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The story of Jonah is about way more than a reluctant prophet and a big fish. It reveals how easily our desire to see wrongs made right can overshadow our awareness of God's mercy toward others and ourselves. The book of Jonah invites us to consider whether our concern for justice has left room for the grace we so desperately need.
The prophets have a way of getting into your face and into your stuff. Often we can see parallels between sin they are confronting in Israel and sin in our own life. But sometimes an important application is not identifying similar sin, but in doing what the book demonstrates. This Sunday, we want to participate together in doing what the book of Joel demonstrates, but don't worry, there will not be any locusts involved.
Imagine being suddenly awakened in the middle of the night by the piercing sound of a smoke alarm. Disoriented and half-asleep, you stumble through the darkness, trying to identify the danger before it is too late. The book of Joel is God's urgent alarm to a people who had drifted from Him and could no longer recognize their true spiritual condition. Yet His warning is also an expression of patience, mercy, and love, because God pursues us and calls us to return before destruction comes. This Sunday, we will ask whether we are hearing the alarm and how we should respond when God calls, "Return
I once heard how terrifying it could be for a husband to hear the words, "Honey, we need to talk." Uh oh, what's this about. He'd rather not know... Let's face it, sometimes guys just don't listen well. So, she puts his face in her hands, turns him away from the TV and says, "You really need to hear this..." That's what God does with His people in the book of Amos. The prophet works extra hard because they need to hear this. But this is not just a message to Israel back then, we really need to hear this today. Let's hear what God says through Amos.
Micah's message is one of impending judgment because God is just and He cannot ignore the rampant corruption, oppression, and violence happening in Israel. Yet, the God of Israel delights in mercy and steadfast love. He is readily willing to forgive and have compassion on His people. The summation of what God wants is found in Micah 6:8. He wants us to do justice, love mercy, and walk humbly with Him. These requirements reflect His character and who He is. He is a God of Justice, He is a God of Mercy, and He is a God who wants to have relationship with us. This is the righteous, gracious, lovi
Hosea uses a compelling marriage in the first three chapters to call Israel back to faith in God. Faith in their Lord will mean forsaking false confidences they have turned to for security and fulfillment. We also turn aside to things that can't satisfy, leading us to try harder and wander further... This Sunday, may God open our hearts, confront our idols and return our trust to Him alone.
We are starting a new series in the Minor Prophets. We will have one or two messages from each of "The Twelve." This week we begin with the Book of Hosea. As you read chapters 1-3 you would likely ask, would God really do this? Why would God put His prophet through such a miserable marriage? Hosea reveals to us precious truth about the steadfast and determined love of God for His people, which compels us toward a greater faithfulness "on earth as it is in Heaven."
We have one more Sunday in the Book of Acts, where we will look again at the bigger picture Acts provides of God's character, His purposes and the hope we have in the Gospel. This Sunday we also will begin a new adult class for the summer. Doctrines that Divide will consider various doctrines that differ from one church to another. Some of these are essentials we should divide over, others are important differences that we should understand in order to know how to relate to others and why we believe what we believe.
The book of Acts begins by referring to what Jesus began to do and teach, Acts 1:1. It's fitting that the book closes with what Jesus continues to do. In this last act of Acts, Jesus continues to do what He has been doing through Paul. He continues to do so for 2 more years in Rome. And it's this same thing that Jesus continues to do through us today. This Sunday, may God challenge us to faithfully continue in what Jesus continues to do.
We are almost to the end of our journey through the book of Acts, and Paul is almost to Rome. As the hymn says, "Faith has brought me safe thus far..." yet to finish well requires us to continue trusting our God and Savior. In Acts 28:1-16, God shows us three specific ways in which we can continue to trust Him. Join us to hear from our Lord in His Word.
Acts 27 is a dramatic chapter that drew me into the world of 1st century shipping and the suddenly arising Mediterranean storms called "medicanes." In the midst of this stormy sea voyage, God tells us what we need to do when we find ourselves in the eye of a storm.
Do you believe the Scriptures? I know that you believe. In our passage this Sunday, Paul asks King Agrippa this simple but very pointed question. And yet, there is more going on beneath the surface. The real question Paul is asking is: "will you believe in Jesus?" What if someone asked you that question? You would probably say "Yes, I have already believed in Jesus!" But like Paul, I would like to press a little deeper with that question, do you believe in Jesus, and what difference has that made in your life?
Acts 25 seems to read a lot like Acts 24. The same story seems to repeat, a couple more times, as if it's a loop on repeat. It feels a little frustrating as we read it, it must have felt all the more frustrating to Paul to live it. There's a world to reach with the Gospel, yet Paul is stuck in a cell in Caesarea. There's a new governor, but the same false accusations, failed plots and political paralysis. But Paul doesn't stay stuck, and God has something to say to us from how Paul takes the next step in God's calling, according to God's Word and by the means God has given.
Peter tells us to always be ready to give an answer to others concerning the hope that we have in Jesus (1Pet 3:15). But it can be hard to give an answer when everyone is shouting... In Acts 24, Paul is accused before the governor, in ways that parallel Jesus on trial before Pilate. In Paul's answer, our Lord shows us how to give an answer that might be heard beyond the shouting. There's an answer here for Felix to hear, and there's also a word here for each of us who know someone who needs to hear.
In Acts 23:1-11 Paul could seem to be acting somewhat randomly before the council. He claims to live in all good conscience, then blasts the High Priest, for which he then humbly apologizes. He seems to align himself with the Pharisees of all groups, and is once again at the center of a riotous commotion. I can imagine the evening news reporting on the latest chaos Paul has caused. But that would not be an accurate report. Actually, Paul is the one person staying steady in the midst of this storm. From his experience, the Lord speaks to us about how we too can stay steady in the midst of storm
This simple question changes the course of history. It has in the past. It could change your future. In Acts 22, Paul tells his story to an antagonistic crowd. In that story he tells how one man was sent to him by Jesus, to ask that very question. "You have seen the truth; you have heard God's Word. Why do you wait?" I think it's a question that we need to be asked now and again. I also think it's a question which, in one direction or another, God will ask you this from His Word.
What is the right way to worship? If you asked ten people from ten different churches you would probably get ten different answers. We all have traditions, and practices, and preferences when it comes to worship, and this has been true all the way back to the start of the Church. In Acts 21, as Paul arrives in Jerusalem, some rumors have gone ahead of him and people are concerned that Paul wants to disrupt the way that they worship the Lord according to their faith in Christ. But what we find out along the way is that WHO we worship is far more important that HOW we worship.
Have you ever had a friend tell you what they planned to do because their counselor said to, but the plan didn't quite ring true? We all benefit from sound advice, as Proverbs 11:14 says, "Where there is no guidance, a people falls, but in an abundance of counselors there is safety." But how can you know if the advice you're given (or are giving) is godly or worldly? How can you know if your plans are true spiritual wisdom or just common sense? In Acts 21:1-16, Paul is given well-intended but faulty advice. God has recorded this incident for us, to help us recognize the true standard by which
We talked about the young man who fell asleep and out the window last week. What if that story is not just about a person? What if it's about a church, or the church leaders? I think Paul still had the Eutychus incident on his mind when he gave his farewell exhortation to the Elders from Ephesus. In Acts 20:17-38, we'll see what God says we must focus on to stay awake and fruitful and effective as a church.
The story of Eutychus falling asleep and out of the windows in Acts 20:1-16 is an odd incident with an important warning. In the midst of a significant moment of great opportunity we still might find ourselves asleep. But there's more to the story than a warning to stay awake and alert, there's also a pattern being laid, a bar set of what is normal for us in new life in Christ. This Sunday we will see God's grace for those who may fall asleep and the glory of waking to a new kind of life.
This weekend, on Good Friday and Resurrection Sunday, we celebrate the foundational truths of the gospel: that Christ died for our sins and was raised from the dead. On Good Friday we will remember Jesus’s faithfulness in his death for us. On Resurrection Sunday we will look at how a core invitation to believe, Romans 10:9,10, is rooted in the implications of Jesus the risen Lord. Both of these services are a great opportunity to invite a friend to come with you. They will hear God’s invitation to receive his salvation by trusting in Jesus, in a way they may not have heard it before.
This weekend, on Good Friday and Resurrection Sunday, we celebrate the foundational truths of the gospel: that Christ died for our sins and was raised from the dead. On Good Friday we will remember Jesus’s faithfulness in his death for us. On Resurrection Sunday we will look at how a core invitation to believe, Romans 10:9,10, is rooted in the implications of Jesus the risen Lord. Both of these services are a great opportunity to invite a friend to come with you. They will hear God’s invitation to receive his salvation by trusting in Jesus, in a way they may not have heard it before.
The riot in the theater in Ephesus is not only a culture clash and an economic and political storm. It is also a spiritual clash. The silversmiths are right about something; they are just wrong about what. They are afraid that if people believe Paul’s message everything will change. That is true, but that is not the danger. The danger is not if the Gospel changes things for them, the real danger is if the gospel changes nothing for them. And that is still the danger today. The gospel is true, the gospel is powerful, the gospel changes everything. But will it change anything for you? That’s wha
Acts 19:1-20 contains four intriguingly unusual stories: the Baptist's disciples are baptized again, Christians repurpose the Tyrant's hall, an unsuccessful exorcism and a book-burning party. Together, these seemingly random stories reveal some important things about where people might be in relation to Jesus. The question, "Who are you?" may come from a surprising source, but the answer to that question is important for eternity and for today.
Who have you been discipled by, or who has helped you to know and follow Jesus? That is the essence of discipleship, and it is the way that Christianity has been passed down generation to generation ever since Jesus stood on that mountain and told his disciples to go and make more disciples. We can easily loose sight of the importance of making disciples, either in our personal life, or even in the midst of good Church activity. And yet, without discipleship, if we stop making disciples, the Church will die. This must be the focus of our lives and the focus of our Church, which is why we will
