If the Church belongs to Jesus, then Jesus gets to set the game plan. His plan is to make every Christian into a player, not a spectator.
What playing field has God called you to? How can you play most effectively on his behalf?
Whose Church Is It?
The essential mission of the church is twofold: Worship and Witness. This week we begin to examine these themes by asking, “Whose church is it?” If the church belongs to us, then we will operate one way. If it belongs to Christ, as he says, we will begin to look very different…
In the Political Sphere Without the Political Spirit
God calls each of us to practice our faith in a way that promotes righteousness, justice, and mercy in the world—for Christians and non-Christians alike. It is an audacious goal.
Listen as guest preacher Neil Hubacker expands on how we can faithfully join God in such a bold calling.
The Spiritual Importance of Washing Your Face
Several months ago we read as Jesus taught (paraphrasing), “When you fast, do not look gloomy, but wash your face!” Jesus makes a point about how we practice our righteousness (in secret), but he also alludes to the spiritual discipline of fasting.
Fasting is not a part of regular life for most people (even most Christians), yet Jesus assumes we will fast. This morning we look specifically at fasting: what is it, why is it still relevant to Christians, and how should we approach this unique discipline?
Pray Until You Pray
“When you pray,” Jesus begins as he teaches about prayer. Jesus assumes we will pray—that prayer will be a part of our daily life. But many of us find prayer to be a difficult discipline. We get distracted, or feel too busy, or don’t know where to start. How do we break through these barriers?
First we have to recognize what prayer is and what prayer is for. Then we can begin to press into prayer.
Deliver Us From the Evil One
Most of us don’t think about evil very often—even less about Satan. He is neither a pleasant nor popular topic of conversation. Which makes him all the more effective.
Jesus teaches us to pray, “Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.” How does Satan work in the world, and how can we resist him?
Forgive or Forget?
“Forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors,” Jesus teaches us to pray.
Forgiveness is one of the hardest spiritual practices, yet God nevertheless calls us to forgive one another as he has forgiven us. What is the true nature of forgiveness? Why is it so hard? And how is it possible to forgive, even when it is so difficult?
Daily Bread or Annual Bread?
“Give us this day our daily bread,” Jesus teaches us to pray. In ancient cultures, when workers got paid at the end of each day, and when life was more day-to-day, this was easier to understand. But today we buy groceries for the week, get paid every two weeks, pay our rent every month, and our taxes once/year. How do we know if we’re praying for daily bread or annual bread? What’s the difference between responsibility and excess? And does God really care about something as insignificant as my next meal?
Thy Kingdom Come
Everyone has a source of authority – something or someone whose word we accept as truth. For some of us it’s God; for others a philosophy or political cause; for still others it’s ourselves. But we all submit to something or someone.
When Jesus teaches us to pray, “Thy kingdom come; thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven,” he challenges us to identify who our authority is, and he urges us to commit our whole self—head, heart, and hands—to that cause.
The Power and Primacy of Praise
Everyone worships something. Who or what do you worship?
Jesus teaches us to begin our prayers, “Hallowed be thy name.” He’s not only teaching us how to pray, but he’s teaching us how to live.
What does it look like to worship (or hallow) God in every part of our lives?
Pagan Prayers and Pure Prayers
As Jesus teaches what real spirituality looks like, he teaches us to pray. “Don’t pray like the pagans,” he warns us.
How do pagans pray? What kind of prayers are we supposed to avoid?
And how do we pray?
Be Careful What You Wish For
We all want to do what is right (and certainly nobody sets out to do what is wrong), but how do we know what is right?
Is it ok to do the right thing for the wrong reasons? And when God says he looks at our heart, what does he mean by that?
How do we Respond to Evil?
In the past several weeks we have read news of three mass shootings in America. How are we, as Christians, to respond? What good can we possibly do, and what hope can there possibly be?
Sermon ends and pastoral prayer begins at 31:30.
The Other Cheek
“Turn the other cheek.”
“Go the extra mile.”
Jesus coined these phrases during some of his most challenging teaching yet—within the context of loving our enemies. Was Jesus exaggerating to make a point, or is it really possible to love our enemies?
Holy Confusion
Christians believe in the Holy Trinity—Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. But the Holy Spirit often gets the silent treatment. Whether we don’t understand the Spirit or fear what submitting to the Spirit might look like, we all have objections.
What happens when we acknowledge and face those objections? What happens when we let the Holy Spirit into our lives?
Standing Out Quietly
Have you ever heard someone say, “I swear to God”? What does it mean to swear to God? This morning Jesus teaches about when we make vows and oaths, and he challenges us to look at our heart-level motives in the process. Why do we feel the need to make vows, oaths, and promises, and what if there’s a better way?
The comic referenced can be found at https://xkcd.com/993.
Divorce and Remarriage: an unreasonable standard?
In his Sermon on the Mount Jesus confronts us with an exceptionally high bar for morality. This morning he addresses his most challenging topic yet: divorce and remarriage. How do we view those subjects as Christians?
The answer will challenge us, but when we remember that marriage is meant to reflect God’s love for us, the pieces start to fall into place.
Are You Still Thirsty?
When we’re thirsty, we have to take something outside of us (water) and put it inside of us, in order to satisfy our thirst.
“Are you still thirsty?” Jesus asks.
God intentionally us to be thirsty beings. We are made to thirst for him, since Jesus, the living water, will fill us to overflowing.
Been Poolside Lately?
In John 5 Jesus asks a blind man a startling question: “Do you want to be healed?”
Still more startling is what Jesus does not ask the man: “What do you believe?”
Is it possible that God operates on his own terms and not ours? Is it possible that Jesus touches whomever he pleases regardless of whether we deem them worthy?
The Eyes and the Heart and the Eyes of the Heart
In his Sermon on the Mount Jesus begins to confront us with a shocking high bar for morality. This morning he makes this bold claim: “I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman with lustful intent has already committed adultery with her in his heart.”
Is Jesus just being dramatic? A killjoy? What heart conditions does he have in mind, and how do we pursue the purity of heart to which Jesus calls us?