From the Blog
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How Long?
Have you ever asked the Lord, “How long?” How long must I be stuck here? How long must I endure this pain? How long must I feel so alone and lonely? How long will the wicked be allowed to prosper without justice? How long before Your return? How long, Lord?
In Zechariah chapter 1 and 2, the prophet saw three visions from the LORD that offered gracious comfort to him and the people of Israel. -
Return to Me
How close are you to God today? If I were to ask you to rank your closeness right now on a scale of 1-10, what would you say?
Even before God sent Jesus, He was already at work calling His people to return to Him. In the book of Zechariah, God spoke through the prophet to the Jewish exiles who had returned from Babylonian captivity. When they first returned, they were passionate and excited to be back home and had started to rebuild the Temple that had been destroyed by the Babylonians. Yet their passion had grown cold when they faced the difficulties of rebuilding and the work had ceased. Years had gone by since any work had been done. So God sent the prophet Haggai, who encouraged the people to get back to work on the Temple. And He sent the prophet Zechariah, who called them to an even deeper purpose. In Zechariah 1:1-6, God told the Jewish exiles that had returned to Jerusalem that it was even more important that they recognize how He had called them to return to Him. -
Become
2000 years ago, the Lord Jesus told His disciples to “GO and MAKE DISCIPLES” and He has called His disciples, His church, to be on the move ever since. Because the church is not a place, it’s a people. The church is not a monument, it’s a movement! Today’s message will focus on what it means to become disciples that move to make disciples.
In the apostle Paul’s second letter to Timothy, reminded him of the importance of being a disciple who makes disciples of Jesus. We can be disciples who make disciples of Jesus Christ. -
Believe
2000 years ago, the Lord Jesus told His disciples to “GO and MAKE DISCIPLES” and He has called His disciples, His church, to be on the move ever since. Because the church is not a place, it’s a people. The church is not a monument, it’s a movement! Today, we want to focus on the “GO” part of Christ’s command. Because we can’t be part of a movement without going and moving with the gospel. That’s how the Good News moves from one generation to the next. We go and tell others.
In the apostle Paul’s second letter to Timothy, he encouraged him to have a fervent passion for sharing the gospel of Jesus. We can have a fervent passion for sharing the gospel of Jesus. -
Belong
2000 years ago, the Lord Jesus told His disciples to “GO and MAKE DISCIPLES” and He has called His disciples, His church, to be on the move ever since. So the church is not a place, it’s a people. The church is not a monument, it’s a movement!
If someone asks, where’s your church? Let’s learn to answer with another question, “When? Because it depends on the time and day of the week.” For the church gathers for strengthening and scatters for service. It gathers for worship and scatters for witness. It gathers in praise and scatters in power. The church gathers in fellowship and scatters in faith as the body of Christ in this world. The church is on the move. So, do you want to belong to this Jesus following, disciple-making movement? -
Don’t Lose Heart
It is a good thing to take time every now and then to evaluate what has come before and what is coming head. God gave us days, months, seasons, and years to build a rhythm into our lives. Many use this time to make New Years resolutions.
But what would it look like to focus on what really matters as we look back and look forward? In 2 Corinthians chapter 4, the apostle Paul exhorted the church in Corinth to be courageous in the things that truly matter. -
A Simple Faith
There are a lot of things in this life that are very confusing or very difficult to figure out. Life is filled with these types of things. Things like “What will I do in life … Is what I am doing now the thing I should be doing for years to come … Who should I marry … Is this person I am with now the right person … Where should I live? Even deciding on what to eat for dinner can be difficult sometimes.
But, faith really isn’t one of those kinds of decisions. Although many have tried to overcomplicate God and faith since the beginning of time, faith really is quite simple. In fact, in today’s Scripture we will see that faith simply hinges on one thing … Jesus. -
A Simple Story
Don’t you feel the tug towards something more simple? The Christmas season has become so chaotic and busy. Don’t you long for less chaos and more meaning? Something less fleeting and more lasting? Don’t you think Christians ought to know how to celebrate Christmas best? It seems that the world should be at our door at this season, but we’ve lost our distinctiveness. We’ve joined the world’s celebration instead of inviting them to ours.
Let’s go against the consumer Christmas culture this year by focusing less on giving presents and more on being present. Let’s get back to the simple story about Jesus. -
A Simple Response
Every invitation deserves an RSVP, a response. Christmas invites us to respond to this word: the Son of God, the Savior, Christ Jesus has come. And He is coming again. This is what we mean when we speak of this Christmas season, this season of Advent. The word “Advent” is derived from the Latin word adventus, meaning “coming.” Advent speaks of the incarnation and the return of Christ Jesus. He has appeared and will appear again.
How will you respond? People respond in different ways. Some come to faith immediately. Some reject believing outright. Some go through a long season of searching and stumbling before finally believing, while still others remain skeptical or even apathetic their whole lives. Don’t you wish you knew how to respond?
Let’s look at the story of Mary’s simple response of faith to God’s Word to consider our response. -
A Simple Invitation
The Christmas season has become one of the busiest and most expensive times of the year. Retailers spend millions every year inviting us to spend our time and money at their special Christmas sales events. The sales “invitations” from retailers to spend our money with them fill our newspapers and mailboxes every Christmas, but now they increasingly fill our email boxes and social media.
How many of you long for something simpler? What if there were a simpler invitation that you could RSVP this year? What if we could say yes to a simple invitation to spend less and love more. To feel less exhausted and overwhelmed and more filled with a life better than we’ve ever dreamed of? Well, that’s what we’re talking about today… God’s simple invitation to believe in His Son.