A Visionary Church
God is glorious. God stands out from us because He is awesome and we are not, He is big and we are small. God creates in proportions we can’t understand, yet measures it with the span of His hand. We were made to worship God and it is when we, as individuals and as a body, look to the glory of created things—ourselves, other people, possessions, etc.—rather than their Creator, that we fall into sin and the brokenness that it brings. We were made for His glory and it is only with vision toward that glory that we find our satisfaction.
Ambassadors in Christ: The Mission of the Church
The sinless Christ became sin for us, bearing the wrath we were due, so that we might take on His righteousness, being fully reconciled to God. What now? What does this mean for the church? What do we do with this reconciliation? We are ambassadors in Christ.
Joy and Passion
So many people are looking for joy in their lives. We seek out joy in our jobs and our families and our hobbies and in any number of other things in life, but so many times we don’t turn to God for our joy. Not only does Scripture offer us joy, but so many times it speaks of joy in the midst of sufferings and sorrows. We can make New Year’s Resolutions to be happier all we want, but the reality is that the only way to guarantee that we won’t have Joy is to seek it apart from God.
Heritage of Grace
If we’re willing to be honest with ourselves, very rarely do we pay much attention to the genealogy at the beginning of the New Testament. It is precisely this though, that Matthew chooses as the start of his gospel. Who are all of these people in this ancestry, why are they announced the way that they are and how do they enhance our view of Christ, whose Incarnation they precede?
Have Life and Follow Me
In what may seem like an awkward add-on to John’s Gospel, we see in chapter 21 Jesus reminding Peter of his sin, but showing him grace and restoring him to a life of ministry, discipleship and, ultimately, sacrifice that we can identify with him in.
Believe and Have Life
As we celebrate the resurrection, we cannot forget its purpose for our lives and think of it as a really nice ending for the crucifixion story. There are many arguments to persuade people that it actually happened, but beyond that we must live our lives in light of the resurrection. Jesus said that He is the resurrection, but what does that mean? What did the resurrection itself actually accomplish?
That the Works of God Might Be Displayed
In John 9 Jesus speaks boldly into our state of suffering, saying that each trial has a specific purpose. More than that, all of the suffering we deal with will be used for God’s glory and to make us more like Jesus.
Emancipation Proclamation
Whether we are willing to admit it or not, we are slaves to a master. There is something in our lives that we are willing to sacrifice anything to attain. The problem is that this slavery ultimately will destroy us. Only through trusting in the gospel can we be set free from the bondage of this slavery and be brought into the family of God.
Come and Drink
As Jesus speaks again of living waters, we are reminded of our spiritual need and thirst. Once we are drawn by the Father and realize our thirst we see that drinking deeply of Jesus is the only way our thirst is satisfied.
Witnesses to the Son
The Gospel of John was written so that we would believe in Christ and his saving death for us on the cross. In this passage, Jesus calls out unbelief and the heart behind it, the desire to receive glory from man instead of from God. This is the greatest idol we face in our life and Jesus makes it clear that by it we are condemned. In showing our condemnation, Jesus points to our only hope of freedom being through his innocence.