Many people around the world find things to admire about Jesus: a great teacher, a great leader, a great example. But many also have a problem with the Christ of the Cross. It is troublesome and gruesome. It makes us think about suffering and blood. Instead of conquering and winning, it is weakness and losing. It might seem foolish, but it turns out to be God’s plan to erase the separation between a righteous and holy God and sinful people. As we prepare ourselves for Resurrection Sunday, we’re spending the next few weeks meditating on the Cross.
March 10, 2024 |
1 Corinthians 1:17-25 |
cross, exposition, jesus
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Do you see the need for Christ’s sacrificial death on the cross for your sins? Do you understand its significance? Do you believe that people are separated from God in this world, struggling with sin, addiction, and death without God’s intervention? Do you believe that people who die separated from God will spend eternity without Him in a place called Hell?
In the apostle Paul’s first letter to the church at Corinth, he explained why the message of the cross of Christ was crucial to their salvation.
March 3, 2024 |
Habakkuk 3:16-19 |
exposition
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What are you facing today? It seems easy to keep the faith when life is good, when all your prayers are being answered, and everything is coming up roses. But how do we keep trusting God when life gets hard? When our prayers seem to go unanswered? When our worst fears seem to be coming true? How can we keep trusting the Lord anyway?
In Habakkuk 3:16-19, after hearing the Lord’s plan to use Babylon to discipline Judah, the prophet concluded his little book of lament with a strong resolve to trust the Lord anyway. We can resolve to trust the Lord anyway.
February 25, 2024 |
Habakkuk 3:1-15 |
exposition
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Even when life doesn’t make sense and God seems far away, we can lament, crying out our questions and complaints to God, believing that He is good and that He will cause all things to come together for good in the end.
Are you hurting today? Are you dealing with grief from a broken relationship? From a lost loved one? Are struggling with a situation that makes you question whether God cares? And if He does, why doesn’t He act? Or maybe the life you always dreamed of and the life you’re actually living are a hundred miles apart and you wonder why God doesn’t intervene? Like, “God, I see all those miracles and great and mighty works You did in the Bible. Would You do it again, Lord in my life? In the book of Habakkuk, when the prophet lifted his cry to the Lord by faith, it turned his lament into praise. We can cry out to the Lord by faith to see our lament turned into praise.
February 18, 2024 |
Habakkuk 2:6-20 |
exposition
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This week, in part three of our God Questions series, we see Habakkuk asking, “Where are you, Lord? What are you doing? I’m confused. I don’t see You at work in this. Where are you, Lord?”
How are we to stay faithful when it seems like God is absent? Even when life doesn’t make sense and God seems far away, we can lament, crying out our questions and complaints to God, believing that He is good and that He will cause all things to come together for good in the end. In the book of Habakkuk, when the prophet struggled with understanding how a holy God could use an evil nation like Babylon, God answered him, declaring five woes of judgement on Babylon. Within these five woes, God encouraged Habakkuk’s faith by helping him understand where God was at work. We can be encouraged in our faith by understanding where God is at work.
February 11, 2024 |
Habakkuk 1:12-2:5 |
exposition
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What do you do when you’ve prayed to God and you don’t like the answer you’ve received? What do we do when God’s answer doesn’t seem to be “yes,” but “wait,” or even more difficult, “no?” That’s Habakkuk. He doesn’t like God’s answer. It doesn’t fit his understanding of God and the world. So now, he has more questions for God.
He even lifts up his “why” questions. “Why Lord? Why would you let this happen?” And “why” questions are the hardest of all. In the book of Habakkuk, when the prophet struggled with why a holy God would allow an evil nation like Babylon to prevail over Judah, the Lord called Habakkuk to trust that His plans would be better in the end. We can trust that God’s plans for us will be better in the end.
February 4, 2024 |
Habakkuk 1:1-11 |
exposition
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Do you have questions for God today? Are you asking, “Lord, how long?” How long before You answer my cry for help? I’m going through a divorce, my wife left me, I’m trying to raise these kids alone… Lord, how long before you send help? I’m hurting. I’m grieving. I’m lonely. Help! Maybe you’re facing a health scare. You’re asking, “Lord, why aren’t you healing me? Or why aren’t you healing my loved one? Or you’ve lost someone. “Lord, I don’t understand why? How long will this sorrow last? How long will this grief linger? Or maybe the violence and strife of this world is filling you with fear, you’re crying, “Lord, how long must we wait for Your return? How long, Lord?”
That’s why the little Habakkuk is so timely today. It teaches us how to cry out in lament to God. In the book of Habakkuk, the prophet cried out his questions and complaints to God believing that He would answer. We can cry out our questions and complaints to God believing that He will answer.
January 28, 2024 |
Matthew 20:25-28 |
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We live in a day when many of us are drifting along without a guiding purpose in life. Or we’ve bought into the culture’s idea that happiness and fulfillment come from self gratification, of owning material things and having exciting experiences. Yet we still come up feeling empty and unfulfilled. Or we think that being successful, or being the greatest at something will fulfill us. But as many who have achieved worldly success have said, “It’s lonely at the top.” Because they left behind family or stepped on or over friends while climbing the so-called ladder of success. So how do find our purpose? How do we find ourselves?
Jesus says that the way to greatness, the way to leadership, is serving others. Jesus calls us to be servant leaders. In the book of Matthew, the mother of James and John asked Jesus to give her sons seats of authority in His kingdom. Jesus answered that leadership in His kingdom meant first becoming a servant. We can follow Christ’s call to servant leadership.
January 21, 2024 |
Romans 12:3-13 |
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We have more communication technology, but less person to person communication. We have more social media, but less time socializing together. We’ve supersized our stuff, but we’ve downsized our time with others. As a result we are becoming more and more isolated from our families and communities. That’s why the call of Christ is a simple call to a personal relationship. Jesus says, “Come, follow me.” Jesus wants to connect us to God and to God’s family.
In the book of Romans chapter 12, the apostle Paul appealed to believers to fully devote themselves to God, which would lead to a transformed and renewed mind that would know and follow the will of God (Rom.12:1-2). He then instructed them in the new way they were to think of themselves and one another in Christ. We can have this new way of thinking of ourselves and one another in Christ.
January 14, 2024 |
Mark 12:28-31 |
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Do you have a hurried life? Hurriedness is more than a bad habit, it reveals a condition of the heart. Did you know that God cares about your heart? That He cares about your love? What you put first?
In the gospel according to Mark, Jesus was asked what was the greatest commandment. In a sense he was asked to simplify all of the writings of Scripture down to one simple statement. Jesus didn’t pause. He gave them a simple command to put loving God first in their lives.
January 7, 2024 |
Matthew 4:18-22 |
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Our world has gotten overwhelming and complicated. Everything in your life takes up space. Whether it’s mental space, physical space, relational space or calendar space, you only have so much room.
How can we make space in our lives for what really matters? What if there was one singular and simple secret for having less useless and harmful clutter in your life and having more space for a better life? In the book of Matthew, Jesus called His disciples by simply saying, “Follow me.” Jesus called them to a relationship with Him that would lead them into full and abundant life, a better life. Of course, this meant leaving many other things behind. Jesus makes this same simple call to us. How do we answer His call?
