ORDINARY PEOPLE MEETING AN AMAZING GOD - David could have gone on offering bulls on the altar for the rest of his life. He was the worship song writer of the Scriptures. He could have kept on writing his worship songs for the people as long as he lived. No one could have prevented the king from doing as he chose. But David chose not to let business go on as usual. Worship doesn’t erase sin. To act like it does is to hollow out authentic worship and erase any sense of divine presence. David chose to stop and come to terms with his own guilt. He chose to make as major and humbling a change that would jolt the rest of his days.

YOU ARE A CITY SET ON A HILL - Jesus said you are a city on a hill. You can’t avoid this. And if people see you living your life carelessly, without any thought of worldliness or wickedness, if they see you living life as though you were not in any way preparing for eternity and your meeting with Jesus, not only will they reject your testimony of God’s grace and power in Christ Jesus, they will be inclined to write off the work of any Christian and all churches and the cause of Christ itself.

LOVING GOD WITH YOUR MIND - Could it be that all our religious mumbo jumbo is empty noise until the world sees the same kind of forgiving, enemy loving love that we say marks our heavenly Father? You are saved today only because Father God is an enemy loving and enemy forgiving God. And you are more like Him when you do what He does. Hear afresh the corporate call to worship. It’s more than singing choruses. It’s your identity. Remember, there is no such thing as a Christian without the church. Attach your life to the church like your soul depends on it, because it does.

ORDINARY PEOPLE MEETING AN AMAZING GOD - Elijah teaches us that the work of God must go on in spite of our feelings and frustrations. Fresh anointing comes for fresh service. God calls Elijah out of the cave and back to the mountain and his problems weren't all solved and his questions weren't all answered. He did find out that God works in many different ways and he did learn that God still had a place for poor Elijah as he made himself available for His service.

LOVING GOD WITH YOUR MIND - Receiving God’s mercy is a social experience, not an individual experience. There is a communal necessity in the renewal of the mind to come together as the body of Christ to ward off spiritual dementia and come together as the body of Christ preparing for Jesus' return.

ORDINARY PEOPLE MEETING AN AMAZING GOD - No one gets all answers in this life, but when our soul is breaking with sorrow and confusion the only life we can live well is one with eternal perspective. In this message, we look at King David and the loss of his son and how we can take precious truth from his reaction to his death.

LOVING GOD WITH YOUR MIND - Your whole life is merely the outward glow of what you truly treasure. God wants to renew your mind to beam the greatness of His glory so darkened, confused, sin-cheated sinners will see the way home to Christ. Otherwise, how will people see that Christ offers anything different than the empty fulfillment of the world? They need to see our joy and satisfaction in Christ alone. So we are in the world, but distinctly not of the world, for the ultimate good of the world.

LOVING GOD WITH YOUR MIND - The joy of deep study in God’s Word feels different than the joy of hugging your spouse or listening to a joke or singing a great song in a church service. The joy of struggling with God’s Word, of meditating deeply on it and even memorizing it, is a joy that comes more slowly but with a deeper payload. Raking is easier than digging. But with raking you only get leaves. When you dig you may find gold.

ORDINARY PEOPLE MEETING AN AMAZING GOD - We all know David wasn’t perfect. But he was still a “man after God’s own heart” because there was no bluff in him. He was the real deal. Jesus, who knew we weren’t perfect either, revealed the same secret in Matthew 5:8 - “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.”

LOVING GOD WITH YOUR MIND - Only those unconformed to the world can model the transforming power of God’s mercies in Christ Jesus. This is why God created you and this is why He redeemed you. God wants living, working, walking, demonstrations that the counterfeit joys and dreams of this world are smoke and mirror delights.