Community
We have all been deceived about community. We have been fed so many lies about what community is or why we supposedly can’t have it, but the truth is that we need community for the sake of the health of our souls and it is available right here if we are actually willing to step out and invest in it.
Worship
We are all worshipers; we worship our kids, money, popularity and, chiefly, ourselves. What we often fail to recognize is that there is only one worthy of our worship, and it is He who is often most neglected in our worship. In the first of our rhythms that we will look at in this series, we see what true Christian worship looks like and how we can play that out as a church.
The Gospel in Year 3
As we reach our 3rd Anniversary, we take the time to remember why we are here and we revisit what our driving force—our passion—is. We remember not ourselves, our religion, our dogma, our events, our numbers or our programs. We celebrate not the ways that we have proven ourselves in service or the ways that we have sacrificed for Christ. We remember that what we have been called to and what we have pushing us forward is the Gospel that we have experienced and that tells us that it isn’t what we have done for God, lost for God or won for God, but rather what Jesus did for us, the life that Jesus lost for us and the life that He took up again to win for us victory over death and peace with God.
The Cross through Faith
A lot of us have heard of the crucifixion and maybe know the whole story from memory, but to really get the point of it, the real focus of what the Spirit is communicating to us through John, you have to see it—the cross—through the eyes of faith.
I Am He
As John’s gospel transitions from a focus on Jesus’ teaching to a narration of the events surrounding Christ’s death and resurrection, it’s good to take a fresh look at the story to get a better understanding of all of the circumstances and grasp better how we can identify with such players in the story as Peter, Pilate and Barabbas.
The Holy Spirit, Part 2
This week, Nick continued preaching on the roles of the Holy Spirit. As our Advocate, the Spirit witnesses to Christ, convicts us of our sin, and guides us through life and to righteousness in Scripture and prayer.
The Holy Spirit, Part 1
Taking a step back from chapter 15 to this section, we start to break down the mysteries we put up about the Holy Spirit by seeing His roles of abiding in us, advocating for us and assuring us of our adoption as children of God.
I AM: The Way, The Truth, The Life
The first section of John 14 calls us to look to Jesus for who He is. Jesus says that He Himself prepares a place for us, He Himself is the way there and that when we see Him we see the Father. Rather than looking around Jesus for a greater way, a greater truth or a greater life, we need to look right at Him and know that we are there.
Betrayal and Love
This dramatic section of John 13 is book-ended by two crushing betrayals, but in the midst of them, Jesus makes a call to abide in His love. We see from Judas and Peter the issues that drive us to betray Christ everyday in sin and to stop living for Him completely. Finally, it is in this context that Jesus calls us to return to abide in Him and in His love.
Servant Love
In this story of Jesus washing the feet of His disciples, we learn that we need to share in and share out the servant love of Jesus. We must allow ourselves to be washed completely clean by Jesus and to be served by our community. Further, we need to be willing to serve out of Jesus’ love to our community.