We all arrive at Advent carrying something broken—a diagnosis, a fraying relationship, a season that feels anything but joyful—and our instinct is right: we want God to fix it. In John 6, the crowd feels exactly that after watching Jesus feed five thousand people, so they move to do something about it. The question the passage presses on us is whether we actually understand what problem he came to fix.
You can confess Jesus as Lord, cast out demons, do mighty works—and still hear him say, “I never knew you.” Matthew 7:21–23 cuts past everything we think proves we’re his followers, asking instead the question that actually matters: Does he know you?
We often think that we have to do more and be more to be in the family of Christ; However, true freedom in Christ is found when we can rest in the fact that all we need is Jesus and the cross.
How do we make sense of Paul’s call to “not be anxious”? When anxiety fills us, it can be hard to simply be told “don’t be anxious.” Is there something more going on here?
Jim takes us through the book of Amos and the challenge of thinking how our faith is demonstrated by how we act.
Pastor Tim considers how the short book of Obadiah tells us a lot about how God is working in the less than ideal circumstances of the world.
Most of our days do not feel like turning points in history; they feel like errands, obligations, and familiar routines, leaving us to wonder whether our lives matter in any story beyond our own. Those on a pilgrimage to Jerusalem in Acts 2 might have wondered the same thing.
Thanksgiving takes planning, or you’ll fill the plate and miss the pie you were waiting for. Advent works the same way. The Gospel of Mark skips the manger and the angels and jumps right to the one the Gospels proclaim: Jesus. Do we get caught up in the details or get to Him in our own preparations?
Do we understand just how much forgiveness we need? Do we understand truly the only place we can find it?
Do we just want to replace the most obviously broken parts of our life or are we willing to have God completely renew us?