Bella Eden

Israel was dying in the wilderness, and God’s cure wasn’t effort. It was a look. In this message, “Look and Live,” we trace that thread from the bronze serpent in Numbers 21 to Jesus lifted up on the cross. Salvation begins with a look, growth continues with a look, and glory is completed with a look.

If you’ve been striving, running on willpower, or “anxious and troubled about many things” like Martha, this sermon is an invitation to come back to the one thing: fixing your eyes on Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith.

In this message:

Why God told Israel to look instead of fix themselves (Numbers 21:8)

How Jesus fulfills the serpent on the pole (John 3:14–15)

The endurance of Hebrews 12: looking, not striving

Why you didn’t begin in grace only to finish in your own strength (Galatians 3:3)

How beholding Jesus transforms us into His image (2 Corinthians 3:18)

The “one thing” of Psalm 27:4, and unity in one Lord, one faith, one baptism (Ephesians 4:4–6)

Scriptures referenced:

Numbers 21:8 · John 3:14–15 · Hebrews 12:1–2 · John 10:9 · John 14:6 · Philippians 1:6 · Galatians 3:3 · 1 John 3:2 · 2 Corinthians 3:18 · Psalm 27:4 · Luke 10:41–42 · 1 Corinthians 2:2 · John 17:21 · Ephesians 4:4–6 · 1 Corinthians 3:6–7 · Matthew 11:28 · 2 Peter 1:9

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What if ministry is lighter than we’ve made it? Pastors are exhausted, and most of that weight comes from everything except the thing Scripture actually calls them to do. In this episode we walk through Paul’s surprising claim that God chose the “folly” of preaching to save the world (1 Corinthians 1:21), why faith comes by hearing the word of Christ (Romans 10:17), and what it means that one plants, one waters, but only God gives the growth (1 Corinthians 3:6–7).

We’ll also look at what the Bible says ministers are worthy of wages for (1 Corinthians 9, 1 Timothy 5), and why Jesus’ yoke is easy and his burden light. The transformation was never in our effort. It’s in the message of the Son. That’s exactly why getting the gospel right matters more than anything else.

What if the good news that saved you is the same good news meant to carry you all the way home?

So many believers start their walk with Jesus overwhelmed by grace: forgiven, free, and made new. Then somewhere along the way, the good news turns into pressure, performance, and strife. We stop sitting at his feet like Mary and start running around the kitchen like Martha.

In this message, we look at how the gospel isn’t just the entrance door. It’s the rest.

We explore how we’re transformed by beholding Jesus (2 Corinthians 3:18), how Christ himself has become our sanctification (1 Corinthians 1:30), and why Peter says the one who lacks growth has simply forgotten he was cleansed (2 Peter 1:9).

We also look at Paul’s call to be of one mind and one word in 1 Corinthians, and Jesus’ prayer in John 17 that we would be one. True unity isn’t manufactured by human effort. It’s found in a Person.

From the bronze serpent in the wilderness to “looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith,” this episode is an invitation to look and live, and keep looking.

Scriptures: Luke 10:38–42 · 2 Corinthians 3:18 · 1 Corinthians 1:10–3:11 · 2 Peter 1:2–9 · John 17:11–21 · Ephesians 4:13 · Numbers 21:8 · John 3:14–15 · Hebrews 12:1–2 · Psalm 27:4

Colossians 1:28

The old covenant was written on tablets of stone, but the new covenant was written into the body of Jesus Christ. His pierced hands, wounded side, torn back, and shed blood became the visible testimony of God’s steadfast covenant love. Jesus did not merely bring the covenant—He became the covenant for the peoples. In Him, the hesed of God took on flesh, bore our sin, absorbed our violence, and opened an inheritance of grace to all who believe.