisper through existential crises, and Claire feeling the music of creation deep in her bones.
Chapter 1 throws the readers straight into a desert superstorm as the kids are ripped from their normal lives and dropped into a terrifying, supernatural in-between moment from Abraham’s covenant with God. Sand roars, fire blazes, and two ancient, fiery forms—the blazing torch and smoking firepot—tear through the storm as Keeper shouts for the kids to hold fast. Fumbling, panicking, barely holding together, they witness the covenant ritual that shaped Israel’s future before being hurled back into their church hallway. Breathless and shaken, they realize this wasn’t an accident—they’ve been pulled into something ancient, divine, and far bigger than any of them are ready for.
“Do not let your hearts be troubled. You believe in God; believe also in me. 2 My Father’s house has many rooms; if that were not so, would I have told you that I am going there to prepare a place for you? 3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am. 4 You know the way to the place where I am going.”
5 Thomas said to him, “Lord, we don’t know where you are going, so how can we know the way?”
6 Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. 7 If you really know me, you will know my Father as well. From now on, you do know him and have seen him.”
18 “I am not referring to all of you; I know those I have chosen. But this is to fulfill this passage of Scripture: ‘He who shared my bread has turned[a] against me.’[b]
19 “I am telling you now before it happens, so that when it does happen you will believe that I am who I am. 20 Very truly I tell you, whoever accepts anyone I send accepts me; and whoever accepts me accepts the one who sent me.”
21 After he had said this, Jesus was troubled in spirit and testified, “Very truly I tell you, one of you is going to betray me.”
22 His disciples stared at one another, at a loss to know which of them he meant. 23 One of them, the disciple whom Jesus loved, was reclining next to him. 24 Simon Peter motioned to this disciple and said, “Ask him which one he means.”
25 Leaning back against Jesus, he asked him, “Lord, who is it?”
26 Jesus answered, “It is the one to whom I will give this piece of bread when I have dipped it in the dish.” Then, dipping the piece of bread, he gave it to Judas, the son of Simon Iscariot. 27 As soon as Judas took the bread, Satan entered into him.
So Jesus told him, “What you are about to do, do quickly.” 28 But no one at the meal understood why Jesus said this to him. 29 Since Judas had charge of the money, some thought Jesus was telling him to buy what was needed for the festival, or to give something to the poor. 30 As soon as Judas had taken the bread, he went out. And it was night.
As we look at this famous story of Jesus washing the disciples' feet, we try to gain a new appreciation for the significance of what's taking place.
As we celebrate the resurrection, where he emerged victorious over the power of death and darkness, we look at the Kingdom that was founded on that day - The Kingdom of God. This Kingdom operates in an entirely different way from the kingdoms of this world. While the kingdoms of this world operate on fear and produce entropy and chaos, the Kingdom of God operates on hope and produces New Creation.
37 Even after Jesus had performed so many signs in their presence, they still would not believe in him. 38 This was to fulfill the word of Isaiah the prophet:
“Lord, who has believed our message
and to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?”
39 For this reason they could not believe, because, as Isaiah says elsewhere:
40 “He has blinded their eyes
and hardened their hearts,
so they can neither see with their eyes,
nor understand with their hearts,
nor turn—and I would heal them.”
41 Isaiah said this because he saw Jesus’ glory and spoke about him.
42 Yet at the same time many even among the leaders believed in him. But because of the Pharisees they would not openly acknowledge their faith for fear they would be put out of the synagogue; 43 for they loved human praise more than praise from God.
44 Then Jesus cried out, “Whoever believes in me does not believe in me only, but in the one who sent me. 45 The one who looks at me is seeing the one who sent me. 46 I have come into the world as a light, so that no one who believes in me should stay in darkness.
47 “If anyone hears my words but does not keep them, I do not judge that person. For I did not come to judge the world, but to save the world. 48 There is a judge for the one who rejects me and does not accept my words; the very words I have spoken will condemn them at the last day. 49 For I did not speak on my own, but the Father who sent me commanded me to say all that I have spoken. 50 I know that his command leads to eternal life. So whatever I say is just what the Father has told me to say.”
20 Now there were some Greeks among those who went up to worship at the festival. 21 They came to Philip, who was from Bethsaida in Galilee, with a request. “Sir,” they said, “we would like to see Jesus.” 22 Philip went to tell Andrew; Andrew and Philip in turn told Jesus.
23 Jesus replied, “The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. 24 Very truly I tell you, unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds. 25 Anyone who loves their life will lose it, while anyone who hates their life in this world will keep it for eternal life. 26 Whoever serves me must follow me; and where I am, my servant also will be. My Father will honor the one who serves me.
27 “Now my soul is troubled, and what shall I say? ‘Father, save me from this hour’? No, it was for this very reason I came to this hour. 28 Father, glorify your name!”
Then a voice came from heaven, “I have glorified it, and will glorify it again.” 29 The crowd that was there and heard it said it had thundered; others said an angel had spoken to him.
30 Jesus said, “This voice was for your benefit, not mine. 31 Now is the time for judgment on this world; now the prince of this world will be driven out. 32 And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself.” 33 He said this to show the kind of death he was going to die.
34 The crowd spoke up, “We have heard from the Law that the Messiah will remain forever, so how can you say, ‘The Son of Man must be lifted up’? Who is this ‘Son of Man’?”
35 Then Jesus told them, “You are going to have the light just a little while longer. Walk while you have the light, before darkness overtakes you. Whoever walks in the dark does not know where they are going. 36 Believe in the light while you have the light, so that you may become children of light.” When he had finished speaking, Jesus left and hid himself from them.
John 11:25 Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me will live, even though they die; 26 and whoever lives by believing in me will never die. Do you believe this?”
John 10:22-41
22 Then came the Festival of Dedication at Jerusalem. It was winter, 23 and Jesus was in the temple courts walking in Solomon’s Colonnade. 24 The Jews who were there gathered around him, saying, “How long will you keep us in suspense? If you are the Messiah, tell us plainly.”
25 Jesus answered, “I did tell you, but you do not believe. The works I do in my Father’s name testify about me, 26 but you do not believe because you are not my sheep. 27 My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me. 28 I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one will snatch them out of my hand. 29 My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all; no one can snatch them out of my Father’s hand. 30 I and the Father are one.”
31 Again his Jewish opponents picked up stones to stone him, 32 but Jesus said to them, “I have shown you many good works from the Father. For which of these do you stone me?”
33 “We are not stoning you for any good work,” they replied, “but for blasphemy, because you, a mere man, claim to be God.”
34 Jesus answered them, “Is it not written in your Law, ‘I have said you are “gods”’? 35 If he called them ‘gods,’ to whom the word of God came—and Scripture cannot be set aside— 36 what about the one whom the Father set apart as his very own and sent into the world? Why then do you accuse me of blasphemy because I said, ‘I am God’s Son’? 37 Do not believe me unless I do the works of my Father. 38 But if I do them, even though you do not believe me, believe the works, that you may know and understand that the Father is in me, and I in the Father.” 39 Again they tried to seize him, but he escaped their grasp.
40 Then Jesus went back across the Jordan to the place where John had been baptizing in the early days. There he stayed, 41 and many people came to him. They said, “Though John never performed a sign, all that John said about this man was true.” 42 And in that place many believed in Jesus.
John 10:22-41
22 Then came the Festival of Dedication at Jerusalem. It was winter, 23 and Jesus was in the temple courts walking in Solomon’s Colonnade. 24 The Jews who were there gathered around him, saying, “How long will you keep us in suspense? If you are the Messiah, tell us plainly.”
25 Jesus answered, “I did tell you, but you do not believe. The works I do in my Father’s name testify about me, 26 but you do not believe because you are not my sheep. 27 My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me. 28 I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one will snatch them out of my hand. 29 My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all; no one can snatch them out of my Father’s hand. 30 I and the Father are one.”
31 Again his Jewish opponents picked up stones to stone him, 32 but Jesus said to them, “I have shown you many good works from the Father. For which of these do you stone me?”
33 “We are not stoning you for any good work,” they replied, “but for blasphemy, because you, a mere man, claim to be God.”
34 Jesus answered them, “Is it not written in your Law, ‘I have said you are “gods”’? 35 If he called them ‘gods,’ to whom the word of God came—and Scripture cannot be set aside— 36 what about the one whom the Father set apart as his very own and sent into the world? Why then do you accuse me of blasphemy because I said, ‘I am God’s Son’? 37 Do not believe me unless I do the works of my Father. 38 But if I do them, even though you do not believe me, believe the works, that you may know and understand that the Father is in me, and I in the Father.” 39 Again they tried to seize him, but he escaped their grasp.
40 Then Jesus went back across the Jordan to the place where John had been baptizing in the early days. There he stayed, 41 and many people came to him. They said, “Though John never performed a sign, all that John said about this man was true.” 42 And in that place many believed in Jesus.
John 10:1-21
“Very truly I tell you Pharisees, anyone who does not enter the sheep pen by the gate, but climbs in by some other way, is a thief and a robber. 2 The one who enters by the gate is the shepherd of the sheep. 3 The gatekeeper opens the gate for him, and the sheep listen to his voice. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. 4 When he has brought out all his own, he goes on ahead of them, and his sheep follow him because they know his voice. 5 But they will never follow a stranger; in fact, they will run away from him because they do not recognize a stranger’s voice.” 6 Jesus used this figure of speech, but the Pharisees did not understand what he was telling them.
7 Therefore Jesus said again, “Very truly I tell you, I am the gate for the sheep. 8 All who have come before me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep have not listened to them. 9 I am the gate; whoever enters through me will be saved. They will come in and go out, and find pasture. 10 The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.
11 “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. 12 The hired hand is not the shepherd and does not own the sheep. So when he sees the wolf coming, he abandons the sheep and runs away. Then the wolf attacks the flock and scatters it. 13 The man runs away because he is a hired hand and cares nothing for the sheep.
- Mat 18:
- 21 Then Peter came to Jesus and asked, “Lord, how many times shall I forgive my brother or sister who sins against me? Up to seven times?”
- 22 Jesus answered, “I tell you, not seven times, but seventy-seven times.
- 23 “Therefore, the kingdom of heaven is like a king who wanted to settle accounts with his servants. 24 As he began the settlement, a man who owed him ten thousand bags of gold[b] was brought to him. 25 Since he was not able to pay, the master ordered that he and his wife and his children and all that he had be sold to repay the debt.
- 26 “At this the servant fell on his knees before him. ‘Be patient with me,’ he begged, ‘and I will pay back everything.’ 27 The servant’s master took pity on him, canceled the debt and let him go.
- 28 “But when that servant went out, he found one of his fellow servants who owed him a hundred silver coins.[c] He grabbed him and began to choke him. ‘Pay back what you owe me!’ he demanded.
- 29 “His fellow servant fell to his knees and begged him, ‘Be patient with me, and I will pay it back.’
- 30 “But he refused. Instead, he went off and had the man thrown into prison until he could pay the debt. 31 When the other servants saw what had happened, they were outraged and went and told their master everything that had happened.
- 32 “Then the master called the servant in. ‘You wicked servant,’ he said, ‘I canceled all that debt of yours because you begged me to. 33 Shouldn’t you have had mercy on your fellow servant just as I had on you?’ 34 In anger his master handed him over to the jailers to be tortured, until he should pay back all he owed.
- 35 “This is how my heavenly Father will treat each of you unless you forgive your brother or sister from your heart.”
- Luke 6:35
- 35 But love your enemies, do good to them, and lend to them without expecting to get anything back. Then your reward will be great, and you will be children of the Most High, because he is kind to the ungrateful and wicked.
- Matthew 5:13-16 (Live a life that Shines)
- 13 "You are the salt of the earth; but if the salt has become tasteless, how * can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled under foot by men.
- 14 "You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot * be hidden;
- 15 nor does anyone light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on the lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house.
- 16 "Let your light shine before men in such a way that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven.
Deut 6
- 4 Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. 5 Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. 6 These commandments that I give you today are to be on your hearts. 7 Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. 8 Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. 9 Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates.
Deut 11:
- 13 So if you faithfully obey the commands I am giving you today—to love the Lord your God and to serve him with all your heart and with all your soul— 14 then I will send rain on your land in its season, both autumn and spring rains, so that you may gather in your grain, new wine and olive oil. 15 I will provide grass in the fields for your cattle, and you will eat and be satisfied.
- 16 Be careful, or you will be enticed to turn away and worship other gods and bow down to them. 17 Then the Lord’s anger will burn against you, and he will shut up the heavens so that it will not rain and the ground will yield no produce, and you will soon perish from the good land the Lord is giving you. 18 Fix these words of mine in your hearts and minds; tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. 19 Teach them to your children, talking about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. 20 Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates, 21 so that your days and the days of your children may be many in the land the Lord swore to give your ancestors, as many as the days that the heavens are above the earth.
Num 15:
- 37 The Lord said to Moses, 38 “Speak to the Israelites and say to them: ‘Throughout the generations to come you are to make tassels on the corners of your garments, with a blue cord on each tassel. 39 You will have these tassels to look at and so you will remember all the commands of the Lord, that you may obey them and not prostitute yourselves by chasing after the lusts of your own hearts and eyes. 40 Then you will remember to obey all my commands and will be consecrated to your God. 41 I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of Egypt to be your God. I am the Lord your God.’”
3 Parables about prayer
Persistent Widow
Then Jesus told his disciples a parable to show them that they should always pray and not give up. 2 He said: “In a certain town there was a judge who neither feared God nor cared what people thought. 3 And there was a widow in that town who kept coming to him with the plea, ‘Grant me justice against my adversary.’
4 “For some time he refused. But finally he said to himself, ‘Even though I don’t fear God or care what people think, 5 yet because this widow keeps bothering me, I will see that she gets justice, so that she won’t eventually come and attack me!’”
6 And the Lord said, “Listen to what the unjust judge says. 7 And will not God bring about justice for his chosen ones, who cry out to him day and night? Will he keep putting them off? 8 I tell you, he will see that they get justice, and quickly. However, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on the earth?”
Audacious Neighbor:
Luke 11:5-12
5 Then Jesus said to them, “Suppose you have a friend, and you go to him at midnight and say, ‘Friend, lend me three loaves of bread; 6 a friend of mine on a journey has come to me, and I have no food to offer him.’ 7 And suppose the one inside answers, ‘Don’t bother me. The door is already locked, and my children and I are in bed. I can’t get up and give you anything.’ 8 I tell you, even though he will not get up and give you the bread because of friendship, yet because of your shameless audacity he will surely get up and give you as much as you need.
9 “So I say to you: Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. 10 For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened.
11 “Which of you fathers, if your son asks for a fish, will give him a snake instead? 12 Or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion? 13 If you then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!”
The Parable of the Pharisee and the Tax Collector: Humility
9 To some who were confident of their own righteousness and looked down on everyone else, Jesus told this parable: 10 “Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. 11 The Pharisee stood by himself and prayed: ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other people—robbers, evildoers, adulterers—or even like this tax collector. 12 I fast twice a week and give a tenth of all I get.’
13 “But the tax collector stood at a distance. He would not even look up to heaven, but beat his breast and said, ‘God, have mercy on me, a sinner.’
14 “I tell you that this man, rather than the other, went home justified before God. For all those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.”
Acts 17:10-15
- 10 As soon as it was night, the believers sent Paul and Silas away to Berea. On arriving there, they went to the Jewish synagogue. 11 Now the Berean Jews were of more noble character than those in Thessalonica, for they received the message with great eagerness and examined the Scriptures every day to see if what Paul said was true. 12 As a result, many of them believed, as did also a number of prominent Greek women and many Greek men.
- 13 But when the Jews in Thessalonica learned that Paul was preaching the word of God at Berea, some of them went there too, agitating the crowds and stirring them up. 14 The believers immediately sent Paul to the coast, but Silas and Timothy stayed at Berea. 15 Those who escorted Paul brought him to Athens and then left with instructions for Silas and Timothy to join him as soon as possible.
John 4:
Now Jesus learned that the Pharisees had heard that he was gaining and baptizing more disciples than John— 2 although in fact it was not Jesus who baptized, but his disciples. 3 So he left Judea and went back once more to Galilee.
4 Now he had to go through Samaria. 5 So he came to a town in Samaria called Sychar, near the plot of ground Jacob had given to his son Joseph. 6 Jacob’s well was there, and Jesus, tired as he was from the journey, sat down by the well. It was about noon.
7 When a Samaritan woman came to draw water, Jesus said to her, “Will you give me a drink?” 8 (His disciples had gone into the town to buy food.)
27 Just then his disciples returned and were surprised to find him talking with a woman. But no one asked, “What do you want?” or “Why are you talking with her?”
28 Then, leaving her water jar, the woman went back to the town and said to the people, 29 “Come, see a man who told me everything I ever did. Could this be the Messiah?” 30 They came out of the town and made their way toward him.
31 Meanwhile his disciples urged him, “Rabbi, eat something.”
32 But he said to them, “I have food to eat that you know nothing about.”
33 Then his disciples said to each other, “Could someone have brought him food?”
34 “My food,” said Jesus, “is to do the will of him who sent me and to finish his work. 35 Don’t you have a saying, ‘It’s still four months until harvest’? I tell you, open your eyes and look at the fields! They are ripe for harvest. 36 Even now the one who reaps draws a wage and harvests a crop for eternal life, so that the sower and the reaper may be glad together. 37 Thus the saying ‘One sows and another reaps’ is true. 38 I sent you to reap what you have not worked for. Others have done the hard work, and you have reaped the benefits of their labor.”
In John 15, Jesus gave us a great metaphor for what it means to be In Christ, for the love of God to flow through our lives in such a way that we produce fruit that endures. But what does it mean? How do we truly abide in Christ?
As a recipient of God's generous grace in Jesus, I will seek to be generous in showing grace to others. I will be the first to forgive, extending the generous grace of Jesus I have received to those around me. It doesn't matter if they deserve my forgiveness, because I didn't deserve God's forgiveness when He gave it to me. Because I have experienced God's redemption firsthand, I believe in redemption in all things. I believe in redemption for others and our world. I will forgive as I have been forgiven.
As a recipient of God's generous grace in Jesus, I will seek to be generous in showing grace to others. I will be the first to forgive, extending the generous grace of Jesus I have received to those around me. It doesn't matter if they deserve my forgiveness, because I didn't deserve God's forgiveness when He gave it to me. Because I have experienced God's redemption firsthand, I believe in redemption in all things. I believe in redemption for others and our world. I will forgive as I have been forgiven.
As we continue on this journey towards purple faith, we stop to take a look at God's Kingdom. We are citizens of heaven, ambassadors of the Kingdom of Light, but are we being good representatives of God's Kingdom? Are we worshipping God or idols of our own making?
In part 2 of our teaching on being judgemental, we wrap up the 4 types of judgment in scripture and add 5 practical steps we can take today to be less judgemental.
In part 6 of our Purple Faith teaching series at 6:8, we are looking at the topic of judgment. No, we're not talking about God judging everyone on the planet, the great white throne, or any of those. We're talk about about how we, as Christians, have a tendency to be judgemental. We invite you to listen in to part one of Pastor David's teaching on Judgement.
In part 2 of this sermon, we cover a lot of important aspects of misinformation as it is happening in the world around us today. We talk about the way politicians use misinformation against us, we talk about metanarratives and how they are employed on a consistent basis, and yes we even talk about social media. Make sure you check out part 1 of this sermon as well!
As a fallen individual, I recognize my tendency to be susceptible to mistruths. As someone who has been set free from mistruths by Christ, I am committed to a lifelong pursuit of God's truth in all of life. When that truth lines up with my preconceived notions of right and wrong, I will not use that as an excuse to stop seeking. When that truth confronts my preexisting beliefs, I will seek guidance from others more knowledgeable than myself. If I discover that I am truly wrong, I will adapt my beliefs to the truth and resist the temptation to manipulate the truth to fit into my narrative. My devotion is not to the metanarrative of my party or of society, my devotion is to the true metanarrative of Scripture, God's story that He has been writing for all of Human History. I will intentionally seek to see what I don't currently see.
In part 4 of our Purple faith series, we get into the first agreement we need to make if we are going to have a faith that unites. Pastor David builds a solid biblical foundation for the image of God and helps to lay out some really practical advice for putting this principle into action in our day-to-day interactions with others.
To be someone who has a faith that unites may require that we sometimes have longer conversations with people who think differently than we do. The problem with that is, at a time when we need to have longer conversations is also the time when we are spending the least amount of time in human history eating meals together. Maybe we need to think about that too.
If we're going to be people of purple faith, we have to know what we mean by that right? What does it mean to be purple? Do we mean that everyone should compromise on their beliefs and values? Should we compromise on the truth? What is purple faith?
The world is more divided now than it has been in any of our lives. In fact, we may be more divided than during the Cival war. And it's not getting any better. With 2022 being another election year, as Christians, we have to prepare ourselves for what lies ahead, which may mean we have to think differently than we have up until this point.
In part one of our new series, Purple Faith, we take a look at a religious group called Lemniscatianity. Carey Nieuwhof once said: "We live in the era of strongly held, poorly formed beliefs." The arrogance that comes with these strongly held, but poorly formed beliefs is staggering. The challenge isn't just with our arrogance, but also with the metanarratives that are swirling about our society as well. What do we do?
Luke 24:50-53
50When he had led them out to the vicinity of Bethany, he lifted up his hands and blessed them. 51While he was blessing them, he left them and was taken up into heaven. 52Then they worshiped him and returned to Jerusalem with great joy. 53And they stayed continually at the temple, praising God.
Luke 24:13-24
13 Now that same day two of them were going to a village called Emmaus, about seven miles[a] from Jerusalem. 14 They were talking with each other about everything that had happened. 15 As they talked and discussed these things with each other, Jesus himself came up and walked along with them; 16 but they were kept from recognizing him.
17 He asked them, “What are you discussing together as you walk along?”
They stood still, their faces downcast. 18 One of them, named Cleopas, asked him, “Are you the only one visiting Jerusalem who does not know the things that have happened there in these days?”
19 “What things?” he asked.
“About Jesus of Nazareth,” they replied. “He was a prophet, powerful in word and deed before God and all the people. 20 The chief priests and our rulers handed him over to be sentenced to death, and they crucified him; 21 but we had hoped that he was the one who was going to redeem Israel. And what is more, it is the third day since all this took place. 22 In addition, some of our women amazed us. They went to the tomb early this morning 23 but didn’t find his body. They came and told us that they had seen a vision of angels, who said he was alive. 24 Then some of our companions went to the tomb and found it just as the women had said, but they did not see Jesus.”
Today we are bringing you something a little different. It's a retelling of the life of Jesus from the perspective of Joseph of Arimathea. Joseph is one of those characters that we don't know much about, but we know that he was a disciple of Jesus even though he was a member of the Sanhedrin, the group responsible for his death. We invite you to listen to part 1 of "We Thought".
Luke 24:1-12
On the first day of the week, very early in the morning, the women took the spices they had prepared and went to the tomb. 2 They found the stone rolled away from the tomb, 3 but when they entered, they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus. 4 While they were wondering about this, suddenly two men in clothes that gleamed like lightning stood beside them. 5 In their fright the women bowed down with their faces to the ground, but the men said to them, “Why do you look for the living among the dead? 6 He is not here; he has risen! Remember how he told you, while he was still with you in Galilee: 7 ‘The Son of Man must be delivered over to the hands of sinners, be crucified and on the third day be raised again.’ ” 8 Then they remembered his words.
9 When they came back from the tomb, they told all these things to the Eleven and to all the others. 10 It was Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Mary the mother of James, and the others with them who told this to the apostles. 11 But they did not believe the women, because their words seemed to them like nonsense. 12 Peter, however, got up and ran to the tomb. Bending over, he saw the strips of linen lying by themselves, and he went away, wondering to himself what had happened.
In today's sermon, we look at the madness of the crowds outside of Pilate's residence on the day that Jesus was crucified. We might see some surprising correlations to the world we are in today.
Luke 23:44-56
44 It was now about noon, and darkness came over the whole land until three in the afternoon, 45 for the sun stopped shining. And the curtain of the temple was torn in two. 46 Jesus called out with a loud voice, “Father, into your hands I commit my spirit.”[e] When he had said this, he breathed his last.
47 The centurion, seeing what had happened, praised God and said, “Surely this was a righteous man.” 48 When all the people who had gathered to witness this sight saw what took place, they beat their breasts and went away. 49 But all those who knew him, including the women who had followed him from Galilee, stood at a distance, watching these things.
The Burial of Jesus 50 Now there was a man named Joseph, a member of the Council, a good and upright man, 51 who had not consented to their decision and action. He came from the Judean town of Arimathea, and he himself was waiting for the kingdom of God. 52 Going to Pilate, he asked for Jesus’ body. 53 Then he took it down, wrapped it in linen cloth and placed it in a tomb cut in the rock, one in which no one had yet been laid. 54 It was Preparation Day, and the Sabbath was about to begin.
55 The women who had come with Jesus from Galilee followed Joseph and saw the tomb and how his body was laid in it. 56 Then they went home and prepared spices and perfumes. But they rested on the Sabbath in obedience to the commandment.
Luke 24:36-49
36 While they were still talking about this, Jesus himself stood among them and said to them, “Peace be with you.”
37 They were startled and frightened, thinking they saw a ghost. 38 He said to them, “Why are you troubled, and why do doubts rise in your minds? 39 Look at my hands and my feet. It is I myself! Touch me and see; a ghost does not have flesh and bones, as you see I have.”
40 When he had said this, he showed them his hands and feet. 41 And while they still did not believe it because of joy and amazement, he asked them, “Do you have anything here to eat?” 42 They gave him a piece of broiled fish, 43 and he took it and ate it in their presence.
44 He said to them, “This is what I told you while I was still with you: Everything must be fulfilled that is written about me in the Law of Moses, the Prophets and the Psalms.”
45 Then he opened their minds so they could understand the Scriptures. 46 He told them, “This is what is written: The Messiah will suffer and rise from the dead on the third day, 47 and repentance for the forgiveness of sins will be preached in his name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem. 48 You are witnesses of these things. 49 I am going to send you what my Father has promised; but stay in the city until you have been clothed with power from on high.”
Luke 23:35-43
35The people stood watching, and the rulers even sneered at him. They said, “He saved others; let him save himself if he is God’s Messiah, the Chosen One.”
36The soldiers also came up and mocked him. They offered him wine vinegar 37and said, “If you are the king of the Jews, save yourself.”
38There was a written notice above him, which read: this is the king of the jews.
39One of the criminals who hung there hurled insults at him: “Aren’t you the Messiah? Save yourself and us!”
40But the other criminal rebuked him. “Don’t you fear God,” he said, “since you are under the same sentence? 41We are punished justly, for we are getting what our deeds deserve. But this man has done nothing wrong.”
42Then he said, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.[d]”
43Jesus answered him, “Truly I tell you, today you will be with me in paradise.”
Luke 24:25-35
25He said to them, “How foolish you are, and how slow to believe all that the prophets have spoken! 26Did not the Messiah have to suffer these things and then enter his glory?” 27And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he explained to them what was said in all the Scriptures concerning himself.
28As they approached the village to which they were going, Jesus continued on as if he were going farther. 29But they urged him strongly, “Stay with us, for it is nearly evening; the day is almost over.” So he went in to stay with them.
30When he was at the table with them, he took bread, gave thanks, broke it and began to give it to them. 31Then their eyes were opened and they recognized him, and he disappeared from their sight. 32They asked each other, “Were not our hearts burning within us while he talked with us on the road and opened the Scriptures to us?”
33They got up and returned at once to Jerusalem. There they found the Eleven and those with them, assembled together 34and saying, “It is true! The Lord has risen and has appeared to Simon.” 35Then the two told what had happened on the way, and how Jesus was recognized by them when he broke the bread.
Luke 23:26-34
26 As the soldiers led him away, they seized Simon from Cyrene, who was on his way in from the country, and put the cross on him and made him carry it behind Jesus. 27 A large number of people followed him, including women who mourned and wailed for him. 28 Jesus turned and said to them, “Daughters of Jerusalem, do not weep for me; weep for yourselves and for your children. 29 For the time will come when you will say, ‘Blessed are the childless women, the wombs that never bore and the breasts that never nursed!’ 30 Then
“‘they will say to the mountains, “Fall on us!”
and to the hills, “Cover us!”’[b]
31 For if people do these things when the tree is green, what will happen when it is dry?”
32 Two other men, both criminals, were also led out with him to be executed. 33 When they came to the place called the Skull, they crucified him there, along with the criminals—one on his right, the other on his left. 34 Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.”[c] And they divided up his clothes by casting lots.
Luke 23:17-25
18But the whole crowd shouted, “Away with this man! Release Barabbas to us!” 19(Barabbas had been thrown into prison for an insurrection in the city, and for murder.)
20Wanting to release Jesus, Pilate appealed to them again. 21But they kept shouting, “Crucify him! Crucify him!”
22For the third time he spoke to them: “Why? What crime has this man committed? I have found in him no grounds for the death penalty. Therefore I will have him punished and then release him.”
23But with loud shouts they insistently demanded that he be crucified, and their shouts prevailed. 24So Pilate decided to grant their demand. 25He released the man who had been thrown into prison for insurrection and murder, the one they asked for, and surrendered Jesus to their will.
Luke 23:1-16
Then the whole assembly rose and led him off to Pilate. 2 And they began to accuse him, saying, “We have found this man subverting our nation. He opposes payment of taxes to Caesar and claims to be Messiah, a king.”
3 So Pilate asked Jesus, “Are you the king of the Jews?”
“You have said so,” Jesus replied.
4 Then Pilate announced to the chief priests and the crowd, “I find no basis for a charge against this man.”
5 But they insisted, “He stirs up the people all over Judea by his teaching. He started in Galilee and has come all the way here.”
6 On hearing this, Pilate asked if the man was a Galilean. 7 When he learned that Jesus was under Herod’s jurisdiction, he sent him to Herod, who was also in Jerusalem at that time.
8 When Herod saw Jesus, he was greatly pleased, because for a long time he had been wanting to see him. From what he had heard about him, he hoped to see him perform a sign of some sort. 9 He plied him with many questions, but Jesus gave him no answer. 10 The chief priests and the teachers of the law were standing there, vehemently accusing him. 11 Then Herod and his soldiers ridiculed and mocked him. Dressing him in an elegant robe, they sent him back to Pilate. 12 That day Herod and Pilate became friends—before this they had been enemies.
13 Pilate called together the chief priests, the rulers and the people, 14 and said to them, “You brought me this man as one who was inciting the people to rebellion. I have examined him in your presence and have found no basis for your charges against him. 15 Neither has Herod, for he sent him back to us; as you can see, he has done nothing to deserve death. 16 Therefore, I will punish him and then release him.”
The Olympics served as a good reminder that the human race has always been in a battle for the gold. What we'll see is not only was this a problem with Jesus's disciples, it's at the core of all the strife we see in the world today. Listen in as Pastor David shares with us a great opportunity for the church at this present moment.
Luke 22:63-71
63The men who were guarding Jesus began mocking and beating him. 64They blindfolded him and demanded, “Prophesy! Who hit you?” 65And they said many other insulting things to him.
Jesus Before Pilate and Herod 66At daybreak the council of the elders of the people, both the chief priests and the teachers of the law, met together, and Jesus was led before them. 67“If you are the Messiah,” they said, “tell us.”
Jesus answered, “If I tell you, you will not believe me, 68and if I asked you, you would not answer. 69But from now on, the Son of Man will be seated at the right hand of the mighty God.”
70They all asked, “Are you then the Son of God?”
He replied, “You say that I am.”
71Then they said, “Why do we need any more testimony? We have heard it from his own lips.”
Luke 22:54-62
54Then seizing him, they led him away and took him into the house of the high priest. Peter followed at a distance. 55And when some there had kindled a fire in the middle of the courtyard and had sat down together, Peter sat down with them. 56A servant girl saw him seated there in the firelight. She looked closely at him and said, “This man was with him.”
57But he denied it. “Woman, I don’t know him,” he said.
58A little later someone else saw him and said, “You also are one of them.”
“Man, I am not!” Peter replied.
59About an hour later another asserted, “Certainly this fellow was with him, for he is a Galilean.”
60Peter replied, “Man, I don’t know what you’re talking about!” Just as he was speaking, the rooster crowed. 61The Lord turned and looked straight at Peter. Then Peter remembered the word the Lord had spoken to him: “Before the rooster crows today, you will disown me three times.” 62And he went outside and wept bitterly.
Luke 22:47-53
47While he was still speaking a crowd came up, and the man who was called Judas, one of the Twelve, was leading them. He approached Jesus to kiss him, 48but Jesus asked him, “Judas, are you betraying the Son of Man with a kiss?”
49When Jesus’ followers saw what was going to happen, they said, “Lord, should we strike with our swords?” 50And one of them struck the servant of the high priest, cutting off his right ear.
51But Jesus answered, “No more of this!” And he touched the man’s ear and healed him.
52Then Jesus said to the chief priests, the officers of the temple guard, and the elders, who had come for him, “Am I leading a rebellion, that you have come with swords and clubs? 53Every day I was with you in the temple courts, and you did not lay a hand on me. But this is your hour—when darkness reigns.”
Luke 22:39-46
39 Jesus went out as usual to the Mount of Olives, and his disciples followed him. 40 On reaching the place, he said to them, “Pray that you will not fall into temptation.” 41 He withdrew about a stone’s throw beyond them, knelt down and prayed, 42 “Father, if you are willing, take this cup from me; yet not my will, but yours be done.” 43 An angel from heaven appeared to him and strengthened him. 44 And being in anguish, he prayed more earnestly, and his sweat was like drops of blood falling to the ground.
45 When he rose from prayer and went back to the disciples, he found them asleep, exhausted from sorrow. 46 “Why are you sleeping?” he asked them. “Get up and pray so that you will not fall into temptation.”
Luke 22:24-38
24 A dispute also arose among them as to which of them was considered to be greatest. 25 Jesus said to them, “The kings of the Gentiles lord it over them; and those who exercise authority over them call themselves Benefactors. 26 But you are not to be like that. Instead, the greatest among you should be like the youngest, and the one who rules like the one who serves. 27 For who is greater, the one who is at the table or the one who serves? Is it not the one who is at the table? But I am among you as one who serves. 28 You are those who have stood by me in my trials. 29 And I confer on you a kingdom, just as my Father conferred one on me, 30 so that you may eat and drink at my table in my kingdom and sit on thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel.
31 “Simon, Simon, Satan has asked to sift all of you as wheat. 32 But I have prayed for you, Simon, that your faith may not fail. And when you have turned back, strengthen your brothers.”
33 But he replied, “Lord, I am ready to go with you to prison and to death.”
34 Jesus answered, “I tell you, Peter, before the rooster crows today, you will deny three times that you know me.”
35 Then Jesus asked them, “When I sent you without purse, bag or sandals, did you lack anything?”
“Nothing,” they answered.
36 He said to them, “But now if you have a purse, take it, and also a bag; and if you don’t have a sword, sell your cloak and buy one. 37 It is written: ‘And he was numbered with the transgressors’; and I tell you that this must be fulfilled in me. Yes, what is written about me is reaching its fulfillment.”
38 The disciples said, “See, Lord, here are two swords.”
“That’s enough!” he replied.
Luke 22:17-23
17After taking the cup, he gave thanks and said, “Take this and divide it among you. 18For I tell you I will not drink again from the fruit of the vine until the kingdom of God comes.”
19And he took bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to them, saying, “This is my body given for you; do this in remembrance of me.”
20In the same way, after the supper he took the cup, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood, which is poured out for you.[a] 21But the hand of him who is going to betray me is with mine on the table. 22The Son of Man will go as it has been decreed. But woe to that man who betrays him!” 23They began to question among themselves which of them it might be who would do this.
Luke 22:7-16
7Then came the day of Unleavened Bread on which the Passover lamb had to be sacrificed. 8Jesus sent Peter and John, saying, “Go and make preparations for us to eat the Passover.”
9“Where do you want us to prepare for it?” they asked.
10He replied, “As you enter the city, a man carrying a jar of water will meet you. Follow him to the house that he enters, 11and say to the owner of the house, ‘The Teacher asks: Where is the guest room, where I may eat the Passover with my disciples?’ 12He will show you a large room upstairs, all furnished. Make preparations there.”
13They left and found things just as Jesus had told them. So they prepared the Passover.
14When the hour came, Jesus and his apostles reclined at the table. 15And he said to them, “I have eagerly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer. 16For I tell you, I will not eat it again until it finds fulfillment in the kingdom of God.”
Now the Festival of Unleavened Bread, called the Passover, was approaching, 2and the chief priests and the teachers of the law were looking for some way to get rid of Jesus, for they were afraid of the people. 3Then Satan entered Judas, called Iscariot, one of the Twelve. 4And Judas went to the chief priests and the officers of the temple guard and discussed with them how he might betray Jesus. 5They were delighted and agreed to give him money. 6He consented, and watched for an opportunity to hand Jesus over to them when no crowd was present.
Luke 21:29-38
29He told them this parable: “Look at the fig tree and all the trees. 30When they sprout leaves, you can see for yourselves and know that summer is near. 31Even so, when you see these things happening, you know that the kingdom of God is near.
32“Truly I tell you, this generation will certainly not pass away until all these things have happened. 33Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away.
34“Be careful, or your hearts will be weighed down with carousing, drunkenness and the anxieties of life, and that day will close on you suddenly like a trap. 35For it will come on all those who live on the face of the whole earth. 36Be always on the watch, and pray that you may be able to escape all that is about to happen, and that you may be able to stand before the Son of Man.”
37Each day Jesus was teaching at the temple, and each evening he went out to spend the night on the hill called the Mount of Olives, 38and all the people came early in the morning to hear him at the temple.
Luke 21:20-28
20“When you see Jerusalem being surrounded by armies, you will know that its desolation is near. 21Then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains, let those in the city get out, and let those in the country not enter the city. 22For this is the time of punishment in fulfillment of all that has been written. 23How dreadful it will be in those days for pregnant women and nursing mothers! There will be great distress in the land and wrath against this people. 24They will fall by the sword and will be taken as prisoners to all the nations. Jerusalem will be trampled on by the Gentiles until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled.
25“There will be signs in the sun, moon and stars. On the earth, nations will be in anguish and perplexity at the roaring and tossing of the sea. 26People will faint from terror, apprehensive of what is coming on the world, for the heavenly bodies will be shaken. 27At that time they will see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory. 28When these things begin to take place, stand up and lift up your heads, because your redemption is drawing near.”
Luke 21:5-19
5 Some of his disciples were remarking about how the temple was adorned with beautiful stones and with gifts dedicated to God. But Jesus said, 6 “As for what you see here, the time will come when not one stone will be left on another; every one of them will be thrown down.”
7 “Teacher,” they asked, “when will these things happen? And what will be the sign that they are about to take place?”
8 He replied: “Watch out that you are not deceived. For many will come in my name, claiming, ‘I am he,’ and, ‘The time is near.’ Do not follow them. 9 When you hear of wars and uprisings, do not be frightened. These things must happen first, but the end will not come right away.”
10 Then he said to them: “Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. 11 There will be great earthquakes, famines and pestilences in various places, and fearful events and great signs from heaven.
12 “But before all this, they will seize you and persecute you. They will hand you over to synagogues and put you in prison, and you will be brought before kings and governors, and all on account of my name. 13 And so you will bear testimony to me. 14 But make up your mind not to worry beforehand how you will defend yourselves. 15 For I will give you words and wisdom that none of your adversaries will be able to resist or contradict. 16 You will be betrayed even by parents, brothers and sisters, relatives and friends, and they will put some of you to death. 17 Everyone will hate you because of me. 18 But not a hair of your head will perish. 19 Stand firm, and you will win life.
Luke 20:41-21:4
41 Then Jesus said to them, “Why is it said that the Messiah is the son of David? 42 David himself declares in the Book of Psalms:
“‘The Lord said to my Lord:
“Sit at my right hand
43 until I make your enemies
a footstool for your feet.”’[a]
44 David calls him ‘Lord.’ How then can he be his son?”
Warning Against the Teachers of the Law 45 While all the people were listening, Jesus said to his disciples, 46 “Beware of the teachers of the law. They like to walk around in flowing robes and love to be greeted with respect in the marketplaces and have the most important seats in the synagogues and the places of honor at banquets. 47 They devour widows’ houses and for a show make lengthy prayers. These men will be punished most severely.”
The Widow’s Offering 21 As Jesus looked up, he saw the rich putting their gifts into the temple treasury. 2 He also saw a poor widow put in two very small copper coins. 3 “Truly I tell you,” he said, “this poor widow has put in more than all the others. 4 All these people gave their gifts out of their wealth; but she out of her poverty put in all she had to live on.”
Luke 20:20-40
20 Keeping a close watch on him, they sent spies, who pretended to be sincere. They hoped to catch Jesus in something he said, so that they might hand him over to the power and authority of the governor. 21 So the spies questioned him: “Teacher, we know that you speak and teach what is right, and that you do not show partiality but teach the way of God in accordance with the truth. 22 Is it right for us to pay taxes to Caesar or not?”
23 He saw through their duplicity and said to them, 24 “Show me a denarius. Whose image and inscription are on it?”
“Caesar’s,” they replied.
25 He said to them, “Then give back to Caesar what is Caesar’s, and to God what is God’s.”
26 They were unable to trap him in what he had said there in public. And astonished by his answer, they became silent.
The Resurrection and Marriage 27 Some of the Sadducees, who say there is no resurrection, came to Jesus with a question. 28 “Teacher,” they said, “Moses wrote for us that if a man’s brother dies and leaves a wife but no children, the man must marry the widow and raise up offspring for his brother. 29 Now there were seven brothers. The first one married a woman and died childless. 30 The second 31 and then the third married her, and in the same way the seven died, leaving no children. 32 Finally, the woman died too. 33 Now then, at the resurrection whose wife will she be, since the seven were married to her?”
34 Jesus replied, “The people of this age marry and are given in marriage. 35 But those who are considered worthy of taking part in the age to come and in the resurrection from the dead will neither marry nor be given in marriage, 36 and they can no longer die; for they are like the angels. They are God’s children, since they are children of the resurrection. 37 But in the account of the burning bush, even Moses showed that the dead rise, for he calls the Lord ‘the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.’[a] 38 He is not the God of the dead, but of the living, for to him all are alive.”
39 Some of the teachers of the law responded, “Well said, teacher!” 40 And no one dared to ask him any more questions.
Luke 20:9-19
9 He went on to tell the people this parable: “A man planted a vineyard, rented it to some farmers and went away for a long time. 10 At harvest time he sent a servant to the tenants so they would give him some of the fruit of the vineyard. But the tenants beat him and sent him away empty-handed. 11 He sent another servant, but that one also they beat and treated shamefully and sent away empty-handed. 12 He sent still a third, and they wounded him and threw him out.
13 “Then the owner of the vineyard said, ‘What shall I do? I will send my son, whom I love; perhaps they will respect him.’
14 “But when the tenants saw him, they talked the matter over. ‘This is the heir,’ they said. ‘Let’s kill him, and the inheritance will be ours.’ 15 So they threw him out of the vineyard and killed him.
“What then will the owner of the vineyard do to them? 16 He will come and kill those tenants and give the vineyard to others.”
When the people heard this, they said, “God forbid!”
17 Jesus looked directly at them and asked, “Then what is the meaning of that which is written:
“‘The stone the builders rejected
has become the cornerstone’[a]?
18 Everyone who falls on that stone will be broken to pieces; anyone on whom it falls will be crushed.”
19 The teachers of the law and the chief priests looked for a way to arrest him immediately, because they knew he had spoken this parable against them. But they were afraid of the people.
Luke 20:1-8
One day as Jesus was teaching the people in the temple courts and proclaiming the good news, the chief priests and the teachers of the law, together with the elders, came up to him. 2“Tell us by what authority you are doing these things,” they said. “Who gave you this authority?”
3He replied, “I will also ask you a question. Tell me: 4John’s baptism—was it from heaven, or of human origin?”
5They discussed it among themselves and said, “If we say, ‘From heaven,’ he will ask, ‘Why didn’t you believe him?’ 6But if we say, ‘Of human origin,’ all the people will stone us, because they are persuaded that John was a prophet.”
7So they answered, “We don’t know where it was from.”
8Jesus said, “Neither will I tell you by what authority I am doing these things.”
Luke 19:45-48
45When Jesus entered the temple courts, he began to drive out those who were selling. 46“It is written,” he said to them, “‘My house will be a house of prayer’[c]; but you have made it ‘a den of robbers.’[d]”
47Every day he was teaching at the temple. But the chief priests, the teachers of the law and the leaders among the people were trying to kill him. 48Yet they could not find any way to do it, because all the people hung on his words.
28 After Jesus had said this, he went on ahead, going up to Jerusalem. 29 As he approached Bethphage and Bethany at the hill called the Mount of Olives, he sent two of his disciples, saying to them, 30 “Go to the village ahead of you, and as you enter it, you will find a colt tied there, which no one has ever ridden. Untie it and bring it here. 31 If anyone asks you, ‘Why are you untying it?’ say, ‘The Lord needs it.’”
32 Those who were sent ahead went and found it just as he had told them. 33 As they were untying the colt, its owners asked them, “Why are you untying the colt?”
34 They replied, “The Lord needs it.”
35 They brought it to Jesus, threw their cloaks on the colt and put Jesus on it. 36 As he went along, people spread their cloaks on the road.
37 When he came near the place where the road goes down the Mount of Olives, the whole crowd of disciples began joyfully to praise God in loud voices for all the miracles they had seen:
38 “Blessed is the king who comes in the name of the Lord!”[a]
“Peace in heaven and glory in the highest!”
39 Some of the Pharisees in the crowd said to Jesus, “Teacher, rebuke your disciples!”
40 “I tell you,” he replied, “if they keep quiet, the stones will cry out.”
41 As he approached Jerusalem and saw the city, he wept over it 42 and said, “If you, even you, had only known on this day what would bring you peace—but now it is hidden from your eyes. 43 The days will come upon you when your enemies will build an embankment against you and encircle you and hem you in on every side. 44 They will dash you to the ground, you and the children within your walls. They will not leave one stone on another, because you did not recognize the time of God’s coming to you.”
Luke 19:11-27
11 While they were listening to this, he went on to tell them a parable, because he was near Jerusalem and the people thought that the kingdom of God was going to appear at once. 12 He said: “A man of noble birth went to a distant country to have himself appointed king and then to return. 13 So he called ten of his servants and gave them ten minas.[a] ‘Put this money to work,’ he said, ‘until I come back.’
14 “But his subjects hated him and sent a delegation after him to say, ‘We don’t want this man to be our king.’
15 “He was made king, however, and returned home. Then he sent for the servants to whom he had given the money, in order to find out what they had gained with it.
16 “The first one came and said, ‘Sir, your mina has earned ten more.’
17 “‘Well done, my good servant!’ his master replied. ‘Because you have been trustworthy in a very small matter, take charge of ten cities.’
18 “The second came and said, ‘Sir, your mina has earned five more.’
19 “His master answered, ‘You take charge of five cities.’
20 “Then another servant came and said, ‘Sir, here is your mina; I have kept it laid away in a piece of cloth. 21 I was afraid of you, because you are a hard man. You take out what you did not put in and reap what you did not sow.’
22 “His master replied, ‘I will judge you by your own words, you wicked servant! You knew, did you, that I am a hard man, taking out what I did not put in, and reaping what I did not sow? 23 Why then didn’t you put my money on deposit, so that when I came back, I could have collected it with interest?’
24 “Then he said to those standing by, ‘Take his mina away from him and give it to the one who has ten minas.’
25 “‘Sir,’ they said, ‘he already has ten!’
26 “He replied, ‘I tell you that to everyone who has, more will be given, but as for the one who has nothing, even what they have will be taken away. 27 But those enemies of mine who did not want me to be king over them—bring them here and kill them in front of me.’”
Luke 19:1-10
Jesus entered Jericho and was passing through. 2A man was there by the name of Zacchaeus; he was a chief tax collector and was wealthy. 3He wanted to see who Jesus was, but because he was short he could not see over the crowd. 4So he ran ahead and climbed a sycamore-fig tree to see him, since Jesus was coming that way.
5When Jesus reached the spot, he looked up and said to him, “Zacchaeus, come down immediately. I must stay at your house today.” 6So he came down at once and welcomed him gladly.
7All the people saw this and began to mutter, “He has gone to be the guest of a sinner.”
8But Zacchaeus stood up and said to the Lord, “Look, Lord! Here and now I give half of my possessions to the poor, and if I have cheated anybody out of anything, I will pay back four times the amount.”
9Jesus said to him, “Today salvation has come to this house, because this man, too, is a son of Abraham. 10For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.”
Luke 18:31-43
31 Jesus took the Twelve aside and told them, “We are going up to Jerusalem, and everything that is written by the prophets about the Son of Man will be fulfilled. 32 He will be delivered over to the Gentiles. They will mock him, insult him and spit on him; 33 they will flog him and kill him. On the third day he will rise again.”
34 The disciples did not understand any of this. Its meaning was hidden from them, and they did not know what he was talking about.
A Blind Beggar Receives His Sight 35 As Jesus approached Jericho, a blind man was sitting by the roadside begging. 36 When he heard the crowd going by, he asked what was happening. 37 They told him, “Jesus of Nazareth is passing by.”
38 He called out, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!”
39 Those who led the way rebuked him and told him to be quiet, but he shouted all the more, “Son of David, have mercy on me!”
40 Jesus stopped and ordered the man to be brought to him. When he came near, Jesus asked him, 41 “What do you want me to do for you?”
“Lord, I want to see,” he replied.
42 Jesus said to him, “Receive your sight; your faith has healed you.” 43 Immediately he received his sight and followed Jesus, praising God. When all the people saw it, they also praised God.
Luke 18:15-30
15 People were also bringing babies to Jesus for him to place his hands on them. When the disciples saw this, they rebuked them. 16 But Jesus called the children to him and said, “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. 17 Truly I tell you, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it.”
The Rich and the Kingdom of God 18 A certain ruler asked him, “Good teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?”
19 “Why do you call me good?” Jesus answered. “No one is good—except God alone. 20 You know the commandments: ‘You shall not commit adultery, you shall not murder, you shall not steal, you shall not give false testimony, honor your father and mother.’[a]”
21 “All these I have kept since I was a boy,” he said.
22 When Jesus heard this, he said to him, “You still lack one thing. Sell everything you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.”
23 When he heard this, he became very sad, because he was very wealthy. 24 Jesus looked at him and said, “How hard it is for the rich to enter the kingdom of God! 25 Indeed, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of God.”
26 Those who heard this asked, “Who then can be saved?”
27 Jesus replied, “What is impossible with man is possible with God.”
28 Peter said to him, “We have left all we had to follow you!”
29 “Truly I tell you,” Jesus said to them, “no one who has left home or wife or brothers or sisters or parents or children for the sake of the kingdom of God 30 will fail to receive many times as much in this age, and in the age to come eternal life.”
Luke 18:1-14
Then Jesus told his disciples a parable to show them that they should always pray and not give up. 2 He said: “In a certain town there was a judge who neither feared God nor cared what people thought. 3 And there was a widow in that town who kept coming to him with the plea, ‘Grant me justice against my adversary.’
4 “For some time he refused. But finally he said to himself, ‘Even though I don’t fear God or care what people think, 5 yet because this widow keeps bothering me, I will see that she gets justice, so that she won’t eventually come and attack me!’”
6 And the Lord said, “Listen to what the unjust judge says. 7 And will not God bring about justice for his chosen ones, who cry out to him day and night? Will he keep putting them off? 8 I tell you, he will see that they get justice, and quickly. However, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on the earth?”
The Parable of the Pharisee and the Tax Collector 9 To some who were confident of their own righteousness and looked down on everyone else, Jesus told this parable: 10 “Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. 11 The Pharisee stood by himself and prayed: ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other people—robbers, evildoers, adulterers—or even like this tax collector. 12 I fast twice a week and give a tenth of all I get.’
13 “But the tax collector stood at a distance. He would not even look up to heaven, but beat his breast and said, ‘God, have mercy on me, a sinner.’
14 “I tell you that this man, rather than the other, went home justified before God. For all those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.”
Luke 17:20-37
20 Once, on being asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God would come, Jesus replied, “The coming of the kingdom of God is not something that can be observed, 21 nor will people say, ‘Here it is,’ or ‘There it is,’ because the kingdom of God is in your midst.”
22 Then he said to his disciples, “The time is coming when you will long to see one of the days of the Son of Man, but you will not see it. 23 People will tell you, ‘There he is!’ or ‘Here he is!’ Do not go running off after them. 24 For the Son of Man in his day will be like the lightning, which flashes and lights up the sky from one end to the other. 25 But first he must suffer many things and be rejected by this generation.
26 “Just as it was in the days of Noah, so also will it be in the days of the Son of Man. 27 People were eating, drinking, marrying and being given in marriage up to the day Noah entered the ark. Then the flood came and destroyed them all.
28 “It was the same in the days of Lot. People were eating and drinking, buying and selling, planting and building. 29 But the day Lot left Sodom, fire and sulfur rained down from heaven and destroyed them all.
30 “It will be just like this on the day the Son of Man is revealed. 31 On that day no one who is on the housetop, with possessions inside, should go down to get them. Likewise, no one in the field should go back for anything. 32 Remember Lot’s wife! 33 Whoever tries to keep their life will lose it, and whoever loses their life will preserve it. 34 I tell you, on that night two people will be in one bed; one will be taken and the other left. 35 Two women will be grinding grain together; one will be taken and the other left.” [36] [e]
37 “Where, Lord?” they asked.
He replied, “Where there is a dead body, there the vultures will gather.”
Luke 17:11-19
11Now on his way to Jerusalem, Jesus traveled along the border between Samaria and Galilee. 12As he was going into a village, ten men who had leprosy met him. They stood at a distance 13and called out in a loud voice, “Jesus, Master, have pity on us!”
14When he saw them, he said, “Go, show yourselves to the priests.” And as they went, they were cleansed.
15One of them, when he saw he was healed, came back, praising God in a loud voice. 16He threw himself at Jesus’ feet and thanked him—and he was a Samaritan.
17Jesus asked, “Were not all ten cleansed? Where are the other nine? 18Has no one returned to give praise to God except this foreigner?” 19Then he said to him, “Rise and go; your faith has made you well.”
Luke 17:1-10
Jesus said to his disciples: “Things that cause people to stumble are bound to come, but woe to anyone through whom they come. 2 It would be better for them to be thrown into the sea with a millstone tied around their neck than to cause one of these little ones to stumble. 3 So watch yourselves.
“If your brother or sister[a] sins against you, rebuke them; and if they repent, forgive them. 4 Even if they sin against you seven times in a day and seven times come back to you saying ‘I repent,’ you must forgive them.”
5 The apostles said to the Lord, “Increase our faith!”
6 He replied, “If you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mulberry tree, ‘Be uprooted and planted in the sea,’ and it will obey you.
7 “Suppose one of you has a servant plowing or looking after the sheep. Will he say to the servant when he comes in from the field, ‘Come along now and sit down to eat’? 8 Won’t he rather say, ‘Prepare my supper, get yourself ready and wait on me while I eat and drink; after that you may eat and drink’? 9 Will he thank the servant because he did what he was told to do? 10 So you also, when you have done everything you were told to do, should say, ‘We are unworthy servants; we have only done our duty.’”
Luke 16:19-31
19 “There was a rich man who was dressed in purple and fine linen and lived in luxury every day. 20 At his gate was laid a beggar named Lazarus, covered with sores 21 and longing to eat what fell from the rich man’s table. Even the dogs came and licked his sores.
22 “The time came when the beggar died and the angels carried him to Abraham’s side. The rich man also died and was buried. 23 In Hades, where he was in torment, he looked up and saw Abraham far away, with Lazarus by his side. 24 So he called to him, ‘Father Abraham, have pity on me and send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue, because I am in agony in this fire.’
25 “But Abraham replied, ‘Son, remember that in your lifetime you received your good things, while Lazarus received bad things, but now he is comforted here and you are in agony. 26 And besides all this, between us and you a great chasm has been set in place, so that those who want to go from here to you cannot, nor can anyone cross over from there to us.’
27 “He answered, ‘Then I beg you, father, send Lazarus to my family, 28 for I have five brothers. Let him warn them, so that they will not also come to this place of torment.’
29 “Abraham replied, ‘They have Moses and the Prophets; let them listen to them.’
30 “‘No, father Abraham,’ he said, ‘but if someone from the dead goes to them, they will repent.’
31 “He said to him, ‘If they do not listen to Moses and the Prophets, they will not be convinced even if someone rises from the dead.’”
Luke 16:16-18
16“The Law and the Prophets were proclaimed until John. Since that time, the good news of the kingdom of God is being preached, and everyone is forcing their way into it. 17It is easier for heaven and earth to disappear than for the least stroke of a pen to drop out of the Law.
18“Anyone who divorces his wife and marries another woman commits adultery, and the man who marries a divorced woman commits adultery.
Luke 16:1-15
Jesus told his disciples: “There was a rich man whose manager was accused of wasting his possessions. 2 So he called him in and asked him, ‘What is this I hear about you? Give an account of your management, because you cannot be manager any longer.’
3 “The manager said to himself, ‘What shall I do now? My master is taking away my job. I’m not strong enough to dig, and I’m ashamed to beg— 4 I know what I’ll do so that, when I lose my job here, people will welcome me into their houses.’
5 “So he called in each one of his master’s debtors. He asked the first, ‘How much do you owe my master?’
6 “‘Nine hundred gallons of olive oil,’ he replied.
“The manager told him, ‘Take your bill, sit down quickly, and make it four hundred and fifty.’
7 “Then he asked the second, ‘And how much do you owe?’
“‘A thousand bushels of wheat,’ he replied.
“He told him, ‘Take your bill and make it eight hundred.’
8 “The master commended the dishonest manager because he had acted shrewdly. For the people of this world are more shrewd in dealing with their own kind than are the people of the light. 9 I tell you, use worldly wealth to gain friends for yourselves, so that when it is gone, you will be welcomed into eternal dwellings.
10 “Whoever can be trusted with very little can also be trusted with much, and whoever is dishonest with very little will also be dishonest with much. 11 So if you have not been trustworthy in handling worldly wealth, who will trust you with true riches? 12 And if you have not been trustworthy with someone else’s property, who will give you property of your own?
13 “No one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money.”
14 The Pharisees, who loved money, heard all this and were sneering at Jesus. 15 He said to them, “You are the ones who justify yourselves in the eyes of others, but God knows your hearts. What people value highly is detestable in God’s sight.
Luke 15:11-32
11 Jesus continued: “There was a man who had two sons. 12 The younger one said to his father, ‘Father, give me my share of the estate.’ So he divided his property between them.
13 “Not long after that, the younger son got together all he had, set off for a distant country and there squandered his wealth in wild living. 14 After he had spent everything, there was a severe famine in that whole country, and he began to be in need. 15 So he went and hired himself out to a citizen of that country, who sent him to his fields to feed pigs. 16 He longed to fill his stomach with the pods that the pigs were eating, but no one gave him anything.
17 “When he came to his senses, he said, ‘How many of my father’s hired servants have food to spare, and here I am starving to death! 18 I will set out and go back to my father and say to him: Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. 19 I am no longer worthy to be called your son; make me like one of your hired servants.’ 20 So he got up and went to his father.
“But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion for him; he ran to his son, threw his arms around him and kissed him.
21 “The son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son.’
22 “But the father said to his servants, ‘Quick! Bring the best robe and put it on him. Put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet. 23 Bring the fattened calf and kill it. Let’s have a feast and celebrate. 24 For this son of mine was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.’ So they began to celebrate.
25 “Meanwhile, the older son was in the field. When he came near the house, he heard music and dancing. 26 So he called one of the servants and asked him what was going on. 27 ‘Your brother has come,’ he replied, ‘and your father has killed the fattened calf because he has him back safe and sound.’
28 “The older brother became angry and refused to go in. So his father went out and pleaded with him. 29 But he answered his father, ‘Look! All these years I’ve been slaving for you and never disobeyed your orders. Yet you never gave me even a young goat so I could celebrate with my friends. 30 But when this son of yours who has squandered your property with prostitutes comes home, you kill the fattened calf for him!’
31 “‘My son,’ the father said, ‘you are always with me, and everything I have is yours. 32 But we had to celebrate and be glad, because this brother of yours was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.’”
Luke 15:1-10
Now the tax collectors and sinners were all gathering around to hear Jesus. 2 But the Pharisees and the teachers of the law muttered, “This man welcomes sinners and eats with them.”
3 Then Jesus told them this parable: 4 “Suppose one of you has a hundred sheep and loses one of them. Doesn’t he leave the ninety-nine in the open country and go after the lost sheep until he finds it? 5 And when he finds it, he joyfully puts it on his shoulders 6 and goes home. Then he calls his friends and neighbors together and says, ‘Rejoice with me; I have found my lost sheep.’ 7 I tell you that in the same way there will be more rejoicing in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who do not need to repent.
The Parable of the Lost Coin 8 “Or suppose a woman has ten silver coins[a] and loses one. Doesn’t she light a lamp, sweep the house and search carefully until she finds it? 9 And when she finds it, she calls her friends and neighbors together and says, ‘Rejoice with me; I have found my lost coin.’ 10 In the same way, I tell you, there is rejoicing in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents.”
Luke 14:25-35
25 Large crowds were traveling with Jesus, and turning to them he said: 26 “If anyone comes to me and does not hate father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters—yes, even their own life—such a person cannot be my disciple. 27 And whoever does not carry their cross and follow me cannot be my disciple.
28 “Suppose one of you wants to build a tower. Won’t you first sit down and estimate the cost to see if you have enough money to complete it? 29 For if you lay the foundation and are not able to finish it, everyone who sees it will ridicule you, 30 saying, ‘This person began to build and wasn’t able to finish.’
31 “Or suppose a king is about to go to war against another king. Won’t he first sit down and consider whether he is able with ten thousand men to oppose the one coming against him with twenty thousand? 32 If he is not able, he will send a delegation while the other is still a long way off and will ask for terms of peace. 33 In the same way, those of you who do not give up everything you have cannot be my disciples.
34 “Salt is good, but if it loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? 35 It is fit neither for the soil nor for the manure pile; it is thrown out.
“Whoever has ears to hear, let them hear.”
Luke 14:15-24
15 When one of those at the table with him heard this, he said to Jesus, “Blessed is the one who will eat at the feast in the kingdom of God.”
16 Jesus replied: “A certain man was preparing a great banquet and invited many guests. 17 At the time of the banquet he sent his servant to tell those who had been invited, ‘Come, for everything is now ready.’
18 “But they all alike began to make excuses. The first said, ‘I have just bought a field, and I must go and see it. Please excuse me.’
19 “Another said, ‘I have just bought five yoke of oxen, and I’m on my way to try them out. Please excuse me.’
20 “Still another said, ‘I just got married, so I can’t come.’
21 “The servant came back and reported this to his master. Then the owner of the house became angry and ordered his servant, ‘Go out quickly into the streets and alleys of the town and bring in the poor, the crippled, the blind and the lame.’
22 “‘Sir,’ the servant said, ‘what you ordered has been done, but there is still room.’
23 “Then the master told his servant, ‘Go out to the roads and country lanes and compel them to come in, so that my house will be full. 24 I tell you, not one of those who were invited will get a taste of my banquet.’”
Luke 14:1-14
One Sabbath, when Jesus went to eat in the house of a prominent Pharisee, he was being carefully watched. 2 There in front of him was a man suffering from abnormal swelling of his body. 3 Jesus asked the Pharisees and experts in the law, “Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath or not?” 4 But they remained silent. So taking hold of the man, he healed him and sent him on his way.
5 Then he asked them, “If one of you has a child[a] or an ox that falls into a well on the Sabbath day, will you not immediately pull it out?” 6 And they had nothing to say.
7 When he noticed how the guests picked the places of honor at the table, he told them this parable: 8 “When someone invites you to a wedding feast, do not take the place of honor, for a person more distinguished than you may have been invited. 9 If so, the host who invited both of you will come and say to you, ‘Give this person your seat.’ Then, humiliated, you will have to take the least important place. 10 But when you are invited, take the lowest place, so that when your host comes, he will say to you, ‘Friend, move up to a better place.’ Then you will be honored in the presence of all the other guests. 11 For all those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.”
12 Then Jesus said to his host, “When you give a luncheon or dinner, do not invite your friends, your brothers or sisters, your relatives, or your rich neighbors; if you do, they may invite you back and so you will be repaid. 13 But when you give a banquet, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind, 14 and you will be blessed. Although they cannot repay you, you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous.”
Luke 13:31-35
31At that time some Pharisees came to Jesus and said to him, “Leave this place and go somewhere else. Herod wants to kill you.”
32He replied, “Go tell that fox, ‘I will keep on driving out demons and healing people today and tomorrow, and on the third day I will reach my goal.’ 33In any case, I must press on today and tomorrow and the next day—for surely no prophet can die outside Jerusalem!
34“Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kill the prophets and stone those sent to you, how often I have longed to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, and you were not willing. 35Look, your house is left to you desolate. I tell you, you will not see me again until you say, ‘Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.’[a]”
Luke 13:18-30
18 Then Jesus asked, “What is the kingdom of God like? What shall I compare it to? 19 It is like a mustard seed, which a man took and planted in his garden. It grew and became a tree, and the birds perched in its branches.”
20 Again he asked, “What shall I compare the kingdom of God to? 21 It is like yeast that a woman took and mixed into about sixty pounds[a] of flour until it worked all through the dough.”
22 Then Jesus went through the towns and villages, teaching as he made his way to Jerusalem. 23 Someone asked him, “Lord, are only a few people going to be saved?”
He said to them, 24 “Make every effort to enter through the narrow door, because many, I tell you, will try to enter and will not be able to. 25 Once the owner of the house gets up and closes the door, you will stand outside knocking and pleading, ‘Sir, open the door for us.’
“But he will answer, ‘I don’t know you or where you come from.’
26 “Then you will say, ‘We ate and drank with you, and you taught in our streets.’
27 “But he will reply, ‘I don’t know you or where you come from. Away from me, all you evildoers!’
28 “There will be weeping there, and gnashing of teeth, when you see Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and all the prophets in the kingdom of God, but you yourselves thrown out. 29 People will come from east and west and north and south, and will take their places at the feast in the kingdom of God. 30 Indeed there are those who are last who will be first, and first who will be last.”
Luke 13:10-17
10On a Sabbath Jesus was teaching in one of the synagogues, 11and a woman was there who had been crippled by a spirit for eighteen years. She was bent over and could not straighten up at all. 12When Jesus saw her, he called her forward and said to her, “Woman, you are set free from your infirmity.” 13Then he put his hands on her, and immediately she straightened up and praised God.
14Indignant because Jesus had healed on the Sabbath, the synagogue leader said to the people, “There are six days for work. So come and be healed on those days, not on the Sabbath.”
15The Lord answered him, “You hypocrites! Doesn’t each of you on the Sabbath untie your ox or donkey from the stall and lead it out to give it water? 16Then should not this woman, a daughter of Abraham, whom Satan has kept bound for eighteen long years, be set free on the Sabbath day from what bound her?”
17When he said this, all his opponents were humiliated, but the people were delighted with all the wonderful things he was doing.
Luke 13:1-19
Now there were some present at that time who told Jesus about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mixed with their sacrifices. 2Jesus answered, “Do you think that these Galileans were worse sinners than all the other Galileans because they suffered this way? 3I tell you, no! But unless you repent, you too will all perish. 4Or those eighteen who died when the tower in Siloam fell on them—do you think they were more guilty than all the others living in Jerusalem? 5I tell you, no! But unless you repent, you too will all perish.”
6Then he told this parable: “A man had a fig tree growing in his vineyard, and he went to look for fruit on it but did not find any. 7So he said to the man who took care of the vineyard, ‘For three years now I’ve been coming to look for fruit on this fig tree and haven’t found any. Cut it down! Why should it use up the soil?’
8“‘Sir,’ the man replied, ‘leave it alone for one more year, and I’ll dig around it and fertilize it. 9If it bears fruit next year, fine! If not, then cut it down.’”
Luke 12:49-59
49 “I have come to bring fire on the earth, and how I wish it were already kindled! 50 But I have a baptism to undergo, and what constraint I am under until it is completed! 51 Do you think I came to bring peace on earth? No, I tell you, but division. 52 From now on there will be five in one family divided against each other, three against two and two against three. 53 They will be divided, father against son and son against father, mother against daughter and daughter against mother, mother-in-law against daughter-in-law and daughter-in-law against mother-in-law.”
Interpreting the Times 54 He said to the crowd: “When you see a cloud rising in the west, immediately you say, ‘It’s going to rain,’ and it does. 55 And when the south wind blows, you say, ‘It’s going to be hot,’ and it is. 56 Hypocrites! You know how to interpret the appearance of the earth and the sky. How is it that you don’t know how to interpret this present time?
57 “Why don’t you judge for yourselves what is right? 58 As you are going with your adversary to the magistrate, try hard to be reconciled on the way, or your adversary may drag you off to the judge, and the judge turn you over to the officer, and the officer throw you into prison. 59 I tell you, you will not get out until you have paid the last penny.”
Luke 12:35-48
35 “Be dressed ready for service and keep your lamps burning, 36 like servants waiting for their master to return from a wedding banquet, so that when he comes and knocks they can immediately open the door for him. 37 It will be good for those servants whose master finds them watching when he comes. Truly I tell you, he will dress himself to serve, will have them recline at the table and will come and wait on them. 38 It will be good for those servants whose master finds them ready, even if he comes in the middle of the night or toward daybreak. 39 But understand this: If the owner of the house had known at what hour the thief was coming, he would not have let his house be broken into. 40 You also must be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect him.”
41 Peter asked, “Lord, are you telling this parable to us, or to everyone?”
42 The Lord answered, “Who then is the faithful and wise manager, whom the master puts in charge of his servants to give them their food allowance at the proper time? 43 It will be good for that servant whom the master finds doing so when he returns. 44 Truly I tell you, he will put him in charge of all his possessions. 45 But suppose the servant says to himself, ‘My master is taking a long time in coming,’ and he then begins to beat the other servants, both men and women, and to eat and drink and get drunk. 46 The master of that servant will come on a day when he does not expect him and at an hour he is not aware of. He will cut him to pieces and assign him a place with the unbelievers.
47 “The servant who knows the master’s will and does not get ready or does not do what the master wants will be beaten with many blows. 48 But the one who does not know and does things deserving punishment will be beaten with few blows. From everyone who has been given much, much will be demanded; and from the one who has been entrusted with much, much more will be asked.
Luke 12:22-34
22 Then Jesus said to his disciples: “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat; or about your body, what you will wear. 23 For life is more than food, and the body more than clothes. 24 Consider the ravens: They do not sow or reap, they have no storeroom or barn; yet God feeds them. And how much more valuable you are than birds! 25 Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to your life? 26 Since you cannot do this very little thing, why do you worry about the rest?
27 “Consider how the wild flowers grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you, not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. 28 If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today, and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, how much more will he clothe you—you of little faith! 29 And do not set your heart on what you will eat or drink; do not worry about it. 30 For the pagan world runs after all such things, and your Father knows that you need them. 31 But seek his kingdom, and these things will be given to you as well.
32 “Do not be afraid, little flock, for your Father has been pleased to give you the kingdom. 33 Sell your possessions and give to the poor. Provide purses for yourselves that will not wear out, a treasure in heaven that will never fail, where no thief comes near and no moth destroys. 34 For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
13Someone in the crowd said to him, “Teacher, tell my brother to divide the inheritance with me.”
14Jesus replied, “Man, who appointed me a judge or an arbiter between you?” 15Then he said to them, “Watch out! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; life does not consist in an abundance of possessions.”
16And he told them this parable: “The ground of a certain rich man yielded an abundant harvest. 17He thought to himself, ‘What shall I do? I have no place to store my crops.’
18“Then he said, ‘This is what I’ll do. I will tear down my barns and build bigger ones, and there I will store my surplus grain. 19And I’ll say to myself, “You have plenty of grain laid up for many years. Take life easy; eat, drink and be merry.”’
20“But God said to him, ‘You fool! This very night your life will be demanded from you. Then who will get what you have prepared for yourself?’
21“This is how it will be with whoever stores up things for themselves but is not rich toward God.”
Luke 12:1-12
Meanwhile, when a crowd of many thousands had gathered, so that they were trampling on one another, Jesus began to speak first to his disciples, saying: “Be on your guard against the yeast of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy. 2 There is nothing concealed that will not be disclosed, or hidden that will not be made known. 3 What you have said in the dark will be heard in the daylight, and what you have whispered in the ear in the inner rooms will be proclaimed from the roofs.
4 “I tell you, my friends, do not be afraid of those who kill the body and after that can do no more. 5 But I will show you whom you should fear: Fear him who, after your body has been killed, has authority to throw you into hell. Yes, I tell you, fear him. 6 Are not five sparrows sold for two pennies? Yet not one of them is forgotten by God. 7 Indeed, the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Don’t be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows.
8 “I tell you, whoever publicly acknowledges me before others, the Son of Man will also acknowledge before the angels of God. 9 But whoever disowns me before others will be disowned before the angels of God. 10 And everyone who speaks a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven, but anyone who blasphemes against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven.
11 “When you are brought before synagogues, rulers and authorities, do not worry about how you will defend yourselves or what you will say, 12 for the Holy Spirit will teach you at that time what you should say.”
Luke 11:37-54
37 When Jesus had finished speaking, a Pharisee invited him to eat with him; so he went in and reclined at the table. 38 But the Pharisee was surprised when he noticed that Jesus did not first wash before the meal.
39 Then the Lord said to him, “Now then, you Pharisees clean the outside of the cup and dish, but inside you are full of greed and wickedness. 40 You foolish people! Did not the one who made the outside make the inside also? 41 But now as for what is inside you—be generous to the poor, and everything will be clean for you.
42 “Woe to you Pharisees, because you give God a tenth of your mint, rue and all other kinds of garden herbs, but you neglect justice and the love of God. You should have practiced the latter without leaving the former undone.
43 “Woe to you Pharisees, because you love the most important seats in the synagogues and respectful greetings in the marketplaces.
44 “Woe to you, because you are like unmarked graves, which people walk over without knowing it.”
45 One of the experts in the law answered him, “Teacher, when you say these things, you insult us also.”
46 Jesus replied, “And you experts in the law, woe to you, because you load people down with burdens they can hardly carry, and you yourselves will not lift one finger to help them.
47 “Woe to you, because you build tombs for the prophets, and it was your ancestors who killed them. 48 So you testify that you approve of what your ancestors did; they killed the prophets, and you build their tombs. 49 Because of this, God in his wisdom said, ‘I will send them prophets and apostles, some of whom they will kill and others they will persecute.’ 50 Therefore this generation will be held responsible for the blood of all the prophets that has been shed since the beginning of the world, 51 from the blood of Abel to the blood of Zechariah, who was killed between the altar and the sanctuary. Yes, I tell you, this generation will be held responsible for it all.
52 “Woe to you experts in the law, because you have taken away the key to knowledge. You yourselves have not entered, and you have hindered those who were entering.”
53 When Jesus went outside, the Pharisees and the teachers of the law began to oppose him fiercely and to besiege him with questions, 54 waiting to catch him in something he might say.
Luke 11:29-36
The Sign of Jonah 29As the crowds increased, Jesus said, “This is a wicked generation. It asks for a sign, but none will be given it except the sign of Jonah. 30For as Jonah was a sign to the Ninevites, so also will the Son of Man be to this generation. 31The Queen of the South will rise at the judgment with the people of this generation and condemn them, for she came from the ends of the earth to listen to Solomon’s wisdom; and now something greater than Solomon is here. 32The men of Nineveh will stand up at the judgment with this generation and condemn it, for they repented at the preaching of Jonah; and now something greater than Jonah is here.
The Lamp of the Body 33“No one lights a lamp and puts it in a place where it will be hidden, or under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, so that those who come in may see the light. 34Your eye is the lamp of your body. When your eyes are healthy, your whole body also is full of light. But when they are unhealthy, your body also is full of darkness. 35See to it, then, that the light within you is not darkness. 36Therefore, if your whole body is full of light, and no part of it dark, it will be just as full of light as when a lamp shines its light on you.”
Luke 11:14-28
14 Jesus was driving out a demon that was mute. When the demon left, the man who had been mute spoke, and the crowd was amazed. 15 But some of them said, “By Beelzebul, the prince of demons, he is driving out demons.” 16 Others tested him by asking for a sign from heaven.
17 Jesus knew their thoughts and said to them: “Any kingdom divided against itself will be ruined, and a house divided against itself will fall. 18 If Satan is divided against himself, how can his kingdom stand? I say this because you claim that I drive out demons by Beelzebul. 19 Now if I drive out demons by Beelzebul, by whom do your followers drive them out? So then, they will be your judges. 20 But if I drive out demons by the finger of God, then the kingdom of God has come upon you.
21 “When a strong man, fully armed, guards his own house, his possessions are safe. 22 But when someone stronger attacks and overpowers him, he takes away the armor in which the man trusted and divides up his plunder.
23 “Whoever is not with me is against me, and whoever does not gather with me scatters.
24 “When an impure spirit comes out of a person, it goes through arid places seeking rest and does not find it. Then it says, ‘I will return to the house I left.’ 25 When it arrives, it finds the house swept clean and put in order. 26 Then it goes and takes seven other spirits more wicked than itself, and they go in and live there. And the final condition of that person is worse than the first.”
27 As Jesus was saying these things, a woman in the crowd called out, “Blessed is the mother who gave you birth and nursed you.”
28 He replied, “Blessed rather are those who hear the word of God and obey it.”
Luke 11:1-13 1 One day Jesus was praying in a certain place. When he finished, one of his disciples said to him, “Lord, teach us to pray, just as John taught his disciples.”
2 He said to them, “When you pray, say:
“‘Father,
hallowed be your name,
your kingdom come.
3 Give us each day our daily bread.
4 Forgive us our sins,
for we also forgive everyone who sins against us.
And lead us not into temptation.’”
5 Then Jesus said to them, “Suppose you have a friend, and you go to him at midnight and say, ‘Friend, lend me three loaves of bread; 6 a friend of mine on a journey has come to me, and I have no food to offer him.’ 7 And suppose the one inside answers, ‘Don’t bother me. The door is already locked, and my children and I are in bed. I can’t get up and give you anything.’ 8 I tell you, even though he will not get up and give you the bread because of friendship, yet because of your shameless audacity he will surely get up and give you as much as you need.
9 “So I say to you: Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. 10 For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened.
11 “Which of you fathers, if your son asks for a fish, will give him a snake instead? 12 Or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion? 13 If you then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!”
Luke 10:38-42 38As Jesus and his disciples were on their way, he came to a village where a woman named Martha opened her home to him. 39She had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord’s feet listening to what he said. 40But Martha was distracted by all the preparations that had to be made. She came to him and asked, “Lord, don’t you care that my sister has left me to do the work by myself? Tell her to help me!”
41“Martha, Martha,” the Lord answered, “you are worried and upset about many things, 42but few things are needed—or indeed only one. Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her.”
Luke 10:25-37 25 On one occasion an expert in the law stood up to test Jesus. “Teacher,” he asked, “what must I do to inherit eternal life?”
26 “What is written in the Law?” he replied. “How do you read it?”
27 He answered, “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind’; and, ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’”
28 “You have answered correctly,” Jesus replied. “Do this and you will live.”
29 But he wanted to justify himself, so he asked Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?”
30 In reply Jesus said: “A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, when he was attacked by robbers. They stripped him of his clothes, beat him and went away, leaving him half dead. 31 A priest happened to be going down the same road, and when he saw the man, he passed by on the other side. 32 So too, a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. 33 But a Samaritan, as he traveled, came where the man was; and when he saw him, he took pity on him. 34 He went to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then he put the man on his own donkey, brought him to an inn and took care of him. 35 The next day he took out two denarii[e] and gave them to the innkeeper. ‘Look after him,’ he said, ‘and when I return, I will reimburse you for any extra expense you may have.’
36 “Which of these three do you think was a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of robbers?”
37 The expert in the law replied, “The one who had mercy on him.”
Jesus told him, “Go and do likewise.”
Luke 10:13-24 (NIV) 13 “Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! For if the miracles that were performed in you had been performed in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago, sitting in sackcloth and ashes. 14 But it will be more bearable for Tyre and Sidon at the judgment than for you. 15 And you, Capernaum, will you be lifted to the heavens? No, you will go down to Hades.
16 “Whoever listens to you listens to me; whoever rejects you rejects me; but whoever rejects me rejects him who sent me.”
17 The seventy-two returned with joy and said, “Lord, even the demons submit to us in your name.”
18 He replied, “I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven. 19 I have given you authority to trample on snakes and scorpions and to overcome all the power of the enemy; nothing will harm you. 20 However, do not rejoice that the spirits submit to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven.”
21 At that time Jesus, full of joy through the Holy Spirit, said, “I praise you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things from the wise and learned, and revealed them to little children. Yes, Father, for this is what you were pleased to do.
22 “All things have been committed to me by my Father. No one knows who the Son is except the Father, and no one knows who the Father is except the Son and those to whom the Son chooses to reveal him.”
23 Then he turned to his disciples and said privately, “Blessed are the eyes that see what you see. 24 For I tell you that many prophets and kings wanted to see what you see but did not see it, and to hear what you hear but did not hear it.”
Luke 10:1-12 (NIV)
After this the Lord appointed seventy-two others and sent them two by two ahead of him to every town and place where he was about to go. 2He told them, “The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field. 3Go! I am sending you out like lambs among wolves. 4Do not take a purse or bag or sandals; and do not greet anyone on the road.
5“When you enter a house, first say, ‘Peace to this house.’ 6If someone who promotes peace is there, your peace will rest on them; if not, it will return to you. 7Stay there, eating and drinking whatever they give you, for the worker deserves his wages. Do not move around from house to house.
8“When you enter a town and are welcomed, eat what is offered to you. 9Heal the sick who are there and tell them, ‘The kingdom of God has come near to you.’ 10But when you enter a town and are not welcomed, go into its streets and say, 11‘Even the dust of your town we wipe from our feet as a warning to you. Yet be sure of this: The kingdom of God has come near.’ 12I tell you, it will be more bearable on that day for Sodom than for that town.
In part three of our series, Kingdom of God, Pastor David takes us to the part of the story where God starts to make everything right again.
Not long into the story, everything gets flipped upside down. Everything God had made gets messed up and now there are two kingdoms occupying the same space.
In the beginning, God made everything and it was perfect. It lacked nothing. And there was something extra special about this new creation, people.
In today's teaching, we take a brief look at some different types of prayer as well as address some of the common myths we believe about prayer.
On the Swedish Island of Visingso, there is a mysterious forest of oak trees; mysterious because oak trees aren’t indigenous to the island and its origin was unknown for more than a century. Then in 1980, the Swedish Navy received a letter from the Forestry Department reporting that their requested ship lumber was ready. The Navy didn’t even know it had ordered any lumber. After a little historical research, it was discovered that in 1829 the Swedish parliament, recognizing that it takes oak trees one hundred and fifty years to mature and anticipating a shortage of lumber at the turn of the 21st century, ordered that twenty thousand oak trees be planted on Visingso and protected for the Navy.
What does this have to do with prayer?
One of the times Jesus was teaching his disciples to pray, he used an illustration about a widow who wouldn't leave a judge alone. What does this metaphor mean for our prayer life?
Do you ever feel like you're praying outside of your jurisdiction? Do you feel like your prayers only make sense in a world that operates differently than the one you live in? That's good. Keep Praying.
In part 1 of our new series, Draw the Circle, we take a look at how prayer can change some of the biggest fears we may face in life.
Jesus died on the cross. So what? He came back to life. What's the big deal with that? Today we look at the implications of the crucifixion, the resurrection and what it means for us today.
In episode 5 of this series, the story takes a crazy turn: the author writes himself into the story as the central character! The people have been wrestling with God for thousands of years, getting further and further away from Him as they continue to walk their own path. So God sends someone to show the way. How do you think this is going to turn out?
In episode 4 of "Following God's Story" we finish up the part of the story commonly referred to as the "Old Testament". As you'll find out, things aren't going so well for Israel.
In episode 3 of this series, we take a look at how the Israelites would behave after the flood and get a picture of what their relationship with God would be like as a nation.
Man was on the path God created, and everything was good. God’s paradise created the perfect environment for mankind to thrive in relationship with God. The world and all its parts worked in perfect harmony when people were going God’s way.
The question is, would it stay that way?
In part 1 of our series, Following God's Story, we take a look at God's purpose in the design of paradise. What did God have in mind when He made His paradise? What exactly is paradise anyway? Is it definitely a place, or is there more to it than that?
As we start off a fresh series going through the book of Jude, we are going to take a look at some of the most pressing issues of our time. One of those being the amount of misinformation, mistruths and lies that we’ve allowed to infiltrate the church and the thinking of the people who […]
Episode 004 of the questions podcast, recorded on Facebook Live where David & Jim talk about how we can know about God.
In episode 3 of the questions podcast, Jim & David talk about the clues that exist all around us for God. Jim covers three areas of evidences: Creation, History and Personal Lives. We also deal briefly with the coronavirus situation from a question asked by one of our viewers on Facebook Live.
In part 4 of our Light Pollution series, we take a look at what it is that gives followers of Jesus Christ the ability to be fearless.
Many people today think the Bible is an outdated book that has been proven to be inaccurate and not trustworthy. Many people think of the Bible and the account of Jesus as a myth and that the New Testament is merely the propaganda of the believers of that myth, but those things didn’t really happen. […]
Love flows. It’s not something we hoard and absorb for ourselves. It’s something that has to flow through our lives for it to accomplish God’s higher purposes.
This is really exciting for me! For years I have wanted to do a podcast like this with Jim Huntamer, one of our volunteer staff at SixEight Church. He has an actual wealth of knowledge about so many things including, Science, Scripture, The Economy and much more. So, in this podcast we’re going to talk, […]
In the second week of our Light Pollution series, with the goal of becoming love, we work at getting a definition and understanding of love according to God and according to the world. What we will see is that they are two drastically different, actually opposing ideas. We will discover that the beginning of becoming […]
Today we begin a new series leading up to Easter Sunday, April 12th (which, if you don’t have somewhere to go, we’d love to have you join us at 6:8!!!) I just invite you to listen in to get a feel for what this series is going to be all about. You may also want […]
Today we wrestle with the topic of Hell. It’s not easy. But, as we’ll see, there is only one being able to make such a decision, and we are not Him.
In today’s sermon we tack the topic of the injustice that has been done in the name of Christ. We also take a look at some ways we can keep from being people who propagate the problem.
How can Christians claim to have absolute truth? Isn’t truth relative? Don’t people get to decide for themselves what they want to believe? We deal with these and other questions in part 3 of the “Questions” series.
In this week’s sermon we attempt to deal with the difficult topic of the problem of evil and suffering. Note: There was a Q&A time that following the sermon that is not recorded. In that time, we also explained that one of the big reasons there is evil and suffering in the world is because […]
Today we begin a new sermon series and new adventure as a church family and you’re invited along! We are wrestling with some of the big questions and problems that people have with Christianity, starting with: How Can There Only Be One Way To God? It’s a tough one. If you’ve wrestled with this question, […]
In todays’ sermon we give an overview of the 7 virtues of the SixEight family. These are a set of characteristics that drive who we are as a community that are a little different than our values. If you want to know a little about who we are and who we are trying to become, […]
Today, another one of our elders, Peter Schuelke shares with us some of the different discipleship and teaching methods Jesus used.
Today, we once again have the privilege of hearing from one of our elders at SixEight Church, Alex Rice. He shares with us some of his discoveries about the humanity of Jesus and what it means for us as His followers.
Today we finish out the “Jesus is Greater” series going through the book of Hebrews. In this message, Pastor David reminds us that this isn’t a solo voyage, this is something we do together in the presence of witness throughout history.
In the final sermon in our Jesus is Greater series, we deal with the topic of spiritual authority. We don’t like the concept of authority in our culture. Our heritage is rebellion. Our forefathers rebelled against the king, consequently we’re still rebelling against THE King and His authority structure. Regardless of our feelings for the […]
Today’s message is the reason we decided to go through the book of Hebrews. In today’s text we will deal with the two mountains and the fact that because of the work of Jesus we are able to ascend the mountain for ourselves. We don’t have to go through Moses, we have the ability to […]
This may be one of the most famous sections of scripture and certainly the most popular passage from the book of Hebrews. We call it the hall of faith. In part 8 of our series we look at how our faith is not a blind faith and that those who are commended for their faith […]
In part 7 of our “Jesus is Greater” series, we take a look at the greatest institution on the planet and ask ourselves if we really care about it like we should?
In Part 6 of our “Jesus Is Greater Series” we take a look at how Jesus cleanses our conscience, that He doesn’t want to simply cover up our sin. Instead, Jesus wants to cleanse the deepest parts of our heart.
We live from our hearts but do we know what’s being written on our hearts? Are we guarding our hearts or are we allowing hollow and deceptive philosophies to set up camp in our hearts and drive our lives?
In part 4 of series in Hebrews, “Jesus is Greater,” we take a look at the hope that is offered to us, the people who receive this greater priest and king. To view the video, watch it on our Facebook page. The sermon starts at 1 hr, 1m & 44sec.
This week, we get into one of the most controversial passages in all of Scripture. It has divided Christians for hundreds if not thousands of years. Today, we seek to get to the heart of what the author is trying to communicate to the audience and see how it relates to us today.
Do you long for more peace in your life? Do you wish there was more peace around you? If you’re anything like me, you can probably see the receding shoreline of peace in our society. But what about us as believers? Are we experiencing peace? Are we at rest with God? In Part Two of […]
Today, we started a new series at SixEight Church, Jesus is Greater. We are going through the book of Hebrews and seeing how it applies to the life of the church in the 21st century. Today, we take a look at the fact that we are lost at sea and need someone to come to […]
We all have dreams for our lives. God has a dream for your life too. God has a dream for this church and He has a dream for your involvement in this church. We invite you to listen in as we take a look at God’s dream for SixEight and the people of SixEight!
In today’s episode of “The Overflow Podcast,” which is also the last podcast in the Like Christ series, we take a look at one last fairly simple approach to making disciples. Albeit, one we have vastly overcomplicated.
In today’s episode of “The Overflow Podcast,” we take a look at one of the more challenging and difficult task of making disciples.
In today’s episode of “The Overflow Podcast” we take a look at another simple concept for making disciples.
In today’s episode of The Overflow Podcast, we take a look at one of the most effective, useful and simply ways we can disciple others.
In today’s episode of “The Overflow Podcast” we take a look at the role unconditional love plays in discipling someone.
In the final sermon for the “Like Christ” series, we take a look at a crucial aspect in becoming like Christ: Making disciples. We’ll discover why a lot of people plateau in their walk with Christ, as well as look at some of the reasoning behind the process. We also look at some of the […]
In today’s episode of “The Overflow Podcast” we’re going to take a look at another perspective for living life on mission from Eph. 5.
In today’s episode of The Overflow Podcast, we take a look at the humility of Jesus and the example he set for us to follow.
In today’s episode of The Overflow Podcast, we take a look at how God is not only rich in mercy, but patient in showing us mercy.
In today’s episode of the podcast, we take a look at the Justice mission of Jesus and how it is that we participate with Him.
This week, we stop to examine the correlation between our mission verse as a church (Micah 6:8) and the way Jesus lived his life. As we dig in, we discover Jesus lived his life very much inline with doing justice, loving mercy and walking humbly with God.
In today’s episode of The Overflow Podcast, we take a look at three final scriptural concepts that pertain to being the embodiment of Christ
In today’s episode of The Overflow Podcast, we take a look at how to be the embodiment of God’s love.
In today’s episode of the Overflow Podcast, we take a look at how Jesus lived as One with the Father, from the Father and for the Father and what that means for us to be the embodiment of Jesus.
In today’s episode of The Overflow Podcast, we take a look at how we actually start to change and become like Christ.
In today’s episode of the Overflow Podcast, we take a look at the soil of our heart and some of the things that might be keeping us from becoming like Christ.
As we take another turn in our “Like Christ” series, we take a look at the concept of embodiment. Specifically, we get a theological framework for Jesus being the embodiment of the Father and start to take a look at what it means for us to be the embodiment of Christ.
In this episode of The Overflow Podcast, we take a look at inviting people into our Jesus family.
In today’s episode of The Overflow Podcast, we take a look at how Jesus thought of His community as family.
In episode 50 of the Overflow Podcast, we dig a little deeper into the way Jesus set the standards for His community of apostles.
In Today’s episode of the Overflow Podcast, we take a look at the incredible diversity that existed among the disciples.
In episode 48 of the Overflow Podcast, we take a look at what a blessing it, what it means to speak one, abracadabra the idea of speaking life.
Today we take at the obsessive mindset Jesus had about community. Nearly his entire earthly ministry was focused on and built around community. What does community look like today? Let’s take a look!
In today’s episode of “The Overflow Podcast” we take a look at the 9 Spiritual Pathways, based on the book by Gary Thomas, and how they related to our personal and corporate worship.
In today’s episode of The Overflow Podcast, we take a look at two other forms of worship that are significant parts of Jesus’ public ministry: Sabbath and Holy Days.
In today’s episode of The Overflow Podcast, we take a look at how the concept of overflow plays in to our worship.
In today’s episode of the Overflow Podcast, we take a look at the temple and tabernacle and then see the correlation to the New Testament church and how it should affect our view of worship and God’s presence in our lives.
In episode 43 of the Overflow podcast, we get a good definition of worship and take a look at some of the key postures of worship found in scripture.
As we continue to take a look at the habits of Jesus, we also continue to take a look at Jesus’ habit of going to the synagogue and worship. As we discovered last week, the whole of Jesus life was worship in the form of surrender, submission and commitment. Today we take a look at […]
In episode 42 of the Overflow Podcast, we take a look again at the concept of God as a magnetic force who draws us into His story. We also take a look at the draw of opposing stories.
In episode 41 of the overflow podcast, we take a look at the contrast between unity and ego and the role ego has played in dividing the church.
In episode 40 of the overflow podcast, we take a look at the idea of being owners vs. renters.
In episode 39 of the Overflow Podcast, we take a look at the mindset of giving over getting. In today’s church, we tend to think more about what we’re going to get out of church, but that’s not a paradigm we find anywhere in Scripture.
In today’s episode of the Overflow Podcast, we take a look at the 4 dirty words in the church today: Sin, Surrender, Submit & Commit.
Today as we look at another of the habits of Jesus, we stop to take a look at his habit of going to the Synagogue. It is mentioned 10 times in the different gospel accounts that Jesus went to the Synagogue. He went in his home town and when he was traveling. It is one […]
In today’s episode of the overflow podcast, we take a look at a few more reasons to pray as well as scientific support of prayer.
In today’s episode of the Overflow Podcast, we take a look at the habit of silence and solitude in Jesus’ life.
In today’s episode of the Overflow Podcast, we take a look at how Jesus used prayer in stressful and anxious situations.
In today’s episode of the Overflow Podcast, we take a look at the humanity of Jesus and what role prayer played into the way he faced temptation and making decisions
As we start week 6 of our series Like Christ, we take a look at how Jesus’ prayer life affected his desires, identity, authority and activity.
This week we take a turn away from observing the character traits of Jesus to looking at His habits. What are the things that Jesus repeatedly did? What effect did these habits have on Jesus? Today, we look specifically at prayer and the impact his prayer life had on his desires, identity, authority and activity.
As we continue taking a look at the character of Jesus, Jim helps us to stop and take a look at the gentle nature of Jesus and some misconceptions we may have about being gentle like Christ.
In Episode 32 of The Overflow Podcast, we look at how Jesus never used his emotions for his own advantage.
In episode 31 of The Overflow Podcast, we take a look at the ways Jesus experience sorrow and his response.
In episode 30 of The Overflow Podcast, we take a look at another emotion Jesus experienced: Joy.
In episode 29 of the Overflow Podcast, we take a look at something Jesus dealt with that we deal with a lot today, anxiety.
In Episode 28 of The Overflow Podcast, we take a look at a few different emotional concepts.
If we are going to be Like Christ, we have to be like him in our emotions. But what does that mean? Does it mean that we stuff our emotions down? How did Jesus display emotions in his life? God made us as emotional beings and is, himself, an emotional being. So, what does that […]
In this episode of the Overflow Podcast, we take our final look at courage and think about the desperate need that exists today for Christians to be courageous.
In episode 26 of The Overflow Podcast, we take a look at loyalty and faithfulness to see what role they play in our faith.
In episode 25 of the Overflow Podcast, we look at John chapter 7 and see how Jesus’ motives affected his courage and loyalty.
In Episode 23 of The Overflow Podcast, we take a look at Matthew 25 and see the combination of Courage and Faith at work.
As we continue on in our Like Christ sermon series, we take a look at the courage and loyalty of Jesus. We discover that, while it’s incredibly popular in modern culture to play the victim, Jesus never did – even though he was the only true victim to ever live.
In episode 22 of The Overflow Podcast, we take a look at 3 practical ways we can be agents of God’s grace.
In episode 20 of the overflow podcast, we take a look at Eph. 2:1-10 and Paul’s teaching on grace.
In this episode of the overflow podcast we take a look at Jesus’ teaching on truth in John 8.
In Episode 19 of the Overflow Podcast, we take a look at grace from Jesus’ parable on the prodigal son.
In episode 18 of the overflow podcast, we take a look at Jesus’ encounter with the woman at the well to see how Jesus exhibited grace and truth.
As we continue on in our series, Like Christ, we take a look at the fact that Jesus was fully grace and fully truth. There was no part of him that was absent of either of those. What does grace mean? What does truth mean?
In Episode 17 of the overflow podcast, we take a look at the new eyes we’ve been given for seeing ourselves, others and the world.
In today’s episode of the overflow podcast, we ask the question, is there any hope for us to have a heart like Christ?
In Episode 14 of the Overflow Podcast, we take a look at some of the bad motives people had for following Jesus.
In episode 13 of the overflow podcast, we take a look at how Jesus’ heart was pure in motives and affections.
In week two of our summer series, Like Christ, we take a deeper look at the motives, desires and affections of Jesus’ heart. We are seeking to gain a better understand of what drove him in his life here on earth and to learn what God wants our hearts to look like.
As we finish out the first week of our Like Christ series, we take a look at what it means to know the heart of the Father.
In episode 11 of the overflow podcast, we take a look at the unblemished heart of Jesus and start getting a picture of what is was that drove Jesus in his time here on earth.
Today on the overflow podcast, we take a look at the three states of our heart apart from God. Listen in and let God show you the current condition of your heart.
As we continue in our Like Christ series, we take a look at what the heart is, what it does and the role it plays in our spiritual transformation.
As we start a new series, “Like Christ: The heart, habits and mission of Jesus”, we are going to be sharing a 5-7 minute devotion every day on the overflow podcast. Each day we will refresh some of the teaching from Sunday and then take a look at incorporating that teaching into our lives.
As we start into this new series, “Like Christ: Having the heart, habits and mission of Jesus”, we begin by getting an understanding as to what the heart is. Our culture is driven by the heart, but do we really know what it is? Listen in as we seek to gain insight and understanding into […]
Luke 9:46-62 46 An argument started among the disciples as to which of them would be the greatest. 47 Jesus, knowing their thoughts, took a little child and had him stand beside him. 48 Then he said to them, “Whoever welcomes this little child in my name welcomes me; and whoever welcomes me welcomes the one who sent me.For it is the […]
Luke 9:28-45 28 About eight days after Jesus said this, he took Peter, John and James with him and went up onto a mountain to pray. 29 As he was praying, the appearance of his face changed, and his clothes became as bright as a flash of lightning. 30 Two men, Moses and Elijah, appeared in glorious splendor, talking with Jesus. 31 They […]
Luke 9:10-27 10 When the apostles returned, they reported to Jesus what they had done. Then he took them with him and they withdrew by themselves to a town called Bethsaida, 11 but the crowds learned about it and followed him. He welcomed them and spoke to them about the kingdom of God, and healed those who needed healing. 12 Late […]
Luke 9:1-9 When Jesus had called the Twelve together, he gave them power and authority to drive out all demons and to cure diseases, 2 and he sent them out to proclaim the kingdom of God and to heal the sick. 3 He told them: “Take nothing for the journey—no staff, no bag, no bread, no money, no extra shirt. 4 Whatever house you […]
Luke 8:40-53 40 Now when Jesus returned, a crowd welcomed him, for they were all expecting him. 41 Then a man named Jairus, a synagogue leader, came and fell at Jesus’ feet, pleading with him to come to his house 42 because his only daughter, a girl of about twelve, was dying. As Jesus was on his way, the crowds almost […]
This humorous account brings up some very interesting lessons for us to learn. As we continue in our new series, looking at the life of Jesus in Luke 8 we come across an unusual encounter. Jesus casts thousands of demons out of one guy and sends them into a herd of pigs, and they run […]
In part 2 of our new series, “Do You Know My Jesus?”, we take a look at an odd contrast that Jesus makes in Luke 8. He contrasts the light with listening. Why would Jesus contrast something that you see with you eyes and something you hear with your ears? We cover a lot of […]
As we jump into a new series at the start of this year, we’re also getting back into the book of Luke. Starting in chapter 8, we get to take a look at Jesus telling the parable of the sower. While the primary application of this parable is those who don’t yet know Jesus, and […]
The enemy uses two primary tactics when it comes to his war against Christians: ideas and isolation. If he can get you obsessing over an idea/lie/half truth and get you isolated at the same time, he wins. Too often, our approach as Christians to this issue is like playing checkers, while the devil is at […]
It seems that our world is going bankrupt on hope. And if hope is one of the themes of Christmas, doesn’t that mean we shouldn’t believe in Christmas or Jesus or the church or any of it? It’s not just non-Christians who don’t have hope, many if not most Christians seem to have lost it […]
This week we started a new series called “The Christmas Set Up.” It’s a series based on a book written by our pastor. We’ve been sharing a chapter a day of the story in audio and PDF format, and you’re invited to participate! (Actually, we would love, love, love for you to go with us on […]
This week we started a new series called “The Christmas Set Up.” It’s a series based on a book written by our pastor. We’ve been sharing a chapter a day of the story in audio and PDF format, and you’re invited to participate! (Actually, we would love, love, love for you to go with us on […]
This week we started a new series called “The Christmas Set Up.” It’s a series based on a book written by our pastor. We’ve been sharing a chapter a day of the story in audio and PDF format, and you’re invited to participate! (Actually, we would love, love, love for you to go with us […]
We always celebrate the stars of the story. Everyone knows Peter, but do you know the guy that brought Peter to meet Jesus? This week we take a look at the idea of being someone’s Andrew.
As we finish up Luke chapter 7, we are blessed to hear from Alex Rice, one of our deacons at SixEight. He beautifully shares his testimony and correlates it to the woman washing Jesus’ feet with perfume.
In this passage from Luke 7 we take a look at a group of people who’s behavior towards Jesus, He classifies as that of petulant little children. How are we responding to Jesus?
In this passage of Luke 7, we take a look at some people who were getting tripped up on Jesus. They thought he was going to be one way, but it turned out that he wasn’t anything like they expected. Today, we still find ourselves getting tripped up on our idea and expectation of Jesus. […]
As Rob shares with us today, we learn about something else that moves Jesus. Last week, we learned about Faith that amazes Jesus, today we see something that stirs him to act. Join in as we learn about the compassion of Jesus.
As we jump back into the book of Luke, we are going to see something amazing. Throughout the gospels, people are constantly amazed at Jesus, but that isn’t the case here. Instead, Jesus gets amazed by the faith of someone. Who is it? What’s so amazing about it? Listen in as we ask the question, […]
This week we are privileged to hear from one of the newer members of our church, one who has a lot of ministry experience and training that has and will continue to greatly benefit our church. Corby shares with us today some insight to help us become students of the Bible and to do so […]
In the final part of this series, we take a look at some of the big lies we believe about ourselves. As we’ll discover there are quite a few of them. But, spoiler alert, the good news is that these lies actually hold no sway over our lives unless we let them.
There are lies that some live their lives by that are having an adverse affect on their ability to have meaningful relationships. There are lies we believe about church that are affecting our ability to experience the true community we were created for. If we’re not careful, not only do we allow these lies to […]
In Part 2 of our series, we take a look at the lies we believe about God, and these are just a few of them. There is a lot of bad thinking that has infiltrated the church when it comes to God and our relationship with Him. We need some serious realignment with who God […]
Did God Really Say? We find that question in Genesis 3:1, and that one question has done more to destroy God’s design for those created in His image than any other question in History! Our world right now is a direct result of our response to that question. As we start a new series, we’re […]
We have been making some significant shifts as a church when it comes to our focus. In today’s reiteration of that vision for our church, I share some of my story. I specifically wanted to share some of the biggest changes God has made in my life over the past couple of years. We also […]
As we bring our Continually Devoted series to a close, we take a look the lifestyle of the early church. The first four weeks we looked at what they were devoting themselves to. This week, we look at what that produced in the early church. It was nothing short of radical. What about the church […]
There is a lot of teaching about prayer. There are a lot of statements about prayer. And, there is a lot of confusion about prayer. What is prayer? Why should we pray? Why can we pray? These are all questions we address in part 4 of our series on the church. Join us as we […]
As we continue on in our deep dive into life in the early church, we take a look at what might be a surprisingly difficult challenge. On the surface it doesn’t seem to be all that big of a deal, but as we take the concept of living sacrificially out to our approach to church, […]
As we continue our deep dive into the thinking of the early church, we take a look at the type of fellowship they had. It’s not really what we would call fellowship. In fact, we’ve used the word incorrectly all these years, and watered down it’s meaning. But the early church had a very different […]
Throughout the month of August, we are going to be taking a look at the things the early church was continually devoted to. That word, that is most often translated simply “devotion” is much more than that. It carries with it the idea of: “continually, intensely devoted and obstinately persistent to.” We are asking ourselves […]
Love the Lord with all your soul. Yesterday, Jim shared in a comment on the post this helpful explanation: “The body is what you are. It is made of the chemicals found in the earth, put together by God. Your spirit is why you are. In scripture, it is the breath of life that God […]
Yesterday, we started thinking about the soul. We looked at how we are souls with bodies. The soul is the eternal part of us. The soul is what will be saved. We will get new bodies, but not new souls. It’s that part of you that makes you who you are, but it’s also that […]
Mark 12:30 Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’[a] 31 The second is this: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’[b] There is no commandment greater than these.” Last week, we talked about loving God with all your heart. To be honest, […]
In the last sermon from Luke 6, we take a look at a key passage for us as a church and as believers. We want to be good trees that produce good fruit. What is a good tree, how do we produce good fruit and are those even the right questions to ask? Listen in […]
Luke 6:43 “No good tree bears bad fruit, nor does a bad tree bear good fruit. 44 Each tree is recognized by its own fruit. People do not pick figs from thorn bushes, or grapes from briers. 45 A good man brings good things out of the good stored up in his heart, and an […]
Luke 6:43 “No good tree bears bad fruit, nor does a bad tree bear good fruit. 44 Each tree is recognized by its own fruit. People do not pick figs from thorn bushes, or grapes from briers. 45 A good man brings good things out of the good stored up in his heart, and an […]
Yesterday, we talked about loving God with all your heart. And how our heart is our Motives, affections and feelings. (You could put emotions in this category as well. I’m sure there’s some disagreement, but just go with it.🙂 And our emphasis was on the fact that we need to receive God’s love. Today, I […]
Our goal at SixEight Church is to live our lives out of the overflow of our hearts. So, we are starting a new podcast. Our goal is to resource you where you are. We want to help you live out of the overflow in you day in/day out life. To do that, we’re going to […]
Luke 6:37 “Do not judge, and you will not be judged. Do not condemn, and you will not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven. 38 Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure […]
We are starting to take a look at what God has in store for us at SixEight Church, as we move ahead into some things that are different than we’ve been doing them. There is one thing so important to us, and it’s this: That we walk humbly with God. The point is going where […]
Luke 6:27-36: 27 “But I say to you who hear: Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you,28 bless those who curse you, and pray for those who spitefully use you.29 To him who strikes you on the one cheek, offer the other also. And from him who takes away your cloak, do not withhold your tunic either.30 Give to everyone who asks […]
Luke 6:17-26 17 Then he came down with them and stood on a level place. And a large number of his disciples had gathered along with a vast multitude from all over Judea, from Jerusalem, and from the seacoast of Tyre and Sidon. They came to hear him and to be healed of their diseases, 18 and those […]
Luke 6:12-16 12 Now it was during this time that Jesus went out to the mountain to pray, and he spent all night in prayer to God. 13 When morning came, he called his disciples and chose twelve of them, whom he also named apostles: 14 Simon (whom he named Peter), and his brother Andrew; and James, John, Philip, Bartholomew, 15 Matthew, […]
Luke 6:6-11 6 On another Sabbath, Jesus entered the synagogue and was teaching. Now a man was there whose right hand was withered. 7 The experts in the law and the Pharisees watched Jesus closely to see if he would heal on the Sabbath, so that they could find a reason to accuse him. 8 But he knew their thoughts, […]
Luke 6:1-5 Jesus was going through the grain fields on a Sabbath, and his disciples picked some heads of wheat, rubbed them in their hands, and ate them. 2 But some of the Pharisees said, “Why are you doing what is against the law on the Sabbath?” 3 Jesus answered them, “Haven’t you read what David did when he […]
Luke 5:33-39 33 Then they said to him, “John’s disciples frequently fast and pray, and so do the disciples of the Pharisees, but yours continue to eat and drink.” 34 So Jesus said to them, “You cannot make the wedding guests fast while the bridegroom is with them, can you? 35 But those days are coming, and when the bridegroom […]
Luke 5:27-32 27 After this, Jesus went out and saw a tax collector named Levi sitting at the tax booth. “Follow me,” he said to him. 28 And he got up and followed him, leaving everything behind. 29 Then Levi gave a great banquet in his house for Jesus, and there was a large crowd of tax collectors and […]
Luke 5:17-26 17 Now on one of those days, while he was teaching, there were Pharisees and teachers of the law sitting nearby (who had come from every village of Galilee and Judea and from Jerusalem), and the power of the Lord was with him to heal. 18 Just then some men showed up, carrying a paralyzed man […]
Luke 5:12-16 12 While Jesus was in one of the towns, a man came to him who was covered with leprosy. When he saw Jesus, he bowed down with his face to the ground and begged him, “Lord, if you are willing, you can make me clean.” 13 So he stretched out his hand and touched him, saying, […]
So we all have a pretty good idea of what humility is. We think we know what it means to walk humbly, but do we really? Do we really understand the concept and on top of that, what does it mean to walk humbly with God? Let’s take a look at this idea together!
We are trying to be the kind of church that is passionate about being compassionate. But what is compassion anyway? And what does it mean to show someone compassion? Certainly there is more to it than simply feeling sorry for someone. Join us as we take a look at what it means to be the […]
Okay, so our church’s name is based on the verse, Micah 6:8 – “He has shown you, O mortal, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you? But to Do Justice and to Love Mercy and to Walk Humbly with your God.” Cool. But what does it all mean? What does it […]
A lot of believers have a dimmer switch on their faith. When we are around the right group of people, our lights shine brightly. When we’re around a different group, we turn the light down. But what does God want for us? And how is it that we even shine our light?
There is a theme throughout scripture. It’s God’s heart for us, His people. That’s what He wants. He wants us to be His people. He wants to be our God. He wants to dwell among us like He did in the garden in the very beginning. God uses this phrase throughout the Old Testament when […]
There is a crucial change in perspective that takes place in Peter in the story recorded in Luke 5:1-11. In the beginning of the story, Peter refers to Jesus as Master, but at the end he calls Jesus Lord. What changed? What happened in Peter that led him to this revelation? Here’s a hint, it’s […]
At we wrap up the 4th chapter of Luke, we learn some very interesting information about Jesus’ ministry at Capernaum. We also get a bit of a lesson in greek, because there is a very interesting paradox that takes place in this story that you miss if you don’t know greek. So, we invite you […]
A lot of people in our world think there is a struggle between good and evil. A lot of major movies focus on the theme. In fact, since Hollywood seems to be able only to produce motion pictures related to comic books, that’s about the only major theme in movies today. But, is there really […]
When Jesus first began teaching during His public ministry, he was given the scroll of Isaiah and he opened to this famous passage: “The Spirit of the Lord us on me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery […]
Jesus, when he was tired and hungry was tempted by the Devil. He was offering things that most of us would have sold our own soul for, and yet Jesus resisted. In Jesus’ resisting, we learn for ourselves how to resist the Devil.
If you’ve ever read through the Bible for very much time, you’ve certainly come across a genealogy or two. They can be a real challenge to get through. But is there more to it than just a list of names? Could it be that the significance of where Jesus came from has a direct correlation […]
In a few short verses we learn about how Jesus was baptized. Today we will take a look at all the different tellings of this story to gather a bigger picture of the significance of Jesus’ baptism. What we learn about Jesus ministry through this story has quite enormous implications for us as His followers. […]
In Luke 3:1-20, we hear about how John the Baptist was preparing the way for Jesus. This is what he had been created to do. While John is preaching, he uses a very interesting phrase: Produce Fruit in Keeping With Repentance. What did John mean by this phrase, how did this preaching prepare the way […]
John the Baptist was raised in the wilderness. Jesus was tested in the wilderness. The Israelites wandered in the wilderness. What is the deal with the wilderness in the story of God? Is it a good thing or a bad thing? Join us as we take a look at the wilderness effect.
Luke 3:1-6 In the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar—when Pontius Pilate was governor of Judea, Herod tetrarch of Galilee, his brother Philip tetrarch of Iturea and Traconitis, and Lysanias tetrarch of Abilene— 2 during the high-priesthood of Annas and Caiaphas, the word of God came to John son of Zechariah in the […]
Mark 4:1-20 A farmer went out to sow his seed.4 As he was scattering the seed, some fell along the path, and the birds came and ate it up. 5 Some fell on rocky places, where it did not have much soil. It sprang up quickly, because the soil was shallow. 6 But when the […]
In those days Caesar Augustus issued a decree that a census should be taken of the entire Roman world. 2 (This was the first census that took place while[a]Quirinius was governor of Syria.) 3 And everyone went to their own town to register. 4 So Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to Bethlehem the town […]
2 Peter 3:1-12 Dear friends, this is now my second letter to you. I have written both of them as reminders to stimulate you to wholesome thinking. 2 I want you to recall the words spoken in the past by the holy prophets and the command given by our Lord and Savior through your apostles. […]
Matthew 25:31 “When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his glorious throne. 32 All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. 33 He will put […]
1 Timothy 3:16: Beyond all question, the mystery from which true godliness springs is great: “He appeared in the flesh, was vindicated by the Spirit, was seen by angels, was preached among the nations, was believed on in the world, was taken up in glory.” John 1:14: ”The Word became flesh and made his dwelling […]
Prov 3:9-10: Honor the Lord with your wealth, with the firstfruits of all your crops; 10 then your barns will be filled to overflowing, and your vats will brim over with new wine. James 1:16 Don’t be deceived, my dear brothers and sisters. 17 Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from […]
1 John 4:9 This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. 10 This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. 11 Dear […]
Luke 2:41-52 41 Every year Jesus’ parents went to Jerusalem for the Festival of the Passover.42 When he was twelve years old, they went up to the festival, according to the custom. 43 After the festival was over, while his parents were returning home, the boy Jesus stayed behind in Jerusalem, but they were unaware of it. 44 Thinking he was […]
Luke 2:22-40 22 When the time came for the purification rites required by the Law of Moses,Joseph and Mary took him to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord 23 (as it is written in the Law of the Lord, “Every firstborn male is to be consecrated to the Lord”), 24 and to offer a sacrifice in keeping with what […]
Luke 2:1-21 In those days Caesar Augustus issued a decree that a census should be taken of the entire Roman world. 2 (This was the first census that took place while Quirinius was governor of Syria.) 3 And everyone went to their own town to register. 4 So Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, […]
Luke 1:67-80 67 And his father Zechariah was filled with the Holy Spirit and prophesied, saying, 68 “Blessed be the Lord God of Israel, for he has visited and redeemed his people 69 and has raised up a horn of salvation for us in the house of his servant David, 70 as he spoke by […]
Luke 1:57 When it was time for Elizabeth to have her baby, she gave birth to a son. 58 Her neighbors and relatives heard that the Lord had shown her great mercy, and they shared her joy. 59 On the eighth day they came to circumcise the child, and they were going to name him […]
Luke 1:39-56 39 At that time Mary got ready and hurried to a town in the hill country of Judea, 40 where she entered Zechariah’s home and greeted Elizabeth. 41 When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the baby leaped in her womb, and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit. 42 In a loud voice she […]
Luke starts the account of Jesus by talking about Zechariah and Mary. We have to ask ourselves, why would Luke choose to start here. If it was just because of the obvious facts of the story, Luke would have likely just stated the fact. There must be a reason Luke is telling us these two […]
As we get started in a brand new sermon series, we dig into Luke’s stated purposes for writing his account of Jesus. As we will discover, Luke the physician was very intentional and methodical in his approach to investigating the facts surrounding the life of Christ. His approach is going to define how we should […]
We were created on purpose for a purpose. Each one of us has something unique to offer the Kingdom. Sadly, many of us never get there because we never get past our own selfishness. If we can’t understand that the reason God created us wasn’t simply for our own benefit, but also for the benefit […]
There has been a devastating shift in most people’s approach to church today. Something that we used to perceive as a lifetime commitment, has now become something we are only committed to as long as we are satisfied. We’ve started treating the family of church as a commodity to be consumed. In Part 5 of […]
So far in this series we’ve talked about what real love is (Part 1), having the right motives in coming to Jesus (Part 2) and having the right identity (Part 3). This week, we take a look at the actions this kind of a life should produce. As we look at some key passages in […]
Luke 1:5-38 5 In the time of Herod king of Judea there was a priest named Zechariah, who belonged to the priestly division of Abijah; his wife Elizabeth was also a descendant of Aaron. 6 Both of them were righteous in the sight of God, observing all the Lord’s commands and decrees blamelessly. 7 But they were childless because Elizabeth was not […]
As we continue in our series, Overflow, we stop and take a look at where we find our identity. So many of us are looking for our identity in so many different places. But, where will we find who we were truly meant to be? Today, we take a look at what it means to […]
Now that we at least have an idea of what love is (part 1), we need to look at what is driving us. At the beginning of the day or at the end of the day, why are we driven to know God? What is the reason we are coming to God? We take a […]
What is love? And no, I’m not talking about a Saturday Night Live skit. What is real, authentic love? Our world is telling us one thing about love, but when we look at the Bible, we’ll see an entirely different idea all together. The question is, whose definition are we going to use? And that’s […]
Today, as we wind down from a full year of ministry at SixEight Church and just before we gear up for a brand new season of ministry this fall, we stop for one week and ask ourselves a very important question: Where are we? When it comes to our relationship with God, it can be […]
As we finish up this look at what is, according to Jesus, the greatest command, we find a very interesting scene that unfolds in Mark 12. Jesus is dialoging and being challenged by the Elders, Teachers of the Law, Pharisees, Herodians and others who were gathered there. What we discover is that there is actually […]
Last week, we covered the idea of loving God with all your heart. This week, we’re going to try to gain a better understanding of “Soul, Strength and Mind.” As we are going to learn, the point of it all is that God wants our sold out, all the chips on the table, commitment. But […]
We’ve heard this verse a hundred times. We talk about our heart all the time. We encourage one another to “follow your heart.” But, is that really good advice? Do we even have a proper understanding of what our heart is? And what does it mean to love God with all our heart? Let’s dig […]
As we finish up this series on loving our neighbors, we take a very practical look at some of the things the Bible says to do and not do when it comes to loving our neighbors. In Leviticus 19, we hear about all the rules for living in community. Some of them seem out there, […]
Right after Jesus told us about loving our neighbors, he gave us an illustration about what it really means to do that. It’s one of the most popular stories in the Bible, and yet there might be some elements of the story we gloss over because we’re so familiar with it. Listen in as we […]
One of Jesus’ most famous passages is where He tells us to Love our neighbor as ourself. It’s all over the place in our world, even secular media will throw that phrase around all the time. Where does this start though? We are supposed to love our neighbor, but can we love our neighbor if […]
We’ve talked about owning our own faith and owning our church, but what about the mission God has given us? How does this faith that we have, that we experience when we’re together with our church family intersect with the rest of our lives? Or, do we even try to bring it all together? Maybe, […]
For many of us, church is something we attend. It’s the pastor’s thing. I come to it, when I feel like it, but it’s just something I do. Well, what if I told you church isn’t something you go to or do? And what if I told you that God has designed this community to […]
We talk a lot about faith. We are supposed to have faith in Jesus and that’s our “saving faith.” But, what does that mean? Is faith something we do or is it something else? We invite you to listen in as we cover this tough topic and try to gain a better and biblical understand […]
It’s a classic movie now (although I remember when it was first out!), but many of us still love that classic scene of Dead Poets Society where the students take a stand for their teacher, who they feel has been unfairly fired. As we take a look at Baptism, this serves as a good reminder […]
So, Christ died on the cross to pay for our sins, and we know that our old self was crucified with Him on that cross. And, Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father and we too receive this new life in Christ. What we thought was the end was only […]
Have you ever spent two hours of your life watching a movie, only to have it end in a horrible way? “There’s two hours of my life I’ll never see again!” As we celebrate Easter, we take a look at Easter from the perspective of the Disciples who had been following Him for over three […]
Have you ever thought about the guy who made the cross that Jesus died on? And what about this part of the story where it mentions the wine-vinegar that was given to Jesus on a hyssop branch, what’s that all about? Listen in to part 1 of our new series “The End…or is it” to […]
Ephesians 6:10-24 10 Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might. 11 Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil.12 For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over […]
Ephesians 6:1-9 Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. 2 “Honor your father and mother” (this is the first commandment with a promise), 3 “that it may go well with you and that you may live long in the land.” 4 Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger, but bring them up in […]
Ephesians 5:21-33 21 And further, submit to one another out of reverence for Christ. 22 For wives, this means submit to your husbands as to the Lord. 23 For a husband is the head of his wife as Christ is the head of the church. He is the Savior of his body, the church. 24 As the church submits […]
Ephesians 5:15-21 15 So be careful how you live. Don’t live like fools, but like those who are wise.16 Make the most of every opportunity in these evil days. 17 Don’t act thoughtlessly, but understand what the Lord wants you to do. 18 Don’t be drunk with wine, because that will ruin your life. Instead, be filled with the […]
Ephesians 5:1-14: Imitate God, therefore, in everything you do, because you are his dear children.2 Live a life filled with love, following the example of Christ. He loved us[a] and offered himself as a sacrifice for us, a pleasing aroma to God. 3 Let there be no sexual immorality, impurity, or greed among you. Such sins have […]
Ephesians 4:17-32: 17 With the Lord’s authority I say this: Live no longer as the Gentiles do, for they are hopelessly confused. 18 Their minds are full of darkness; they wander far from the life God gives because they have closed their minds and hardened their hearts against him. 19 They have no sense of shame. They live […]
In life, there are many things that we don’t think we’re ready for. So, often times, we will wait on them until we think we’re ready. We don’t think we’re ready to get married, so we keep waiting. We don’t think we’re ready to have kids, so we wait. But, as you’ve probably heard, if […]
One of my favorite passages in all of the Bible is in this chapter of Ephesians. Not just mine, but many Christians love these verses. Phrases like: 20 Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, 21 to him […]
I am in awe of what God has done for me. I am so grateful for God’s gift of salvation, redemption and transformation. But, do I ever take this gift God has given to me beyond my own selfishness? I’m so thankful for what God has done for me, but have I even began to […]
The position we live our lives from makes all the difference. Are we living our lives from the position that God designed for us, are are we still trying to get there? This is the big question we address as we cover this portion of Ephesians. It’s a great passage of scripture, one that we […]
We are going to hear from Paul today about death. That is, the death in which we used to live. We often say, our former selves, or who we used to be. The question we ask today, though, is: Do we really understand what the old, dead version of ourselves was? And do we know […]
We like the what questions. What am I supposed to do? What are the rules? What am I going to have for lunch? What are we going to do tomorrow? The what questions of life are tangible and easier to answer. But, when we become consumed by the what and neglect the why, it’s easy […]
For most of us, our lives as Christ followers have been characterized by the things we are supposed to do and the things we’re supposed to avoid. But, have we missed something? Could it be that we’re starting in the wrong position, and that instead of focusing on the to do’s and to don’ts of […]
In the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar—when Pontius Pilate was governor of Judea, Herod tetrarch of Galilee, his brother Philip tetrarch of Iturea and Traconitis, and Lysanias tetrarch of Abilene— 2 during the high-priesthood of Annas and Caiaphas, the word of God came to John son of Zechariah in the wilderness. 3 […]
As we kick-start this new year, we wanted to stop for just a moment to focus on one way we might be able to make the most of a new opportunity like this. So, we talked about how important time is, and how quickly it rolls past us. Wouldn’t it be awful to wake up […]
For many, Christmas is a joyous season of celebration and family and traditions. But for others, Christmas isn’t such a joyous occasion. What do we do when we find ourselves struggling to be jolly the only time of year we even use that word? This week we are taking a look at another Christmas favorite, […]
As we continue this series looking at some of our favorite Christmas carols, we are going to take a deeper look at the history and theology of one of the most beloved carols of all time: “Hark! The Herald Angels Sing.” As we are going to learn there is a lot more to this carol […]
Every year, around this time, we start singing the same old Christmas songs. Of course, there are the ones we love that have absolutely no spiritual significance. At least I’ve never been able to find much to be gleaned from Rudolf the Red Nosed Reindeer as it pertains to my walk with Christ. But, there […]
As we wrap up this month of talking about living a life that shines, we take this idea one step further. As a church, we have a deep desire to be a redemptive force in the community. Yes, we want to have a redemptive influence in the lives of everyone each one of our members […]
As we continue to look at the idea of living a live that shines/living a life that begs the question, we take a bit of a turn. That turn is towards the idea of being created in God’s image and what that means for us as creative beings. A lot of people think they’re not […]
You may have wondered where the name SixEight came from. Well, it comes from this verse in Micah 6:8: “He has shown you, O man, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you? But to Do Justice, and to Love Mercy and to Walk Humbly with your God.” That is the heartbeat […]
Matthew 5:13-16 ESV 13 “You are the salt of the earth, but if salt has lost its taste, how shall its saltiness be restored? It is no longer good for anything except to be thrown out and trampled under people’s feet. 14 “You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill […]
1 Thessalonians 5:18 ESV 18 give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. Colossians 3:17 ESV 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. Philippians 4:6 ESV 6 […]
2 Peter 3 This is now the second letter that I am writing to you, beloved. In both of them I am stirring up your sincere mind by way of reminder, 2 that you should remember the predictions of the holy prophets and the commandment of the Lord and Savior through your apostles, 3 knowing this first of […]
2 Peter 2 But false prophets also arose among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you, who will secretly bring in destructive heresies, even denying the Master who bought them, bringing upon themselves swift destruction. 2 And many will follow their sensuality, and because of them the way of truth will be blasphemed. […]
2 Peter 1:3-11 3 His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who called us to his own glory and excellence, 4 by which he has granted to us his precious and very great promises, so that through them you may become partakers of the divine nature, […]
2 Peter 1:3-11 3 His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who called us to his own glory and excellence, 4 by which he has granted to us his precious and very great promises, so that through them you may become partakers of the divine nature, […]
2 Peter 1:3-11 3 His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who called us to his own glory and excellence, 4 by which he has granted to us his precious and very great promises, so that through them you may become partakers of the divine nature, […]
2 Peter 1:3-11 3 His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who called us to his own glory and excellence, 4 by which he has granted to us his precious and very great promises, so that through them you may become partakers of the divine nature, […]
2 Peter 1:3-11 3 His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who called us to his own glory and excellence, 4 by which he has granted to us his precious and very great promises, so that through them you may become partakers of the divine nature, […]
2 Peter 1:3-11 3 His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who called us to his own glory and excellence, 4 by which he has granted to us his precious and very great promises, so that through them you may become partakers of the divine nature, […]
2 Peter 1:3-11 3 His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who called us to his own glory and excellence, 4 by which he has granted to us his precious and very great promises, so that through them you may become partakers of the divine nature, […]
2 Peter 1:3-11 3 His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who called us to his own glory and excellence, 4 by which he has granted to us his precious and very great promises, so that through them you may become partakers of the divine nature, […]
2 Peter 1:3-11 3 His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who called us to his own glory and excellence, 4 by which he has granted to us his precious and very great promises, so that through them you may become partakers of the divine nature, […]
Proverbs 22:6 Train up a child in the way he should go; even when he is old he will not depart from it.
Psalm 139:13-18 13 For you formed my inward parts; you knitted me together in my mother’s womb. 14 I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works; my soul knows it very well. 15 My frame was not hidden from you, when I was being made in secret, intricately woven in the depths […]
Isaiah 1:16 “learn to do good; seek justice, correct oppression; bring justice to the fatherless, plead the widow’s cause.” Join us as Rob Goff shares with us about the greatest epidemic taking place in America today. For more information on Father’s in the Field, check out: http://www.fathersinthefield.com/
For too many Christians, Jesus has been something we’ve tried to add to our lives. We add a little Jesus on Sunday and hope that will be enough for the week. But, Jesus never intended to leave us as we were. He wants a total transformation. Listen in as we take a look at Romans […]
Join us as we explore Ephesians chapter 2 and talk about what it means to be near to God.
Malachi 2:17-3:5 17 You have wearied the Lord with your words. But you say, “How have we wearied him?” By saying, “Everyone who does evil is good in the sight of the Lord, and he delights in them.” Or by asking, “Where is the God of justice?” 3:1 “Behold, I send my messenger, and he will prepare […]
Malachi 2:10-16 10 Have we not all one Father? Has not one God created us? Why then are we faithless to one another, profaning the covenant of our fathers? 11 Judah has been faithless, and abomination has been committed in Israel and in Jerusalem. ForJudah has profaned the sanctuary of the Lord, which he loves, and has […]
Malachi 2:1-9 “And now, O priests, this command is for you. 2 If you will not listen, if you will not take it to heart to give honor to my name, says the Lord of hosts, then I will send the curse upon you and I will curse your blessings. Indeed, I have already cursed them, […]
Malachi 1:6-14 6 “A son honors his father, and a servant his master. If then I am a father, where is my honor? And if I am a master, where is my fear? says the Lord of hosts to you, O priests, who despise my name. But you say, ‘How have we despised your name?’7 By offering […]
As we start off a new series at SixEight Church, we’re going to be taking a good look at the book of Malachi – everyone’s favorite book! As a book that was written about 1,000 years after God gave Moses the law, there are some very strong correlations to our faith today as we look […]
It’s easy to feel overwhelmed with everything that is going on around us all the time. It feels like our world is full of chaos and we are just stuck in the corner hoping to survive.
When we compare ourselves with others, it’s easy to feel like what we bring to the table pales in comparison to what we see others doing.
Sometimes the greatest challenge we have to overcome isn’t a result of a bad choice that we made, it’s the result of someone else who made a bad decision. How do we move on from that?
A lot of us struggle to feel like we matter to anyone. Sometimes we wonder if anyone would notice if we weren’t around anymore.
Many of us have things in our past that we are embarrassed to admit. Some of us have things in our past that we think will keep us from being able to know God. Let’s see what the Bible has to say about that!
We’ve all probably asked ourselves that question at some point in our lives: Do I Even Matter? It’s a questions that has daunted us for ages. But there is an answer, if you’re willing to look in the right place for it. Listen in to our Easter talk to kick off this new series: Who […]
Following Jesus comes with the guarantee of challenges. Are we ready to follow Him not matter what it will cost us?
In case you haven’t figured it out, John is really trying to drive a couple of points down deep into the readers of this letter. He reiterates them, hits them from different angles. But he keeps coming back to the same points – Love One Another. Listen in as we dig even deeper into this […]
“As He is, so also are we in this world.” We have been given the task of shining the light of God’s love into a dark world. But, do we know what that means? Do we know how we’re supposed to go about doing that? And have we really done our best to do that […]
There are a lot of sources of information that surround us on a daily basis. Have we stopped to consider if this is a source that should have input? What about all the different Christian sources that are screaming for our attention? Should we listen to them? “He who is in you is greater than […]
“Your walk talks and your talk talks, but your walk talks more than your talk talks.” We’ve heard the truth a thousand times. We can’t just love by our words, we have to love by our actions. Why do we have such a hard time living what we’re speaking? Can we really be the light […]
What was the big deal with Cain’s offering he made to God? Why wouldn’t God regard his offering in the same way He had regard for Abel’s sacrifice? And what does this say about us? How does our understanding of Cain & Abel inform our understanding of what this passage says about us as Jesus’ […]
No one who is in Christ makes a practice of sinning. Not only have we been set free from sin, but we have also died to it. Why would we keep going back to death? Why would we make payments on a loan when the balance has already been paid? Listen in for an encouraging […]
What do we do with those who leave the church? Is there a difference between those who just leave to go to another church and those who leave for another teaching entirely? And what is this antichrist thing, and what does it mean for us? Listen in as Rob Goff covers this important passage of […]
For the first time in the book of 1 John we come to a point where John tells us not to love something. Up until now it’s been all about love. Love this, love that. But here, at a very critical juncture, John makes a bold statement about something we aren’t supposed to love. What […]
Will the Bona Fide, authentic Christianity please stand up? How many churches do you pass by every day? For every church, there’s a different form of Christianity. What’s the true, authentic faith that we have been called to live out as followers of Christ? In these few verses in 1 John, we get a sense […]
Our relationships with one another are inundated with performance. When someone doesn’t perform in the way we think they ought to, we start to walk away from them. Our relationship with God is the same. We feel like we have to perform at a certain standard to be worthy. We think, if we can just […]
Bona Fide. What does it mean? It means genuine. Real. Authentic. The real deal. When it applies to our faith, what is the Bona Fide life we are called to lead? What is the real faith? Will the real Christianity please stand up? On our street alone we have 4 different churches. If you were […]
Peace. It’s what the world longs for. It’s what the world was calling for after the Paris attacks. It’s been sought for generation after generation. Yet, for some reason, it always seems to allude us. How do we have peace? What is the peace that we find in the Christ Child? Let’s take a listen […]
Joy is one of those words that seems to appear around Christmas. Why do you suppose that is the case? What exactly does Christmas have to do with Joy? How does Christmas bring us joy? Listen in as we talk about Joy in our series, “A Thrill Of Hope.”
What is Love? If you ask a hundred people, you’d get a hundred different answers. Many definitions of love would deal with it makes me feel. “I know I love someone because of how they make me feel.” But, what is the kind of love that God shows us through his coming to earth? Let’s dig […]
It’s the most wonderful time of the year! Christmas time is here! Yay! But, what if you’re not in the jolly mood that others are? What if you’re going through something that is wrecking you right now and your world is flip-turned upside down? Where is the hope of Christmas when that’s the reality you’re […]
As we wrap up the Walk Humbly series, we take a look at the most poignant and powerful passage in scripture on the topic of humility; Philippians 2:1-11. If you haven’t read that in a while (or ever) now would be a great time to do so. Listen in to the final talk in this […]
You probably saw it on the news, in your Facebook feed or somewhere else online – the major controversy over Starbucks Red Cup. What’s the deal with the Red Cup, and what in the world does the Red Cup have to do with walking humbly? That’s exactly what we deal with this week as we […]
“But he gives more grace. Therefore it says, “God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble.” – James 4:6 Listen in as Rob Goff, who oversees our youth at SixEight, helps us get a great understanding of James 4:1-10. What does it mean that God opposes the proud? Does pride have any place […]
There was this radical community that existed at the beginning of the church. We read about it in Acts chapter 2. They were radical. They shared things. They fellowshipped by choice and not by force. By all accounts, they were one of the most amazing communities that ever existed on the planet. We know this […]
Have you ever found yourself asking the question “What kind of God would…?” We follow it with a hundred different things, and yet I don’t think we fully understand the implications of the question we are asking. In part 2 of this series, we take a look at what it means to walk humbly, with […]
Why is it that the most insecure people are the most arrogant, while the most secure people are the most humble? The answer is really simple. Identity. When you are secure in your identity, you can walk in humility. Listen in as we take a look at our identity in Christ.
What do you see when you look into the future? Well, we may not see exactly what is going to happen, but when we look at what God is doing and where God is moving, we can see God is doing some great things at SixEight Church. Listen in as we discuss the possibilities of […]
Have you ever had a bad dining experience at a restaurant? Maybe you didn’t get what you ordered, it was prepared right, it took too long to get out of the kitchen or a hundred other things. I think most of us have experienced a dining experience that we didn’t quite care for. What does […]
Last week, we talked about those things the Bible says we shouldn’t do with our money. This week, we are looking at what the Bible says we should do with our money. As we talked about it, we still discuss how the greatest struggle we are facing when it comes to money is that we are […]
Before we get to what the Bible says we should do with our money, we wanted to stop and take a look at some of the things the Bible says we shouldn’t do. As we said, our goal is not to get you to give more of your money to the church, instead it’s to […]
You’ve heard the televangelists begging you for your money. You’ve probably heard of Creflo Dollar and his desire for the church to buy him a private jet – because that’s what he needed to be able to do ministry. The church has a reputation in our culture of wanting people’s money. In this series, we […]
If you do a google search, you can find some humbling truths about Christians. Try it for yourself. Go to Google and type in the phrase, “Why are Christians so” and then just put a letter. Go through the letters of the alphabet. See what you discover? The question is raises is: Why are Christians […]
Today, we look at what might be the most popular parable. It’s one we have talked about before. But, as we look at it, we realized there is a lot more to these few verses than we may have seen the first time around. The Good Samaritan is a parable that is often used to […]
A source we have been using through this “Love Mercy” series is a book entitled “The Cost of Community” by Jamie Aprin-Ricci. In the book he said this: “By recognizing we are as much in need of mercy (and grace) as those we extend mercy to, we subvert the tendency we all have for coming […]
We all have times in our lives where we are just going through the motions. We’re going through the motions at work, with our families or even in our walk with God. We are doing the action, but our heart isn’t in it. Have you ever been there? This week, we talk about how […]
We live in a very contractual society. Everything around us is built on terms of service, contracts and legal jar gin. We agree to terms we never read. When someone goes on, we look for the loop holes to be able to get out. The companies are creating them to protect themselves and keep us […]
In the Pacific Northwest, we live in a potentially dangerous area. Not too long ago an article went viral about “the really big one” that scientists have been talking about for several years now. It scared a lot of people. Could it happen? Sure. Will it? Maybe. There are other possibilities/theories about how the pressure […]
This week, Jim Huntamer shared with us from Psalm 22. As we looked, we saw someone who was dealing with a Spiritual Depression. Jim showed us 4 ways to hold on as we walk through these tough times. Be sure to listen in!
In the final week of our Freeway series, Rob Goff shares with us about finding Freedom. We have spent the last 5 weeks talking about the things that hold us back and keep us from experiencing the freedom God has in mind for us. Now, it’s time for us to be set free. And more […]
Most of us have a hard time with the same thing. And that’s our identity in Christ. We don’t understand that we are accepted. We feel like we have to do things to earn God’s love and to secure our approval and acceptance, but that’s not what Jesus did for us. In part 5 of […]
What is forgiveness? We throw the word around and think we’re doing something by saying it, but have we really done it? Even better, have we really experienced it? And have we forgiven ourselves? These are all questions we talk about in part 4 of the Freeway series!
In Part 3 of the Freeway series, we talked about the idea of responsibility and ownership. Whether the thing we have been made aware of (week 1) and discovered (week 2) was our fault or caused by someone else, we bear the responsibility for how we move forward from it. Listen in to Part 3 […]
Last week we began a brand new summer series called Freeway. We are on a journey to freedom together. Last week, we talked about awareness, and this week builds on that – Discovery. First we have to be in a position to be aware. So that we can discover. As we talked about discovery, we […]
How aware are we of what’s going on around us? How aware are we of ourselves and the blindspots we might have? And what are the obstacles that keep us from being able to know what they are? As we get started in the Freeway series, we talk about awareness. If we are going […]
In this last talk in the “Do Justice” series, we talk about our walk. Going back to 1970, we took a look at a lesson Big Bird taught us – One of these things is not like the others. As we talked, we discovered that the world around us hasn’t really rejected the gospel, because […]
“You have to decide what your highest priorities are and have the courage – pleasantly, smilingly, nonapologetically – to say no to the other things. And the way to do that is have a bigger yes burning inside.” Stephen Covey “Courage is not living without fear, courage is being scared to death and doing the […]
When Jesus taught his followers, he rarely taught on one layer. He was a master teacher, and he had an amazing way of stacking layer upon layer of meaning into a very simple teaching. This is exactly what we find when we look at the story of the Good Samaritan. There is way more to […]
There are some pretty awful things that happen in the world. If we were stop and list the top ten, we’d probably find ourselves in tears. We live in a broken and fallen world. Because of this, there are a lot of ways we can get involved in doing justice. But, how often does our […]
We have discussed, at great length, how being made in God’s image is a huge motivation for why we do justice. And that’s what we talked about last week. But, we haven’t really gone too deep on the idea that grace is the biggest motivation for doing justice. Yes, it’s important to treat everyone with dignity […]
We are thrilled to be starting another module of “The Disciples Project!” If you don’t know, we are on a journey as a church. And our destination is being disciples. So, we have started this trip to discover what it looks like to be a disciple, a follower of Jesus Christ. We have finished […]
We live in a me first world. Everything revolves around ourselves and how it makes us feel. There is perhaps no better indicator of our obsession with ourselves than selfies. As we talk about Easter this year, we start by taking a look at the me first world we live in, the me first world […]
If you had asked me a year ago how I thought we were doing in our country when it comes to racial reconciliation, I would have said “I think we’re doing pretty good. We’ve come a long way.” But then Ferguson happened, and out country blew up along racial lines once again. Clearly there are […]
There are a few topics that are getting a lot of attention right now in the world outside the church. What does God say about these issues and how should the church respond? That’s exactly what we talk about in this new series at SixEight Church. This week we covered the idea of truth. Is […]
This is the last session of the second module of “The Disciples Project.” It’s hard to believe we’ve already gotten through two modules on this journey! We’ll be finished before we know it! In the first talk this week, we talk about the responsibility we have to “Be Prepared.” There is often a desire to […]
Jesus’ command was to “Go into all the world and make disciples, baptizing them in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to obey everything that I have commanded you. And I am with you always, even to the very end of the age.” We’re making disciples, and a part […]
Everyone loves to talk about grace. We’re amazed by it. We can’t believe we receive it. But when it comes to how we respond to grace with our lives and finances, now that’s a different story. Some might even groan out loud. But have we ever stopped to think about how we should respond to […]
“We become disciples over time, not at one time.” “If we’re not making disciples, we’re not fully discipled.” These two statements are exactly what we talked about in the 7th week of this module. To be more specific, what we talked about was the process we will use as a church for making disciples. It’s […]
Jesus gave his disciples a very vivid illustration that is recorded in John 15. It’s a very familiar passage to many of us, but have we really dug into what Jesus is saying? What does it mean to be attached to the vine? What is the responsibility of a branch? Do we have a choice […]
You’ve probably heard the term before. Maybe even used it. “I’m shopping for a church.” It’s become a pretty normal thing to hear in churches now-a-days. But, as we talk about in this session of “The Disciples Project,” we need to be committed to community. It’s not enough to attend church, we need to be […]
How much time and energy has the church at large spent over the past 20-30 years trying to fit in with the world? How has that affected Christians? Are we spending too much time trying to fit in and not enough time trying to stand out and be different? These are all questions we talk […]
In our third week of this second module, we stopped to talk about the Body of Christ as it pertains to Spiritual Gifts as Paul describes in 1 Cor. 12. In the first talk, we discussed the idea: Everyone has a part to play, everyone plays their part. As we discovered, Paul was pretty direct […]
Welcome to the second week of “The Disciples Project!” In this session we hit on two big topics. Radical Community for a Radical Mission When the early church movement became an institution. We continued in the new format of two shorter talks instead of one long one. In this post, you will find three options. […]
This week we started the second module in this journey we are on called “The Disciples Project.” And it’s an exciting module! We’re talking about this thing we call the church. In this week’s talk, we define terms and cover the birth of the church at Pentecost. If you’ve ever wondered what it means to […]
In our final installment of the Elf Series, we take a look at Buddy’s search for a father. What we see is that his search for his Dad is not that different from our search for our Father. As we look at the Christmas story, what we learn is that God is right here – […]
In Part 2 of our Elf series, we talk a look at Walter and his struggle to believe throughout the movie. He can’t believe that Buddy is an elf. He can’t believe that Buddy is his son. And at the end of the movie, we see he just couldn’t believe the whole Santa thing. What […]
Elf is a fun Christmas movie, but as we go through this series, we will discover that the issues Buddy deals with in the movie are also familiar to us. Just as we see in this first week of the series! This week, we talk about how Buddy didn’t have a place to belong. He […]
This is it! The final week of this first module! Congratulations for those of you who have stuck with us through the whole module. I genuinely hope you have developed a deep sense of awe at the story of Redemption that encompasses you and I! In this final session in the first module we talk […]
In our next to final session of this first Module of “The Disciples Project” we are coving the topics of Justification & Adoption. As we talk about how amazing the fact of redemption is, we realize that redemption in and of itself would be reason enough for us to celebrate. But God didn’t stop at […]
Well, we finally get to it today! The big topic we’ve been waiting for throughout this whole first module of “The Disciples Project.” Redemption. What exactly is redemption? What is so important about being redeemed? In this module, that’s exactly what we talk about. We will learn what redemption is, and what it was that […]
As we journey on through this first module of the Disciples Project, we come to this overarching theme of the entire Bible, that is the Covenant of Grace. It is expressed in the beginning of Genesis and fulfilled at the end of Revelation. But what is this Covenant of Grace? What is a Covenant? Listen […]
The fall has created an ache in us that can only be filled with Grace. Have you ever tried to play a badly scratched record? If you’re curious, you can listen in to see just what that sounds like. And it’s a great illustration for what happened to the world and humanity after the fall. […]
In this week of Part 1 of “The Disciples Project” we talk about the joy-filled subject of being made in God’s image. If you’re feeling worthless and purposeless, this is a talk you need to hear. That’s because being made in God’s image brings with it inherent dignity. But it’s not just dignity, there is […]
In the second week of the first module of “The Disciples Project” we build on the unchanging truth of God by looking at the primary vehicle He uses to reveal that truth: The Bible. If God knows everything, made everything and never changes – He is the only one who gets to decide what truth […]
This week is the official first week of our 3 year journey as a church called, “The Disciples Project”! And we are excited! We began Module 1, Understanding Redemption by talking about the really big topic of “Who is God?” What we learned is that God knows everything, made everything and never changes. This is […]
This week we are starting something brand new that we are extremely excited about! We are calling it “The Disciple Project.” It’s a three year journey we are taking as a church in pursuit of becoming fully devoted followers of Jesus Christ. As a church we have tried a few different things in the pursuit […]
In this last installment of the Training Camp series, we talk about Adversity & Success. All of us are going to face Adversity and Success in our lives. And if we don’t have a plan for how we are going to handle it, we will get through it without being changed. And that very well […]
As we start into a new ministry season at SixEight Church, we stopped for just a moment to look ahead at where God is leading us. We also celebrated what God has been doing in the lives of 5 members of our body who took the step of going public with their faith through baptism. […]
Who are you when no one is looking? You know, that part of you that’s deep down inside of you that only you know. That part that can even deceive you from time to time. Who is that person? Too often we try to put on behaviors and things on the outside of our hearts […]
In this sermon of the Training Camp series, we start to bring all of the attributes together into one big idea: TEAM. How we live as individuals affects the church as a whole. How we live and operate as a church affects other churches and Christians. Are we playing as a part of a team, […]
Just as it goes in training camp, we’re getting tougher about things as we continue on through this series. This week we talked about responsibility. It was a tough message, but it’s one that all of us need to be reminded of. We are all responsible for our own behaviors and actions, but the simple knowledge […]
This week in the Training Camp series, we talk about how important it is to live our lives with excellence. As we continue to look at Romans 12, we also look at 2 Pet. 1 to talk about the idea of excellence. Listen in to see how big a role excellence plays in our lives […]
As we continue on in the Training Camp Series, we cover the topic of Discipline. It’s not a fun or popular topic to discuss, but it’s an important fundamental for being a disciple of Jesus Christ.
As we continue on in our Training Camp series, revisiting the fundamentals of being a disciple of Jesus, we talk about the important role our attitude plays in being a disciple with a take notice walk. Listen in as we talk about attitude in part 2 of the Training Camp series:
As we dive into this new series, we’re starting on something very fundamental. In fact, this is the fundamental on which the rest of the fundamentals are built. To be clear, we are not a fundamentalist church, we’re talking about a different kind of fundamental. Want to know more? Check out part one!
As we wrap up our Joy Ride series, going through the book of Philippians (If you’ve missed some of the sermons, you can check out the whole series by clicking here: http://68church.com/category/sermons/joy-ride/) we talk about the main purpose behind Paul’s writing of this letter to the church at Philippi. Generosity. Paul was very thankful for […]
As we get to one of the most popular passages in the book of Philippians, we talk about the house we’re building with our thoughts. Simply put, “The thoughts we dwell on build the house we live in.”
In part 9 of the Joy Ride series, we talk about the fact that there are people who are living as enemies of God. It’s not a popular topic. None of us like to think about it. All of us would like to do away with this part of the Bible. But, that doesn’t get […]
What is the motivation behind the religious activities that we perform? As we talked about the first part of Philippians chapter 3, we looked at our underlying reasons for being religious. Ultimately we said that ‘Religion is the show we put on to show the world we have our rubbish together.’ Listen in as we talk […]
On this Father’s Day, we talked about making a name for yourself. It’s a desire that is probably built into all people, and especially men. We men want to leave our mark on the world. We want to know that when we die, we will be remembered. As we dig into Phil 2:14-18, we uncover […]
Today, we take a break from our Joy Ride series, and focus on what God has done in and through our church over the last year. The way we celebrate is a little different though. Instead of a big celebration in the service, we all went out and served our community. Listen in to today’s […]
Today we come to a verse in Philippians that stirs up quite a bit of controversy, 2:12. As we look into what Paul was talking about to the church at Philippi, we see that what he had in mind was their witness. But still, what does this verse really mean? One thing we discover, is […]
This week, we took a bold step in our “Joy Ride” series. We talked about the importance of how we live our lives. We looked at Philippians 1:27-30 where Paul told the church at Philippi, “Whatever happens…live in a manner worthy of the gospel of Jesus.” What we said was “The way the world sees […]
Happy Mother’s Day! As we continue on in our series going through the book of Philippians, we stop on this day of celebration to look at what it means to leave a legacy. With that, we took a brief look at the life of Ermal Wilson, Pastor David’s grandfather. As we look at his life […]
As we continue on the journey of finding joy in the ride, we take a look at the things that are going into our lives. We asked three questions today: What’s propelling you, what’s fueling you and what’s steering you. Listen in to learn about how those things we allow to have input in our […]
This week we started a new series going through the book of Philippians. As we get started, we talked about the big idea for the book which is, The key to finding joy in the ride is by walking humbly and rejoicing in Jesus. We then looked at the beginning of the book, how the church […]
As we wrap up the Love Illuminated series this Easter Sunday, we talk about the amazing event of the Resurrection of Jesus Christ. This is the single-most important event in all of human history. There is nothing like it, there is no religion on the face of the planet that has anything to compare to […]
In part 13 of the Love Illuminated series we take a look at the day between Good Friday and Resurrection Sunday – Black Saturday. What is it about that day that carries significance for us as the church? Listen in as Kenan Stolz, our Student Life Pastor, shares about the impact this day has on […]
We take a lot of things for granted in our lives. We’ve got a lot of comforts and amenities. We have a lot of things that make our life much easier. And even within our plush lives, we still find a way to take things for granted. But, the greatest travesty of all is when […]
There are a lot of different voices shouting for our attention. And it can be easy to get drawn into what those voices have to say. But as we learn from looking at Jesus’ interaction with Pilate, it’s ridiculous to ignore Jesus, just because the crowd is loud. Listen in to part 11 of the […]
As we enter into the last week of Jesus’ life, we start to take a look at the last few days of Jesus’ life. We should be amazed at how Jesus handled himself in his last hours. If any of us knew (as Jesus did) the torture we were about to face, we would have […]
In part 9 of the Love Illuminated series, we get to the topic at hand of life. Specifically the ‘psuche’ life and the ‘zoe’ life. This is a transitional message that covers the landscape between John chapter 3 (where we were) and John chapter 16 (where we are headed for the rest of the series). […]
This week we take a look at the quintessential “king of the hill” battle that takes place between the disciples of John the Baptist and Jesus’ disciples. I’m sure their intentions were good, but what they didn’t realize was that John knew exactly what he was here to do. Jesus knew what he was here […]
Today we get to the most famous verse in the Bible, John 3:16. If you’ve ever watched a football game or driving around the countryside, you’ve probably seen this verse listed there. And it’s because it’s a great verse. We are so thankful that God loved us and sent His son to die on the […]
In this installment of our Love Illuminated series, Kenan Stolz (SixEight Church Student Life Pastor) shares with us about the interaction between Jesus and Nicodemus. As he shares with us, he challenges us to think, “Are we an expert in anything?” As we look at Nicodemus we see that he was indeed an expert and […]
In Part 5 of the “Love Illuminated” series, we talk about that epic story at the beginning of Jesus’ ministry. It’s the one where Jesus goes into the temple and throws stuff around and yells at people. But, as we dig into this passage we see that there is a lot more John is telling […]
In part 4 of Love Illuminated, we talk about the first sign Jesus performed at the wedding in Cana. It’s a great story, especially if you love wine. But this tale is about more than just a molecular shift in some jars of water, it’s about us.
Part 3 in the Love Illuminated series brings us to the topic of Baptism. And it just so happens that we also did some baptisms in the service that day as well. It’s almost as if we planned it that way! As we look at Baptism, we also take a look at the difference between […]
This week we take a look at the significance of Jesus’ interaction with Nathaniel. Nathaniel was an israelite and skeptical that anything good could come out of Nazareth, but Jesus proved very quickly and definitively that He was, in fact, the Messiah. We don’t know everything that happened in that encounter, but we do learn […]
As we start 2014, we’re taking a long, hard look at who Jesus is and how we should be living our lives in light of His grace. This week we kicked off the series, Love Illuminated by looking at the 1st Chapter of John and the big ideas that we see in the introduction of […]
As we kick of 2014 at SixEight Church, we set the course for what we would love to see happen in this year. We talked about some goals that are measurable such as baptisms and attendance. But then we talked about a goal that’s harder to measure, but much more important. And that’s the goal […]
As we finished up our series on “It’s A Wonderful Life?” we talked about everyone’s favorite part of the movie. As George has finally had enough of this alternate reality where he’s not sure what’s real and what’s not anymore, he runs back to the bridge where he originally thought about throwing it all away. […]
In part 3 of our series, “It’s A Wonderful Life?” we dig into the idea of the value of a life. The two quotes we used from the movie were some of the most poignant lines that have ever been uttered from the silver screen. “You’re worth more dead than alive.” ” Strange isn’t it? […]
In the second week of our series, “It’s a Wonderful Life?” we talk about the quote from George in the movie: “I’m shakin’ the dust of this crummy little town off my feet and I’m gonna see the world!” As we looked at George’s desire to get out of Bedford Falls, we also talked about […]
This week we kicked off our Christmas series, “It’s A Wonderful Life?” Throughout the course of this series we will be using some famous quotes from the Christmas classic and relating them to our lives today. In the first week we talk about family and took a look at the scene from the movie where […]
We we wrap up the “No More Excuses” series, we look at the beginning part of the journey of one of the most famous leaders in all the Bible, in fact in all of history – Moses. As we dig into the initial conversation Moses has with God about what God is asking him to […]
In the second week of our series, No More Excuses, we talk about the parable of the Great Banquet that Jesus told. It is recorded in Luke 14 if you want to go check it out. In this message we talk about how there is no negotiation when we understand the invitation. When we truly […]
This week we started at new series at church called “No More Excuses.” In this series we’re going to cover some of the excuses we often hear about why we can’t do or be who God made us. We use excuses all the time, probably hundreds of them a week, maybe even per day. Something […]
We all know that the Bible talks about giving 10%. At least, if you’ve been in church for very long at all, you’ve undoubtedly heard about the “tithe” and that God wants the 1st 10% of the income he sends our way. But what about the rest of of? Does the Bible say anything about […]
When churches talk about tithing, people usually glue their wallets shut. However as we talk about tithing this week at SixEight Church we talk about how it’s a heart issue more than it is a money issue. And the reason we should pray and read our Bible and serve one another, is the same reason […]
“For God so loved the world, That He gave…” It’s in God’s nature to be a giver. God is such a giver that he created the whole earth for man to enjoy. He created it all and gave it to us. God is a giver. And here’s the kicker, we are made in God’s image. […]
This week we started a new series entitled “Dollars & Sense.” The goal of this series is to get us all handling God’s money and a God-honoring way. To get us started, we had pastor Phil Yntema join us to kick the series off. Click to listen to Pastor Phil as he shares with us […]
This week we hear from our Student Life Pastor, Kenan Stolz. Kenan shared with us from the book of James and challenged us with the question: “What do you serve?” As we are reminded in James, faith without works is dead, and it was Abraham’s faith that was credited to him as righteousness. What do […]
We’re pretty accustomed to the list of “To Don’ts.” We know we’re not supposed to murder, covet, steal or lie. We know well all the things we’re not supposed to do. But what if it’s not about the things we aren’t supposed to do and the one thing we are? What if, following God is […]
We all long for and desire mountaintop experiences. We want so deeply to be able to stand on the mountain with Abraham. We want to get our name written down among those in the Bible who have had great faith. But, so often, we want the mountaintop experience without being faithful in the valley. We […]
Joshua had gotten himself into a heap of trouble. Without seeking the Lord, they made an alliance with Gibeon. And that turned out bad for Israel. Have you ever gotten yourself into a situation, but you needed God’s help to get you out of it? We all have. We have all done things that we […]
This Sunday was a little different. Instead of having a typical Sunday with worship and a sermon, we stopped for a moment to hear from each ministry and what they’ve got coming up in the fall. Then we spent some time praying for each ministry. At the end of the service we celebrated two baptisms […]
What could possibly be the reason that we have lost our enthusiasm for sharing with other about the amazing grace we have been given? When you think about it, what we have is so awesome and so amazing that there really shouldn’t be anything that keeps us from being the light of God’s love. But, […]
Why do we need to pray for the people we are trying to reach? The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the gospel that displays the glory of Christ, who is the image of God. (2 Cor. 4:4) For the message of the […]
Throughout the Bible we hear a lot about light, especially in the New Testament. When Jesus comes, He is often described as the Light, the Light of the world. As His followers the light gets passed on to us and now we are the light of the world. However, I don’t know that we ever […]
This is the final sermon in our series, “Wake Up!” and in it we talk about the greatest of endings. “Hope is a good thing. Maybe the best thing.” And this morning we talk about just that, Hope. We have such a great hope that lies out in front of us. And about ability to […]
For God so loved… Love has been altered in society. It now refers either to romantic love or is used as a common place term for anything. What we are finding is there is a lot of love missing. Or, as many of us have found, the idea of love has been turned into a […]
As we continue on in our “Wake Up!” series, we get to a very important topic…ONIONS! Okay, it might not be all that important, but what they represent in us is very important. As we talk today about worship, we talk about some of the things that keep us from true, authentic worship. And as […]
This is a topic that most people don’t want to talk about, and yet the Bible talks about money more than it talks about Hell. Because of that, we should really pay attention to what the bible says about money. Today we talk about who or what is really number 1 in our lives. We […]
As we continue in our series of Wake Up!, we are covering a topic that is central to how God wants us, as His disciples, to live. That is the area of serving one another. Mark 10 says that Jesus came to serve, not to be served. And if He is our ultimate example, then […]
This week, as we continue on in the “Wake Up!” series, we talk about the power that exists in this body we are a part of. We’re not talking about our individual, physical bodies. Instead, the body of Christ that God has placed us in. You’ll want to listen in as we talk about the […]
This is the third week in our series, “Wake Up!” We are setting the stage for how we should approach some of the most crucial aspects of our lives. So far we have covered waking up from pride to humility and how your glory is too small a thing to live for. The second week […]
In the second week of our introduction to the series Wake Up, we talk about waking up from Apathy to Action. And since it’s Father’s day we also talked a lot about Basketball and Football. 🙂 From chapter 5 of Ephesians, we see this passage from Paul. But everything exposed by the light becomes visible—and everything […]
This is a talk that was given during a series called “Wake Up!” As we went through the series, one of the key points we talked about was walking humbly. To get a good idea of why that’s important to us at SixEight Church, listen to this talk! This week we start a new series […]
We all have ideas that come into our head when we hear the word “evangelism.” But, what does real evangelism look like? Is it a Billy Graham Crusade or going door to door and striking up a conversation with whoever answers? Perhaps the most natural way for us to reach the world for Christ isn’t […]
In today’s message, we talk about a verse that summarizes the Old Testament. It’s also a verse that describes what we’re about as a church. Listen in as we start talking about this all important topic for our time. “ He has shown you, O man, what is good. And what does the Lord require […]
This morning, as David was confirmed and commissioned to be the permanent Lead Pastor of Whipple Creek, he wanted to share with you all the reasons why it’s only because of God that he has the opportunity to serve the church in this capacity. In “My Jonah Story,” David shares the journey he traveled in his life […]
There are many great stories of great mothers in the pages of the Bible. But instead of focusing on any of them, we focus today on a mother and grandmother you may not know about at all. In the first chapter of 2 Timothy, we learn of Timothy’s mother and grandmother – Eunice and Lois. […]
This week we wrapped up our little mini-series called “All In The Mindset.” The goal of this series was to get us started going down the road of thinking on “Above Things” instead of on “Earthly Things.” One of the ways we do that is through what are commonly known as spiritual disciplines. In this […]
As we begin this new series, we started with an illustration. When we were sinners, we lived in the world and our mind thought like the world thinks. But, as we have received Christ, we have been born into a new world with a new way of thinking. The problem is, we still immerse ourself […]
Pastor Rick Weber shared with us this past Sunday from Psalm 107. He shared with us a great message about those who are to give thanks to the Lord. In life there are many trials, and we are urged to consider it pure joy when we face trials of many kinds. Listen in as Pastor […]
Today we wrapped up our series, Ironic with a talk about what it means to be the body. No other King would have left his Kingdom in the hands of commoners. No other king would build a kingdom without walls. No other Kingdom has lasted for over 2,000 years. No other Kingdom will last forever. […]
This week in our Ironic series, we talk about proof for the resurrection, the ascension and the Holy Spirit. No other King ascended into Heaven or could even imagine a way they could fill their followers with their presence. If we’re going to be like Christ, we have to know who He is. When we know who […]
An Ironic Easter Jesus said to his disciples,” I do not give as the world gives.” In that one sentence we find the entire message of the Gospel of Jesus. Maybe not in the mere words that are there, but in the meaning that lies behind them all. In today’s message, our Easter message at […]
Dense Disciples This week, we try to catch as much of Jesus’ life in this one sermon as we possibly can. Jesus came to seek and save that which was lost. Jesus came for all mankind. It’s hard to sum up Jesus’ ministry in one sermon, but then again we don’t have to. We have […]
Sermon Recap: In this week’s sermon we talked about the importance of prayer. Specifically the role prayer plays in reaching the 8 to 15 people God has place in our lives. If you didn’t listen to last weeks sermon on “One Mission” that would be a good place to start. In that message we talked […]
Today we are finishing up the series, One. In it, we’ve covered the three Ones that we want to be about as a church. The one thing – Jesus, Being One Body and our One mission. As we talk today, we cover the topic of our 8 to 15 people that God has put in […]
How we take communion is just as important as taking communion. We can never do anything to make ourselves worthy of Christ’s death for us on the Cross. Communion celebrates what Christ did for us. The word unworthy does not describe how we are when we take communion. In other words, we can never make […]
Sermon Recap: In today’s sermon we talked about the many things that can distract us from the one thing. It’s so easy to get distracted with all the things going on around us, to get caught up living in the periphery instead of focusing our lives around the one thing, Jesus. The One Thing – […]