No Turning Back
Next week, we turn our clocks back one hour. We fall back and get an extra hour of sleep before coming back to church. According to our clocks it may look like we get to go back and live that hour all over again, however, we know the reality. None of us can ever do such a thing. Daylight savings time is a man-made event and time hasn’t really started over. Whatever was done during that hour is done and…
Treasure (Part 2)
This morning, we’re continuing where we left off last week. Jesus shared in Matthew 13 that He spoke to people in parables to essentially hide the secrets about the Kingdom of Heaven in plain sight. Those who were seeking the kingdom found it through His parables. Those who weren’t really seeking, or even seeking to oppose Jesus, wouldn’t understand them at all. Jesus also shared in Matthew 13 the reality that the Kingdom of Heaven is like a house containing…
Treasure
It seems that God has us on a journey the past month or so learning how to better discern and perceive Him and what He is doing in our lives. Last week, Annette brought us a fresh and new perspective on the significance and the power of the blood of Jesus. She provided historical and cultural context that helped bring a new level of depth of understanding that helped us to more fully perceive why Jesus shed His blood to…
Blood of Jesus
[The below text has been machine translated and may contain errors. Please listen to audio for original and integral translation] I like how Marie shared like definition of you know, what does it mean to decrease a thing and I kind of feel like that goes along with because where I was starting today was sort of on what pastor Steve spoke last week. Oh children’s church, I’m sorry. Thank you. Yeah. kids can be dismissed. I’m sorry. Feel free…
Perception
Today begins the Jewish New Year; the feast or festival of trumpets found in Leviticus 23. Modern Jews call it Rosh Hashanah. Today begins the year 5783 in the Lord! It is celebrated as a Sabbath day of celebration where no work is to be done, a food offering is to be brought to the Lord, and with several blasts on the shofar, or trumpet. Though I don’t think that any of us here this morning are Jewish by birth,…
Discerning Jesus
Before getting started this morning, I need to add an important correction to last week’s message. Although Jesus was resurrected from death to life on the third day, He did not ascend back into Heaven until at least 40 days after His death. I had wrongfully taught that Jesus resurrected, ascended to Heaven, was seated at the right hand of the Heavenly Father, and then decided to return to hang out with His buddies. This is not a Biblically accurate…
Together With Jesus
This morning, Jesus is renewing His call to us to follow Him. He’s calling us not only to continue His mission and to do the works that He did (and even greater things), but He’s also reminding us just how much He values just being with us and living life together with us. Luke 5:1-11 Jesus Calls His First Disciples 1 One day as Jesus was standing by the Lake of Gennesaret, the people were crowding around him and listening…
Glory to Glory
God is so awesome! He meets us and accepts us right where we are at, but always desires to grow and mature us and to take us to a better place. He wants to do a work in and through us so that we can obtain the full potential for which we were created. There’s a lot that we can learn from our past mistakes, but there is a far better way of doing it. Learning from the mistakes and…
The Next Generation
We learned last week about God’s purpose behind signs, wonders, and miracles. He does these things to turn lives back to Him; to lead people to repentance. This morning, we’re taking a step back. First of all in time from the life of Jesus to Moses. Secondly, stepping back in the scope of life to see a bit of the bigger picture. God is unchanging. The miracles that Jesus performed, God was performing by His Spirit from the beginning. His…
re:sponse
Last week, we were reminded that God is always pursuing us and were challenged to consider what it is that we pursue each day. Although there are times when it may not feel like it, the truth is that God is never far from us. As we pursue Him, as we seek Him, we will find Him. James 4:8a 8 Come near to God and he will come near to you. When Paul was reaching out to the lost in…