Faith is belief that moves us to action. Faith is not real faith unless it moves us to trust and live according to that belief. Habakkuk is faced with a decision in the midst of calamity: will he trust and follow God even though God’s ways are not how he would have imagined? Spoiler alert - Habakkuk remains in faith. How? What kept Habakkuk faithful even though the ways of God were wildly different than his own expectations?

Looking around, there is much to lament and grieve. Sin is running rampant. But, God promises that His justice will come. Hope is coming. His glory will be known throughout the earth. Today, the justice and hope of God is known in Jesus. We can rest assured justice will come!

There will come times in life when we, finite humanity, do not understand the Infinite and Eternal God. This is where confusion, frustration, lament reside. And that’s ok. It’s part of being a work in progress. But, even when God doesn’t make sense to us, He is and always will be faithful. Therefore, have faith in God and live. 

Let’s be honest, there are parts of the Old Testament that are difficult to understand. But, that’s life isn’t? There are parts of life that are difficult to understand. What is happening here? Where is God? If He is good, how does what is happening reconcile? But even when life is far from ideal, heck far from ok, God is worthy of our trust and worship. Even though the night lingers, yet we will worship. 

Every church and organization that wants to survive long term seeks to create a culture of unity, but it seems that everyone has a different idea of how to achieve that goal. Today, we dig into Romans 14 to see how Paul addresses unity within the churches of Rome, and how Jesus himself set an example for being united as one.

In a society that is built around the American dream of working hard to gain recognition and growing your bank account, it can be hard to focus our lives solely on the Lord. Meeting deadlines or cleaning the house feels as if they can only be done to please our bosses or families. Our reading from Colossians is directed specifically towards bondservants, but we learn how Christ defines Christians as bondservants to the Lord and how that comparison should affect why we do all things. 

We exist for the glory of God and the good of all people. As followers of Jesus and as the people of Austin Life Church, it is our mission to help one another live life to the fullest in Jesus, to become a people who Love God with our whole lives, Love One Another as Christ loves us, and Leads All People to the fullness of life in Jesus. We will become these people as we continually trust Jesus and devote our lives to practices of purpose that make us more like Him.

We exist for the glory of God and the good of all people. As followers of Jesus and as the people of Austin Life Church, it is our mission to help one another live life to the fullest in Jesus, to become a people who Love God with our whole lives, Love One Another as Christ loves us, and Leads All People to the fullness of life in Jesus. 

As humans, 100% of us have sinned. In small and big ways. We have all sinned against God, against others, against ourselves. The question is not, will we sin? The question is, will we respond well when we do. The invitation from God to sin is repentance. Repentance is God’s joy and our freedom. 

Psalm 121 would be a strange song to sing in church for many of us. It isn’t a song singing praise to God, but instead it’s a song where we sing encouragement to one another. We sing to remind each other that the Lord is the one who keeps our life, despite what Life’s circumstances show.