When weR17;re desperate for direction, we tend to reach for whatever voice sounds most confident, be it horoscopes, politicians or just about anyone who seems to know something we donR17;t. Deuteronomy 18 speaks to our searching, reminding us God has never left His people without a trustworthy voice to follow, and what He promised there points somewhere specific.
Pastor Tim wraps up our current series, looking at the judgment of God and how even judgment is a call to delight in the one who shows us mercy.
Pastor Tim shares a message on fear, shame and the Resurrection from John 20:19-21.
We have a lot of things we think are signs of the “blessed life̶1;? Proverbs has a clear answer that challenges our assumptions.
WeR17;ve all got a part of ourselves we refuse to hand over—the place that says, You donR17;t get this, Lord. Heading toward Jerusalem, Jesus told a parable about a nobleman whose citizens hated him and sent word: We do not want this man to reign over us. The question is whether that refusal still has the last word.
ItR17;s easy to be busy with the Christian life—programs, good intentions, real effort—and still be missing the one thing that keeps it all from exploding. In Ephesians 1:15–16, Paul looks at believers whose faith in Jesus is visibly pouring out as love toward one another, and what he does in response is the piece we most often skip.
How do we come before God when our prayers so easily become empty phrases, desperate demands, or distant formalities? In Matthew 6, Jesus says our Father knows what we need before we ask, then gives His disciples words for approaching Him: “Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name.”
We often treat sin as a handful of inconsequential debts, so asking God for forgiveness—or forgiving someone else—can feel unnecessary. In Matthew 6:12, Jesus places both debts before us in a single petition: “Forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors.” Do we understand the balance we have run up?
Mothers mourn over children falling away, over ones theyR17;ve outlived, over the ache of children they never had. That grief feels heavy for MotherR17;s Day, yet Jesus declares in Matthew 5:4, “Blessed are those who mourn.̶1; How is it blessed to mourn?