Grace Church: Sermons: Recent Episodes
Grace Church of Alma
In which we try to respond to all the most frequently asked questions about our upcoming MicroChurch transition.
The Gospel of the Kingdom of God is an invitation to a new way of life. And not just on Sundays, but in every hour of every day.
Paul spent the first three chapters telling the narrative of what God has done, but then in chapter 4 there’s this transition toward us and what we are to do and he’s finally begun to answer that question: How do we church?
The cure for division is to center on Christ, who is our peace, who in his flesh tore down the wall of hostility which separate us. Christ, who is gathering all things in heaven and things on earth, is drawing all people to Himself to be built together into a dwelling place for God, and He himself is our cornerstone. Without him as our center of gravity, it all falls apart. (Ephesians 2:11-22)
Ephesians is about ecclesiology, the church. What should the church look like, who are we? If there’s any question this letter is in response to it is simply this: “But how do we, the church, live, right here, right now?”
We humans are so desperate to see where God is because, I think, we intuitively understand that if we can find Him we will be OK. (2 Cor. 12:2-10)
Pastor Wilma Johnson brought a word about transition that is very timely and relevant to our recent announcement. I (Zack) apologize for the audio quality on this episode. I dropped the SD card it was recorded to into an abyss and haven’t yet been able to locate it. This audio is directly from the camera microphone and will be challenging to listen to at times, but I hope you’ll give it a listen anyway!
What if we stopped trying to be so-and-so down the street? What if we stopped striving to be something we aren’t? What if we could quit trying to mimic what we see on Facebook or Instagram and, instead, focused on being faithful…and smart?
The way we conduct ourselves in this world is our prophetic witness which leads to God being glorified. As you engage in this world you must always do so with dignity and honor, being careful not to do so like everyone else.
(This gets just a smidge political.)
There is nothing wrong with disagreements. They are natural. But how we conduct ourselves in those disagreements says everything about what we really believe about God.
Pastor Wayne Drain joins us again from Russellville, Arkansas on this Pentecost Sunday with some timely encouragement.
Dan Kent, author of Confident Humility, visits from St. Paul, Minnesota to teach us about becoming our full selves without becoming full of ourselves.
Jesus asks us to love each other, to love our neighbors, and to love our enemies, and this is the most powerful evidence the world will have that He exists and offers them eternal life.
If we start from any other theological point than the simplicity of “God is love” – without the usual “buts” which may sometimes accompany this truth – we are bound to wind up with a theological system and/or church which may justify some pretty heinous things in the name of Jesus, as even a cursory reading of church history can demonstrate.
Following our model, Jesus the Good Shepherd, we can lay it all down for the sake of those Jesus loves — for the sake of those we are learning to love — as we are being formed into the kinds of people who make up this new kind of community Jesus is still forming.
Jesus the Stranger, hidden in plain sight but revealed as we gather together to tell the story and the breaking of bread, showing himself in inexplicable ways in our darkest and most solemn moments, and opening our minds to help us keep pressing forward to carry this candle of hope forward into the unknown.
After a six-month sabbatical Pastor Devon is back in the pulpit with a message about one of Jesus' parables.
The characters in the story from the Triumphal Entry to the Passion of Christ fail to recognize and live into the reality of the Kingdom of God in the same ways we do. Which of them do you most identify with?
Jesus has just recently raised Lazarus from the dead. People from all over have heard rumor of this great feat, his popularity is at an all-time high, and some Greeks would like to have a word with this Jesus. What is it about this moment which leads Jesus to declare, "The hour has now come..."
"The more I am give myself to apprenticeship to Christ, the more my heart becomes softer to differences, the more my mind becomes open to accept all that I don’t know, and the more I come to seek out my neighbor."
We're taking a step backward in Mark's gospel to see the moments immediately surrounding the mountaintop experience of the Transfiguration to see something else going on in this passage. What we find has the potential to change everything.
Most of life happens in the daily mundane, and with this practice you can turn even the most mundane of things into experiences with Jesus.
Why do we overcommit, overwork, and otherwise fill our lives with busyness? Are we afraid of something? What can we do about it?
If you want to grow spiritually, you must recognize the indispensable role of your body in formation.
What would it look like if we stopped treating our lives and our discipleship to Jesus as separate things?
Your ID card is one of the ways you are able to let someone know you are who you claim to be. If the proof is missing, then maybe that person isn’t who they claim to be.
You've probably thought a lot about God, but have you ever thought with God? Is that even possible?
What we really believe is what we act upon, and we humans live by the stories (or narratives) we believe about ourselves, our people, other people, God, and everything else. Left unchallenged these narratives about God are often quite harmful to our Spiritual Formation.
What if we could have moment’s like Simeon the God-Receiver? What if we could be so in-sync with the Spirit that we immediately recognize the presence and work of God around us?
Like David and Mary, we have learned God’s intention for us and we must now place our whole selves at the service of this call from God.
“Here I am, the servant of the Lord; let it be with me according to your word.”
The first words of John the Baptist in John's gospel were an answer to a question and a disarming confession that can reboot our spiritual lives.
The year 2020 has highlighted many opportunities for spiritual growth for us if we're will to awaken to the present moment and re-engage.
As darkness invades and life fades around us: keep alert, keep awake, don't fall asleep.
We all want to experience a fulfilling life with God, so why don't we? What's in the way? How can we get there?
What sort of legacy do you want to leave for your family's future generations? Have you ever thought about what your family will be like a hundred years from now?
One of the central roles of the Holy Spirit in our lives us to enable and help us live out the truth of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Without the Holy Spirit at work in our lives, there is little hope for us to ever rise above our base instincts and we will continue to find our identity in our Tribes. We will continue to exclude rather than include. We will fight instead of love. We will hate instead of having compassion.
Discussion Questions
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How do you know if you’ve started fully devoting yourself to Christ?
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What would/has “the pickup” season of Christ-following look like for you?
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What would/has “the carry” season look like for you?
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What would/has “the rest” season look like for you?
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Discussion Questions
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What does it mean for a Christian to be “faithful to Jesus?"
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Do you really believe that God is love? What in your actions reveals this faith?
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Do you really believe that Jesus is the answer to the world's problems? What in your actions reveals this faith?
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Do you really believe that there is life after this life? What in your actions reveals this faith?
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Discussion Questions
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If being a Christian is suppose to be simple, why do we need complex teachings and tools to understand the Bible?
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Is the faith ever suppose to get more complicated or always stay simple?
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Do you think these Table Groups could be the "silver bullet" to relieve the tiredness we always carry? Why or why not?
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Activity & Discussion Guide:
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Find time to look into the mirror this week and stay there long enough until you are able to name the things that make you uncomfortable.
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Create space to allow God to remove/heal these things you have tried to hide.
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Share these with your Table Group.
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Ask your Table Group to look into your life and call out the things that reflect God's nature within you. Focus on those things, as you allow God to remove the shame, hurts, frustrations.
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Why did the Church in Acts meet in two distinct places?
Discussion Questions
- Can you think of activities that wouldn’t work in a multi-purpose space? Why?
- Do you think it’s the space that determines the activity or the activity that determines the space? Why?
- Is Sunday morning service a suitable space for all spiritual activities? If so, why? If not, why have we not created dedicated spaces for them?
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Discussion Questions
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Why is finding the right pace so important to anything you do?
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What are the signs that your pace in life is sustainable?
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Why do we believe rotating bi-weekly between Sunday Table Groups and Wednesday services are more sustainable?
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Discussion Questions
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What would life with only pleasure be like? What would be missing?
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How has "pain" been a part of forming your most valuable relationships, accomplishments, and experiences?
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How could we tell the difference between pain that is harmful and pain that is helping us grow?
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There’s something personal, uncomfortable, or even painful about being truly pastored. Is this why we prefer our pastors to just be preachers?
Discussion Questions
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What do you think the differences are between pastors and preachers?
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Why do we often prefer to hear sermons over sitting down for wisdom or direction from our pastors?
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Why do you think we need both large worship gatherings and small relational groups like "tables?"
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Why do you think ‘tables’ are more important than normal during COVID?
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Why can we vividly remember moments of shame better than moments of joy? What would it look like if shame wasn’t only used but worshiped?
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Discussion Questions
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What would it look like to live a moral code of “love your neighbor as yourself?”
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Why, according to “love thy neighbor," are we always our brother’s keeper? Why not?
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Why do you think the major themes of salvation are communal (ie. a chosen people, the holy city, kingdom, etc.) rather than individual?
What if salvation became more like a shotgun wedding than a lifelong commitment to Jesus?
Discussion Questions:
- Do you believe in pre-marital counseling? Why or why not?
- Should our commitment to Jesus require similar preparation and understanding? Why or why not?
- How could pastors, teachers, and evangelists all play different roles in salvation?
Discussion Questions:
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How are we responsible for churches becoming more and more business-minded?
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How can we encourage pastors to focus on "pastoring" us instead of catering to us?
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Why is "longevity" so important in allowing a church and pastor to grow us spiritually?
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Discussion Questions:
1. What are other modern symbols of hope can you think of?
2. Why is "Zion" such a relevant word and symbol right now?
3. What does it look like for Christians to model Zion in the local church?
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Few things we know for sure but we do know change and pain will come. Do we know how to face what will inevitably come?
There’s an energy pulsing through our bodies when we feel awkward: a reminder that connecting to others is work because you are unique and because connection to another human is a gift.
What would you say to someone experiencing severe depression or even suicidal thoughts? I’d start with, “You’ll miss art”.
If our desired destination is to understand the Bible, we must first understand how far away we are from it.
Interacting with the Bible together will help us maintain an awareness of our assumptions so we can approach the Bible with humility and read it carefully.
Using anything well starts with knowing its purpose. Learning what the Bible is actually for could transform your relationship with it.
Have you learned to trust everyone? What if we told you Christianity was all about learning to believe contrary to what you’ve learned from many of your most negative experiences?
Why do you believe what you believe? What if there were tools for growing the beliefs we needed?
Does believing something make it true? Does something being true mean that we will believe it?
Sometimes we can listen but not hear. Do you really know what Advent and Christmas are about?
Is it possible that God sometimes chooses those we deem disqualified or not good enough?
Have you ever felt like God doesn’t pay attention to you? Who is it that God pays attention to?
It's amazing the truth and beauty you can find when you go looking for it. But it's also important to know where home is.
Have you ever lost someone? In these moments, there’s only one thing we need them to know.
Two promises for this sermon: 1) You’ll learn a new word, and 2) this word, if you let it, can change how you see God.
Why do we desperately desire connection to our parents and children? Is it possible we are searching for something else?
We all experience fear. As Christians, how do we live between the tension of our fear and our faith?
Lost, discouraged, and depressed in the most difficult transition of my life, fasting and prayer broke through the bonds that tied me to the past.
Do you experience a persistent fear of being exposed as a "fraud" or "imposter" despite evidence to the contrary? You're not alone.
As kids and teens, we sprint toward the supposed freedom and privileges of adulthood. Most then boomerang into marriage and kids.
There’s nothing wrong with that progression. The problems come from activity without purpose or focus.
How would your teenage self be disappointed in you today? Is it possible they have something important to teach us?
Is childhood an important part of life or just something that prepares us for adulthood?
It's easy to become frustrated with something if you don't understand how it works or how to use it.
True discipleship happens where often unhappy clusters of believers are pressed by His love to face their own weaknesses, fears, and hang-ups with equally flawed folks.
The Church is the least practical organization for "doing" anything. But what if the Church’s primary purpose was "being" rather than "doing"?
We all know how imperfect the Church can be. Is something so imperfect really worth your time?
What if it was your expectations that kept you from hearing God? And what if those expectations came from other's bad advice?
Does God only speak in English, or audibly, or in our minds? What if God is just speaking in ways that make sense to us?
Does God speak in the Bible, prayer closet, or local church? Is it possible that God speaks other places?
Pastor Ryan Alldaffer of The Rally church in Chattanooga, TN joins us for his annual visit!
Everything around us changes, decays. In an existence where everything passes away, how do we find eternal life?
Do you want God to judge like you do or differently? What if God took every factor and facet of our choices into account?
How do you become clean? Is there a proper way to bathe? What if becoming clean had little to do with you?
What does salvation look like to you? Is it doing right, thinking right, choosing right? Or maybe it has nothing to do with you?
What do you know for sure about God? What if knowing God was more about trust and wonder than certainty and facts?
What do you know for sure about anyone? Who would you be today if you had a different childhood?
Bishop Edward Duku joins us for his annual visit from South Africa. Prepare to be encouraged!
What do you know for sure about yourself? Sometimes the least explored is that which is most familiar.
We often think of much of our lives as "ordinary" or "non-spiritual," but what if EVERYTHING in your life IS spiritual?
So many people are curious about spiritual gifts, so we invite Pastor Wayne Drain each year to help simplify and demystify the supernatural.
Have you ever tried on someone else’s shoes? Did you know you can’t grow up without it?
How do we actually receive the love of God? The answer is somewhere between playing and praying.
As a child your world was shaped by your parents words. Where would our lives be if our parents had spoken differently over us?
We want to believe in them, but we hate to be categorized as religious nuts. If what Jesus said matters, then miracles are a must for the Church.
Pastor Larry asks, “WHY miracles, and HOW do they work?” and shows us the “Tools of Ordinary Miracle People.” There is a difference between "believing" in "miracles" and simply seeing that we are miracles walking…The Living Miracle Worker has equipped us to be miracle workers in this life!
Extending forgiveness to someone who has deeply hurt you is not always easy, but neither is carrying bitterness and resentment like a ball and chain. Are you ready to let it go?
How do we know if we are growing in Christ? What we are willing to extend to another reveals what we are willing to receive from God.
From his first death threat in Luke 4 to his death and resurrection, Jesus constantly urged people to interpret the Scriptures through the lens of love, where we love God and love others as ourselves.
Being aware of God in the moment starts with being present. How can noticing the world around you give you a deeper sense of God's nearness?
With more than 1.1 billion believers, the Roman Catholic Church is the first and largest institution in the Christian world. Pastor Larry addresses perceived strengths and weaknesses of Catholicism, and notes that the problems of the past are the problems of the present for ALL churches, including Protestant churches.
The Bible is a valuable gift, but how did Christians follow Jesus before it ever existed?
We want to meet people where they are, but at what point does it stop being Christian all together?
This term has almost completely lost its original meaning. Can it be salvaged or is it time to let it go?
Is there an encounter with God only found by speaking in tongues and the gifts of the Spirit?
Guest Speaker, Pastor Wilma Johnson from Kansas City, MO, simplifies being right with God.
Can you accept that there will always be more of God than what you have heard, experienced, or understand?
What do our choices communicate about our worship? The issue is not whether or not we will worship, but what, who, and why.
If you had to summarize the entire Bible into one sentence, what would it be? Imagine living fully committed to that one sentence!
Guest Speaker, Pastor Wayne Drain, teaches about living in the reality of the Holy Spirit's presence in your everyday life.
If there is such a thing as "puppy love," can there be a "puppy faith?" Blind faith is real faith, but it’s only the beginning of faith.
Healing isn’t complete until it is shared. Our deepest pain can become our strongest bond with others.
Tears are the result of honesty and vulnerability. Only in this space can our deepest emotions be experienced and understood.
Christians need to be skilled at cursing. What’s inside always comes out and what matters is where we direct our pain, hurt, and hate.
The resurrection can seem so big that it skips right over us. While Jesus is defeating death and sin, how did he know that we needed more than that?
If you don’t get Palm Sunday, you don’t understand Easter. The test is whether we'll choose the Prince of Peace’s way over Pilate's way.
Until Jesus’ death and resurrection, his ministry was basically limited to the people he could reach personally or through his twelve disciples.
Afterward, the Holy Spirit’s indwelling power was given on Pentecost, allowing Jesus to duplicate Himself exponentially from generation to generation through an army of empowered followers on earth.
The same love for the world that caused the Father to give his only Son also caused the Son to give you and I to the hurting people in our generation.
We all want to be that person who's willing to stand up for injustice, but we can't forget that it comes with a price.
We are all adopted. The challenge of Jesus is this: Will you open your home the way God has opened his?
Ryan Alldaffer joins us from Chattanooga, TN, where he planted and pastors a church called The Rally, which seeks to reach young people in one of the most dangerous cities in America.
We're all searching for something in this life. No matter what we’re seeking, we’ll only find it as we let go of the "less valuable" things in life.
Your life has a rhythm: the patterns, habits, and routines that move you. Where are the habits or rhythms of your life taking you?
Disruption is inevitable. There’s growth and life that only surfaces when our comfort has been disrupted.
How do we know what is and isn’t Christian? Can Jesus only be found where and how I’ve already found him?
Is Christianity a "personal" or "communal" faith? What does it look like for when God places us in a family?
All dreams start with “what if?” We are never more alive than when chasing the dream of “what if!”
How do we "live" life instead of just "floating" through life? More than resolutions, reflection is the Christian practice of re-ordering our lives around the things that matter most.
Who we wait with determines what we are waiting for. If you’re not waiting for a Jesus who cares about the poor, oppressed, or abused then you aren’t waiting for Jesus.
We need the focus provided by the Advent season to keep us on track as followers of Jesus. Much as a woman “great with child” must focus on the goal to navigate the final weeks before delivery, so must we refocus on the “promise yet to come” to navigate life’s distractions and disappointments.
Light is most needed in dark places. Sometimes we stop waiting for God because we’ve forgotten our need for Him, which is only found in the dark.
Develop a pattern of Thanksgiving and exercise your “Thanksgiving Muscle.” Allow God’s promises to become a launching pad for thankfulness and set a new course for your life.
What makes someone a Christian? If our "beliefs" about Jesus don’t shape our actions, do we really believe at all?
Can we read a book which spans thousands of years; and multiple authors, cultures, languages, and genres the same way we read a Hallmark card?
Does Jesus really only "help those who help themselves?” Why do we want a God that further blesses the successful and ignores the needy?
When you’ve just experienced pain, has someone ever said to you, “Everything happens for a reason?” Is God really to blame for the evil & pain in the world?
A gathering of similar people is a clique. A gathering whose only "likeness" is Christ can only be a church.
Guest Speaker: Pastor Wilma Johnson // What do we do when we find ourselves dealing with life's greatest struggles?
What if following Jesus was less like praying, preaching, or singing and more like eating, drinking, and sharing?
What's the difference between eating and savoring what you eat? Sometimes the appetizer primes our appetite to enjoy the main dish.
The cup of communion connects. It connects me to you, us to Him, our church to the Church, and our present to the past and future.
Sometimes the simple things carry the deepest meaning. What happens when we take this mysterious meal?
If loving our neighbor is obedience to Jesus, then hating our neighbor is obedience to whom?
Who we are as individuals is directly connected to who we belong to. It's only when we pursue life together that we can really begin to find ourselves.
Your life hangs on your next breath. When you realize every breath is borrowed, not owned, it changes everything.
The way we lust, worry, and dream prove the power of our imagination. What would happen if we harnessed that power for prayer?
God has a habit of showing up in places and with people He isn't suppose to be. Are you willing to find God in places that make you uncomfortable?
Why do we huddle around those who see God the way we do? How can we know God more if our group doesn't have God all figured out?
God may be who we think He is but is He ‘only’ what we think He is? Is it possible there is more to God than we know?
Pastors Devon & Zack tackle some of the most frequently asked questions about the end times.
What will it look like when Jesus conquers the world? The Lion of Judah or the Lamb that was slain?
We’re obsessed with “enjoying life” because we are convinced this is all we get. What if there was life after this life?
Why does Jesus enter Jerusalem with palm leaves and donkeys on Passover week? If we notice the symbols in scripture, the message and image of God will come into focus.
What in your life gets the best of you and what gets the leftovers? Simplicity is how we live for the things that matter most.
Guest Speaker, Pastor Wayne Drain from Fellowship of Christians church in Russellville, AR, teaches about hearing from God for your life today.
It’s hard work being "fully present" with the people and things that matter most. How do we stop being emotionally and mentally absent? We must learn the importance of confession.
Not all hiding is bad. Part of following Jesus is learning where and where not to hide.
Do we need to think about death? How could facing the reality of death be an important part of truly living?
There is no one we wrestle more than ourselves. We live by faith to the extent we are willing to wrestle our own inner pain, insecurity, and fear.
Life can be overwhelming. How can God expect us to be spiritual people when we have to spend so much time in the "least spiritual" places?
Faith is like wrestling. God is less concerned with us believing or doing the right things; what matters more is not letting go.
Our culture tells us we need to "get ahead." What if Kingdom living wasn't "climbing the ladder" of success, but being the ladder for others to reach success?
We try to protect ourselves but every person and circumstance in life leaves a mark on us.
Guest Speaker, Bishop Edward Duku, teaches that the path to living by faith is marked more by perseverance than positivity. Through trusting God in difficulty and pain, we find faith more valuable than gold.
It's attractive to think we can work and effort our way toward a better version of ourselves. With God, the best version of "you" is the REAL "you" with all of its imperfections and weaknesses.
We all love comfort, but sometimes it takes a little discomfort to jar us from complacency in order to embrace change and growth.
Only ignorance takes the manger lightly. When we find the King in the manger, we either draw our swords with Herod or bow low with the Magi.
If our story tells where we've been, our song tells where we hope to arrive. In finding our song we rediscover what we once allowed ourselves to hope for.
Silence and darkness scare us. But it’s in this place of waiting we are reminded that everything is not OK–that hope and waiting matter now because we need God for more than salvation.
Stories are moving, powerful, meaningful, and private. With whom we share and let share our stories defines us and the grander story we truly believe.
Mike Keyes has been establishing and leading churches in the Philippines for over 35 years.
We’ve all heard people say, “This is America. If you don’t like our flag, then get out!” As Christians struggle to walk in love we must be willing to ask ourselves: “If we don’t want to carry our cross, can we still claim it?"
Jesus’ world was full of anger, division, and political tension. Once we realize the political pressures and options Jesus faced, we can see that the cross speaks a very relevant message for the political scene in our own time.
Nothing revealed Jesus to Thomas like His scars. Our pain has the power to destroy us or to heal others. We must decide whether or not we are ready to trust God with our pain.
Connection requires expression. To recover the relationship we once had we must dig up the disappointments that silenced our heart.
What jobs are truly spiritual? It's not what you do but how you do it that makes work sacred.
What in our lives is truly sacred? Are there places we exclude God or simply miss God because we see them as ordinary?
Why does divorce happen? We love control and safety, but unfortunately love requires trust and vulnerability.
Sin separates. When we choose sin it isolates us from God and everyone that matters most. How do we overcome sin and how do we undo the damage our sin has caused?
How could Eve choose the wrong tree? If living forever was an option, wouldn't we choose it?
If the act of sin (murder, lust, adultery) is the weed that rises above the surface then what is the root of sin that hides bellow?
Do you hear voices in your head? You're not crazy, but of all the voices bombarding us everyday you must learn to know which is God's.
Sin starts with selfishness. The moment our needs or wants become the most important thing in our lives, sin is near and someone will get hurt.
If everything is a priority then nothing truly is. We must choose to make parenting a priority.
We wrap-up the series by answering your questions on the Holy Spirit, tongues, and what to do when things get crazy.
You're breathing wrong! We sip just enough air to not die, but we were made to breathe deeply.
Why are we so afraid of the Holy Spirit? What is it about not being in control that keeps us from playing with fire?
We close our series by tackling your questions on Heaven, Hell, and everything in between.
What about Hell? If the Scriptures provide a picture of what awaits those heading to the City of God, what about those who remain outside its walls?
The marriage of God and Man, Heaven and Earth births a city. So who is there, what is there, and what happens there in the City?
We have so many questions about Heaven. Let's start with what Heaven is, what Heaven might be then, and how Heaven fits in the grand plan of God.
Jesus said in order to find our life we must first lose it. On Easter Sunday we discover that all roads to life pass through death.
What really happened on the cross? Why did Jesus need to suffer? Was it really necessary for Jesus to die on the cross? Join us as we uncover Jesus' role as savior and the centrality of the cross.
If the gospel is the good news of what God has done in Jesus then what does His title as Lord and King reveal God was up to?
The gospel (good news) is about what God has done through Jesus. In Jesus' title "Messiah" is hidden a wealth of understanding concerning what Jesus did and will still do.
What makes news good news? We must find out why the news of Jesus was good news for many in His day and why it's good news for us today.
"The kingdom of self is heavily defended territory. Post-Eden Adams and Eves are willing to pay their respects to God, but they don’t want him invading their turf.” –Eugene Peterson
There is no better ally than money to get what we want. The question is, what does God want for us, and are we allying with Him or are we partnering with money to resist Him?
Being in the presence of God is important and precious, but there comes a time when we must set out as carriers of His presence.
What is it really like to be in the presence of God, to live in constant relationship with Him?
How do we live in the presence of God? How do we live in constant awareness of His nearness, availability, and attention?
No relationship was ever fully-formed overnight; it requires consistent investment. To live nearer to God than ever before requires decisions and preparation like never before.
In our relationships we have the option to invest as little of ourselves as needed to get what we need out of it. Whether it’s friends, family, or at work; we must decide how close to this person we are willing to get. With God we must choose how close to Him we truly are willing to get.
There are seven spiritual principals we can learn from the eagle to help us live in the fullness God desires for our lives.
What do we find at the manger? Is this a baby or a King, peasant or royalty, light of the world or just another lost in the darkness?
The manger is where a big God makes himself small. It’s in the incarnation of Christ that we find a God who is not only loving but approachable.
A good mystery stirs intrigue, interest, questions, and even a dabble of fear. It's time we recover the mystery of Jesus.
His Church is called to be fearless. What would the Church or even your own life look like if we followed Jesus with no fear?
To make the Church a safe place, we must learn to put down the defense mechanisms of judgment, pride, ridicule, cynicism, division, and “scorn masked as humor.”
What does it really mean to be the Church? The two most common Greek words for "church" reveal a dramatically different picture than what we practice today.
Which son are you? In this parable of grace we find that both the brother sleeping with the pigs and the one putting lip-stick on them are in need of their father's grace.
What happens when God throws a party and invites people from "the street corners" of society? Remember, you won't find the "winners" of this world there.
Jesus continues to repeat this confusing line, "the last shall be first and the first shall be last". What could this mean? Does He really mean that He's here just for losers and the least? The parable of the vineyard workers just might explain why.
Are you the Traveler, the Passerby, the Samaritan, or have you been each of them? This is just one of the questions the parable of the Good Samaritan asks us.
Can you believe it? God loves LOSERS (even when we're too proud to admit that there's a loser hiding somewhere inside of us). In fact, each one of us is important to Him--even when we wander off or get lost in our own stuff. And He loves to make the last first, the least greatest, the lost found, the little big, and the spiritually dead miraculously alive! Then He sends us out to do the same for others. This is life as usual in the Kingdom of God.
Is it possible this story we have heard so many times still holds power and mystery of the Kingdom of God?
The Kingdom of God is coming to earth and there is opposition. There is a fight taking place, and if we are to get involved we must first understand who our enemy is and who our enemy is not.
If faith isn't wishing, hopeful thinking, blindly believing, self-convincing, or self-deceiving...then what is it?
There is no theme Jesus taught more on than the Kingdom of God. So what is His Kingdom and what does our treasure have to do with it?
At the core of Christianity is the belief in an afterlife. Do we live for this life or for the one to come and how does this affect me now in this moment?
In the scriptures the table is a picture of intimacy, vulnerability, and deep relationship. Understanding the table is the key to real relationship with God and others.
Worship demands encounter with God. It's in our encounter with God that everything changes, and we leave forever changed.
Imagine King David seated before God and the Ark of the Covenant in a makeshift tent. He communes directly with God seated beside the Ark. How did he do it?