Asbury Church

We think faith is about us, but it’s not about us at all. “I have X amount of faith.” Faith isn’t about the *subject* of faith, but about the *object* of the faith—faith is about the trustworthiness of the person in whom we are putting our trust.

This is why Jesus says that even the smallest amount of faith can move mountains, and why the disciples were unable to heal the afflicted boy who was brought to them.

In the Gospels, Jesus has a reason behind everything he does. For example, the miracles of Jesus are living parables—they are meant to teach us about the Kingdom of God.

Take the strange episode of the demons and the pigs in Matthew 8:28-34. It’s a fascinating story in its own right, but what does it teach us?

Well, it turns out there is a cost to the Kingdom. Are we willing to pay it?

Want to make yourself vulnerable to life’s storms? Live your life chasing the approval of others.

Preacher: Andrew Forrest

Series: Storm-Proof

Jesus told us not to worry. Which means:

1. Worry is something over which we have agency and control—it’s not inevitable;

2. We shouldn’t do it!

We continue our series on preparing for life’s storms by looking closely at what Jesus has to tell us about worry, and how to live a worry-free life.

It’s not if, but when.

Jesus says it’s not if but when: storms will come in life. There are no exceptions.

So, what should I do? How can I storm-proof my life?

This is what the Sermon on the Mount is about.

In our series Storm-Proof, we’ll be looking at the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew chapters 5-7), and seeing what Jesus has to say about preparing for life’s inevitable storms.

Step 1 is to realize that there is literally nothing about your current circumstances that is keeping you from flourishing NOW.

This Sunday we wrapped up our series The Testing, about the 3 temptations the devil puts before Jesus in the desert.

Here’s the question:

“How can we know if we’re already fallen into the devil’s trap?”

The devil’s goal is to ruin our lives; the third temptation he puts before Jesus is subtly dangerous. In fact, it’s so subtle that we may have already fallen into his trap without knowing it.

Here are 3 signs to watch for.

This Sunday we’re continuing our sermon series “The Testing” as we look at the second temptation of Jesus in the wilderness.

This is the time the devil quotes scripture at Jesus…accurately.

I know there must be some trick going on here—he is the devil, after all, and probably shouldn’t be trusted—but what is the trick? What’s the devil up to?

What if you could see the devil’s plan to ruin your life?

There’s a lesson here for us in how the devil interprets scripture, one that involves our expectations for life.

If we fall into the trap, it will lead us into misery. Let’s not make that mistake!

What if you had a copy of the devil’s plan to ruin your life?

What if you could see—in detail, and with specifics—how the enemy was planning to lead you into destruction, to bring you to a place of daily misery, to take away every possibility of happiness?

If you had a copy of the devil’s plan to ruin your life, what would you do with it?

This is the question we’re asking in week 1 of our new sermon series from the Gospel of Matthew called “The Testing.” For the next 3 weeks, we’ll be looking at the fascinating place in the Gospel of Matthew when Jesus is tested and tempted by the devil before he is ready to begin his public ministry. What we will see is how the devil plans to destroy human lives...one lie or tempting thought at a time.

This first week, we see that the devil’s plan to ruin your life starts with dropping a suggestion of suspicion into your thoughts—What if God can’t be trusted to provide?

 have two questions:

1. Why was Jesus baptized?

and, related to it

2. Why should I care?

This is week #2 of a preview of the Gospel of Matthew, which we start next week, and we’re looking at the baptism of Jesus by in the Jordan River by John the Baptist; we’ll read through the entirety of Matthew chapter 3.

We should care about the baptism of Jesus because it tells us how God wants Christians to live in the world, standing in the gap for others.

Series: Matthew category

As I’m beginning Year 2 at Asbury, I want to share my plan for taking over the world.*

*The plan actually belongs to Jesus, but I’m going to copy it.

The last words that Jesus gave his followers were to: “make disciples.”

Not converts, not attendees, not believers, but “disciples,” i.e., apprentices or learners or students.

Our job is to learn to live like Jesus, and to train other people to live like Jesus.

Let’s GO.