From the Blog
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The Crown
So far, we’ve seen God’s Rescue Plan in motion: from Creation’s beauty to the Catastrophe of sin; from the Covenant with Abraham to the Commandments at Sinai. Last week, we saw the Conquest of the land. But a land needs a leader. A people need a King. Today, we arrive at The Crown.
The CROWN, where God promised David that a King would come through his line who would sit on the throne of an eternal kingdom. God promised a true king in an everlasting kingdom. Deep down, we are all nursing a 'leadership wound.' We instinctively long for a King who is both perfectly powerful and perfectly good, but our experience tells us that kind of King doesn't exist.
In 2 Samuel 7, the word of the Lord came to David through the prophet Nathan, that God would establish a throne through David’s lineage that would reign over an everlasting kingdom. We can place our trust in the eternal King that God promised to raise up from David’s line. -
The Habit of Rest
This time of year, school’s back, sports are back (travel ball never left), maybe work is ramping up your work load, the holidays will be here before you know it. We live in a state of stress … an overwhelmed sort of just getting by until the next weekend, the next vacation, the next glass of wine, the next night of doom scrolling, or sadly until next summer. But these “nexts” are not real rest but merely distractions.
Many of us are trying to numb the problem with distractions but the problems remain. True rest is not living for distractions but walking in Jesus. What if we could find rest in the midst of our work, what if we could even live, work and play out of a state of spiritual rest?
In Matthew chapter 11, Jesus invited the crowds to find rest for their souls not in laws or rituals but in relationship with Him. When we build the habit of rest in Him, we can discover rest for our souls. -
The Habit of Service
You might easily be able to see why you need a habit of personal devotion to Jesus like we studied week 1 and you may see the need for fellowship as we studied last week. But service, why would service be a spiritual habit or discipline? How does a spiritual habit of service help me to connect with the Holy Spirit and grow in Christlikeness? That’s the right question and the right motivation!
As we will see today, service moves us towards Christlikeness in powerful ways. In the Gospel of Matthew chapter 20, Jesus taught His disciples that the greatest among them would become servants like Him. We can follow the call of Jesus by becoming servants through the spiritual habit of service. -
The Habit of Fellowship
Over time isolation leads to loneliness, weakened support systems, and deeper disconnection. The short-term gain creates long-term pain. What we really need spiritually and even physically is fellowship.
God’s word teaches us that fellowship is an essential habit to connecting with God. In Hebrews chapter 10, the author concluded his instruction about drawing near to God and holding fast the confession of hope without wavering by teaching the spiritual habit of faithful fellowship as the Day of Christ drew near. -
Laying Up Treasures in the Kingdom
Many have discovered the emptiness in the pursuit of things that compete with the culture that God intends for His people in the Kingdom. God did not create us for the rat race. He created us to pursue Him and nothing can substitute the peace, joy and purpose we find in that pursuit.
In today's text we will see our savior Jesus offering a better pursuit in the Kingdom of God. In Matthew 6, Jesus continued the Sermon on the Mount by teaching that those whose heart is on God, His Kingdom citizens, will lay up treasures in heaven. -
Inviting Others into Gospel Community
What are your greatest needs? Belonging? Purpose? Like every other human being that has ever existed, you want food, water, shelter, but you truly seek family, community and purpose. You were made that way. Do you pursue these deeper needs? Do you seek out Gospel community? Are you inviting people into this kind of community? Are you opening up your life as a conduit for God’s grace to others?
In the book of Acts, Luke recorded how the early church cultivated a culture of Gospel Community, and God added to their number daily. We can invite others into Gospel Community with an eager expectation that the Lord will grow His church. -
A Shared Food
There’s something about shared food, a shared meal that leads to real community. The same was true of the first century church. In the book of Acts, Luke described the “real community” of the first century church. He said they were marked by four “devotions.” They were a shared faith, a shared family, a shared food, and a shared focus. We can experience this real community when we pursue these four devotions.
Today, we’re going to focus on the third devotion, “A Shared Food.” Today's text gives three reasons why the breaking of bread is essential for living in Christ’s community. -
God Is Mighty
Do you feel out of control today? Are you immobilized by some fear, perhaps of some confrontation or some difficult step? Do you wish you were strong enough to face it? What if you had the might to control time and matter? That’s the joy of today’s message. We can know God who is mighty in the ultimate kind of way.
In the book of Zephaniah, the prophet told the people of God that they could know God is mighty by recognizing His powerful deeds. We too can know that God is mighty by recognizing His powerful deeds. -
Staying Together
God made us for fellowship–– with Christ and with Christ’s body, the Church. Yet, there is a problem. We don’t always do what’s best for ourselves or for one another. As a result, we struggle with relationships, both with God and with one another. It affects us spiritually, relationally, and even physically.
What’s the quality of your connections today? Maybe you’re telling yourself, “I’m too busy to spend more time with people in community. I can barely make time for my immediate family.” Or maybe you’ve been hurt in the past and now you’re afraid to open up your heart again to others? Maybe you’ve felt the pain of a troubled or broken relationship and you don’t know how to reconcile. You know you’re lonely, but you’re either too tired or too afraid to truly open up your life to having real fellowship with others? It doesn’t have to be this way. We can learn how to come together and stay together!