Nearly everything humanity has placed our hope in has failed, faded, or passed away. But there is a living hope that will never fail, and it is found in the resurrection.
God Is With Us
Stuck In Egypt
Could you imagine going somewhere on vacation only to find yourself stuck there for the rest of your life? The vacation spot would turn into a prison. What if then the indigenous people who you once traveled to enjoy their culture begun to oppress you and your family, putting you to work for them, and replacing the once delicious culinary experience with bland food that serves only as sustenance for more work?
This is sort of what happens to Israel. They went to Egypt as a rescue from the famine. 400 years later their descendants still lived there as slaves. Who would come to rescue them? What about the promise God gave their ancestors of their own land in Canaan? In Exodus 1 & 2, we hear about a God who hears, sees, and knows. A God who has not given up on His people. A God of rescue.
Reboot or Rerun?
If you read Genesis, and much of the Old Testament, you might come across this reoccurring theme: God calls a human to be His representative, that human fails or rebels against God, God disciplines but also makes a promise to continue. Then, He starts with another human.
Is God rebooting His plan over and over again until He finds the right human for the role? Or are we seeing a rerun episode of God doing what He has always done, continuing the plan He set forth from the very beginning?
As we look at the 12 brothers of Jacob (Israel), we find a great prospect for this lineage to continue through Joseph. However, Jesus one day would come through the tribe of Judah, the brother who betrayed Joseph for some silver. What is God up to?
A Brothers Battle for Birthright
Israel’s family history is one with a sketchy past. Deceit, manipulation, lack of trust, and outright rebellion are just a few characteristics - many of which can be seen in the man whom the entire nation would be named after. Jacob, is later renamed Israel, grasps for what was not his while his twin brother lets it all go for fleeting satisfaction. And yet, though these two brothers lived thousands of years before us, they not only tell the story of Israel but the story of humanity.
A Bloody Covenant
God just won’t give up on His plan to partner with humanity as His representatives to care for creation. He chose a man, Abram, to grow a family which would build a nation in order to bless the rest of the world. Abram didn’t always come through on his end of the partnership. Neither would his descendants. But there would be one who would come as a descendant of humanity and of God Himself, who would uphold both ends of the partnership, and take on the bloody consequence of those who broke it.
Washing the World
The story of the flood is not a cutesy children’s tale with animals and a boat. It’s a horrific, tragic, true story. Yet, on the other side of the chaotic waters, it is also a true story of hope and restoration. Join us as we look at this story and try to tackle some of the difficult questions it brings up.
Rebellion in the Garden
From the Dust
This week's gathering was a little different as the realities of Covid forced us to all meet via Zoom. Please excuse the recording quality and the tone which was much more teaching and discussion than sermon.
God created some great potential in small beginnings, and called humanity to partner with Him in making it all flourish. How has humanity done with this partnership?
Back in the Day
We begin a 40 week series through the entire True Story of Scripture, starting at the very beginning. Back in the day, God made everything up there and down here. He made order in the midst of chaos and placed life in the space where it could flourish. Then He appointed a particular creature, humans, to care for all of it.
People of the True Story
As we try to realign our hearts to the True Story of the good news of Jesus and the Kingdom of God, we are reminded of our true identity in Jesus. We are a family of missionary servants, learning to follow Jesus. Or, to put it another way, we are a community of God’s people, learning to live in God’s ways, for the sake of our city.
The God of Our Story
The Bible tells one cohesive story from Creation to Restoration - and it is the True Story of the whole world. God, the Creator of the world, is the main character of this story. But this God existed even before the story began. We may not be able to know everything about this God, but by His love and grace, we can know God.
Simeon, Anna, and the Spirit
Joseph, Mary, and the Savior
Perhaps you've heard this story before. The story of the virgin who gives a miraculous birth to a baby. The baby who would one day die and miraculously rise again. But this story is miraculous not only because of what happens, but because of why it happens. God has come to save His people, and to be with us.
Zechariah, Elizabeth, and the Prophet
Finally, after centuries of waiting, longing, and hoping, a miraculous birth occurred among the people of Israel. Well, not the one you're thinking of. At least, not just yet. Before Jesus was born, his cousin John was. Have you ever stopped to question why? Why did a regular human need to come and prepare people for the true perfect Son to come? Then again, why has God chosen to partner with humanity all throughout history?
Adam, Eve, and the Seed
Since the very beginning of the true story of the world, God's people have been waiting for the coming of their Rescuer. In the garden, a promise was given that he would one day come. And not only would he come from some far off place, but God would use the man and woman themselves to partner with his coming. All these years later, we have both seen him come and we wait again for him to return. We are a people of advent.
Sun of Righteousness
Full Trust in the LORD
It all boils down to this: will you trust God?
This was what God wanted from His people from the very beginning - and it's His complaint to His people at the very end of the Old Testament. They have not trusted Him. They have not been an obedient son. Yet, God gave them a promise that a better Son was coming to serve the Father perfectly, on their behalf.
Care for the Community
Jesus said the greatest commandment is to love the Lord your God. The second goes with it - to love others. In the message from Malachi, God had addressed first how Israel has not loved Him, then He went on to address their lack of love toward one another. They had not loved their own wives and families well, and that lack of concern for others spilled out to other parts of the community as well; the orphans, widows, and foreigners. All of this stemmed from their apathy toward God and His ways. How could they turn back to God and His love? Better yet - How can you and I deal with our own apathy toward God and His ways?
God's Unmet Love
Malachi is the last prophetic book of the Old Testament, before a 400 year period of silence, until finally another prophet named John would come to get everyone ready for the coming Messiah.
In these parting words from the Lord, He reminds the people through Malachi that He has loved them, that He still loves them, and that He will always love them. But where is there love and honor for Him? Their hearts have grown cold. Their worship apathetic. As we hear these words spoken to Israel long ago, do we also find a message that can be spoken to us today?