Revelation 12 is a vivid vision in which John sees Jesus’ victory at the cross become the beginning of Satan’s downfall. Though, on first reading it, it may sound strange to us, it is actually a vision which should bring profound comfort as well as an understandable warning. This vision reveals that there is a […]

What does the book of Revelation have to do with Christmas?  More than you might think.  While we always look back in time to Jesus’ first advent (‘arrival’), we often forget that his first advent was, in part, a preparation for his second advent – his return.  As we consider various visions from the book […]

In the final part of 1st Peter, Peter concludes his teaching on suffering for Christ and gives the Church some final instructions. He concludes his teaching on suffering by helping understand its surprising benefits.  Suffering reminds us we are on the path to glory, is a sign of God’s blessing and presence, and is also […]

In this section of 1st Peter, Peter offers us some lessons/perspective on suffering.  Not only does it not spell defeat for the Church, it actually teaches us some important lessons. The first lesson is that suffering points us to the victory of Christ.  Jesus suffered (more than we can even imagine) but his suffering led […]

In the first part of 1st Peter, Peter reminds the Church of its nature and identity as God’s chosen people.  In light of that identity, he then goes on in the second part of his letter to teach the Church about how it should respond to those who are slandering them for their faith.  Our […]

In the final section of the first half of his first letter, Peter uses an abundance of Old Testament images to help the Church understand the core of its identity. To help us understand who we are as the Church, Peter first reminds us that we are God’s (earthly) dwelling place.  Like the temple in the […]

Having established that the Church is people of God who have been given a ‘living hope’ through the resurrection of Jesus, Peter goes on to help us begin to understand how we live in that ‘living hope’.  It begins by setting our hope “fully” on the ultimate goal of our faith: the revelation of the fullness […]

In the beginning of Peter’s first letter, he identifies the people he’s writing to as ‘elect exiles of the Dispersion’.  He writes to a church (actually a group of churches) that is suffering persecution.  Their communities and culture is at odds with them because of their faith in Jesus.  Peter tells them in his greeting that […]

This message is part of the 5th anniversary celebration of Kirk Crossing.  It’s based on 1 Chronicles 29.10-22.  In this passage, king David offers praise and prayer to the Lord after the collection of offerings which were to be used to build the temple.  It was a day of great joy, celebration, and generosity.  It […]

God, the Author of the mission, gave us the Scriptures, The Story of His mission, and ultimately His own Son, The Hero of the mission.  In the final message of the series, we come to The Call.  This is the point at which all of us who profess faith in Jesus Christ enter into the […]