Resonate Church: Recent Episodes
Resonate Community Baptist Church
As followers of Christ we don't create community but by faith we embrace what Christ has made. We are by to live like we belong!
In Mark 3:1-12 we see the collision of two kingdoms. The one set to divide and destroy the other to heal and unite.
God does not need me but he knew that I needed him. What blessings that Christ has condescended to life my eyes of living for my glory and to live once again for him.
One of the greatest testimonies for the follower of Christ is to sing in our suffering. When we find Christ to be sufficient in all of our desires and to be sovereign over all of our lives we can sing.
The battle for our mind is impacted by the unseen, unclean, forces of this world which seek to diminish our trust in the beauty and greatness of Jesus Christ.
Mark seeing the people in crisis under Nero wrote to encourage them. What a blessing to them and to us!
Christ is the Gospel and to have Christ is to have every Spiritual blessings in the heavenlies.
The First few minutes unfortunately did not get recorded. I was talking about all the ways that we experience death around us. From colds, to aches and pains, to tensions in relationships, loss of loved ones, struggles with temptation and sin, the list could go on. Because of the weight and impact of death on our lives we find ourselves trying dig our way out of the darkness, out from under the weight of this death. Jesus makes the declaration, "I Am The Resurrection And The Life". God be praised!
As followers of life we do not create out identity but receive it from a good. loving, holy God.
It is God's desire that we worship him from the heart and it is the good news of Jesus Christ and his mercy that stirs out hearts to worship.
There is not circumstance in our lives, as people of faith, that will have the last word. We are a people who have faith that God has future grace for us and he will redeem us to and for that future, life with Him.
God loves what he has created for his eternal purpose and joy. We should then love what it is that he has made.
The account of Daniels three mates in the fiery furnace was an amazing act of worship even if they were not delivered.
Daniel resolved to serve the greater King by not defiling himself with the delicacies of Babylon.
Living as exiles and strangers in a land that is not our final destination. How do we live out or faith when it is hard to see that hand of God over the world that we live in? Daniel 1:1-7 reminds us that God is always over all things.
Right at the beginning of God's redemptive story, in the garden, we see that God introduces hope. This hope had a name and His name is Jesus.
God has a plan, purpose and a pace for his people. He plants in this time, this place and for his purpose.
As followers of Christ we believe that meaning comes from outside ourselves as we entrust ourselves to the Lordship of Christ. May we seek to love our neighbors who discern truth from a different place.
It is amazing how Adam and Eve became focused on the %1 of the garden rather than the %99 percent this led to to well....you know! Thankfulness is what anchors our heart in grace and keeps us from a covetous heart.
Christ our savior has come to transform us and recreate us into a new community. He establishes his kingdom one heart, one soul, brick by brick into his temple, the church of the living God.
Sometimes familiarity keeps us from seeing the works of art that are right in front of us.
There is one story that will lead to a full flourishing life and as followers of Christ sometimes we wander back into the wrong story. What a blessing to have fellow travellers pull us back into the journey where we live lives facing Christ Jesus.
When we think about the greatness and magnitude of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ he is big. Jesus is the head of the church and we are the body. We are to grow up in every way into him, into Christ, who is the head. That is a lot of growing! Paul is reminding us that we cannot and do not have the capacity to do this on our own as each part must work properly in order to grow up into Christ.
Freedom is so hard that sometimes we find ourselves seeking go back to Egypt rather than living in the freedom of Christ. The Apostle Paul reminds us the freedom is found even when you find yourself in prison.
What is Covenantal love? How does it change the people of God in their relationship to God and to each other?
If we not see God as our Father we will find ourselves living as slaves rather than as the children of God.
To know God we are reliant on God making himself known. Paul Prays that these early Christians would be given the Spirit of wisdom and revelation that they might know him. Knowing God is a gracious gift of his grace that is to be pursued that we might have hope, see the riches given to us in Christ and be empowered for his service.
The West as we know it has been shaped by Christianity more than we realize. This started in the early church and has shaped our lives and how we live as we know it today.
As we look at the live of Christians in Roman and their allegiance to Christ we are reminded that our God is in Control.
As followers of Christ it is a great challenge to live looking beyond the here and the now to what is to come, to Christ seated on the throne. Paul is wanting these first believers to look beyond the sunset to the creator of it.
Who do you listen to? Who do you trust? Who do you willing submit to? If Christ is who he says he is we might not like what he says, it might even make us uncomfortable but if he is God we should trust and respond to him above all things.
Beware of False Prophets. There are so many ways that we find ourselves listening to others of where fullness of life is found. Who do you you know that what they say is true? How do you know that what they say will lead to fullness of life? We must listen first and foremost to the greatest prophet of all, Jesus.
Believing the Golden Rule Is Not Enough. We need to experience from the Father all that that he is done in loving us through his Son Jesus Christ and then seek to pass that on.
Christ in all that he has done has made away that we might come confidently and with boldness to receive grace and mercy from our Heavenly Father. Like the tide our spiritual lives have an ebb and flow to them...where are you at in seeking to be in the presence of the Father?
What a great gift that God's people are to God's people. We have been placed in each others lives to watch over, to discern, to help and care for each other. This requires us to graciously judge each other in such a way that we shepherd each other in our waywardness back to the great Shepherd, Jesus Christ.
Battling an anxious heart is something that is part of life. Jesus gives us the way forward that we might thrive in the wilderness.
Who moves you to live and pursue the things that you do. When we seek reward in God's creation it leaves us wanting as it should because we were created for the infinite.
Does my life speak what I know to be true in light of who I am, through all that Christ has done? Let your yes be yes and your no be no!
What and amazing gift that Christ came to be a friend of sinners. Therefore, he has called us to be a people who pursue friendship with our fellow humans.
What and amazing gift that Christ came to be a friend of sinners. Therefore, he has called us to be a people who pursue friendship with our fellow humans.
Jesus came not to abolish the Law but fulfill the law. People had preconceived ideas of what Jesus was about and this put them into opposition because they did not really know him. Jesus came to bring to light what he was really about and we are to carry this on as his followers.
You Are The Light of the world! What a miraculous statement that Jesus is making looking right into the eyes of the these everyday ordinary people.
Blessed are the pure in heart. Christianity believes that truth is something that is to be discovered from the outside not coming from the inside. This creates a challenge living in a culture that believers we are the authors of our own truth not pursuers of a truth that comes from God himself. God is the source of truth and we are to have a healthy distrust in ourselves but that has been switch to complete trust of our selves and to be suspect of truth. So how do we live as truth discovers as followers of Christ?
In a world of contempt, division, anger and frustration there is such a great need for Mercy. Matthew 5:7 reminds us of the way of the way of the cross.
Blessed are those who are hungering and thirsting for righteous for they shall be satisfied. If we pursue happiness we will not find satisfaction for happiness flows out of our hunger and thirst for righteousness. Are you happy? Are you hungering and thirsting for more of Christ? Our Compassionate Christ lives to feed hungry people until they are satisfied!!!
What bleeds out of you when you are hurt, ridiculed, marginalized, mocked and injured. When we live life in the Spirit we become meek and bleed grace. We forgive, show patience, compassion, kindness and gentleness. Blessed are the meek for they shall inherit the earth.
Godly grief is a gracious gift of God that creates desires for comfort and moves us to greater faith in Christ.
With every journey in life including the journey of faith there is starting point. For the Christian it starts with a disposition or life long posture of being poor in Spirit. It is a recognizing that we are a people in need and what we need cannot be found in the created or but only in the creator himself. This posture is on of live as beggars in need of what only God can give us and that is a righteousness that comes from outside ourselves.
How are we as followers of Jesus to live out our faith in the place that God has planted us?
We have been called to love one another with a love that is impossible. Peter shows us why it is impossible and how by God's power he enables us.
God loves us so much that he will continually pull us out of our stories into his story!
"Given that we are "elect exiles according to the foreknowledge of God the Father", how should that affect our attitude or disposition towards the challenges of life in the here and now?
Thinking of your own particular circumstances, what specific actions can you take in order to, "Cease from your own works and rest in Christ's work"?
Here are a couple of questions to consider:
What are some scripture verses that you can quote that prove that God is Trustworthy (that God's actions prove his words)? What are some personal experiences that prove the same truth?
Life is filled with tensions. All these tensions impact the unity that we are to have as the body of Christ. It is such a big deal that God prayers for it. We like to live in the either/or world of black and white, right and wrong. However, there is a lot of both/and ground that we are also called to navigate. Here is a question to further your thoughts. What are the 3 key scriptural factors to consider when discerning how to navigate personal convictions that grow out of "both/and" situations?
Some Thoughts to consider. Think about the following statement: "The gathering together of the church (sabbath) is at least in part for the purpose of celebrating the wonderful truth that we, the church, are at rest because Christ has accomplished all the work." How does this fit with the scriptures that described, "houses you did not build, vineyards you did not plant, and larders you did not fill"? How do we make Joshua's statement a part of our gathering celebration and why is it important? "But as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD."
The manger reminds that our successes cannot lift us high enough, our power is not sufficient enough, our accolades not impressive enough, works are not great enough to lift us into the presence of God the Father, to open the door to the holies of Holies. There was nothing that we could do to get to God so God came in the flesh to us. While we were enemies Christ died for us.
God has given us his Spirit that we might be faithful to Him and to his body the church.
Husbands and wives what a great privilege to point each other and keep each other focused on God's grace towards us in Christ.
Grey matters are those areas of our Christian lives that God does not directly address in his word. As we look at Romans 14:1-15:7 there is insight as to how to navigate these grey matters in response to Christ and how he has loved us and draw us into relationship with the Father, Son and Spirit.
Is Christian friendship different than being friends who are Christians? Some thoughts from Colossians 3:14-17 to help us grow more deeply in Christ centered friendship.
As followers of Christ we have been called away from the shallow pursuit of happiness to the eternal pursuit of Holiness.
As believers in Christ every interaction that we have with each other is never mundane as it is an interaction with Christ himself.
John Owen once said that we are 'to be killing sin or it will be killing us', he was in a round about way repeating the words of the Apostle Paul, "Put to death what is earthly in you". May God help us by his grace to be conformed more into the image of His Son, Jesus Christ.
Living as children of the light by seeking to avoid the shadows that can divide us. Keeping the main the main thing.
Are you content? Colossians has some great insight as to how contentment or the lack of it can impact our lives.
God has designed us in such a way that we need each other to see more of who he is. It seems in God's wisdom that without each other we will have a much harder time standing secure in our faith in Christ.
Resurrection Sunday is a reminder that there is only one hope that will satisfy the longing of our souls, Jesus Christ the living God.
Paul lived his life so that others would grow to maturity in Christ. May God use us in each others life to this same end!
How is it possible to rejoice in our sufferings. It is amazing as followers of Christ that suffering has meaning and purpose. Paul helps us to understand and seek to suffer in a way that makes him more visible. Blessings
We were made to hope and only Jesus has the capacity and sufficiency to meet our expectations.
The Christian life is like a stream that starts out small and eventually becomes a mighty river.
What happens when someone we look up to, that fatherly or motherly figure, falls and disappoints us? I hope to encourage and remind you that there is someone who will never let you down or disappoint you.
There are so many things that can cause our hearts, minds and souls to be restless. Paul reminds us that the rest that we long for can be found in the person of our Lord Jesus Christ.